THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



93 



ground that tliere is to be a revolution in 

 the affairs of bee-keeping. The world is 

 coming more and more to disbelieve in 

 revolutions. 



But, say you, such results are not com- 

 mon. The apiarists of our country are not 

 the millionaires, nor indeed have tiieir 

 bank-credits been such as to occasion won- 

 der or even remark. But, mind you, I said 

 rational bee-keeping. Is it not true that 

 most bee-keepers make this an avocation, a 

 mere supplementary pursuit, which, though 

 they often admit it l)rings the best returns, 

 still receives only the fag-end of their time, 

 thought and energies? Again, a large per 

 cent, of the bee-keepers let the apiary run 

 itself. They give it no thought, no study, 

 and very little attention. They can not af- 

 ford to take a bee journal, and as for read- 

 ing bee books, they have no time and less 

 inclination. What wonder their song is 

 burdened with loss? and what wonder that 

 apiculture.which has to carry s;ich weights, 

 loses prestage among employments? Just 

 as witli farming, or any art or profession, 

 where the representatives are ignorant and 

 unthinking, she loses caste. To be sure,we 

 have very many laborers in this field, and I 

 am glad to know that the number is in- 

 creasing, who, like Adam Grimm, love this 

 vocation, and make it a continual subject 

 of thought and study. I am glad to know 

 that such men are also following in the 

 wake of the one already mentioned towards 

 the haven of competency. 



The merchant, even with the closest at- 

 tention to business, the utmost caution and 

 the best study of the markets, treads an 

 uncertain road; the lawyer and the phy- 

 sician find the walls of comiietition so high 

 tliat success seems iir(il)lcinatical, even 

 with the severest thought and closest study; 

 while the apiarist, if he will only study to 

 know his course, thinks that he may never 

 miss his bearing— and this very thought and 

 study will yield a double blessing, in that 

 it brings rich entertainment— he will be al- 

 most sure to win success, and that too with 

 but little labor. 



There are many breakers that stand in 

 the way of the ignorant and unthoughtful 

 apiarist, two of which it is my purpose to 

 present on this occasion. And first I will 

 speak of 



QUEENLESS COLONIES. 



It is well known that a good queen will 

 lay upwards of '2,000 eggs daily; and as 20,- 

 000 to 30,000 bees make a strong colony, it at 

 once appears that tlie loss of a queen in a 

 full, strong colony for 10 or 1.5 days is equiva- 

 lent to the loss of a good stock of bees. 

 That there is this loss in bees is not always 

 true, for with loss of queen tiie work some- 

 times ceases in part, and the mortality with 

 the old bees is less; but this lack is of 

 course met by the diminished stores of 

 honey. I have no hesitation in affirming 

 that the loss of a queen in a good colony for 

 15 days in the gathering season means tiie 

 loss of a good colony of bees. But is this 

 common— this loss of a queen — with our 

 apiarists? I reply that witli most of them 

 it is not only common but universal. 



Let us suppose that colonies are allowed 

 to take their natural course in swarming. 

 The bees almost invariably leave the hive 

 before the queen-cells are capped. Suppose 

 in one day these are capped. In seven days 

 the queen comes forth. For five days she 

 remains a virgin, while unfavorable 



weather or other misfortune may prolong 

 this for two or three days. Two or three 

 more days must elapse before she com- 

 mences her life's work., and thus we have 

 at least 15 days with our colony destitute of 

 a queen. Hence I affirm that bees are left 

 to take their natural course, in increasing, 

 at a necessary sacrifice of one good stock of 

 bees. 



Suppose the apiarist commences the sea- 

 son with 20 colonics, follows natural swarm- 

 ing in its entirety, and values his stocks at 

 $8 each. His total loss will be .«160. 



The remedy for this is known, of course, 

 to every intelligent, well-informed apiarist. 

 We have only to raise, early in the season, 

 a good supply of extra queens, which will 

 be kept in nuclei, and used as occasion re- 

 quires. Then, when a colony swarms— 

 which is almost sure to be when gathering 

 is most active, and when loss of a queen 

 will be most felt— a new queen will be 

 given at once to the old colony, and there 

 will be no cessation in its prosperity. Or, 

 still better, new colonies will be formed 

 artificially, and given a queen at once, in 

 which case we can secure against too great 

 depletion of bees, which is quite sure to re- 

 sult, unless much caution is exercised, if 

 natural swarming is permitted. 



By thus keeping a good supply of young, 

 fertile, and prolific queens ever in readi- 

 ness, we may not only prevent expensive 

 delay in time of swarming or of increasing, 

 but may supply the place of any queens 

 which may be lost or killed in handling our 

 bees; or we may supersede any queen 

 whicli from age or other reason seems to 

 lack in fecundity. 



The rule, then, which I would state and 

 enforce, but which is now so generally dis- 

 regarded, either from ignorance or still 

 more culpable indolence, and which no 

 apiarist can afford to neglect, is: Never 

 permit a colony to be without a prolific 

 queen. 



The second error to which I would call 

 attention is enforced idleness of the bees, 

 consequent upon ill management on the 

 part of the apiarist. This may characterize 

 either the queen or the workers or both, 

 and may arise from a plurality of causes. 

 First we will consider the 



IDLENESS OF THE QUEEN. 



The queen may be forced to idleness, 

 either from idleness of the workers, when 

 her instincts impel her to partial or com- 

 plete indolence, or she may cease from lay- 

 ing simply because there are no empty cells 

 in which she can deposit. During the past 

 three years, and especially during the past 

 season, I have been observing with particu- 

 lar reference to these two points, and can 

 assure all of their truth. In fact, they can 

 be so easily verified by all that I will not 

 wait to detail the proofs. 



The remedy for the first cause— idleness 

 of the workers— will appear in the sequel. 

 The remedy for the second— no empty cells 

 in which to deposit — is most easily secured 

 in that invaluable auxiliary of the apiary, 

 — the honey extractor. I have proved this 

 autumn, during the wonderful yields of 

 honey from the golden-rods and other 

 autumn flowers, that the queen may be en- 

 tirely cheated out of room in which to de- 

 posit, even though there be abundance of 

 room in the supers. In such cases, the use 

 of the extractor should never be dispensed 

 with, and would be a wise proceeding even 



