218 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL AND GAZETTE. 



honey soon attracted the bees nearest to it, and 

 a slow movement of them took jilace, till at 

 length the whole swarm gradually gathered it- 

 self under and within the hive, except a few 

 patches of bees, which, in walking away, Mr. 

 Simmouds easily disengaged from his dress 

 with his hand, and made them join their com- 

 panions. Mr. Simmonds thus escaped not only 

 a very disagreeable but a perilous situation. It 

 occupied two hours from the time that the bees 

 alighted on their master to the time of his re- 

 lease. 



[From the Bieneazeitiing.] 



Multiplication of Stocks. 



In bee-culture it is an important question 

 whether artificial multiplication of stock is to 

 be adopted, or voluntary swarming is to be re- 

 lied on. The decision depends in a great mea- 

 sure on locality^ for special reference must 

 always be had to that in the management of 

 bees. I once put the question to Dzierzon, and 

 his reply was— "If bees in your neighborhood 

 are apt to swarm, you must not make artificial 

 colonies; but where natural swarming is of rare 

 occurrence, artificial multiplication should be 

 resorted to, and can be used to great advan- 

 tage." 



In accordance with this advice, I made few 

 artificial colonies in the last four seasons, be- 

 cause bees here commonly yield numerous | 

 swarms. A lot of ten stocks in straw-hives, ; 

 purchased two years ago, proved to be parti- ! 

 cularly productive in this respeet, and benefici- 

 ally so, though artificial multiplication, too fre- 

 quently resorted to here by some in the last few \ 

 years, which were poor in honey, was obviously , 

 disadvantageous. Hence I am grateful for | 

 Dzierzon' s advice, and glad that 1 followed it. 

 At the Bee-Convention in Gotha, I put the 

 same question to the Baron of Berlepsch, re- 

 marking at the same time — "you must concede, 

 sir, that a natural swarm is more industrious i 

 ^and makes more rapid progress than an artificial 

 one." The Baron's reply was— "I will tell 

 you how to make an artificial colony which wnll 

 be quite as industrious and make as rapid pro- 

 gress. Take a populous stock and shake all its 

 bees into a hive furnished with empty comb, 

 sat this where the populous stock stood, and 

 place the hive deprived of its bees on the stand 

 of some other populous stock, removing the 

 latter to a new location, and you will find you 

 have a very industrious artificial colony." I 

 am thankful to the Baron for this instruction, 

 for colonies thus made cannot be excelled. As 

 I do not intend enlarging my apiary much 

 more, I shall make colonies in this manner 

 yearly hereafter. 



I have found it to be very advantageous also 

 to feed each of my young stocks, whether na- 

 tural swarms or artificial, Avith diluted- honey 

 every evening for three or four days after they 

 are hived. If the honey is diluted, the bees will 

 carry up and use a larger quantity than they 

 will take from a comb of sealed honey inserted 

 in their hive. They seem to regard the diluted 

 article as supplied by nature, and therefore to 



be rapidly gathered up, thus stimulating their 

 energy, and causing speedy and rapid comb- 

 building. 



We may readily understand why a natural 

 swarm produces more wax, at first, and builds 

 more comb than an artificial colony, when we 

 consider that it consists exclusively of older 

 bees already accustomed to out-door labors, and 

 which moreover took with them a full supply 

 of honey when leaving the parent hive. They 

 are thus prepared to go to work immediately in 

 their new home, and nearly all can leave to 

 gather honey abroad, as they have no brood to 

 nurse at home. Their activity, moreover, 

 stimulates the queen to renewed and increased 

 oviposition, which duty, likewise, she can dis- 

 charge with greater despatch in the half-finished 

 cells of the combs now being built, than in the 

 full depth cells of the older cx)mbs given to arti- 

 ficial colonies. This is the reason why such 

 large quantities of brood are often found in na- 

 tural swarms, a few weeks after they were 

 hived. Wedell. 



In the season of oviposition the queen-bee 

 may be discerned traversing the brood-combs 

 in all directions with a slow step, seeking for 

 cells proper to receive her eggs. As she walks, 

 she keeps her head inclined, and seems to 

 examine, one by one, all the cells she meets 

 with. When she finds one to her purpose, she 

 immediately gives her abdomen the curve ne- 

 cessary to enable it to reach the orifice of the 

 cell, and to introduce it within it. The eggs 

 are set in the angle of the pyramidal bottom of 

 the cell, or in one of the hollows formed by the 

 confiux of the sides of the rhombs, and being 

 covered with a kind of gluten, they stand nearly 

 upright. 



The life of the drones is of very short dura- 

 tion, the eggs that produce them being com- 

 monly laid in the months of April and May, 

 and their destruction being usually accom- 

 plished in July and August. The Avorkers ex- 

 pel them from the honey-combs, and they col- 

 lect in a dense mass on the bottom of the hive. 

 Finally, weakened by the want of food, they 

 are ruthlessly expelled, and either perish from 

 starvation, or are worried to death bj' the in- 

 cessant persecution of their relentless foes. 



In olden time, in England, any man who 

 wished to begin bee-keeping, had no difllculty 

 in borrowing a swarm from a neighbor; and a 

 year or two afterwards he repaid it by a first 

 swarm, with from five to ten pounds of honey 

 for interest, according as two or three years 

 had passed since he borrowed. 



Not a single ounce of honey was ever wasted 

 by bees since the world was made. You do not 

 waste your honey by feeding, but only, as it 

 were, pour it out of one pot into another, Avhcre 

 you may find it whenever you want it; and not 

 only so, but you find a gallon where you put a 

 quart. 



