204 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Saugatuck, Mich., June 13, 1876.— "Last 

 Friday I transferred and divided a lieavy 

 swarm of bees; making two new swarms in 

 new liives. Tlie queenless colony received 

 a little more than half the bees and half the 

 combs. Seven hours after dividing I in- 

 serted a queen cell in the cjueenless colony. 

 The next day the bees in the queenless 

 colony hung out heavily as though crowded 

 for room, though they could not have been. 

 The colony with a queen was quiet and con- 

 tented. Sunday a heavy swarm issued from 

 the queenless colony before tlie queen had 

 hatched. Can you explain the cause? Do 

 swarms often come out without a queen? 

 This swarm acted as though it had a queen, 

 but where did she come from ? 



Would you advise moving bees four miles 

 to a better honey location this month 

 (June)? 



Have 35 swarms, all in good condition. 

 Some swarms have capped 40 lbs. of white 

 clover honey in boxes. 



Wintered out doors by packing hives in 

 straw, in boxes 4 inches larger all around 

 than the hives. Did not lose a swarm. All, 

 even the very weak ones seemed in better 

 condition in the spring than last fall. 



How can second swarms be prevented 

 from issuing? 



Are queen cells always started before the 

 first swarm issues? Walter B. House. 



Without your noticing it there may have 

 been queen cells beside the one you insert- 

 ed, and a little older. As soon as the first 

 queen hatched she may have left with a 

 swarm. We do not think a swarm would 

 come off without there being any queen in 

 the hive. You do not say whether the 

 swarm which came off was hived and re- 

 mained. If so they had a queen. Some- 

 times a swarm will leave and the queen 

 being unable to fly will fall on the ground 

 near the hive, but in such case the swarm 

 will return to the hive. 



It may pay to move bees four miles at 

 any time, provided there is gain enough in 

 the pasturage. We should wa?it all tlie 

 honey extracted before moving at such a 

 season, and would want the bees to have 

 plenty of ventilation on their journey. 



Formerly it was supposed that bees would 

 never swarm witliout having queen cells 

 started, but since the coming of Italians 

 there are many exceptions to the rule. 



Second swarms can be prevented by cut- 

 ting out all but one queen cell. It is not 

 easy to do this in all cases, for sometimes a 

 cell may be built in such a way as to escape 

 ordinary observation. Witii box hives it is 

 almost impossible. An easy phin with 

 eitlier box or frame hives is to set the new 

 swarm, as soon as it is hived, in place of 

 the old one, removing the old one to a new 

 position. All the bees which go out to 

 gather honey, tor a day or two, join the new 

 swarm on their return, thus strengthi-niug 

 the new colony and weakening the old one 

 so lUiich that it will not swariu again, al- 



lowing all queens but one to be killed. As 

 immense numbers of young bees are hatch- 

 ing out in the old hive the nlaces of those 

 that have been left will soon be made good. 

 We have never experienced any loss from 

 this course, but the British Bee Journal 

 advises care for fear the great depletion 

 may leave the brood in the old hive unpro- 

 tected, so that it may be chilled. Possibly, 

 the difference in climate may have some- 

 thing to do with it, but we should have 

 little fear in our hot, dry climate, especially 

 as at swarming, the brood is mainly sealed, 

 which requires less protection than that 

 which is unsealed. 



Centerville, Iowa, June 19, 1876.— I have 8 

 Italian queens all reared this spring. The 

 queens were hatched May 31, and no eggs 

 were seen in hives or boxes in which I 

 reared my queens until June 8; I examined 

 them every day. Then I found from 1 to 6 

 eggs in a cell. Tiiis I found in 3 of my 

 small boxes, and the hive that I hatched my 

 queens in. I write to ask whether this is a 

 common occurence with young aueens? 



When is the best time to ship bees? Will 

 it not do to ship bees in September or Octo- 

 ber? If so, give directions how to ventilate 

 them in the Langstit>th and American liive, 

 so they will go through safely from Center- 

 ville, Iowa to Central or Southern Kansas. 



A. O. 



Young queens do not usually commence 

 laying until several days after hatching out. 



Bees are usually moved in spring. More 

 care would be necessary in September or 

 October as the combs would then be 

 heavier. Ventilation should be given by 

 wire cloth tacked on at the portico or 

 entrance, and also space given on top for air, 

 covered with wire cloth. 



Baldwin, Kansas, July 12, 1876.— Editor 

 Bee Journal: I send you a plant for iden- 

 tification. It grows abundantly on the 

 prairie where tlie grass has been trodden 

 out. It grows from 2 to 3 feet hij^li and con- 

 tinues in blossom for a number of weeks. 

 Tlie bees are working on it and it seems to 

 afford consiiierable honey. Bees are now 

 having a "sweet thing of it" on many wild 

 flowers and also on corn. This Avill be a 

 fine honey harvest. S. S. Weatherby. 



The plant, upon examination, proves to 

 be one of our wild verbenas, known to the 

 botanist undei' the name of Verbena Stric- 

 ta. I have frequently heard bee-keepers 

 speak of the verbenas as valuable for honey, 

 and from this I suppose that they must be 

 so, but still they certainly cannot be ranked 

 with the best. C. E. Bessey. 



The Marshalltown Times says: "A 

 warrant was lately sent to the sheriff of 

 Polk County for the arrest of J\Irs. Tupper, 

 who had been indicted by the Scott County 

 grand jucy for lorgery. It was sent back 

 with the following return inscribed upon 

 its back: 'Nun inventus cut lit outus to 

 JJaliotab iia,' " 



