1871.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



251 



next day, I took it off again that evening, and 

 exposed it thoroughly to tlie fumes of the sul- 

 phur pit, and then returned it to the hive again. 

 Next day still no dead drones were carried out : 

 and in the evening I sliced off the caps from 

 every cell, including the heads of the drones. 

 On the foUovv^ing day they were carried out, and 

 in a few days more the cells were filled with 

 honey and sealed over. • 



In addition to the drone larvse in the box, the 

 bees managed to have drone larvjie in the hive 

 also, for all practical purposes, having changed 

 some cells and filled every possible crevice and 

 corner. This stock swarmed. I also used some 

 more of the same kind of boxes, placed in the 

 same manner in other hives, in which I left three 

 or four hiindred scattering drone cells. The re- 

 sult was that on every stock that swarmed, the 

 queen would lay more or less drone eggs in the 

 boxes ; but in stocks that did not swarm the 

 queens laid no eggs in the boxes. 



Although bees will collect more honey in large 

 boxes than in small ones, boxes of the above- 

 mentioned size should not be used unless pro- 

 vided with frames or guides of some kind, regu- 

 larly spaced one and three-fourths (I5) or two (2) 

 inches ajiart from centre to centre. Last season 

 I used boxes that held over fifty pounds, having 

 two tiers of frames (upper and lower) regularly 

 spaced one and three-quarter (If) inches apart 

 from center to center. There was not an egg 

 laid in any of these boxes. They worked to my 

 entire satisfaction in all respects, were easily 

 carried to market, and the honey sold readily at 

 thirty (30) cents per pound. These frames are 

 strong, and were returned to me when emiJtied, 

 as I sold nothing but pure honey. 



Henky Crist. 

 Lake, Stark Co., Ohio, March 8, 1871. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Eeturning Late Swarms. 



Mr. Editor : — I would like to give to the 

 readers of the Journal, my plan of disposing of 

 late swai'ms of bees, hoping it may prove to be 

 of as much benefit to some of them as it has 

 been to me. 8warms that come oft" late in the 

 season, generally render the old stock worthless 

 for that season, so far as box honey is concerned, 

 and usually failing themselves to get sufficient 

 stores for wintering. In sections where bass- 

 wood is abundant, and in seasons when it blos- 

 soms, bees can be returned to the parent stock, 

 and thereby made to work in the right direction, 

 In the summer of 18G8, I had more swarming 

 than I liked to see, for as fast as the swarms 

 got into their boxes, and had them about half 

 filled, they would swarm out and leave the stores 

 unfit for market. 



The thought then occurred to me that perhaps 

 I could take the matter in hand, and by hiv- 

 ing them temporarily, and setting each swarm, 

 beside the stock it came from, and letting them 

 go nicely to work for a day or two, and then 

 returning them to the parent hive, they would 

 perhaps be willing to stay there, and fill those 



boxes they had so disgracefully abandoned. 

 The result was far better than I had hoped for. 

 Of about thirty swarms that I returned, not one 

 came off the second time, and the way the little 

 fellows filled their boxes was not slow. Some 

 swarms filled a set of boxes weighing forty-five 

 pounds, in eight days after being returned. The 

 plan worked well the first season ; but the sea- 

 son of 1809, being so cold in this section, there 

 did not seem to be any honey in the flowers, nor 

 much of anything for the bees to do bat swarm. 

 Basswood failed to blossom entirely, and when I 

 returned a swarm to its parent stock, it would 

 be quite sure to come oft' the next day. Thus 

 my plan of returning bees was a failure that 

 season, with everything else in the bee line. 



In the season of 1870, I concluded to try them 

 again. So, on the first day of .July, I commenced 

 placing the young swarms beside the old stocks, 

 for the purpose of returning. Basswood was 

 just beginning to blossom, and I was in hopes 

 to get those boxes filled, which they failed to fiU 

 the year before. I hived and returned about 

 fifty swarms. All stayed, with the exception of 

 two ; one of these came off" twice, and the other 

 three times. Both of these killed the old queens, 

 or they got lost or were killed in returning. 



Many of the swarms were returned in twenty- 

 four hours after hiving. In all cases I returned 

 them whilst they were at work. They will build 

 some comb, and the larger pieces will be par- 

 tially filled with honey. These can be placed 

 beside the hives, and the bees will carry the 

 honey in. Then the combs can be taken away 

 and used as guides for new boxes. Some of the 

 combs will contain eggs ; but I have never known 

 a single instance where the bees nursed them in 

 the boxes placed upon hives, when I had re- 

 turned a swarm. 



Bees should have ample room given them when 

 they are returned. If their boxes are half, or 

 nearly half filled, give them another set. Do 

 not take the trouble to remove the queen cells, 

 as I did the first that were put back. The bees 

 will destroy them fat-t enough. 



Bees treated in this way, when honey is 

 abundant, are satisfied with their old homes ; 

 and the queen, after an absence of forty-eight 

 hours, finds plenty of empty cells in which to 

 deposit eggs, and they will go to work with more 

 energy than ever. Novices' bees did, after he 

 had taken the last drop of honey from them with 

 the extractor. 



In this section of country, the honey season 

 generally closes, when basswood goes out of 

 blossom, and but few swarms make their appear- 

 ance after it has been in blossom eight or ten 

 days. In the past season a shower of honey-dew, 

 which lasted about three weeks, made its appear- 

 ance in this section. Bees worked on it for two 

 or three hours in the morning, in a perfect rush, 

 and again in the afternoon, just before sunset. 

 This dew was on the leaves of elm trees, as a 

 general thing, or in the vicinity of elms. The 

 leaves were perfectly covered with aphides of 

 a light color ; and they were constantly dis- 

 charging this honey-dew. When upon the wing, 

 it would fall on the grass and shrubs in the 

 vicinity. Bees confined themselves to the trees 



