262 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



unite better than if they came from only two 

 hives, and you will seldom see a bee go back 

 to his old home. A beginner should beware 

 of having many weak colonies in the fall, to 

 be united. It is much safer, to have them 

 all strong and ready for winter, long before 

 winter comes. 



UNITING NEAV SWARMS. 



This is so easily done, that I hardly need 

 give directions ; in fact, if two swarms come 

 out at the same time, they are almost sure 

 to unite, and I do not know that I ever heard 

 of two such swarms quarreling. One of the 

 queens will very soon be killed, but you may 

 easily find the extra one, by looking for the 

 ball of bees that will be found clinging about 

 her, very soon after the bees have been join- 

 ed together. A swarm can almost always 

 be given without trouble, to any swarm that 

 has come out the day previous, and if you 

 will take the trouble to watch them a little, 

 you may unite any swarm with any other 

 new swarm, even if it came out a week or 

 more before. Smoke them when inclined to 

 fight, as I told you before, and make them 

 be good to the new comers. 



UNITING BEES IN THE Sl'KINN. 



Since our spring dwindling troubles, it has 

 been quite customary to unite a stock that 

 has become queenless to one having a 

 queen, or to unite two or more weak stocks, 

 to enable them to go through the spring 

 months. The process is much like uniting 

 in the fall. Lift out the frames and put 

 them together, watching to see that they 

 are friendly to the new comers. Bees are 

 often united in the spring for the purpose of 

 securing great results in honey, and by unit- 

 ing the bees and brood, great amounts may 

 be obtained from what might be called a 

 single swarm. 



WATER FOR BEES. That bees 

 need water has been pretty well demonstra- 

 ted, but the best means of supplying them 

 has not been very satisfactorily settled. 

 The amount of water needed depends much 

 on whether they are rearing brood in consid- 

 erable quantities or not, and whether their 

 food is old, thick (possibly candied) honey, 

 or new honey right from the fields. If the 

 latter, it contains usually a large quantity 

 of water that must be expelled before the 

 honey can be considered ripened. See ven- 

 tilation. "Well, while the bees are gather- 

 ing this thin, raw honey, as a matter of 

 course, they will not need much water, if 

 any at all, besides what the honey affords 

 them. This new honey is frequently so thin 



that it runs out of the combs like sweetened 

 water, when they are turned horizontally, 

 and when tasted, it seems, in reality, but 

 sweetened water. The excess of moisture 



is probably 1 say probably, for I do not 



know that we have positive proof on the 



matter expelled by the strong currents of 



air the bees keep circulating through the 

 hive, which takes up the watery particles, 

 and speedily reduces the honey to such a 

 consistency that it will not sour. If you will 

 examine a hive very early in the morning 

 during the height of the honey season, you 

 will find the blast of air that comes out 

 quite heavily charged with moisture, and 

 when the weather is a little cool, this mois- 

 ture often condenses and accumulates on 

 the alighting board, until it forms a little 

 pool of water. Where the alighting board 

 was of the right shape to retain the water, I 

 have seen it so deep as to drown bees in 

 passing out. These bees, it would seem, 

 were at least in no need of having water 

 supplied them. While I am on the subject, 

 I will mention another way which, as I have 

 discovered, the bees have of expelling the 

 liquid portions from very thin honey. I 

 guess I will say it is the way in which I 

 think they do it, for I may be mistaken. I 

 had several colonies in a small greenhouse 

 for experiment. They were fed on sweet- 

 ened water, until they stored a large amount 

 in their combs. AVhen the sun warmed up 

 the air in the morning, they would come out 

 in great numbers and sport in the sunshine, 

 and by taking a post where they came be- 

 tween my eye and the sun, I distinctly saw 

 them discharge from their bodies, what 

 seemed to be only pure water. These bees 

 had been fed until they had their hives so 

 full of the thin syrup, that they had even 

 crowded out the eggs. When coming out of 

 their hives, they seemed heavily laden, but 

 those returning were so much reduced in 

 size, as to make quite a contrast to those 

 going out. By watching the matter, it 

 seemed quite plaiif that they took the thin 

 food into their stomachs, and after a time, 

 longer or shorter, were able to expel the 

 liquid portion while on the wing, and then 

 return the thick portion to the cells. If I 

 am . in error in this, I should like to be cor- 

 rected. It may be well to state in this con- 

 nection that honey, no matter how thin, will 

 never sour while in the hive, under the care 

 of a sufficient number of bees, but if a comb 

 of this thin honey be taken away from them, 

 and kept outside of the hive, it will sour 

 very quickly. 



