Aug. 16. 1906 



American Ttee Journal 



sake of experiment. I had read of 

 cases like the above, but had always 

 supposed it to be some novice writing, 

 and that there was some mistake some- 

 where. 



New Experience No. 3. 



On June 8, while I was at one of my 

 out-apiaries, a very large swarm is- 

 sued from a colony I had been feeding 

 heavily for the purpose of securing a 

 lot of choice drones in the home apiary. 

 They made a direct line for the woods 

 without stopping to cluster or look for 

 their queen that had a clipped wing, 

 and could not follow. After the swarm 

 had been gone about 5 minutes my 

 wife went to see if she could find the 

 old mother queen, and found her with 

 a little cluster of bees in front of the 

 hive. Not knowing what else to do 

 with her, she allowed the queen to en- 

 ter the old hive she came from, sup- 

 posing the swarm had been joined by 



a virgin queen from some of the 

 nuclei, as it was the proper time of 

 dav (2 p.m.) for them to be flying. So 

 wife returned to the house, thinking 

 the swarm was lost. But about 20 or 

 30 minutes later she heard a loud roar- 

 ing down at the bee-yard, and lo, 

 and behold ! the swarm had returned 

 and was entering the hive they came 

 from. 



On my return I found they had de- 

 stroyed all queen-cells, and the old 

 queen had gone to laying, and all idea 

 of further swarming was given up. 



The two points that are new to me in 

 the above are, 1st, I never had bees 

 go off and stay so long without any 

 queen with them ; and, 2d, I never had 

 bees give up the idea of swarming 

 when they had swarmed once, when 

 both honey and pollen were coning in 

 plentifully. L. B. Smith. 



Rescue, Tex. 



ur ^ 

 'Bee -Keep! 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



A Beedom Neighborhood's Experi- 

 ences 



(Permit me to say, parenthetically, 

 that I usually flatter myself into the 

 belief that every one is my friend, un- 

 less I have been positively otherwise 

 convinced.) I suppose a passport to 

 your charming circle is unnecessary 

 since Editor York, and Editress Miss 

 Emma Wilson, have repeatedly sent 

 out invitations to each and all to enter 

 therein. 



A rocker ? Oh, no, thank you. Cush- 

 ioned rockers are not for me. A low 

 hassock at the feet of Miss Wilson will 

 admirably answer for the use of one 

 of the most common of common 

 women. A feeling that selfishness is 

 a bar to knowledge and good citizen- 

 ship, prompts me to bring my humble 

 offerings. 



" The soul that gives 

 Is the soul that lives; 

 And he that beareth another's load 



Doth lighten his own and shortens the way. 

 Anil brightens the homeward road." 



Because of the world being much the 

 same all over, neighborhood experi- 

 ences are oftimes of wide interest, so I 

 begin with some of the happenings 

 hereabouts. 



Removing Honey from Hives Too 

 Soon. 



About the middle of May, a friend 

 told me that a mutual friend had sent 

 her some comb honey. 



The middle of June, in this locality, 

 is early for beginning the "robbing," 

 as the operation of taking surplus is 

 termed. I could not help smiling, as I 

 knew his was a first experience in the 



taking of honey. I said little, but 

 thought the more ; talk in this instance 

 would have been a simple "casting of 

 pearls before swine," as the mutual 

 friend was very self-confident. I felt 

 satisfied a little later on that old mas- 

 ter, Experience, would step in with his 

 exorbitant bill; but I was equally sat- 

 isfied that in no other way could the 

 lesson be taught. 



Surprising that cheap things are dis- 

 carded because they are cheap, and 

 that we American people are never so 

 well pleased as when we've " paid too 

 dear for the whistle." 



After the mischief has been done 

 much after the manner of calling the 

 physician, I was appealed to as to the 

 cause of the trouble and remedy there- 

 for. The honey had not only been 

 taken in an unripe stage, but had also 

 been placed in a damp cellar for " pro- 

 tection." Alas, "misfortune followed 

 fast." An offensive acid smell an- 

 nounced that fermentation had set in ; 

 the delicate cappings were broken, 

 and a watery liquid was trickling over 

 the once beautiful white faces of. the 

 sections, as though weeping over such 

 untoward destruction. I was forcibly 

 reminded of an article which I had but 

 recently read, and which ran some- 

 thing like this : 



"Two elements are always battling for 

 supremacy; they permeate all things. One 

 builds, the other destroys; one is intelligence, 

 the other ignorance; one is sunlight, the 

 other darkness; one is spiritual, tbe other 

 animal; one is Dr. Jekyll, the other Mr. 

 Hyde; one is Hod, the other Devil. The lat- 

 ter seems to be sitting upon the high places 

 of the earth and gaining the mastery of the 

 situation." 



A furtive glance from that effervesc- 

 ing mass of honey, to the countenance 

 of the would-be honey-producer, as- 

 sured me that the agitation in his mind 

 was not excelled by that in the honey, 

 and matters must be run smooth, else 

 an eruption was imminent in which 

 sulphurous fumes were likely to pre- 

 dominate. However, all I could sug- 

 gest or conjure up was to convert that 

 honey into vinegar. As to the preven- 

 tion of a similar occurrence, I advised 

 him not to be so over-anxious in assist- 

 ing the bees, but let them take care of 

 the honey a little longer. Their God- 

 given instinct in the line of curing 

 honey has as yet not been equaled by 

 the tricks of man. 



I remember A. I. Root telling of a 

 woman who produced a very superior 

 grade of honey, and, on investigation, 

 it was ascertained that its superiority 

 was wholly due to the fact that the 

 honey was always left on the hives for 

 the bees to perfect its curing. I felt 

 proud of the fact that it was a sister 

 that had earned such a reputation, and 

 that there was nothing in the way of 

 other sisters " going and doing like- 

 wise." 



Quite frequently women are accused 

 of^having so much curiosity that they 

 can not let well-enough alone, but must 

 go on a tour of investigation and do 

 more harm than good in a hive of 

 honey-bees. I am pleased to say that 

 in the case under consideration the cul- 

 prit was a man. (By the way, were it 

 possible to weigh the curiosity of both 

 sexes, I wonder which would over- 

 balance?) 



Curiosity, however, is a good thing 

 if not abused, as the phrenologists 

 would express it ; while it leads us into 

 many a mishap, it also causes us to 

 stumble into success. 



The birth of many a bee-keeper was 

 instigated by a spirit of curiosity to 

 ascertain beyond a doubt if he or she 

 could handle bees with that ease, 

 facility and ability that marks the 

 doings of the initiated. And had it 

 not been for the much-ridiculed attri- 

 bute, " curiosity," these selfsame suc- 

 cessful men and women who have re- 

 mained in the great aggregation of the 

 unknown, and the good they have done 

 to the world to the extent of their bee- 

 keeping, would have been curtailed. 



Beginners may have a crumb of 

 comfort in the knowledge that mis- 

 takes are not confined to them, as " old 

 stagers " will testify. But a few days 

 ago I was disagreeably surprised by a 

 doleful song which was about as fol- 

 lows : 



" What was the matter with that last 480 

 pounds of honey sent? Off color and strong. 

 I think you surely must have bought it of 

 6ome of vour neighbors to ship to me. I have 

 built up "quite a reputation for shipping in 

 good honey, and please do not send me any 

 more like that. I would sell a can to a man 

 one day and the next he would bring it back, 

 declaring he never saw such stuff, and 

 wanted none of it, etc. -Obliged to sell it at a 

 loss." 



All this referred to the last shipmen t 

 of 1905. The honey was of the fall 

 product, and nothing wrong with it 

 except dark. I had given instructions 

 that none of it be shipped, and if not 

 sold at home under personal inspection 

 it was to be kept in stock for spring 



