260 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



the order was the same as when the 

 foundation was placed in the sections. 



In no case was the least difficulty 

 experienced in discovering that the 

 foundation, 6 feet to the pound, was the 

 heaviest — the base and also the wall was 

 heavy, and the feeling, when eaten with 

 honey in the mouth, very unpleasant. 



In Mr. R. F. Holtermann's test a heavy 

 honey flow was secured artificially, by 

 putting a feeder on top of the hive, hold- 

 ing about 15 pounds, and the bees built 

 the comb out very quickly. In this lot, 

 when the honey was extracted and the 

 wax was cold, the cell-wall built on by 

 the bees was broken away, and, under- 

 neath, the foundation was found in 

 nearly if not exactly the same condition 

 as when put in the sections. 



The general results tend to show that 

 comb-foundation in sections is not thin- 

 ned by bees, as is generally supposed. 

 Twenty-four applied for material, out of 

 which the following reported, thus : 



By Whom Conducted. Flow. 6 ft. I0ft.l2ft 



Dr. Geo. Duncan. Embro. Light. 13 2* 

 E.L.Goold&Co..Branlford. Medium. 1 2 3 

 Geo. E. Adams. " Medium. 12 3 



Wm. Mobray, Sarnia. 12 3 



E. M. Husband. Cairng-orn. Medium. 1 2 3 

 Miss H. F. Duller, Campbellford. 12 3 

 Wm. German, BeachvlUe. 12 2 



R.F.Holtermann.Brantf'rd.Heavy. 12 3+ 

 Geo. Barber. Hartford Light. 12 3 



S. Rightmeyer, Wooler. 12 3 



W. Haight, Wellington. Medium. 1 2 2 

 James Shaw, Kemble. Medium. 12 3 



*A scarcely perceptible difference between 2 and 3. 



tA very marked diiTerence. 



Edgar M. Husband, 

 W. Haight, 



R. F. HOLTERMANN, 



Apiarian Committee. 



Bees Selecting a Home Before Locating. 



JAS. POINDEXTER. 



I do not consider myself much of a 

 debater of bee-questions, aspiring only 

 to mere success and facts in bee-culture. 

 In the article on page 813 (1891), Mr. 

 Demaree scouts the idea of bees going 

 forth from the clustered swarm in 

 search of a home, and ranks it among 

 the superstitions of antiquity. 1 am a 

 decided believer in this "ancient story," 

 and also of that other "less popular" 

 one, of bees cleaning out and gluing up 

 before moving into their home. 



During the swarming season of 18TJ5, 

 t noticed bees going in and out of a 

 hive in which there were some empty 

 combs. • They continued until evening, 

 and when late I examined the hive I 

 found no bees whatever, but some dirt 



and chippings on the floor board, also in 

 front, and on the ground, and the combs 

 somewhat polished off. 



The next morning work was resumed 

 at this hive with renewed energy. I 

 took a position near by to note the pro- 

 ceedings, and I could see a line of bees 

 going to and from the hive in an easterly 

 direction for a considerable distance. 



About 10 o'clock I heard an uproar at 

 my next neighbor's east. It sounded 

 like an old-fashioned charivari. Soon 

 one of the men came rushing out in 

 view, and shouted, "There comes a 

 swarm of bees !" and, sure enough, 

 there came one right on the line I had 

 been looking at awhile before, and en- 

 tered the hive. 



My neighbor had no bees, and a swarm 

 was seen coming about two miles east of 

 here a short time before. This circum- 

 stance was suggestive, several hives 

 were prepared with empty combs. In a 

 few days more bees were seen " cleaning 

 house." I soon found the direction they 

 were coming from, and the next fore- 

 noon I went in search of them. I 

 " lined " them about a mile out in the 

 prairie, when they were lost track of, 

 and the bee-hunt was changed to that of 

 wild strawberries. 



After an hour I went back to return 

 home on the line, thinking the bees 

 might have been overlooked. I soon 

 discovered there were no more bees 

 going to and fro, as I had seen when 

 coming out, until the grove was reached, 

 }4 mile from home, when several bees 

 were seen circling around as if lost. I 

 had strong suspicions what this meant — 

 the swarm I had been looking for had 

 passed, and in going through or over the 

 trees, some of the straggling bees were 

 left behind. I hastened home, and found 

 the bees had got in 15 or 20 minutes 

 ahead of me, and taken possession of 

 their hive. My folks saw them come. 



I will give one more instance which 

 seems to indicate that the scouts may be 

 at work at more than one place at a 

 time : Bees going in and out of a decoy 

 hive were traced }4 mUe distant, to 

 where the swarm had been settled on a 

 tree in a neighbor's barn-lot, but he had 

 hived them the evening before. The 

 scouts still visited my hive for a day, 

 when they decamped from my neigh- 

 bor's hive and went into a tree in the 

 woods. After this they ceased to visit 

 my place altogether. 



I have had from 1 to 4 swarms the 

 same year, to come, clean and move into 

 hives in my apiaries, several times in 

 the' last 20 years. 

 Blooraington, Ills. 



