730 



American ^ae Journal 



November, 1907. 



)>^^^^ I 



of smell, the bees recognize their own 

 mother from a new or strange one. 



Again, we learn that, if two queens 

 have exactly the same colony odor af- 

 ter being caged for two or three days 

 in a queenless hive, either one may be 

 liberated and tbe bees will accept one 

 just as readily as the other. If both be 

 liberated at the same time, one in one 

 corner of the hive and the other in 

 the opposite corner, both will be tolerat- 

 ed by the bees ; but once the queens 

 come together themselves there is dan- 

 ger of a royal battle resulting in the 

 death of one. From this fact we infer 

 that the bees, providing a queen or 

 queens have the requisite colony odor, 

 would accept at any time one or more 

 such queens under many conditions; 

 that, further, when two queens have the 

 same colony odor, if they can be kept 

 apart by means of perforated zinc both 

 queens can continue to lay eggs in the 

 same hive without let or hindrance. 

 This condition- will be allowed so long 

 as the colony prospers and there is not 

 a dearth of honey. When there is a 

 disposition on- the part of the bees to 

 rob they may destroy one of the queens. 



Bees that have been shaken into a 

 box or pan, and then shaken or bumped 

 again and again until thej' are demor- 

 alized or frightened, are much more 

 tractable than those not so disturbed. 

 Bees if made queenless just prior to the 

 shaking, if confined w-ithout combs or 

 brood in a cool place for a few hours, 

 will usually accept a queen at once. The 

 factor of colony odor then apparently 

 does not operate, for the bees are put 

 out of their normal condition. 



Another fact worthy of consideration 

 at this time is that young bees just 

 hatched will at any time accept any 

 queen. Therefore, it comes about that, 

 w-hen one desires to introduce a valua- 

 ble breeder on which he desires to take 

 no chances whatsoever, he causes her 

 to be released on a frame of very 

 young or hatching bees ; but considera- 

 tion will be given to this later. 



Another fact worthy of note is that 

 virgin queens, if just hatched, will us- 

 ually be accepted by a colony, if not 

 too long queenless, without the process 

 of introduction or of caging; but 

 when one of these queens comes to be 

 four or five days old she is very much 

 more difficult to introduce than a nor- 

 mal laying queen. Why this should 

 be so, we do not know. 



Having stated, therefore, the basic 

 principle governing the relation of the 

 queen to the bees we can now more 

 intelligently proceed to the methods of 

 introduction, most of which are based 

 on the theory that the queen to be in- 

 troduced must first have acquired the 

 colony odor of her new subjects. 



There are some methods of direct 

 introduction by which the queen can be 

 released without the process of caging; 

 but in the case of queens of any value 

 they should not be employed, and are, 

 therefore, not given in a work of this 

 kind designed primarily for the novice 

 in bees. — New edition "A B C of Bee 

 Culture." 



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Good Honey Season. 



The honey season around here has been 

 very good. I had 1 5 colonies the past sea- 

 son, and succeeded' in getting 1 536 pounds 

 of honey from them. I had no swarming. 

 H. F. Kettlitz. 



Monticello, Iowa, Oct. 22. 



More Honey Than for Years. 



We have had a wonderful year in Colo- 

 rado — more honey than for years. I took from 

 22 colonies .65 cases of saleable honey, be- 

 sides several unsealed. I have 2 colonies that 

 stored 14 cases, 24 sections to the case. Honey 

 is going out of Montrose by the carload, and 

 yet the best prices we have had for years — 

 $2.75 for first grade and $2.50 for second. 

 I fed my bees until June 10, and had about 

 given up hope of a crop, but when the flow 

 did come, it came with a rush. Bees could 

 be bought very cheap last spring, but I expect 

 they will be out of sight this fall. There 

 are 5,000 colonies by the assessors' returns in 

 this mountain valley only about 20 miles long, 

 and from one to 6 miles wide. 



Montrose, Colo., Oct. 12. E. C. Wright. 



A Good Crop. 



From 64 colonies of bees I took 12,680 

 pounds of honey. Edwin Bevins said if any 

 one got a good crop of honey he would like to 

 know it. T. L. Shawler. 



Silver City, Iowa, Oct. 13. 



Handles Bees Like Flies. 



I have been for more than 50 years among 

 bees; have huiited them in the woods and in 

 the mountains of different States. I have no 

 fear of their stings, and can handle them 

 almost as if they were flies. I have 27 colo- 

 nies. J. R. Heckman. 



Johnstown, Pa., Oct. 1 1. 



Apiary of Thos. F. Rigg. 



Editor York: — Find enclosed a section of 

 my apiary. It is not a commercial enterprise, 

 in that it is run for profit wholly. It is one 

 of my home pleasures which fits in nicely with 

 my fruit and poultry hobbies. Still, I like to 

 have my hobbies pay, and in this I have been 



Poor Season for Honey. 



Last spring was too late for a good honey 

 season in Northeast Nebraska. I had only 22 

 colonies of bees the past summer, and I run 

 them for comb honey exclusively. 



The farmers of Northeast Nebraska had the 

 poorest crop of oats we have had in 27 years, 

 owing to too much rain and hot weather; 

 but we are sure of a big corn crop, for it is 

 matured now, and no frost yet to speak of. 



I think the American Bee Journal is better 

 than ever, but it doesn't come often enough 

 for me. I could have stood it tzcice a week. 

 But I trust that the publishers know best. 



Carroll, Nebr., Oct. 6. W. H. Root. 



Goldenrod as a Honey-Plant, Etc. 



Dr. Miller and others report goldenrod of 

 no value. I kept bees for many years in 

 Northern Michigan where goldenrod abounded. 

 We had at least 4 varieties of the plant there, 

 2 of which grew in large quantities. One va- 

 riety grew from 3 to 4 feet high. It was 

 most common on moist land. It bloomed pro- 

 fusely. Bees paid but little attention to it. 



Apiary of Thos. F. Rigg, of Iowa Falls, Iowa. 



very successful with the bees. As you know, 

 this has been a very unfortunate year for bee- 

 keepers in this section. Within a few miles 

 of me are several apiaries, and not one of them 

 this season produced a surplus worth speak- 

 ing of. I was more fortunate. Mine averaged 

 74 pounds, comb honey, 4x5 sections, per col- 

 ony. 



I know but little about the proper manage- 

 ment of an apiary. In fact, what I do not 

 know about covers the field. But I am learn- 

 in j;. I must give credit, therefore, for my 

 success, to the Danzenbaker hive. This was 

 a very backward spring. The bees of my 

 neighbors, in the dpvetailed hives, built up 

 very slowly, while mine came on rapidly and 

 were monster colonies when the harvest 

 opened. The first swarm was cast May 17. 

 This gave me 96 sections, while the parent 

 colony produced 64 sections. 



For 5 years I have wintered my bees on 

 the summer stands, and have never lost a 

 colony so wintered. 



Our honey supply is white clover and bass- 

 wood, with an increasing amount of sweet 

 clover. Thomas F. Ricc. 



Iowa Falls, Iowa, Oct. 4. 



The honey-yielding kind grew from 18 to 28 

 inches high. It spread over thousands of 

 acres of sandy plains, and also over land 

 where pine had been cut off. and yielded a 

 large amount of amber-colored honey of fair 

 quality. One fall a bee-keeper brought some 

 200 colonies to my place expressly for the 

 goldenrod, and felt himself well paid for his 

 time and labor. Prof. Cook, then in the 

 Michigan Agricultural College, told me that the 

 large kind was Solidago Canadcusis. I suppose 

 it is the kind you have. We have it here, 

 but I have never seen a bee on it. I have 

 forgotten the name he gave to the honey- 

 yielding variety. I learn from the bee-papers 

 that the region where I lived is filling up 

 with men running large apiaries. 



The honey-flow in the best localities and in 

 a good season (and nearly all seasons are good) 

 beginning with small willows on the sandy 

 plains, is followed by huckleberry bloom, red 

 raspberry (which often lasts from 4 to 6 

 weeks), and goldenrod, asters, etc. 



I am an old man. S5 years of age, and liv- 

 ing with my children. And now that my 20 

 colonies of bees are laid by f^r the season. 



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