APRIL 15, 1914 



llie workers ruslied down upon them and 

 separated them and killed the virgin. 



SWARMS ENTERING HIVES OCCUPIED BY 

 OTHER BEES. 



I should like to know if you have ever 

 known the following to happen : 1 was 

 working in an outyard of 55 colonies at 

 swarming time. A swarm issued from a 

 three-story hive at one end of the yard. I 

 hived it in a box and set it to one side, as I 

 wanted to finish with the hive I was work- 

 ing at. About five minutes later a second 

 swarm came out lower down the same row 

 of hives. This was a good after-swarm. At 

 this time I had finished my work at the hive 

 mentioned, and stood waiting for this 

 swarm to settle. To my surprise it went 

 into the hive that had just swarmed, the 

 swarm being still in the box. I went to this 

 hive and watched them going in. Presently 

 a virgin queen alighted on the front board. 

 I caught her and killed her. I destroyed all 

 queen-cells but one in this hive, and the bees 

 went to work a week later in another out- 

 yard. In working through this yard I came 

 to a hive ready to swarm. The queen's 

 wings were clipped and the cells cut out, 

 but I found afterward I missed one. Half 

 an hour later this hive swarmed. I picked 

 up the queen and caged her, and was pre- 



paring to receive the swarm in a prepared 

 hive when I noticed them entering two 

 hives about twelve yards away. One hive 

 stood in front of the other. One of these 

 hives had swarmed earlier that day. The 

 other was a division from a strong hive ear- 

 lier in the season. There were no bees re- 

 turning from the swarm to their hives, or at 

 least not enough to be noticed. 

 Te Awamutu, N. Z., Jan. 31. 



[The occurrence of swarms going into 

 other hives that have just swarmed, while 

 not common, have been reported from time 

 to time. We do not know how to explain 

 them, unless there are a few stragglers from 

 the swarm that are returning to their old 

 home. These attract the bees of any other 

 swarms that may be in the air with the 

 result that such bees go in the hive just 

 vacated. If cells are destroyed there is no 

 reason why the two households can not 

 unite as one family. 



Your account of how the bees took a hand 

 in the queen fight is interesting. It shows 

 that they do sometimes interfere in behalf 

 of one of the queens. There is evidence 

 that at other times they do not meddle in 

 the row. We should be glad to get any 

 other facts that have actually been seen. 

 —Ed.] 



50IL FERTILITY AND HONEY PRODUCT 



Paper presented by Prof. H. A. Surface, of Harrisburg, Pa., at the convention of the Naiional Beekeepers' 



Association in St. Louis. 



It is generally agreed that we can not 

 afford to plant for nectar or honey produc- 

 tion alone. In other words,' to sow a field 

 to any kind of crop, merely for the sake of 

 the honey it might produce, is scarcely 

 profitable. If, however, the field crop can 

 be made a successful primary feature, the 

 factor of honey production as a. secondary 

 feature may be entirely clear gain, as most 

 profits come from comparatively small 

 things. We note, for example, tliat the 

 packing-houses of Chicago utilize absolute- 

 ly every part and by-product of the hog 

 excepting the squeal, and it is now proposed 

 that they utilize that in making phono- 

 graphic records to aid the old-style noisy 

 beekeepers in making more noise to help 

 hive their bees. 



In this day of keen agricultural competi- 

 tion every factor possible should aid the 

 husbandman. Natural conditions are against 

 success from continued ci'opping or from 

 the old-style farm methods. It becomes 

 necessary to keep up Avith the times by 



adopting such new methods as the scientific 

 experts show are beneficial. It is impossi- 

 ble for any husbandman to succeed without 

 considering as an entire unit all the factors 

 that enter into modern agriculture. I mean 

 to say he may be up to date in many things ; 

 but if not in all, he may fail. For example, 

 he may select seed in accordance with the 

 methods of Holden or Hunt; he may fer- 

 tilize in accordance with the latest direc- 

 tions from Hopkins or Thorne, and may 

 cultivate according to Hilgarde, and spray 

 according to Gillette, Forbes, or to Howard; 

 but when the crop returns are to be sought 

 he must see the " handwriting on the wall " 

 or hear the saddening statement that was 

 heard by the rich young man who went to 

 Christ, '" One thing thou lackest." This is 

 organic matter with soil fertility. We can 

 not afford to buy enough commercial fertil- 

 izer to depend upon it entii'ely, year after 

 year, as a sole source of plant fertility. It 

 will eventually make a rich man poor. We 

 do not have enough barnyard m^vnure tg 



