90 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Oct., 



but they would not move, either with rapping 

 on the hive, nor with smoke blown in at the en- 

 trance. They would come up to the top of the 

 comb, and run around the edfijes of the hive 

 very briskly, but would not go up into the box ; 

 so i concluded I would next day transfer them 

 to a section hive from which a small swarm had 

 deserted, and then give them a queen from an- 

 other hive. I smoked them a very little, to put 

 in an Italian queen, and carried them to the cel- 

 lar ; but still they would not drive. Then I 

 Juried oft' one side of the hive and cut out the 

 combs (smoking the bees back out of my way), 

 and when I came to the third sheet, beho'd there 

 was a circle of capped worker cells, larva; of all 

 sizes, and eggs! Now I did not know what to 

 think, but transferred what comb there was that 

 was worth anything, put the chamber in the 

 case, and shook the bees out on a sheet in front, 

 and ///."fc wa^ the queen icith only one icing, sure 

 enough. Now, gentlemen, there must have been 

 two queens in that hive for a number of days, 

 with no sign of quarrelling. 



And now, Mr. Editor, I think I have spun my 

 yarn pretty long for the lirst time, and suppose 

 I had better stop. 



C. T. Smith. 



Trenton, 111, Aug. 14, 1871. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Eetrospective Inquiries. 



Mr. Editor : — In renewing my subscription, 

 allow me to say that I could not well do without 

 the Journal. Though young in the fascinating 

 study of apiculture, I have learned to know that 

 the more knowledge we have of the nature and 

 habits of the bee the greater will be our success. 

 My experience has not been all honey, but my 

 faihu-es have all been good lessons. With this 

 view of the matter, drawbacks should only stimu- 

 late us to try and do better next time. Some of 

 my friends think me crazy on this subject, but a 

 man (or a woman either) must be enthusiastic to 

 succeed well in any undertaking. 



As the Journal is a vehicle for thought and 

 experience, I will, with your leave, put a few 

 questions to some of your correspondents. 



I will then first address myself to Querist. 

 On page 55, vol. 5, Mr. Seay takes the ground 

 that "the first and highest law of nature in in- 

 sects is self-preservation in caring for offspring. 

 The honey bee seems to be endowed with this 

 instinct for the jDurpose of preserving brood in 

 the hive." On page 83 of the same volume, you, 

 Mr. Querist, call in question the foregoing state- 

 ment, by asking — "If the preservation of off- 

 spring is the strongest instinct that governs the 

 honey bee, then why does she remove unsealed 

 larvae from the cells, to make room for a rich 

 honey harvest?" On page 76, vol. 6, Mr. Seay 

 makes some very strong points on his side of the 

 question, which have not yet been met by you 

 or any one else. Now, ai-e we to conclude, from 

 your long silence, that you have given tip the 

 point? If not, please give us some facts sup- 

 porting your view of the subject. For, if the 



honey bee differs from all other insects in this re- 

 spect (as she no doubt does in others), then the 

 fact ought to be established, so that it will 

 add to our knowledge of the wonderful little in- 

 sect. 



J. M. Price. — There appears to be some dif- 

 ference between you and Mr. Langstroth, regai-d- 

 ing queen raising. No doubt your experience in 

 this direction has caused you to come to the con- 

 clusion that the beat queens can only be raised by 

 a colony having the swarming impulse. But Mr. 

 Langstroth, in accordance with his observations, 

 says : "I have for yeai's been in the habit of 

 raising my queens in stoeks kept in full heart 

 by liberal feeding or otherwise, and have not 

 found any appreciable difterence between those 

 thus raised and those raised by bees when jire- 

 pariiig to swarm." Now, as the line must be 

 drawn somewhere, do you consider all queens 

 artificial, except those raised by a colony under 

 the swarming impulse? Please give us a reason, 

 if you can, why queens are better when raised 

 in this condition than in any other. Is it in the 

 ij|iture of the egg, quantity or quality of food given 

 to the larvffi, or what ? 



Novice, take my '^W. I would like one good 

 hearty shake of yours. I thank you for all the 

 information you have given me. That article in 

 the August number is worth more than " a dol- 

 lar.''^ Your experience is always welcome. I 

 have, this summer, been much exercised on the 

 subject of straight and worker comb. I have not 

 succeeded as well as I would like, for the bees 

 would be a little stubborn. Now, as I want 

 to be "master of the situation," and you are 

 an old novice, please give us your best method, so 

 as to obtain the best result. 



Everybody (Gallup excepted). — Last fall my 

 bees did not stop breeding till late, and used up the 

 most of their bee-bread. This spring being wet 

 and cold, they could not work much on rye-flour, 

 and by the time they could gather pollen some of 

 the stocks were very weak. Now, as good cuflee- 

 sugar is a good substitute for honey, I would like 

 to know whether bee-bread has ever been ana- 

 lyzed and a substance found, single or combined, 

 that would be a good substitute for bee-bread, to 

 be fed when required. All information will be 

 thankfully received by 



Querist No. 2. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Bee Notes from Southern Indiana. 



SEVERE DROUTH. 



We have just passed through the severest 

 drouth that has been experienced in this section 

 for many years. For about two months it did 

 not rain enough to lay the dust. The ground 

 had not been thoroughly wet since May. Almost 

 every honey-prod acing flower, with all other 

 vegetation, was literally "dried up." The red 

 clover and the white had ceased to bloom, and 

 almost to live. The corn tassels were bleached 

 and wilted. The buckwheat— our main depend- 

 ence for honey at this season of the year— had 

 not moisture enough to grow stalks or leaves, 



