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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURFAi 



WItb 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 

 space for them in the Journal. If you are 

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

 them to be inserted here.— Ed.] 



Recopizing Rolilier Bees. 



<luery 480.— How do you recognize rob- 

 ber bees when visitiDg your hives ?— C. L,. 



Catch and kill a supposed robber in 

 its leaving the hive. If loaded with 

 honey, it is a robber, for honey should 

 be going into the hive, not out of it.— 



G. M. DOOLITTLB. 



This comes by long experience with 

 bees. You will recognize them by 

 the peculiar manner of flight in at- 

 tempting to gain an entrance, and by 

 the peculiar high note made while on 

 the wing.— H. D. Cutting. 



They dodge this way and that, and 

 hesitate about entering the hive, un- 

 less robbing is well under way, when 

 there will be a crowd of empty bees 

 pushing into the hive, and another 

 crowd of loaded ones tumbling out.— 

 W. Z. Hutchinson. 



The bees have a restive sort of 

 " sneak thief " style. There is al- 

 ways commotion when robbing is 

 going on— bees fighting at the en- 

 trance.- A. J. Cook. 



By their peculiar actions, for one 

 thing ; usually when robbing is 

 started, the bees kick up such a rum- 

 pus that there is no diflSculty in recog- 

 nizing them all over the apiary .—J. £. 

 Pond. 



By their dodging movements, and 

 legs hanging down ; and such as have 

 been daubed in honey, wear a dark, 

 shiny appearance. Their hum is dif- 

 ferent.- Jambs Heddon. 



By their actions. They fly around 

 the hive cautiously with their heads 

 toward it, as though hunting for a 

 hole to get in ; and in case the robber 

 alights upon the entrance-board, the 

 guards will seize it and hurl it away, 

 until they are overpowered by the in- 

 creasing numbers of the thieves.— J. 

 P. H. Brown. 



By their unsteady, quick motions, 

 and their timidty when in small num- 

 bers. Langstroth says : " There is 

 an air of roguery about a thieving 

 bee, which, to the expert, is as char- 

 acteristic as are the motions of a 

 pickpocket to the skillful policeman. 

 Its sneaking look, and nervous, guilty 

 agitation once seen can never be mis- 

 taken."— Dadant & SON- 



The beginner often mistakes the 

 flight of the young bees, on a pleas- 

 ant afternoon for robbers. The latter 

 seldom fly before the hives in great 

 numbers. They may be known by 

 the habit of flying with the rear legs 



hanging straight down ready to 

 alight at an unguarded point, going 

 from side to side of the entrance, 

 making frequent attempts to enter. 

 When robbing is fairly begun, they 

 go straight into the hive and come out 

 heavily loaded, and mostly run up the 

 front of the hive before taking wing. 

 They are then easily recognized.— G. 

 L. Tinker. 



When a robber bee approaches near 

 the entrance of a hive, it may be seen 

 to hesitate and poise itself in the air 

 while its hinder legs hang down their 

 full length. It also gives out a sound 

 on a higher "key-note" than when 

 following its honest employment. 

 There is nothing peculiar about a 

 "robber bee." Any bee will turn 

 "robber "in times of scarcity, if it 

 once gets the taste of " boodle."— G. 

 W. De;marbe. 



By their actions. A bee that alights 

 at the entrance, and darts quickly 

 away when approached by another 

 bee, may be set down as a robber. An 

 old offender becomes shiny and black. 

 In a bad case of robbing it is diflicult 

 to distinguish the robbers by their 

 actions, but they go in empty and 

 come out full. Kill a few and see if 

 they are full or empty on coming out. 

 — C. C. Miller. 



When robbing is inaugurated, fight- 

 ing will exist at the entrance. Bob- 

 ber bees hesitate and dodge timidly 

 around. They come empty, and go 

 away from the hive loaded. Their 

 " hum " is on a high key. — The 

 Editor. 



MoTiniBeeslieforefinteriDE. 



Query 481.— 1. Will it do to move bees 

 one mile and put them into the cellar without a 

 flieht? 2. If bees were allowed to take a flight 

 after being moved a mile, before putting them 

 into the cellar, would many of them return to the 

 apiary they were moved from ? They would not 

 be moved till after November.— W. J., Iowa. 



1. Yes, but I should prefer them to 

 have a flight. 2. No, not any.— A. J. 

 Cook. 



1. Not very well. 2. After Novem- 

 ber I think very few would go back.— 

 C. C. Miller. 



1. I would allow them to take a 

 flight. 2. Very few will return.— J. 

 P. H. Brown. 



1. Not in our opinion,though it may 

 not do any harm. 2. We think not.— 

 Dadant & Son. 



1. Yes. 2. Some might, but I think 

 not many so late in the season.— G. 

 M. Doolittle. 



I would have no fears of bees re- 

 turning to their old stands if moved a 

 mile. At one time I moved 16 colo- 

 nies about J^ of a mile, and not a bee 

 returned.— G. W. Demarbe. 



I do not think that very many bees 

 would return, and I believe that I 

 should give them the flight.— W. Z. 

 Hutchinson. 



1. It would be better for the bees to 

 have a flight directly before taking 

 them into the cellar. 2. No bees 

 would return to the stands a mile 

 away in November, and but very few 

 would return in the summer time, on 



being moved. I have had many 

 nuclei and full colonies at mating 

 stations from one to three miles away, 

 frequently moving them back and 

 forth, but have had little loss from 

 the bees going back to the places of 

 removal.— G. L. Tinker. 



I should prefer to let them fly late 

 in the afternoon, after they had been 

 moved. At that time you will have 

 no bees return to the old location, 

 especially if you place some obstruc- 

 tion before the hive-entrance.— H. D. 

 Cutting. 



1. No, they should be allowed a 

 flight before being put away for the 

 winter, unless you wait until severe 

 cold weather. If moved a mile in 

 cold weather, very few would return 

 to the old spot, especially if a board 

 or obstruction of some kind is placed 

 before the entrance prior to releasing 

 the bees. Move them carefully in any 

 case, so that as little shaking up as 

 possible is given them.— J. E. Pond. 



Yes. No harm will result from 

 such removal without flight, if all 

 other conditions are right. On the 

 other hand, if the seeds of diarrhea 

 are in the hive, this removal will 

 greatly aggravate it. 2. Such a flight 

 might, or might not, result in losing 

 many bees by returning to their old 

 stands. Much depends upon the 

 weather.— James Heddon. 



1. They should have a chance to fly, 

 if possible. 2. No ; it is too late m 

 Iowa for that, in November.— The 

 Editor. 



How to Discover a Queenless Colony. 



Query 482.— How do you know when a 

 colony is queenless? The hive is full of workers 

 busy carrying in pollen, but have a great many 

 drones ; hence the fear that they have no queen. 

 —Iowa. 



Give the bees some eggs and un- 

 sealed larvse, and if queenless, they 

 will start queen-cells.— W. Z. Hutch- 

 inson. 



If queenless, a colony will start 

 queen-cells when brood in the larval 

 form is given them.— G. M. Doo- 

 little. 



Look and see whether there are 

 brood and eggs. Your hive probably 

 has its queen. An excess of drones is 

 sometimes a sign of wealth.— Dadant 



&S0N. 



That is no indication ; they are 

 without a queen. Look for worker- 

 brood and eggs, if you do not see the 

 queen. Some queens are hard to find. 

 — H. D. Cutting. 



The presence of a great many drones 

 during the breeding season is no evi- 

 dence of queenlessness. It is evidence 

 of a careless bee-keeper. It shows 

 that there is too much drone-comb in 

 the brood-nest. When bees are hope- 

 lessly queenless, that is, when they 

 have no queen and no eggs or larvse 

 to rear a successor, they soon hang 

 out the sign to a practiced eye. They 

 collect about the entrance of the hive 

 and look dull and hopeless, while 

 other colonies are going smartly about 

 their business.— G. W. Demareb. 



