1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



615 



LIVELY SMTARMING. 



OUR FKIENU D. F. SAVAGE RECOUNTS HIS EXPE- 

 RIENCE IN QUEEN-REARING, AND SECUR- 

 ING SWARMS FROM LOFTY HEIGHTS 

 AMONG THE TREES. 



fHE season opened well with about ninety 

 colonies, mostly very strong. The early 

 harvest from fruit and forest bloom was 

 abundant, and oa the heels of that came two 

 or three weeks of honey-dew, and there was 

 roaring and booming night and day. However, 

 the queens got ahead and tilled up with prodigious 

 amount of brood; and as the clover wholly failed, 

 being destroyed by last summer's excessive dry- 

 ness and last winter's freezing, the breeding was 

 extended, even into upper stories. The conse- 

 quence was, a swarming mania such as I never 

 saw before. 1 generally allow only ten or a dozen 

 natural swarms; but this season I have had fif- 

 ty, of all sorts and sizes, from 8 in the morning to 

 ti at night. In the hot sun and when rain was pour- 

 ing, some pitching on to the ground, some pitch- 

 ing fifty feet high. I have used a great vaiiety of 



THE GI.EN APEAKY. 



apparatus and method in securing them, suited to 

 the occasion, and have suffered only two or three 

 to escape. Once I climbed a black-jack about 40 

 feet, scooped the cluster with my hiving-basket, 

 and brought it down safely, holding it bj' my teeth. 

 Once there were two swarms on a walnut-tree and 

 another on an oak near by, 30, 40, and .50 feet up. 

 I discovered them by looking up after an abscond- 

 ing colony that rushed out pellmell when I went to 

 give them a frame of brood. They were on fdn. 

 three days after hiving. I had taken out one 

 frame to make room for the frame of brood; and 

 after covering- with the cloth I shook off the bees 

 from this frame; just then some of those which 

 were clustered nearly overhead began to move, 

 and away went No. 138, not one remaining. Then I 

 saw the three swarms on high all uneasy, and, to 

 make matters more lively, out comes No. 37 and 

 pitches in decent fashion in the favorite small ce- 

 dar. The restless ones in the high trees, some of 

 which had probably been hanging all night, now 

 swung from their moorings. One swarm sailed 

 away to parts unknown; the others came to the 

 cedar-tree, where I was already cutting off twigs 

 and bringing down bunch after bunch; and as they 

 were a long time in settling I was able to secure 

 them in detachments into two hives. 



Another swarm was afterward secured fioin the 

 same high tree where they had hung all night, by 

 means of two swarms that came out early in the 

 morning and settled near, but not so high. A 

 young man was present who climbed the very high 

 tree with my hiving-basket. Then when I got those 

 two running into their respective hives Bob scoops 

 off those on high, swings the basket down to me, 

 shakes and brushes off until they get so scattered 

 and bewildered they are glad to join those rushing 

 into the two hives. 



Another was secured from the same ambitious 

 elevation in a little different way. As no conven- 

 ient swarm was issuing, I took a hive that had been 

 occupied only two days, placed it under the tree, 

 then took two or three frames out, shook off the 

 bees, then gave the word to Bob to dislodge the 

 swarm from the tree, and speedily they came to 

 reinforce the hive below. I have had only one 

 swarm leave the hive immediately after entering; 

 and as they went only a rod and clustered low, the 

 hive was moved, and the bees siaken down, when 

 they promptly went in and decided to stay. 



I now remember another case where 

 two swarms issuing at the same time, 

 and clustering together, were hived 

 and promptly went in; but in half an 

 hour the hybrids rushed out and most- 

 ly went home, while the Italians re- 

 mained. Many of the dark bees, how- 

 ever, did not seem to know the way 

 home, and lingered about on a post 

 for some hours, but finally found ref- 

 uge somewhere. 



Some of these lofty swarms were 

 ed by young queens from nuclei. 

 The nuclei were too strong; and the 

 (jueens, when issuing from the insert- 

 led cells, found other cells started and 

 strongly guarded, and so out they 

 went. 



I have raised some very fine 

 queens, after Alley's plan. The first 

 batch did not turn out very well, 

 and only eight or ten good cells were secured from 

 two queeneries; but the next time I pvit in more 

 prepared cells on two frames, and one colony start- 

 ed ^/tj/ cells. I punched out one-third of these, and 

 gave one frame to another colony that had been 

 queenless three days, and got 16 good cells from 

 one and 18 from the other. Having to provide nu- 

 clei for so many cells, and so many swarms coming 

 out, and several parties coming to buy hives, 

 brought me at one time almost to the point of 

 using a nail-keg and starch-box for hiving; but 

 now I am uniting second swarms and removing old 

 queens, and rapidlj' reducing the number from 150 

 to 120. And since beginning this. No. 8 has swarm- 

 ed into that same high walnut; but after long 

 search I found the three-year-old queen in the 

 grass, carried her in my hand till I could find the 

 Klimitz cage, and my basket on the pole. Bees 

 were hurrying home when I got there; by holding 

 the basket just above the entrance, most of them 

 found the queen and clustered within and without. 

 I hived them near by, then took those frames of 

 brood, with bees adhering, from the parent hive, 

 and put with them. I was not prepared, and had 

 to do this job in a hurry. 



I send you a photograph of Glen Apiary. You 

 will see some of the hives, but not all, and some 



