Dec. 6, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



717 



not all of them, were bees of such an age that they would 

 have died this fall or the forepart of the winter, any way. 



KKEDING LIGHT COLONIES FOR WINTER. 



Of late I have practiced a different method of feeding 

 colonies light in stores for winter, which may be of interest 

 to some who neglect or overlook some light colonies until it 

 is too late to feed syrup. The last few years, since honey 

 has dropt so low in price, I have not fed a pound of sugar 

 either in the spring or fall. As I produce comb honey prin- 

 cipally, I always have, each fall, more or less unfinisht sec- 

 tions. While many of these contain enough honey to be 

 salable at a reduced price, a great many contain but a small 

 amount, and these are what I principally use for fall feeding. 



When carrying a colony into the cellar, if it is light 

 enough to cause a suspicion that it may run short of stores 

 before spring, the cover is removed and a super containing 

 as many of these unfinisht sections as seems necessary is 

 set on. A super fitted with T tins is best, as it gives easier 

 access to the sections ; but I have often used those contain- 

 ing section-holders, and the bees never failed to go up and 

 remove the honey if they ran short below. This, perhaps 

 it is needless for me to saj', is in a cellar kept at the proper 

 temperature. Of 17 colonies thus fed last fall, one died, 

 and this one had been given sections of honey with some 

 pollen in them, which had previously, on account of moth- 

 worms, been subjected to the fumes of bisulphide of car- 

 bon. Whether trace enough of these deadly fumes re- 

 mained in the honey to affect the bees, I am not able to say. 



Southern Minnesota. 



Do Bees Select Their Future Home Before 

 Swarming ? 



BY "rip VAN WINKLE." 



HAVING read the article by Prof. Cook, on page 529, on 

 the " Swarming of bees," I desire to say a word on the 

 subject, not to criticise, particularly, as most apiarists 

 will agree that Prof. Cook is an able and scientific ento- 

 mologist, and what he says in beedom " goes. " But we 

 haven't yet learned all about either end of the bee, and on 

 the point of whether bees in swarming have or have not 

 selected their future home before clustering, I think that 

 while in many cases the evidence tends to show that they 

 have exercised sufficient forethought and " rented " their 

 domicile beforehand, and the case mentioned by Prof. 

 Cook indicates it, or tends to do so, still even that case is 

 not strictly conclusive, as a smart lawyer in the "cross-ex- 

 amination would ask, " Have you any evidence to show 

 that the colony that came next day and took possession of 

 the cornice, as mentioned, was not already hanging on a 

 tree when the scouts were seen examining the locality the 

 day before ?" 



Prof. Cook is too able a scientist not to know that a long 

 series of undoubted facts alone can determine any positive 

 law in natural history. He says on page S30 : " I have 

 little doubt but that this is always true, and that the bees 

 simply cluster to rest the queen." Bees certainly seem 

 to act sometimes with an intelligence approaching rea- 

 son, but at many other times act, as my grandmother 

 used to characterize it, with "hen-wit," as her broody 

 hens would as soon sit on a white door-knob as on an 



eg-g. 



And now for one or two facts tending to show the 

 other side of the question, that is, that they do not al- 

 ways select their future home before clustering : Some 

 years ago a swarm came out from one of my hives about 

 half-past eight in the morning, after I had gone to the 

 city (I lived in a South Side suburb, and kept a few colo- 

 nies for fun). They clustered on a tree (not very leafy), 

 and remained there all day with a hot June sun (the latter 

 part of June) pouring down on them, and they obligingly 

 remained until my return home at about 7 p.m., when I 

 hived them. If they had already selected a home, why did 

 they remain all day in the hot sun ? 



Again, Aug. 16th, last, on Thursday, a big swarm 

 came out from one of my hives and clustered on an oak 

 tree about 30 feet from the ground, and it was impractica- 

 ble for me to get them, and I was schooling myself to say 

 a fond farewell, glancing at them occasionally while at 

 work among the rest, expecting to see them " git." But 

 no ; there they provokingly hung, and they were still 

 there when I went home. Friday morning they were still 

 there. Then Jupiter Pluvius " got in his work." Clouds 

 came up, rain came down — no "mist that resembles the 



rain," as Longfellow says, but "cats and dogs," and "pitch- 

 forks," with blustering wind-gusts. I lookt to see them dis- 

 solve, but no 1 there they stuck. The afternoon was pleas- 

 ant and clear ; Saturday the same, and, to make a long 

 story short, they remained until Sunday afternoon, when 

 they finally took their leave. 



Now, Professor, that swarm had not, in my humble 

 opinion, selected its future home at the time of swarming, 

 or that queen must have been very tired. And she was a 

 young queen, too— I have strong reason to suppose a virgin 

 about seven days old. An old queen might get " tired " in 

 flying the distance of say SO feet — the tree was scarcely SO 

 feet from the hive ; but I can't think a young one would. 



I do not give bees credit for a possibility of knowing 

 that their queen is tired. I see little evidence of their re- 

 markable intelligence. Their instincts are remarkable ; 

 their comb-building has been the wonder and admiration of 

 man from Virgil down ; but as to that intelligence some 

 folks wonders at, I do not think it can compare with that of 

 certain species of the ant ; and I think there is as much 

 architectural skill shown by the paper nest of the wasp. 



" There is a great deal of human nature in a man," 

 and when the bee tickles his palate with its honey, and 

 lights his altars with its wax, he, the said man, is apt to 

 become fulsome in his flattery. Cook Co., 111. 



A Small California Apiary. 



BY HARKV L. HEWITT. 



I SEND herewith a picture of our apiary. We have all 

 seen thru the American Bee Journal pictures of Eastern 

 apiaries, and read how they get along from day to day 

 and year to year. Now, I am going to tell how we get 

 along from day to day here in California, the land of sun- 

 shine and flowers. 



There is hardly a day but what our bees get some 

 chance to fly. They winter on the summer stands, and all 

 we need to see to is that when it rains the shade-boards are 

 on, as is seen in the colony away back in the corner. These 

 boards are made so that the rain drops off in front of the 

 alighting-board to the ground, and keeps the entrance dry. 

 It extends back about six inches from the hive, and is not 

 closed at that end. We also use these boards in spring to 

 keep the hives shaded during swarming-time. 



On the left is my brother, who is in partnership with 

 me. I am at the right in the picture. In the corner on the 

 fence are my other two brothers, who help about swarming- 

 time, hunting for swarms, etc. 



We do not keep bees for profit, but for the pleasure, 

 and also what honey they bring. We sell some, but don't 

 make a business of it. We keep them near the stable, 

 where it is warm, which, with the fence, acts as a wind- 

 break. 



Our bees are all in Langstroth movable 8-f rame hives, 

 and are painted white. The hives were weighed and lookt 

 over last week for winter. 



Along the fence are some empty combs that I exchanged 



The Little Apiary of the Hewitt Brothers. 



