THE AMERICAN BEE JOUHNAL. 



247 



For the Aniorlcan T?oe Journal. 



Pink-Blossomed Milk Weed. 



In " Xotes ami (Queries " iu your Jouu- 

 NAL of September, W. i\I. Page, of Branch 

 louuty, Mich., wants you to tell him what 

 is the matter with his bees. My explana- 

 tion to him is this : It is cause^l by work 

 on the large Pink-Blossomed W\\k Weed, 

 growing on wet ground or sides of ditch- 

 es in wet marshes. I have cut down 

 acres of this weed in August last. His 

 bees are not lighting ; only carrying from 

 the hive, bees that arc affected by work- 

 ing on this milk weed, with their feet 

 gun\med up from the stickey substance, 

 and pollen of this weed. It seems 

 impossible for the workers to remove this 

 from their feet. The workers will carry 

 them out as often as they attempt to enter 

 the hive. Finally you find them lying 

 around on the ground with their feet stuck 

 together, and the bees dead. It yields a 

 large amount of honey, and bees will go 

 miles to work on it. Many bees are found 

 sticking" fast to the blossoms. ]My stocks 

 were suffering badly from work on this 

 weed. I hunted out its location, and cut 

 down all of it within two miles of me, 

 and the cure was complete for this year. 

 It is in full blow here from the '25tli of 

 .July to the middle of August. 



Ripon, Wisconsin. R. Dart. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bees Swarming. 



Why do bees go to the woods when 

 they swarm ? This question has been 

 asked by several, iu the Bee Journal, 

 and answered liy others; but my views 

 are different from most of them in some 

 respects. There are many kinds of bees 

 created, and the Creator has given them 

 the faculty to perpetuate their race. He 

 has provided them a home according to 

 their need. Some, it is said, live iu the 

 ground, but those amongst us, the Creator 

 placed in the forest. He caused trees to 

 leave hollow places in them for a home, 

 and he has caused some kinds of trees to 

 have gum issue from them for the bees to 

 obtain it and wax the inside of their 

 homes; and endowed them with the in- 

 stinct to build one kind of comb for rais- 

 ing drones; another for Avorker bees; 

 another for raising queens, and another 

 for storing honey, and has caused trees 

 and vegetation to produce honey and pol- 

 len for their foocl; and after they have 

 increased and become numerous, He has 

 given them the inclination to divide, and 

 the signal is given for a part to leave. It 

 is supposed that the queen gives the or- 

 ders, but how many are to go, no man 

 can tell, until after they leave; but it is 



evident that a certain number are called, 

 and they take a portion of honey and pol- 

 len to eat on the way, and until they have 

 a home of their own. Of those that arc 

 to remain, a part are in the field and a 

 l)art are at home taking care of the young. 

 Those that leave, go to another tree and 

 form another colony. 



The art of man has brought them to 

 our doors, and it would seem that they 

 were intended for our use, for they often 

 lay up more than they need for their own 

 use, and the overplus can be taken away; 

 and when they swarm, there is no con- 

 fusion or disorganization about it. The 

 Creator has ordered that a part should 

 leave and form a new colony, and they 

 leave in regular order, according to the 

 instinct given them; and if not hived in 

 regular order, they go to the forest, their 

 original home, where the Creator first 

 placed them. This is why they go to the 

 woods when they swarm. 



My bees have swarmed plentifully, but 

 have made but little box honey, owing to 

 the scarcity of white clover. 



Mar cell us, N. Y. A. Wilson. 



Honey Men of Oneida, 111. 



Several of the bee-keepers of Oneida 

 clubbed together, and sent to Wiscong^,- 

 by I. W. Cramer and bought eight busl*- 

 els of buckwheat, which they gave to Mr. 

 Dater, who sowed nine acres of ground 

 with it, just east of town. It has been iu 

 bloom for some time, and consequently 

 there is a lively time just now among our 

 bee-keepers. There are two honey ex- 

 tracting machines in town, W. M. Kel- 

 log's and I. W. Cramer's, which throw 

 the honey out of the comb, leaving bee- 

 bread, etc., in the comb and returning it 

 to be filled again by the bees. Following 

 is a list of the bee-keepers, number and 

 style of hives, and amount of honey taken 

 for the week ending Sept. 12, 1874. 



By W. M. Kellog, for P. Mohler, T Kel- 

 logg's Improved Langstroth hives, lT<i 

 lbs.; Dr. D. AV. C. Bacon, 4 Langstroth 

 hives, 70 lbs.; A. S. Curtis, 3 I. W. Cra- 

 mer's hives, 42 lbs.; Dr. D. D. Martin, 2 

 Cramer hives, 20 Ibg.; E. J. Peterson, 1 

 Kellogg hive, 4(li lbs.; D. Hamilton, 2 

 each Kellogg and Cramer hives, 45 lbs , 

 and at Kellogg's own yard, 7 hives, 245 

 lbs. By I. W. Cramer, for T. Par.sous, 2 

 Cramer hives, dGi lbs., and at Cramer's 

 own yard, 200 lbs., 12 hives. Mr. Cra- 

 mer has run his yard more for queens 

 than for honey. If we are favored with 

 the continued fine weather, the yield of 

 honey will be doubled. 875 lbs. of honey 

 at 20 cents \^ Iti., is the snug little sum 

 of $175, for one week's work with the 

 little stingers. — Galesburg Reporter. 



