THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL AND GAZETTE. 



197 



often witnessed in vineyards located between 

 forests densely packed with a tangled mass of 

 underbrush. Nor should we fail to explore our 

 own premises and buildings thoroughly, for the 

 foe may be concealed even there, and we may 

 find that the cause of the damage is often har- 

 bored in our own vicinage. 



A due estimate of the injuries sustained by 

 the proprietors of vinej'ards from this source, 

 would doubtless showthat the aggregate in neigh- 

 borhood, where vineyards are numerous or ex- 

 tensive, vvould justify considerable expenditure 

 and sacrifices for its abatement or removal. 

 Hence, an intelligent vineyardist near me 

 (who has a number of colonies in his vineyard, 

 which lie would certainly long since have re- 

 moved, had he found tliat tlie bees injured his 

 crops) proposed to those interested to malie war 

 on their common foe every spring, by offering 

 a reward for the capture and destruction of 

 wasps, and thus engaging the services of chil- 

 dren and others in the work. This course, re- 

 solutely pursued, would speedily rid us of the 

 evil. It would show good results also as re- 

 gards fruit-culture in general, for the encourage- 

 ment and extension of which such praiseworthy 

 efforts are now being made in all parts of the 

 country. Eemove the cause, and the injurious 

 eflects will be prevented. We should then no 

 longer hear complaints of the damage done by 

 tlie honey-bee; but vineyardists and bee-keepers 

 would dwell together in unity and peace; each 

 devoted to liis favorite pursuit, patriotically en- 

 gaged in enlarging and diversifying the resoiir- 

 ces of our common country; and enjoying in 

 harmony the fruit of their laudable exertions. 



S. M. 



February, 1867. 



In the Philosophical Transactions for 1793, 

 Mr. Hunter has stated that whatever time the 

 contents of the honey-bag may be retained, they 

 still remain pure and unadulterated by the di- 

 gestive process. Mr. Polhill is also of this 

 opinion. Messrs. Kirby and Spence do not 

 admit this statement; as the nectar of flowers is 

 not of so thick a consistence as honey, they 

 think it must undergo some cliange in the 

 stomach of the bee. They are countenanced in 

 thi.-5 opinion l)y Swammerdam and Reaumur. 

 Tlie latter has observed that if there was a de- 

 ficiency of flowers at the season of honey- 

 gathering, and the bees were furnished with 

 sugar, they filled their cells with honey, diifer- 

 ing in no other respect from honey gathered iu 

 the usual way, but in its possessing a somewhat 

 higher flavor, and its never candying or losing 

 its fluidity by long keeping. Tliere is, how- 

 ever, some doulit about the correctness of this 

 statement by Reaumur. 



HuBER relates that once, when all the worker- 

 brood was removed from a hive, and only drone- 

 brood left, the bees appeared in a state of ex- 

 treme despondency. Assembled in clusters 

 upon the combs, they lost all their activity. 

 The queen dropped her eggs at random, and 

 instead of the usual active hum, a dead silence 

 reigned in the hive. 



For the Americau Bee Journal and Gazette. 



Two Modes of Swarming. 



Two modes of increasing an apiary are now 

 before the public, and each has its advocates. 

 Natural swarming is one method, and artificial 

 swarming the other. 



Allowing bees to manage themselves by 

 swarming when they please, or not swarm at 

 all, to depopulate their homes by the departure 

 of too many swarms, and to have their own 

 way generally about the matter, is the well- 

 known definition of natural swarming. 



Dividing families of bees when strong in both 

 bees and brood, at a time when honey is plenty, 

 at any hour in the day most convenient to their 

 keeper, and regulating the increase of the apiary 

 according to the favorablenesa of the season, 

 and the desire of their owner, is what is known 

 to many as artificial swarming. 



Reader, which of these two methods do you 

 prefer ? 



M. M. Balduidge. 



St. Charles, Kane Co., III., 1867. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



A String of Questions. 



Some use comb-frames 1 j inch wide, some 

 1^ inch, some 1 inch, others I inch, and still 

 others f inch. Now, what is the best width forf 

 top-piece of comb-frame ? Should it be any^ 

 wider than the thickness of brood-comb? If so, 

 why? Comb guides are recommended in the 

 first volume of the Bee JotrRNAL for securing 

 straight combs. Are they still used for that 

 purpose ? Is it advisable to use them, or has a 

 better way for securing straight been devised ? 

 Wlio will answer these inquiries ? 



Querist. 



Bees, when swarming, are generally peace- 

 able, and, if treated gently, may be hived with- 

 out danger or difficulty. A remarkable in- 

 stance of their inolfensiveness at this period is 

 related by Mr. Thorley. Wanting to dislodge 

 a swarm from the branch of a codlen-tree on 

 which it had clustered, he placed the hive in 

 the hands of a maid-servant, who, being a no- 

 vice, covered her head and shoulders with a 

 cloth to guard her face. On shaking the tree, 

 most of the bees alighted on the cloth, and 

 quickly crept under it"^ covering the girl's breast 

 and neck up to her chin. Mr. T. impressed her 

 with tlie importance of neither flinching from 

 nor bufi'eting the bees, and began immediately 

 to search for tlie queen, which, on finding, he 

 gently seized and removed, but without effect- 

 ing a dislodgement of the swarm. Thus dis. 

 appointed, he suspected there was a second 

 queen present, which actually proved to be the 

 case. On securing her and placing her in the 

 hive, with a portion of the bees, the rest fol- 

 lowed in multitudes, till in two or three minutes 

 not one bee remained on the girl, who was thus 

 released from her state of apprehension and 

 alarm, without feeling the point of a single 

 sting. 



