252 



GLEANI]>JGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Aug. 



A VISIT AVITH ONE OF THE ABC CLiASS. 



HILE I read in Gleanings that A took so 

 many hiiniiretl or thousand pounds of 



V? W honey, and that B wintered so many colo- 

 nies and brought them out "all sate," I am tree to 

 confess that I am not half so much interested in, or 

 pi-olited by, such things, as I am in what may seem 

 to many to be very little things; such as, how to get 

 straight combs, how to clip queens' wings, how to 

 prevent swarms going together, and the thousand 

 and one little evevy-dan incidents and manipulations 

 of the apiary. By the way, what has befallen the 

 c^olvnnn or two of "Queries and Answers," which 

 used to make the columns of Gleanings so inter- 

 esting and instruetive to us novicen'^ I have often 

 thought that the letters of hegifiners, telling their 

 (lilticulties, and lioiv then overeame them were to me 

 very profitable, and thinking that some others, per- 

 haps, feel just as I do, I will put down a few things 

 which may possiblv call forth something from Nov- 

 ice in the ne.xt "A B C" lesson. 



CLIPPING QUEENS' WTNGS; THE SEQUEL. 



Having read much about clipping queens' wings 

 as a preventive of absconding, and having o Italian 

 (luoens which I would rather not lose, I overhauled 

 their hi\ cs in May, and my daughter cliiiped tliiMr 

 wings after the manner recommended by some lady ; 

 viz., taking them to a room and allowing them to 

 run on the window panes. The operation was suc- 

 cessful; but whoever invented the "preventive," 

 or related it, left the story imfiitished, having given 

 nil (Unctions about how to manage when the swarm 

 would come off, nor even intimating that there 

 might be trouble. 



Well, I found out "by experience." "When the 

 first swarm came otf, they were not noticed until all 

 were out of the hive, and a fruitless search had 

 been made by them for their queen. When I found 

 her in the grass not a bee was near her, and the 

 question came up; how will I get her fixed so that 

 they will timl herV Putting her on the brush end of 

 a snitili saiiling (used for a "swarm catcher" or 

 hiver), I raised it up where the bees were flying. 

 Not one came. Seeing them pretty thick near the 

 limbs of an apple tree a rod distant, I went there; 

 but with HO lifttir success. Sus!)ecting that may be 

 the lady was not there, I examined; when lol she 

 was (/'i)ic Then followed a //i//iMn the grass. The 

 search being successful, I directed my niece to get 

 some thin stutt and fasten her in it, and then wo 

 would tie the whole in the hiver. This being done, 

 and she being put close to where they were flying 

 thickly, examining a limb of the apple tree, a few 

 bees— perhaps a dozen— lighted on the gauzy cage; 

 but they were very restless, and seemed ilissafistied 

 with her confinement. By this time, the swarm had 

 begun to return to the old hive, but few of them en- 

 tered however. Putting the queen (liberated from 

 cnnlinenient) and a few bees into a Simplicity pro- 

 sided with fdn., I sot the hive partly over the mass 

 near the entrance of the old hive, being sure that 

 they would soon discover the object of their search 

 and fill the new hive. After waiting a while I open- 

 ed the hive, when lo! there she was hetween the 

 frames and side of the hive with about -i or 6 bees at- 

 tending her. Feeling that that effort at swarming 

 was a failure, I concluded to return her to the hive. 

 But, mark you I when I dropped her near the en- 

 trance, expecting that all would be glad to see her, 

 and that she wtiuld enter in and take full posses- 

 sion, they "balled" her instantly; anda moj-c e.tcited 

 set of Ifttle fellows I never saw. I used various de- 

 vices, lifting them up, trying to separate the bunch, 

 etc., etc., in order to liberate her, but all to no pur- 

 pose. They clung to her like green burs to wool. 

 1 then got a tumbler and set down over the bunch 

 till after dinner. Armed with a Simplicity smoker, 

 charged and going, T repaired again to the field of 

 confiict, to find those inside the glass just holding 

 the fort as they had been from the fii'St, and those 

 outside all in ciininidt inn. I opened the smoke bat- 

 tery on the (Uitsiders, who soon cried for quarter 

 and began to make ijito the hive as fast as they 

 could scramble. Then lifting the tumbler I poured 

 a volume into tlie rebels, who instantly let go their 

 prey and followed quietly, the queen'making com- 

 mon time with them. This ended the trouble.— A 2d 

 swarm came off and went through a similar per- 

 formance, save the "balling." As they were begin- 

 ning to 7T(uni to the hive before 1 discovered that 

 they were out, I made i>o effort to settle them, but 

 returned the queen at once to her hive. Now, why 



the difference in the treatment of the two queens? 

 My theory is that the first one, being held so long in 

 my hands, had acquired a foreign scent and they 

 did not recognize her. 



Within 3 or 4 days in my absence, both swarms 

 came off again and simultaneously. The queens 

 were found on the ground. The swarms had settled 

 tofiether. Two "hivers" were made ready, a queen 

 put on each, and the bees, being shaken "from their 

 place, divided and settled about equallj- with each 

 queen. So they were put in their new homes; but 

 the children say "Pa, we don't want anj- more (jueens 

 clipped." But I have /a*//)'/- exiierintci with t-lii^ped 

 queens. A swarm, having come off, was put in the 

 hive in the afternoon. Ne.xt morning, I saw evident 

 signs of discontent, —rwrming up the sides of the 

 hive, flying off' a few feet, then returning, and a gen- 

 eral commotion. Being determined to prepare for 

 the emergency which was evidently coming. I had 

 several buckets of water ready to be used at a 

 moment's warning. About 10 o'clock a.m., the cry 

 was i-aised, "Here theji come." Taking time by the 

 forelock, I wet them down as they came out, while 

 others attended to those in the air. Presently I 

 said to myself, "why not shut in what remain." 

 'Twas done. Those in the air, after sailing around 

 a while, came back and began to alight on the hive, 

 by which I knew the (lueen was not among them. 

 After they became somewhat quiet, I opened the 

 entrance, and they began to go in quite lively. 

 When perhape ^i of them had entered, they sudden- 

 ly stopped and began to "boil out" again. I closed 

 the door. All outside went off on a 2d excursion, 

 but soon returned and settled down quietly. I de- 

 termined to leave them until sunset and then see if 

 they would go iii. I was expecting another swarm 

 arTd was thankful they had not come oft' in the com- 

 motion. About 3 p. M., they came and settled, and 

 were quietly hived, the others remaining nicely on 

 the outside of their hive. I was just beginning to con- 

 gratulate myself upon how well all had worked, 

 when lo! a commotion among the malcontents. 

 The air was filled with them on their way to the 

 newly hived colony. Each swai'm being very large, 

 they more tlian fillcii the hive. About sunset I open- 

 ed the discontented hive, found the queen, and clip- 

 ped her wings. Ne.xt morning I discovered that 

 thej^ were still discontented. About 8 o'clock they 

 came out. Finding the queen, 1 put her on a little 

 apple tree close to the hive, where soon 3 or 4 bees 

 found her and communicateil the news to others, a 

 fciv of whom came and clustered. But nearly all 

 went to join those which had betaken themselves to 

 the colony of the day before. The outside of that 

 hive being now covered 2 inches deep with those 

 which could not lodge within (the weather being in- 

 tensely warm), I thought I would try an experiment 

 on them. Taking the clipped queen, I put her with 

 a few bees in a new hive and placing it on top of the 

 other hive, I began transferring the outsiders to the 

 new homo. For a while it seemed to work admira- 

 bly. They went up by feather and paddle and 

 brush, till "thousands of thom, indeed -about all that 

 were on the outside, were safely housed in the new 

 home. Just as I was beginning to congratulate my- 

 self on the success of a plan not laid down in the 

 books, the familiar cry was raised, "Here thej- 

 come." Into the air they go in wild commotion. 

 Knowing that the queen could not fly I at once be- 

 gan to look for her; but she was not to be found. 

 I supposed she was lost. I didn't care much, as her 

 family seemed not to like her. In a few minutes, 

 the rovers began to return and enter the hive to 

 which they had /(;-.s^ fled; viz., the colony of the day 

 before, just beneath the hive from which they had 

 just emerged. I soon noticed discontent and com- 

 motion in this hive, which had been (juiet and vcrij 

 industrious all the morning. Whereas all had cnnnl- 

 ed into the hive on their return, they now began to 

 IMHir (ri(f of one entrance and settle on the alighting 

 board and miderneath the hive. All lieconiing cjuiet 

 after a while, I left them to attend to other matters. 

 About 11:30 o'clock, the cry was raised once more: 

 "jyi'/r they come." They ivnnrd out so that the air 

 was darkened by them ; they were the larg-est single 

 collection of bees that I ever saw. I perceive 1 in a 

 moment, that they were "off for the timber" and 

 made no eft'ort to stop them. As thej- went slowly, 

 and many of them were within 5 feet of the ground, 

 I decided to keep them company so long as they 

 kept that gait. They only went about ^i of a mile, 

 when they began to enter a sugar tree about 3!i feet 

 from the "groiind. The tree w as about 150 yds. from 

 the door of a farm house. In the evening, I learned 



