100 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Two Queens in one Hive. 



The singularity here was, as will be seen, 

 that one was a fertile mother and the other a 

 3 r oung queen, supposed to be about three clays 

 old. 



In May, 1867, I bought, of Rev. L. L. Lang- 

 stroth, a twenty dollar Italian queen to propo- 

 xate from. Some time in July, 1868, there be- 

 ing quite a demand for queens, I removed the 

 old mother queen from the large hive, to pro- 

 cure cells. 



After the cells were capped, I removed them 

 to small nucleus hives, and restored the queen 

 to that from which she was removed. In three 

 days, after these cells were hatched, I had oc- 

 casion to go to the old colony, to procure eggs 

 from the old mother queen." On opening the 

 hive, I saw a young unfertilized' queen on the 

 first comb I lifted out; of course I understood 

 how she came there — a cell had been over- 

 looked. 



I now supposed my old queen was killed, and 

 commenced lifting out the combs with much 

 anxiety ; but, on the third comb taken out, I 

 found the old queen depositing eggs as usual. 

 I then captured the young queen, and introduced 

 her where I intended to put the eggs. 



This is the second time I found an old queen 

 remaining with the colony, after a young queen 

 had hatched. But I think, as a general rule, | 

 the old queen is on the decline and refuses to 

 leave the hive, and is barely tolerated in her old 

 home. A. Salisbury. 



Camargo, Ills. 



[For the American Bee Journal. ] 



Loss of Queens. 



I was unfortunate enough this last summer 

 to lo-e a queen that I procured from Mr. Lang- 

 strotli one year ago. I caught her about noon, 

 put her in a cage for the purpose of introducing 

 her into a hive of common bees. At the same 

 time, I caged the common queen, and put them 

 both on a shelf in the house. On examining 

 them in the evening, I found them both dead. 

 There were a few large black ants in and about 

 the cages. The queens had nothing to eat for 

 four or five hours. Now, I wish to ask, did 

 they starve, or did the ants kill them? Or what 

 do you think was the trouble ? 



J. W. Mayfield. 



Goshen, Ind., Sept. 29, 1868. 



ESfWe suppose the queens died of starvation, 

 as we never knew ants to attack living bees. 

 Perhaps a kind of nostalgia too had something 

 to do with it. 



At the swarming season, if the weather be 

 warm and moist or wet, thus favoring the pro- 

 duction of brood, bees are strongly inclined to 

 build drone combs, often making a sudden 

 transition from worker to drone cells. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Is Puff Ball Smoke Injurious to Bees ? 

 Question Answered. 



All narcotic substances affect bees more or 

 less injuriously, or even fatally, according to 

 the quantity to the operation of which they are 

 exposed. Bees are readily stupefied, and may 

 even be killed, if long subjected to the effects ot 

 tobacco smoke. When fumigated to stupefac- 

 tion with puff ball smoke, a considerable number 

 of the bees operated on are invariably killed, as 

 I have discovered on numerous trials. It is al- 

 most as bad as exposing them to the fumes oi 

 burning brimstone, and I cannot, therefore, re- 

 commend the use of it. 



W. Wolff. 



Jefferson, Wis. 



[For the American Bee Journal. ] 



Question to Novice. 



You inform us that you take the honey out or 

 the combs as soon as gathered, or at least every 

 five or six days, and express -your regret that 

 you did not take it out more frequently by 

 means of the machine. 



Please inform us wliether this very thin fresh- 

 gathered honey did not speedily turn sour ? 

 My opinion is that the honey has to be conden- 

 sed in the cells by the bees, and that as soon as 

 it is sufficiently ripe or thickened they will seal 

 h up. Is it not the proper time to remove it 

 from the comb, just when the bees begin to seal 

 it up ? W. Wolff. 



Jefferson, Wis. 



Bee-Glue or Propolis. 



In the immense forests of Poland and Russia, 

 where the bees select their own habitations in 

 hollow trunks of trees, the bee-glue is deposited 

 in much larger pieces, and of a superior ilavor, 

 to that which is obtained in countries where 

 these insects are raised by the aid of art. The 

 inhabitants of the former generally use this bee- 

 glue as a vulnerary application, to promote the 

 healing of fresh wounds. Dr. James, in his 

 "Medicinal Dictionary'' 1 praises the bee -glue 

 as being gently heating, abstergent, and attract- 

 ing. It softens indurated parts, alleviates pain, 

 and induces cicatrices on ulcers. — Maillet's 

 Travels. 



If a swarm by bad weather be checked and 

 hindered in their work the first week, they will 

 seldom work courageously all the summer fol- 

 lowing. — PURCHAS. 



In the busy summer season, when there is 

 plenty of honey to gather, few of the worker 

 bees get to be more than six or eight weeks old. 



Bees rarely deposit pollen in drone cells. 



