1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



833 



tie bees ; and, sure enpugh, they were little. 

 Upon raising up the old hive we could see 

 nothing but old comb, nearly black, with the 

 smallest cells I have ever seen, I think. I 

 asked him how old they were, and it is my 

 recollection now that he said, after counting 

 up, and of course consulting his wife, they 

 were about sixteen years old. 



"Well," said I, " Charlie, let us see what 

 Gleanings says about it. I've got a new 

 one that I've not read, and I just now remem- 

 ber there was a question asked, or something 

 mentioned about those little bees last month." 

 Sure enough, there it was, and the reason as- 

 signed for it was that each young bee that 

 was hatched in a cell left a very thin film, or 

 the covering of the pupa, while in the embryo 

 state, sticking to the sides of the cell, and in 

 time this would cause the cells to become so 

 small that the bees were, perforce, very much 

 smaller because there was not room to grow 

 larger ; but if we would cut out the old comb, 

 and allow them to make new, the bees would 

 be the usual size. My own observation since 

 has confirmed that position. It is a fact just 

 the same, that those old box-hive bee-farmers 

 know about bees, and one among the very few 

 facts they do know about them ; that is, that 

 the bees get smaller. 



Schell City, Mo., Feb. 22. 



[You refer to the "young man " who was 

 raised in an apiary " conducted on scientific 

 principles and theories." Perhaps you are 

 not aware that that young man will be 39 on 

 the 23d of next June. Besides the experience 

 that he gleaned from our own apiaries con- 

 ducted on "scientific principles " he has been 

 under the tutelage of some of the successful 

 beekeepers in the land, visited some of the 

 largest apiaries, and some of the small ob- 

 scure ones. 



Just 21 years ago this spring I (for I sup- 

 pose I am the "young man" referred to) 

 transferred, or helped to transfer at least, 

 something like 100 colonies in box hives into 

 the then modern Simplicity hives. At various 

 times after that I did more or less transferring 

 from box hives and from old-style Langstroth 

 hives, the combs of which had been in almost 

 constant use for about 15 years. About 10 

 years ago I transferred 80 colonies. In all 

 my experience I do not remember that black 

 bees in any of the old box hives, or of the old 

 Langstroth hives, from the old combs, were 

 any smaller than the bees of the same queens 

 that were subsequently reared in combs just 

 built off from foundation. You say I would 

 not need to take a micrometer to measure ei- 

 ther the bees or the cells. If the difference 

 was so great as you point out, it seems to me 

 I should have seen it. 



Again, how are we going to get around this 

 fact, brought out by Dr. Miller on page 217 in 

 one of his Straws ? If, as he says, the cocoons 

 are as thick on the walls as in the bottoms, 

 the cells would measure, so far as inside diam- 

 eter is concerned, 13 to the inch instead of 5, 

 and it would, according to his calculation, 

 take 6|4f of the bees to weigh as much as a 

 common bee. If you have ever attempted to 

 render up combs in a solar wax-extractor you 



could hardly fail to notice the cocoons in the 

 bottoms of the cells were sometimes y% inch 

 thick, while on the sides of the cells there 

 might be three or four layers. Now, then, if 

 the bees will remove the excess of cocoons on 

 the sides at all, why should they not reduce 

 them whenever the accumulation is sufficient 

 at any time to hinder the growth of the bees? 

 They leave the accumulations in the bottom 

 of the cells because it is easier to do so, and 

 then bring the length up to the required point. 



As a maker of foundation I should like to 

 believe all you write; but I do not believe the 

 facts really support your position. I am still 

 open to conviction ; but if you are wrong and 

 Dr. Miller and myself right, we should be sav- 

 ing bee-keepers hundreds of dollars — yes, 

 thousands. 



Still again, I think you will find that the 

 actual micrometer measurement of the waists 

 of the bees from old and new combs will not 

 vary any considerable amount. It is true, the 

 box-hive men sometimes think that bees are 

 growing smaller ; but old bees, after the fuzz 

 is worn off their backs, look smaller and black- 

 er, especially if they are black bees, than the 

 younger ones. If some one near here will 

 send me a comb that he knows to be 15 or 

 more years old I will put this in a colony be- 

 side a new comb. After some bees hatch from 

 each I'll measure them with a micrometer. 

 This will settle the question beyond a perad- 

 venture. 



I have been already making some measure- 

 ments of the waists of bees ; and after a little 

 I will give some of the results to the public. 

 —Ed.] 



««« 



ARTIFICIAL OR BRUSHED SWARMS FOR COMB- 

 HONEY PRODUCTION. 



Conditions Under which Brushed Swarms will do 

 Better than Colonies that have Not Swarmed. 



BY L. STACHEI,HAUSEN. 



On page 87 C. Davenport raises some objec- 

 tions to my management for comb honey. 

 First, he thinks that in his locality it is not 

 profitable to swarm colonies before they have 

 started queen-cells. I do not exactly form ar- 

 tificial swarms for comb-honey production, 

 but I take away all the brood and give start- 

 ers in its place. The brood is hatched in an- 

 other hive, but given back when it is changed 

 to field-bees, so the whole force of the colony 

 is utilized in this single hive. The main pur- 

 pose is to force the bees into the sections. 



For discussion of this objection we will ask, 

 " What causes the swarmin g- fever ? " With- 

 out going into details, I will say that a sur- 

 plus of young bees, compared with unsealed 

 brood, will, at the proper season, incite the 

 swarming impulse. In small hives this is 

 caused as soon as the number of empty cells 

 is not sufiicient for the prolificness of the 

 queen. In large hives the swarming-impulse 

 is not incited before the queen reaches the 

 limit of her prolificness. I have, in large 

 hives, many times observed that the queen 

 had laid, during the previous 21 days, 3400 



