80 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



we have to do is to liberate this confined queen, 

 and the bees are at once supplied with a substi- 

 tute, which having the same smell with the 

 bees, will be well received. 



We may thus secure any number of queens, 

 to supply swarms that lose theirs. But to the 

 apiarian that has Italian bees, this plan is of 

 still greater importance. If a few queens are 

 thus secured, and the one that assumes the 

 reigning power in the hive is not of good color, 

 one of these can be substituted in her place; 

 and this noble race can thus be perpetuated in 

 its purity, with the least possible trouble. 



I shall attempt to winter queens in this way 

 the coming winter. Of course impregnated 

 queens must be chosen for the purpose. My 

 process shall be the same as with the cells, only 

 a few bees will be confined with the queen. I 

 have no doubt I shall be successful, if the cage 

 is in the centre of the cluster, and the queen has 

 plenty of honey for her support. I hope others 

 will try to winter queens in the same manner. 

 If successful, we may often save valuable stocks 

 in the spring, that have lost their queens dur- 

 ing the winter. R. B. Olbt. 



New Berlin, Pa., September 29, 1866. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



I have kept the honey combs of three hun- 

 dred hives, three years, in a room nearly air 

 tight, smoked with burning sulphur three times 

 a year. The doiffs were sealed tight, moth 

 proof. 



Having the empty combs, I have taken from 

 three swarms of bees, seventy-five pounds of 

 honey, worth $22.50. From a stock of Italians 

 three hundred pounds or ninety dollars worth 

 was taken, and seventy-five pounds each from 

 two stocks that deserted or died last spring. 



St. Charles, III. J. M. M. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bees have done tolerably well here this sum- 

 mer. One hive of Italians of Mr. Langstroth's 

 importation, in this neighborhood, produced 

 one hundred and forty-one pounds of surplus 

 honey, and another hive a large box nearly 

 full. M. D. 



Lewisburg, Ohio. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Last June I clipped the wings of a black 

 queen to prevent swarming. Aboui a week ago 

 I noticed Italian workers entering and depart- 

 ing quite freelj'', and no signs that robbing was 

 being perpetrated. I could also sec them through 

 the observing glass, quite at home in the hive. 

 One of my neighbors has two hives which are 

 atiected in the same manner. One of his queens 

 is a young one-, and maj' have met an Italian 

 drone; but mine could not. Can j'ou explain 

 the mystery? 



Are drones allowed to visit any hive they 

 please? I have known Italian drones t'l be in 

 hives where the queen was a native; and have 

 seen dead ones that tried to push through a 

 non-swarmer tliat was applied to a hive to keep 

 blnck ones in, so that they might not mate with 



Italian queens. Would they have been well 

 received if they had succeeded in getting in? 



I intend wintering my bees in a clump, as ad- 

 vised by Mr. Langstroth. Ought I to confine 

 them to the hives? My hives have wire ven- 

 tilation in the rear. 



How many strong stocks would an acre of 

 buckwheat support while in blossom? 



Concord, Mass., Sept. 18. H. F. W. 



Remarks. 



1. Bees are by no means such inhospitable 

 creatures as was formerly supposed. This was 

 clearly demonstrated when the Italian variety 

 was introduced. If hives of Italians be placed 

 among common stocks in an apiary they will 

 speedily mingle, and individuals of the one va- 

 riety will be observed in the hives of the other, 

 laboring as assiduously as though "to the manor 

 born" and originally domicilated there. 



2. During the season when drones are bred 

 and tolerated by the workers, they will be well 

 received in any hive they may choose to enter 

 — whether of the Italian or common stocks. 



s. When wintered in a clump, cellar, or dark 

 chamber, bees should not be confined to their 

 hives. The entrance must always be left open; 

 and if cottage hives are used, these should be 

 inverted, and left in that position till spring 

 opens. 



4. Buckwheat is an exceedingly precarious 

 honey plant. In some soils and seasons it en- 

 tirely fails to yield any; and the product isevery 

 year so dependent on circumstances beyond 

 control, that it is impossible to say what num- 

 ber of stocks could be supported by an acre of 

 it while in blossom. — Ed. 



Every living thing, from man down to an 

 ephemeral insect, pursues the bee to its destruc- 

 tion for the sake of the honey that is deposited in 

 its cells, or secreted in its honey bag. To ob- 

 tain that which the bee is carrying to its hive, 

 numerous birds and insects are on the watch, 

 and an incredible number of bees fall victims 

 in consequence, to their enemies. Besides this, 

 there are frequent changes in the weather, sud- 

 den showers, and violent gusts of wind; and 

 then there is the liability to fall into rivers; and 

 thus perish. Hence we may boldly assert that 

 few bees attain to old age, or die from an ex- 

 haustion of vital forces. 



Bees have a sort of language among them- 

 selves, whereby they know each other's wants, 

 as in building their combs, unloading the labor- 

 ers, feeding each other, &c. They also fore- 

 know the approach of a storm, and will sound 

 an alarm when anything injurious disturbs their 

 habitation. Such sounds will be instantly un- 

 derstood and answered by the whole hive. 



Reaumur calculated that, within one hour, 

 throe thousand bees returned from their collec- 

 tions, to a hive whose population did not ex- 

 ceed eighteen thousand ; and Ewammerdam 

 found nearly four thousand cells constructed in 

 six days, by a new swarm, consisting of less 

 than six thousand workers. 



