101 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



cells were again being used by the queen for eggs 

 when we made the discovery. Now comes the "nut 

 to crack." Did this queen pass down through the 

 brood chamber proper of the hive, and out to meet 

 a drone, and back again through the dominions of 

 the original sovereign queen of the hive, without 

 molestation from either bees or queen? 



The hive contains 10 G. frames. There were a few 

 drones in the sections, with the queen. We would 

 be pleased to have vour opinion of this bee freak of 

 ours. J. C. & D. H. Tweedy. 



Linden Vale Apiary, near Smithfleld, O., Dec. 2, '78. 



The queen undoubtedly passed through 

 the lower part of the hive and out to be fer- 

 tilized, as the workers also did, to gather 

 honey. Such cases are not new, as 2 colo- 

 nies have several times been known to work 

 together peaceably, in the same hive. Such, 

 however, is not the general rule and there is 

 always danger of one queen's being killed. 

 The extreme height of your hive favored 

 such an arrangement, in this case. We 

 once had a second queen hatch in one side 

 of a common Langstroth hive, which was 

 allowed to live and rear brood in her own 

 side, thus forming 2 colonies, and both 

 using the same entrance. 



THE FIRST HONEY OF THE SEASON. 



I have a few questions to ask you, that I could not 

 find answers for, in the ABC or Gleanings. Last 

 Oct., I packed 5 hives of bees for winter; Nos. 1 

 and 2, with 6 frames of honey and :i frames of empty 

 comb; Nos. 3 and 4 with 4 frames of honey and 2 of 

 comb; No 5, with 3 frames of honey and 2 frames of 

 comb, and all the frames were packed full of bees. 

 As thev were all in good trim for winter, I did not 

 bother'them until the first day of Feb., when J found 

 all of them carrying in great loads of pollen. As we 

 do not have much cold weather, after the first of 

 Feb., I thought I would unpack them for summer. 

 So I opened No. 5 first, lifted out one of the middle 

 frames, and to my astonishment it was full of cap- 

 ped honey, except about one inch at the bottom, 

 and that was nearly full of pollen. After lifting all 

 5 frames out I found them all in the same way. I 

 then examined all of my hives, and found them all 

 in the same fix. 



Now, what I want to know is, where did all this 

 honey come from? can bees make honey in the win- 

 ter? and will it do to take out the honey, and insert 

 empty combs in its place? 



Now, Mr. Root, I will stop asking so many ques- 

 tions, for fear you will get mad at me. 



W. S. Cauthen. 



Pleasant Hill, S. C, Feb. 3, 1819. 



Your bees are undoubtedly gathering hon- 

 ey, and if you track them, you can probably 

 find the source from which they get it. The 

 fact that they are bringing in pollen indi- 

 cates that the honey is also obtained from 

 some plant. If you can investigate the mat- 

 ter, and give us a report, it will be interest- 

 ing to know from whence we get the first 

 honey. Your questions are connected with 

 a valuable report, and such we are always 

 glad to receive. Yes; insert empty combs. 



QUEEN NURSERY; HEMP FOR HONEY. 



I started last spring, with 27 stocks, increased to 

 70, and took 2,700 lbs. of honey. I have contracted 

 my honey for this year at 10c. per lb., the party buy- 

 ing to furnish the bbls. Can they be used without 

 waxing? 



I did not make a success of the queen nursery, 

 and think 1 will get a lot of artificial eggs, made of 

 tin or earthen, with an opening in them, and put the 

 scaled queen cells in them, and set them under hens 

 (we always have plenty of them in the hen house), 

 or in the nursery. In tkis way, you see, the first 

 queen hatched cannot destroy the rest, as they did 

 in the nursery. 



Now, I must tell you of my discovery. I will claim 

 it, until I hear from you, and then I know I shall 

 find out that it is an old discovery; but neverthe- 

 less, I don't recollect seeing it stated anywhere. 



The best honey plant in existence (so far as I know) 

 is the common hemp, such as we feed canary birds. 

 Several plants came up around our door, and 1 nev- 

 er saw such a sight; they were covered from day- 

 light until dark, every day, for weeks, with blacks, 

 Italians, and bumble-bees. I think I will sow Y 2 or 

 % of an acre this spring. Did you ever notice it? 

 Sandwich, 111. Alex. Wilder. 



Barrels can be used without waxing, but 

 it is a little unsafe unless they are extremely 

 well {made. 



I have noticed that the bees work on 

 hemp, but here they get only pollen from it. 

 One of our neighbors had i acre of it. 



I have never had one queen kill the others 

 in the lamp nursery, but few times. 



ROBBING ; ANOTHER REMEDY. 



Your account in the last No. of Gleanings, about 

 bees robbing, reminds me of my last season's expe- 

 rience. Here it is. 



One day, I had occasion to turn up a box hive, for 

 only about 5 minutes, but that was long enough to 

 let the robbers in, and as the stock proved to be 

 queenless, they went at it desperately. I took a 

 piece of cloth like a sheet, and threw it loosely over 

 the hive; then they attacked the adjoining hives on 

 each side ([ had 15 standing in a row, about 2ft. 

 apart), and I began to fear there would be a general 

 rebellion, as they seemed determined to "'fight it out 

 on that line, if it 't mil; id! summer." Well, I brought 

 into the battle such weapons as sheets, table cloths, 

 blankets, etc., and threw them loosely over each 

 hive that showed any commotion, and in half an 

 hour "all was qui& on the Potomac." 



While I was away from home during the fall, they 

 had several spells of robbing, and my wife stopped 

 them every time, by using the same remedy. Sim- 

 ply cover the hive up with cloth; it need not be tied 

 tight around the hive. The main point is to cover 

 the entrance, and in this way, there is no danger of 

 smothering. I would say, cover both the robber 

 hive and also those being robbed. 



A. A. Fradenburg. 



Port Washington, O , Jan. 20, 1ST!) 



I hardly think this remedy would answer 

 for severe cases ; mild ones generally cease 

 after a little, of their own accord. 



QUEENS' VOICES ; WHY DO THEY "TALK?" 



I would give a good deal to have one of 

 those talkative queens of Mr. Henderson's, and 

 must have one this season, for I am deeply inter- 

 ested in their little voices, especially, that "zeep;" 

 I have never heard it. Mr. Langstroth, Mr. Quinby, 

 and some others have it "peep," and say you can al- 

 ways hear it before swarming. There is another 

 voice or sound, of which the bee journals speak, as 

 "Tua— Tua," and say it is the young queens calling 

 for food when hungry. Now, t have heard that 

 sound very plainly, but think the call is made from 

 a different motive. I think it indicates fear or dis- 

 tress. You listen at the hive, and hear the 2 queens 

 call "Tua-Tua," and on examination, you will find 

 them either surrounded by bees, or in a cluster or 

 ball, the 2 being kept at bay. 1 have picked up a 

 queen between my fingers, the wings being held 

 fast, and she would sing out "Tu-Tu-Tua." 



Another fact which establishes this idea, in my 

 mind, is the following: 



I had a very line Italian queen that came off with 

 a swarm. The swarm acted very strangely, settling 

 along on the hives in litfle knots and bunches, and 

 some being on the ground. I concluded that she 

 could not fly; sol hunted for her all around, but to 



; no purpose. Seeing by the drift of the swarm, that 

 she had followed a row of hives. I suspected that 

 she must be inisde of some one of them, so I began to 

 listen lor this note of distress, commencing with the 

 first hive next to her own. I kept on to the 12th or 

 14th, and found her calling "Tua-Tua" very mourn- 



i fully. She was balled. I took her out and present- 



j ed her to her swarm, which accepted her; even a 

 good many that had gone back came out, and crawl- 

 ed into the new hive, for I set it on top of the old 



! one, to see what effect it would have on those inside 

 the old hive. Now, I think here iswhere the "zeep" 



| comes in; it's a call for her bees or followers, like 



I the old hen's cluck for her chickens. Who knows ? 



I Santa Barbara, Cal., Jan. 28, 1879. J. N. O. 



