June 15. 1911 



377 



How Bees Sometimes Carry Eggs or Larvae for 

 Building Cells. 



I got an Italian queen from which to rear .some 

 queens, on May 18 I went to my .strongest colony 

 to get some bees to form a nucleus, and I found the 

 hive broodless. I took some bees to make my nu- 

 clus, and on May 20 I put a frame of brood into the 

 queenlessC?) colony: but it did not build any queen- 

 cells on the brood. I examined the frame of brood 

 from time to time, but no queen-cells were started. 



To-day, May 2i), I proceeded to find the queen, 

 which I thought must be there. I did not find a 

 queen nor any brood, excepting the frame I put in: 

 but I did find a completed queen-cell all alone on 

 another comb. How did they get the egg into that 

 queen-cell on tliat comb? I put my queen in an 

 extractlng-super, and put it on this hive with a 

 queen-excluder between, after cutting out the 

 queen-cell and taking out tlie frame of brood. Do 

 you think it safe to take out the queen-excluder? 



Alma, Wis. J. .J. Zimmp:rmann. 



[It is evident that the so-called queenless colony 

 must have had something for a time which it rec- 

 ognized as a queen. It might have had fertile 

 workers, or it may have had a poor virgin which 

 was subsequently lost on a mating-trip. 



There is nothing strange about the cell being 

 built on some comb other than that which con- 

 tained brood. It is a fact now well established, 

 that bees will move eggs or larva- to queen-cups al- 

 ready started on other combs. It is pretty well 

 established, also, that bees may, under stress of 

 circumstances, steal eggs from other hives, and. 

 with the stolen eggs, raise queens in their own 

 hive. 



It would be rather ri.sky business to put the queen 

 that you bought in the upper story of the hive you 

 mention, with only perforated zinc between the two 

 stories. We shovild rather feel that the bees from 

 below, even though the cell were destroyed, would 

 come a» and kill the queen above. We should not 

 be surprised at any thing they might do vmder such 

 circumstances. — Kd.] 



their desire to swarm. They will have a set of new 

 combs and new surroundings, and, ordinarily, they 

 will work with great vigor.— Ed.] 



A Swarm's Queen that Returned to the Hive from 

 which the Swarm Issued. 



I bought three colonies of bees last spring, and 

 had my first swarm .luly 1. I carried the cluster to 

 a Danzenbaker hive which was ready, and dumped 

 the bees in front of it, close to the entrance. About 

 half of the swarm went in within two minutes, and 

 stayed about five minutes: then all came out. In 

 five minutes more the swarm was back on the limb 

 from which T had taken it. 1 then sawed off the 

 limb while the bees were still on it and carried it to 

 the hive, shaking them off in front of it as before. 

 All but about a coffee-cupful soon entered. I then 

 stirred these about with ray finger, looking for the 

 queen, as 1 wished to catch her and clii) her wing. 



Presently 1 saw her. but she escaijed, and started 

 to fly. She circled about for a tew seconds, then 

 went straight into the hive from which she had 

 come out. In an instant the bees that had gone 

 into the hive seemed to be greatly excited. In an- 

 other minute they were all out, the whole orchard 

 seeming to he alive with flying bees, they evidently 

 hunting the queen. They kept it up for about five 

 minvites. and then I noticed them entering the 

 mother-hive, into which their queen had gone. In 

 three minutes no Viees were in sight except a few 

 field-workers that were coming home. 



Strawberry Ridge, Pa. .7. Switzer. 



To Keep Down Increase. 



What is the best way to keep down increase? I 

 have 25 hives, and don't want any more, as 1 have 

 no room to set them. Would this do? When a 

 swarm comes out, hive it on the old stand in a new 

 hive. Shake all the bees from the brood-frames of 

 the hive that swarmed: then put these frames over 

 excluders on weak hives until the brood is hatched, 

 or leave them on to be extracted when filled. 



C'hristiansburg, Va. II. K. IIickok. 



[Your plan would probably work all right provid- 

 ed you could be in the apiary to see when .swarms 

 issue: but if you could not, perhaps the shaken- 

 swarm plan would be the best for you to follow. 

 Then, alter 21 days, shake the remaining bees, that 

 have meanwhile hatched in the parent colony, be- 

 fore the entrance of the new hive on the old stand, 

 being careful to exclude any virgins that may have 

 hatched. The bees will then have been satisfied in 



Bee-Stings for Rheumatism. 



Can. you give me any information or refer me to 

 an.y literature on the value of the bee-sting as a 

 treatment for rheumatism? 



Reading, Mass. E. E. Copeland. 



[You will find the general discussion of bee-stings 

 and rheumatism given in the following issues of 

 this journal: Feb. 1, 1908. p. l.o3: Dec. 1, 1909, p. 784: 

 Aug. 1, 1910, page 530. See following item. .Similar 

 communications have appeared in these columns 

 at frequent intervals for the last thirty years. 



We may say in relation to this general subject 

 that it is a question whether the bee-sting poison is 

 of any value in the treatment of rheumatism: and 

 yet we have talked with persons who were positive 

 that they received marked benefit. We can not 

 now recall to mind who these parties were, as we 

 saw them at bee conventions. 



Mr. Wm. A. Selser. 10 Vine St., Philadelphia, has 

 had a number of rheumatic people who have come 

 to him quite regularly to receive their doses of bee- 

 stings. We suggest that all interested write to him 

 for further particulars. — Ed.] 



Anoth3r Instance where Stings Cured Rheumatism. 



A practicing physician here in Ithaca lost the en- 

 tire u.se of his right arm from rheumatism, and was 

 told by his fellow physicians that the trouble would 

 be permanent. He himself was convinced of it: but 

 when all other remedies had failed he resorted to 

 bee-stings, and made three applications of about 

 twenty-five stings each. The pain almo.st Immedi- 

 ately subsided. At first there was no visible effect. 

 Later, however, the arm swelled from the wrist to 

 the shoulder: but as the rheumatic pain almost Im- 

 mediately subsided, the swelling seemed of but lit- 

 tle conseqvience. The cure seems permanent and 

 complete, save a slight stiffness of the finger-joints. 

 On occasion I have supplied bees for this physician 

 in his practice. 



Ithaca, N. Y. (Rev.) E. I^. Dresser. 



The Amount of Honey and Wax Produced Annu- 

 ally in the United States. 



What would be a fair estimate of the value of 

 honey and wax produced each year in the United 

 .States? I am preparing a paper on the insects of 

 economic importance, and this information would 

 be appreciated. 



(ieneseo, N. Y. G. A. Bailey. 



[Dr. E. F. Phillips, of the Bureau of Entomology, 

 Washington, 1). (".. issued a bulletin. No. 75. Part 

 VI., in which he places the annual amount of hon- 

 ey, both comb and extracted, at twenty millions of 

 dollars, and wax at two millions. We regard these 

 estimates as fairly correct. — Ed.] 



Bee-martins. 



I have a bird-house in the yard where thirty mar- 

 tins have nested. Will they be likely to eat my 

 bees? Let me know about this. 



North Manchester, Ind. T. A. Peabody. 



[Unless you are rearing qvieens you need have no 

 fear that the martins will cause any serious trou- 

 ble: and even then they will do no damage except, 

 probably, to catch a queen on the wing. If martins 

 or king-birds kill the bees you can easily determine 

 the fact by watching them when they fly across the 

 apiaries when the bees are in the air thickest. If 

 the birds have formed an appetite for eating bees 

 they will catch them on the wing. With a shotgun 

 you can very easily stop their depredations.— Ed.] 



Sweet Clover Chokes Irrigating-ditches. 



I note what you say f)n )>. 19?.. Aijril 1. about sweet 

 clover. That may look all right to you Eastern fel- 

 lows who have no irrigating-ditches to keep clean: 

 but we Westerners who farm here in irrigated dis- 

 tricts certainly have no use for sweet clover. It is 

 one of the worst weeds that grow, on the ditches 

 it will completely cover the banks if left alone, and 

 soon falls down pnd checks the water. It grows 8 

 ft. tall in .some places. -As a feed it is absolutely 

 worthless so far as I know, for our stock will not 

 touch it unle,ss starving. However, It is not hard 

 to keep out of the fields. 



Hansen. Ida., April 14. OTto Baily. 



