534 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Aug. 20, 



It seems, too, that they began to discuss the question of 

 hives at a very early period. In proof of which note the fol- 

 lowing : 



" Whether of hollow Bark thou dost contrive. 

 Or elee with liml>er Twlp8 compose the Hive, 

 Make straight the Gate." 



" Collumella gives a reason why Hives of Bark are best. 

 ' Hives,' salth he, ' are to be made according to the condition 

 of the Country, whether it abound with Bark (doubtless we 

 make most beneficial Hives of Bark, for they are not cold in 

 Winter nor hot in Summer) or whether there be store of 

 Reeds, which being near the nature of Bark, are very proper 

 for this use ; if neither of these may be had, they may be 

 woven of Willows ; and for want of all a piece of hollow 

 Tree,'" 



The translator says, "With us there are but two sorts in 

 use, made of straw^and] wicker,![the first preferred by Mr, 

 Butler." 



It is probably needless for me to say again that I have 



followed the translator in the use of capitals, punctuation, etc. 



" Next, when hright Sol makes Winter's cold retreat 

 Behind the Earth, and opens Heaven with Heat, 

 Straight they draw out and wander Groves and Woods. " 



"They go not forth/ to work in the beginning of the 

 Spring, but in the midst, or rather, as Pliny observes, in the 

 latter end thereof," 



It is of interest to note the idea these people had of the 



influence of sound upon bees, and also how old is the custom 



of making a noise to prevent the bees from decamping when 



they swarm, 



" Make a brazen sound. 

 And beat the Cymbals of the Goddess round : 

 They on charmed Boughs will stay, or else retreat, 

 As is the Custom, to their Parents' Seat." 



"Bees at the sound of Brass, or other Metals, are so afraid 

 that they light upon the next place. Aristotle ascribes this 

 to the delight thay take in the Sound : La Cerda proves the 

 contrary from the same effect at the noise of Thunder. 



"The Cymbals of Rhea us'd by the Corybantes at her 

 bringing forth Jupiter, to conceal the cries of the child from 

 Saturn; though Germanus observes that Cymbals were like- 

 wise us'd in the Orgies of Bacchus. Pliny saitb. That 

 bees delight in the tinkling of Brass, and by that means are 

 called together: whereby it is manifest that they have the 

 sense of Hearing. But Aristotle makes a doubt of it whether 

 they stop through delight or fear." 



There was no doubt in the minds of these early writers as 

 to bees being able to hear. 



'• Oft between Two Kings great discord and sad wars have been." 



The annotator remarks, " The occasions whereof, accord- 

 ing to Aristotle and Pliny, are four. Want of sustenance. Love 

 of the Flowers, Hate of their Neighbors, Pride of their Kings." 



Virgil had not gotten away from the idea of a "King 

 Bee," 



" The Kings amidst the Train in Armor shine. 

 And miglity souls in narrow breasts confine." 



".That the Kings are eminently distinguished from the 

 rest.js confessed by all that write upon this subject. Pliny 

 saith, 'By their more exact form, as big again as the rest, 

 their Wings shorter, their Thighs stralghter, their Walk more 

 erect, amidst 'their forehead a white spot like a Diadem ; 

 Much likewise differ they from the ordinary sort by their 

 Whiteness.'" St. Joseph, Mo. 



(To be continned.) 



A Nte-w Binder for holding a year's numbers of the 

 American Bee Journal, we propose to mail, postpaid, to every 

 siibscriber who sends us 15 cents. It Is called "The Wood 

 Binder," is patented, and Is an entirely new and very simple 

 arrangement. Full printed directions accompany each Binder. 

 Every reader should get it, and preserve the copies of the Bee 

 Journal as fast as they are received. They are invaluable for 

 reference, and at the low price of the Binder you can afford to 

 get It yearly. 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. C. O. MILLER, MARUKGO, ILL. 



LQuestlons may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct.! 



Wliere Did liie Eggs Come From ? 



Some time ago there was about one pint of bees on my 

 honey-house which had no queen, and after trying three days 

 they succeeded in getting through into the house, and soon 

 found some old combs which I had carried into the house nine 

 days previous to the bees finding them. They went to work 

 to rear a queen, and in two days they had two queen-cells 

 started, and I watched them until one of them .hatched out, 

 and she was a very fine looking queen. Where did they get 

 the eggs from which to rear these queens '? J. L. N. 



Cocoa, Fla., July 27. 



Answer. — It is possible those bees had some kind of a 

 queen after all. A bunch of queenless bees would hardly stick 

 together as these did, but try to enter some hive with other 

 bees. The queen may have been so poor that she laid scarcely 

 any, and the bees at once tried to rear a successor. Strangely 

 enough bees may rear from such a poor queen one that is good. 



Wintering Bees — Bas§\vood Trees — S^veel Clover 



— Borage — Keeping tiie Women Follis 



Sweet. 



1. Your description was a pretty good one about moving 

 bees in rows to pack for wintering, as you let me know through 

 the Bee Journal. I had packed all except two, and these two 

 wintered better than any of the rest, with the same amount of 

 stores, and we had a severe winter. Bees had a very few 

 flights, and the mercury was from two to ten degrees below 

 zero in the mornings, when I put my ear at the entrance of 

 those two ; at such times they were fanning or ^buzzing at a 

 great rate. They were in single-walled hives, made of % 

 lumber. I will not move one hive to oack the coming winter, 

 although IJput a half dozen colonies on the south side of a 

 rocky hill to see how they will winter. I wish to see what 

 you have to say, or think. The packed^ones were very strong 

 in the fall of 1S95, andjdwindled away during the winter. Is 

 it the sun during the day '? But how then about such cold 

 nights? 



2. A year^ago last spring I bought two basswood trees ; 

 they are now about l}i inches thick at the ground, and about 

 10 feet high. I trimmed the roots and cut off all the limbs 

 when planted. How soon will these bloom ? Also, I can buy 

 the rest (3.5) of these same size trees for .S6.00 from a nur- 

 seryman. Do you think they are cheap, or uot ? Wouldcyou 

 cut all the limbs off when planting ? If so, how close ? If I 

 am right, you prefer spring for planting. Will they grow better 

 in low, wet land, than where it is not so wet'? Would you 

 advise me to buy the 35 trees? If so, how far apart should I 

 set them ? 



3. Why is it that I can't get sweet clover seed to come up 

 by'scattering it here and there? If I work the land well it 

 comes up. I haven't tried it in the fall. I now have a neigh- 

 bor farmer, or rather manager of the Elizabeth farms, to 

 fence off a few acres and sow sweet clover in the fall on pas- 

 ture land. How long would we have to keep 100 sheep on 

 2 or 4 acres ? Would it be best to keep them in and feed 

 them, or would you let them (100 or more) run over it occa- 

 sionally ? 



4. I keep about 20 colonies in a yard of 5,000 square 

 feet; would it be worth while to put this yard in catuip, or 

 would you rather have it pul in borage? I find bees on bor- 

 age wet or dry. The yard is of a rich soil. 



5. I put on the sections and look them off empty ; the 

 season was so wet and cool that bees just made a living, no 

 swarming. What would you do with your women folks, if 

 they were to "Jump on your back " for feeding 500 pounds 

 Of sugar to the bees in September, if they have all the 



