134 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



April 



liar habit which swarms have, of alighting 



on the same spot or limb, on which other 

 swarms have alighted before. Where many 

 hives of bees are kept, it is well known that 

 after one swarm has clustered on a certain 

 limb, others are apt to choose the same spot, 

 and often, nearly every swarm of the sea- 

 son, by some strange instinct, will take to 

 that very limb, as soon as they leave the 

 hive. 



After having watched a great many times 

 to discover the cause of this queer behavior, 

 I decided it came about thus: as soon as a 

 swarm issues, straggling bees scatter about 

 in every direction, and while the air is full 

 of them, you may see individual bees scan- 

 ning and hovering about all the twigs and 

 shrubbery for rods around. Well , if a swarm 

 has clustered on one of these twigs or limbs, 

 and a bee should come very near the spot, 

 he would catch the scent of the queen, from 

 her having rested on the spot, even were it a 

 week before. See odor of queens. Well, 

 as soon as he catches this, he gives a call, 

 and other bees rush to the spot, and the 

 probability is, the whole swarm will soon be 

 clustered on this very limb. After this, the 

 chances are double, that the next will alight 

 there, and so on. Aside from the odor of 

 the queen, the limb almost always has bits 

 of wax fastened to it by the bees, while 

 hanging there, even if they hang clustered 

 not longer than 15 minutes. 



Our friend Jones fixes something like an 

 old fashioned well sweep; that is, a pole bal- 

 anced in a fork, so that its smaller end is 

 high in the air, while the other rests on the 

 ground. On this heavy end, is fixed a box 

 to contain stones for ballast. At the other, 

 is what is sometimes called a bee-bob. This 

 may be a bunch of hay, or a bunch of green 

 leaves. I have heard of using a black stock- 

 ing on a pole, to cause the bees to light on it. 

 Mullen heads dipped in ink, so as to imitate 

 a swarm of bees, are also recommended. 

 Perhaps the best thing is a ball made by 

 stringing dead bees on a string with a nee- 

 dle, and then winding it about some sub- 

 stance about the size and shape of a swarm, 

 letting some of the strings hang down. 

 Well, suppose you put stones in the box, un- 

 til about 5 lbs. on the bee-bob would cause 

 it to sink with a moderate speed. If a swarm 

 should cluster on this bob, it would be let 

 down automatically, as soon as the weight 

 was sufficient. A stop is arranged at the 

 proper point, to stop the pole and shake off 

 the bees, and, as a matter of course, ahive is 

 set right at the proper point for them to run 



into it. If they go back to the bee-bob, 

 it will let them down again; and so on. 

 Further more, our ingenious friend has a 

 bell and pistol fixed to the post, so that one 

 is rung, and the other discharged, to let the 

 apiarist know that his bees are safely in the 

 hive, ready to be placed where he wishes. 

 Many of these machines have been put up, 

 but I believe few succeed with them, as does 

 friend Jones, principally for the reason that 

 the first swarm can not be made to use the 

 bee-bob, in preference to some place suiting 

 their own fancy. I give these plans, that 

 you may know what lias been done. 



RINGING BELLS AND BEATING PANS TO 

 BRING DOWN A SWARM OF BEES. 



The books, of late years, have seemed to 

 teach that this practice is but a relic of su- 

 perstition, and that no real good was accom- 

 plished by the "tanging," as it is often 

 called. Perhaps it usually has no effect in 

 causing them to alight, but from watching 

 the habits of swarms, I am inclined to think 

 otherwise. Those in the habit of seeing 

 queens on the wing are generally aware that 

 the note they give when flying is quite dif- 

 ferent from that of a worker or drone, and 

 many times, when a queen has escaped while 

 being introduced, I have detected her where- 

 abouts by the sound of her wings, before I 

 had any glimpse of her at all. With a little 

 practice, we can distinguish this note amidst 

 the buzzing of a thousand bees flying about, 

 so as to turn our eyes upon her when she is 

 quite a distance away. Is it not likely that 

 the bees composing a swarm know this 

 sound as well as we do, or much better? 

 Again ; a swarm of bees usually has scouts 

 to conduct them to the tree, or other place of 

 their chosen abode, and it is quite likely 

 they follow these scouts and know of their 

 presence, as they do their queen, by the 

 sound they emit from their wings. A noise, 

 if loud enough, would be likely to drown 

 these sounds, and thus produce disorganiza- 

 tion. Throwing dirt or gravel among them 

 will bring them down generally quite speed- 

 ily, and I suppose it is because it produces 

 disorganization much in the same way. 



Throwing water among them is thought to 

 be more effectual than either the sounds or 

 the dust, and it has been suggested, that it 

 is because they think a shower is coming up ; 

 but I am inclined to think it is more the dis- 

 organization, and perhaps also the wetting 

 of their wings, that makes them hurry to 

 cluster on the nearest object. If a pail of 

 water is near the apiary, and a dipper handy, 

 swarms that do not seem inclined to cluster 



