484 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15. 



is above or below the brood-chamber. In every 

 case where the empty story had been put un- 

 der, the cold snap had not seemed to affect 

 them much, while those that had the empty 

 story put on top had not increased in brood, 

 and in some cases had less brood than when 

 the extra story was given. 



This year we profited by our former experi- 

 ence, and all extra stories were placed under 

 the brood-nest, although up to May 13 it was 

 the warmest spring on record. After that we 

 had some extremely hard freezes, with about 

 two weeks of cold weather. 



I spoke of giving extra stories, but it is not 

 the intention to leave them on during the hon- 

 ey-harvest. They will be taken away when 

 we put on supers, with the exception of a few 

 which may be left on for experiment. We have 

 also put a few colonies in 11-frame hives for 

 experiment. 



We hoped that, by giving our strong colonies 

 that extra story of combs under, it would do 

 away with the swarming fever; but I am sorry 

 to say I can not see that it makes much differ- 

 ence. Nearly always we find queen cells in 

 these colonies first, not because of the extra 

 stories, but because they are the strongest 

 colonies. Now, we know that the Dadants 

 have little or no swarming because they use 

 large hives and give the queen plenty of room. 

 What's the trouble with our colonies ? Are not 

 16 frames enough for the queen? That's more 

 room than the Dadants give. Is it because 

 they are in two stories? The queen seems to 

 go readily from one story to another, and we 

 find five and six frames of brood in each story, 

 and queen-cells started. What's the trouble? 



Why do our queens behave so differently from 

 Mr. Hatch's? He finds difficulty in getting his 

 queens to return to the lower story after going 

 up, although the lower story is filled with bees 

 and b rood, while our queens go down of their 

 own accord into a story of dry empty brood- 

 combs. 



As I said in last number, our feeding this 

 spring has not been a very great success so far, 

 as the bees have been so slow about taking it. 

 In two or three cases the feed turned to vinegar 

 on the hives. If that feed had been placed a 

 distance from the hive, and those same bees 

 had had a chance to get at it, I think they 

 would have taken it eagerly, as they were 

 promptly on hand in any case of outside leak- 

 age. I wonder what makes the difference. Do 

 they think it's all right as long as it's in the 

 feeder over the brood-nest, and theirs to be 

 taken at their leisure, and they must hustle if 

 they get their share when it's away from the 

 hive? It looks like it, if we may judge from 

 their actions. 



They are doing better about taking it, now 

 that fruit-bloom is gone, and dandelions nearly 

 so. 



Marengo, 111. 



BY G.M.DOOLITTLE.BOROOINO.N.Y. 



TWO QUEENS WITH A SWAKM. 



Question. — Does a colony of bees ever have 

 two queens? I hived a swarm of bees the other 

 day that had two queens, I am pretty sure. My 

 neighbor tells me it was two swarms, as he says 

 there is never more than one queen in a colony. 



^?isw"er.— Probably both you and your neigh- 

 bor may be right in this case, but you have got 

 things a little mixed. I think such a thing was 

 never known as a prime swarm of bees coming 

 from a colony in a normal condition, having 

 two queens with it. To be sure, we do some- 

 times have two laying quuens in a hive at the 

 same time, although such is a rare exception; 

 but no colony was ever known to swarm at such 

 a time, and both of these laying queens go with 

 the swarm. With a prime swarm, or what is 

 often erroneously called a first swarm, there al- 

 ways accompanies it a laying queen. All swarms 

 having a young or virgin queen should be class- 

 ed as after-swarms. When a prime swarm is- 

 sues it generally leaves maturing queen-cells in 

 the old hive, from which, when hatched, the 

 young queens lead out all after-swarms. The 

 only exception to this is that hinted at above, 

 where, from some cause, the old queen dies near 

 the swarming season, when several queen-cells 

 will be formed on the brood left, so that young 

 queens may lead out what appears to be a prime 

 swarm, the same as they do after-swarms. For 

 convenience, all swarms except the one having 

 the old or laying queen are called after-swarms 

 by bee-keepers, so the readers may know what 

 the term "after-swarms" means. Some days 

 after the prime swarm has issued, the first 

 young queen emerges from the cell; and if aft- 

 er-swarming is considered to be best, in the 

 economy of the hive, the other young queens 

 are kept in their cells by a little knot of bees 

 clustering on them at all times, so the lid of the 

 cell can not be removed to let the queen out, 

 her majesty being fed all the time through an 

 aperture in the royal cell. If further swarming 

 is not considered " economy" by the bees, then 

 all the other queen -cells are torn down and the 

 young queens destroyed, so, that the first hatch- 

 ed is the only queen in the hive. If the cells are 

 protected as above, the first-hatched queen 

 seems to get into a rage, and utters shrill notes 

 at intervals, called the "piping of the queen," 

 which is kept up for about two days, when the 

 second swarm, or first of the after-swarms, is- 

 sues. This piping of the queen is always heard, 

 if listened for, before all after-swarms, or in any 

 case of a plurality of queens in a hive intending 

 to send out a swarm. The queens kept back in 

 their cells by the bees are growing in age and 

 strength, the same as is the one which is out, 

 they telling of this by their trying to pipe the 



