AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



813 



Now drum steadily on the hive, and you 

 will tell when the bees begin to travel 

 up, by the loud humming they make. 

 After ten minutes or so, raise up the 

 box a little and see if most of the bees 

 are up. At this time the bees will not 

 be likely to be resentful even if some of 

 them do get out. If you find not many 

 have gone up, drum away a while longer. 



Now dump the bees down on a sheet 

 in front of another box or empty hive at 

 a distance of a few feet from their 

 stand. While they are marching in, 

 keep on the lookout for an "old lady " 

 dressed in a " polonaise." If you don't 

 see her, perhaps it will be well to repeat 

 throwing them down on the sheet, for 

 you may have missed seeing her, or it is 

 possible she is yet among the few bees 

 left in the hive, in which case you must 

 drum some more, and it will be hard to 

 start these few bees. By the time you 

 find this one queen you'll very likely 

 decide it would be easier to get the col- 

 ony in a frame hive. 



2. From a half dozen to twenty work- 

 ers generally accompany a queen in the 

 mailing cage. 



Feeding Would. Have Paid. 



On May 22nd, as I wrote to the Bee 

 Journal, my hives were full of brood 

 and bees, and nectar was being stored 

 rapidly from fruit-bloom. They were 

 ready for swarming and did commence 

 on that day. 



The next day brought us rain and 

 cold, and we have had the same 16 out 

 of 18 days since. The weather has been 

 so cool and wet that the bees could not 

 visit the flowers, although they might be 

 well filled with nectar. This weather 

 brought " the reverse." Swarming 

 ceased. The bees fell to killing the 

 drones and pulling out half -hatched 

 brood. This was supplemented by rob- 

 bing, which I held in check by banking 

 the entrances to the hives with wet hay, 

 sprinkled with kerosene. 



To-day it is sunny and warm — the 1st 

 good bee-day for the last 18 days. The 

 effect on my bees is very marked — no 

 drone-killing, no pulling dead brood, 

 and no robbing. I had to feed my new 

 swarms. My old colonies managed (un- 

 der diflficulty) " to paddle their own ca- 

 noe." Should I have resorted to feed- 

 ing ? J. P. S. 



Sunapee, N. H., June 9. 



Answer. — Yes, feeding would have 

 paid well. The probability is that the 

 bees were short of stores. They might 



drag out drone-brood with plenty of 

 stores in the hive, and if none but drone- 

 brood were destroyed the feeding would 

 not make so much difference. Indeed 

 the destruction of the drone-brood might 

 be some advantage, but I suspect there 

 was some killing of worker-brood also, 

 and that is not likely to occur with plen- 

 ty of stores in the hive. This young 

 brood is valuable, for it is to make bees 

 to be on hand in good time to help in 

 the harvest. 



I've often used wet hay at the en- 

 trance to stop robbing, but sprinkling it 

 with kerosene is a new kink. It may be 

 a good thing. 



Buying Bees— Flower-Beds. 



1. In accordance with Mrs. Atehley's 

 views in relation to the proper time to 

 buy a colony— before the fruit-bloom — 

 hence, as I have not the spare acre of 

 ground for bee-pasturage, as you speci- 

 fied, and anyone would be more than 

 likely to accept it, that this was what 

 was really required ; if so, is it alto- 

 gether too late to realize a profitable 

 season, or anywhere near what I would 

 if I had purchased a colony in the 

 spring ? In case there is a chance for 

 me to make a reasonable margin of 

 profit or remuneration for my labor, 

 would 8 pounds of clover seed be any 

 way near adequate to sow along the 

 roadside, ditches, etc., to make up for 

 the acre, as you suggested ? or would 

 you sow considerably more, to make 

 sure ? 



2. Although ours is a great potato- 

 growing district, as I stated on page 

 650, and as you suggested that Nature 

 did not offer much nectar in potato 

 posies, I would iuquire how it would be 

 with flower-beds, when nearly every 

 neighbor possesses one ? M. L. B 



Orient, N. Y. 



Answers. — 1. Notwithstanding some 

 advantages in buying bees earlier, you 

 may do well to buy them now rather 

 than to wait till next spring, for you 

 will have that much more experience to 

 start with next spring. 



2, As a rule, it is not well to count 

 much on flower-beds. A large number 

 of the flowers that are cultivated for 

 their beauty offer little or nothing to the 

 bees. Many of them are what botanists 

 would consider a kind of monstrosity, as 

 cultivation has made such a change in 

 them that they have not the same organs 

 as they originally possessed, hence do 

 not furnish the same nectar and pollen. 

 Many roses, for instance, have had their 



