1S8§ 



CLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



673 



requires the pulling-apart of the hive and a 

 general disturbance of the bees as a result. 

 We try to emphasize to beginners to let the 

 introducing-cage do the work itself. In re- 

 gard to taking the bees from one hive and 

 the queen from another, and mixing them 

 in the shape of a pound package, we think 

 the queen will be accepted in a majority of 

 cases. .Sometimes when we have had an 

 untested queen that we wanted to send out 

 with a pound of bees in a nucleus that 

 could hardly spare the bees, we have made 

 up a pound from three or four different 

 hives, mixing the bees thoroughly together. 

 After that we drop in the queen. We have 

 never yet had a report that the queen in 

 such cages was killed. It is simply carrying 

 out the Doolittle plan. Ordinarily, the bees 

 and queen should be taken from the same 

 hive, as it is better not to take any risk- 

 especially so as every shipper should guar- 

 antee safe delivery of a live queen, together 

 with the pound of bees, to his customer. 



AN APIARY VISITED BY A CYCLONE AND THEN BY 

 A FLOOD; RECOVERY FROM THE WRECK. 



Six weeks ago I almost made up my mind to 

 write and tell you to put mine among the Reports 

 Discouraging. Last January, if you remember, I 

 wrote to you telling you of tbe cyclone playing 

 havoc with our bees. Well, this time it is the flood. 

 The flood of June 1st destroyed nearly all our bees 

 (60 hives). A number of the hives were completely 

 destroyed, and in the rest there were more than 

 one-half of Ihe bees drowned in each hive. If I 

 had not made a boom of timbers around our bee- 

 yard, bees, hives, and all would have gone away. 

 Before the flood, our hives were full of bees, and 

 we were in hopes we should get a good crop of 

 honey; but our hopes are blasted. To date 1 have 

 taken about fifteen pounds of honey, and it will be 

 about all we can get this year. But it is surprising 

 how they have built up since the flood. All the brood, 

 sealed and unsealed, in the hives during the flood, 

 the bees carried out, and now the hives are full of 

 bees again. Within a square of our place, nine 

 houses, two large ice-houses, and two bridges, were 

 carried away, besides a number of barns, etc. At 

 one of the bridges fourteen persons were drowned. 

 Newberry, my postofhee address, is a suburb of 

 Williamsport, and I suppose you have read how 

 Williamsport, has suffered. 



Frank W. Liqhton. 



Newberry, Pa., July -29, 1889. 



HOW I GOT RID OF FERTILE WORKERS ; FORMING 

 NUCLEI, ETC. 



Not having time to go through with any scientific 

 operations to get rid of fertile workers, I continued 

 to give them brood from other colonies as fast as I 

 thought they could take care of it. After awhile 

 the fertile worker ceased laying; they raised a 

 queen from the brood given them, and she is now 

 tending to business with " neatness and dispatch." 



HOW BEES SPREAD THE NEWS IN A HIVE. 



I took a frame of brood with the bees adhering, 

 and put them in a hive by themselves. 1 put an 

 empty frame beside the one with the brood, and 

 then a division-board. Then 1 brought another 

 frame and shook the bees into the new hive, and 

 returned the frame. I fastened a queen-cell on to 

 the frame that had brood. I knew the young queen 

 was about ready to emerge, because when T put 



the small end of the cell up to my ear I could hear 

 her at work inside. Well, in an hour or two 1 went 

 to see how they were getting along, and found 

 them contented and happy. Quite a number of 

 them were around the entrance, going through all 

 the operations usually found when bees have es- 

 tablished themselves and are contented. 



While I was watching, a bee came out in a tre- 

 mendous state of excitement. It rushed pellmell 

 against the first bee it came to, then whack head- 

 first against another, over the top of the next, un- 

 til it had visited every bee around the entrance. 

 In fact, its whole anatomy seemed to vibrate with 

 excitement. This took place late in the afternoon, 

 toward evening; and next morning I found the 

 young queen on the comb. Now, Mr. Root, do you 

 suppose that that bee was on hand when the young 

 queen made her appearance and was carrying the 

 good news to the rest of the bees? I wonder if she 

 heralded the advent of that queen throughout the 

 length and breadth of the new settlement; and I 

 wonder if there will be as great rejoicings when she 

 returns (if she does) from a successful wedding- 

 trip. Arch. Duncan. 



Wyoming, Ont., Can., July 27, 1889. 



Giving plenty of brood in all stages of de- 

 velopment to any colony having a fertile 

 worker will sooner or later cure it. In fact, 

 fertile workers are only the result of keep- 

 ing the hive too long without queen or 

 brood. I have never noticed the kind of be- 

 havior of the bees you describe, when a 

 queen is hatched ; in fact, I have never 

 seen them make any demonstration of the 

 kind unless it was when a laying queen was 

 given them, or a comb of brood. Bees that 

 are hopelessly queenless, and have been so 

 for some time, will usually manifest their 

 joy when either queen or brood is given 

 them, and they manifest it in much the way 

 you describe. The hatching of a young 

 queen might, under some circumstances, 

 produce such an effect. But, as I have said, 

 I have never been able to see that the colo- 

 ny took much if any notice of such an event. 



HIVE-LEGS IN BOWLS OF WATER; PALMETTO 

 HONEY. 



Every thing we ordered came, and there was no 

 damage of any kind. I guess you wondered what 

 we wanted with so many bowls. I have my hives 

 on stnnds, each having four legs. The bowls are 

 placed so that each "leg" stands in a bowl. The 

 bowls are kept full of water. In some I put a little 

 salt. The bees get water and salt as they need it, 

 while the large ants can not get at the bees. I be- 

 lieve in shade, and have my six colonies under pal- 

 metto-trees, which are just commencing to bloom. 

 The bees get a nice honey from it, something like 

 white-clover honey, if I remember aright. I may 

 send you a sample if I find a piece of comb of small 

 enough size. When I send samples I like to send 

 comb honey. 



ORANGE-TREES. 



I do not think orange-trees give honey every 

 year alike. While the conditions were so that at 

 Orlando a drop of honey could be seen in the blos- 

 som, I looked ever so often at them here, and at 

 first imagined the bees were getting pollen; but by 

 observing them closely 1 found they went home 

 loaded with honey. Each bee visited quite a num- 

 ber of blossoms, and the trees " hummed " with the 



