March 21 , 1907 



231 



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American liee 



on their first flight when they were 

 wintered out on the summer stanjJs? 

 They do not do so to any amount. 

 It is the using of no precaution, hut al- 

 lowing tlie bees to rush out from Ihcir 

 hives when in an aroused condition, 

 brought about by the setting from the 

 cellar, which causes them to stampede 

 out of their hives en masse, so that 

 they hardly know where they are, and 

 thus when they come to wish to go 

 back home they go where the most 

 noise is made, or where the wind drifts 

 them, and thus we have one part of 

 the hives overloaded with bees and tht. 

 others nearly ruined from the loss of 

 bees which have stampeded where they 

 did not belong. 



By using smoke as I have given above, 

 the bees are more slow to leave tht 

 hive, if anything, than under any other 

 condition, and I have had no trouble 

 since I adopted this plan. And this is 

 especially applicable to the out-apiary. 

 In the home-yard we can set the bees 

 out during several days, as many each 

 day as we desire, or adopt almost aqy 

 plan that we may choose; but when we 

 travel miles to an out-apiary, we wish a 

 plan that will allow of our setting out 

 the bees on thai day, and just ivhen we 

 are there, setting all out at once, just as 

 fast as we can carry them out. 



And after using the plan as above 

 given for six years, with perfect suc- 

 cess, I can assure the reader that in it 

 we have something which is of great 

 value, especially for an out-apiary, where 

 the bees are wintered in the cellai 

 there, or in a pit or clamp, as the case 

 may be. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



The Behavior of Swarms 



BY ADRIAN GETAZ. 



In a previous contribution, I stated 

 that the Societe des Apiculteurs du De- 

 partment de la Meuse had sent its mem- 

 bers a series of questions concerning 

 the swarming of bees. The first 2i 

 questions were about the conditions 

 that provoke the bees to swarm. The 

 following questions were in regard to 

 the behavior of the swarms after is- 

 suing. These are the subject of this 

 contribution. 



Returning to the Hive. 



About 2 percent of the swarms is- 

 suing return to the parent hive almost 

 immediately after issuing. Several rea- 

 sons may induce a swarm to return, 

 but the failure of the queen to accom- 

 pany the swarm is undoubtedly the most 

 common. A swarm that returns is li- 

 able to issue again either the same day 

 or the following day. Out of S swarms 

 that return, one on an average does not 

 swarm again. In such cases there has 

 been a fight among the queens in the 

 hive and one or more can be found 

 dead in front of the hive. The dead 

 queens or bees are never carried more 

 than 4 or 5 feet from the entrance. 



Distance at Which a Swarm Settles. 



Out of 100 swarms issuing with lay- 

 ing queens, I2 will settle at less than 15 

 feet away ; 34 between 15 and 30 feet ; 

 23 between 30 and 45 feet; 21 between 



45 and 60 fed ; 7 between 60 and 90 

 feet; and 3 between 90 and 200 feet. 



As to swarms with virgin queens, 

 they may go .inywherc, even a mile or 

 two before settling. 



The next question was in regard to 

 where the swarms settle in preference, 

 whether on trees, on the ground, or in 

 empty hives. Unfortunately, the print- 

 ers left it out in the blanks sent, so 

 it is not answered. But the one fol- 

 lowing imnicdi.-itely, and asking how 

 high from the ground the swarms set- 

 tle (except those settling on the ground) 

 brought out the fact that half of the 

 swarms settle at a height of 3 to 6 

 feet, and a fourth between 6 and 12 

 feet above the ground, the remaining 

 fourth higher or lower. 



Form of the Swarms. 



Not considering those that settle on 

 the ground, about 70 percent in settling 

 assume the regular shape so often des- 

 scribed; the others assume irregular 

 forms. 



Direction of the Flight. 



The direction taken by the swarms de- 

 pends chiefly upon the position of the 

 hives in regard to the bees, walls, etc., 

 that may be about them. The informa- 

 tion given is very indefinite. It seems 

 that the majority of them go right 

 straight from the hives. The figures 

 given seem to show, nevertheless, a 

 tendency to turn toward the sun, that 

 is, toward the east in the morning and 

 toward the south in the middle of the 

 day. 



Comments. 



In considering the above, and draw- 

 ing conclusions, the conditions under 

 which the observations have been made 

 must be taken into consideration. The 

 majority of the European apiaries are 

 small and usually established in an 

 orchard or a garden. These are ordi- 

 narily enclosed by a wall or a tight 

 fence or a hedge. Outside there is often 

 nothing but the open fields, with no 

 kind of settling place at all. The hives, 

 instead of being scattered, are, in most 

 cases, placed close together, sometimes 

 2 and 3 rows one above the other up- 

 on shelves, a roof on the whole, and a 

 wall behind, leaving a passage between 

 the shelves and the wall. Often there 

 is a special wall, the one enclosing the 

 garden or orchard taking its place. The 

 ''rucher," as such an apiary is called, 

 is placed against the northern or north- 

 western wall whenever possible, so as 

 to have the hives turned toward the 

 south or southwest. 



^ As a matter of course, under such 

 circumstances the bees settle on what- 

 ever tree or bushes that happen to be in 

 the enclosure, and if there is none, they 

 have to settle on the ground, or go away 

 perhaps quite far to find a suitable 

 place. 



In My Own Apiaries. 



The situation in my own apairies is 

 not at all like the above. The one at 

 Middlebrook is situated near some tall 

 trees. In front of it, but at a lowei 

 level, are quite .i number of cedar trees, 

 about 30 to 50 feet high. 



The majority of the swarms settle on 

 the cedar trees usually at some place 

 between the lowest branches to the mid- 



dle ones, that means 15 to 25 feet above 

 the ground. Perhaps if the land were 

 level instead of sloping down, they 

 might not settle so high. The few 

 swarms that go to the tall trees invari- 

 ably settle on some of the lowest 

 branches. P.ut that means 40 to 60 feet 

 from ^he ground. 



The Beaver Creek apiary is situated 

 in a grove of tall oaks sloping toward 

 the southwest. The back of the apiary 

 is on the edge of the grove. The bees 

 either settle on the lowest limbs of the 

 trees in front of the hives or in the 

 orchard which is across the road about 

 200 yards in the rear of the hives. Once 

 in the orchard, they settle on some of 

 the nearest trees which happen to be 

 some rather low plum-trees with very 

 thick branches. 



Right here one may ask why, in the 

 Middlebrook apiary, they almost invari- 

 ably settle in the cedars in front of the 

 apiary, and in the Beaver Creek apiary 

 they settle at least half the time in 

 the orchard behind the hives. In ob- 

 serving the bees when they swarm, it is 

 easy to see that as they come out they 

 begin to circle round and round. As 

 more bees come, that circle or rather 

 sphere of flying bees gets larger and 

 larger, and finally occupies a space of 

 some 30 or 35 feet in diameter right in 

 front of the hive whence they started 

 out, and, after circling a while, they 

 settle on the nearest convenient tree or 

 bush. If, however, the space in front 

 of the hives is encumbered by trees, 

 and there is a more convenient opening 

 near by, they drift toward that opening 

 and do their circling there. That is 

 what happens at the Beaver Creek 

 apiary; the space between the orchard 

 and the back of the apiary is without 

 trees. 



.Sending out Scouts. 



Yes, the swarm issuing sends scouts, 

 or some of the bees. Perhaps only one, 

 perhaps several go out to see if there 

 is a suitable place; very likely to find 

 out if some place noticed before dur- 

 ing their trips for honey is yet available. 

 Perhaps they go several together, per- 

 haps each one goes where she knows a 

 place and the first one that gets back 

 carries the swarm to the place she has 

 selected. If so, the others when get- 

 ting back, finding the swarm, gone, have 

 nothing to do but to return to the par- 

 ent hive. 



But I have no doubt that something 

 of the sort takes place. My Middlebrook 

 apiary is on the pathway to the district 

 school. I am not always there, and 

 sometimes when the boys are passing 

 along and find a swarm hanging on a 

 tree, they throw rocks, sticks, etc., at 

 it_ just for fun. Usually the swarm is 

 dislodged and re-forms at some dis- 

 tance, usually much higher on the tree 

 selected. In such a case the swarm is 

 apt to stay and begin comb-building at 

 the place chosen. My idea is that the 

 scouts failing to find the swarm go back 

 tothe old home, and the swarm not re- 

 ceiving any information concludes to 

 stay where it is. My experience in that 

 line is not very extensive, as I have 

 during the last few years succeeded in 

 controlling the swarming, or rather the 

 swarms, almost completely. 



Another fact in this 'line might be 



