408 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



abdomen, and still more strange, 

 while the latter was being dissected. 



It is generally stated that these are 

 two-brooded, the tirst mothsoccurriiig 

 in May, the second in August. Yet, 

 as I have seen these motlis in every 

 month from May to September, and 

 as I have proved by actual observa- 

 tion that they may pass from egg to 

 moth in less than six weeks, I think 

 under favorable conditions there may 

 be even three broods a year. It is 

 true that the varied conditions of 

 temperature— as the moth larvte may 

 grow in a deserted hive, in one with 

 few bees, or one crowded with bee- 

 life— will have much to do with the 

 rapidity of development. Circum- 

 stances may so retard growth and 

 development that there may not be 

 more than two, and possibly, in ex- 

 treme cases, more than one brood in a 

 season. 



It is stated by Mr. Quinby that a 

 freezing temperature will kill these 

 insects in all stages, while Mr. Bet- 

 singer thinks that a deserted hive is 

 safe, neither of which assertions are 

 correct. I have seen hives, whose 

 bees were killed by the severe winter, 

 crowded with mothpupseorchrysalids 

 the succeeding summer. I have sub- 

 jected l;oth larvffi and pupoe to the 

 freezing temperature without injur- 

 ing them. I believe, in very mild 

 winters, the moth and the chrysalids 

 might be so protected as to "escape 

 unharmed, even outside the hive. It 

 is probable too, that the insects may 

 pass the winter in any one of the 

 various stages. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Anotlier Canadian Apiary. 



B. F. HOLTEKMANK. 



Another Canadian apiarist who has 

 for quite a number of years attended 

 the Xorth American Bee-Keepers' 

 Conventions, and is known to many, 

 is Mr. S. T. Pettit, of Belmont, Ont., 

 President of the Ontario Bee-Keepers' 

 Association. Like Mr. Hall, of 

 Woodstock, Ont., Mr. Pettit can 

 rarely be induced to contribute to a 

 bee-paper. He is a strong advocate 

 of the idea that bee-keeping should 

 not be held up in too bright (or per- 

 haps in bright) colors, and no one 

 should be induced to become a bee- 

 keeper—if anything, discourage the idea 

 a little. 



Mr. Pettit's bees, consisting of 

 some SO colonies, were apparently in 

 very good condition, his winter loss 

 being '2 colonies. The bees have here- 

 tofore been wintered on the summer 

 stands with a rough clamp about 

 them, wiiich gives ample packing all 

 around ; but material was already 

 upon the ground for a cellar with a 

 frost proof honey-room above, and in 

 future the calculations are that the 

 bees will be wintered in-doors. The 

 reasons given are: As our country 

 becomes more and more devoid of 

 forest and shelter, the climate be- 

 comes more and more unsuitable for 

 our bees, and to obtain the best re- 

 sults Mr. Pettit thinks that we must 

 winter our bees in-doors. 



The hive used by Mr. P. has a 

 wider frame than the Gallup, and I 

 think slightly less shallow. Like in 

 Mr. Hall's apiary, the lower story is 

 disturbed but little ; perforated metal 

 is used between the lower and upper 

 story, and from the latter the honey 

 is extracted. The honey is permitted 

 to be pretty well capped before ex- 

 tracting. The system of extracting 

 before the honey is ripe, and evaporat- 

 ing in cases has been tried with the 

 result being an inferior honey, and 

 has been discarded. 



Mr. Pettit has a fairly good locality. 

 On his farm, which his son works, 

 there are some line linden trees ; 

 Alsike clover, too, has been grown 

 successf ully.yielding a very handsome 

 return. I was a little surprised that 

 Mr. Pettit should liave let his neigh- 

 bors know about the proHt to be 

 derived from raising Alsike clover 

 seed— the market for it, like the honey 

 market, might become glutted in con- 

 sequence ; certainly many in the 

 vicinity are sowing it. But it only 

 shows us that even our shrewdest 

 men will, in unguarded moments, 

 " let the cat out of the bag." 



Mr. Pettit's results, as to honey 

 yield, are about the same as those of 

 Mr. G. M. Doolittle. 



Feeding sugar to the bees for win- 

 ter stores has also been resorted to, 

 but discarded. The result of such 

 feeding was that some men looked 

 with marked suspicion upon the prac- 

 tice ; then, as a bee-keeper, it was 

 throwing so much more honey upon 

 the market, and when it required 

 more of an effort to dispose of honey, 

 the entire transaction from its various 

 stand-point was considered injudicious 

 and unprohtable. 



I here saw a case of drones having 

 wintered in a colony not queenless. 

 Mr. Pettit says it will occur rarely, as 

 they disappear within a few days. 



Brantford, Ont. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Oiieens anfl Swarains, 



J. n. ANDRE. 



I noticed on page 379 of the Bee 

 JouKNAL, Mr. O. P. Miner's open 

 questions. In regard to piping of 

 queens before the old queen leaves 

 the hive, I am not sure, neither am I 

 sure of a young queen hatching before 

 the old queen leaves the hive, but it 

 is quite probable they do on many 

 occasions. In a good, strong colony 

 that would cast a swarm on the mor- 

 row, providing the weather was suit- 

 able, and if one of those long-con- 

 tinued cold storms come on that we 

 sometimes have at summer solstice, 

 which might keep them back two or 

 three days (for tirst swarms hardly 

 ever come forth in bad weather), it 

 would be nothing strange if a young 

 queen should leave tlie cell, and the 

 hive also, with the tirst swarm. I do 

 not recollect of ever seeing more than 

 one queen with a swarm, which I was 

 sure was an old queen, but I have 

 seen as many as five queens in plain 

 sight at once with one swarm, and a 

 small one at tliat. 



I do not believe queens ever make 

 war upon each other in the parent 

 colony, no matter how many there 

 may be after they come forth from 

 thecell. I think that is the reason 

 they sometimes have such a swarm- 

 ing fever, and keep it up until there 

 is only one queen left, and leave the 

 colony so weak that it is an easy prey 

 for swarms. Last season I had a col- 

 ony that cast five swarms. I think 

 that a young queen came out with the 

 lirst swarm, met the drone, returned 

 to tlie parent colony and deposited a 

 few eggs, and the last swarms were her 

 offspring instead of the old queen's. 



The queen is superseded much 

 oftenerthan most bee-keepers imag- 

 ine. Ijast season fully one-half of my 

 first swarms had young queens. Quite 

 often a colony will swarm every other 

 day, and sometimes each day, until 

 they have cast three or four swarms 

 (small ones). This is caused by a 

 loss of the queen, superseding, or 

 otherwise. It is always best to re- 

 turn one or two of the last swarms, 

 wliere more than two are cast, unless 

 increase is wanted, and then there is 

 a chance of giving up the old colony 

 to worms, and the weak swarms will 

 hardly ever pull through the winter. 



I hardly ever have any trouble in 

 putting two or three small swarms 

 together ; if they are agitated too 

 much, smoke them a little, and 

 sprinkle them with water every time 

 they act like separating. After tliey 

 have been in the hive one night, they 

 rarely ever separate. A few days ago 

 I had a colony cast a third swarm. It 

 was in one of these nuisances, a box- 

 hive, and as I had fixed a case on it 

 containing 18 sections, and was calcu- 

 lating on getting some surplus from 

 it in a week or two, I left the swarm 

 about six quarts of bees, which came 

 out at 2 p.m., and the next day at 7 

 p.m. I returned it, and it gave me no 

 further trouble. 



I have seen it stated by sev?ral that 

 it did not pay to feed colonies in the 

 spring that were in fair condition I 

 think tliat depends on circumstances, 

 but of one thing I feel assured, I can 

 get surplus earlier by feeding, than 

 without. Early feeding will Mil the 

 brood-chamber, or at least keep the 

 stores good, and will stimulate early 

 breeding. IJiscontimie feeding at the 

 time fruit begins to bloom. They will 

 hardly ever start queen-cells in ttiis 

 latitude until clover blooms. The 

 feeding and fruit bloom together will 

 give them plenty of stores and brood, 

 which will be hatched, and will be of 

 just the right age to gatlier the crop 

 of clover honey. 'One of my colonies 

 gave me 40 pounds of surplus by June 

 17, and is now busily at work on 32 

 small sections. This is by the natural 

 work of the bees too, without any 

 contracting of the brood-chamber. If 

 the season is good, I will divide it 

 wlien they get the second case full, 

 and then try and get 30 pounds from 

 each during the buckwheat bloom, 

 which will satisfy me, making 130 

 pounds from one colony, and one good 

 swarm, without any'labor, only by 

 dividing, and putting on and taking 

 off tlie cases. 



Lockwood,? N. Y. 



