sn 



GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTURE. 



Kov. 



bees began to get alarmed, and formed a dense buz- 

 zing swarm just over him: but he brought the torch 

 up closer to him, and coolly brushed those off that 

 settled on him. Then creeping- along the limb 

 toward the nearest comb he swung the torch just 

 under if. The moment the smoketouchcd the c >rab 

 its color changed in a most curious manner from 

 black to white, the myriads of bees that had covered 

 it flying off and foiming a dense cloud above him. 

 The man lay at full length along the I'mb, and 

 brushed oflf the remaining bees with his hand, and 

 then drawing his knife cut off the comh at one slice 

 (■l')se to the tree; and attaching the thin rope to it 

 he let it down to his companions lielo v. He was all 

 this time enveloped in a crowd of angry bees; and 

 liow he bore their stinsrs so conllv, and went on with 

 his work at that height so deliberately, was more 

 than I could understand. The liees were evidently 

 not Ptupefledby the smfiko,nirdriven faraway by it; 

 and it was impiisstble that the small stream Iroin 

 the tor'-h Could protect his whole l)> dv when at 

 work. There were three other combs on the tree, 

 and all were successively taken, and furnishc I the 

 party with a luscinus feast of young bees and honey, 

 as well as a valuable lot of beeswax Alter two of 

 the cjmbs had been let down, the bees hecHuie rath- 

 er more numerous beliw. Hying about wildly, and 

 stinging viciously. Several got aft' r me, and 1 was 

 soon stung, an i had to run awa3', beatinir thein off 

 with my net, and capturing them f r specimens. 

 Some of them foll.)wed m<' lor at least h^ilf a mile, 

 gettingr into my hair, and persecutins me must un- 

 mercifully, so that I was more astonished lh m cvtr 

 at the immunity of the natives. A bee settling on a 

 passive native probably behaves as it would on a 

 tree or other inanimate object, which it d "^s not at- 

 tempt to sting." A. G. Mitten. 

 Fowler, Benton Co., Ind. 



MORE ABOUT SWAKMS AIND SWAKM- 

 IING. 



SEVERAL VALUABLE ITEMS ON OTHEH POINTS. 



MOW that we have nearly snowed under our 

 friend Old Fogy with testimony about swarms 



going off without clustering, 1 wish to bring 



another matter before our boe-kcc ping friends. 

 During the last four yetrs 1 have had a great many 

 first swarms come out and go back, and about -i of 

 them would lose their queens. Hokv were they 

 lost? A few, no doubt, were so heavy that they 

 dropped after fl) ing a short distance; but I think 

 more are lost this way: I have, when watching the 

 swarms at different limes, seen two large ones, aft- 

 er flying around till all were out, a few with the 

 queen would start off so quickly that the most of 

 the bees were left behind who went hoaie. In a 

 large apiary, hives full, honey coming in freely, it 

 often puzzles an experienced person to tell whether 

 there is a swarm out or not, and it is very easy fur 

 a small lot to get away and we not see them. I was 

 ono3 watching a large lir^t swarm, atid turned awaj' 

 a short time, when, on looking for my swarm, they 

 were gone; and had not the sun been shining, so as 

 to see them plainly as they were alighting 03 a 

 bush, over a quarter ' f a mile off, I should have 

 lost them. They went so tjuickly that about half 

 returned, leaving with the quL'Cn only a moderate- 

 sized swarm. 



In swarming, when one has the mo^t of the work 

 to do, they have to ocom niize as much as possible 

 in step-taking. Eich section of my hive is 4-.5 the 

 size of the Lnngstroth, and 1 use them two and 

 three stories high. A section is light and easy to 

 handle. I use them as you do the Simplicity, with 

 'oose bottom. It Is an invariable rule, that they 

 have a frame of open brood, and I set one end of the 

 section on a 6inch block, thus giving them, if a 

 ^arge swarm, room to cluster under the frames; and 



with the burlap bag over them, cover raised up 

 about four inches, I let them be till just before 

 dark, and set them on their stands. All that have 

 marked that location will return to the old hive. I 

 don't think it takes me over ten minutes on an 

 average to hive them. When I put them on the 

 stand I raise the bottom about two inches, leaving 

 the cover about 4 inches above the sack; if a large 

 swarm, I give them three sections; so when given 

 the open brood, plenty of room, and plenty of 

 ventilstion, out of about 100 swarms a year for a 

 number of years, I (iei'er have had one leave. On 

 our ranch, we — my better half and myself — think 

 so much of the frame of open brood for swarms 

 that we give a strong vote of thanks to friend Root 

 forgiving us the idea. I have every year tried a 

 swarm occasionally without brood, but shall not do 

 so any more, tor I have satisfied myself that about 

 one-half will leave. We are often asked, " How do 

 you keep them from leaving"'" The answer is, 

 "Give them some open brood." We think it one 

 of the best of the good things that have been given 

 us lately. Friend Djolittle has remarked several 

 times wiihin the 1 ist few years, that localities dif- 

 fer, leaving us to infer that he thought bees worked 

 differently in one locality from what they do in an- 

 other. To that idea I take exception. I do not 

 think his bees do any thing different from friend 

 Heddon's; from bees in Texas, Australia, or any 

 other part of the world, under the same conditions 

 of room and ventilation, always excepting the dif- 

 ferent workings of the different varieties of the 

 race. Apit< melijica, given the same conditions, 

 works th'^ same in all p.^rts of the world. 



BEES FLYING 90 MILES AN HOUR. 



As to the theory of bees flying 90 miles an hour, I 

 have just had a good chance to test the matter. My 

 bees have for some time been working on the I'efuse 

 fruit of a large Ciuuery, distant IJj, miles from 

 the apiary, flying directly over the road, railroad 

 close to road. Twice I have watched their flight to 

 the cannery, a light breeze, just enough to stir the 

 leaves, not more than three miles an hour, against 

 them, sun shining so I could see them very distinct- 

 ly; plenty of them flying about 9i of a mile from 

 apiary; train running right under them, about 35 

 miles per hour, the bee3 flying down hill, empty, far 

 enough from home to get under good headway; yet 

 they went hardly as fast as the train. 



Los Gatos, Gal., Oct. 1, 1883. S. S. Bdtler, M. D. 



DO BISKS REITIOVE: eggs FROm OINE 

 COITIB TO ANOTHER ; 



AN ADDITIONAL FACT IN THE M.\TTER. 



ON p 518 of the present A'olume of Gleanings, a 

 ! correspondent asks how the bees disposed of 

 the eggs given them from which to raise a 

 queen, he not having been able to And them in any 

 of the c ;mbs in the hive. In foot-notes, the follow- 

 ing reply is given: " I have noticed eggs being gone 

 when they were given to certain colonies for queen- 

 cells, but have never been able to explain It." Again, 

 p. 566 Sept. Juvenile, in foot-notes referring to Mr. 

 Pond's inquiry, "Do bees remove eggs from one 

 hive to another?" the answer is, "Bees do remove 

 the eggs from the combs sometimes; but I have 

 never been able to prove that they put them some- 

 where else," etc. As my experience embraces but 



