G I. K .\ X ] X (J S 1 X H V. K C V L T I' R E 



At(^ist. 1920 



into a pan to be strained for the table, while 

 the less desirable honey was jjut into an- 

 other pan for feeding back. We found the 

 queen without any trouble and disposed of 

 her. Then from the super, now to be the 

 brood-chamber, we took away all but four 

 combs of the honey, two on each side of the 

 hive, put in two full sheets of -foundation, 

 pushing it over against the honey on each 

 side, and hung our four combs of brood in 

 the center. We put in the new queen, in 

 her mailing cage, put on a queen-excluder, 

 set the old cut-out honey in an empty super 

 above, and the job was done. The six 

 combs of honey removed from the super 

 were divided between a nucleus he had and 

 a swarm he had caught. There was no ex- 

 citement, no robbing, no angry bees, no trou- 

 ble beyond a few sticky garments, scarcely a 

 sting. The bees hummed quietly around 

 thruout. The next week he reported strings 

 being dragged out of the entrance and, look- 

 ing in, found his new queen laying. Of 

 course I was as pleased over results as he 

 was, for transferring is one phase of bee- 

 keeping I had indulged myself in dodging 

 until this season. 



Is there such a thing as a commonplace 

 swarm? Surely not in a sideliner's yard. 

 Always there is something of absorbing in- 

 terest about them, something particularly 

 exciting, or thrilly, or funny. One Sunday 

 in June (it had to be Sunday because of Mr. 

 Allen 's being in an office other days) we 

 drove out into the country to bring in three 

 swarms that a friend had hived for .us. 

 Other beekeeping friends met us at the yard 

 on our return, for a picnic dinner under the 

 trees near the yard. Just before dinner, as 

 tho to add a true apiarian flavor to the 

 event, a swarm came out. Mr. Allen went 

 over the fence into the orchard where they 

 clustered, and coaxed them into the swarm- 

 catcher. At the same time, unusual tho it 

 is for swarming bees to sting much, he was 

 slung many times on his bared arms. jVIean- 

 time I opened the hive. 



Fourteen days before, we had found some 

 fine cells in a good colony. Interested to 

 see what success we would have by such a 

 short-cut method of requeening, we de- 

 queened six poor colonies, giving each one 

 a comb with a sealed cell, instead of giving 

 the cell in a cell-protector as we should have 

 done. Personal matters and a few days of 

 rain kept me from examining them later. 

 This Sunday a swarm came from one of these 

 colonies. As might have been expected, we 

 found they had torn down thB cell given 

 them, and built a multitude of their own. As 

 fast as these cells were cut that Sunday 

 swarming morning, out jumped the young 

 queens — on the combs, on the ground where 

 the torn-out cells were dropped, anywhere 

 and everywhere, it seemed, till we took 

 more care to kill them in the cells. The 

 swarm was dumped down on a white-painted 

 metal cover in front of the entrance and 

 among th'> bees ii arching towards the hive 

 were three queens. Two of them we killed. 



leaving one that we thought looked larger 

 and more likely mated. While that colony 

 has now a young (jueen, the stock has not 

 been improved, as this is the daughter of 

 the undesirable one originally disposed of. 



A day or two later, when I was alone at 

 the yard, I discovered a large swarm already 

 clustered on a low tree in the orchard. Over 

 the fence with the swarm-catcher I went, 

 but the swarm was so large and draped along 

 so much of the branch that only a small part 

 of it was secured the first time. On the sec- 

 ond trial, I gave the branch the usual vig- 

 orous jerk and felt the usual peppering of 

 bees strike my hat. This time, tho, the 

 queen must have struck the hat and stayed 

 there. Heavier and heavier it grew, closer 

 and lower it sank on my head, and soon bees 

 like a dark wave began spreading down over 

 my veil. It happened to be a wire veil 

 that morning and carried its unusual weight 

 easily. I must have been an absurd sort of 

 vision climbing a wire fence with my head 

 held so stiff and proud under its weight of 

 live bees. Did I shake them off promptly be- 

 fore a hive? I did not. As any woman 

 would, I went straight to the little mirror in 

 the honey-house(imagine any sort of a house 

 without a mirror!) to get the effect. It was 

 really very becoming. You couldn 't see the 

 face at all. 



But one swarm made me as nearly miser- 

 able as probably any swarm could. It was 

 when I came dashing into the yard the 

 morning of the second registration day for 

 the summer term at Peabody College to get 

 a comb of bees for an observation hive, 

 which I insisted on putting on my table 

 to rival the stuffed owl on the bird- 

 man's table! My time was limited; in fact, 

 I didn't have any time at all. And there 

 was a swarm coming out just as I came in! 

 It was fine and big, a thing of brave adven- 

 turous wings, that filled me with delight as 

 it hung there weaving its mysterious pat- 

 terms in the sunshine of that June morning. 

 But I had no time for swarms. Besides, it 

 was hot, that old-fashioned kind of hot, you 

 know^ and I was supposed to look more or 

 less cool and dignified in a few minutes at 

 Peabody. The swarm settled on a tall tree, 

 on a high branch. By grasping the swarm- 

 catcher near the end of the pole, and hold- 

 ing it about as high as my head, and bump- 

 ing it against the lower side of the bough, 

 and doing it sevej-al times, and executing 

 each times varied and rapid unknown danc- 

 ing steps to keep the thing balanced, and 

 perspiring quarts, I got it. I also got my 

 observation hive and whirled back to school. 

 But the little glass-walled comb got one 

 bump too many on the way back, and the 

 next morning I showed my new class a dead 

 queen. It turned out rather well, tho, for 

 the wee colony built three queen-cells and 

 we were able to watch the whole process, 

 including the destruction of two cells, and 

 now we have a young laying queen. Not 

 one to boast of, to be sure, but able to hold 

 her own in a one-comb observation hive. 



