582 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Sept. 10, 1903. 





Contributed Articles 





Something of Benefit to Beginners in Bee- 

 Keeping. 



{Read at the Minnesota Bee- Keepers^ Convention.) 

 BY A. B. HOOKER. 



I HAVE been requested to contribute a paper on this oc- 

 casion, and do so somewhat against my inclinations; 

 for the reason that I am not a large bee-keeper, and cer- 

 tainly do not pretend to be a scientific one. 



I have kept a few colonies of bees with moderate success 

 for a number of years, and, of course, have had an opportu- 

 nity to observe them more or less. 



This brings me to the point that suggested these few 

 remarks, namely, positive assertions pertaining to the 

 habits of bees, and to the subject of bee-keeping in general. 

 Assertions which have been handed down from the past, to- 

 gether with some of more recent origin, that are too often 

 repeated in view of the fact that they can not be relied upon. 

 In referring to some of these I do not expect to say anything 

 that will be new to experienced bee-keepers, but possibly 

 what I shall relate of my own experience may be of some 

 use to beginners. 



For instance, in reference to the swarming problem, we 

 are told that the requisite conditions for swarming are a 

 good honey-flow, brood in all stages, and plenty of young 

 beer. Now, we doubt not these conditions are usually found 

 in a hive from which a swarm is about to issue ; but it is not 

 always so. As a matter of fact, I have had swarms when 

 there was little or no honey coming in, and when I feared 

 they would starve if not fed. 



I have practiced caging queens to some extent to pre- 

 vent swarming; and after confining a queen for 10 or 12 

 days, taking care that no queen-cells were allowed to re- 

 main in the hive, I have not infrequently known colonies 

 so treated to swarm within a very short time after the queen 

 was released, and before it was possible for them to have 

 brood in all stages ; in fact, with little or no recent brood 

 at all. 



In verification of this I quote one of many similar 

 examples from my record of the past season : " Colony No. 

 31, July 4, swarmed." I will say here, by way of explanation, 

 that I use entrance-guards on all hives from which swarms are 

 expected ; thus confining the queen within the hive and in- 

 ducing the bees to return. This return of the bees must be 

 looked after, however, as I shall hereafter explain. But to 

 proceed with our record : "July Sth, caged the queen and 

 removed all the queen-cells. July ISth, liberated queen and 

 removed all cells. On the following day, July 16th, they 

 again swarmed.'' This shows that under some circum- 

 stances bees will swarm regardless of the condition of their 

 brood. 



Again, we are told, when bees swarm without their 

 queen, she being detained by entrance-guards or otherwise, 

 that they will soon return to their hive. But all experi- 

 enced bee-keepers must know that they very often scatter, 

 and many of them enter some other hive, unless they are 

 prevented from doing so. To obviate this, I aim to cover 

 with sheets of cotton-cloth, immediately, all hives from 

 which swarms are seen to start, and throw a little water 

 over them. If done promptly and well, very few bees will 

 get into the air, and, in a few minutes, the cloth may be 

 turned back, and the swarm will usually be found clustered 

 on the hive. 



But in case a swarm should get out, and on their return 

 attempt to enter some other hive than their own, cover that 

 hive at once and use the smoker, if necessary, until they 

 cease their efforts to enter. 



We are also told that when a colony has cast a first or 

 prime swarm, if they elect to swarm again, the second 

 swarm will issue in 8 or 9 days after the first swarm. This 

 is quite an important matter to the beginner, who accepts 

 it as truth ; for it may result in the loss of unlooked-for 

 swarms. I have found this to be wholly unreliable. My 

 bees hold the entire matter in supreme contempt. Young 

 bees often hatch almost immediately after the first swarm 

 goes out, and they are therefore ready to swarm again. 



I will once more quote from my record of a previous 



year : " Colony No. 2, June 18th, swarmed ; removed old 

 queen ; later in the day opened this hive and removed an- 

 other queen, evidently a virgin. July 20th, swarmed, re- 

 turned without clustering; young queen hatched; plenty 

 of very recent brood." Here we have queens hatching on 

 the same day the prime swarm issued. And, again, " Col- 

 ony No. 8, June 13th, swarmed; removed the old queen ; 

 June 17th, young queen hatched." 



I could quote from my records many similar instances, 

 however it is not necessary to pursue the subject further. 

 But, in passing, I wish to emphasize the necessity of sub- 

 jecting all conclusions in reference to the conduct of bees 

 to the severe test of a long and vigilant experience before 

 publishing them as truths. 



Bees are subject to such variable conditions that I 

 think any affirmations in regard to their behavior should 

 usually be qualified. 



Again, beginners are sometimes disappointed by mis- 

 leading statements concerning some of our modern inven- 

 tions ; as, for example, the case with which swarming may 

 be controlled for a day or two by means of queen-traps or 

 entrance-guards. Just put these on hives from which swarms 

 are expected, and go away to town or where you please, 

 perhaps leaving the children to look after the bees a little, 

 and when you return home and have the time to spare, go 

 around and see if there is anything to do. Just so. 



But suppose, in the meantime, several swarms issue ; 

 some of them will be almost certain to cluster together, and, 

 when they return, some hives will most likely get very few 

 bees, and others will get more than their share. Possibly, 

 too, to complicate matters further, a queen or two may be 

 killed by the returning bees. And, again, it occasionally 

 happens that a queen gets through the guard ; or a colony 

 may swarm that is not expected to do so, or a swarm from 

 another apiary may come along and unite with your bees, 

 and then off to the woods they all go together. 



The serene bee-keeper, when he returns, may feel that 

 the thing was a great success, being ignorant of what had 

 transpired in his absence ; but later, in all probability, he 

 will come to the conclusion that bees do not pay. 



Some time ago a very well known bee-keeper and con- 

 tributor to bee-papers, wrote an article in which he set forth 

 the merits of the Manum swarm-catcher, and expatiated 

 upon the ease and certainty with which swarms could be 

 managed by its use. I have not the article before me, but 

 I recollect that the gist of it is : That with two or three 

 poles, the longest being 20 feet— to meet, Isn-ppose, exireitie 

 cases — any one could readily control the situation. Now, I 

 had one of these catchers, but I had not used it very often. 

 On reading the mentioned article, however, I resolved to try 

 it again. This man must know what he is talking about, 

 thought I ; the fault must have been mine, if it had not al- 

 ways accomplished for me as much as he claimed for it. 



An opportunity soon came. I do not intend to allow 

 any swarms to cluster with their queens, but it sometimes 

 happens, nevertheless. One day a swarm came out which I 

 had reason to think might have a queen with them. They 

 alighted on a limb of a tree, and I noticed that they chose 

 a rather lofty location. But, nothing daunted, I went for my 

 catcher, and with heroic confidence I raised the machine on 

 high. But the swarm, for some inexplicable reason, did 

 not deign to notice it. I raised it still higher ; I held it at 

 arm's length, still those unorthodox bees stubbornly refused 

 to tumble into it. What could it mean ? I paused to con- 

 sider. I had confidence in my author; he said the thing 

 would work, and I was bound to believe it. 



After awhile I was aroused from my reflections by my 

 neighbor across the street, calling to me and asking what I 

 was trying to do there. I told him I was going to take 

 down that swarm of bees. "Humph," said he, "pretty 

 high up, aren't they ? Look here, I have an extension lad- 

 der, better come and get it ; I will help you ; possibly by its 

 aid you may be able to reach them." 



"Reach them," I repeated to myself. Could it be pos- 

 sible that was the trouble ? I stuck the end of the 20-foot 

 pole in the ground and stepped to one side to take observa- 

 tions. Sure enough, the catcher did not appear to reach 

 them. According to my view there appeared to be an in- 

 terval of 25 feet or more between the catcher and the bees. 

 Still I was not convinced. It is unwise to form opinions 

 hastily. This might be another instance of " locality." 



However, as a solution of the problem seemed hopeless 

 at this time, and as I had some fears that the bees might 

 become discouraged and fly away, I resolved to take my 

 neighbor's advice and try the ladder. Accordingly I pro- 

 cured it. After drawing it out to its full length, and climb- 



