AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



83 



sir; no bees can decamp, nor will a 

 swarm be found hanging 50 feet in the 

 air on the limb of some neighbor's tree ; 

 in some chimney, or in the coving of 

 some house. 



The other morning a swarm came off 

 just as I was going to the post-office. 

 They settled on a limb of a tree near 

 by ; when I returned 20 minutes later, 

 the swarm had returned to their old 

 location, self-hived, and so quiet that no 

 one would have selected that colony as 

 the one that had just cast a swarm. 



Experience in Bee-Keeping. Etc, 



J. E. PRICHARD. 



I commenced last year with 3 box- 

 hives of black bees, and being desirous 

 to know more about the industry, I got 

 a queen from an Ohio breeder, and in- 

 troduced her on June 11. I procured 

 one 3-frame nucleus on July 11, and six 

 Mo. 2 dovetailed hives, complete, and 

 then awaited developments. 



I did not get a swarm, but destroyed 

 2 colonies by the " driving process," 

 and obtained about 25 pounds of surplus 

 honey in one-pound sections, which I 

 sold for 25 cents per pound ; mostly 

 from the 3-frame nucleus that I secured 

 from an Indiana dealer in bees. 



I had 2 colonies of Italians and 3 of 

 blacks which wintered well on the sum- 

 mer stand, under a shed. This spring I 

 transferred one, and in just 35 hours it 

 was robbed to death. I then drummed 

 out one, and that all dwindled to death, 

 so I virtually had only 3 colonies left to 

 commence with. That is the dark side ; 

 now for the bright side. 



On May 20 came the first prime 

 swarm ; on the 24th, another, and on 

 the 20th, another. On June 1, I had 

 an after-swarm ; on the 2d, another, 

 and on the 3d, another. Talk about 

 fun! 



The June 1st swarm, after' staying in 

 21 hours, and drawing out the founda- 

 tion nicely, left ; but I think it went to 

 the parent hive, and came out the next 

 day ; so I did not lose them. I divided 

 one last year's colony on June 5, and 

 this morning (June 11) I examined the 

 whole lot, and found them all doing 

 well. Some are at work in the supers, 

 while others, notably the after-swarms, 

 are filling their combs with the whitest 

 honey I ever saw ; it is capped snow- 

 white, but they have no brood — perhaps 

 it is too soon. I am a novice, and want 



to learn by experie ce, with common- 

 sense suggestions from the Bee Journal. 



SOME BEES THAT HEAR. 



I was astonished when I read what 

 Julia Allyn wrote on page 774, and to 

 test the thing I went to the bee-yard 

 last night, and, taking a small empty 

 box I held it in front of the hives, and 

 some distance away, and tapped on it, 

 so as to make a noise ; all the bees re- 

 sponded immediately, and filled the en- 

 trance. My bees hear, if others have 

 deaf ones. I leave them to their enjoy- 

 ment. I love the pursuit, and am in it 

 to a finish. 



Port Norris, N. J. 



Mint Use of Brooi-Comte, 



C. H. WOOLDRIDGE. 



Allow me to call attention again to 

 the question I asked, and which was 

 very truthfully answered on page 804, 

 about making use of brood-combs. 



About a year ago same one, in an arti- 

 cle in the Bee Journal, entitled, I be- 

 lieve, -'Some Points on Bee-Keeping," 

 said: "Do not hive swarms on full 

 combs, or you will be the loser instead 

 of the gainer." The reader was left to 

 guess the reason why. 



I believe this matter to be of much 

 importance, especially to the producer 

 of comb honey, although I am not sure 

 that I fully understand the whys and 

 wherefores. 



Is the reason because the queen, be- 

 fore leaving the parent hive with the 

 swarm, has laid nearly all her eggs, so 

 that she would be light, and therefore 

 able to fly with the swarm ? and, in 

 consequence of this, would not be able 

 to fill the empty combs (in the new hive) 

 with eggs ; therefore the combs are 

 filled with the nice white honey which 

 should have gone into the surplus de- 

 partment (as swarming occurs in this 

 locality when the white clover is in 

 bloom) ? Or is it because the queen 

 will lay too many eggs just at this par- 

 ticular time, and therefore it costs more 

 to rear the bees than they would be 

 worth after being reared? In either 

 case (that is, if either is a fact) the 

 question is still before us — what to do 

 with the combs ? 



Last year I used my extra combs by 

 giving one to each swarm, with starters 

 on all the other frames, and put the 

 partly filled case of sections from the 

 hive whose colony just swarmed, on the 



