THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



211 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



More Light on tub! Subject. 



Gcorgo M. Taher, of Iowa oily, under date of 

 August 17, 18G;3, writes me, in substance, as 

 follows: — C. T>. Beu't, whose present address is 

 Grand View, same State, has l)een taught b>/ ex- 

 perience, tliat where boos are storing lioncy raj)- 

 idly, tiiey will fill two sets of boxes aljout as 

 soon as they will one. And for this reason : 



Bees will not neitl (he cell'i nntU the water in 

 the Jioney evaporates. Wlien tliey have access 

 to one set of boxes only, several days of storing 

 surplus arc lost before a new set can be given 

 them, as tiic honej' siiould not be removed 

 till the cells are closed, cspcciallj'wheu designed 

 for market. They -will, it is true, deposit the 

 lioney in the main hive ; hut this, in many cases, 

 is detrimental to tlie colony, occupj'ing cells 

 that are needed for brood. 



To return : — When the boxes are nearly full, 

 they are raised np and another tier put under 

 them. Slit.t are made in the tops and bottoms 

 of the lower set. Hy this arrangement the lower 

 tier is full by the time the upper boxes are ready 

 to seal. A section is added to the cover, to raise 

 it one tier of T)o\-cs higher. Mr. Beut uses eight 

 boxes in each tier. His hives have two portico 

 fronts, and the cover is made longer than those 

 in common use in the Langstrolh hive. 



To conclude: — From the above it will be seen 

 that two sets of boxes for a hive were used in 

 Iowa, at least two years before the "Mysteries" 

 ■were rewritten. But that is no proof lliat the 

 author did not use them till that j'car. Nor is 

 the letter, given above, an}^ proof that this plan 

 of getting lioney was unknown in the "West 

 prior to 1863. — Who will give us more light ? 

 ]\I. M. Baldeidge. 



St. Chakles, III. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Scouts employed. 



Do bees just before swarming, or while clus- 

 tered preparatory to their final flight, send out 

 scouts to select, and guide them to their future 

 home ? 



Of this, .1, S., under the caiition of " Curious 

 Inatanren of Swarining,^'' in the March number 

 of the Bee Journal, seems to express a doubt. 

 Permit me to match his curiosities of hae behav- 

 iour with an instance not less curious, which 

 very clearly indicated that the above query 

 should, in this case at least, receive an affirma- 

 tive answer. 



During the swarming season of 1866, having 

 several Langstroth hives containing dry combs, 

 I prepared them for the reception of issuing 

 swarms, and jilaced them in my bee house to 

 await calls for their use. One day while occupied 

 about my apiary, I observed strange bees alight- 

 ing on one of these hives, located about fourteen 

 feet from the door, and passing in and out as if 

 examining the iiremises and resolving some im- 

 portant question relative thereto. This they 

 continued to do until I closed the door at eve- 

 ning. Suspecting their object, early next 

 morning I threw the door open, and in a few 



minutes had the pleasure of greeting the visitors 

 of tiie jtrevious day. With great assiduity, 

 they continued Iheir examination of the same 

 hive, with an air tliat seemed to indicate that 

 they felt themselves charged with a mission of 

 great respi)nsil)ility, and even commenced house 

 cleaning. Tliese jiroeeedlngs continued until 

 about eight o'clock, when suddenly a respecta- 

 ble swarm made its appear.anee at the door and 

 passed directly to the hive thus indicated ; and 

 in a short time was quietly domiciled in it. 



Very evidently the bees whichfirstcame Avere 

 pioneers, sent out in search of a hom« for the 

 family aliout to emigrate ; and having found 

 one which tliey deemed suitable, they commu- 

 nicated the fact", and then guided tlie household 

 to the chosen abode. D. Witter. 



Buktox, Ouio. 



[For the Aniorican Boo Journal.] 



Scouts, or no Scouts ? 



Some persons believe that every swarm of 

 bees, at the time of issuing, have a home select- 

 ed, and know just where they are going. 

 Others believe that they have to Jiunt a home, 

 in every case, after issuing. I think that in 

 some ca.ses they have their homo not onlj'- pick- 

 ed out, but cleaned out ready for use. In other 

 cases, however, judging from the distance they 

 go after issuing, it seems evident that they have 

 to hunt their home as they travel. 



I have two cases in point. When I was a 

 boy wild bees were very i)lenty in the woods. 

 My father one day, in the swarming season, 

 took a walk in the woods, and when he returned 

 told us little fellows that he had found a " bee 

 tree," and that if we would hoe corn well till 

 Saturday we might go with him to cut it. Tliis 

 was on Thursday. Well, on Saturday evening 

 away Ave went to cut the tree; but when Ave 

 got there, father said he could not see them at 

 work, as he did the other day. Yet, as the tree 

 Avas small, Ave Avould cut it at anj^ rate ; Avhich 

 AA'C accordingly did. But to our great disap- 

 pointment not a bee AA'as in it, though there 

 was a very nice iilace for them. While Ave 

 were there, sitting on the trunk of the tree, and 

 my father AA'ondeiing hoAV he could liave been 

 so deceived, (for he said they Avere working 

 "very strong,") Ave heard a loud humming in 

 the air, like that of bees SAvarming. Soon a 

 swarm of bees made their appearance, flew 

 around aAvhile where the tree had been, and 

 then clustered on a bough nearby. M}'' father 

 always believed that what he saAV AA'ero bees 

 cleaning out the cavity, preparatory to the re- 

 ception of the swarm. 



Again, I have the only Italian bees in this 

 county. Two summers ago, I had a s'^varm of 

 Italians leave me and go north-west into Avhat 

 is called the Big Woods. The next summer 

 there was a colony of Italian bees found eight 

 miles distance from my house ; and from ap- 

 pearance it had been there about that length of 

 time. These surely did not have that home 

 picked out, in advance, at that distance; though 

 Avithout doubt they Avere my bees. 



Winchester, Inu. B. Puckett. 



