Ot'TOBRK J, lii!''> 



Headg of Graie firdDmn Differeelt Fields 



The Backlot Buzzer 



A cUij man wrote in the other day, and wanted 

 to know what to do ah(vt kin bees; then were work- 

 tri/7 on the gol'trnrod, and he loax afraid they'd get 

 the hay fever. 



Swarming with Queen-cells; Was it the Sea- 

 son or Something Else? 



I have been thinkine: for several days past of 

 writinjr you or Dr. Miller in regard to the abnormal 

 condition of bres in this locality (and I guess it's 

 ■luite genoral from what I am able to learn from 

 otlur localities). Yesterday, while talking with a 

 neighbor in rtgar-l to the condition (and he did not 

 stem to realize hov\- much out of line they were), he 

 urged me to write you, asking if you had ever had 

 any experience like it, and what of the result and 

 what to do. 



We are all having swarming, some the last few 

 veek», and I haven't found any of them who have 

 looked into the cause of it ; but most of them have 

 put the bpRS in new hives. I had a very strong 

 colony swarm ten days ago. As the queen was clip- 

 ped they were settling as I came to the yard. On 

 looking through them very carefully I found no 

 signs of a fiuecn cell — not even an embryo cell; but 

 what I did find was stacks of young bees and ten 

 frames of brood, some sealed from top to bottom, 

 end to end, and jilenty of e<r;rs and larva; of all 

 ages, Init not one scaled cell of honey in the brood- 

 chamber, nor any honey, so far as I could see. 

 They may have I:a<I o little honey in the supers 

 V there were t«'o on the hive as they needed tltcm 

 for room), but I could not dctei-t any there. I gave 

 them two frames of sealed honey on whiih the bees 

 died last winter. The next day I looked through 



Icii otlior colonies, finding practically the same 

 (oiulition. I gave five of them two frames each of 

 sejiled stores. Of course this is not advi.sablo gen- 

 rriilly, on account of danger of starting robbing. I 

 cniitractcd the entrances for 48 hours, and there 

 was no robbing, but there was some excitement in 

 ilic yard. 



Have you any records of such abnormal condi- 

 lion.s at this time of year with very little honey 

 I oiiiing in ? 



^\ hat is tlie iiMiiedy, and what is likely to be the 

 results ? 



TJrbana, O., Au^. ?>0. O. J. Jones. 



This was referred to Dr. C. C. Miller, who replies : 



The bees seem to be always trying some new stunt 

 to emphasize the fact that we don't know very much 

 about them. I'm not sure tliat I ever experienced 

 exactly the same thing you have had, but at least 

 some of the thing.s yon have had. You describe the 

 liivts as unusually full of brood, and not a cell of 

 sealed honey in the brood-chamber. This year my 

 hives were crammed with brood and no sealed honey 

 in the brood-chamber, only in my case there was 

 iiimey in tiie supers, and this was kept up through 

 tiie clover flow. I never saw just the same thing 

 liol'ore, and don't know for certain how to account 

 for there being no honey sealed in the brood-comi>s. 

 Indeed, there was very little honey unsealed in the 

 brocid-ehamber — no room for it. I gues-i that the 

 uiuisual wet and cold had something to do with it. 

 The colonies were very strong, and brood-rearing 

 -vent right on in days when bees could not get out, 

 leaving only enough cells for the unsealed honey, 

 tor you know that, no matter how much sealed hon- 

 ey may be present, some is always kept unsealed for 

 imn.ediiite use. 



It used to be counted the right thing for bees to 

 send out a swarm as soon as the first queen-cell is 

 sealed, and when left to themselves they generally 

 follow that rule. But unusual conditions or the 

 meddling of the i?eekeeper may cause them to disre- 

 gard it. Persistent cutting-out of queen-cells may 

 result in swarming with only eggs in queen-cells, if, 

 indeed, there be that much preparation. The ex- 

 ( itement of other bees swarming will sometimes 

 make a colony swarm before its normal time. Why 

 u.ight not the excitement of a sudden flow of honey 

 do the same thing' This year my bees had prob- 

 ably the same experience as yours. After having 

 done a good bit at storing on clover, they did almost 

 nothing all through August. Then in the first part 

 of September came a flow when the bees worked 

 with an excitement I never saw excelled, and seldom 

 equaled. I don't know whether any of mine 

 swarmed, but I know there were swarms in the 

 neighborhcod, and it is just possible that bees 

 swarmed here with as little preparation as yours. 



Marengo. 111. C. C. Miller. 



Does a Laying Queen ever Desert Her Hive 

 and Go into Another? 



Does a laying queen ever leave her hive, go to 

 another hive, and be accepted? An incident hap- 

 pened in my apiary which I cannot account for 

 otherwise. I removed the queen from a fairly strong 

 (olony which liad been fed to get in shape for 

 building cells. Uy its side was a three-frame nu- 

 I lens with a young laying queen. No nectar had 

 ^icen conii?.g in, and the nucleus was very short of 

 bimey. In eight days, when looking in the sup- 

 ji ised queenless .-olonx for cell.s, I was surprised to 

 lind a laying (lucen with brood in all .stages, and 



