^1861 



^f^EHICA^ 



43d YEAR. 



CHICAGO, ILL, FEB. 19, 1903, 



No. 8, 



^ ^ Editorial. ^^ \ 



Shaken Sivarms. — Much has been writ- 

 ten and said about shaken swarms, but it may 

 not be amiss to give somewhat succinctly the 

 manner of proceeding in general, so that any 

 new-comer may have the desired information, 

 and that any others may have it for ready 

 reference. 



Shake off part or all of the bees from the 

 combs, leaving on the old stand the old queen 

 with the bees and frames filled with full 

 sheets or starters of foundation. That's the 

 thing in a nutshell, and it is very simple, 

 there being left on the old stand much the 

 same as a natural swarm. 



Yet, as to the minuti^ of proceeding, espe- 

 cially as to the disposal of the frames of 

 brood, there is much diversity of opinion and 

 practice. What is best for one place, or for 

 one set of conditions, may not be best for 

 another, and there is left room for each one 

 to use his own judgment. 



Some wait until the presence of queen-cells 

 sbow preparation for swarming before operat- 

 ing. Some operate as soon as the colonies 

 are sufficiently strong, or the season suffi- 

 ciently advanced, without waiting for queen- 

 cells. As already intimated, some shake off 

 only part of the bees, others shake and brush 

 off all. As to what is left in the hive with 

 the shaken swarm on the old stand, the same 

 variation prevails as with natural swarms. 

 Some hive the swarm on starters, some on 

 frames filled with foundation. Some give to 

 the swarm a frame of brood in order to pre- 

 vent absconding, but this frame of brood is 

 by many removed and replaced with founda- 

 tion after two or three days. 



So much for the swarm itself; now as to 

 the disposal of the brood. Half the bees, or 

 such a matter, may be shaken into the swarm, 

 and the brood with the remaining bees put on 

 a new stand, there to rear a queen, or else to 

 have a queen or queen-cell given them. Tn 

 any case all the field-bees may be expected to 

 return to the old stand. 



All the bees may be brushed from the 

 combs, and the combs distributed where they 

 will do the most good— perhaps for helping to 

 build up weak colonies. A favorite w»y in 

 some parts of Europe is to put the combs of 

 beeless brood in a second story over another 

 strong colony, and it is said that a colony 

 thus strengthened will not be expected to 

 swarm. But this is when working for ex- 

 tracted rather than for comb houey. 



It will be well for beginners to become 



somewhat familiar with this matter, and take 

 those peculiar plans which may seem best 

 adapted to their circumstances, modifying 

 them afterward as experience may dictate. 

 Questions concerning the matter will no 

 doubt be cheerfully answered in the proper 

 department, but when making out your ques- 

 tions, first study carefully whether some of 

 them are not fully answered in what is said 

 here. 



Ga.soliiie a.s a 3Iotor for extractors — 

 Editor Root has " in his head " a gasoline- 

 engine by which a honey-extractor may be 

 operated with the expenditure of not more 

 than a quart of gasoline per day. 



Fertilization in Confinement. — Copy- 

 ing after the Davitte plan, R. F. Holtermann 

 reports in Gleaaings in Bee-Culture an ex- 

 periment with a tent 25 feet high and 30 feet 

 in diameter. The tent was close beside a 

 large apiary, and on the side of the tent next 

 the apiary were placed nuclei containing vir- 

 gin queens, and at the opposite side colonies 

 containing the drones. In each case free en- 

 trance at the will of the bee-keeper was 

 allowed for the drones and queens into the 

 tent, the regular outside entrance for the 

 workers being supplied with perforated zinc. 

 The drones flew freely, and seemingly at 

 home, in the tent, but the queens spent their 

 time trying to get out through the perforated 

 zinc, and were fertilized only when the zinc 

 was removed, so as to allow their flight into 

 the open air. If the drones could be per- 

 suaded to " make themselves at home " in 

 the tent, it seems that it ought not to be im- 

 possible to persuade the young queens to do 

 the same. 



>I<>ving Bees. — It is generally understood 

 that while bees moved only a short distance 

 return in large numbers to the old stand, 

 those moved a long distance mark anew the 

 location and stay where they are put. Geo. 

 W. Williams thinks this is a mistake, and 

 says in the Progressive Bee Keeper: 



While the bees are shut up in the hive, as 

 they must be to move them, how do they 

 know whether they arebeiagmoved five miles 

 or five rods '. They do not know, nor have 

 no way of ascertaining until they get out of 

 their hive and look around, and the old bee 

 that has been moved five miles comes out of 

 the hive, if there is no obstruction in the 

 way, and files direct, as she thinks, for the 

 old field, but finds, when too late, that she is 

 in a new territory, and lost, lost " tor keeps," 

 while those moved only a short distance re- 

 turn and hover around their old stand, and 

 we can see tUem and note the number lost; 

 while those moved a long distance do not 

 know where to go. scatter about and perish, 

 and we have no way of knowing how many 

 are lost only by the depletion in the hive. 



There are just ^s many bees lost out of a 



colony moved five miles or five rods, if every- 

 thing else is equal. The point in favor of the 

 long-distance move is brought about from the 

 fact that in a long-distance move we "shake 

 and disturb the bees more than in a short 

 move, and the more they are disturbed the 

 more they will lly around the entrance at the 

 first coming out to see what the trouble is. 



While this may be worth thinking about, 

 the probability is that those who have moved 

 bees to a distance will say that they have 

 never noticed any depletion in numbers, and 

 if it be true that "there are just as many bees 

 lost out of a colony moved five miles or five 

 rods," there ought to be no difficulty in rec- 

 ognizing a great diminution in numbers. 



Swarms With Clipped Queens. — Do 



swarming bees usually cluster on the ground 

 with a clipped queen '. Delos Wood and Dr. 

 Miller say in Gleanings in Bee-Culture that 

 when a swarm issues with a clipped queen 

 they rarely find the queen on the ground with 

 a cluster of bees about her; that when she 

 comes out she will be climbing about in the 

 grass looking out for herself, and in the great 

 majority of cases will return to the hive with- 

 out any cluster being formed about her. 

 Editor Root favors what is perhaps the com- 

 monly accepted view, replying to Mr. Wood : 



You and Dr. Miller may be right; but cer- 

 tain it is that many clipped queens I have 

 found near the entrance of the hives, from 

 colonies that had just cast a swarm, and had 

 a cluster of bees around them. It may be that 

 I happened on to the " exceptions that prove 

 the rule." 



Qiieenless Bees Carrying Pollen. — 



It is probably accepted as a rule quite gen- 

 erally that a queenless colony carries in little 

 or no pollen, and it is also agreed that an 

 unusual amount of pollen will be found stored 

 in such a colony. These two things do not go 

 together. Close observation will probably 

 show that a queenless colony carries in as 

 much pollen as a colony having a queen if the 

 observation be made during the first part of 

 its queenlessness. But the pollen not being 

 needed to feed young bees, there is an accu- 

 mulation, and either because the bees realize 

 that it is not needed, or for some other rea- 

 son, they carry in very little pollen. So the 

 rule is of no value when applied to a colony 

 that has been queenless only a short time; 

 but when a colony is found carrying in little 

 or no pollen when others are carrying in 

 much, it may be suspected that such a colony 

 has been without a queen for some time. 



Bulk Comb Honey.— Mr. H. H. Hyde 

 serves notice in the Bee-Keepers' Review that. 

 Texas will produce bulk comb honey in spite 

 of any effort of a National organization to 

 the contrai-y. He says, " I fancy that the 



