188(j 



(;leanixgs in bee cultitre. 



145 



cr day." Away flew the bee, Icaviug' Millard all 

 alone with his red rose. 



"I am going- right homn anil toll my mamma," 

 Millard said, aud away hv ran. 



Kstoll, Hayes Co., Nob. 



Lucille L. 



SOME INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS. 

 Actual Experience of a Juvenile. 



IHIUTAULV, CU[.- 



LOSS Ob- HONEV 



Y Dl.STUKBINC. 

 ONIEP, ETC. 



fHE bees are wjnterins' pretty well so far. 

 They had their last flight Jan. 3d. Since 

 then it has been very clondy and cold. Our 

 bees are mostly hybrids, but there is one 

 swarm composed of pure Italians, and many 

 pure Italian bees are among' the hybrid colonies. 

 In 1881 all of our bees were very gentle, seldom 

 stiiig-ing- any one. This year jiiost of our bees were 

 pretty gentle, but one or two swarms were some- 

 what cross. In the spring- one weak colony was 

 destroyed by robbing-, and another was saved only 

 l)y being- removed a couple of miles. This (although 

 hybrid beesl proved to be a very gentle colony. 

 During the autumn and winter, while looking- into 

 the hive while feeding it, it received many disturb- 

 ances, but I could never see that they had any 

 tendency to wastefully consume their stores. To- 

 day, on looking into them, the hive-door came open 

 with a loud snap, but I could not see that tlie bees 

 were much excited, nor did I see them dive into the 

 cells, as bees that arc liable to consume honey, 

 when jarred, get into the habit of doing. The 

 crossest swarm that we hav.- is the only swarm 

 that I ever saw fill tliemselves with honey when 

 jarred. I find that bees arc very easily disturbed 

 in winter. I once disturbed a swarm by simt>ly 

 tramping on the Irozen ground near the hive. 



VUEEK-CEI.LS. 



Last June a bo.x-hive colony that had filled the 

 liivc with bees, brood, and honey, started queen- 

 cells.. One of the cells was rapidl.y built np, and 

 was nearly i-eady to seal, when, on looking into the 

 hive one evening, 1 saw that (ho c;'ll had been well- 

 nigh torn to pieces, and through the C)penings I saw 

 the cjuecn-larva. The ue.xt morning the cell had 

 Im-n mended, but it wasonly half as large as before. 

 It was then abandoneii. 



This was several dajs before Ihe first swarm eanu; 

 out. Now, what eauae<l the liees (for it must have 

 been the bees, aud not a youn;': nueen) to tear down 

 the cell? Last sunnucr wo had an after-swarm 

 oomc out that returned to the hive. While going 

 back they Averc \ery cross. The next day they came 

 out to stay. 



In the autumn ol' I.Sh; the l)ees gatherce. a great 

 deal of honey-dew from the maples; and as a groat 

 many of the bees aroun'l died during the winter t lie 

 honey-dew probably had something to do with it. 

 Last fall I did not see a single bee gathering honey- 

 dew. 



BEES FLVING IFOME UEEOHE A liAI.V. 



I often notice the (jneer way bees hnve of hurra- 

 ing home from an approaching rain. They jiour in 

 by thousands, and in a few minutes all from the 

 fields are safely in the hive. While coming in they 

 have an excited, hurried manner, and make a deep 

 scared-like sound. They do this when a cool damp 

 wind is blowing, and the clouds threaten rain. But 

 if a rain slowly and silently api)roaches, they Avill 

 work ewaj', even if it is raining. 



UKONES OUT Ob' SEASON. 



Last fall, during buckwheat bloom, one of our 

 hives became so crowded with bees and brood that 

 they stai'ted a tiuecn-cell, and we were afraid that 

 they would swarm. About' a mouth after the bees 

 had killed their drones, some drones again ap- 

 peared in three sv.-arms. In one they were immedi- 

 ately killed, and in tlie second remained but a short 

 time. The third colony that had them was the one 

 just mentioned, that started the queen-cell. In 

 this colony they were soon killed, the drone-brood 

 torn out, the cell deserted, and swarming was 

 abandoned, although buckwheat continued bloom- 

 ing. I at first thought it str.auge that bees wouM 

 allow drones to remain after the honey-flow, and in 

 the fall; but they were not queenless, and I could 

 not see that any thing was wrong. 



Three or four years ago some men living near us 

 saw bees and comb on the side of a tree. Thinking- 

 there might be hont^v inside, they cut it down; but. 

 lol there was only a bunch of bees and comb on the 

 side of the tree. A large hollow was below 

 them, filled with ants. Could the bees ha\-e chosen 

 the hollow, and the ants caused them to leave it? 

 Or perhaps they settled on the body and went to 

 work as bees sometimes do on fences, etc. 



CH.\RL1E L. Greemfield. 



Somerville, Butler Co.. O., Jan. 37, 1886. 



Friend Charlie, I believe you are right in 

 tliinking that it makes a difference as to 

 what the temper of the colony is, in regard 

 to the loss of honey from distnrbance, and 

 therefore it is, without doubt, more prohta- 

 ble to keep good-tempered bees than vicious 

 stinging hybrids. I have seen queen-cells 

 torn open "as if a rival queen had hatched 

 out anil afterward patched up by the bees, 

 and a good queen to issue from them. J 

 suppose the reason was, there must have been 

 a difference of opinion as to what course was 

 best in the hive— that is. if bees do have opin- 

 ions, and it looks as if they do. — It has al- 

 ways been one of the most interesting sights 

 to me to see ))ees come liome at the approach 

 of a thunder-cloud, and you may perhaps re- 

 member that I have several times written 

 about it. Tlieir instinct is sometimes, how- 

 ever, considerably at faidt. You will notice 

 they may be frightened by a cloud that does 

 not come near us at all ; and, again, they 

 may none of them, apparently, notice a com- 

 ing sliower, and in conseciuence get pretty 

 well drenched before they make the "home 

 stretch.'' 



— B — •!>— I»m— 



BRANDING CATTLE IN CALIFORNIA. 



.\ TALK TO THE .JUVENILES, UV AUNT KATIE. 



a EAR JUVENILES:— Did you ever hear of a 

 "■rodai)"? That is the Spanish name for a 

 gathering-up of cattle. Once a year, owners 

 of cattle have them all gathered together in 

 large correls, and those which are not brand- 

 ed (marked with theii- owner's initial or mark), ar<^ 

 so briinded. Voti will wonder how they can be told 

 apart, as the cattle are allowed to all run togethei- 

 pretty much. You see, when a calf has been al- 

 lowed to run with its mamma ever since it was 

 born, of course it will stick close to its mother's side; 

 and as the mother has a brand, of course the calf is 

 branded the same. Once in a while an animal will 

 escape being branded until it is too old to tell whoso 



