THE AMERICA:^ JiEE JOURNAL. 



551 



It was decided by vote that the next 

 meeting be held in Covington, on 

 Sept. 2o. 1SS4. at !• a. ni., in Walker's 

 Hall, corner of Sixth and Madison 

 streets. 



A bill of S'2 for the nse of tlie llall 

 was presented and ordered jiaid. Ad 

 journed. C. W. Ckek. ISec. 



Pkteh Ml A'e.\n. Pj-e.v. 



For the American Bee .luuraal. 



Let the Bees Swarm. 



W. /. nUTCHINsON. 



How often we hear bee-keepers 

 lamenting becanse their bees swarm. 

 '• They were doing nicely, and storing 

 honey in the boxes. " when they 

 swarmed, and away went all hopes of 

 a honey crop."' says one. " If they 

 swarm, they do well ; if they do not 

 swarm, they do better." says another. 

 I want them to swarm, for, with the 

 exception of the present season, my 

 honey crop has been increased by 

 swarming. A colony and one swarrii 

 from it lias, until tliis season, stored 

 more honey than a colony which did 

 not swarm". 



The present season is peculiar, in- 

 asmuch that it opened two weeks 

 earlier than usual, and closed on 

 accoimt of dry weather abont three 

 weeks before basswood blossomed. 

 Cold, dry weather and high winds 

 made a complete failure of basswood, 

 from which comes our main honey 

 crop. As all the honey was gathered 

 in the early part of the season, it 

 followed as a matter of course, that 

 those colonies which did not swarm 

 stored the most honey. They stored 

 about one-third more per colony than 

 did those which swarmed, aided by 

 their increase. 



The increase is worth what it cost 

 in honey, and had basswood yielded 

 even fairly, the tables would have 

 been turned : and should the fall 

 honey-harvest be even a fair one. they 

 may yet be turned. So I say, let the 

 bees swarm— just once. 



I have, for two seasons, practiced 

 the Heddon-method (page 126, Bee 

 Journal forl883) of preventing after- 

 swarms. Last season one colony in 

 2-5 cast an after-swarm ; this season 

 not one colony cast an after-swarm. 



Mr. A. A. Decker, on page 522. does 

 not like this plan, as it takes as many 

 bees from the old colony as would 

 make a second-swarm. lie says, 

 " The old colony needs these bees, 

 the first swarm does not." Will he 

 please tell us why V Will a bee gather 

 more honey if the old hive is its home, 

 than it will if its home is the new 

 hive ? Where the honey-boxes are, 

 there should the bees be also; and 

 with this system of preventing after- 

 swarms, the honey-boxes are, or 

 should be given to the new colony. 



Mr. 1). says : " To get the best re- 

 sults, i. e.. surplus honey from the old 

 colony, all the bees that" are left when 

 the first swarm leaves, should stav in 

 the old hive during the remaindei- of 

 the season." AVill Mr. D. please tell 

 us whether it makes any difference if 

 all surplus shmild be taken from the 

 new colony V If the returning bees 



from the old hive were killed when 

 they attempted to cuter the new hive, 

 as intimated by Mr. 1)., I think that 

 there n)ust have been some \unisual 

 cause, as I have seen nothing of the 

 kind in the (iO times, or thereabouts, 

 that I have put tliis method to the 

 test, in the past two years. All the 

 bees are the offspring of one mother, 

 have been separated only a few days, 

 and the intruders come loaded with 

 peace offerings. 



Mr. I), speaks of the time that is 

 gained by introducing a queen to the 

 old colony immediately after the first 

 swarm has issued. If the honey bar- 

 vest will be over before the eggs laid 

 in those days which are " gained '' can 

 develop into bees and become old 

 enough to labor, is there anything of 

 valued gained y That the plan will 

 prevent after-swarming, I know from 

 experience. I prefer, however, to in- 

 troduce a virgin queen, as a laying 

 queen is worth SI. 00, and a virgin 

 queen will begin laying plenty soon 

 enough. 



Last winter, at the close of our State 

 Convention, Mr. T. M. Cobb, of Grand 

 Rapids, the Treasurer of the State 

 Association, visited me, and I called 

 his attention to the Heddon-method 

 of preventingafter-swarming. A few 

 days ago he wrote me as follows : "I 

 remenfber with pleasure my visit at 

 your place, last December, and many 

 times have I felt thaukful for the 

 lessons you gave me. especially those 

 in regard to the management of after- 

 swarming. Work in my apiary, this 

 season, has been a pleasure instead 

 .of. as formerly, full of vexation." 



I must return the compliment by 

 saying that Mr. Doolittle's article on 

 " Hivnig Swarms," with queens hav- 

 ing clipped wings, is the best I have 

 seen in print. However, should an 

 after-swarm issue when four or five 

 swarms were clustered in one mass, it 

 occurs to me that it might complicate 

 matters somewhat. I presume that, 

 like myself, Mr. D. has no after- 

 swarms. I can very readily see that 

 having all of the queens with clipped 

 wings makes less trouble than when 

 only a part of them have clipped 

 wings. 



Rogersville, Mich. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Lake Shore, N. Y., Convention. 



The Lake Shore Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation held their fourth meeting at 

 Forestville. N. Y.. on Aug. 9, 18S4. 

 The President and Secretary both 

 being absent. Mr. U. E. Dodge was 

 elected President pro tern, and Messrs. 

 Geo. Adams and J. J. Keyes were 

 elected Secretaries for the day. 



The discussion was opened by the 

 following question : " Will it pay to 

 have 30,000 to ;«,000 bees in one col- 

 ony to winter ':'" 



Mr. Evans thought not. and said 

 that when a colony is very large, by 

 taking the combs from the hive and 

 giving them a light shake, the old 

 bees would fall off' in consequence of 

 their feet being worn out. He also 

 stated that a colony of bees which is 

 light in honey in the spring will breed 



np faster than a colony which is 

 heavy with honey, there being more 

 room for the (pieen to deposit her 

 eggs ; and that until it is removed, 

 comb filled witli honey is no better 

 than a board. 



If in a damp cellar, will raising the 

 combs from the bottom of the hive 

 prevent their edges from molding "i" 



Mr. Dodge said that rims put un- 

 der the bottom the hives will prevent 

 mold, with plenty of ventilation. He 

 here gave a description of his bee- 

 cellar ni which he can regulate the 

 temperature at will. lie put his bees 

 out on April Iti, commencing at 1 a. 

 m., and finished on April 1!». All of 

 the bees did equally well, whether 

 put out in the night or day-time. 



" What is the best plaii for a bee- 

 house, above or below the ground ?" 



Mr. Dodge said that he would, if 

 situated as Mr. Adams is, dig into 

 the bank and make a bee-cellar. 

 In reply to a question concerning 

 ventilation for colonies, he said that 

 he could not easily describe the 

 amount which he employed, but used 

 his owji judgment and acted accord- 

 ingly. 



Mr. Adams said that he was not 

 satisfied with out-door wintering. 



Mr. Evans said that he would make 

 a cellar in a sand-bank, or construct 

 one with double walls. He also said 

 that honey has much to do with win- 

 tering bees. If the honey is bad, the 

 bees will have diarrhoea and become 

 weak. Good seasons help to winter 

 bees, and the locality has much to do 

 in the producing of good honey. 



Mr. Adams darkens his hives to pre- 

 vent tlie bees from flying during the 

 winter. 



Mr. Evans knows of a bee-keeper 

 whose hives are made of very thin 

 lumber, and that they were as frost- 

 proof as hives made of thick lumber. 

 He said that he had carried a queen 

 home in his vest-pocket, in Novem- 

 ber, put her into a hive, and that the 

 operation was attended with good 

 results. 



Mr. Adams desired to know why 

 jMr. Dodge preferred a bank-cellar to 

 an ordinary one for wintering bees. 



Mr. Dodge stated that it would be 

 more convenient than an ordinary 

 cellar ; that it would require far less 

 labor in carrying the bees in and out 

 of it in the fall and spring, especially 

 if the bee-keeper had a very large 

 apiary. With a bank-cellar, one 

 could have a track with a small truck 

 over which he could move the hives 

 in and out with the utmost ease and 

 dispatch. 



Mr. Evans said that he had once 

 wintered a colony of bees in his bed- 

 room, that they were confined from 

 fall until spring, and that they did 

 well. In regard to allowing bees to 

 have a cleansing flight in the winter, 

 several endorsed the idea. Concern- 

 ing the rearing of queens, Mr. Evans 

 said that he would not rear too many 

 queens to sell, and that we keep bees 

 for the purpose of gaining money. 

 Let them swarm naturally. One-half 

 of the queens should be killed, for 

 they were not fit to breed from ; but 

 some are more valuable and prolific 

 than others, and some become Darren 



