80 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Oct., 



fectly balanced colony, we mean one in "vvhich 

 there is the proper proportion of each class 

 to do all the work necessary in its depart- 

 ments, at the proper time to chime in and 

 harmonize with the labors of the others. A 

 natural, prime swarm is, as a rule, a perfect 

 colony ; and if furnished with a hive that is 

 perfectly adapted to their wants, and properly 

 managed, will continue so. In order, therefore, 

 to see in what perfection ct)nsists, it is necessary 

 that we consider the bees from the swarm to 

 the time that the comb system is completed, 

 and through all their works." 



If this and the next six pages that follow, 

 which of course cannot be inserted here, simply 

 convey the idea that a queen and workers are 

 all that is necessary to a perfectly balanced 

 colony of bees, I will quit writing. When I 

 said that such a colony "consisted only of 

 a queen and workers," it strikes me I did 

 not say, " that as long as a hive has no drones 

 it is well balanced,^'' but may be I did. 



I would like to notice some other points in 

 Mr. Dadant's article, but I am already tres- 

 passing on space that could be better occupied. 

 I wi'l, however, notice one unkindness as I 

 consider it ; that is his charge that I claim that 

 my " hive alone produces the certainty of non- 

 swarming," etc. I say " unkindness," because 

 in a conspicuous place, on the second page of 

 cover, I say that : " In order to enable all to 

 secure the benefits of the New Idea Hive, I will 

 furnish them with Langstroth hives, or those of 

 similar construction, arranged for frames," etc. 



The theory is a general one, and was never 

 claimed to apply to my hive alone; besides 

 which, when Mr. Argo applied to me early in 

 the season for directions to apply it to the 

 Langstroth hive, I sent him directions ;, and, to 

 save further lengthy correspondence, requested 

 him to send it to the Journal for publication, 

 which he did, and it was published in full ; 

 and I get numerous letters from persons who 

 have changed their hives to adapt it to the 

 " New Idea." 



Mr. Dadant closes his article by an unfair 

 criticism on a hive I sent him several years 

 ago (1869), and conveys the impression that it 

 is the " New Idea " hive. Such is not the case ; 

 but, as think that your space can be better 

 occupied, I will not discuss the merits of the 

 section hive, except to say that he has never 

 given it sufficient trial to entitle his opinion 

 to any weight, and as for crushing bees it is 

 less liable to that than any other frame hive ; 

 and, if it happens, it is through sheer careless- 

 ness or awkwardness. But he is not open to 

 conviction, as he says : 



"As for me I will be contented with the 

 hive that I have used for eight years." So was 

 that pattern of an old fogy, that tradition tells 

 ns about, " contented " with the stone in one 

 end of his bag to balance the grain in the 

 other, because he had not only used it as long 



as Mr. D. has his hive, but his " daddy " did it 

 before him, and its use was hallowed by the 

 sanctity of antiquarian worship. 



D. L. Adaib. 

 Eawesville, Ky., Aug. 10, 1873. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



The Honey Bee. 



LCONTINUED.] 



Treatment of the Queen by her Subjects. — It 

 should be observed, that the little glass hive in 

 which the queen was placed, contained only 

 about a fifth part of the original swarm, which 

 had been divided on a Saturday. On Sunday 

 the bees seemed discouraged, went out into the 

 fields and came back, bringing with them very 

 little material. On Monday they labored more 

 assiduously, as, in six hours, they had formed 

 a piece of comb containing sixteen or eighteen 

 cells ; but at two o'clock of the same day they 

 quitted the hive. Reaumur, however, returned 

 them. On Tuesday they remained very quiet; 

 and, although the sun was warm, and the time 

 of the day (about 11), that at which the hive 

 presents the busiest scene, they were resting in 

 groups. All this seemed to prove that they 

 were not contented. They had a queen and 

 the materials for building, and yet not a cell 

 was constructed. In a few minutes, while 

 Reaumur was pondering on the motives of 

 these insects, or rather on the obstacles that 

 contravened their instincts, the queen was seen 

 on the floor of the hive ; a dozen workers in- 

 stantly came buzzing around her, the hum 

 increased, and the whole hive appeared shortly 

 in a state of great agitation. Little divisions 

 were formed, one or two workers going, were 

 followed by the queen and the whole left the 

 hive for the second time. 



According to their usual custom, they flew 

 round and round in circles, and at last settled 

 in a solid mass on one of the branches of a 

 neighboring tree. As soon as Reaumur saw 

 this he hurried to look for the queen, and 

 found her ; not in this mass, but quietly resting 

 on a leaf and at a little distance from it, " appar- 

 ently," says he, " as if aware that it would be 

 inconvenient to bear the whole weight of her 

 subjects." It seemed that she had but to indicate 

 the spot near which they were to settle, by 

 hovering around to bring them thither. 



Thinking that the disproportion between the 

 number of bees and the size of the hive might 

 have been the cause of their disgust, Reaumur, 

 this time, contrived to inclose only four or five 

 hundred along with the queen. But this step 

 proved unfortunate. The little colony re- 

 mained in the greatest agitation, and altogether 

 neglected the queen, who wandered up and 

 down quite unattended. The rest, however, 

 which had not been inclosed with the queen, 

 did not imitate the example of their fellow- 

 captives, but soon found her out; and, not 



