1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



0«!* 



" Let the bees care for it till it hatches in the up- 

 per story." 

 '• Well, I must 1)0 goinji." 



" Well, call ag-aiu." Chai.on Fowls. 



Ohorliii, Ohio, June 2:i, ISST. 



M;my thanks, friend Fowls. You seem to 

 be as full of enthusiasm as you used to be, 

 and I think the readers of Glkaninos will 

 all agree with us that your visit, through the 

 medium of Glkanin<{s, has been prolitable 

 to all.— In regard to reversing, 1 do not be- 

 lieve 1 can answer your Yankee (juestion. 

 For some reason or other we have not heartl 

 very much lately in regard to it. Knowing 

 that you were once an advocate of the prin- 

 ciple', 1 desired to know what you thought 

 of it. even up to the present time, and am 

 glad you like it. If I am correct, you are 

 using Simplicity reversible wired corners. 

 We are using them in our own apiaries, to 

 the exclusion of all others. Your idea, 

 whether original with yourself or not. of 

 bringing the brood close to the surplus de- 

 partment above, by means of reversing, is 

 good. Since receiving your manuscript we 

 have tried a colony with the frames reversed 

 as you direct. Up to the present time the 

 plan seems to be working favorably, but we 

 have hardly had time to see whattlie results 

 would be. Mr. Gilhooly's visit reminds me 

 somewhat of the visits I used to make you. 

 I do not know that I propounded so many 

 practical questions ; but I am sure that all 

 of us, as well as your friend Gilhooly, will 

 understand your system of contracting, and 

 what you do with the surplus combs after 

 contraction. Your method of converting 

 Simplicity or chaff hives into small Ileddon 

 hives, with half-depth frames, is quite feas- 

 ible. Those who do not wish to go to any 

 great expense in testing the Heddon and 

 Hutchinson systems can do so in the way 

 you suggest, at a very small outlay, and yet 

 arrive at practical results. We are in hopes 

 that Mr. Gilhooly will call on you again, and 

 that your reporter Mill be as faithful in 

 transcribing the conversation as he did the 

 above. 



INFLUENCE OF THE QUEEN. 



HER MA.JESTY, THE KULER. 



SF late I have noticed that some have been 

 speculating, or, rather, guessing, at the 

 sphere or influence e.verted by the queen. 

 Some have said, that the swarming impulse 

 was due to the influence of the workers, and 

 that the issuing of swarms was also from the same 

 source. I have no doubt but that these sayings 

 have been to a very great extent the result of 

 guesswork, or the theoretical speculations of those 

 who never probed the mutter very deep. Now, the 

 word queen would be a term misapplied if it did 

 not refer to a personage having power to rule; 

 further, I do not believe that it would be an 

 overstretch of facts were I to say that the entire 

 creation, so far as animated nature is concerned, 

 is governed or controlled to agreat extent by a lead- 

 ing head or ruler. Take, for instance, a herd of 

 cattle, and it will be noticed that some member of 

 the herd invariably directs the course and footsteps 

 of the rest. If they get into mischief, some particu- 



lar member is the leader. This same principle can 

 be traced from man on down to the insect-world. 

 It seems to me, that at this stage of progression 

 this (juestion ought to be settled, although it looks 

 at tli-st sight as if it were a matter of but Utile 

 practical utility; yet when we come to write out 

 the minutiic, .just such (juestions become important 

 and ofttimes become the most dillicult to answer. 

 Now. I do not expect to be able to settle this ques- 

 tion in the minds of all ; but ti> those who doubt the 

 inHueiice and ruling power of the (pieen, let inc 

 say, go to a colony of bees OT or liO minutes before a 

 swarm issues; place your ear to the hive»and ket-p 

 it there until the swarm issues; then tell me the re- 

 sult of what you hear, and see if it does not corres- 

 liond with the following: 



1. The busy hum f)f worker bees, broken only by 

 the piping of an excited ()ueen. This state of affairs 

 continues, and finall.v .vou hear a low, peculiar gut- 

 tural sound, and simultaneously with this sound 

 j'ou will hear a great roar, and the issuing of a 

 swarm is the order of the moment. Now keep your 

 ear at the side of the hive, and you will hear the 

 loud roar of the bees gradually subsiding; again 

 will you hear the low guttural command of the 

 queen, and again will the worker-bees pour forth 

 with greater vigor, and this continues until the 

 queen leaves the hive. When the order of march 

 settles to a gradual quiet movement, you .will no 

 longer see the bees coming forth in gushes, at the 

 command of their supreme ruler. The above ap- 

 plies more particularly to first swarms; after- 

 swarms issue from a different impulse; yet the 

 same command precedes all swarms of first or 

 after origin. There are other conditions in which 

 bees will swarm out or leave the hive in a body, 

 where this command may or may not be heard. 



Siam, Towa, June 14,1887. K. B. Bobbins. 



On one occasion, several years ago, while 

 we were standing at the entrance, in front 

 of the hive, we heard a sharp piping of the 

 queen. It was long and continued. Imme- 

 diately after, there was a rush for the en- 

 trance, and a large swarm issued. On other 

 occasions we have stood at the entrance of 

 hives, immediately prior to and at the time 

 the swarm issued. Init did not hear the sharp 

 note of the queen. Both of these instances 

 were with first swarms. In the second case 

 the ([ueen may have uttered a sharp note ; 

 but certain it is, we did not hear it. We 

 should be glad to hear from others as to 

 whether they have noticed this singular 

 phenomenon hefore the issuing of swarms. 



A SHORT STORY "WITH A MORAL, IN 

 TWO CHAPTERS. 



CHAPTER I.— BLASTED HOPES. 



I HE best imported (|ueen you sent me arrived 

 safely; but while inti-oducing her she flew 

 |> off the frames and I have not seen her since, 

 although I left the hive open an hour, think- 

 ing she might come back. If she entered 

 one of the seventy stands we have, I shall never be 

 any the wiser. If you have another best imported 

 queen as nice as this one, please send her at once. 

 Mrs. a. F. Proper. 

 Portland, Ind., July .5. 1887. 



Now, none but those who have passed 



