352 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



October 



seemed to us that they were cleaning the hol- 

 low, and we supposed that a swarm had taken 

 possession of it. A change in the weather 

 having taken place, the swarming preparations 

 were discontinued and wc never again no- 

 ticed bees around this hole. The tree was cut 

 down the following winter and .no trace of 

 comb was found in the hollow. It proved con- 

 clusively that the bees which we had seen 

 were scouts in search of a lodging. 



Evidently a few only of tlie bees which are 

 bent upon swarming take any interest in the 

 search and preparation of a new home. Most 

 of the bees probably have no thought of it. — 

 C. P. D. 



Eggs in Queen-Cells 



In the American Bee Journal for June, page 

 203, you say that a queen does not lay in a 

 queen-cell. How do eggs get in any queen-cell 

 if she does not place them there? Do not bees 

 build cells, when making preparations for 

 swarming and the queen places an egg in each 

 one? / haze seen a qiteen lay in quecn-ccUs, 

 but I supposed it was due more to excitement 

 when opening the hive. Have the bees power 

 to move eggs? ILLINOIS. 



Answer.— ^Beg pardon, but you took what 

 "Michigan" wrote for our own statement. We 

 wrote at the foot of the article that "we were 

 inclined to believe that queens never lay eggs 

 in queen-cells, until a number of people testi- 

 fied to seeing them do it." 



You ask "how do eggs get in a queen-cell if 

 the queen does not place them there?" We 

 will reply with another question. How do 

 eggs get into queen-cells, after the queen has 

 been removed from the hive? We all know 

 that if we make a colony qucenless, even 

 though there are no queen-cells built, the bees 

 will have some built and larvae of the proper 

 age in them, within 2 or 3 days, if they only 

 have the young larvae to use. Let us watch 

 the bees and learn more! 



Robbed Bees — Ants 



I have a colony of Ijees in a common box 

 gum, aboilt 10 or 12 inches square and 3 feet 

 tall. One night this week I attempted to rob 

 it. Upon opening the tup of the hive I found 

 they had no honey handy. The comb ran up 

 like mountain peaks, but did not seem to con- 

 tain any honey. The man I bought this colony 

 from said they swarmed about the first of 

 June last year. This year they have not 

 swarmed, to my knowlwedge. When I opened 

 the hive I noticed a great number of small ants 

 seeming to be inside tlie hive. I have under- 

 stood that ants eat the honey. Can you tell 

 me how to get rid of the ants and how to keep 

 them out? KENTUCKY. 



Answer. — The hive was evidently robbed 

 last year, or before it was sold to you by the 

 previous owner. The comb was cut out of the 

 inside top. The bees, undoubtedly not being 

 very strong in numbers nor very rich, at- 

 tempted to build upwards from the cluster in- 

 stead of building downwards from the top, as 

 they always do when they are strong. That 

 is why the combs are built in "mountain 

 peaks." They have to brace them against 

 each other when they build upwards. Bees 

 have much more intelligence than some people 

 give them credit for. 



The fact that you tried to rob them at 

 night shows that you need to "read up" on 

 bees. There is no worse time than night to 

 take their honey from them, as the old bees 

 are all at home and there is much more dan- 

 ger of stings than in the warm part of the 

 day. 



If the ants were really on the combs it 

 would indicate that the colony was very weak, 

 as they never allow ants where they can keep 

 watch of the combs. It may be that these ants 

 were in some crevice on the outside, taking 

 advantage only of the warmth of the hive. Of 

 course they are fond of honey, but the honey 

 of a healthy colony is not in any danger from 

 them. 



Deserting the Hive 



I bought 1 1 colonies of bees this spring. 

 They were in perfect condition until about a 

 week ago, when I noted that one hive was 

 empty. When I looked in I found that the 

 bees were gone and the honey had been taken 

 out. Some wax had been chewedd off as if a 

 mouse might have eaten it, but there was no hole 

 large enough to let a mouse in. There was 

 some brood in the hive. What do you sup- 

 pose would cause the bees to leave the hive, 

 and what do you think ate the honey that was 

 in the hive? INDIANA. 



Answer. — It might have been a case of star- 

 vation. It is possible the colony was over- 

 come by robbers. In some cases in spring a 

 colony deserts its hive with no apparent reason 

 for it. In either case it was bees that ate 

 the honey, and the chewings of wax left by 

 them would look much like the work of mice. 



Goldens 



I recently bought a golden queen, and when 

 she came was black-tipped. Now was she a 

 real, honest golden ? Last year I experi- 

 mented a little with them and all drones were 

 leather-colored and the queens I succeeded in 

 raising were as this queen, with a black butt, 

 half golden, half leather. The mother golden 

 queen was all gold on her body. You'll just 

 have to answer for me, as you're about the 

 only beeman that seems to answer what I 

 want to know. PENNSYLVANIA. 



Answer. — It is an accepted fact that among 

 the Italian bees, neither queens nor drones 

 can be relied upon to be always true to type 

 in appearance. If is only the workers which 

 are expected to show the regular three yellow 

 rings on the abdomen. We have seen very 

 dark queens which produced the finest-looking 

 workers. A few queen breeders claim to pro- 

 duce queens that duplicate themselves in their 

 progeny. But "I have me doots" about it. 

 Don't be afraid to breed from this queen, if 

 her workers are well marked, peaceable and ac- 

 tive in field work. These points constitute 

 the most important conditions in Italian bees. 



HONEY 



WANTED 



HONEY 



;»; Send us a sample of your honey if extracted, state how put up and your price. We 

 X are also buyers of comb, can use unlimited quantities if quality and price are right. 



We remit the same day goods are received 



C. H. W. WEBER & CO., Cincinnati, Oliio 





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