312 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



You can make the cage any size you like; 

 I make tlieni 7 in. eacli way and about from 

 1^10% in. thick. 



DIRECTIONS FOR USE. 



Place a small piece of sponge saturated 

 with honey or syrup, and put the queen in 

 with 5 or 6 workers — those that have been 

 with her previously, if you have them — and 

 close it up. Take out a comb from one side 

 •of the hive you wish to introduce her to, 

 and spread the brood combs a little, and 

 make a space in the centre large enough to 

 slip the cage into the hive, letting the wire 

 71, liang over the top of the hive, and put on 

 the honey-board or quilt. When you wish 

 to let her loose, take hold of the wire, n, 

 and draw slowly and carefully until the 

 •cage is open. In this way the bees will not 

 know that anything has hai:)pened. 



Floyd Co., Iowa. Levi Sutliff. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



A Prolific Queen. 



Mr. Newman:— Judging from circum- 

 stantial evidence, 1 should say I iimst be 

 the person alluded to by Mr. Alley in the 

 August number of the Journal, where he 

 speaks of a lady in Waverley who has had 

 good success with her bees. 



Now, I know that I have not done any- 

 thing wonderful, yet I do think I have had 

 one remarkable queen, and should like to 

 tell you a little about her. She came in a 

 full stock, which I purchased of Mr. Alley 

 in the spring of 1876. I saw her several 

 times and she was very large and yellow. 

 Having been transported about 30 miles by 

 rail, and 7 or 8 miles in a wagon, the bees 

 were not in a condition to swarm early. 

 They increased fast, however, and on Aug. 

 7th, they sent out a powerful swarm. I yut 

 this swarm into a Bay State hive, which 

 had been furnished with pieces of comb 

 foundation \}4 in. deep. In less than ten 

 days they had filled every frame two-thirds 

 full of comb. A large part of this was 

 drone comb, but Mr. Alley came and cut 

 out some of it. After this the bees were 

 left undisturbed, except that they were fed 

 daily with sugar syrup. When winter set 

 in, only a few cells in the rear comb had 

 been capped over. I put a piece of blanket 

 around the brood chamber, and left the hive 

 on its summer stand. 



In the spring the bees were more lively 

 than those in other hives, and I thought 

 they must be hungry. I began feeding 

 them with a little syrup, and increased to a 

 gill a day. I did not give them any flour, as 

 they began on March 27th to bring in 

 natural pollen. On May 17tli they swarmed. 

 A frame of comb and honey was taken from 

 the parent hive and given to the new 

 swarm. 



All the queen cells but one having been 

 cut out from the parent hive, no other 

 swarm issued, but on July 17th, just two 

 months from the time it was hived, the May 

 swarm sent out a swarm, and on July 23rd 

 it sent out another. So that a new stock, 

 put into a hive on Aug. 7th, 1876. had in- 

 creased by natural swarming to four stocks 

 by July 23, 1877. Two of these stocks are 

 rich in "bees and honey, and the other two 

 are doing well. They have capped brood in 

 most of their frames. I have fed them and 

 shall continue to do so. The one I have 

 called the parent hive has 12 boxes nearly 



filled with comb, but I fear there ife not 

 much honey in it. The original stock that 

 I bought in the spring of 1876. lias not 

 swarmed this year, but it has given me 

 some extracted and box honey. 



But where is my famous queen? Both of 

 the July swarms have young queens. I 

 tried to examine the May swarm to-day, 

 thinking she might be there, but when I 

 had taken out 7 frames the bees became 

 cross, and I put them back. 



Perhaps I ought to say here that, although 

 an elderly person, I am not an experienced 

 bee-keeper, as I had never seen any bees, 

 except at a very safe distance, until the 

 spring of 1875. 



I have had good success with comb foun- 

 dation, when used in narrow strips. When 

 I used it 6 inches deep, it always warped. 

 Mr. A. Wyman, of Arlington, Mass., has 

 used a great deal of it this season. Perhaps 

 he will give us his experience. 



The Bingham smoker is just what 1 

 wanted. Yet I think, for one who does not 

 object to the taste of smoke, a month pipe 

 would be better; .it leaves the hands free. 



One item more. I never had any black 

 drones. Some of my drones are darker than 

 others, but none of them look like those in 

 a hive of blacks. I have far too many of 

 them. I intend to have the drone comb cut 

 from my hives next spring. 1 fear I have 

 enough of those huge feeders now, who eat 

 more honey than the workers can gather 

 now, as the best of the honey season is 

 over. E. B. Kendall. 



Waverley, Mass., Aug. 13, 1877. 



For tne American Bee .lournal. 



Strange Things in Bee-dom. 



honey from a strange source. 



Several years ago, when the seventeen- 

 year locusts visited us, I noticed, one morn- 

 ing in August, that the bees were going to 

 the woods pretty lively. There were no 

 flowers in that direction, and the weather 

 was such that no honey-dew could be look- 

 ed for. I followed them to the mountain, 

 and there among the rock oak, their busy 

 hum could be heard for a considerable dis- 

 tance. An examination proved that where 

 the locusts had punctured the small 

 branches, a sweet substance exuded, which 

 the bees were collecting in considerable 

 quantities; in fact some gathered 20 tt)S. 

 from this source. Its taste was rather un- 

 pleasant, but the bees wintered well on it. 

 A pleasing sound. 



While the bees were working on this sub- 

 stance one cool morning, about sunrise, the 

 fog was stealing softly up the ravine to- 

 wards my apiary, which is situated at the 

 end of a deep ravine, the workers had then 

 made their first sally. In a moment every- 

 thing was shrouded in one of those thick 

 fogs that come in a moment and are gone as 

 soon. Just at that moment I came to the 

 scene of action; no bee was visible, except 

 one now and then issuing from a hive, but 

 as quickly returning. I heard a strange 

 sound as it were in tlie clouds, increasing in 

 volume. It was the sound of the main 

 force of 50 hives— heavy-laden bees hover- 

 ing above the thick fog in vain trying to 

 find their hives. It was a soul-thrilling 

 sound, only to be heard once in a lifetime. 

 Half-a-dozen swarms on the wing at once, 



