THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



539 



In Regard to Swarming.— I often 

 have the question asked me: 1. 

 " What bees go out with the swarm, 

 and what stay in the tiiveV" i. e., 

 where is the dividing line wlien l)ees 

 awarmy I have often asked tliat ques- 

 tion, but cannot obtain a satisfactory 

 answer. 2. IsitknownV S. Who de- 

 cides the question which bees sliall 

 go, and whicli stav— is it the ciueen or 

 IS it the workers? 4. 1 wish your 

 opinion of A. E. Manuni's lave, as 

 advertised in liis circular? lie has 

 some 40(J of them in use in three apia- 

 ries .5 miles apart. Very poor season ; 

 neither bees nor honey. 



A. V. Fi.ETCnEB. 



Ludlow, Vt., Aug. 8, 1S82. 



[1. The old bees go with the swarm, 

 i. p., all those that are able to assist in 

 building up a new colony : of course, 

 there will be more or less lield-work- 

 ers out when the swarm departs, and 

 these remain with the parent colony, 



2. Yes ; you can decide the matter 

 to your own satisfaction by examin- 

 ing a parent colony immediately after 

 a swarm has issued. You will lind 

 comparatively few left in the hive, 

 able to tiy, e.xcept those actually em- 

 ployed when the emeute takes place. 



3. Xature decides the question by 

 spreading the swarming contagion, 

 and it is no unusual occurrence to see 

 hundreds of young bees lying around 

 the alighting- board, on the ground, 

 which had over-estimated their 

 strength and could not fly away. 

 These mostly tind their way back into 

 the hive. 



4. A. E. Manum gives the dimen- 

 sions of the frames in his lU-'stol hive, 

 as 22 inches long by 9I2 deej), inside 

 measure, and 12 in number. Tliis 

 really makes it a modi tied Langstroth 

 frame, and gives about the same up- 

 per surface as the standard Lang- 

 stroth hive. It is a double-wall or 

 chaff hive, having a 3-inch space be- 

 tween the outer and inner walls, 

 which can be tilled with chatf, cut 

 straw, shavings, or other packing, for 

 out-door wintering. If not too many 

 complications, and we jiresume there 

 are not, as Mr. Manum is a very prac- 

 tical man— it is an excellent hive.— 

 Ed.1 



The Dzierzon Theory.— We com- 

 menced to keep bees two years ago, 

 and then our stock consisted of IS 

 colonies of hybrids, excepting two, 

 which were full Italians. We have 

 now 04 colonies, and all are of the fa- 

 vored variety— Italians ; have .sold 12 

 colonies. The 64 now on hand are in 

 fine condition, and p^ of the queens 

 are young, being reared this summer. 

 We have had a^ tine flow of honey all 

 the while ; plenty for home consump- 

 tion, and more than a hundred gal- 

 lons to spare. If the D/.ierzon theory 



be true, why should the markings of 

 the workers so frequently differ i that 

 is, if a black (|ucen should mate with 

 a pure Italian drone, why should they 

 not all show the same number of yel- 

 low stripes. ]\I. S. Wateks, M. D. 

 Bethel, Tenn., Aug. 12, 1882. 



[By the Dzierzon theory, the cross- 

 ing of the queen with a drone of 

 another species or strain will affect 

 the worker or female sex only in the 

 progeny, the drone progeny being just 

 as pure as was the motlier ; hence, 

 queens reared from a pure queen 

 which has met a black or other drone 

 besides her own strain, will throw 

 mixed drones as well as mixed work- 

 ers. Thus we will see from a queen 

 whose every appearance, as also whose 

 drone progeny would indicate pure 

 Italian blood, workers of every hue 

 and shade. In other words, that by 

 the laws of parthenogenesis, every 

 queen is fertile, as well as under cer- 

 tain conditions the workers also, to 

 produce male progeny; but that the 

 connection of the queen with a drone 

 is necessary to bring forth worker or 

 female progeny.— Ed.] 



Rejoinder to .Mr. Vaiiilervort.— In 



reply to Mr. A'andervort's challenge 

 to meet him at the National Conven- 

 tion, he with his roller mill and I with 

 the Given press, to test the speed 

 with which these machines can be 

 made to make then- best work, I 

 must certainly decline to accept. 

 First. It may be that I cannot attend. 

 Second. It is much trouble and ex- 

 pense to take a 270 lb. apparatus so 

 far, and liaving not one cent of cash 

 interest in the press, and not deeming 

 it wise or necessary to pay for being 

 believed, I will leave the field to Mr. 

 Vandervort, with tliese closing re- 

 marks : As a gentleman, my dealings 

 have found Mr. Vandervort unex- 

 celled ; as a practical, mechanical ex- 

 pert, I count him second to none of 

 my acquaintance; as a honey-pro- 

 ducer and breeder, I hold him in the 

 highest esteem. I have used several 

 different makes of roller mills, and I 

 count his the best I have used, but I 

 count the press principle and its 

 product superior to any and all roller 

 mills known to me. Mr. Vandervort 

 might demonstrate a fact, which I do 

 not deny, that ho is a better-skilled 

 operating machinist than I, but that 

 would not change the fact that here, 

 in my house, as bungling as 1 may be, 

 which lack of mechanical skill was 

 felt by all the machines alike, I could 

 turn "oft foundation three times as 

 fast with ttie press as with the best 

 Vandervort mill; yes, much faster 

 and neater than 1 have ever heard of 

 any one doing with any roller mill. I 

 stated this because it was truth, and 

 because sncli truths were expected 

 from me once in a while. As my only 

 pecuniary interest rests in the sale of 

 the foundation made on this press 

 (and no one has ever challenged its 



superiority as far as I know), were 1 

 to sneak from bias, I would say that 

 " it was with much dilliculty that the 

 press made thisexcellent foundation," 

 thus giving a second reason for de- 

 serving patronage. I prefer to be 

 honest, trusting my success to that 

 course. Many presses are now in use. 

 Has not some person one that some 

 roller mill issuperior to, either or both 

 in its manipulation and jiroduct? 

 We have heard coasiderable from the 

 other side. James IIeddon. 



Dowagiac, Mich. 



Mountain Mint.— Please give name 

 of plant enclosed and its value as a 

 bee plant. It grows two feet high, 

 and is a wild plant. The bees seem 

 to work on it all day long. Will it pay 

 to cultivate for the bees? They are 

 not doing so well. They cluster on the 

 outside of the hive, and we do not 

 know the cause. Thought perhaps it 

 was the color the hives are painted. 

 They are a dark brown. Please state 

 whether dark or light hives are the 

 best for them. Joseph Lee. 



Fallston, Md., Aug. 13,1882. 



[The plant is basil or mountain mint 

 mint [Pycnuntlieinumlanceolatwn). It 

 would be a good plan to scatter waste 

 and sandy places with the seeds, but 

 they would not repay especial cultiva- 

 tion. It is very common in the Central 

 and Western States. 



Your bees are clustered on the hives 

 because honey-bound in the brood- 

 chamber. The color of the hives has 

 nothing to do with it, except, perhaps, 

 to make them lounge on the outer in 

 stead of the inner side of the hives 

 caused by the greater attraction of 

 heat. White is the better color o 

 paint them.— Ed.] 



Basswood Come and Gone.— Bass- 

 wood has come and gone, and the re- 

 sult is no surplus in general. Honey 

 that is taken out now is dark colored, 

 and of very poor quality. We have 

 had nice rains lately, which may make 

 fall pasturage good, but surplus is out 

 of the question here this season. 



W. H. S. Grout. 



Kennedy, N. Y., Aug. 10, 1882. 



Immense White Clover Crop.— I will 

 try and give the prospects of a honey 

 crop in this locality, and that is very 

 poor. This is my 3d year since I com- 

 menced to keep bees. They done very 

 well in swarming tliis season ; I had 6 

 in the spring, now I have 13, and 2 

 went to the woods. Too cold and wet 

 this season. We had no locust bloom, 

 and very little linden, which was 2 

 weeks late, but the greatest white clo- 

 ver crop 1 ever saw commenced about 

 the 10th of June, and is noyv, within 

 the last day or two, disappearing. I 

 have not taken any comb honey yet. 

 I extracted 4 gallons out of my 2 lirst 

 swarms. 1 hope better things this 

 fall, and next season. My bees have 

 done as well as any in this part of the 

 country. I inclose to you a flower that 



