THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



53 



[For tlie American Bee Journal. 



Stimulative Feeding. 



As I have received a number of inquiries 

 about bees swarmint; out or deserting their 

 hives in the spring, it will perhaps be as well 

 to give an article on that subject in the Bee 

 Journal ; and at the same time answer 

 another question — "How is it possible to start 

 a queen to breeding, by giving the colony one 

 or two tablespoonfuls of honey or other sweets, 

 every other evening ?" 



If you have weak swarms in the spring, they 

 should be set to breeding early. For this pur- 

 pose, take a frame containing brood and eggs 

 Jrom a strong stock, and give it to the weak 

 one. This gives the bees a hint ; they l)egin to 

 feed their queens; and she commences laying 

 immediately. In the meantime stop all up- 

 ward ventilation from the br oding apartment ; 

 see that they have honey or are fed artificially ; 

 and they will never desert their hive. The 

 cause of their deserting is, in some cases, the 

 want of honey ; in others, too much ventila- 

 tion ; and, in others still, not sufficient bees to 

 keep up the necessary degree of heat to hatch 

 the eggs. But by stimulating or frequent dis- 

 turbance, a very small quantity of bees can 

 create an increased degree of heat, and hatch 

 out quite a large amount of brood. 



Care should be taken not to give a weak 

 swarm too large a supply of brood at the start. 

 If I have any weak swarms, I usually set them 

 to breeding from one to three weeks before set- 

 ting them out in the spring, by taking a few 

 bees from a strong stock and giving them to the 

 weak. Two or three hundred bees aresuflicient 

 for this purpose. A few strange bees coming 

 in contact with a strange queen, under such 

 circumstances, commence feeding her the ne- 

 cessary food, and she will begin to lay in a few 

 days. Of course all upward ventilation must be 

 stopped in the cellar. 



You will perhaps wish to know how I get 

 bees from a strong stock without disturbing it. 

 M}' honey-board is in three pieces. I lay one 

 piece directly over the cluster of bees in one of 

 my strong stocks that has the cap and honey- 

 board off, and the bees will soon cluster on the 

 under side of the piece thus placed. Now, lift 

 it gently and turn it over with what bees are 

 attached to it, and brush or shake them into the 

 stock you wish to set to breeding ; and the 

 work is done. There is no danger of getting 

 and transferriag the queen ; for if the bees have 

 not been disturbed, the queen remains among 

 the combs. I equalize my stocks considerably, 

 in this way, in the cellar, a few days before set- 

 iiug them out. 



You will perceive that in this mode you cnn 

 raise the brood in the hive where it is needed, 

 instead of having to transfer it from another. 

 But it you are used for a bee-doctor among 

 your neighbors, as I am, then, if the brood is 

 not already in the hive, give them a little. But 

 I always prefer to raise the brood in the hive to 

 transferring it from another. We can transfer 

 seded and nearly mature brood to strengthen a 



weak swarm, after the weather becomes warm 

 enough. But I do not do so until the weather 

 becomes warm in spring. 



Now about that stimulating or feeding the 

 queen. Here comes in some guess-work, and 

 I am Yankee enough to have a perfect right to 

 guess. At any time when a queen is breeding, 

 the bees are continually offering her food ; and 

 I suppose it 19 food prepared by the nursury 

 bees, perhaps similar to that fed to the larvse. 

 The more they can be induced to feed her, the 

 more eggs she will lay. When a swarm is rais- 

 ing queens and preparing to swarm, they cease 

 feeding the old queen, or paying her any at- 

 tention. Consequently she ceases egg-laying 

 at least partially ; otherwise she woukl not be 

 able to fly with'her subjects on their intended 

 journey. There are exceptions to this rule; but 

 with me they have been rare. 



At any time in the summer, when there is a 

 scarcity of forage, the bees stop feeding their 

 queen; and she consequently stops breeding. 

 In the fall or winter, they do not nppoar to pay 

 any attention to their queen. When she is 

 hungry, she has to eat honey like another bee, 

 or like a young queen not yet fertilized, which 

 is left to supply herself from the common stores; 

 but as soon as she is fertilized, they commence 

 feeding her. For this reason it is sometimes a 

 very difficult matter to introduce a strange 

 queen in October, or at any time when bees are 

 not raisiuii; brood. Mr. Thomas' plan would 

 fail nine times out of ten, in October. Four 

 years ago, I failed three times out of five, with 

 Mr. Alley's plan and the tobacco smoke. A 

 colony or stock deprived of its queen at that 

 season, does not appear to discover its loss un- 

 der from five to ten days. 



The reailer will find that a very small quanti- 

 ty of food administered regularly, induces the 

 bees to feed their queen, and this causes her to 

 lay eggs, more or less freely, according to cir- 

 cumstances. But when the queen has entirely 

 ceased laying, as was the case last seeson, and 

 honey is then again gathered late, the bees do 

 not feed their queen, and she consequently does 

 not re-commence laying. It is frequently the 

 case even in summer, that a stock which gets rich 

 with stores, ceases paying attention to its queen; 

 while another stock, standing by its side, is 

 brooding rapidly. By drumming out those 

 bees, or disturbing them by taking out a comb 

 and inserting an empty frame for them to 

 j fill, they will be impelled to feed their queen 

 I and stimulated to activity. I work on the prin- 

 t ciple that this theory is correct; and the results 

 I are sure to follow. Of course I have no method 

 of knowing that it is chyle or prepared food 

 that is fed to the queen and induces her to lay ; 

 and I have never seen anything on the subject 

 from others. Mix up your bees, or " punch 

 them up," as Novice says, when j'ou want 

 them to breed. 



E. Gallup. 

 Osage, Iowa. 



None except the mothe 

 hornets survive the winter. 

 are founded solely by the mother. 



wasps or mother 

 The new colonies 



