188 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



of which the box was composed, (it was a ''sec- 

 tion honey box" by means of which each piece of 

 comb could be separated from the others) and 

 examining I found all the comb filled with lione}^ 

 ■•and no brood. I then concluddl that thej' had 

 been separated so long from the parent hive 

 that they had forgotten it. I took about a liand- 

 ful and placed them at the entrance of their hive 

 and the guard bees refused to admit them, 

 and they showed but little inclination to enter, 

 but took wing and flew off". I hived them in a 

 new hive, giving them two sheets of comb and 

 brood from the old hive. They went to work 

 and are now a j^rosperous colony. Could there 

 be a severer test of whether bees can be smoth- 

 ered, or whether <7ie?/ cc^i live '■^without air, or 

 at least an accession of fresh air ?" 



1 deem it unnecessary to prolong this letter, 

 by commenting further on these facts. They 

 are conclusive to me. The Solomons to whom 

 we have looked for all of our bee knowledge 

 I know have taught the reverse of this. But 

 these are stubborn facts, and if Mr. D. C. Hunt, 

 who says of my former article, " that the igno- 

 rant arc wise in their own conceit," and uses 

 other rough language, (see Bee Joxjrnal, 

 March, 1867, p. 172), will think and experiment 

 a little for himself, and not set everj^thing down 

 as "fixed facts" that he has been taught by 

 others, who are as "wise in their own conceit" 

 as he seems to be, he may find that his aphorism 

 "like chickens" and some other things, may 

 "come home to roost." 



The truth is that there are yet many things to 

 be learned about bees, and that the economy of 

 the bee-hive is not j^'t understood. We will 

 liave to learn several things yet before we attain 

 perfection. 



I have now written more than I intended, but 

 will venture to theorise a little about this thing. 

 If you think proper you can reserve the re- 

 i^ainder of my letter for another number. 



D. L. Adair. 



Haatestille, Ky., Jak., 1868. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Criticism. 



[For tlie American Bee Journal.] 



An Inquiry by a Novice. 



First. — Will some one of large experience 

 give us the best way of raising early queens, 

 before the appearance of black drones, so as to 

 make early artificial swarms, and have fertile 

 cjueens in readiness for them ? But, especially 

 how to get a supply of bees, to form nuclei as 

 early as April or the first of May, without weak- 

 ening the stocks from which the bees are taken. 

 This I consider the secret of success; but have 

 never been able to raise queens before swarming 

 time and therefore too late for artificial swarms. 

 I have tried Langstroth's plan of setting one 

 hive on another, but could never get tho bees 

 to go up till June. 



Second. — Will bees, returning from the field 

 and finding the old stock removed, accept of a 

 young queen in a new hive, on the old stand; 

 Avith a frame or two of eggs and brood ? I have 

 never tried this, and do not want to risk the 

 experiment. 



Another Novice. 



Fair, honest, oixm criticism is solicited. Free 

 discussion will bring to light many facts that a 

 few are interested in koeinng concealed. Mr. 

 E. Gallup on page SO of the Bee Journal, vol 3, 

 speaking of the waste of wax, in constructing 

 comb, says: — "If you have the bees in the right 

 kind of hive, and ventilation just right, thej^ 

 will not waste one jiarticle. " 



I have a suspicion that Mr. Gallup does not 

 know what kind of a hive, nor what ventilation, 

 is right. If he does let him tell us, even though 

 he is no "scholar." Ever^^ experienced bee- 

 keeper knows that his "division-board" would 

 be a failure as far as saving all the wax is con- 

 cerned. 



In regard to the "two-story bee-house," is it 

 not rather strong language, for the sake of find- 

 ing faidt, to say — "the upper story is good for 

 nothing," when perhajis he could only say in 

 truth that the upper story was not quite as good 

 as the lower. 



Have a care, Mr. Galluj-), for my feelings. 

 How did you know but this was my jyet featwref 



I happened to say causually in my work on 

 bees, that some hives do well, and otliers stand- 

 ing by them will yield no profit. He remarks — 

 "I mu^t confess that I was greatly disajipointed 

 in reading his late work. I expected that it 

 would be fully up to the times. Why did he 

 not tell us how to remedy this, and make all 

 swarms equallj^ prosperous V" 



I will frankly confess that I am not able to 

 tell "how to make all swarms equally prosper- 

 ous," and submit to the humiliation of being 

 behind the times. But I have a desire to catch 

 up — am "ambitious to rise." JMr. G. has insin- 

 uated that anybody up to the times, might tell. 

 Now, I insist he shall say where we can get the 

 desired intelligence. I expect to make from 

 some of my best colonies next season $30, $40, 

 perhaps $50. If all that I have would be equal- 

 ly prosi:)erous, I should have quite a snug sum. 

 Now, I would give one-half of tliis to Mr. Gal- 

 lup, if he will furnish the information to accom- 

 plish it. Let it come through the Journal, thus 

 making it the "best source of information on 

 the question ;" and when the last is printed, 

 the whole subject of bee-keeping is finished — 

 we have it all. 



M. QtJINBT. 



St. Johnsville, N. Y: 



To ascertain the parent stock of a swarm : — It 

 sometimes happens that a swarm issues unob- 

 served and is found already clustered, so that 

 it not known from which hive it came, when 

 there are a number of strong colonies in an 

 apiary. To trace its parentage, detach twenty 

 or thirty bees from the cluster, dropping them 

 into a tumbler or a small box; carry them in 

 front of the apiary, and throw them up in the 

 air by -a, whirling motion of the arm. Most of 

 them will immediately repair to the parent hive, " 

 lighting near the entrance, and standing there 

 fanning briskly, before rejoining the general 

 mass, thus indicating their native home. — Ber- 

 lepscJi. 



