THE? ffi.MERICaN BEE? JOURNffil,. 



391 



1. One-half to J of an inch. 2. I 

 l^refer block tin ; taggers tin is too 

 thin, as it gets maiTed too easily. — P. 



L. Vl.\I,LON. 



]. About } of an inch. 2. Roofing- 

 tin makes a very good separator ; but 

 bright tin-plate makes a better one. — 

 J. P. H. BuowN. 



1. One-half inch, the same being 

 equally- diviiled between top and bot- 

 tom. 2. That which you can get at 

 the least price. — G. M. Doolittle. 



1. About J inch. 2. Do not use tin 

 for separators. I think that perforated 

 wooden separators are not only the 

 best, but the cheapest. — G. L. Tinker. 



1. About J an inch, thus leaving a J 

 of an inch ingress and egress at the 

 toj) and bottom of the sections. 2. If 

 compelled to use tin, I would use the 

 thinnest to be had. I do not like tin 

 separators ; wooden separators suit me 

 best. — J. M. Shuck. 



1. Just a bee-space, or f of an inch. 

 If the sections are open-top, } inch will 

 be right ; if more space is given, they 

 will lengthen the cells above the sep- 

 arators. 2. Cheap roofing or lead- 

 plate tin is best. — C. H. Dibbern. 



1. For 4}x4}-inch sections, separa- 

 tors should be about Z\ inches wide, 

 which will be the inside dimensions of 

 the section, less a good bee-space 

 above and below. This rule will hold 

 good for sections of other dimensions. 

 2. I never use tin seiiarators. — J. M. 

 Hambaugh. 



1. A properly-made section 4^x4} 

 inches, should be just 4 inches in the 

 clear. I have my tin separators cut 3i 

 inches, scant. 2. What is called by 

 the tinnei-s, " Coke tin," gives the best 

 satisfaction in my apiary. It is cheaper 

 and stifier than the better grades of 

 tin. — G. W. Demaeee. 



With 4} sections, 3j-inch separators 

 are the rule. I prefer them from | to 

 } of an inch wider than '6% inches ; but 

 we cannot always get tin to cut that 

 width, and as 14x20 inches is a regu- 

 lar size, and that cuts just four Si- 

 inch separators, we usuallj' make them 

 that size, for it works very well. If 

 they are centrally nailed on the side 

 frames and placed between sections, 

 and the supers properly manipulated, 

 not much trouble will result. — Jasies 

 Heddon. 



There should be at least a bee-space 

 (f of an inch) at the top and bottom 

 between the tin separators and the 

 inside of the sections. From J to f of 

 an inch would be better. What tin- 

 ners call "Coke tin" is generallj" used, 

 because it is stiflfer, as well as cheaper. 

 — The Editor. 



SWARMING-. 



Subscribers who do not receive this paper 

 promptlj-, will please notify us at once. 



Bees Sclcfling a Home Bcrore 

 Swarming, etc. 



^yriUen Snr the American Bee Journal 

 BY G. JI. DOOLITTLE. 



In regard to bees selecting a home 

 before they swarm, there seems to be 

 a difterence of opinion, some claiming 

 that they do select it, while others are 

 equally sure that they swarm without 

 any knowledge of where they are 

 going. In most cases, probablj-, the 

 latter view is correct, yet I am positive 

 that some swarms do select their future 

 abode some days before they swarm. 



Wlien but a boy, I manj' times saw 

 bees searching the body of a large tree 

 all over, which stood on the edge of 

 the woods, as if looking for some place 

 to enter it, and at that time I wonder- 

 ed what thej- were doing. 



Later on, the same thing was wit- 

 nessed, only at this time the bees were 

 going in and out of a hole in another 

 tree, as well as to be looking over the 

 trunk of the tree. In this latter case 

 the bees were seen for several days at 

 work during the middle of the day, 

 the bees going and coming from the 

 hole about as Ijees would work from a 

 nucleus, while in the morning, and 

 after 5 p.m., no bees would be seen 

 about the trees. A few days after that 

 a swarm came out from one of the few 

 hives which father kept at that time, 

 and went straight to this tree without 

 clustering at all. 



From this I felt .sure that in some 

 instances bees did select a tree to go 

 to before they left the parent hive ; but 

 after having bees of my own, and see- 

 ing them cluster soon after they had 

 come out for hours, and in one instance 

 stay for 24 hours where they clustered, 

 I did not know what to think of the 

 matter. 



At about this time the party with 

 whom I was in partnership in my early 

 bee-keeping life in queen-rearing, told 

 me one day, that, at an out apiary 

 which he was working, which con- 

 tained only black bees, lie had noticed 

 that day Italian bees at work cleaning 

 out an empty hive which stood near 

 one side of the yard. This was some- 

 thing new to him, and he said that he 

 should keep watch of the matter and 

 see what became of it. I was much 

 interested, and told him of the incident 

 related above. 



The next time I went there, he told 

 me that the bees which he saw clean- 

 ing the hive were his own bees, as he 

 had surmised, after I told him of what 



I knew in the matter a few days be- 

 fore ; for at that time his bees were the 

 only Italian bees within four miles of 

 his residence. He said that a swarm 

 came out of one of his hives, and after 

 circling around a few times, starti'd off 

 in the direction of this out apiary. 

 Having a fleet horse near at hand, he 

 jumped upon it, and in a moment was 

 going at railroad speed for tliis out 

 apiary, getting there in time to see his 

 swarm of Italian bees rushing pell-mell 

 into the hive that the bees had been 

 cleaning up. 



As he kept the wings of all of his 

 queens clipped, he knew that he could 

 soon tell of a certainty- whether these 

 were his bees or not, for if they were, 

 he had their queen at home in a cage, 

 and sooner or later they must return 

 to her. In about half an hour they be- 

 came uneasy, and began to leave the 

 hive, when he returned, only to find 

 them coming back to their old home. 



He now liberated their queen, and 

 the next day they swarmed again, and 

 again went to the hive in this out api- 

 ary, as before. This was kept up some 

 three or four times, when he divided 

 the colony, and put a stop to their 

 swarming. 



The above instances cannot be ac- 

 counted for in any other way than that 

 tlie bees had selected their future home 

 before leaving the parent hive : and 

 while I agree with those who think that 

 scouts are sent out in search of a home 

 while the swarm hangs clustered on a 

 limb, yet I think them a little hasty in 

 declaring that bees never do select a 

 home before swarming. 



Tlie Early "Dollar" Queens. 



In regard to ordering "dollar" or 

 "untested" queens, I would say : In 

 the first place, "Queens for a dollar" 

 originated with Mr. A. I. Root, and 

 the only statement which I have ever 

 seen regarding the conditions under 

 which an untested queen could be had 

 at that price, when nothing was said 

 as to time, was on and after July first, 

 being the time that such queens can be 

 expected by those ordering them ; yet 

 for all this, there are parties who do 

 not seem to realize but what any 

 queen-breeder here at the North, can 

 send them when the snow is on the 

 frouud, and rear them by the frosts of 

 winter. At least the above is the only 

 conclusion that I can arrive at, after 

 knowing of orders for such queens, 

 saying, "Send by return mail," before 

 the bees were out of the cellar. 



I do not believe that one of the par- 

 ties so ordering previous to May 20, 

 and living north of latitude 40-, could 

 send me sucli queens should I order 

 them, making the same request. In 

 fact, parties at the South wrote me ia 

 May, that if I insisted on having orders 



