666 Gleanings in Bee Culture 



An After-swarm from a Colony that had Cast No 

 Prime Swarm. 



The following incident of tliis season Includes 

 such various conditions and results that I am 

 prompted to relate it for the benefit of those who 

 have not had a similar experience. 



Colony 4 was shal^en May 14. The old brood-nest 

 was left on top as an extracting-super (with ex- 

 cluder), no increase being made. Almost six 

 weeks later, on June 23, both stories were " boiling 

 over "over with bees, and there were a dozen or 

 more fine, large, bright-yellow queen-cells on two 

 combs, so here appeared to be an excellent oppor- 

 tunity to try an experiment in swarm prevention. 



Two nuclei were made, the intention being to give 

 each a frame with queen-cells, making three frames 

 for each, taken from the mother colony, and to 

 give a ripe queen-cell from another hive to the 

 mother on the old stand. However, by some bun- 

 gling the ripe queen-cell was given to a nucleus, 

 and a frame with queen-cells was left on the old 

 stand. 



The old queen (clipped) had been missing several 

 days. The colony was sifted to find her. so there 

 was no doubt of her absence. On .July 2, about 9 

 o'clock, I heard a great roar in the air, and 1 knew 

 at once there was something doing. Fortunately 

 there was a hose near b.v, so by the judicious use of 

 the spray nozzle the swarm was headed off and 

 caused to settle on a young tree within 50 feet of 

 their starting-point, and within 20 minutes the 

 bees were shaken down and hived on the stand 

 which they have since occupied. 



I Immediately opened the old hive to learn con- 

 ditions. Several unhatched queen-cells and three 

 virgins were found: and from the first cell, which I 

 opened, out walked a fully matured and lively 

 queen. The remaining cells contained nymphs and 

 larvse only. Evidently they were ready for a high 

 carnival at after-swarming, and all this after and 

 in spite of having had two nuclei and half their 

 queen-cells removed. 



The swarm was examined two days later, but no 

 queen could be found: so 1 supplied them with an- 

 other frame of brood in all stages, thinking the 

 first brood which had been given at hiving might 

 have become too old to make a queem Three days 

 later I was relieved to find that no cells had been 

 started. A day or two later a fine laying queen 

 was found at work. Without question the swarm 

 issued with a virgin queen: and at my first exami- 

 nation, which was very thorough, she must have 

 been out of the hive on her wedding-trip. Four 

 frames of foundation were beautifully drawn out 

 on both sides by the end of a week, and there they 

 rested lor lack of any honey-flow. Feeding was 

 kept up until there was something for them to 

 work upon. 



A r^sum^ of the Incident presents these Interest- 

 ing points, without trying to state all: 



A colony shaken (without Increase) cast a swarm. 



Swarming was not prevented by a severe division 

 of the colony after preparation had begun. 



The use of the water spray probably saved the 

 swarm, which, being out with a virgin queen, 

 might have " dusted out " for good and all. 



The virgin which I " hatched " by picking the 

 cap ofl the cell, being fully matured and lively, had 

 apparently been held in her cell in accordance 

 with some purpose known to the bees. The pres- 

 ence of three others was Interesting, to say the 

 least. 



If I had carried out my Intention to give the 

 mother colony a ripe queen-cell on the old stand 

 (which was the only thing to do, as any nucleus 

 placed there would represent the mother colony 

 and be the subject of the same conditions), and to 

 give the two frames with queen-cells to the two nu- 

 clei on new stands, my experiment would have had 

 a different result as I believe. All vacant spaces In 

 the hives were filled with frames of foundation of 

 course. 



The greater interest in bee-keeping, aside from 

 the financial, lies in the careful observation, study, 

 and analysis of these experiences which are likely 

 to be unexpected and most surprising. 



New Jersey. B. Keep. 



[Your experience reminds one of the saying that 

 bees do not go by rule. But perhaps the first shak- 

 ing was done too early to thwart the inclination to 

 swarm: and the colony, after having lost Its clip- 



ped queen, and having given up a part of its bees 

 to make the ni>clei, was really In the same condi- 

 tion that any colony would be after casting a prime 

 swarm, especially since it was provided with the 

 queen-cells; hence the after*warm was to be ex- 

 pected.— Ed.] 



Queen-finding Sieve to Fit in Hive-entrance. 



The queen-sieve described by J. P. Brumfield, p. 

 536, Sept. 1. has suggested what I think Is a simpler 

 one. 1 fashioned a piece of zinc excluder, 10 x 14 

 Inches, to strips of wood H x -% inch on the two 

 sides and one end: then I tacked a very thin piece 

 of board or cardboard to the other side of the wood 

 and one or two small supports In the center to 

 keep the board and zinc apart. I have this under 

 the brood-franaes so that it is the only entrance to 

 the hive. When the bees are shaken on a sheet In 

 front of the hive they 7nust enter through the sieve, 

 and the queen will be secured. 



N CARDBOARD 



No sharp lookout has to be kept: in fact, none 

 at all, for whether one examines the sieve in fifteen 

 or twenty minutes, which is the usual time for 

 them to go in, or five hours later, as I did with the 

 last hive, the queen is sure to be In the sieve. All 

 I have to do is to put In the sieve, shake the bees, 

 and let them take their time to go in, and the queen 

 is surely safe. 



Claremont, N. H., Sept. 21. Robert Forsyth. 



Goldenrod as a Honey-plant, etc. 



This plant is known here In the mountains of 

 Kentucky by the name of stickweed or farewell- 

 weed. It has been here only about twenty years, 

 but it seems especially adapted to our soil and cli- 

 mate. It grows all over cleared land and by the 

 roadsides, and in cultivated fields and meadows. 

 It is ready to bloom In a piece of land I had plant- 

 ed to corn last year, and it Is safe to say that it will 

 be in all fields next year that were cultivated this 

 year. Its stalk grows from six Inches to as many 

 feet, with several stalks in a bunch, and it has a 

 woody appearance. In good land a person can 

 hardly get through it. It begins to bloom about 

 the first of September, and remains in bloom until 

 frost, or about three or four weeks. It blooms just 

 early enough to escape the frost. 



You ought to see the bees at work on It. They 

 store lots of honey from it. Last season I had five 

 or six nuclei that did not have any stores at all on 

 the first of September: but when I went to feed 

 them for winter I found they had 20 lbs. of nice 

 honey which they had gathered from this source. 

 I weighed this honey. They had about half a gal- 

 lon of bees and a little brood, but all came through 

 the winter in good condition, and made my best 

 colonies this season. I am of the opinion that the 

 bees will crowd their brood-nests with this honey, 

 but am not prepared to say to what extent bees 

 store honey from this plant each year. 



Langnon, Ky., Aug. 25. J. S. Johnson. 



Old Queens Voluntarily Leave the Hive to Die. 



Mr. J. L. Byer, In his Notes from Canada, Oct. 1, 

 p. 583, says, " It would be interesting to know how 

 bees as a rule dispose of their superseded queens." 

 My opinion, based on years of observation, is that 

 queens are treated just like all other old worn-out 



