86 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



first cell to the lime that the last will 

 hatch Where I take away the queens 

 there may be a diflereiice of four, possi- 

 bly five (lays. In tliis case the bees ful- 

 filleil their p irt of the contract to the 

 very letter. I n those colonies that swarm- 

 ed without a q>ieen, 1 had destroyed the 

 first queen cells started; the very ones 

 that would have hatched a queen to have 

 gone with the swarm. I did not know 

 whether the cell 1 had left would hatch 

 on Monday, or, possibl}', as late as Fri- 

 day. The bees did not discover this. 

 S jnietimes it takes harsh treatment to 

 bring the bees to a true sense of their con- 

 dition. 



REES SWARM WHEN THEY ARE READY, 

 OUEEN OR NO OUEEN. 



Several times, where colonies were 

 about to cast a prime swarm, I have 

 taken the queea away in the fore part of 

 the dav, and in the afternoon that colony 

 swarmed. The next forenoon the}' 

 swarmed again; and ihis time thev were 

 sure the (juec-n liad started with them, as 

 they sc.itlered all <jver the xard, '-emam- 

 ing out a long time, ami when they did 

 return they hunted everywliere for the 

 queen, and finally found the dead q een 

 iu the grass and clustered tliere These 

 bees had what I have been calling iu this 

 article, the swarming fevt-r, and when 

 the time came for them to sw.irm they 

 had the impulse to swarm; but ihey did 

 not realize ihal Iht-y were quctnless. 

 This acouuts for all these happenings. 



In the first article I mentioneil that I 

 had trouble where I had taken away the 

 queens from the heavy colonies; they let 

 the time go by ami did not start a queen 

 cell; ami I can biing a part of my colonies 

 lo this condition almost any year, but the 

 time must be favorable when I takeaway 

 the (jueens. I think I know the cause, 

 and I certainly know how to avoid such 

 mistakes. I think very few things hap- 

 pen with our bees but what we should 

 understand them. We must have a know- 

 ledge of \.\\&caus,t\ and bring our colonies 

 to that con<liiiou to produce like results. 

 The bees, in time, will solve every one 



of these problems; and many times they 

 bring pnxif that this is conclusive why 

 these things happen. 



There are many things th it I should 

 h ive offcre 1 in this article as evidence, 

 but it is already too long. When I read an 

 article in our excellent bee journals, and 

 the writer takes a certain position, I like to 

 see a little evidence and all the proof pos- 

 sible showing why he thinks so It adds 

 solidity and weight to the article; attracts 

 the attention of a thinking mm, and 

 completely fences the very position taken. 



I sometimes think the rea<lers of our 

 bet j juruals do not appreciate the real 

 value they might get out of them. It is 

 this knowledge coupled with our experi- 

 ence, that has made us the bee-keepers 

 we are; and it depends largelv on us, not 

 only how we handle tiie information we 

 get out of them, but sometimes tlie value 

 in dollars ami cents. X jt long ago I de- 

 cided not to take any of our bee journals, 

 and I stoppt-d all biu Glea'iings; and all 

 that s ived Gleanings w.is that 1 had it 

 pti I f- ^r a long time in a lvaii':e Xjar 

 the close of the seas di I had an offer for a 

 1 Jt of ho ey, and I d-cided to write a 

 letter accepting tile ■)lTer the first time I 

 went to lovvn. Glftuings cine an 1 in 

 that copy it give a repirl of the piospect 

 for a h »nev crop in different p irts of the 

 Llniieil S'. iles It decided me to hold 

 mv honey for a short tine. In ,o days 

 I s>ld this l.)t of honey for ^ cent more 

 a ])onn 1, a'ld I als > saved the freight on 

 the S,ooo ll)s from my place to Grand 

 Rajjids. I think it would hive piid for 

 Gleanings 6o years! 



In Conclusion I will say the subject of 

 swarming h.is b^jiu ligulv skiin ued for 

 the last 2o veans — hardlv deep enough to 

 cause a riffle. But for the right man, a 

 man th it will take an interest in such ex- 

 periments, pr.ividing himself with differ- 

 ent r ices and strains »»f bees, so he can 

 easily lell the ages of the different parts 

 of the colonies, and make no mistake, 

 there is a dunce to dip up a whole pail 

 fill' of knovledge. 



Mancelona, Mich. Feb. i, 1902. 



