PUBLISHED EVERY WEEK 



^ 



1861 



-0S.'B^ICA^ 



AT $1.00 PER ANNUM. 



C ^HE Ot^ 



r'N AMERICA 



35tli Year. 



CHICAGO, ILL., APRIL 25, 1895. 



No. 17. 



Coi;)tributed /Kriicles^ 



On Important JLjyiarian Subjects. 



No. 3. 



-Bits of Experience, and a Few Ques- 

 tions Suggested by Them. 



BY T. I. DUGDALE. 



(Continued from page 248.) 



It has often been stated that in order to winter success- 

 fully, a colony of bees must have nearly all their winter sup- 

 ply of honey capped over. While this in the main maybe 

 true, I wish to mention a case which came under my observa- 

 tion. In the fall of 1893, while lookins over my bees to as- 

 certain their condition as to stores, etc., I came across one 

 colony which had an ample honey supply to last during the 

 winter, but none of it capped over, with the exception of a 

 small part in two combs which would not exceed the size of an 

 ordinary man's hand. I naturally concluded that they were 

 " a soner "' on those stores, as it was then about Oct. 1. 1 

 concluded, however, to let them alone and watch results. 



They had their last flight about Dec. H that season, and 

 did not have another chance to get out until during the follow- 

 ing March. I supposed, of course, that they would be dead, 

 but to my surprise they came through all right, and in as good 

 condition as one could wish. I then opened the hive and 

 ■ found all the honey still uncapped that remained, but they 

 seemed to have used an unusual amount during their confine- 

 ment. Now, why did those bees leave that honey uncapped ? 

 and why did they winter as well as those having capped stores'? 



I have seen several unusual things in introducing queens, 

 but will only mention one case I have in mind at this time. It 

 occurred during the honey-tlow while I had the sections on all 

 the colonies, and most of them were working nicely on buck- 

 wheat, which was almost at its best, when I noticed one colony 

 that did not seem to have their accustomed energy, so I con- 

 cluded to ascertain the cause, if possible. On opening the 

 hive, I found only a small portion of brood, and that all cap- 

 ped, and one cell from which a queen had evidently hatched, 

 while there were traces of several others which had been torn 

 down. The colony was very strong, and gave oflf that lone- 

 some sort of a hum which often denoted queenlessness, and as 

 I examined them closely I failed to find a queen ; as they 

 seemed to act as if they had none, I concluded that she must 

 have been lost when she left the hive to mate. So I took one 

 which I had on hand, and, after clipping one wing, put her in 

 a candy cage and gave her to the colony. While passing the 

 hive two days later, I found a dead queen on the alighting- 

 board at the front of the hive. I examined her closely, and 

 made up my mind that it was a virgin queen, and as her wings 

 were whole, I did not open the hive for several days. I then 

 found the queen I gave them, laying nicely, and the bees re- 

 sumed work as before. Did these bees have that young queen 

 in the hive all the time the other was in the cage? If so, 

 why did they accept the laying queen when they had a virgin 

 queen with them ? And did the workers kill her? or did the 

 laying queen do it when she got out of the cage ? Has any 

 one else succeeded in introducing a queen safely under like 

 circumstances ? 



Having several times seen it stated as being advisable to 

 destroy combs when they become very old and black, I will 

 now proceed to give a case which came to my notice during 



Alfalfa or Lucem—the Qreat Honey-Plant of the West. 

 Sketch made in California from a natural flower. 



