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»© SIVARMS I-EATE HIVES 

 ^VIXH TWO QUEEr^S? 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



Query 506.— Is there such a thing as a 

 swarm leavlnR a hive with two queens ?— R. 



Yes.— J. P. H. Brown. 



Yes.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Yes, or a dozen. — C. C. Milt.ek. 



Yes ; I have known them to leave 

 with 8, but there were none left in the 

 hive. — A. B. Mason. 



Yes ; an after-swaim sometimes has 

 5 or 6. — Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Yes, whj' not, if it happens to be an 

 after-swarm ? — Eugene Secor. 



Yes. Nearly all swarms except the 

 first have two oi' more queens. — M. 

 Mahin. 



Yes, whether the querist means 

 going with two queens or leaving two 

 queens in the hive ; it is not uncom- 

 mon. — R. L. Tayxor. 



Yes ; second and third swarms often 

 have several queens. First swarms I 

 believe never do. — C. H. Dibbern. 



Yes. Yoii will often find second 

 swarms with 2 queens ; and with Syi-- 

 ians, 3 or more queens. — H. D. Cut- 

 ting. 



Second swarms will often do so. I 

 never saw a first swarm do so, unless 

 it had been retarded until a young 

 queen was ready to hatch, etc. — P. L. 



VlALLON. 



Yes, with as high as 12 to 20, and 

 often from 2 to 5. — G. M. Doolittle. 



Certainly there is. After-swarms or 

 first swarms that leave the hive with 

 young, unfertile queens, often have two 

 or perhaps a dozen queens each. — 

 James Heddon. 



The question has two meanings, and 

 we would answer yes to both. Both 

 the swarm and the old colony may 

 have 2 queens. — Dadant & Son. 



Yes, with 4 x>r 5. This is never true 

 of fiist swarms, but frequently it is 

 true of after swarms. — A. J. Cook. 



From one to half-a-dozen virgin 

 queens may go out with a swarm, but 

 I have never known two laying queens 

 to lead a swarm. — G. L. Tinker. 



I never heard of such a case. This 

 IS one of those theoretical questions 

 that no one can answer without an ex- 

 perience of the kind mentioned. — J. E. 

 Pond. 



I do not know that I catch the idea 

 that was in your mind when you wrot<^ 

 the query. If you mean a prime or 

 Jirst swarm, there is never but one 

 queen with them, unless another queen 



happens to be in the air at the time 

 and joins the swarm. It is possible for 

 a swarm to. be delayed by rainy 

 weather until the first, young (jueen 

 hatches, in which case she might go 

 with the swarm if she was old enough 

 to fly. This would give the swarm 2 

 queens — the mother and her virgin 

 daughter. I have seen this state of 

 things once or twice. In case an old 

 queen is .superseded, or dies just be- 

 fore a prime swarm was to issue, there 

 will be delay until several of the young 

 queens hatch ; and when the swarm 

 issues, there nuxy be more than one 

 queen with the swarm. I have seen a 

 half dozen or more virgin queens with 

 an "after swarm." — G. W. Demakee. 



The old queen goes wth the first 

 swarm — that swarm will have but one 

 accompanying queen ; but with " after- 

 swarms " (either second or third) there 

 are often more than one, and some- 

 times several young queens. — The 

 Editor. 



XHE CAUSE OF ABIVOR.nAI. 



swARirnrvo. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



Query 507.— What would be the cause of 

 a colony leaving a hive early in the spring, with 

 plenty of honey in store, and otherwise all right ? 



-N. 



Too few bees. — J. P. H. Brown. 



I do not know. Possibly old bees 

 have died oft', leaving more brood than 

 can be covered. — C. C. Miller. 



I could not give a correct reply un- 

 less I knew more about the circum- 

 stances. — H. D. Cutting. 



Weak colonies sometimes "swarm 

 out " in the spring, when everything is 

 apparently all right. — W. Z. Hutchin- 

 son. 



Lack of pollen. There might be 

 other causes, but then they would not 

 be, as in the question, " all right." — 

 Dadant & Son. 



It is unknown to me. I have had 

 several do so during my 18 years' ex- 

 perience. — G. M. Doolittle. 



I never had such a case. I do not 

 think that we have such a case in the 



South. P. L. VlALLON. 



If there are plenty of stores, "and 

 otherwise all right," it would not leave. 

 Something is wrong when it leaves. — 

 A. B. Mason. 



If they are " otherwise all right," I 

 do not believe tliey will desert the hive. 

 They do so because something is 

 wrong. — Eugene Secor. 



I do not think that they leave when 

 " othenvise all right." This is proof 

 that they are not all right. There is 

 likely some hidden cause, probably not 

 understood. — Mrs. L. Harrison. 



When a colony of bees having 

 plenty of honey leaves the hive early 

 in the spring, it is not "otherwise all 

 right." Generally only small colonies 

 desert the hive, and those that are 

 more or less diseased. — M. Mahin. 



Taking the statement literally, there 

 would be no cause ; but bees some- 

 times vacate their hive on account of 

 discontent, arising from some inscru- 

 table cause. — R. L. Tatlor. 



Sometimes a colony will leave when 

 it is hopelessly weak, and other bees 

 commence robbing them. In case of 

 a strong colony deserting thus, there is 

 some dissatisfaction either with the 

 stores, the hive, or the surroundings. — 

 C. H. Dibbern. 



I should say all is not right. There 

 must be something amiss, even though 

 not patent to the bee-keeper. — A. J. 

 Cook. 



A colony will never leave the hive in 

 the spring, if cverythmg is all right. 

 The hive and its contents, all but the 

 bees, may be all right, and yet they 

 leave ; but in that ease the bees are 

 diseased. Such things usually result 

 from the notorious bee-diarrhea. — 

 James Heddon. 



The most common cause is too few 

 bees. If weak colonies ai'e placed in 

 warm quarters on cool nights in the 

 spring, I think that it would be rare to 

 have them swarm out with plenty of 

 honey in store. — G. L. Tinker. 



I cannot imagine such a case. If 

 querists would state actual occurrences, 

 with all the facts connected therewith, 

 answers of value could be given there- 

 to. To cause a colony to leave, some- 

 thing must be wrong. — J. E. Pond. 



In the early spring there are but few 

 young bees in the hive ; and when the 

 bees take a general flight, as they 

 frequently do on warm days in the 

 spring, the queen finds herself nearly 

 deserted, and under her excitement 

 she takes wing with the frolicking 

 workers. Generally thej' return all 

 right, but if the excitement runs high 

 on account of the presence of the 

 queen in the aerial flight, it results in 

 a case of " swarming out." This state 

 of things becomes habitual with some 

 weak colonies in early spring, and 

 sometimes in the fall. The remedy is. 

 to put a queen-excluder over the en- 

 trance of the hive ; this will prevent 

 the queen from taking wing when the 

 workers take an airing. The above is 

 the " cause," though there may be ex- 

 ceptions to the rule, as in most othei' 

 rules. — G. W. Demaree. 



If bees leave their hive in a body 

 in the spring-time it shows that they 

 are dissatisfied with something in the 

 hive, or its surroundings, or else the 

 bees are diseased. They often leave 



