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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,. 



Origin of Noise in Swarming-time. 



Much lias been said and written 

 about tlie object of making a great 

 noise, by the ringing of bells, beating 

 of tin pans, etc., when a swarm issues 

 from the hive, and is in the air. In 

 the Bee Jouiinal for January 3, Mr. 

 Arthur Todd, of Philadelphia, Pa., 

 (formerly of Algeria, Africa,) referred 

 to the matter, as being no proof that 

 bees could hear, and that it had no in- 

 fluence on the bees to make them set- 

 tle. His letter was as follows : 



On page 803, of the Bee Journal 

 for Dec, 1882, reference is made to 

 certain remarks of Sir John Lnbbock, 

 and the influencing of bees, when 

 swarming, to settle by making loud 

 noises, etc., etc. I am decidedly of 

 the opinion that it is not to the sense 

 of hearing on the part of tliebees, that 

 the custom of beating tin cans, etc., 

 took its rise, but to the sense of hear- 

 ing in the human family, and why V 

 For the simple reason that the ancient 

 laws relating to bees, vested the own- 

 ership in a swarm only to him from 

 whose grounds they departed, pro- 

 vided he followed them, and kept them 

 in sight until they alighted. Now, 

 what more natural than to "kick up 

 a row " for the sole purpose of letting 

 others know that the bees seen in 

 flight were being followed. I regret 

 that I cannot at present consult my 

 library of bee books and give the words 

 of the ancient laws. I tliink tlie word- 

 ing would go far to prove my hypothe- 

 sis correct. Arthur Todd. 



Philadelphia, Pa., Dec. 25, 1882. 



Mr. Todd is evidently correct, and 

 is corroborated by a correspondent in 

 the London Journal of Horticulture, 

 wha says that " the custom of ring- 

 ing bells, beating pots or kettles, and 

 otherwise making as much noise and 

 hubbub as possible when a swarm is- 

 sues, was in vogue in very early ages. 

 Since we do not believe that the 

 noise has any effect whatever in 

 causing the swarm to settle, we can 

 only suppose that the institution of 

 the custom was for the purpose of 

 giving notice to the neighboring bee- 

 keepers that the operator on the bell, 

 drum, or kettle claimed the rising 

 swarm and identified it as his own. 



" Habit is second natnre," says the 

 proverb, and the habit in question 

 holds sway over the rnral bee-keeping 

 world, for long centuries after the 

 cause for and establishment of that 

 habit has been forgotten. By an old 

 law, of the time of Alfred the Great, 

 a bee-keeper is permitted to follow 

 and to secure his swarm if on another's 

 property ; but he must keep the swarm 

 in sight, and that his neighbors may 

 know he is following it he must ring 

 a bell as he pursues it. 



The bell-ringing is now oftener re- 

 placed by yelling and the beating of a 

 kettle or rattling of fire-irons, and 

 the bee-keeper is not so much intent 

 on calling his neiglibors' attention to 

 the fact that lie is following his bees, 

 as on charming the swarm and caus- 

 ing it to alight, seduced or terror- 

 stricken by his rough music. 



The law of Alfred evidently ex- 

 plains the origin of the custom, al- 

 though, as we said above, the habit 

 prevailed centuries before that law 

 was made. Virgil refers to the tin- 

 can music in his fourth Georgic. 

 Plato, Pliny, Varro, and Columella 

 all speak of it, and attribute the set- 

 tling of the bees either to fear or joy ; 

 while Aristotle is not certain what 

 the effect is which the beating of 

 brazen vessels has on the bees. 



A violent concussion of the air 

 often affects a swarm ; hence some 

 fire a gun near the hovering swarm to 

 cause it to settle ; others throw gravel 

 or dirt among them. Many bee-keep- 

 ers use a Whitman's Fountain Pump 

 to bring the bees down ; this disorgan- 

 izes them, causes general confusion, 

 and they usually settle at once. The 

 wetting of their wings also makes 

 them in a hurry to obtain shelter, the 

 same as they would in a shower of 

 rain. 



These are modern practical ways 

 of doing what has been, by the super- 

 stitious in ages past, sougtit to be 

 accomplished by charms, such as 

 bell-ringing, pan-beating, and such 

 like noisy demonstrations. 



^" The Indiana Farmer says that 

 " the two most important questions to 

 the bee-keeping interest of tJie coun- 

 try are providing pasturage for the 

 bees, and as to the size of the packages 

 for surplus honey." These questions 

 are now being discussed in the Bee 

 Journal, and while it is the duty of 

 every bee-keeper to find " pasturage 

 for the bees," just as much as for 

 other stock, no progressive apiarist 

 will fail to give the " best package for 

 surplus honey" the due amount of 

 thought, and by many experiments 

 and repeated trials, the right size and 

 shape will be developed in due time. 



Special Notice.— We will, hereafter, 

 supply the Weekly Bee Journal 

 for 1883 and Cook's Manual in cloth 

 for $2.75, or the Monthly and Manual 

 in cloth for $1.75. 



1^" Attention is called to our neio 

 and liberal advertising rates for 1883. 



A Sweet Endowment.— The follow- 

 ing item is from a local paper sent us 

 by Mr. E. Pickup, of Limerick, 111.: 



Last spring was very poor for bees ; 

 so Edmund Pickup fed about 50c. 

 worth, per hive, in bee candy, sugar 

 and honey. In the fall he got a little 

 over 4,000 lbs. of comb honey ; an av- 

 erage of 138 lbs., spring count, and in- 

 creased from 29 colonies to 90, besides 

 6 " swarms " otherwise used, and 8 got 

 away. More than one-half were black 

 bees. The best colony in spring pro- 

 duced 236?4 lbs., and 3 swarms; the 

 best old colony 991.4 lbs., beside one 

 swarm. From the best colony 122?:^ 

 lbs.; from the 2nd best, 08 lbs.; from 

 the 3d best, 27 lbs.; the 4th best, 2914 

 lbs. Honey at 15 cts. per lb., and new 

 colonies at S5 each, gave a net com- 

 pensation of $30.50 per hive in spring. 

 John, brother of Edmund, has an in- 

 terest in the bees; so the Pickup 

 brothers show great skill and industry 

 in bee-keeping. Yesterday Mr. Ed- 

 mond Pickup gave to the Limerick 

 church O6623 lbs. of honey— $100 worth 

 — for an endowment fund. This is a 

 praiseworthy act of Mr. Pickup, nii'! 

 will live after him. 



1^ By a copy of the Savannah, Ga., 

 Abend Zeitung, we notice that Prof. 

 Reclam gave a lecture on " Honey as 

 Food and Medicine," in that city 

 lately, in which he drew largely upon 

 our pamphlet on that subject, strongly 

 endorsing it and advising a more gen- 

 erous use of honey in families for food, 

 and highly recommending it for its 

 medicinal qualities; and for healing 

 wounds he says its value cannot be 

 over-estimated. 



1^" The next meeting of the Maine 

 Bee-Keepers' Association will be held 

 at Dexter, February 8th and 9th, 1883. 

 A large attendance of bee-keepers 

 from different parts of the State is ex- 

 pected, and it is hoped that it may be 

 one of the most interesting meetings 

 ever lield by the Association. A large 

 exhibit of hives and implements, used 

 in the apiary, is exnected ; and all at- 

 tending the meeting are earnestly 

 requested to bring something to help 

 make a good display. Any article 

 sent to the Secretary will be placed on 

 exhibition, and cared for, free of 

 charge. The following is an imperfect 

 outline of the programme for the two 

 days : First day :— Secretary's report ; 

 Treasurer's report ; reports of Vice 

 Presidents of the different counties 

 represented ; President's address ; 

 choosing committee to award prefer- 

 ences on articles exhibited ; reading of 

 essays and discussions. Second day : 

 — Election of officers ; report of com- 

 mittee on articles exhibited ; reading 

 of essays and discussions. Essays 

 are expected on the following subjects 

 — Feeeling Bees ; How to make Bee- 

 keeping Profitable ; Artificial Pastur- 

 age ; The Coming Bee, etc., etc. 



Ripley, Me. Wm. Hott, tiec. 



