244 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



with Replies thereto. 



[It is quite useless to ask for answers to 

 Queries in this Department in less time 

 than one month. They have to wait their 

 turn, be put in type, and sent in about a 

 dozen at a time to each of those who answer 

 them ; get them returned, and then find 

 ■pace for them in the Journai,. If you are 

 in a "hurry" for replies, do not ask for 

 them to be inserted here.— Ed.I 



Bees Leaving Hiyes in Jannary. 



Query 406.— Can you give any reason 



why bees should swarm in January, leaving honey 

 and brood in their hives, also queen-celts and a 

 lew bees ? The day they swarmed it was very 

 pleasant, and the sun was shining.— Louisana. 



Disconteutment ; something was 

 wrong in the hive.— H. D. Cutting. 



We hare known lack of pollen to 

 cause them to leave, but there may be 

 other causes, that we cannot know.— 

 Dadant & Son. 



They may have swarmed for the 

 same reason that they usually do, 

 only they were " rushing the season " 

 a little.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Such abnormal swarming is usually 

 confined to weak colonies and to 

 nuclei. They become discouraged and 

 swarm out. Pleasant days after a 

 stress of bad weather is the time they 

 usually depart.— J. P. H. Brown. 



No. Being entirely unacquainted 

 with the details of the case, and the 

 actions of the bees in your latitude, I 

 do not know whether it was satisfac- 

 tion or dissatisfaction which caused 

 them to swarm. — James Heddon. 



This has long been a puzzle. It 

 seems probable that the hive was in 

 some way distasteful to the bees ; but 

 this is only a guess.— A. J. Cook. 



I should say that it was what we 

 call here at the North " swarming 

 out." Dissatisfaction of some kind is 

 thought to be the cause where bees so 

 swarm here in April and May.— G. M. 



DOOLITTLE, 



I suppose it is something as they 

 might do at the North, in April or 

 May. Sometimes it seems a mere 

 whim, and sometimes a result, per- 

 haps, of spring dwindling, not enough 

 bees being left to take care of the 

 brood before leaving.— C. C. Miller. 



Bees, sometimes in my early experi- 

 ence, left the hive most unaccount- 

 ably. I now think the reason of their 

 80 doing was, the hive was too large 

 for possible use. Probably in the case 

 of the querist, too much room was 

 given.— J. E. Pond. 



I can give reasons which are satis- 

 factory to myself, but they may not 

 be to others. I believe that bees 

 never " swarm out " at a time when 

 there is a quantity of young bees in 

 the hive, unless they are absolutely 

 starving. Three causes may con- 

 tribute to the " swarming out " mania: 

 First, starvation and discouragement ; 



second, a desire to supersede the 

 queen, and third, when there are a 

 few young bees in the hive, and the 

 bees take a general flight— nearly all 

 the bees take wing — there being no 

 young bees to stay in the hive with 

 the queen, she becomes excited and 

 takes wing with the frolicking bees, 

 and when out with the queen they 

 may or may not return to their home 

 without the interference of the api- 

 arist.— G. W. Demaree. 



I cannot give any reason from the 

 data given. I have had fair colonies 

 swarm out one or more times each 

 day for a week, just after putting 

 them out of the cellar. Sometimes 

 they tried to enter other hives, which 

 would demoralize matters. Such col- 

 onies, after they have had one flight, 

 I shut in the hive and feed warm 

 syrup until they learn to stay at 

 home. If the day was warm and the 

 bees appeared uneasy, I might re- 

 lease them toward eyening. In this 

 way I have saved many colonies from 

 ruin.- C. W. Dayton. 



Abnormal swarming generally re- 

 sults from dissatisfaction with the 

 hive, surroundings, weakness of num- 

 bers, or something else distasteful to 

 the bees.— The Editor. 



Bees Sipping Blood. 



Query 407.- Recently I was skinning a 

 steer that had choked to death, when I saw several 

 bees eagerly sip the blood as it flowed from the 

 several veins. 1. Did any one ever notice bees do 

 this before, and at what season of the year? 2. 

 Can you suggest any reason for their gathering 

 blood, as plenty of waterwas near them ?— Mo. 



It is not strange.— C. W. Dayton. 



I never saw anything of the kind, 

 and I could not guess the reason.— G. 



M. DOOLITTLB. 



Similar instances have been re- 

 ported. There is probably something 

 about blood that pleases the taste of 

 bees.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



1. I never saw it. 2. Possibly they 

 were after the salts in the blood.— C. 

 C. Miller. 



Such statements have been made 

 before. That bees are partial to sucti 

 vital liquids is a fact, whether we 

 always admire their taste or not. — A. 

 J. Cook. 



I never had any "blood suckers" 

 among my bees ; but I have noticed 

 that bees sometimes resort in the 

 spring of the year to stale water, par- 

 ticularly if it is alkaline. 2. I can 

 assign no reason for their depraved 

 appetite, unless it is a desire for salt. 

 —J. P. H. Brown. 



2. The bees may have been with- 

 out bee-bread and in need of nitro- 

 genous food. Such bees may have 

 been beneUted by feeding them eggs 

 or milk with syrup or honey; but in 

 the experiment I once made in feed- 

 ing eggs, I could not see that it was 

 an advantage.— G. L. Tinker. 



1. I never saw a case of this kind 

 that I remember. 2. For the same 

 reason that they gather many other 

 substances, the reason for which we 

 do not know.— H. D. Cutting. 



I have noticed that bees will work 

 on the oilal of slaughtered animals, 

 and will visit the vaults of privies ; 

 and I have seen them sipping at the 

 refuse of the soap kettle. I think that 

 they are attracted by the salts nearly 

 always present in such refuse matter. 

 — G. W. Demaree. 



I never heard of such a case before. 

 Probably the bees found something 

 in the blood that was needed. It may 

 be the salt in the solution was the 

 thing gathered. They probably went 

 for the blood for much the same rea- 

 son that they visit muck and manure 

 heaps at times. Why is a mere mat- 

 ter of guessing.— J. E. Pond. 



Quite probably the bees needed the 

 alkali found in the blood. Under cer- 

 tain circumstances they will take 

 stale and salt water. They have been 

 experimentally fed with eggs, meat 

 and whisky by many at different 

 times with doubtful effect. — The 

 Editor. 



Eigtit-Frame ?s. Ten-Frame Hiyes. 



Query 408.— I use an Sframe Langstrotb 

 hive : if I change to one having 10 frames, will 1 

 get fewer and larger .swarms ? Will 1 get more 

 comb honey ?— Y., Maryland. 



Other conditions being the same, 

 you would.— J. P. H. Brown. 

 Yes, to both questions. — Dadant 



&SON. 



No, not if rightly managed. To the 

 second part I would say no, keep your 

 old hives.— A. J. Cook. 



You will get fewer and larger 

 swarms. Prom foregoing reports in 

 your latitude, you ought to get more 

 honey.— C. W. Dayton. 



My experience says no to both 

 questions ; certainly no to the last, 

 for this locality.— G. M. Doolittle. 



With 10 frames I think you will get 

 larger colonies. As for the honey, it 

 will depend upon the location. — H. D. 

 Cutting. 



Likely you will get fewer swarms, 

 and possibly less comb honey. I do 

 not think there will be any material 

 difference in the size of the swarms.- 

 C. C. Miller. 



No, neither, but you will get wider 

 lumber for covers and bottoms, and 

 more ranges of comb in which your 

 bees might starve to death in winter. 

 You will both gain and lose some 

 valuable functions. On the whole, 

 I think you will lose more than you 

 will gain.— James Heddon. 



With proper management you would 

 get no more swarms from the former 

 than the latter, nor would the swarms 

 be larger with but few exceptions. 

 You would fail to get as much comb 

 honey unless you practiced a system 

 of contraction of the brood-chamber 

 at the proper time.— G. L. Tinker. 



I do not think any appreciable dif- 

 ference will be found, I prefer a 10- 

 frame hive, as I can diminish or in- 

 crease it to suit any contingencies 

 that may arise. A large hive is bet- 

 ter than a small one for that reason. — 

 J. E. Pond. 



