118 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



ITNITIKti BEES. 



WAXT the worth of my money in, how to unite bees. 

 I have been more uRsiicces.sful in this operation than 

 in anything else coniie(!teiJ witli the apiary. 



Mrs. L. Harrison, I'eoria, Ills. 

 Occasionally bees when not fathering hon- 

 ey, will when united sting each other to death, 

 yet we have had but few cases of the kind. 

 ^ew swarms will unite peaceably, we believe 

 •always, for one queen is soon killed. We have 

 no trouble in uniting bees after cold weather, 

 by simply lifting the combs out of one hive, 

 bees and all, and setting them in the other 

 hive. If a warm day ensues very soon after, 

 many of t,hem go back, but otherwise we have 

 no trouble. When the colonies were small we 

 have put both in one hive a little distance 

 apurt, and moved them up only when they be- 

 came acquainted. They will sometimes, if 

 rxjxh queens are allowed them, work together 

 for weeks*, but when united as they are of ilie 

 jiame scent, there will be no quarreling. When 

 the colonies are both pretty strong, or if their 

 honey is scattered through the whole ten 

 Combs in each hive, we frequently place one 

 Over the other, obliging them all to use the 

 Same entrance. This has always worked fine- 

 ly, and we would soon find the honey all be- 

 ;low, and remove the empty frames. When colo- 

 nies are near each other, we often shake the 

 bees all in front of one hive and let them run 

 In like a natural swarm. If the new-comers 

 •are attacked, we give them such a sniokinu 

 that they are glad to be peaceable ou any 

 terras. If the old hive is now taken coniplete- 

 ily away, they generally find their new 

 home without trouble. If the bets from both 

 ihives are shaken on the ground in a heap, and 

 their combs given them, there is seldom any 

 trouble about their quarreling. Whatever 

 method is adopted, if we have a smoker at 

 hand, and give them a severe smoking as soon 

 4s they bfgin to "misbehave," there will be 

 very little danger of trouble. 



INTKOMl CTION OF QUEENS. 



i^iUJIIIERK »i ems to be no perfectly safe plan. All 

 Ijf rues fail occasionally, an^i sometimes when we 

 — ' arc most anxious that they shoiiM not. I^ast 

 ■in'-' I vi i-.eivcil a nice tjueen from Nellis. of New York, 

 inil in introducing her, by the best rules I knew of, 

 31it- was killed. Prof. Cook, of Mich., an experienccfl 

 'bte-bn'cei, tells us he received a 310. queen of Da- 

 daiu. anii los-t her in introducing. These arc not ex- 

 Ceiition;*: cases. A few only are reported, while 

 'tiamire'ip an- not. To receive queens from friends 

 jnd diNiaiit apiaries and then have tliem lost in in- 

 i/cducitig is iinnoying to say the least. Can not some 

 iplan itc devised by which they can be introduced 

 liilely in every cane, wivliout worrying two or three 

 •lays over ;« (lueen and then having her killed V>y 

 ^i»f ry beco ? 



In the s^warming season, two swarms go together 

 ipeacealdv b«. tiiat none are dciitroye<l. And in doub- 

 •liiig up stMckrt in fall or spring you destroy the queen 

 j-ou like least and then smoke and shake them aU to- 

 gether an«l ihey go in their now hive quietly .^nd 

 peacealily. (so far as ray experience goes) in every 

 Case, and tin remaining (jneen is not destroyed. Now 

 if these two cases are correct, and will always hold 

 •iood. then does it not follow that, with the same con- 

 ll'.ionn any ro.iecn may ho safely introduced in the 



same way? For instance, take two stocks of bees or 

 parts of two fitocks, smoke an-', shake them together 

 in front of a new hive and drop the new queen in 

 upon them, will they not all go in quietly and behave 

 as in uniting two stocks ? 



Again, it is well known that hopelessly qucenless 

 slocks receive queens reailily. Then why not. when 

 you have ordered a queen, prepare a stock by shaking 

 parts of two stocks togetiier upon combs iha have 

 neither egg.? nor brood of any kind ? Jn a day or two 

 they will be fully conscious of their condition and a 

 queen can be safely introduced. 



Your plan of putting the queen upon hatching 

 brood will do where plenty of bees come with her, 

 otherwise it is too slow and if the brood is not just in 

 the right stage, (nearly mature) or if the weather is a 

 little cool it is liable to perish. What we want is a 

 safe and quick way and we should liave it. It seems 

 to me those who have been in the bee business long 

 should be able to giv some sure plan of inti'oducing, 

 by wliich the inespeTienced can meet with sure suc- 

 cess. II. C. Hersvekgkr. 

 Iveene, Ky., March 2'2d, 1877. 

 Colonies hopelessly tinoen'ess usually receive 

 queens all right, but if we are not mistaken, 

 there are some exceptions ; taking all the 

 combs away will generally make them behave, 

 but not always. Even should it always an- 

 swer, it is so much trouble that v/e believe we 

 could better lose a queen once in a great while, 

 than take so much time. With an im- 

 ported queen, we should always take the 

 trouble to get them hatching brood, and with 

 the nice lot of bees that our friend Dadant 

 sends with the queen, there is certainly no 

 danger of her suffering. Ours always com- 

 mence to lay the first day, and with several 

 combs of bees just hatching, there will be 

 quite a cluster in 24 hours. 



We lose very few queens by removing the 

 old one, and leaving the caged queen on the 

 top of the frames until the bees get "good" to 

 her which is sometimes in a half day, and 

 from that to two or three days or even a week. 

 Be sure she has plenty of food where the bees 

 can not rob her of it, and she will stand th« 

 eonfine.-nent very well. It should be Tcnn ni- 

 bered that when no honey is cun)!)!!: in, ihey 

 will often accept a (jneen, and tlio! lejt vt and 

 kill her even after she has laid a comb full of 

 eggs, so we can hardly call any plan absolute- 

 ly safe, that attempts giving a new queen to 

 old bees. We can never feel sure of any plan 

 except the one witii Ihe just hatching bees. 



BEES AND FROGS. 



fN looking over my Gleanings I notice yoii said 

 one could not tell how l:>r a frog could jump by 

 — ' ills looks; some years ago I happened to b« 

 standing beside my bees after sundown when I no- 

 ticed a nnmber of frogs coming, hopping leisurely 

 toward the hives. I wondered at it and watched ta 

 see what they were after ; they came np to the hives, 

 sat before them and wlicn a bee missed the hive they 

 gobbled It np as quickly as a toad would. I went and 

 got my whip and struck at them and they roade sncb 

 tremendous leai>^, you would not believe unless yon 

 liad seen it. It's a hard thing to hit a Irog with a 

 whip. After t)>c first time or two whenever I opened 

 the gale in the evening they would clear out in double 

 <iuick time. Before that, if I heard a frog squeak 

 when a sr.akc was swallowlrig it I would run and kill 



