AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



115 



J. p. Bei-g said that his bees did not 

 thin it down, and his customers objected 

 to so much wax. 



J. A. Pearce asked Mr. Taylor if he 

 considered 150 colonies too many in one 

 yard. Mr. Taylor said that he did not, 

 as his largest crop came from a yard of 

 200 colonies. 



J. S. Warner wanted to know why it 

 was that notwithstanding blossoms were 

 abundant, he got no honey. It was 

 thought to be the result of atmospheric 

 conditions. 



J. P. Berg said they had abundance of 

 clover, but it produced no honey. Bass- 

 wood produced honey until a cold rain 

 set in, which ended it. 



J. H. Larrabee asked if willow herb 

 grew successfully, year after year, in 

 the same locality. 



A. J. Acker said that it had not failed 

 with hira in ten years. 



R. L. Taylor said that he was in the 

 Upper Peninsula, and he saw a field of 

 oats that was about half willow herb, 

 and the latter seemed to have the ad- 

 vantage ; which would indicate that it 

 would stand cultivation. 



The President then announced the 

 following committees : 



On Exhibits. — J. A. Larrabee, E. R. 

 Root and R. E. Parker. 



On Resolutions. — W. Z. Hutchinson, 

 A. J. Acker, and C. E. Kelly. 



On Columbian Exposition. — M. H. 

 Hunt, H. D. Cutting, and G. E. Hilton. 



BEE MANAGEMENT. 



Question by R. L. Taylor : How much 

 time is required, per colony, to care for 

 150 colonies of bees '? His experience 

 was that it required six weeks. Others 

 thought it could not be done in that 

 time. The opinion prevailed that if 

 everything was in readiness, the work 

 of an apiary of 150 colonies could be 

 done in six weeks, but localities and 

 seasons diflfer. 



W. Z. Hutchinson said he was sur- 

 prised (since he was obliged to do what 

 he once thought would be neglecting 

 them) with what little care they could 

 be managed. 



J. A. Pearce thought that conditions 

 must control the length of time ; for if 

 the honey-fiow continued more than six 

 weeks, the bee-keeper must be there to 

 care for it. 



C. E. Kelly said that his experience 

 was that the work could be lessened, 

 and the profits increased, by doubling 

 the colonies up. He had better results 

 from swarms that came out and were 



returned than from colonies, equally 

 strong, which did not give a swarm. 



FINDING (QUEENS. 



Quite a discussion ensued as to the 

 best means of finding queens, and the 

 plans were nearly as numerous as the 

 members present. 



Adjourned to 7 p.m. 



[Concluded next week.] 



Tie Lanpap of tlie Bees. 



KEV. DR. J. D. MILLETT. 



The honey-bees are found among the 

 most intelligent of the insect tribe, and 

 could not, I think, do all the things they 

 do among themselves unless they had 

 some mode of communication to keep up 

 their government. 



I have often observed the queen-bee, 

 perched on the center of a section of 

 comb, surrounded by her subjects at a 

 respectful distance, every bee with its 

 head turned toward her, as if in conven- 

 tion assembled, to listen to her. When, 

 finally, the queen would move forward, 

 her subjects would make room for her to 

 pass through them by backing out of 

 her way. I was never able to distin- 

 guish any sound, but then they were 

 inside the hive, and I was looking 

 through a pane of glass, and could not 

 perhaps hear, if there were sounds from 

 her. 



Outside the hive, however, it has been 

 different. For instance, when the bees 

 return to their hive in the evening, each 

 laden with honey, there is a pleasant 

 hum of satisfaction or greeting made 

 with their wings— I suppose telling of 

 their joy. 



But if they are disturbed, or have any 

 apprehension of danger, these sounds 

 are changed to others of sharper tone, 

 which soon brings the colony out in 

 angry mood. Now, these alarm signals 

 are, of course, natural, and easily 

 enough understood ; and there would be 

 nothing at all in them if it were not that 

 when those bees, which have chased off 

 the offender, return to the hive, all out- 

 side and in who have not, to all appear- 

 ances, yet learned what the trouble was, 

 return peacefully to their work. 



Again, when by accident the colony 

 has lost its queen (she may have been 

 picked up by a bird), there are entirely 

 different sounds coming from the hive. 

 Few, or none, of the working bees go off 

 in quest of honey, but hang around, in 

 and out of the hive day in and day out, 



