1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



327 



From Different Fields. 



GREAT NUMBER OF QUEENS FROM NATURAL SWARM- 

 ING. 



fHE 26th of May, I had a large Italian swarm. I 

 was very glad to sec it come out, for the rea- 

 son that I wanted cells, as I had had very 

 indifferent luck rearing- them, robbing- being the 

 rule. I am slow at finding- queens, so 1 had moved a 

 hive, and put an empty one in its place, in order to 

 get a queenless colony, but robbers set in and de- 

 moralized them; many bees left the new hive, and I 

 could not get them to build cells. 



AVhile pondering what to do, the Italian swarmed. 

 Now I thought my opportunity had come, as I could 

 get a fine lot of queen cells that would supply all I 

 needed. According to A B C, no cells hatch until 

 about the 10th day;so,one day, after the first swarm 

 issued, I examined the old stock; to my great aston- 

 ishment I found the cells all hatched (not torn down), 

 and not a queen was to be seen in the hive; but I 

 picked up 2i dead queens in front of the hive. Two 

 days after, I found a live queen on a section which I 

 took from the hive, and some more were picked up 



and lost, 30 is about the number of dead queens. 



Can you account for this strange freak? I have ex- 

 amined A B C and everything at hand, swarming, 

 artificial swarming, queen reariDg, after swarming, 

 &c., and find nothing that fits the case. Thirty 

 queens lost! it is too bad just now. 



The old swarm was a maiden swarm which came 

 out the 10th of July, 18T8, and filled up last year; I 

 put on a second story and then a third, and made 123 

 lbs. honey. It did not swarm, though very prolific. 

 I send you by mail a box containing 18 queens (some 

 were lost), which will paitly prove my statement. 1 

 did not consider them perfect ly pure though others 

 did. N. A. Prudden. 



Ann Arbor, Mich., May 31, 1880. 



Aside from the large number of queens, 

 friend P., I do not see that your case is at all 

 unusual. You mistake the statements in 

 the ABC. If we deprive a colony of its 

 queen, none can hatch, as a rule, in less than 

 10 days; but if the colony sends out a natural 

 swarm, it generally has cells ready to hatch; 

 and sometimes, when bad weather keeps the 

 swarm from coming out, the young queens 

 i will hatch even before the swarm leaves. It 

 is true that Italians often send out natural 

 swarms without starting any queen cells at 

 all; in which case, the young queen would 

 hardly get out in less than the 10 days. The 

 young queens you send are remarkable for 

 their size and appearance of vigor; it is a 

 great pity you did not open the hive and look 

 for queen eel Is as s< ion as the swarm left. A a 

 high as oi) queen cells have been found at 

 once in a single hive, but 30, large, line queens 

 is pretty good, friend P. 



AN A B C SCHOLAR'S INTRODUCING. 



The queens telegraphed for came to hand. One 

 had 2 dead bees, the other none. They were '> days 

 on the way (over Sunday). One was given to a queen- 

 less hive which accepted her immediately. The 

 other was given to a hive which I deprived of their 

 queen. At first, they were disposed not to accept a 



step-mother, and it required 3ti hours time to con- 

 vince them that (lien must. This was my first intro- 

 ducing, and 1 went according to the ABC, and all 

 was well. I have transferred 3 hives. 



H. B. Thompson. 

 Curwensville, Pa , May 31, 1880. 



Pretty well done, friend T. You have got 

 the idea exactly; teach your bees that they 

 must do as you' wish to have them. I do 

 not mean you are to make any great demon- 

 strations about it, but rather that you make 

 up your mind what you want to do, and then 

 set to work in a quiet, resolute way, and 

 make yourself master not only of the bees 

 but of yourself also. 



PORCELAIN PLATES FOR FDN. 



Two suggestions: For foundation, try pipe or por- 

 celain clay, rolled between the cylinders of your 

 mill, then flattened and baked wumlcm «rfcm,— a 

 difficult matter for any but a pipe maker, then dip 

 in wax and put in your hive. 



ENLARGING THE RACE OF BEES BY CROSSING. 



Get a humble bee fertilized by a drone in a tub 

 with a window, as already found to answer; i. e. the 

 tub; or a French hornet might do. These are 

 worthy of an American bee-keeper's enterprise. 



J. H. Eldridge. 



Earlham Road, Norwich, Eng., May IV, 1880. 



Your lirst idea, friend E., it seems to me, 

 promises much, and I hope some one who is 

 near a porcelain factory will test the matter. 

 If a porcelain can be made porous enough to 

 hold water so as to prevent the fdn. from 

 sticking, and yet be harder and more dura- 

 ble than the plaster casts generally used, it 

 will doubtless solve the long sought problem. 



Your second suggestion is, if 1 am correct, 

 among the impossibilities. There can be no 

 permanent cross, except where the species 

 are nearly related. The mule is the result 

 of the most notable cross known, but even 

 in this case it can go no farther ; mules are 

 sterile. The bumble bee is much too far 

 away. It is possible that the Java bee, or 

 some which our friends Jones and Ben- 

 ton may hunt up, may give us such a cross 

 as you suggest. 



GIVING A NEW SWARM THE WHOLE HIVE. 



One of my colonies sent out a swarm, May 7th, and 

 I put them in the lower story of the hive you sent 

 me this spring, but they would not stay in it at all. 

 I put them in it :s times, and the last time I put on 

 all the hive, and now they are going right along with 

 no trouble. It was a very large swarm, and I have 

 come to the conclusion that they did not have room 

 in half of the hive to do anything. Tell me what you 

 think of the matter. My theory was to let them 

 start in the bottom part lirst, but they would not 

 stay in it by itself. Lewis Stallings. 



McAdoo, Posey »'o., Ind., May r>, 1880. 



I would rather prefer, friend S., to let 

 them get a good start in the lower story be- 

 fore going above, that they may be sure to 

 locate the brood chamber below. Had you 

 made the entrance very large, so as to give 

 plenty of air, J hardly think they would have 

 left on account of the size of the lower story 

 being insufficient. If a single story hive is 

 put right in the sun, the heat on its top 

 might make the inmates uncomfortable; in 

 that case, the upper story would be an ad- 



