1508 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1 



The facts which I have gathered in connec- 

 tion with this subject would indicate that, as 

 a rule, bees cluster before they send out 

 scouts; or, if scouts are sent out before they 

 swarm, they cluster before they leave for 

 their new home. Although some of my own 

 bees took possession of an empty hive direct- 

 ly before clustering, my observations during 

 this campaign seem to oppose our accepting 

 it as a rule. All five swarms arrived here 

 in the afternoon between two and three 

 o'clock, after they had plenty of time after 

 swarming to cluster, send out scouts, and 

 wait for their return before leaving, while 

 all my own young swarms issued in the fore- 

 noon. The latter all clustered in the usual 

 way, waiting for me to provide homes when 

 they all had the same chance to help them- 

 selves to any of my empty hives as the stray 

 swarms. If scouts had been in search of a 

 home before swarming, why did my swarms, 

 or some of them at least, not hive themselves? 

 This would show that sending out scouts 

 is a matter of compulsion. If bees are neg- 

 lected by their master, and left hanging in a 

 tree indefinitely, they have no alternative 

 but to provide a home of their own. Then 

 is the time when they make use of the scout- 

 ing gang; and as soon as they have found a 

 suitable place, and have communicated the 

 news to the clustering swarm, away they 

 go, and no common means will stop them. 



Sometimes I had swarms leave for parts 

 unknown after clustering, when I was a lit- 

 tle too slow in getting ready to hive them. 

 In such a case scouts might have been out 

 before swarming, or else they ran across 

 something suitable in short order; but the 

 swarm clusters before leaving, just the same. 

 As an exception it may stated, and I had 

 a little experience in that direction too, that 

 young swarms "light right out" without 

 stopping to cluster. Then, of course, it 

 may be accepted as a probability that scouts 

 had been successful in finding and prepar- 

 ing a home before the swarm issued. 



There is still another case in this connec- 

 tion that might be mentioned. Once in a 

 great while a swarm, after being hived in 

 the customary way, and remaining seeming- 

 ly contented for a day or two, will uncere- 

 moniously leave for other quarters. If their 

 scouts had been sent out when the swarm 

 first clustered, they would have been on an 

 exploring expedition a long time — too long 

 to make it seem probable. Besides, tracing the 

 swarm to iis new location, which may be some 

 distance from the old clustering-place, might 

 cause them some trouble. I am rather in- 

 clined to think that, during their brief stay 

 in their new home, they became discontent- 

 ed for one reason or another; and, to gratify 

 their notion, scouts had secured a place more 

 to their liking. That they knew where they 

 were going when leaving, would be an ac- 

 ceptable conclusion*f rom the fact that I have 

 followed them directly to a hollow tree. 



The number of bees that are detailed for 

 scout duty by the swarm, I have found to 

 range from fifty to seventy-five, with every 

 one of my first three swarms. If other gangs 



are employed at the same time in diiferent 

 places, the above numbers would be increas- 

 ed accordingly. I can not give particulars 

 in regard to the other two, as I was not pres- 

 ent when they made their display, but found 

 them in proper working order at night. 

 La Salle, N. Y. 



[YovT have raised a rather interesting ques- 

 tion, and given us some data that help to 

 throw light on it. It seems to have been 

 tacitly implied that the bees cluster before 

 going away from the vicinity of the old home 

 with a view of sending out scouts; but so far 

 as we can recall, no definite data have been 

 brought to bear on the proposition. We 

 shall be glad to hear from others; and while 

 it may have no practical bearing at first 

 sight, it might lead to some important re- 

 sults. — Ed.] 



FEEDING FOR WINTER STORES. 



How Much Syrup is Consumed by the Bees 

 During the Process? an Interesting and 

 Suggestive Experiment. 



BY O. S. REXFORD. 



Friday evening, Oct. 4, I set a colony of 

 bees on scales, weighed them carefully, and 

 then fed them 8 lbs. of granulaled sugar dis- 

 solved in 7 lbs. of water. I fed in a Miller 

 feeder. The feed was all taken in 24 hours 

 The shrinkage in weight went on rapidly for 

 about two days, and then slowly for several 

 days till finally, Oct. 13, hive and bees weighed 

 only 4 lbs. more than before I fed. 



There was a young queen in the hive, but 

 brood-rearing had stopped several days be- 

 fore, and there was no brood except what 

 had advanced beyond the feeding stage. I 

 looked over the frames yesterday, but saw 

 no eggs or young brood. 



If this were the only experiment I had 

 ever made I should notlMjnsider it important 

 enough to publish; but I have made many in 

 the last 15 oi 18 years, and always with sim- 

 ilar results, all seeming to show that bees do 

 consume a large per cent of sugar as honey 

 fed them for winter use, or to store in sec- 

 tions — in this trial, 60 per cent — when I know 

 that, if not fed, one pound would have been 

 suflicient for the whole month of October. 



Just here I am reminded of some experi- 

 ments made by bee-keepers of note. These 

 experiments given in Gleanings, by Adrian 

 Getaz, page 532, 1905, seem to show that in 

 feeding back for winter stores, or any other 

 purpose, we must allow for a consumption 

 of about 1| lbs. per day during the time they 

 are kept active storing and sealing; and if a 

 small amount only is fed, say 5 to 10 lbs., 

 probably 60 per cent or more will be con- 

 sumed. 



This is rather discouraging to those of us 

 who have colonies needing 8 or 10 lbs. more 

 winter stores. 



Winsted, Ct. 



[There have been numerous reports show- 

 ing that, in feeding back, a large part of the 



