84 



I'EE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



WITH 



REPLIES by Prominent Apiarists. 



Keeping Bees on SMres, 



CatcMnff Prime Swarms. 



Query, No. 192.— What portion of the 

 honey produced would be a fair compensa- 

 tion to tlie renter of an apiary, supposing 

 that I should furnish the bees, empty hives, 

 frames, foundation, sections and crates in 

 the Hat, keprs for extracted honey, and 

 retain the ownership of all the bees and 

 fixtures, my share of the honey to be 

 delivered to me [at the apiary] crated, or in 

 kegs ?— C. B. F., Mich. 



One-third.— G. L. Tinker. 



One-half, less one-half the cost of 

 foundation, sections, crates and kegs. 

 — W. Z. Hutchinson. 



One-half, if the bees are located on 

 the renter's land, and he has to hive 

 the swarms free of charge.— Dadant 

 & Son. 



It would depend upon the size of 

 the apiary, and how much time the 

 renter put in ; but I will sav one-half 

 of all the honey.— H. D. Cutting. 



I should say three-fifths, and per- 

 haps two-thirds. It is usual for the 

 person renting to pay one-half of all 

 the expense, and receive one-half of 

 the honey produced.— A. J. Cook. 



When I used to keep bees in that 

 way, I received one-half the honey as 

 pay for my work. I furnished one- 

 half of the sections and crates actually 

 filled, however.— G. M. Doolittle, 



About one-third, or a little more. 

 If you would furnish everything ex- 

 cept what is sold with the crop (crates, 

 sections, and surplus foundation), 

 and that furnished equally by both 

 parties, the surplus honey might be 

 divided equally, the increase always 

 remaining with the apiary.— James 

 Heddon. 



One-third of the honey produced 

 would be about right, taking all 

 things into consideration. This would 

 be large wages for simply working 

 the apiary, considering that the renter 

 is furnished with everything, includ- 

 ing the sections, kegs, etc., to hold his 

 own part of the crop, were it not that 

 he must take the greater risk as to 

 what the honey harvest may or may 

 not be, and must leave enough honey 

 to winter the bees,— G. W. Demaeee. 



Several more factors are needed to 

 make this conundrum complete— the 

 number of colonies, condition of 

 honey-yield (whether large or small), 

 etc., are required before I can solve 

 it. If by portion, proportion even is 

 meant, I am but little better off, as so 

 mucli will depend upon the quantity 

 of honey produced, and the amount 

 of work actually done to produce it; 

 but I would sav ordinarily from J^j to 

 J^,with a projiortion of the increase of 

 bees.— J. E. Pond. Ju. 



Query, TSo. 19S.— Will the following 

 plan work all right in catching swarms ? 

 When a swarm is coming out, go to the hive 

 with a screen something like those used over 

 butter-dishes, etc., to keep tiies off ; watch 

 for the (jueen, and when she comes forth, 

 gently place the screen over her, and as the 

 swiirm is nearly or all out, remove the hive, 

 placing another in its place, and when the 

 bees return, liberate the queen. I mean 

 prime swarms. — J. R., Iowa. 



I think that the plan has been suc- 

 cessfully practiced by a great many.— 

 C. C. Miller. 



Yes, sir, a similar plan has in- 

 variably succeeded for years in our 

 College Apiary.— A. .J. Cook. 



Yes, as a rule. If the queen is 

 kept caged until nearly all the bees 

 are in the new hive, you will have less 

 trouble with the plan,— G. M. Doo- 

 little. 



The plan will work if you can catch 

 the queen. Sometimes you will see 

 her in the headlong rush, but oftener 

 not, especially if the entrance is 

 large.— G. L. Tinker. 



Yes, but when the swarm returns, 

 it is not always safe to liberate the 

 queen, as she may fly away then. If 

 you liberate her, keep an eye on her, 

 and if she tries to leave, keep her 

 caged in the new hive for a few hours. 

 —Dadant & Son, 



Yes, the plan will work all right if 

 you can capture the queen ; but it is 

 a good deal like " catching the bird 

 by sprinkling salt on its tail." You 

 cannot capture the queen with any 

 certainty in that way.— G. W. Dem- 

 aree. 



It will depend upon how much 

 wing-power your queen has. If you 

 are on hand with you butter-dish 

 (excuse me, I mean "screen"), and 

 can put it over her, your plan will 

 work all right if the queen goes in 

 with the swarm,— H. D. Cutting. 



I cannot see that this plan differs 

 (except in the manner of caging the 

 queen), from the plan usually adopted 

 with queens whose wings are clipped ; 

 and I think it would be as successful 

 as such methods usually are.— W. Z. 

 Hutchinson. 



The old recipe given for a rabbit- 

 stew is, " first catch your rabbit." If 

 you are present with the screen or 

 any sort of a queen-cage, and can 

 catch and confine the queen, the bees 

 will come back to her and swarm into 

 a new hive placed on the old stand. 

 The only trouble is in first catching 

 the queen, which, in a large apiary, is 

 a big job to do every time that a 

 colony swarms.— J. E. Pond, Jr. 



When you are on hand, imiilements 

 iiandy, swarms prime, with little lia- 

 bility of several being in the air at 

 once, the above plan often aids des- 

 patch. Use the smallest size of 

 butter-dish screens. I have been 

 aided much by also having a frame 

 about 3 feet square, covered with wire- 

 cloth, which 1 placed close up in front 



of the hive when the issuing began,, 

 and forced nearly all the bees to- 

 travel up, as they departed, thus 

 multiplying the chances to observe 

 the queen. Now suppose this wire- 

 cloth was worker-passing and queen- 

 excluding on a frame that was a par- 

 tial box.— James Heddon. 



Destroying Oneen-Cells. 



Query, No. 194.— Will an old queen 

 destroy the queen-cells of her parent colony, 

 or any others, when both colonies — the old 

 and the young one— are again united in 6 

 or 7 days after swarming ? How will the 

 bees of the parent colony act towards the 

 queen, when there is no alternate mixing of 

 combs and bees ?— F. L., Mo. 



I should consider it somewhat 

 "risky."— G. M. Doolittle. 



I have never tried such an exp^ri- 

 ment, but I feel very certain that the 

 old queen would be killed. — G. L. 

 Tinker. 



No positive answer can be given — 

 sometimes yes, as often no. The unit- 

 ing will probably be possible, as it is 

 easy to unite bees at swarming time. 

 —A. J. Cook. 



The queen will destroy all queen- 

 cells that the bees allow her to reach. 

 The behavior of the bees toward one 

 another will depend much upon the 

 condition of the harvest— hostile dur- 

 ing a bad honey yield, peaceable in a 

 good yield.— Dadant & Son. 



1. In some cases the bees (hardly 

 the queen) might destroy the queen- 

 cells ; oftener I think they would 

 swarm. 2. Generally, I should ex- 

 pect the queen to be treated kindly. — 

 C, C. Miller. 



I have never tried this, but I think 

 that the old queen would destroy 

 cells, and that she would not usually 

 be molested ; but I would not advise 

 such a procedure.— W. Z. Hutchin- 

 son. 



1. No one can tell what she will do 

 in such a case ; sometimes she will, 

 and at other times she wont. The 

 only way to determine is to try it. 

 2. If a queen has been kept out of a 

 colony for a day or more, the bees of 

 that colony ordinarily look upon her 

 as a stranger, and therefore the same 

 care should be taken in putting her 

 back, as in introducing a perfectly 

 strange queen.— J. E. Pond, Jr. 



She would, if the bees would permit 

 her to have her own way, but if the 

 swarmiug-impulse is as strong as it 

 usually is, the bees will either " ball " 

 the old queen and kill her, or force 

 her to go with a swarm.— G. W. 

 Demakee. 



You will find great variance, owing 

 to location and seasons. Here they 

 act differently at different times. 

 With me it has been unvarying, that 

 none of the bees quarrelled after such 

 re-uniting. No queens were injured. 

 Usually the swarm would sulk or re- 

 issue, and I prefer the latter of the 

 two evils.— James Heddon. 



