438 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Indiana Farmer. 



Prevention of After-Swarms. 



F. L. DOUGHERTY. 



Preparatory to casting the first 

 swarm, a colony will build from 5 to 

 20 queen-cells. With 2 or 3 of these 

 finished and capped over, they are 

 ready to go, and if the weather be 

 favorable, out they come. Almost 

 every bee at home, when they start, 

 leaves with the swarm, even to the 

 very youngest not quite able to fly ; 

 these latter, of course, return to the 

 hive in a few moments. Bees return- 

 ing from the fields soon discover the 

 loss of bees and queen, but make no 

 attempt to follow. At this time tlie 

 combs are very full of young hatching 

 bees, and it sometimes is surprising to 

 notice how many will come out in the 

 space of a few hours. 



Queen-cells started and left un- 

 finished at the leaving of the swarm, 

 are continued and finished, and others 

 also may be started after the leaving 

 of the swarm. Under ordinary cir- 

 cumstances, the first young queen 

 that hatches out, if left to " her own 

 sweet will," would visit all other 

 queen-cells in the hive, tear open each 

 cell and sting its occupant ; but 

 should the weather continue favor- 

 able, the colony having grown quite 

 strong again, they are not satisfied, so 

 they protect these cells, from her 

 royal highness. Being a " her," one 

 may easily judge her humor at a dis- 

 puted authority in her own home ; 

 she leaves with many followers, and 

 her sisters may do likewise, from the 

 same cause, until 5 or 6 after-swarms 

 may be cast by the one colony. 



Now we may take advantage of 

 this instinct and prevent all after- 

 swarms by removing these queen-cells 

 on the same day, or the day before 

 this first young queen makes her 

 appearance. If queen-cells be re- 

 moved on the same or a few days 

 after the first swarm leaves, there 

 being plenty of eggs and young larvfe, 

 the bees will build more cells at once, 

 thereby defeating the object for 

 which we remove the cells. The 

 coming of after-swarms can always 

 be foretold by the "piping" of the 

 young queen, which once heard will 

 never be forgotten. It is rather an 

 angry, discordant " squawk," and is 

 easily heard by placing the ear close 

 to the side of the brood-chamber of a 

 hive. 



If at the time of swarming the 

 swarm's hive be placed on the old 

 stand, and the old hive moved to a 

 new location, all of the working bees 

 will be drawn to the new colony, thus 

 depleting the old hive to such an ex- 

 tent that it is hardly likely to cast a 

 second swarm. Where honey is tlie 

 main object, and increase not desir- 

 able, the old hive may be moved only 

 a few inches, and a little to the rear, 

 then after 8 or 9 days, removed to a 

 new location. The bees which have 

 hatched out and taken location from 

 the old hive, will enter the new hive 

 when the old one is taken away, and 

 being of the same colony, with honey 

 coming in, they will take up their 

 new quarters without molestation. 



The latter plan is a good one where 

 bees are in box-hives, or in such con- 

 dition that they cannot readily be 

 examined. After-swarms in general 

 are of little account as honey-gath- 

 erers, they being so few in numbers. 

 When they exist it is better to put 2 

 or 3 into one hive ; the bees will soon 

 settle the question, or the queens 

 themselves, as to which is to be 

 which. 

 Indianapolis,© Ind. 



Read at the Maine Convention. 



Mistakes About Bee-Keeping. 



MRS. L. M. CROCKETT. 



If all bee-keepers realized what a 

 privilege it is to meet with others of 

 the same avocation, we should have a 

 general assembling together when the 

 Maine State Association holds its 

 yearly meeting. But all have not be- 

 come enthusiastic in bee-culture, and 

 it takes time to work a reform among 

 bee-keepers as well as any other class 

 of individuals, yet we are glad that 

 there are enough interested in the 

 work to make it profitable to be here, 

 and to welcome all as friends and 

 helpers who are friendly to the cause 

 of apiculture. That we make mis- 

 takes in our occupation as well as in 

 anything else, no one will deny ; and 

 it is one object of this meeting to de- 

 vise means to rectify those mistakes, 

 some of which I will mention. It is a 

 mistake to take the bees' good sum- 

 mer honey and leave them to get new 

 or go without. Our bees should be 

 looked after as closely as any of our 

 farm stock, and when the profit 

 comes, remember the honey-flow is 

 substantially at an end, take away 

 what may prove injurious, and supply 

 what we know to be good. 



It is a mistake not to give our bees 

 good ventilation in winter. A crust 

 over the snow either from sun or rain, 

 may prove fatal if left but a few days. 

 It is a mistake when we think that 

 success year after year is not the best 

 proof of ability. It is a mistake for 

 any one to keep to themselves useful 

 knowledge about bees, when by let- 

 ting it De known it would benefit 

 others in the same occupation. It is 

 a mistake when we think that our 

 own State does not afford just as good 

 authority as any we can get, when we 

 liave scores of bee-keepers with prac- 

 tical knowledge far superior to any 

 we can glean from those who have 

 not experienced our cold winters, or 

 varying honey seasons ; who can tell 

 us what to do better than those who 

 have lived and taken care of bees for 

 years in our midst ? We can all read 

 the same books on apiculture, the 

 same bee-papers filled with useful 

 knowledge from the pens of people 

 who have spent the best parts of their 

 lives among the bees ; but what we 

 want and need is the experience of 

 people in our own State, with like 

 surroundings as ourselves. 



It is a mistake to think that it is 

 nothing but recreation to keep bees 

 at a profit. We shall never accom- 

 plish much in any direction without 

 hard work. It is as true that " eternal 



vigilance " is the price of success in 

 bee-keeping as in any other industry, 

 and it is a bad mistake when a person 

 thinks that his bees will take care of 

 themselves, and him too. It is a mis- 

 take for bee-keepers not to attend 

 bee-associations when they come 

 within limits ; to stay at home think- 

 ing that they will not get pay for their 

 time, or that they will get it all in the 

 papers ; when the fact is, there are 

 many useful ideas expressed, many 

 suggestions made and experiences 

 related, that never find their way into 

 print. 



It is a mistake when we think that 

 we know it all. Both ancient and 

 profane history give us accounts of 

 the honey-bee, but not until within 

 the last century has it received the 

 attention which it so richly deserves ; 

 and see what progress has been made. 

 Do you think we shall stop here ? No 

 doubt at the close of the next cen- 

 tury posterity will look back from a 

 stand-point as far in advance of us as 

 we are in advance of the last century. 

 Let us all try and aid the cause that 

 we love so well, remembering that 

 whatever we do is worthy of our best 

 endeavor. 



For tlie American Bee JoumaL 



Getting Bees into the Boxes. 



22— J. B. MASON, (80). 



Having kept bees for the past 22 

 years, commencing with the box-hive, 

 then changing to the American mov- 

 able-frame hive, then to the National, 

 Kidder, Adair, and lastly to the 

 Langstroth, where I halted ; and hav- 

 ing found considerable trouble many 

 times in getting the bees to go into 

 the boxes, and that, too, when there 

 was plenty of honey coming in, and 

 the hive full of bees, some 6 years ago 

 I accidentally found a plan that en- 

 tirely obviated this trouble. Having 

 never seen it, as I remember of, in 

 any of the bee-papers, I will here give 

 the manner in which I discovered the 

 plan, and which will also fully ex- 

 plain the method : 



In the year 1879 a man came to my 

 apiary and wanted to purchase a col- 

 ony of bees. I showed him around, 

 and out of 40 colonies only one suited 

 him, and that one was then working 

 in the boxes. I named a price for it, 

 but he thought that it was too high. 

 I then named another price with the 

 understanding that I was to remove 

 the case, which was then % or more 

 filled ; this offer he accepted. At this 

 time I had 20 or more colonies that 

 ought to have been in the boxes, but 

 were holding back. I then decided to 

 use the sections containing new honey 

 to get the other colonies to work by 

 putting 2 or 3 of them upon each 

 hive. On two of the sections I found 

 say a cupful of bees, so I took these 

 two sections and put them into a case 

 over a colony that I thought strong 

 enough to go into the boxes. Before 

 niglit I found the case crowded with 

 bees, and well at work drawing out 

 the starters. 



I thought to myself, "now I have 

 it;" so I at once distributed the re- 



