88 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Bees Transferring Eggs to dueen-Cells 



On page 492 is an item from a Mr. Nelson, 

 and Mrs. Atchley's reply. Mr. Nelson has 

 no evidence of a queen laying in a queen- 

 ceU, but I have evidence of bees at different 

 times transferring eggs to queen-cells. We 

 all know that a queen is death on any 

 queen-cell that has a larva in it, unless 

 guarded. I have at difierent times had 

 nuclei to start queen-cells, and found eggs 

 in them when there was no other way for 

 them to procure them, only to goto another 

 colony and steal them. 



It will be noticed that when bees start 

 queen-cells before an egg is put into the 

 cell, the bottom of the cell will be found 

 with a wet polish resembling honey; then 

 in a short time you will find eggs in the 

 cell, and you know that a queen won't lay 

 in a cell when it is of a wet-polished shape. 

 I believe in nearly all cases that the bees 

 transfer the eggs from worker-cells to 

 queen-cells. 



If the reader wants to satisfy his mind on 

 the subject, when he finds a colony starting 

 queen-cells, and as soon as he finds them 

 giving the bottoms the wet polish resemb- 

 ling honey, mark the queen-cells, remove 

 the queen so that if they use the cells to 

 rear queens the bees will nave to transfer 

 the eggs instead of a queen laying in them, 

 and he will see that the bees will rear 

 queens in the cells, or at least part of them. 

 Such is my experience. 



Coon Rapids, Iowa. Thos. Johnson. 



Bees are Booming. 



Bees are just booming, I have taken 44 

 pounds from one colony, and the third 

 super is nearly ready to come off. 



T. C. Breece. 



West Berlin, O., Julf 5, 1893. 



Strong Colonies Best. 



The 6 colonies of bees that I have the care 

 of at present, were not properly taken care 

 of in the fall, and came through weak this 

 spring. In spite of my utmost efforts to 

 encourage brood-rearing, they were so late 

 that that queen of all nectar-bearing plants 

 — the red raspberry — blossomed before they 

 were strong enough to put the surplus on. 



Well, the fact of the matter is, they 

 stored honey much faster than they reared 

 brood. The season, which was very wet at 

 first (promoting a strong growth of plants), 

 turned dry and extremely hot some three 

 weeks ago, with more hot nights than we 

 usually have during the whole summer 

 season. Some of the hives at present (June 

 24th) are one-third full of honey, and not 

 one-half the bees there should be at this 

 season of the year. It would have been 

 useless to put on surplus room, as some of 

 the brood-frames were empty, and the bees 

 did not hang out when the temperature 

 was 100 degrees in the shade. 



I have put some of the frames of honey in 

 the center of the brood-nest, in hopes of 

 getting them used to build comb in the 



surplus. This more fully strengthens my 

 belief that one strong colony is worth two 

 weak ones atftmy season of the year, if we 

 count the worth of each independent of 

 others, and build the weak ones on their 

 own merits. Those just-at-the-time chaps 

 will get left this season, if things shape the 

 same as here. I should like to hear from 

 Mr. Doolittle, on this subject, through the 

 American Bee Journal. J. H. Andre. 

 Lockwood, N. Y. 



Just Hauling in Honey. 



My bees are just hauling in honey. They 

 are making up for last year, I guess. 



Walter R. Wood. 

 Bellevue, Del., July 6, 1893. 



Qatering at a Terrible Rate. 



Bees are gathering honey at a terrible 

 rate from white clover. They wintered 

 finely in this section, only a few colonies 

 having died. Out of 12 colonies only one 

 died, and my 11 are doing excellent work 

 on white clover. My first swarm was on 

 June 16th. A bee-keeping friend here has 

 received 12 new swarms from 4 colonies, 

 and they are gathering honey fast from 

 white clover. Chas. C. Chamberlin. 



Romeo, Mich., July 4, 1893. 



Packing in the Honey. 



Bees in Western Connecticut are doing 

 finely, at least mine are. I had 16 colonies, 

 spring count, and increased to 30 colonies. 

 I have taken off 170 pounds of honey, and 

 have 850 sections on to be filled ; they are 

 packing it in in good shape, and I think 

 they wUl fiU them. H. H. Knapp. 



Danbury, Conn., July 10, 1898. 



Wintering— Black Pepper and Ants. 



While I am watching my bees, I will tell 

 about my wintering of them. They were 

 left on the summer stands in two long rows 

 containing 63 colonies, with a rough shed 

 with back and cover, the front open to the 

 south, with cloth turned back half way 

 with a cushion of leaves on top, and with 

 sticks across the frames to give them room 

 to pass over the frames. I did not unpack 

 them until May 1st. My loss was 7 colo- 

 nies in all. At this time they are doing 

 well on white clover, storing some in sec- 

 tions. I have had 6 swarms at this date — 

 June 24th. 



I notice a good deal said about ants 

 troubling bees. That has been my experi- 

 ence ever since I have kept bees. I have 

 tried many remedies. They are of the 

 little black biters. They breed on top of 

 the cloth or quilt in great numbers. I was 

 thinking that ground black pepper might 

 have some effect on them, so I tried it. I 

 gave them a good dose on their eggs and 

 all, and then put on the cover and left them 

 to their fate. The next day I looked after 



