310 



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SWARMING. 



Bees Seleelin;; a Home Before 

 Lieaviiig llic Hive. 



Written for the A.rnerlcan Bee Journal 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Some seem to think that bees never 

 select a liome before they leave the 

 parent hive, but I think that I have 

 abuudaiit proof to shove that they do. 

 Years ago, when my father was keep- 

 ing bees, we had a swarm come out 

 one day, and, without stopping to 

 cluster at all, it struck a "bee-line" 

 for a tree in a piece of woods about a 

 mile distant. 



Ai'ouud this tree, bees had been seen 

 at work by parties hoeing corn, as it 

 was on the edge of a piece of woods; 

 the bees going in and out of the hole 

 (which was the entrance for the run- 

 away swarm) in sucli numbers that 

 the workmen tliought that it was a 

 " bee-tree " at tirst ; but as the bees 

 worked there only from ten to three 

 o'clock, they thought that honey, or 

 something else was stored there, which 

 the bees were getting ; but it transpired 

 that these bees were those from our 

 hive, which had selected this tree for 

 their future home, and so went straight 

 to it without clustering. 



Once more : When I first com- 

 menced to keep bees, there were none 

 but black bees in this section ; but 2 

 years later an Italian queen was pur- 

 chased by a bee-keeping friend, living 

 about 4 miles distant. As I was anx- 

 ious to learn all I could about the 

 bees, I was a frequent visitor at this 

 man's house, and as the Italian queen 

 was purchased in August, I thought 

 that I would wait a year before I pro- 

 cured tlie Italians, to see how they 

 worked thi'ough one houey-season, as 

 our honej-harvest is over before 

 August. 



The next year, in June, I was at this 

 friend's Iiouse one day, when he said 

 that he hail something curious whicli 

 he wanted to tell me. It was this : 

 About one-half mile from his house 

 was an apiary of black bees which he 

 worked on shares, and while at work 

 there, the day before, he saw Italian 

 bees going in and out of a hive that 

 was empty, and standing on a bench 

 at one side of the yard. He thought 

 that this was verj- curious, and so 

 taking a seat near the hive, he watched 

 them very closely, and found that the 

 bees went in empty, but when they 

 came out they had little bits of dirt in 

 their mouths, and, by listening at tlie 

 side of the hive, he could hear a scrap- 



ing on the inside; said he to himself; " If 

 I am not greatlj* mistaken, a swarm of 

 bees from my yard intends to occupy 

 that hive, and if they do so, I shall 

 know it." Accordingly, he kept a horse 

 bridled in the barn close by, each day 

 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 

 p.m., ready to go with any swarm 

 that might chance to try to get away. 



The third Aay after this, while he 

 was eating dinner, a swarm came out, 

 and, in circling, they swung out to- 

 ward this apiary, which he took as a 

 sign that these were the bees that 

 were going to the cleaned hive. He 

 at once jumped upon his horse, when 

 the bees, without clustering, struck 

 out in the direction of this hive. He 

 urged the horse to its fastest run, and 

 arrived at the hive just in time to see 

 the first bees of his Italian swarm set- 

 tling down in front of the hive, into 

 which the whole swarm entered. 



I have alwaj's considered the last 

 illustration as conclusive proof that 

 bees do, in some instances, select a 

 home before they leave the parent 

 hive, while / believed that it was so, 

 from the first evidence. If they do 

 not, how will the doubting ones dis- 

 prove the above facts, as I have given 

 them ? 



THE SYRACUSE HONEY-MARKET. 



On page 839 of the American Bee 

 Journal for 1888, is a little matter 

 which has been over-looked by me, 

 although I had it marked for a replj' 

 at the time. In the article on tliat 

 page, M. J. W. Tefl't seems to wish to 

 convey the idea that apiarists here cut 

 prices on hone}' to Syracuse buyers, 

 thereby giving quotations which come 

 from that market, a deficiencj' of one- 

 third as to price, under other markets, 

 thereb}' injuring bee-keepers "from 

 one end of the country to the other." 



I can hardly conceive the object of 

 that item, and the mentioning of the 

 names there given, unless it was to 

 injure the reputation of some of his 

 fi'llow apiarists, bj- conveying a false 

 impression. He says : " Syracuse is 

 the home market of Messrs. Doolittle, 

 House, Salisburj-, Betsinger," etc., and 

 gives figures tosliow, that, while honey 

 was quoted from 14 to 20 cents in all 

 other markets, Syracuse quoted it at 

 from 10 to 13 cents. 



It is no wonder that the editor calls 

 for an explanation. Well, the expla- 

 nation is about like this : 



Syracuse is a very fickle market on 

 all lines of produce, and, more es- 

 peciall}', on honey. If a groceryman 

 has a crate or two of honey, he con- 

 siders himself abundantly supplied, so 

 when more honey is oftered, he will 

 not buy, unless he can get the honey 

 for about two-thirds its real value ; tlie 

 result being, that in proportion to its 



population, not nearly as much honey 

 is consumed in Syracuse as in other 

 cities, consequently the "little" bee- 

 keepers, who keep from 5 to 20 colo- 

 nies, and who do not take a bee-paper, 

 supply all its wants as to honey, at the 

 low prices quoted. 



For Mr. Tefft to try to lay the cause 

 to the parties named, is only proof that 

 he is ignorant of the matter about 

 which he is talking ; for, in my own 

 case, I have not even tried to sell a 

 pound of honey in Syracuse for the 

 past 12 years ; and, to my knowledge, 

 very much, if not all, of the honey 

 produced by Messrs. Betsinger and 

 Salisbury has found a market else- 

 where, for the past 5 years. 



Prior to 1878, Syracuse was one of 

 the best markets in the United States ; 

 for at that time there was a honey- 

 buyer there who knew what honey 

 was worth, and was willing to buj- all 

 that came to him, and pay all it was 

 worth ; but since his death, no one has 

 seemed willing to take his place as a 

 buyer After trying in vain to get a 

 party Avho knew all about this business 

 as carried on by this buyer, to carry on 

 the honey-trade, I left Syracuse, and 

 sought a market elsewhere. 



To show the reader that Syracuse 

 was once a good )warket for honey, I 

 will say that, in 1874, Mr. Betsinger 

 and myself sold our honey there for 

 from 28J to 29 cents per pound — our 

 whole crops being taken. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



MINNESOTA. 



How the Bee§ Have Wintered- 

 Stati»tic§. 



Writtai for the A.meT'ican Bee Journal 



BY MRS. B. J. LIVINGSTON. 



Bees have wintered well here, so far 

 as I can learn. My 8 colonies were 

 placed in the celLar under the dwell- 

 ing-house on Dec. 15. About the mid- 

 dle of March, one colony began to 

 spot the front of the hive ; I took it up 

 through the iiouse (the outside cellar- 

 way being covered with ice), wrapped 

 up the brood-nest well with old quilts, 

 and left it out. It is doing splendidly. 



The otlier 7 colonies I took out to 

 the summer stands on April 10, for on 

 that day the other bees began to carry 

 in their first pollen. All wintered well 

 — there seemed to be more bees than 

 when they were put in for winter. 

 Notwithstanding the complaints of the 

 uneasiness of bees caused by warm 

 weather, mine seemed to be almost 

 perfectly dormant, owing, perhaps, to 

 the cellar-wall being over 20 inches 

 thick. Outside warmth was slow to 

 atiect the temperature of the cellar. 



