1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



429 



July 11th, I hived a large swarm of Italians] in a 

 new Simplicity hive arranged as above,— fdn. with 

 brood in centre, and sections on the outside, and 

 hive well shaded. They stayed in from 11 o'clock to 

 5 p.m., when they came out and clustered. I re- 

 hived them, and the next morning- clipped the 

 queen, as I suppose their next move would have 

 been for the woods. 



The above cases seem to prove pretty plainly that 

 unsealed brood will not prevent absconding-. The 

 hives used were new, and in each instance well shad- 

 ed. The swarms were large, still in the chair hive 

 there is plenty of room in the upper story, the duck 

 not being so tight as to prevent the bees from going 

 up, and in one instance I put an upper story on the 

 Simplicity. Neither can we conclude that this trait 

 is peculiar to the Italians, for the swarm that left in 

 1879 were black bees. It is evident also that the local- 

 ity whither they are going is determined before they 

 start, at least in some instances. E. C. Long. 



Williamsville, Erie Co., N. Y., Aug. 2, 1880. 



Your concluding remark, friend L., it 

 seems to me, strikes at the root of the mat- 

 ter, and if you will read what friend Peters 

 says, in the A B C, I think you may see 

 wherein you were at fault. Granting that 

 friend Doolittle be right, and that first 

 swarms are better without a frame of brood, 

 what are we going to do? Hundreds of 

 swarms go to the woods every year, hived 

 just as you hived yours, only with no frame 

 of brood given them at all ; surely you do 

 not mean to claim that clipping the queen's 

 wing will prevent their trying to leave? I 

 have tried clipping in many cases, but the 

 bees went out all the same ; of course, they 

 came back, but the queen seldom got back, 

 unless I was near to hunt her up, and put 

 her in the hive again. As the loss of the 

 queen is about as bad as the loss of the 

 swarm, Quinby devised his queen yard ; but, 

 if I am correct, nobody ever uses it now. 

 See what another friend writes : 



SWARMS ABSCONDING, &C. 



It seems to be an acknowledged fact now, that ono 

 frame of brood will not always prevent new swarms 

 from absconding. My experience is, that large 

 swarms are more apt to leave than small ones. Af- 

 ter having several swarms leave one frame of un- 

 sealed brood, I adopted the practice of giving each 

 new swarm 3 frames, and have had no trouble with 

 swarms coming out a second time since. I have 

 practiced this method two years, and I would rec- 

 ommend that my brother and sister bee-keepers try 

 it next season. In about 10 days, when the new 

 swarm has become permanently domiciled in their 

 new quarters, the frames can be returned to the 

 hives, -one each day from which they were taken. 



Spring Lake, Mich., Aug., '80. J. S. Dewey. 



And here is something later from friend D.: 



A CARD. 



I agree exactly with all you say, Mr. Editor, on 

 page 300, Aug. Gleanings, about giving unsealed 

 brood to queenless colonies and after swarms, or all 

 stocks having an unfertile queen, but not for a 

 swarm which was a first swarm with a laying queen. 

 We only hive first swarms; all others are returned, 

 so I do not see but we agree after all. But, Novice, 

 are you not a little last when you say, "Some of 

 them deserted the hive and went oil' because they 

 had no queen"? Wc presume an explanation on 



your part will make this all right, as "went off" 

 might be going into other hives; but surely such a 

 thing as a queenless colony decamping for the woods 

 is rather mysterious, is it not? G. M. Doolittle. 

 Borodino, N. Y., Aug. 5, 1880. 



You are right, friend I). I did not mean 

 to intimate that queenless colonies went to 

 the woods, as a swarm does that has a tree 

 picked out, but, as you suggest, that they 

 desert the hive for other hives near by. We 

 are in the habit of purchasing new swarms 

 to be used in making queen rearing nuclei, 

 and as these swarms, if large, are always di- 

 vided, we find it impossible to have them 

 stay, unless they have unsealed brood given 

 them. When they desert, of course they go 

 with the bees where their queen is. Were it 

 not for occupying so much space, I suppose 

 I should be more explicit. 



I would like to say to those that have had trouble 

 with new swarms leaving their hives after giving 

 them a card of brood, that the brood or clean, empty 

 combs, is all right enough, but if the combs of brood 

 contain honey, as they usually do, the, bees will cat 

 the honey, and when they have filled themselves with 

 honey they want to fly; and when they all tly, they 

 have swarmed, havn't they? Feeding will do the 

 same thing, if done too soon after the bees are hived 

 in empty hives, before they have any place to store 

 the honey. Henry Clements. 



Wyandotte, Wayne Co., Mich., Aug. 2, 1880. 



I am inclined to think you are right, at 

 least partly, friend C, for it is pretty well 

 known that swarming may be produced in 

 almost any stock, by feeding a quantity of 

 warm honey, at the proper time of day du- 

 ring swarming time. I once hived a truant 

 swarm, and, as they were nearly famished I 

 gave them a frame of honey ; and, just as 

 soon as they could unseal and take up the 

 honey, they swarmed out again, and I lost 

 my bees and honey too. We have generally 

 used a comb containing little or no honey, 

 and often a frame of fdn. just newly drawn 

 out, because these were so much lighter to 

 lift out, and so much easier when one is in 

 a big hurry, to clear of bees. Perhaps so 

 simple a matter as this may have made the 

 great difference in our experiences. 



We have succeeded in getting seme very good, 

 well-made tinners snips or shears, which will be 

 found very convenient for bee-keepers, and have 

 often been inquired for. Prices are as follows: 

 10-inch Snips, nicely finished 1 75 



If wanted by mail, send 15c. extra for postage. 

 Tinners' Snips and Wire-Cutter combined, 11 in. 3 00 



If wanted by mail, send 20c. extra for postage. 



BEE- VEILS FOR 25C. 



During the dull season, after the honey months, 

 we have plenty of time to look up new things, and 

 this season our girls have succeeded in making a 

 very pretty bee veil of mosquito bar, to be sold for 

 25c. In fact, we can send it by mail for that amount. 

 These are very handy to give visitors, even if you 

 do not need them yourself. The same, with a brus- 

 sels net facing, for 50c. 



