THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



117 



sire to keep our bees fully and con- 

 stantly at work. It will be generally 

 acknowledged that bees seldom swarm 

 unless honey is being gathered to some 

 extent. 



The great question is : how can we 

 keep our bees all at work storing sur- 

 plus honey without the interruptions 

 occasioned by the desire to swarm and 

 its results. Let it be borne in mind 

 that the conditions which hinder oiu' 

 bees from storing the greatest amount 

 of surplus honey are the same as will 

 create the desire to swarm. We have 

 been told that the size of the hive has 

 little to do with this desire. In con- 

 tradiction to this I wish to say that, 

 in my exi)erience, it has nuich to do 

 with it. When you pass through an 

 apiary, during a (low of honey, and 

 see from one to eight quarts of bees 

 lying upon the hives, it indicates not 

 only that the conditions are such as to 

 induce swarms, but also that the bees 

 are not as fully occupied in gathering 

 honey as they should and might be if 

 proper precautious were observed. 



Let us notice some of the conditions 

 necessary. I shall indicate as the first 

 requisite a good prolific queen; second, 

 sufficient room for the queen to deposit 

 eggs; third. ])lenty of room for the 

 bees to store honey; fourth, suitable 

 ventilatioji ; fifth, the proper shading 

 of hives. 



While I do not assert that in any- 

 thing bees never deviate from the 

 general rule, I have ample reason for 

 believing that if the rules I lay down 

 are observed, fair success may be ob- 

 tained. While my conclusions here 

 reached are based largely upon ex- 

 perience of past years, they are more 

 largely the result of that of the past 

 season, during which time we have 

 had more than ordinary opportunities 

 for observation. It is generally known 

 that our yield of honey for 1881 was 

 very large. In fact, I believe that our 

 yield from one apiary of 40 colonies, 

 of a little over 24.3 lbs. average per 

 colony, is tiie largest yield from an en- 

 tire apiary of the size, ever obtained. 

 I speak of this to mark the fact that 

 this was an ai)iary where the colonies 

 were the most populous (^f any 1 had 

 ever known, and yet we had not the 

 slightest trouble in preventing swarm- 

 ing where the requirements named 

 were supplied. 



I may be asked what the first men- 

 tioned essential of a good prolific 

 queen has to do witli the desire to 

 swarm. I shall not be questioned as 

 to the desirability of such a queen, in 

 other resi)ects. My answer is : that 

 when other eiuiditions have been com- 

 plied with, our troubles with swarm- 

 ing have been with such colonies as 

 have contained queens that the bees 

 desired to supersede. When the queen 

 cells were sufficiently advanced, such 

 old queens would leave the hive with 

 the swarm, or they would be destroyed 

 and the lirst young queen hatched 

 would le-iul the swarm. It should be 

 remembeied that our surplus honey, 

 the past season, was nearly all taken 

 with the extractor. 



Our second and third points off iir- 

 uishing sufficient room for both queen 

 and bees to be fully occupied may 

 easily be attained, when tlie combs 



are extracted and interchanged, as 

 may readily be done; hut when box 

 honey is desired, nuire difficulties arise. 

 We may, by the most approved meth- 

 ods, adtl boxes which will afford sufiS- 

 cient room to store all the honey the 

 bees would gather, but we find that 

 the combs in the brood-nest must be 

 kept so thoroughly occupied with 

 brood and honey to induce the bees to 

 work freely in the boxes, that often 

 tlie desire to swarm is produced. 



The fourth and fifth requisites, 

 which are in the direction of prevent- 

 ing the hive from becoming overheated 

 are very important. In a hive which 

 is very populous, the necessary labor 

 l)erformed creates a great amount of 

 heat. If the weather is very warm, 

 and the hives are sheltered from such 

 breeze as might be afforded, work will 

 be almost entirely discontinued. This 

 is one of the greatest reasons why 

 bees on high ground, where there is a 

 better circulation of air, and where it 

 is generally cooler, gather most honey, 

 other things being equal. 



Our home apiary is in a very warm 

 location. During the past season, as 

 the colonies became populous and the 

 weather warm, I noticed the bees 

 lying out upon the front of several 

 liives. I sent an assistant to draw the 

 slide in the bottom bourd which closed 

 an opening oxlU inches. The next 

 day in passing through the yard, I ob- 

 served the bees all busily at work ex- 

 cept in two hives. Upon examination, 

 I found these two had been missed, 

 and the ventilators were yet closed. 



My conclusions, then, are that in 

 securing extracted honey, with proper 

 management, swarming nuiy in most 

 instances be easily controlled ; but 

 when box honey is produced, it is 

 much more difficult. Surplus boxes 

 filled with starters of choicest comb- 

 foundation, with free and immediate 

 access, may be supplied as soon as the 

 bees will occupy them. It is very im- 

 portant that this be not delayed until 

 the bees have already the disposition 

 to swarm. Proper ventilation and 

 shade may be given ; and combs of 

 brood may be taken from the brood- 

 chamber, and empty ones supplied. 

 Yet during some seasons, and with 

 some coloniues, it will f:iil to prevent 

 swarming. If we continue to investi- 

 gate and unite our experiences, we 

 shall yet attain the desired end. 



i^-The Texas State Bee-Keepers' 

 Convention will hold its meeting at 

 Jndge W. H. Andrews' Apiary, at 

 McKinnev, Texas. Ai)ril 25, 1882. 



Wm. R. Howard, Sec. 



i^ A meeting of the bee-keepers of 

 !>*ew Jersey will be held at Hall Xo. 

 25, Albany street. New Urunswick, N. 

 J., March 15, 1882, at 10 a. m.. to or- 

 ganize a State Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion. All interested are cordially in- 

 vited. G. W. Thompson. Stelton" ; C. 

 H, Rue. Manalapan ; .1. II. M. (^ook. 

 Caldwell, Committee on Call. 



1^- The Texas State Bee-Keepers' 

 Convention will be held at McKinney, 

 Texas, on Tuesday, April 25. 1882. 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



The New Races of Bees. 



S. VALENTINE. 



Bees are wintering well here, both 

 out and in-doors. I have some on 

 their summer stands and some in my 

 cellar. I have just been down in the 

 cellar where I have some 80-odd colo- 

 nies, and they are all quietarul I think 

 in good condition, except three, which 

 are a little "fussy." The one that 

 has the most " growling " about it is 

 the colony that had my imported Syr- 

 ian queen in. It is a strong colony, 

 and there are a great many old Syrian 

 bees in it ; they are old, for 1 sent Mr. 

 Root my imported queen last August. 



As I have not reported on the Syrian 

 bees for 1881, I will do so now. A 

 year ago I wintered some six or eight 

 Syrian queens. Early in the spring 

 they were slower in breeding up than 

 my albinos, but about the time clover 

 began to bloom, they went to brood- 

 rearing in earnest, anfl by the last of 

 June they had so many bees I thought 

 they hardly knew where to get lodg- 

 ing, and as I had some frames of 

 honey, thought I would help them out 

 of the trouble. I made some nuclei, 

 and it insulted them so much that they 

 would not receive a queen nor queen- 

 cell, and a whole lot of workers went 

 to laying at a wholesale rate, until 

 they would pile twenty-odd eggs in 

 one cell, aiul they continued to carry 

 on this kind of work, until I called in 

 a regiment of albinos and cleaned up 

 things. I will give the facts on both 

 sides as I observed them, and all can 

 compare and decide for themselves. 



The Syrian bees are not as large as 

 the albinos or Italians, but are very 

 active, and I think they guard the 

 entrance better in cool weather. They 

 fly swifter and light at the entrance 

 aiul pass in quickly, but they do not 

 carry as lieavy loads of honey ;is the 

 albinos or Italians, which adds to 

 their quickness. The queens are very 

 prolific and the workers not so apt to 

 fill the brood-chamber with honey and 

 crowd (Hit the queen as the Italiiins 

 and albinos, but the queens are more 

 ajit to lay in the sections. The work- 

 ers are irritable, but if properly man- 

 aged, can be handled on the comb 

 without much trouble ; but they de- 

 sire to see what is going on and want 

 to be right on or under your fingers, 

 and if one gets pinched a little, is 

 quick to give the sign;il aiul in a mo- 

 ment a thou.sand are running to see 

 what is the matter; they laugh at a 

 little smoke, until theyshake all over. 

 When you wish to shake or brusli 

 them off the combs, then conies the 

 fun ; they generally go in the air ;uid 

 then you find out you are dealing 

 with iloly Land bees. I can take the 

 sections from 5 or strongalbino colo- 

 nies with MS little bother, and in the 

 same time, that I can take them from 



