AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



821 



and hundreds of other flowers. This 

 being the most profitable field, it is quite 

 well occupied by enthusiastic and pro- 

 gressive apiarists. A large convention 

 will meet Messrs. Root and Cook at Los 

 Angeles. We regret Brother Newman 

 cannot meet with theCalifornians. This 

 delightful climate would banish the 

 grippe. Come out here and see us. The 

 latch-string will always be outside, at 

 the bee-ranch of the Rambler. 



Bee Scouts. 



On page 757, T. F. Kinsell wants to 

 know what evidence there is that bees 

 send out scouts. My experience agrees 

 with Mr. Poindexfcer's. Last Spring I 

 put a hive in an oak tree, about 80 rods 

 from my house. 1 watched it closely, 

 and noticed that one or two days before 

 the other bees swarmed, this hive was 

 full of bees going in and out, as if at 

 work. When the bees swarmed I hived 

 them, and noticed that three or four days 

 after that there were no bees in the hive 

 in the tree. I have been a bee-hunter 

 for 29 years, and I have found bees in 

 different places — in trees, in stumps, in 

 vines, and logs that lay flat on the 

 ground. I have been in the woods in 

 swarming time, and have seen bees clear- 

 ing out trees, and in two instances I saw 

 the swarm come and go into the trees, 

 while I stood looking at the " scouts." 

 Sometimes I went back to these trees and 

 found the bees at work in them. 



Eden, Wis. Theo. Rehoest. 



Do Bees Reason ? 



We have had two very pleasant warm 

 days — yesterday and to-day — so pleasant 

 and sunny that our little yellow pets 

 came out of their hives, and had quite a 

 lively time playing around, and getting 

 some fresh air. Some of them came in 

 the house to get another taste of some 

 honey that Mrs. F. had put away last 

 Fall. They had found their way to this 

 honey before they went into Winter- 

 quarters, and when they came out to fly 

 on this warm day, they came in to see if 

 that honey was still there. They do not 

 forget where you keep your honey. If 

 you once let them sample it, they mark 

 that place. Last Summer Mrs. Fisher 

 put some honey in a safe in our dining- 

 room, and our little busy-bodies found 

 that honey, and began to carry it back 

 to their hives. We concluded to put a 

 stop to that part of their smartness, so 

 we shut the doors and windows, but the 

 bees did not stop. They found a small 



crack under the door, and in they went. 

 Crawling along on the floor until they 

 reached the safe where the honey was, 

 they hunted until they found a place 

 large enough for them to enter the safe, 

 crawled in, walked around, found that 

 honey, loaded up, came out, crawled 

 down the safe to the floor, along the wall 

 to the door, and crept out at the hole 

 they came in at, and off tliey went to 

 their hives. Was this reasoning or was 

 it instinct? I sometimes think our pets- 

 do a great deal of thinking. Then again 

 when I see scores of them come in the 

 house, fly against a window, and then 

 buzz around and die, when a little think- 

 ing would cause them to stop and go out 

 where they came in, I must say I do not 

 know. John D. A. Fishek. 



Woodside, N. C, Dec. 12, 1891. 



[It all depends upon the definition of 

 words. When correctly defined, we 

 think that there will be but little chance 

 for disagreement. — Ed.] 



Time to Eqaulize Stores. 



On pagg 653 Mr. W. C. Frazier writes 

 thus : "Early in September is the time 

 to equalize stores, and feed bees," etc. 

 He certainly does not intend this for 

 advice to bee-keepers of this neighborr 

 hood, because in this part of Iowa almost 

 all of the surplus honey is stored by the 

 bees from the latter part of August, or 

 first of September until frost ; and this 

 year all the surplus honey was gathered 

 in the month of September. I have 

 consulted Levering & Bro., of Wiota, 

 Iowa, and others in my vicinity, and all 

 claim that the month of September is 

 the best time for surplus honey in this 

 part of Iowa, nine times out of ten. If 

 such be the case, would it not be a waste 

 of time to follow Mr. Frazier's advice ; 

 would it not be better to wait until the 

 honey-flow is over ? I transferred a 

 colony of bees from a tree on Sept. 4, 

 1890, and they built up and filled 10 

 frames full of honey and brood by Oct. 

 1. The frames not occupied by brood I 

 filled with foundation, and they wintered 

 all right in the bee-cave, with my other 

 colonies. This year bees commenced 

 storing honey about the middle of 

 August, but a rain and cold spell set in 

 and continued until about Sept. 1 ; from 

 that time until Oct. 1 the bees stored 

 th(u*r brood-chambers full of honey, and 

 gathered some surplus. From 20 colo- 

 nies I got 500 pounds ; the balance of 

 my bees I had in nuclei, breeding queens. 

 My bee-cellar, as Mr. Doolittle would 



