July 12, 1906 



601 



American Hee Journal 



TO MY WIFE IN HEAVEN. 



Wife of my youth — I dream of thee, 



Arrayed in bridal form; 

 I hold in mine thy trusting hand — 



Hail! bai py marriage morn! 



To God we vow our glad "I will" — 



Thy soft, responsive voice — 

 Of twain made one by wedded bands — 



And I, with thee, rejoice. 



Sweet, loving wife — God's gracious gift — 



And art thou all my own? 

 This plighted hand I'll closer clasp — 



Dear Lord! I wake alone. 



Ah ! Silent lips, whose law of love 



So gently swayed my will, 

 When trusting in thee, heart to heart, 



We were united still. 



Weeping lasts but a night, dear wife ; 



joy cometh with the light; 

 But for a moment darkened days, 



Then where there is no night. 



Both shall be present with the Lord, 



Grievings and partings past ; 

 Soul knit to soul by Heavenly bands 



While lengthening ages last. 



Dr. Bohrer — I received a letter embracing that sentiment 

 a few days after he buried his wife. 



Mr. York — I think it ought to be made a matter of record 

 that Dr. Bohrer was present at the first meeting of this As- 

 sociation, and is present at this meeting. 



The convention then adjourned to meet at 2 p. m. 

 (Continued next week.; 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal, 

 or to Dr. C. C. Miller. Mareniro, 111. 

 ' Dr. Miller does not answer Questions by mail. 



Some Swarming Questions 



What is the reason my queen and cells were destroyed ? I had a 

 5-banded Italian colony and wanted to Italianize part of my apiary as 

 described in your answer to " Pennsylvania," on page 390, in the last 

 part of answer to Ques. 4. I will give you the whole history of it: 

 The Italian was in hive No. 20. On June 4 I looked for queen-cells, 

 and there were eggs in them probably 2 days old, but no larvit*. On 

 June 6 they swarmed. I looked for queen-cells and found 12 with 

 larvae and eggs. The swarm clustered on a limb. I cut the limb and 

 shook them in front of a hive. It was windy, and when I shook them 

 they all took wing and started off. I made for the gun and shot 6 

 times, but they wouldn't stop. "What was the reason? It has never 

 happened before. • So I exchaoged No. 20 with No. 11, and it cast the 

 second swarm on June IN; I set hive No. 20 in the place of No. 9. It 

 rained that evening and the next evening, and at sundown I saw a big 

 excitement in front of the hive. I looked and saw a dead queen they 

 dragged out, so I quickly opened the hive to save the rest of the queen- 

 cells, if any left; but about half the queens had emerged and the rest 

 were destroyed. I had a large entrance to the hive, 1). inches. But 

 the hive was crowded with bees and honev coming in when it wasn't 

 raining, and lots of honey in the hive. Now, what was the reason 

 they didn't continue swarming? Missohri. 



Answer. — I don't know. Bees do exceptional things, and it's 

 hard to give any reason for it. In the first place it is an unusual 

 thing for a prime swarm to issue before queen-cells are sealed; and 

 yet your bees swarmed June 6, when 2 days previously only eggs were 

 in queen-cells. That means they swarmed at least 3 days before any 

 cells would have been sealed. I don't know why. 



The second unusual thing with you was that shooting did not stop 

 the swarm from going off. That does not seem so very 6trange; for a 



swarm does not always pay attention to shooting. When a swarm is 

 shaken from a limb it usually does not leave, but alights again. 

 Sometimes, however, it takes its departure upon being shaken down, 

 and this time was one of the 'sometimes." I don't know why. But 

 it may be remarked in passing that you xhook the hees in front of a 

 hive, after cutting off the limb. It is entirely possible that the swarm 

 would have quietly entered the hive if. instead of shaking the bees oil 

 the limb, you had gently laid the cluster directly at the entrance, per- 

 haps helping matters by picking off a few bees with a twig, and start- 

 it g them into the entrance. 



The third, and most provokingly unusual thing, was that No. 20 

 did not swarm again after being put in place of No. 9. The explana- 

 tion comes, however, if it rained throughout the day after the change 

 was made. As 1 understand it, you put No. 20 in place of No. 9 June 

 18, and it rained that evening and the next evening. Now if it was 

 rainy enough throughout the day June 19 to keep bees from flying 

 much, then it wa6 much the same as if No. 20 had been left unmoved, 

 and it would be nothing strange that No. 20 should be sufficiently 

 weakened to make the bees give up further thought of swarming, al- 

 lowing all extra virgins to be destroyed. If, however, June 19 was 

 rainy only in the evening, allowing bees to fly freely throughout the 

 day, I can only say it was an unusual thing that the virgins were de- 

 stroyed without further swarming, and I don't know why. 



The one comfort in the case is that unusual things are not usual, 

 and so you are not likely to have the same things occur often ; possi- 

 bly never again. 



*-•-* 



Cutting All aueen-Cells to Prevent After-Swarms 



Will cutting out all queen-cells but one a few days after a colony 

 swarms prevent the issuing of after-swarms? I tried this one season, 

 but was unable to watch results. • Iowa. 



Answer.— Tradition says the plan is successful, and I know of no 



proof to the contrary. If you try it, be sure to report success or 



failure, 



. ■#-•-•■ 



White Sweet or Yellow Sweet Clover— Northern or 

 Southern Bees and Queens-Wintering Bees- 

 Finding Wild Bees 



1. Which is the better honey-producer— white sweet or yellow 

 sw66t clover? 



2. For Southwest Missouri which would be the better to send- 

 South or North for bees or queens? Which would do the better? 



3 A neighbor has a colony of black bees and lots of them are 

 curious looking. They have no hair, and look very much like a 

 small, black, slick horse-fly. The other bees fight and kill them, and 

 the ground is covered with them around the entrance of the hive. 

 What is the matter with them? 



4. What do you think about wintering bees under a heavy bluff 

 facing the South where she sun could shine on them? 



5. Do you think bees would do well in the rough, hilly southwest 

 Missouri country, where there is plenty of red, white and sweet clo- 

 ver, basswood, sugar-tree, sumac, and many other things the bees 

 work on? We have lots of wild bees in the timber. 



6. Have you any secret or good way to find wild bees in the tim- 

 ber? If so, come down and help me a month, and I'll give you half 

 of the fun, all the honey, and I'll take the bees. Missouri. 



Answers.— 1. Probablv not much difference in yield, but the yel- 

 low is reputed to be about 2 weeks earlier than the white. That 

 makes the yellow more valuable in some places, and the white in 

 others Where white clover abounds the two weeks earlier would be 

 of no advantage, as it would come in the time of white clover, and if 

 the yellow also closes two weeks earlier than the white, the white 

 sweet clover would be of more value. In localities where there is lack 

 of forage during the first two weeks of the yellow sweet clover, then 

 the yellow clover has the advantage. 



2. You will probably find no difference. 



3. Most likely bee-paralysis. 



4. Probably a good place. 



r>. From the description it ought to be just the place for bees. 



6. I never went bee-hunting but once, and that was one time when 



I was on a visit to A. I. Root, many years ago. He did the hunting 



and I trotted around after him. So I'm afraid I'd hardly earn half the 



fun and all the honey. 



-m ■ » 



Queen and Hive Questions-Finding Queens 



1. Are untested queens mated, or must I purchase tested queens 

 to be certain to have pure blood of any strain desired? 



2. What is the difference between standard Italians and red-clover 

 Italians? 



3. If I rear some queens early next spring, could they be mated in 

 the upper story of the hive before it is warm in the spring? 



4. Would such queens reared here in this latitude (central In- 

 diana) 60 early in the spring that the bees could not fly, be as good as 

 those reared in a warmer climate, or later in the season here? 



5. If placed in a super above a strong colony with drones confined 

 therein by queen-excluder and division-board, can one expect pure- 

 blood mating of the first rank? 



6. What is the difference in size between the Root dovetailed 



