368 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



tral New York to the exclusion of 

 Italians. 



I think that when we are liberal and 

 broad-minded enough to take in the 

 different locations of this great country, 

 and make allowance for the man whose 

 bees swarm continually, and the other 

 whose bees do not swarm at all, and ad- 

 vertises non-swarmers, that we can look 

 upon the latter as honest, while the 

 former cannot, after trying his bees only 

 to find them swarming as much as do 

 his own. It is difference in location, 

 friends, and not in the "strain "of bees. 



North Prescott, Mass., Aug. 26, 1892. 



Freeing a Colony from Laying Workers. 



J. F. LATHAM. 



I have a method for getting rid of 

 laying workers, when I do not wish to 

 introduce a fertile queen, that I have 

 not seen described in the American Bee 

 Journal. 



I first remove, as the magnitude of the 

 abnormality requires, from two to four 

 combs, containing the most drone-brood, 

 from the brood apartment, and insert in 

 the center of the hive the same number 

 of combs from other colonies well-stocked 

 with eggs and worker-brood and adher- 

 ing bees. I then shave the heads from 

 the drone-brood in the combs taken from 

 the colony having the laying workers, 

 and distribute them among the colonies 

 from which I took the worker-brood. 

 This done, I shave the heads from the 

 drones in the combs remaining in the 

 hive having the laying workers, and 

 place them outside of the combs which 

 I inserted — in reality forming a strong 

 nucleus with the old bees of the colony 

 as auxiliaries. 



The evidence of abnormality will soon 

 disappear, and, if outside conditions are 

 favorable, the colony will manifest an 

 interest in the change by rearing 

 queens, and preparing to again assume 

 its normal routine. 



The foregoing-described process will 

 not be applicable later than the middle 

 or later part of July, in this latitude, 

 and then the colony should be fed during 

 the interim from clover to the fall bloom, 

 which is about four weeks in this 

 locality. 



Should the colony fail in their efforts 

 to obtain a queen, the bee-keeper can 

 furnish it with a queen, or unite it with 

 a colony having a fecundated queen, as 

 may be thought judicious. 



West Cumberland, Me. 



Do Bees Hear ?— Introducing Queens. 



C. E. MEAD. 



All the evidence affirms that they do. 

 Probably the first evidence a beginner 

 sees of this is in hiving a swarm of bees. 

 As soon as a part have found the hive, 

 they start the glad hum, and though 

 most of the swarm may be in the air, or 

 some feet away from the hive, they all 

 come with a rush to their new home. 



Notice the guards in front of the hive, 

 and see on the approach of a big fly, 

 hornet or humble-bee, one will give a 

 sharp, short buzz of alarm, and all the 

 "soldier bees" on guard will be in- 

 stantly on the alert. 



Place your finger-tip on a loaded 

 worker, enough to detain it, not to hurt 

 it ; it will give a buzz of fear, the sol- 

 diers will come to its rescue, and it is 

 well to let it go. There is the buzz of 

 alarm when you drum up, a swarm, or 

 blow smoke into a hive ; the peculiar 

 hum of swarming bees ; and the hum of 

 satisfaction that bees on a brood-comb 

 sometimes give on being returned to the 

 hive. 



About a week ago I saw a virgin 

 queen come out and fly away. She did 

 not seem to mark the hive very well. 

 Instantly the nucleus was on the alert, 

 and bees flew in all directions. In about 

 eight minutes she came back, and three 

 bees with her. As soon as the queen 

 had entered the hive, they began a 

 peculiar hum, and all returned to the 

 nucleus. Some bees went to the en- 

 trance of the hive nearest the nucleus, 

 and returned as soon as she returned. I 

 saw this repeated several times. Each 

 time the bees seemed to sally out to con- 

 duct her home. 



The sound of a queen's flight is unlike 

 that of a worker or drone. Though her 

 motions are short and erratic, like those 

 of a drone (I am referring to a virgin 

 queen), let one bee, inclined to be cross, 

 come around you ; if you are quiet, it 

 usually leaves, but let another join it — 

 instantly the hum of both strikes a 

 higher key. Look out, or they will 

 strike you. I do not think this is due to 

 the smell of each other's venom, but to 

 hearing the threatening sound of each 

 other's wings. 



NUCLEUS FOR QUEEN INTRODUCTION. 



I wished to introduce a queen at once. 

 As honey was coming in, and the day 

 was warm, I took this way of doing it, 

 which I have not seen mentioned : 



