AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



427 



down, etc. So it, is not always to be an 

 unfailing sign when cells are started, 

 that they will swarm. 



The old queen goes out with the 

 swarm, except in a few cases it will be a 

 virgin that will lead off the first swarm. 

 This is the case where the old queen is 

 very nearly worn out, and the bees have 

 prepared to swarm, and bad weather 

 prevents the swarm from issuing until a 

 young queen is hatched, and she kills 

 her mother, and leads oflf the swarm. 

 The old queen failing to tear down the 

 cells, works things to her own fate, and 

 in a few cases I have found both the old 

 and the young queen out with the first 

 swarm ; and in one case four virgins 

 and their mother, all out with a first 

 swarm. But these are only rare in- 

 stances, and given to show you that 

 bees do not always act just alike, or 

 what one colony does another may do 

 the reverse. So do not become alarmed 

 at anything the bees do, for they some- 

 times seem like the people of this world 

 " Many men of many minds," etc. 



And it is not always the right thing to 

 do to clip the wings of the queen of a 

 first swarm, as directed by some, and, 

 in fact, I would not clip the wings of 

 queens at all. 



Next will be queen-rearing, both on a 

 small scale, and a large one. 



Bee-Notes from Flowery Florida. 



Of late I have been visiting home- 

 steads in the pine woods, and at all I 

 found bees kept in the primitive state. 

 Most of the colonies were in tall box- 

 hives made of the heavy pine of this 

 country, and with few exceptions no 

 provisions made for storing honey, ex- 

 cept inside of the hive. Where there 

 were surplus boxes, they were merely a 

 cut-off extension of the main hive. 



In answer to my query, if I could 

 purchase some honey, I met with the 

 usual response, " We've none taken." 

 This " taking" of honey does not occur, 

 apparently, at any stated period, but 

 whenever the appetite craves it. The 

 surplus honey of last year was yet upon 

 the hives of some colonies, and they 

 were nearly at the swarming point ; 

 having large hives, well provisioned, 

 they could afford to rear large families. 

 Many swarms emigrate, for a home- 

 steader secured 8 colonies from the 

 woods the past winter. 



The ti-ti, orange and lemon trees are 

 now blooming, and bees are busy all the 

 day, and humming all night the tune of 

 plenty. The bees of this locality are 



very small and black, and I know of but 

 one Italian apiary. In that great bee- 

 country of Florida, known as We-wa- 

 hitchika, or the Dead Lakes, Italian 

 bees are kept, and all the improved 

 methods of bee-culture are in use. 



The writer expects to lecture to night, 

 on "The Relation of Bees to Horticul- 

 ture." Some fine singers will sing "Dot 

 Happy Bee-Man," and the " Busy, Buz- 

 zing Bees." The latter is a new song, 

 written by the editor of the American 

 Bee Jouknal. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



St. Andrews' Bay, Fla., Mar.22,1893. 



Introducing Q,ueens. 



On page 28 of the February issue of 

 the Apiculturist, Mr. Alley seems to try 

 to take me to task about something, and 

 I hardly know what. He has the fol- 

 lowing to say : 



" The readei's of one of our bee-paper ex- 

 changes must have had quite a puzzle re- 

 cently to work out. Mrs. Jennie Atchley 

 pitched into us for what we said in the Api- 

 culturiat about introducing queens. We 

 were puzzled as much as any one to dis- 

 cover what she was driving at, until it oc- 

 curred to us that the remarks she made 

 had reference to our criticism of her way of 

 introducing queens. The fair way for Mrs. 

 A. to have done would have been for her to 

 have quoted our remarks, and then made 

 comments thereon. The reader then would 

 have understood the matter, and could 

 have judged for themselves as to whether 

 we or Mrs. A. were in the right. 



''Mrs. A. took exceptions to what we 

 said of her way of introducing queens. 

 Mrs. A. said a good way to introduce 

 queens is to remove all the bees from combs 

 of brood, and after placing the queen on 

 the combs, let the colony build up by the 

 increase from the hatching brood. 



" Well, now, that does not properly come 

 under the head of introducing queens. To 

 begin with, it is far from practical, and is 

 not such as bee-keepers need. 



' ' What bee-keepers desire is a practical 

 plan for introducing queens tliat will en- 

 able them to introduce a strange queen as 

 soon as a full colony is dequeened. Well, 

 there are just those methods in vogue, and 

 thousands of bee-keepers make a success of 

 them." 



I have quoted Mr. Alley's remarks in 

 full as above, and as he requests it, I 

 comment as follows : 



I may have said some time in my life 

 that it was a good way to introduce a 

 queen on combs of hatching brood, and 

 yet say that it is a very sure way in case 

 we do not wish to take any risk. But, 

 what I said about introducing, that Mr. 

 Alley is driving at, has no relation to the 

 above at all. I said that Mr. Alley 



