No. 1. 



Bees. 



17 



From the Cultivator. 

 Bees. 



I SUPPOSED until lately, that when bees 

 swarmed there was but one queen bee came 

 out with the swarm. But recent experience 

 and observation have convinced me other- 

 wise. I find that not only two or three 

 queens come out, but sometimes as many as 

 five or six leave the hive at the sametime. 



On the 25th of May, between 11 and 12 

 o'clock, I had a hive of bees which com- 

 menced swarming. They flew some 30 or 

 40 yards, and began to settle on the limb of 

 a peach tree, about 10 feet from the ground. 



Before they had half settled, another hive, 

 standing 10 or 12 feet from the other, com- 

 menced swarming ; and before these had all 

 come out, another hive standing three or 

 lour feet from the one last mentioned, com 

 menced swarming. They all followed in 

 the same train of the first swarm. 



I got a hive and began to take down the 

 first that had settled, with a basket that I 

 use as a hiver. The other kept settling in 

 the same place, and as I could make no dis- 

 tinction between swarms, I continued taking 

 down, until I had taken them all down and 

 put them into a large square hive. They 

 remained quiet during the afternoon, but did 

 not all incline to go into the hive ; a quart 

 or two remained outside. At night I car- 

 ried them to tlie place where I intended 

 they should stand. The next morning be- 

 fore sunrise I made them a visit, and found 

 nearly all in the hive. A little distance 

 from the mouth of the hive I found a dead 

 queen. I raised the hive, and saw another 

 dead queen on the bottom board. I took 

 them both away. About two hours after, I 

 found two more dead queens drawn out of 

 the hive. A few bees were flying about, as 

 I have frequently seen them when they 

 have lost their queen, but the main body of 

 the bees were quiet. About 12 o'clock 

 there appeared to be a good deal of commo- 

 tion among them. I went to my dinner; 

 was gone about half an hour. On my re- 

 turn, I found the hive emply, except a few 

 scattering bees. On the bottom board lay 

 another dead queen which made Jive tiiat I 

 had found dead. I looked around to see if I 

 could find any trace of the absconded bees. 

 About 20 or 2.5 yards from the hive, I found 

 a swarm of bees settled on a peach tree, 

 which I supposed to be a part of those that 

 had left the hive. There could not have 

 been more than one third, or one half at the 

 farthest, of what I had put into the hive the 

 day before. What had become of the others 

 I could not tell. I went for a hive, but be- 



fore I got one ready they all took their 

 wings and went to the woods. I would 

 here remark that the first hive that com- 

 menced swarming the day before had swarm- 

 ed three times tliis season before, and each 

 time had returned to the old hive, of their own 

 accord. The second time I knew a queen 

 came out, tor I found her in the grass, and 

 lifted her up, and she aro.-^e into the air. Whe- 

 ther she got lost, or returned to the old hive 

 with tlie bees I could not tell. On the next 

 day (i\'Iay 27,) the same hive that first com- 

 menced swarming on tlie 25th, swarmed 

 again. I was present when they came out. 

 Seeing a number of bees on the grass near 

 tlie hive, I loked for the queen. I soon 

 found 07te, and took her prisoner, as I was 

 determined to put the bees back into the old 

 hive. The bees flevv a short distance and 

 settled on the limb of a tree about 12 feet 

 high. I got my hiver and took them down. 

 I had the curiosity to examine them and see 

 if there was another queen, and to my sur- 

 prise I found three more, all of which I made 

 prisoners. I then let the bees go back into 

 the old hive. The next day (May 28,) I 

 was informed that a swarm of bees had come 

 out and settled on a tree in the yard. I did 

 not see them till tiiey were all settled ; of 

 course I could not tell what hive they came 

 out of I got my hiver and took them down. 

 I soon found one queen ; cropped one wing 

 to prevent her from flying away, and put 

 her into a hive. On further examination I 

 found another, which I took away and killed. 

 I put the bees into the hive, and set it where 

 I intended it should stand. During the af- 

 ternoon I passed the hive several times. At 

 one time I discovered a queen outside of the 

 hive whicli had not her wing cropped. She 

 had hid herself in the bees, and I had over- 

 looked her. I took her prisoner. The next 

 day the bees came out of the hive and went 

 directly to the woods. I then ascertained for 

 a certainty that Jive queens had been killed, 

 includmg what 1 had killed mysef And al- 

 lowing one to go off" with the swarm, there 

 must have been at least six queens when 

 they first swarmed. 



On the 30th, the hive where I put the 

 bees back on the 27th, (after destroying four 

 queens,) swarmed a<:ain. J examined them, 

 and found two queens. One I killed — I 

 cropped one wing of the other and put her 

 into a hive with the bees ; I thought there 

 was no use in putting them back again into 

 the old hive, tliey appearing determined on 

 swarming, and would multiply queens as 

 fast as they wanted them. 



Jacob Hitchcock. 



Dwight Mission, C. N., 

 June 8, 1844. 



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