AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



291 



than two hours ago a swarra of bees 

 passed over our heads, and went into 

 this same tree." 



"Well," said I, " so much the better. 

 Now you are sure of a swarm of bees, 

 and before you were not." 



"Yes," he replied, and continued: 

 " You see, Mrs. Magner followed them, 

 and saw them go into the tree." 



By this time Mrs. Magner and her 

 husband came, and all wanted me to say 

 who I thought had the best right to the 

 bees ; and that they would leave it to 

 me to decide. I told them that I thought 

 that if old comb was found in the tree,the 

 bees ought to belong to the first rinder ; 

 and if no comb was found, they belonged 

 to Mrs. Magner. To this they agreed. 



The tree was cut, and not a particle 

 of comb was found in the treQ. Now, 

 what were these . bees doing there the 

 day before, if they were not cleaning out 

 a home '? 



I know it to be a fact that bees often 

 do locate a home, clean it out, and glue 

 it up before swarming. Such bees sel- 

 dom cluster, but go direct to the new 

 home. Of course, this does not agree 

 with Mr. Demaree's statements on page 

 81-±, but I have too many similar proofs 

 that bees do (will not say always, but 

 often) select a home before swarming. 



Quite a number of bee-keepers have 

 left there bees on the summer stands 

 without any protection, at all ; but as 

 the cold wave strikes us they may wish 

 pretty seriously that they had given 

 them protectien of some kind. With the 

 mercury 20^ to 25° below zero, I find it 

 is always best to prepare the bees for 

 such weather, and then if they fail to 

 winter, we can feel that we did our part. 



Pioneer, O. 



Bees Senlini Out Scouts. 



S. B. SMITH. 



On page 585 (1891), G. W. Demaree 

 uses these words : " Bees never, never 

 send out scouts, as some superstitious 

 old fogies blindly assert and believe." 

 Now, Mr. Demaree may call me an " old 

 fogy " if he wishes to do so, but I will 

 relate an incident that came under my 

 observation last Summer, which is in 

 support of Mr. Poindexter's views, as 

 given on page 658 (1891). 



Last Spring I built a small house or 

 shed to keep my bees in during the Sum- 

 mer. I had 3 colonies of bees. Soon 

 after I placed them on the summer 

 stands, there came a very severe wind. 



storm which blew over the bee-house 

 and the bees, badly breaking the comb. 

 As it was very cold, many of the bees 

 died. 



A long cold spell followed, and the 

 two weak colonies succumbed to the 

 cold, but one very strong colony barely 

 lived through the Summer until July. I 

 examined them every week, and found 

 that they stored some honey, and in- 

 creased in bees, but the increase was 

 very small. One day I was watching 

 them, as usual, when I noticed an un- 

 usual number of bees around the en- 

 trance of the hive. At first I thought 

 my bees had hatched out a new lot of 

 workers, and were gaining in strength, 

 but I soon discovered that they were 

 strange bees, and I supposed they were 

 robbers, but there are no bees kept with- 

 in miles of my place. 



While I was watching them, and con- 

 sidering what to do, a very large swarm 

 came and settled on the hive, went in 

 and took possession, and in less than an 

 hour were at work as busy as though 

 they had been there all Summer. 



This was about the middle of July. 

 They filled the hive about two-thirds 

 full of comb, which is well filled with 

 honey, and I have them in the cellar 

 now. 



About ten days after this incident 

 occurred, I found another swarm clus- 

 tered on a plum-tree near my house, but 

 it was so small, and as it was late in the 

 season, and a poor year for honey, they 

 never amounted to anything. 



The season of 1891 was a very poor 

 one for honey in this locality. There is 

 but little white clover or basswood, and 

 the bees did not work on the golden-rod 

 last Fall. 



Keeville, Minn. 



Preiiaring Bees to Move a Long Distance. 



C. C. PAKSONS. 



I have been studying modern apicul- 

 ture for several years, and during that 

 time I have had much valuable gratui- 

 tous instruction from the many bee- 

 keepers who have written for the bee- 

 papers, to all of whom I return thanks. 

 I would like to repay by giving others 

 the benefit of my observations, though 

 there has been so much said that I can- 

 not hope to say much that has not been 

 already written ; but if I can only give 

 one new idea, that will help some fellow- 

 bee-keeper over some of the rough places, 

 I will have succeeded. 



