1901 ■ 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



11 



from a bee-hunting experience, it will not be out of 

 place to say a few words about it here. For re- 

 creation, and as an out-door pastime, bee-hunting 

 is most deliglitful. The nsiessary outfit is very 

 simple. A small box with a glass cover will do. 

 The box should be tiglit enough to hold lioney or 

 syrup. 



We started one September morning with the box 

 half full of honey, an axe, two pails and an amjile 

 hincli. We entered the forest at the nearest point 

 and continued to the top of the mountain. On the 

 left was a vast stretch of unbroken forest. Many 

 an aged giant held a swariu of wild bees within the 

 hollow of its trunk. We were then in a clearing 

 grown up to goldenrod and other weeds. Catching 

 a bee from a flower we clapped her into the bo.x 

 and held the cover secure until she began to fill 

 herself with honey, when it was removed. Pres- 

 ently she took wing, circled around and darted into 

 the woods. Soon she returned accompanied by 

 others, and it was not long until we had a line es- 

 tablished between the box and the tree which was 

 her home in the forest. We then moved the box, 

 with part of the bees, some two hundred yards 

 along the clearing, releasing the remaining bees in 

 the new location, very carefully. Thus we had 

 established a triangle, the base of which was the 

 edge of the woods and the apex, the bee-tree, fiy 

 this means we were able to tell very nearly how 

 fur distant the tree was, and in what direction. 

 AVe then went about a half mile into the woods 

 and again released the bees; still onward they 

 flew, and again we proceeded a like distance. Here, 

 upon being given their freedom, the bees rose over 

 the trees, then dropped suddenly down again. Ky 

 this we knew the tree must be near. We proceeded 

 to tap the trunks of the large trees until one gave 

 forth a hollow sound; and this proved to be the 

 home of the little worker. We took over eighty 

 pounds of the most delicious honey from it— and 

 with only three stings. C. \V. Paukeh. 



so SAY WE. 



spring Creek, Pa , Nov. 17. 



Hello! brother bee-keepers over in Hatch Hollow- 

 Wake upl and don't go to bed before nine o'clock; 

 but let's sit up to the desk one of these long, cool 

 evenings for ona hour each month and make an 

 exposition of our ignorance, knowledge and experi- 

 ments in the management of bees and honey. 



It looks a little as though we were going to get 

 1() to 1, although W. J. Bryan was not elected — ■ 

 that is, 1(! cents to I pound of honey; if so, I would 

 suggest that we contrive some way of keeping the 

 bees that each queen can rear in one colony and 

 keep only enough colonies in one Ijcality to gather 

 what honey is within their range. It seems to me 

 that a hive could be made the right size to keep 

 one queen busy in the brood chamber throug'i 

 the season. If such should be the case, we woull 

 not lose the time that the bees consume in swarm- 

 ing and filling the brood-frames at a time when we 

 would like to have them busy in the sections. If 



any reader of The Bee-keepeh has had experi- 

 ence with such a thought, please tell us what luck 

 you had. and oblige the editor and readers of The 



BeE-KEEI'ER. 



I see by jour November issue tliat you are anx- 

 ious for the knowledge or guess-work of your 

 readers in regard to those four questions on page 

 214. I should say that the egg was deposited there 

 befoie the combs were taken from the hive, and 

 the bees that clustered there had nothing to do 

 with it. My opinion is that the bees had been sep- 

 arated from those in the hive so long that they 

 knew they would not be admitted should they 

 return, so they concluded to take up a vacated 

 homestead. In regard to Ur. Miller's queen: The 

 question can be answered in only one way. She 

 was probably a young, prolific and industrious 

 queen, chock full of eggs, and was anxious to 

 deposit them somewhere ; and consequently 

 dropped them in a cluster of cells at the back end 

 of the hive after having gone over the front yard 

 in good shape. My treatment in such a case would 

 be to give her a dose of No. 10 brood frame. 



Yours respectfully, A. E. Johnson. 



THE QUESTIONS ARE EASY. 



Ringdale, Pa., Nov. .30. 

 Editor Bee-keepeb: Those questions are easy; 

 almost any body could answer theiu. First, as to. 

 what was the cause of the bees taking up their 

 abode so near their own hive: The chances are 

 about five to one that there was a queen in one of 

 the supers. Bees would hardly form in a cluster on 

 combs in a honey-house without a queen, unless it 

 was very cold weather; and any man who was an 

 associate of G. B. Jones and C. G. Ferris would 

 know better than to leave his honey on the hives 

 until cold weather. The little colony probably 

 thought that they were to be hived on starters of 

 foundation ; and in circling around, the queen 

 found the empty combs, and the bees formed in a 

 cluster wl'.ere the queen had lit. Then, being dis- 

 satisfied with their surroundings, they wished to 

 swarm out and started a queen-cell, thinking that 

 by so doing the queen would swarm out with them. 

 The queen laid the egg that was found in the cell. 

 The last two questions are somewhat easier than 

 the first two. There was a laying worker jtresent, 

 and sometliing wrong with the (jueen; probably she 

 was reared from too old a larva. The remedy- 

 give them a J'200 queen. Yours respectfully, 



WSI. IvEltNAN. 



ANOTHER SOLUTION OF THE QUESTIONS. 



Ft. Pierce, Fla., Nov. Ifl. 

 Mr. Editor: According to my judgment most of the 

 bees were young and did not know their way back 

 to the hive. As to where the egg came from would 

 say, one of the bees was probably moving an egg 

 in the hive at the time when it was taken away: 

 and, while still carrying the egg, crawled up and 

 clustered with the other bees on the dry combs. 

 Questions Nos. 3 and 4; The cause of the queen 



