THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



457 



force puts in their time in tliis way ; 

 and recollect that this is right in the 

 midst of the honey-flow. At this 

 point they begin to build queen-cells ; 

 after a few days the queen, if not 

 having any vacant room, deposits 

 eggs in them, which require three 

 days to hatch. Then they remain for 

 live days in the larval state before 

 they are capped over, and usually on 

 the second day after the first queen- 

 cell is capped, if it is a fine day, the 

 first swarm issues. 



There has been, so far, ten days 

 lost, and the colony is left in such 

 condition that they cannot do actual 

 work, and this, too, just when they 

 should be doing their best. Of course 

 all are aware that the first swarm 

 which issues is the force of working 

 bees and the old queen, comprising 

 nearly all that can fly, except a few 

 which are left in the field. The old 

 colony is now composed of the brood, 

 several queen-cells, the young bees, 

 and a small number that have re- 

 turned from the field. The queen- 

 cells, according to the rules of nature, 

 do not hatch for several days. After 

 the next queen is about three days 

 old (making about nine days from the 

 time the first swarm issued), she 

 ■comes out to mate. During this time 

 the colony has built up from hatching 

 brood, and, owing to the prevailing 

 excitement, follows the queen out 

 which makes the second swarm. The 

 colony is now so reduced that when 

 another queen comes out to mate, 

 there is not enough bees left to follow 

 her out, and she is allowed to go back, 

 and in six days commences to lay— an 

 operation at that time very much 

 needed, as there have been no eggs 

 deposited in this hive for about 21 

 days. 



Let us now compare and see which 

 is preferable, natural swarming or 

 division. First, the colony has 

 swarmed, has gone through with all 

 this process and loss of time during 

 the best of the season, besides being 

 all cut up, requiring more' house- 

 keepers, and leaving less bees for the 

 field ; on the other hand the colony 

 that you are to divide at the close of 

 the season, contains nearly or quite as 

 many bees as all of the 3 swarms to- 

 gether ; there is no laying out if prop- 

 erly managed ; no loss of swarms by 

 their going away to the woods; no 

 loss of queens ; not so many hives to 

 care for aiid guard; not so many 

 house-keepers required, allowing 

 ■more bees for the field ; in fact, this 

 colony is doing the right kind of 

 work, and that, too, at the right time, 

 as we cannot get a very large amount 

 of honey out of season. 



There are several reasons why I 

 object to natural swarming; one is, 

 where a bee-keeper is rearing queens 

 that are out, or that are enticed to 

 come out by the excitement, then join 

 the swarm, and he suffers the loss of 

 several queens. He may say that he 

 does not care for that, as he does not 

 rear any queens, and lets his bees 

 swarm naturally. JSTow I say that he is 

 rearing queens just the same, to a cer- 

 tain extent. 



After the swarm has issued you are 

 in the same fix— you have what is left 



with a queen that is not mated, and 

 when she conies out to mate, she is 

 just as liable to join the swarm as 

 not ; if she does you lose your queen, 

 leaving yuur colony queenless and 

 with no brood from which to rear 

 another. If you do not notice the 

 loss, and do not give them another 

 queen, the colony will soon dwindle 

 and be useless. Some may say, how 

 can we keep them from swarming 'i 

 It is simply by understanding thor- 

 oughly the nature of the colony ; that 

 is, give them tlie room they require, 

 and when they require it. 



I would say, that if you have a 

 colony that you are afraid you do not 

 understand well enough to keep them 

 at work, and prevent them from 

 swarminff, it perhaps would be well 

 when they show signs of swarming, 

 to divide in this way : Take out a 

 two or three frame nuclei and the old 

 queen, and replace her by introducing 

 a young laying queen. I think that 

 this will prevent further trouble. 

 Right here we get the benefit of divid- 

 ing ; in fact I do not see how we are 

 going to get along without dividing. 

 I do not say that it is best for all to 

 divide their colonies, further than 

 they rightly understand it, for if it is 

 not done rightly, it is better to let 

 them alone. 



Dividing colonies has something 

 more to it than merely to make a sep- 

 aration. One must thoroughly learn 

 the nature of this wonderful insect so 

 as to help nature, for when you divide 

 a colony you have got everything in 

 your own hands. 



I wish to call attention to more 

 trouble than would be experienced in 

 natural swarming if you had 200 colo- 

 nies or more, in one yard, as 1 have 

 had the pleasure of witnessing, and 

 this, too, being a small garden-spot. 

 How do you think that your courage 

 would be in such a yard as this, on a 

 good swarming day V I think that 

 things would be a little mixed, and as 

 a large number of swarms would be 

 mingling together in the air at once, 

 all that could be done would be to 

 stand and gaze on them and wonder 

 what to do next. I, for one, say that 

 it is better for all practical bee-keep- 

 ers to depend on swarming by division. 



ror tne American Bee JoumaL 



Our Union for Defense. 



JAMES HEDDON. 



I have been highly pleased to see 

 the 15ee-Keepers' Union progressing 

 so finely. It is gratifying to witness 

 that the sentiment of bee keepers re- 

 garding our rights and duties are 

 unanimous. This sentiment and sym- 

 pathy is grand, but it does not cover 

 the whole ground. It must be backed 

 up by dollars and cents. 



Money is the equivalent of human 

 exertion. It is the medium of ex- 

 change of the results of our efforts; 

 strong efforts are being made against 

 us, and we must meet them with 

 stronger ones. Collectively we can- 

 not make such efforts ; we must meet 

 them by hired effort ; and every per- 

 son who favors this organization and 



wishes to be protected by its strong 

 wing, should not only send in his 

 sentiment, but his $1.25. I hope that 

 each person who favors this Union, 

 and means to join it, will send $1.2-5 

 with his approval, receive the blank 

 and forward his vote for permanent 

 otticers, to Mr. Newman, before Aug. 

 1. We should have at least 5,000 

 members by that date. I understand 

 that voting for ofllcers closes on Aug.l. 

 All know that success in nearly 

 every branch of apiculture depends 

 upon promptitude of action, even 

 more than method of action. In the 

 matter of this Union, we have noth- 

 ing to do with methods, as our Board 

 of Directors will take care of that ; 

 our part is to act unanimously and at 

 once. So true is it in our case, that 

 " in union there is strength," that the 

 cost and trouble to us is not a tithe of 

 the advantages which we will gain. 

 That is the way I see it. 



As far as I am personally con- 

 cerned, all is running smoothly. I am 

 at " peace and good-will " with all 

 my neighbors around both of my 

 apiaries. I have taken pains, and 

 have gone to the expense to so 

 locate them as to leave little chance 

 for even imagined annoyance from 

 bees. Jealousy can have little to take 

 hold of, in my own case ; yet I am 

 willing to be one of .50 or 100 bee- 

 keepers to be drawn upon to any ex- 

 tent necessary, whenever one of our 

 number is unjustly attacked; The 

 successful, wide-awake apiarist will 

 see the wisdom in the adage, " in 

 times of peace prepare for war," as 

 bearing upon the objects of our 

 Union, so nobly begun and heartily 

 endorsed. Step outside of apicultural 

 literature, and it will be found that as 

 business men we are considered 

 nearly the " fag-end " of business 

 classes ; such, however, is not the 

 case, and will be looked at differently 

 when progressive apiculture becomes 

 a little older. 



Mr. Doolittle and Mr. Follett have 

 mentioned the matter of pinning other 

 matters to our organization, thus 

 dividing our force, attention, and in- 

 terest. While 1 do not for a moment 

 impugn their motives, I feel quite 

 sure that they thus make a mistake. 

 Do not let us get our "missile" so 

 cumbersome that we cannot wield it 

 effectively. 



Now that we are all nicely agreed 

 upon the object of this Union, let us 

 not " upset the dish " by impractical, 

 side-issue attachments. We do not 

 agree upon insurance or adulteration ; 

 many of us do not wish to insure at 

 all, many others are already insured 

 in one or more companies — both stock 

 and mutual. Many of us believe that 

 the best way to oppose adulteration is 

 to keep still in voice, but to act by 

 way of producing a nice article of 

 well-ripened honey, and placing it on 

 the market under our names, with 

 directions for keeping and ungraining 

 it, etc. Let us do one thing at a time, 

 and do it well, and wken this organi- 

 zation is formed, and stands a giant 

 for the protection of justice, then will 

 be the proper time to discuss and re- 

 discuss these other projects about 

 which we are so divided. 



