1898 



THE AMEKICAN BEE JOURNAlu,, 



519 



the swarm came out you found two of the queens. Five or six 

 days later you saw the swarm come out, fly around and re- 

 turn. That was at the time of the queen's wedding-flight. 

 You examined it and found no brood, because the old queen 

 had been gone so long there was no unsealed brood in the hive 

 -(there was probably sealed brood present) and the young queen 

 had not commenced to lay. You found no queen, but that's 

 very far from proof there was no queen present, for the most 

 experienced fail sometimes to find a queen that is not yet lay- 

 ing. They probably refused to rear a queen from the brood 

 you gave them because they already had a queen. If nothing 

 has happened to the queen you probably will find there is 

 plenty of brood In the hive now. The study of a bee-book will 

 be of great benefit to you in clearing up this and many other 

 points. 



4. Yes, indeed, there's a big difference in bees. One colony 

 •will store up quite a surplus, while another standing right be- 

 side it, and apparently just as strong, will not more than make 

 its own living. 



Chickens in the Apiary— Sowing Alfalfa. 



1. Would it do to put enough old hens or young chicks in 

 the apiary to keep down the grass ? Would that be a proper 

 place for bees ? 



2. When is the best time to sow alfalfa ? Could It be sown 

 in the fall after taking off a potato crop ? Maryland. 



Answers. — 1. It would be all right so far as the bees are 

 concerned. The only question is whether you care to have the 

 filth the poultry would make. Sometimes I get so tired that 

 I want to stretch myself out on the ground for a few minutes 

 <altho this is more especially so In the out-apiaries), and then 

 I want to have a perfectly clean place. 



2. Inquire of the farmers in your neighborhood as to the 

 best time to sow. 



Something for an Entomologist. 



I send a sample bee. I find a great many of them in my 

 meighborhood. What species is it ? Cincinnati. 



Answer.— I'm not entomologist enough to tell what kind 

 of a bee it is, if Indeed it is a bee at all. Send a specimen to 

 your State entomologist, but don't simply put it in a letter, for 

 it gets so masht in the mails as to be beyond recognition. 

 Bore a hole in a little block of wood, and it will go safely 

 in that. 



Mot Working in the Super— Ants in Hives. 



1. I have a colony of bees in a Langstroth hive, and about 

 a week ago I put the super on, but it seems they don't want 

 to work in It. What shall I do about it ? 



2. I have a mother colony in an old-fashioned hive which 

 has only seven frames, and a small honey-board over them, 

 and under the honey-board is a whole pile of ants ; they seem 

 to be bothering the bees a great deal. How can I get rid of 

 them without disturbing the bees '? 



3. Do ants eat honey? 



4. How much space should there be between the brood- 

 frames and the super ? . Illinois. 



Answers.— 1. Put in the super a section that has had the 

 •comb drawn out in it. It may be a section that had some 

 honey in It last year and was emptied out by the bees, or it 

 may be a section taken from another colony that is working in 

 its super. If you have neither of these, put a piece of droue- 

 brood from the hive in one of the sections, and you may be 

 sure the bees will go up and take care of it. It is quite possi- 

 ble, however, that your bees are like a great many others — 

 they are not working in the supers because they are not able 

 to get any more stores than will easily be used in the brood- 

 chamber. Bees cannot store when there is no harvest, and 

 when the harvest is poor only the strongest can store. 



2. If, as appears to be the case, the ants are under the 

 honey-board and over the frames, they are in a place where 

 the bees have free access, and the colony must be very weak 

 to allow them there. The remedy is to strengthen the colony, 

 or wait till it gets stronger. You may, however, outwit the 

 ants by having the hive set on four feet, each foot resting in 

 an old can or dish of some kind containing oil. 



3. Ants probably eat honey when they get a chance, but 

 perhaps that's not their usual aim in settling over a colony of 

 bees. They settle there because It is a warm, comfortable 

 place. When I used sheets or quilts over my brood-frames, 



and covers over these, the ants troubled greatly by making 

 their nests over the quilts. Since board covers have been used 

 with no quilt between the top-bars and the board cover, there 

 has never been the least trouble from ants. The bees take 

 care of them. 



4. About '4 of an inch. 



DR. II. BE«SE. 



The following sketch of Dr. Besse, of Delaware Co., Ohio, 

 Is kindly furuisht us by himself : 



I was born in Licking Co., Ohio, May 12, 1823. My 

 father, with his parents, settled there in ISI'2, and were the 

 first settlers in the township of Lima. 



Prom my earliest recollection there were many wild bees 

 in the woods, and men that knew how to handle them. I will 

 give one instance : 



I had an uncle for whom I was named — Henry Besse — 

 who was out hunting one day, and came across a large swarm 

 of bees clustered on a bush, I33 miles from his home, yet he 

 was bound to take them home. So he took off his shirt, a 

 home-made linen one, and the only one he had on. He was 

 also bare-footed. This left him with nothing on except a pair 

 of linen trousers and a straw hat. He tied a knot in each 

 sleeve of the shirt, then took thorns and pinned the bosom 

 and neck securely. He then took hold of the lower part of 

 the Improvised sack and shook the bees into it, and tied it 

 securely with bark. He put his gun through a loop in the 

 bark string, and shouldered his gun and bees, marching 

 proudly home without receiving a sting. He used to keep 25 

 to 30 colonies all in the old gum hives. When I was a small 

 boy I used to accompany this uncle on his bee-hunts. This, I 

 suppose, Is where I got my first inspiration for bee-culture. 



The first money I ever earned for myself when 12 years 

 old was for dropping corn for a farmer, who had five or six 

 colonies. When he came to pay me I took one of his colonies 

 instead of three silver dollars, and have had bees ever 

 since, except a short time during the Civil War, when I was a 

 surgeon of the 45th O. V. I., and also surgeon of the 145th 

 0. V. I. 



I have practiced medicine and surgery since 1S47, but 

 have almost given it up for the last 10 years on account of 

 disability contracted in the army. 



I have now (July 29) over 100 colonies of bees, but the 

 honey crop in this locality is almost an entire failure. If we 

 do not get a fall flow of honey I shall have to feed my bees or 

 let them starve. 



I have taken the old American Bee Journal ever since Its 

 birth, and should feel lost without it. H. Besse. 



It will be remembered by maoy of our readers that Dr. 

 Besse is the man who had a field of sweet clover mowed down 

 by the township trustees about two years ago, they thinking 

 that the law was still in force including sweet clover as a 

 noxious weed in that State. The Doctor lost his case in the 

 local court, and we do not know whether an appeal was taken. 



Dr. Besse is one of the very few who have taken the 

 American Bee Journal continuously from Its birth — January, 

 1861. In former years he used to write for it. But when a 

 man gets to be 75 years old he isn't expected to do as much 

 as when a score or more of years younger. 



We have had the pleasure of meeting Dr. B. at several of 

 the annual bee-keepers' conventions, in which he takes great 

 interest, and gets in his share of bee-talk. 



Every Present Subscriber of the Bee Journal 

 should be an agent for it, and get all other bee-keepers possi- 

 ble to subscribe for it. See premium offers on page 523. 



