XHEI^ mTSiBMlQRU MM^ J@I[JRI4S]i<. 



775 



ported, and I am very sure that a <i:ood 

 man)' liave not had support enough to 

 keep the breath of life in them, as their 

 deaths attest. Each one that starts up 

 anew, whatever support it may liave, 

 is likely to take at least a little support 

 from those already established. I sup- 

 pose it woulil be for the interest of any 

 one of the bee-periodicals already pub- 

 lished, if all the rest should suspend 

 publication, and leave a clear Held for 

 the one. On the other baud, it is for 

 the interest of the bee-keeper to liavc 

 as many gooil publications as possible. 

 I emphasize the word good, and as one 

 of the rank and lile, I believe my in- 

 terests would be best sened if a part — 

 perhaps the larger part — of the bee- 

 papers in this country should cease. 



I .should not like to see the number 

 limited to 1, or even 2, for I think 

 rivalry of the right kind will give us 

 better papers, and even if rivalry made 

 uo diflerence, I would rather have 2 

 than 1, providing both can have sup- 

 port enough to be good. 



As I have already intimated. I would 

 like to ha^f as many good boe-papers 

 as possible, the onlj' question being as 

 to how man)' can be well enough sup- 

 ported to be good. Then it takes 

 something more than support to make 

 H good paper. There must be brains 

 in it, and brains of a special kind, 



I wi-sh the next man that meditates 

 starting, might understand that if he 

 were to step right into the place of one 

 of the most successful publishers al- 

 readj- established, the chances are 10 

 to 1 that he wouldn't have the right 

 kind of brains to keep the thing run- 

 ning ; and on the other baud, if he 

 could have suddenlj- given to him the 

 brain equipment of the most suceessfnl 

 publisher in the lot, with all the expe- 

 rience of j-ears belonging to it, he 

 would find it \evy up-hill business to 

 get started, in a new enterprise, and 

 might find, for the first 2 or 3 years, 

 that the most sumptuous fai'e he could 

 aflford would be rye mush and butter- 

 milk. 



Marengo, 111. 



S"WARMS. 



Unsealed Brood to Prevent 

 S^varni!) from Dceaniping. 



Written Jor the American Rural Home. 

 BY G. M. DOOLITTLK. 



Will unsealed brood prevent swarms 

 from leaving the hive in which they are 

 placed? is a question I am often asked. 

 This used to be thought a sure prevent- 

 ive, and many even at the present daj- 

 think that if they ])ut unsealed brood 

 in a hive that is to be immediateh' oc- 

 cupied by a swarm, that swarm is sure 



to stay. However, the many reports 

 would seem to indicate that all do not 

 have success with tlie plan, for, during 

 the past year, I have noticed no less 

 than six different reports where bees 

 had absconded and left such brood 

 when placed in the hive to keep them 

 where hived. My own experience also 

 proves that with first or prime swarms, 

 the placing of brood in the hive they 

 are to be hived in, only enhances the 

 chances of their leaving, rather than 

 proving a preventive. 



Previous to 1871 I had never clipped 

 any of my queens' wings, and was 

 often fearful that my new swarms 

 might desert the hives they were 

 placed in. During the spring of that 

 year, I read that a frame of unsealed 

 brood, placed in the hive at the time 

 of hiving, was a sure preventive of the 

 swarm's decamping. This was read 

 with enthusiasm, as here was a plan 

 Ijy which my fears could be entirely 

 removed. Consequently, when my first 

 swarm issued, I hastened to get a 

 frame of brood in all stages, which 

 also contained some honey to start 

 them in house-keeping, as we used to 

 be told was necessai-y to do. They 

 were hived about 2 o'clock p.m., and I 

 went to bed that night, feeling that my 

 first swarm of the season was well pro- 

 vided for, and would be sure to stay. 



The next morning I looked at them, 

 and went to work. At about 9 o'clock, 

 the cry, "Bees are swarming," was 

 heard, and upon reaching the bee- 

 yard, mj' new swanu was seen going 

 for parts unknown. My lips were bit 

 as I thought of some proper form of 

 sound words to vent mj' spite on the 

 author of this plan of keeping swarms 

 from absconding, while I resolved that 

 every queen's wings in the yard should 

 be clipped, which was done without 

 delay. 



Since that time I have frequently 

 hived swarms, and given them brood 

 by way of experiment, and have had 

 manj' of them come out, but as their 

 queen could not lly, of course they 

 could not abscond. Still, probably i 

 of the swarms hived in this way stayed 

 and worked all right, while not 1 in 20 

 hived without any such precaution, 

 bothered me in attempting to leave. 



Hence, my experience goes to prove 

 that unsealed brood will not prevent 

 swarms from leaving, but, on the con- 

 trary, makes the probabilit}' of loss 

 greater, as I said in the start. 



But, says one, "Bees ought not to 

 leave unsealed brood." Whj' not ? 

 Thej' do when they leave the parent 

 hive in natural swarming, the brood 

 ai)parently being an incentive for their 

 leaving, for, if we take the brood away 

 from them at about the time they are 

 ready to swarm, it will stop their 

 doing so. 



Upon examining the hive from which 

 this first swarm decamped, I found 

 they had built 2 pieces of comb as 

 large as a hand, and had built queen 

 cells upon the frame of brood, in which 

 the queen had deposited eggs ; thus 

 showing that they considered the con- 

 ditions the same, or nearly so, as they 

 were in the parent hive from which 

 they had issued the previous day. 



There were al.so nearly enough bees 

 left with those returning from the 

 fields, to care for this frame of brood, 

 this also proving that bees were left 

 behind to take care of the old colony. 

 the same as is always done after a 

 prime swarm issues from any hive. I 

 therefore conclude that tho.se who ad- 

 vise the giving of brood to all prime 

 swarms, are laboring under a mistaken 

 notion, and I advise all to go slow in 

 trying any such plan. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



MISSOURI. 



Report of the Reeent State Bee- 

 Keepers' Convention. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY J. W. KOUSE. 



A number of bee-keepers assembled 

 at Higginsville, Mo., on Nov. 14, 1889. 

 and after a temporary organization was 

 formed, and a Constitution and By- 

 Laws adopted, they proceeded to elect 

 oiBcers for the ensuing year.as follows: 

 President, R. B. Leahy ; Secretary, J. 

 W. Rouse ; Treasurer, R. G. Robert- 

 son ; with five Vice-Presidents, as fol- 

 lows : G. P. Morton, Central Missouri ; 

 J. S. Atkins, Northwest Missouri ; M. 

 V. B. Page, Southwest Missouri ; A. 

 Singer, Southeast Missouri : and P. P. 

 Collier, Noi'theast Missouri. 



An essay on "The production of 

 comb honey." by W. Z. Hutchin.son. 

 and another on " Best packages of 

 honey for marketing purposes," from 

 C. C. demons, were read and en- 

 dorsed, and a vote of thanks was ex- 

 tended for the same. 



The Mayor of Higginsville gave an 

 appropriate address of welcome, which 

 was appreciated. Several discussions 

 then followed on wintering bees, and 

 on comb and extracted honey. 



It was decided that the President 

 appoint a committee of three, to inves- 

 tigate whether there is a law prohibi'- 

 ing the adulteration of honey in this 

 State, and if not, to memorialize the 

 Legislature! to i)ass a law against the 

 manufacture or sale of adulterated ex- 

 tracted honcj- ; or, if allowed to be 

 adulterated, to mark it " adulterated." 

 with a heavy fine, or imprisonment, 

 for violation of the law. Messrs. L. 

 W. Baldwin, P. Baldwin, and Geo. 



