APKIL 15, 1916 



329 



Had one of these newly hatched virgins 

 inana.ypd to get into the lower box the day 

 previous wlien I was looking for them in 

 the super? 



Well, tliat same day I moved the super 

 to a new stand. Now please remember 

 these facts, because it is just possible that 

 each box might contain a virgin. 



On October 15 I gave each of these two 

 hives a frame of brood to see whether they 

 liad a virgin. Both commenced queen-cells, 

 and the evening following I gave each a 

 young laying queen by the Simmins meth- 

 od. Next morning, and the morning after, 

 I examined the ground outside these hives. 

 There Avere no dead queens, and, as usual, 

 I said to myself, "Accepted." 



On the fourth day after introducing I 

 examined these liives to see if the queens 

 were laying, and found both of them being- 

 balled. One looked as tho she had been 

 persistently ill treated ever since being in- 

 troduced, and in neither ease were any eggs 

 laid. There was no honey coming in, and 

 both hives had been queenless a long time. 

 Well, I caged both queens on the push-in- 

 comb plan, and twelve hours later I liber- 

 ated them (yesterday). One appeared to 

 be accepted, but the other was attacked at 

 once. So I shook all the bees on to a board 

 in front of the liive after making them fill 

 up well with honey, and let the queen go 

 among them again ; but they went at her, 

 even on the board. So she was caged again ; 

 and if they attack her again, as they have 

 no brood, I shall confine them all in a 

 .=warm-box and see if that modifies their 

 \'iews at all. Is it possible they had a vir- 

 gin, and started queen-cells on the brood I 

 gave them in spite of this? 



I know some one will say, " That fellow 

 ought to feed those bees, and then perhaps 

 the queens would be accepted, as there is 

 no honey coming in." So may I give an- 

 other strange exj^erience along this line? 



A STRANGE MIX-UP. 



I have two liives of blacks only, standing 

 side by side. They have old queens. The 

 willows had yielded well, and they both 

 prei^ared to SAvarm; but before the event 

 came off: the willow flow ceased, and dearth 

 and windy weather came on. In one hive 

 the cells were not far advanced, and I de- 

 stroyed them, raising the brood Alexander 

 plan. The other hive had sealed cells, and 

 they had destroyed a few, evidently on 

 account of the failure of the willow-flow. 

 However, the day was hot, so I watched 

 them, and at 11 A. M. out they came, leaving 

 the old queen with her clipped wing. I 

 moved the brood, substituting a hive of 

 foundation to wliich they returned. Then I 



knew that foolish swarm would starve. So 

 two days later I went to give them some 

 frames of honey, and was just in time to 

 see the tail end of the procession entering 

 the adjoining black hive and the old queen 

 hopping around on the aUghting-board. 



" Well," I thought, " you have made real 

 fools of yourselves. Now do you think that 

 neighboring hive will admit a half-starved 

 crowd such as you are?" To my surprise, 

 however, they did without any hesitation. 

 This event just coincided with the com- 

 mencement of my young queens laying in 

 twelve baby nuclei {i. e., 24 compartments). 

 Now, of these 24, six queens were lost in 

 windy weather, mainly thru getting into the 

 wrong side of the box. This left 18 which 

 got mated; and just as they were due to 

 lay, six of them swarmed out, even tho they 

 had plenty of food. One lot repented and 

 came back with their queen, and she settled 

 doAvn to lay the same day. Two more united, 

 and came back with one queen and settled 

 on a bush. I put them into an empty box 

 and the queen went ahead laying at once. 



I found another of these six queens dead 

 outside one of the big hives, and still an- 

 other dead outside the black hive which 

 accepted the starving swarm mentioned 

 above. I could see the yellow bees of the 

 nucleus mixed with the black bees, and so 

 many of them that I thought they must be 

 at least two little swarms joined together. 

 Curiosity caused me to pull the hive apart 

 and see if, by a stroke of luck, one of my 

 yellow queens had supplanted the old black 

 tho I thought such far too good to be true. 



Well, it is the unexpected that happens, 

 and there she was, a fine yellow queen at 

 the head of affairs. How is that for a 

 mix-up of bees and queens with no honey- 

 flow? Bees were all in a bad temper, but 

 there was no fighting. Why should this 

 black hive let in all sorts of swarms and 

 queens without trouble, while this other 

 hive and its increase are so set against ac- 

 cejjting a laying queen? 



THE NUCLEI THAT SWARMED. 



These baby nuclei that I referred to 

 swarmed out just as the queen should have 

 commenced laying, but before she actually 

 did commence, so I could not shut her in. 

 I don't think the bees went with her on 

 her mating-flight, as they went in the fore- 

 noon earlier than the queens generally fly. 

 T saw most of the queens had been mated 48 

 hours previous. Those which I recovered 

 were laying queens. They had plenty of 

 food but little or no brood. The day was 

 hot, but the nuclei shaded. No queenless 

 nuclei or those with virgins swarmed — only 

 those where the queen was due to commence 



