362 



AMERICAN BEE pUEIiAU 



June 5, 1901 



5. Total. 130 pounds. Presumably, for an earlier climate 

 the figures should be readjusted so as to put more of the 

 amount in April and Maj", and less in later months. 



SUCCESS DEPENDS UPON THE QUEEN. 



Good sentence from Ada L. Pickard : " A g'reat deal of 

 success for the comingf season depends upon the queens we 

 have put into winter quarters." Page 265. 



FERTII,IZ.\TION OF FRUIT-BLOOM BY BEES. 



I do not wonder particularly that Mr. Thaddeus Smith 

 thought my last year's insect remarks a little rough. But 

 such things have to be said ; and sometimes thej' get said to 

 persons who do not deserve them. Sincerely beg pardon : 

 but won't promise to refrain from doing it again — to the 

 very next fellow. IMost people have talent for not seeing 

 things which is immense — immense almost bej'ond belief — 

 that is, when the things are such as they never tried to in- 

 vestigate. For instance, an intelligent farmer, my neigh- 

 bor, once expressed astonishment to see me carrying by a 

 white clover, that is, a red clover so far as species is con- 

 cerned, with a pure white bloom. Had never seen such a 

 thing. Well, there was a fine one growing not far from his 

 gate that minute ; and he had doubtless sat on his mower 

 and mowed down hundreds of them without his mind taking 

 any report from his eyes. 



Actual observations are what we want ; and I do not 

 wish to discount Mr. Smith's or Mr. High's — any further 

 than to remark that it takes a good many I-didn't-sees to 

 head off an I-did-see. 



That Pelee with bees has no better fruit than other 

 islands without bees is pretty strong medicine, so far as it 

 goes. 



My observations last year on strawberry bloom were 

 that lots of insects of a number of species visited the bloom. 

 Many honej'-bees were among them. Pistillate blooms were 

 visited about as freely as the perfect blooms. If I remember 

 aright, it was for denying that that I chucked Mr. Smith 

 down in the see-nothing class with my neighbor the farmer. 

 (Saw a honey-bee yesterday deliberately draw nectar from a 

 pistillate strawberry bloom.) 



Mr. Smith is again far astray in saying that nobody 

 claims that bees improve the quality of fruit. Bees cross- 

 fertilize ; and it is claimed, and not only claimed but appar- 

 ently proved up by photographs, that cross-fertilized fruit 

 is sometimes very much larger and better than self-fertilized 

 fruit. Not claimed, I believe, that it always shows any dif- 

 ference. 



Questions and Answers. \ 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. O. O. MILLER, Marengo, 111. 



(The Qnestions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller 



direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the 



Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.] 



Transferring Bees -Producing Extracted Honey 

 Introducing (lueens. 



1. I am a beginner, having bought my bees last fall ; 

 they are in Langstroth hives, but the combs are not very 

 correct, and I wish to cut them and make them straight. 

 Please instruct me how, and when. 



2. I intend to go in for extracted honey. If I put the 

 top part of the hive on with starters will the bees go to work 

 on them without any coaxing ? 



3. Would it be safer to introduce a queen in an artificial 

 swarm than in a natural one? Ont.\rio. 



Answers. — 1. First take out any frames whose combs 

 are straight enough to lift out. Then cut the comb enough 

 to get out the rest. It is possible that all the combs are 

 built crosswise in such shape that no frame can be lifted 

 out. In that case take a knife long enough, or a saw, and 

 cut away the attachments to the sides of tlie hive, then turn 

 the hive upside down and dump out the whole of its con- 

 tents. You will then fasten the combs in the frames as 

 directed for transferring in your text-book. Before opera- 

 ting you may drum out the bees, so as to have them out of 



the way, although if the case is not a very bad one it may 

 not be necessary to drum them out. 



2. Yes, but they will start sooner in the upper story if 

 you put in it a frame of brood from the lower story, return- 

 ing it below when the bees have started above. 



3. There ought to be no difference, if both are alike as 

 to queenlessness. 



<*-—»■ 



Introducing Queens— Hiving a Swarm. 



1. How do you think it would work to introduce a queen 

 from a long distance in this way ? Place a frame of hatch- 

 ing brood in a wire cage, with the queen thereon, and let 

 her remain for about 48 hours, then release her. 



2. There was a swarm of bees that issued from mj' api- 

 ary about two weeks ago. I being away at the time, my 

 friend, who was present, undertook to capture the swarm. 

 The bees had settled in a large oak-tree, and he climbed up 

 near them and sprinkled them with water, then sawed off 

 the limb and proceeded to hive them, but on descending to 

 the ground he found they had taken flight, and were set- 

 tling on another limb of the same tree. He climbed up the 

 tree again and gave another sprinkling with water, then 

 sawed off the limb and descended to the ground ; by this 

 time they were settling on a small limb of a blackjack, to 

 which he had easy access from the ground. He sprinkled 

 them again and quietly sawed off the limb, being careful 

 not to jar them off, and placed them near the hive, or decoy 

 box, which they readily entered. The shutter was then 

 closed, it being perforated with holes to give them air. 

 They were kept in the decoy box about two hours, while we 

 were making preparations to transfer them. Upon exami- 

 nation we found three-fourths of them dead. Can you tell 

 the cause of their death, whether by water or too much 

 heat ? We found them very much besmeared with honey. 



Tex.^s. 



Answers. — 1. The plan is certainly good up to the time 

 of releasing, and then it depends upon circumstances as to 

 the reception. If the old queen had been removed just at 

 the time of putting the new one in the hive, the reception 

 might not be always satisfactory. If I understand you cor- 

 rectly, the whole frame is caged in, in which case there 

 would be no harm in leaving it in the cage for two or three 

 days, making sure of success. 



2. Lack of air was the prime trouble, aggravated by the 

 heat, and probably to some extent by the moisture. 



Queens Going Out in the Spring. 



It is a fact that occasionally the queen-bee goes out in 

 the spring. I distinctly remember having once seen one 

 which alighted on my hand while I was engaged watching 

 the bees of a certain hive bring pollen on a very warm day 

 of April. Another day I saw a queen returning home: I 

 think it was in May, during fruit-bloom. But in neither 

 case did I remark anything abnormal in her majesty, nor 

 did I think of examining the hives to find out whether or 

 not there were two queens in the same hive. Both queens 

 looked very bright and young. 



1. What was the reason of their coming out so early ? 



2. Is this a common occurrence? 



3. Should it not discourage the early clipping of queen's 

 wings ? For if she is not clipped, she is likely to be lost 

 every time she goes out alone. 



4. Would not this account for the fact that several colo- 

 nies which had a queen in March are found without one ia 

 May? 



5. And while I am at it, don't you think that it is use- 

 less, to say the least, to clip queens' wings in the home 

 apiary ? Since the prime swarm which has the old queen, 

 always alights on low branches and near the hive. 



C.\N.\DA. 



Answers.— 1. I don't know, but if you will allow me 

 the privilege of guessing I should guess that the queens you 

 mention were virgins out on their wedding excursions. 



2. It is not a common occurrence so far north as Can- 

 ada, to see a queen flying in April. 



3. I hardly think so. Of course it would be a bad thing 

 to clip a virgin queen in any case, but it is hardly to be 

 supposed that any one with even a very little experience 

 would make such a mistake. I have known a laying queen to 

 tly out in spring occasionally, but always with the inten- 

 tion of deserting the hive, as with an absconding swarm, in 

 which case the advantages and disadvantages of clipped 

 wings would be the same as any swarm. That a laying 



