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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



REPLIES by Prominent Apiarists. 



" Balling " Queens. 



Query, No. 114.— 1. I bad a swarm issue 

 from n first swarm, and in lialf an hour after being 

 hived, tile l>ees " balled " and killed their queen. 

 Why did they do so ? 



2. I had two cases where two swarms issued, one 

 after another, and settled together. In one case I 

 laid a cloth down, and on each side of it 1 put a 

 brood-chauiber of a LauKstroth hive. 1 shook the 

 bees on the cloth, between the hives, letting them 

 go into which ever hive they chose, foon after 

 they had occupied the two hives, 1 saw those in 

 one of them " balling " a queen. 1 concluded that 

 the two queens had gone into one hive, and took 

 her out and put her into the other hive: but there 

 she was "balled" again and killed. In alt these 

 hives tlie bees had destroyed the queen-cells 

 before leaving. Why did the bees act so strangely? 

 —A. Johnston. 



The bees from one swarm may 

 have " balled " the queen of the other 

 swarm.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



I think they must have had more 

 than one queen. I have known five 

 queens to go out with a swarm. Pos- 

 sibly two swarms united, and so one 

 queen was killed. A plurality of 

 queens may also account for the sec- 

 ond case.— Pkof. A. J. Cook. 



Bees do not act according to any 

 custom or rule, but different circum- 

 stances cause them to act quite dif- 

 ferently. Were all the facts known 

 in each case, their actions would not 

 appear strange. — Du. G. L. Tinker. 



It is very difficult to decide on such 

 cases, but the cause in each instance 

 is probably that there were some 

 strange bees with the swariu. Some- 

 times two swanus unite without the 

 apiarist's knowledge, and the bees of 

 the one kill the queen of the other.— 

 Dadant & Son. 



1. Sometimes they seem to do this 

 as a mere freak. 2. It would be noth- 

 ing remarkable for a queen to be 

 " balled " by bees of the other colony, 

 and afterward, if freed, she might be 

 " balled " even by her own bees. Both 

 kinds of bees were of course in each 

 hive.— Dr. C. C. Miller. 



1. As a rule, queens are only 

 " balled " under such circumstances 

 when a few strange bees get in with 

 the swarm. 2. The bees "balled" 

 the queen for the cause given above, 

 and the killing of her was owing to 

 her being put into the hive which had 

 the other queen. As to the destroy- 

 ing of the queen-cells before leaving, 

 1 should want farther knowledge of 

 the subject to answer correctly.- G. 



M. DOOLITTLE. 



1. The swarm was caused by a de- 

 sire on the part of the bees to super- 

 sede the old queen, and failing in tills, 

 they murdered her and went back 

 home. I have seen something that 

 looked like this on several occasions. 

 2. The bees were mixed in both liives, 

 and both queens were likely to be 

 " balled." I knew one case where 

 two swarms were united, both having 



fertile queens, and both queens were 

 killed. I never knew bees to destroy 

 the cells and then swarm ; though 

 they sometimes swarm before cells 

 are started.— G. W. Demaree. 



1. No one can tell, without being 

 on the spot, and making an examina- 

 tion (and ofttimes they cannot then) 

 of the condition and surroundings, 

 why our bees do these curious things. 

 In the above no positive answer can 

 be given. 2. The answer to No. 1 

 will apply here. It is easy to guess, 

 but the conundrum is a hard one. — J. 

 E. Pond, Jr. 



1. Either strange bees mixed with 

 the swarm and stung her, or she was 

 very old or maimed, and the bees 

 wished to get rid of her, or both. 

 The latter is one pvolilic cause of 

 swarms from swarms, 2. You say 

 that in all these hives the bees de- 

 stroyed the queen-cells before leav- 

 ing." Likely, then, your swarms all 

 contained young, unfecundated 

 queens ; such queens are not as toler- 

 able as fecundated queens. Your 

 swarms were thoroughly mixed. 

 Either new hive contained bees fiom 

 both old colonies. No matter whether 

 both queens were in one hive or not, 

 in any case every unfertile queen 

 would be among strange bees, and 

 "hailing" and killing might be ex- 

 pected. There might have been sev- 

 eral queens with each swarm. Your 

 swarms were likely second-swarms, or 

 first swarms with young queens. — 

 James IIeddon, 



Age of Brood and Extracting Combs. 



Query, No. 115. — For how many years 

 are combs lit for use, for brood and for extracting? 

 I have some that have been used for three or four 

 years, yet the cells seem very small.— W. B. D. 



I have combs in my apiary that 

 have been in use for the past twelve 

 years, and as far as I can see they are 

 as good as new.— G. M. Doolittle. 



I have heard of combs that have 

 been in use for 40 years. In the 8 

 years that I have kept bees, I have 

 not noticed that the cells in any of 

 the combs have become smaller.— W. 

 Z. Hutchinson. 



I have good combs that have been 

 in use for 1-5 years. — Prof. A. J. Cook. 



Ordinarily they are good for 10 years 

 or more.— Dadant & Son. 



I do not know, yet I suppose I must 

 have some not far from 20 years old, 

 but I have never noticed that they 

 were the worse for it. I do not see 

 how they could ever be too old for 

 extracting.— Dr. C. C. Miller. 



I have used combs for extracting 

 with good success for lo years, and 

 perhaps some for 15 years, that would 

 contain brood some of the time. I 

 do not know how old brood-combs 

 must be to become worthless. I have 

 some 7 or 8 years old that appear to be 

 as good as ever. — James IIeddon. 



Combs used for extracting will last 

 for ages, so far as I know. I have 

 combs that have been in use in the 

 brood-department for 12 or b") years, 

 and I can see no difference in the size 



of the bees, though the cells do look 

 small. The impression is abroad that 

 bees do not grow any after they cut 

 out of the cells, but I think a little 

 observation will satisfy anybody that 

 the young bee "plumps out"" con- 

 siderably after it hatches. I have 

 seen "wee bits" of bees that were 

 unnaturally small, but the fault was 

 not with the combs. — G.W.Demaree. 



I have known one instance of a 

 colony of bees living in a hive for 30 

 years witliout re-queening or other 

 attention, and did well until the hard 

 winter of 1880-81. The bees were as 

 large as any, and the combs were still 

 serviceable, but very black and heavy. 

 I should say that nice, straight combs 

 might be used for 20 years to advan- 

 tage.— Dr. G. L. Tinker. 



I cannot answer this question to a 

 certainty, but I have combs now in 

 use that were built in 1870, and I do 

 not see but that they are as good now 

 as ever. It is true that the brood- 

 cells grow smaller each year, owing 

 to the slight cocoon lining left by the 

 emerging bees, but I have not found 

 any bad results therefrom. I should 

 use combs as long as they were in 

 good condition — and no longer — with- 

 out regaid to age. Bees will winter 

 better on old, than on new combs. — J. 

 E. Pond, Jr. 



Using Combs Containing Pollen. 



Query, No. 116.— Is it policy to give to 

 bees to clean, combs that have much dry, bard 

 pollen In them ? I liave noticed that they are 

 obliged to tear the comb completely away and 

 build new, thus causing much labor.— Hillsdale. 



No; soak them in water and then 

 extract.— Dr. G. L. Tinker. 



If the bees are obliged to tear the 

 comb down, it would be better to 

 melt the combs into wax. Usually 

 bees can remove the bee-bread with- 

 out destroying the combs. — ^\. Z. 

 Hutchinson. 



I should prefer to melt up the combs 

 and give the bees foundation to be 

 drawn out into new combs. — Prof. A. 

 J. Cook. 



If such combs are soaked in tepid 

 water until the pollen is soft, and 

 after shaking out the water they are 

 saturated with sweetened water, the 

 bees will clean them. — G. W. 

 Dejiaree. 



Tliey do, when the pollen is spoiled or 

 soured ; but if it is well preserved they 

 do not destroy it.— Dadant & Son. 



So far as my experience goes, it 

 pays to let the bees clean the combs. 

 —James IIeddon. 



Pollen only gets in this condition 

 after getting moldy. I should not try 

 to use it if many cells were filled with 

 it.— G. M. Doolittle. 



I have seen combs filled with pol- 

 len in such condition that the bees 

 had to tear down the whole of the 

 cell walls, leaving nothing but the 

 septa.— Dr. C. C. JIiller. 



If the pollen is so hard tlint the bees 

 cannot clear it out without destroying 

 the combs, soak them a short time in 

 warm water before using. — J. E. 

 Pond, Jr. 



