JUNE 1, 1913 



bees. There must have been a bushel of 

 them. I determined then and there to have 

 them yet at any cost, even if I could find 

 no one to help me. I realized that it would 

 be useless to try to shake them off, so I 

 pushed my way as close to them as I could 

 and set a box near them. I stretched a sheet 

 over the box down under the bees and 

 started the smoker. I worked with those 

 bees for three hours, but they seemed de- 

 termined to cling to the old rail fence. I 

 kept on using smoke, driving them towai'd 

 the hives, which were full of old comb, as 

 the former occupants had starved. 



When one hive was so full that there was 

 not room for any more bees I moved it and 

 put another in its place. I again smoked 

 them toward the hive. When a woman will, 

 she will; and after three hours of work the 

 bees were safely in the hives. I found that 

 they had already started a comb on the 

 fence. I kept close watch over them until 

 evening, when I moved them to their fu- 

 ture stands. I wore my veil, but my hands 

 and arms were bare, and yet I had not re- 

 ceived a single sting. The next day I re- 

 moved a frame and placed a frame of brood 

 in each hive. I found later that one colony 

 had a queen which soon began laying. That 

 colony produced over sixty pounds of hon- 

 ey, fall flow. The other soon raised a fine 

 large queen, and they are the strongest colo- 

 nies I have this spring. 



I had quite an interesting chase of hide 

 and seek with them at one time. After 

 going through a hive three times I found 

 the queen, so large that I wondered how I 

 ever missed her. 



Another time a bumblebee flew into the 

 hive. How the bees did pounce upon it! 

 They finally drove it out. 



While I find the care of bees rather tire- 

 some work, yet it is both interesting and 

 profitable. It is a kind of work, too, which 

 any woman can do if she will. 



Hebron, Ohio. 



SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE MANNER IN 

 WHICH BEES USE THEIR STINGS 



Is it Natural for Bees to Lose Their Stings After 

 Using Tliem? 



BY WILLIAM BARNES 



In December 1st issue, page 778, I no- 

 ticed observations in regard to bees sting- 

 ing each other. My own experience has 

 been somewhat different, for I have noticed 

 on two different occasions sting's left in 

 workers after being stung. One was during 

 a case of robbing, and the other where a 

 small swarm had entered another hive of 



bees. There were dozens of bees with the 

 stings left in their thorax and sides. I saw 

 one bee with as many as three stings lodged 

 in it. Time after time have I watched t lie 

 effects of a fight since, but have failed to 

 find stings left in the dead bees. 



The other day (after reading the articles) 

 a very small queenless swarm came and set- 

 tled on a hive-cover; and as I had a very 

 weak queenless colony I thought I avouIcI 

 run the swarm into that hive so as to make 

 them strong enough to be worth a queen if 

 •they would unite; but they didn't. They 

 declared war, and fought it out to the bit- 

 ter end. I watched the results, and examin- 

 ed the dead bees aftenvard, but failed to 

 find even one bee with a sting sticking to it. 

 I myself have never seen either a queen or 

 drone with a sting lodged in it, but have 

 often seen bees bluffing at stinging drones, 

 but never really saw them do it. 



I agree with the editor that it is not nec- 

 cessary for bees to lose their stings when 

 using them against each other. I would 

 also go further and say that I don't think 

 it is in accordance with nature for bees to 

 lose their stings when stinging any thing, 

 as the loss of the sting is more often brought 

 about by some disturbing agency other than 

 the natural instincts of the bees. I should 

 like to have some of you old hardened bee- 

 keepers take the time and trouble (yes, you 

 will have some trouble to keep from smash- 

 ing your little pets), when working among 

 four bees, to give them a good test in re- 

 gard to stinging. 



If you see a bee (or feel it) alight on you 

 and sting, don't move, but just grip what 

 you have hold of and watch, wait, and 

 suffer. You will see some funny antics (on 

 the part of the bee) in her desire to free 

 herself, which she will accomplish about 

 eight times out of ten if you don't molest it 

 in any way, something after the way in 

 which they free themselves after stinging 

 each other, only it will take much longer on 

 account of having much tougher material 

 to work on. Of course I am speaking of 

 bees in their normal state, not those that 

 have been stirred up to the pitch when they 

 are just longing to throw away their lives 

 on account of an unnatural state of things 

 being brought about, such as dropping a 

 frame of bees, overturning their homes, or 

 stirring them up with your foot, etc. 



In regard to bees stinging animals, the 

 latter, on being stung, will invariably start 

 to play up, thereby angering the bees into 

 doing their best (or worst) by leaving their 

 stings behind, and then trying to do the 

 trick over again. 



One remarkable thing in letting a bee 

 extricate itself from your arm or whatever 



