AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



15 



Topics of Interest. 



Locating Qneens after Miiig Colonies. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



With your permission, Mr. Editor, I 

 wish to say something further on the 

 question under the above heading found 

 on page 677, wliich query is No. 733. 

 The question reads "If a colony is 

 divided equally, and no queen seen, is 

 there positive evidence to the apiarist by 

 observing, from the outside, which half 

 has the queen? If so, what is it? Of 

 the 17 who answer this question, includ- 

 ing the editor, 13 say there is 

 evidence, while 4 say there usually is no 

 such evidence. 



Well, if this testimony had been given 

 before a judge and jury, it would be a 

 strange thing if the case were not decided 

 according to the testimony given by the 

 13; yet, here is one of the few cases where, 

 I believe, the majority are wrong, and to 

 show wherein they are wrong is the 

 object of this article. 



At the outset, I ask, W' hat we are to 

 understand by the word "colony," and 

 what its condition at time of dividing ? 

 After answering "Yes, sir," Mr. Heddon 

 goes on to state that he answers it from the 

 standpoint of a swarm, while the qn^es,- 

 tion, as well as the import of the same, 

 goes to show that a swarm was not 

 meant at all but a full colony. 



Swarms are not usually divided unless 

 two or more go together, for it is a rare 

 thing, indeed, to see a swarm of bees 

 from a single hive which is too large to 

 work to advantage. Hundreds and 

 thousands are too small, to where one is 

 too large ; so this is another evidence 

 that a swarm was not meant by the word 

 "colony." Having decided that the 

 person who asked the question knew 

 what he was talking about, when he 

 said "colony," the next point we wish to 

 know, in order to answer his question 

 intelligibly, is what he wished to divide 

 his colony for. As a rule there is only 

 one object in dividing a colony, and that 

 object is to procure an increase without 

 having to wait and watch for natural 

 swarms. 



All the bee-books tell us that the best, 

 if not the only time, to divide for increase, 

 is at about the time of natural swarming, 

 either just a little before the honey 

 harvest, or immediately after it ; th« 

 former having, by far, the most advo- 

 cates. Now if we divide at this time or 



times, in what condition do we find the 

 colony ? 



If in a fit condition to divide, we shall 

 have a hive full of bees and the combs 

 filled with a little honey and much brood 

 in all stages, so that in no case can either 

 part, after division, be hopelessly queen- 

 less, and as far as my experience goes, it 

 is a rare thing for bees to show this, 

 "running around and flying from and to 

 the hive " spoken of by the most of the 

 13 who answer the question in the 

 affirmative, unless they are hopelessly 

 queenless ; and this was why I answered 

 the question by saying, "Not usually." 



In the last half of Brother Heddon's 

 answer, where he interprets the question, 

 as I consider rightly, it will be seen that 

 he agrees with me when he says that a 

 "queenless half will not act that way, 

 provided they have plenty of young 

 brood." 



Mr. Mahin hits the nail square on the 

 head in his answer by saying, " There is 

 no evidence at all, provided both colonies 

 have eggs and brood." If there are 

 neither of these in any hive, whether 

 divided or not, then the bees will show 

 the restlessness spoken of by most of 

 those answering in the affirmative ; and 

 this restlessness is so great that any one 

 that looked at such a colony, only in a 

 casual manner, could not help but notice 

 that something was wrong. 



When we come to take the queen away 

 from a swarm or from any part of it, it 

 cannot be kept in the hive at all, unless 

 confined to the same, or unless brood in 

 the unsealed form is given them, and it 

 is often the case that they will return to 

 their former location or to the parent 

 colony even when unsealed brood is 

 given. 



A swarm without a queen is about the 

 meanest thing to have anything to do 

 with that I know of. Even if left on the 

 old stand, they will scatter all about and 

 try to go into any or all of the hives in 

 the yard, raising a row generally. 



Mrs. Harrison, in answering in the 

 affirmative, gives a different view of the 

 case from any of the other 13. While 

 all the rest base their observations on the 

 restless condition of the queenless part 

 of the colony, she tells which part has 

 the queen by its "greater activity." 



We have been told for years that a 

 colony having no queen will settle down 

 into sluggishness, and that a queenless 

 colony will gather little, if any, pollen. 

 I do not find this to be the case in any 

 event, and much less where the colony 

 having no queen has plenty of brood to 

 care for, as we have shown must be the 

 case where dividing for increase. 



