1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE, 



1319 



days, when a swarm came on as before. This 

 time I was not at home, but Mrs. Pellet saw them 

 going in. After coming home I tried again to 

 smoke them out, but met with poor success, as 

 they had become pretty well established and 

 would return as soon as the smoke let up. After 

 considerable difficulty we reached the swarm 

 through a hole in the partition wall inside of the 

 house and drove them out, only to have them re- 

 turn as soon as we stopped the smoker, so we gave 

 it up. I think, however, the queen was killed in 

 the mix-up, as the bees stopped work and loafed 

 around, disappearing entirely in a few days. 



While we had bees ourselves I am satisfied that 

 these came from a distance, and there is no ques- 

 tion in my mind but that the advance agents fix- 

 ed up the quarters to suit their requirements. 



About the last week in April I noted a commo- 

 tion in front of ones of the hives in our bee-yard, 

 and went to see what was the matter. In front 

 of the hive on the alighting-board was a bunch 

 of bees making a big fuss over something. I 

 carefully brushed them aside, only to find a queen 

 badly disabled, but I can not make up my mind 

 whether the bees were driving her out to be re- 

 placed by a younger one or whether she was a 

 stranger that had made the mistake of entering 

 the wrong hive. Unfortunately the hive is one 

 in which the combs are built crosswise, so that 

 we could not investigate the conditions within, 

 so are entirely in the dark. I took the queen 



away from the bees, but she was not able to walk, 

 so was of no value. Will some one with wider 

 observation please tell me the cause of this com- 

 motion? 



Atlantic, Iowa. 



[It is quite likely that the queen on the alight- 

 ing-board was one which was returning from a 

 flight, and had mistaken the entrance. — Ed.] 



A BACK -LOT BEE-KEEPER; BEE- 

 KEEPING FOR PLEASURE AS 

 WELL AS PROFIT. 



BY WALTER S. POUDER. 



The engraving below represents the little home 

 apiary of Dr. Henry Jameson, of Indianapolis, 

 and is a fair example of what pleasures can be ac- 

 quired by keeping a few hives of bees in large 

 cities as a pastime and a change for recreation. 

 The doctor derives a great deal of pleasure from 

 his flower-gardens, one of old-fashioned flowers, 

 and the other of up-to-date flowers, and also from 

 his motor car; but I will venture that nothing 

 has given him more pleasure this summer than 

 taking care of his bees. 



He began his first experience on the 23d of 

 May, with two three-frame nuclei in chaff hives 

 and an extra hive to be used in case a swarm 

 should issue. By spreading brood and adding 



APIARY OF DR. HENRY JAMESON, INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA. 



