AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
363 
Habits of Bees- “ Piping” of Queens, etc. 
In reply to my statement in August, page 238, 
that I had the present season, heard a queen pip¬ 
ing in a swarm out only four days, Mr. Quinby, 
in the September number, page 269, suggests that 
I must he mistaken, and that the piping may have 
been in an adjacent old stock. I am happy to in¬ 
form him that no such mistake was possible. 
There were none but very young swarms within 
titty yards of the one whose queen was heard 
piping on the fourth day after swarming. The 
owner had placed this year's young swarms in a 
new apiary by themselves, and the naughty queen 
who piped contrary to the “rule in such cases 
made and provided,” was in the last swartn that 
had issued at the time of my former writing. Her 
piping continued two or three days, and was 
heard by several intelligent witnesses with me. 
Mr. Quinby may rest assured that my statements 
are facts, capable of abundant proof by competent 
witnesses. An attempt to cast doubt on care¬ 
fully observed facts is a very unsatisfactory expla¬ 
nation. 
His statement, that by having hives in readi¬ 
ness the bees will “ expect ” good quarters, and 
will cluster before leaving, needs no remark to 
jnable an intelligent reader to appreciate its 
worth. There is no lack of care among bee¬ 
keepers here in that respect, and yet many swarms 
will go off. 
Another queen has been “cutting up,” as the 
boys say. A large swarm came out in the morn¬ 
ing, was hived as usual, and placed about two 
feet from a swarm a week old. In the afternoon 
of the same day 1 saw the newer swarm leave 
their own hive and crawl into the hive contain 
ing the swarm a week old. They met no resist¬ 
ance, and the two united and filled the hive to over¬ 
flowing. They wore divided by the owner, half 
of the bees being put into a new hive, the queen 
going with them (proved by the presence of eggs 
and young bees in due time). A finished royal 
cell was inserted in the other hive, which, of 
couise, according to authority, contained no queen. 
In seven days vigorous piping was heard in this 
stock by myself and others. How can this be re¬ 
conciled with the theory that piping only occurs 
when a hive contains a plurality of queens 1 
Perhaps it may be regretted that bees in our 
region do not demean themselves according to 
current theories, but it can not be helped. I am a 
lover of nature, and shall continue to observe for 
myself and seek information, whether my in¬ 
quiries meet with the courtesy due from gentle¬ 
men or otherwise. 
S. C. Mendenhall. 
Fjazeysburg, 0 , Sept, tilth, 1858. 
Remark.— The above was received in due time, 
but its insertion delayed, partly for want of room, 
and partly because it appeared to partake of the 
nature of a personal controversy—for which, by 
the way, we have not a spare line, and which we 
cannot admit into these columns. On re-reading 
Mr. Quinby’s letter, page 269, we find he did— 
hastily, doubtless, and without meaning personal 
disrespect—question the facts stated by Mr. 
Mendenhall. Their publication in this journal 
should have shielded them from such suspicion, 
without some very strong positive reason, and 
Mr. Mendenhall is justly entitled to space for the 
above reply. We hope all personal allusions 
will drop here. Both gentlemen are intelli¬ 
gent., careful observers, and we trust they will 
each continue to gather and furnish for publica¬ 
tion tacts interesting and useful to all lovers of 
the sweet-producing insect, which is an especial 
favorite with all of us.—E d. 
Bee Hives—Improvement in Honey 
Frames. 
Our readers know' that we give “ Patent Bee¬ 
hives,” of nearly all kinds, a pretty wide berth. 
Almost all of them have some peculiarity which 
is an advantage, theoretically at least, but there 
has been so much humbug in the matter for sev¬ 
eral years past, that the word “Patent” upon a 
hive is a mark ofcondemnation for most persons. 
We have already illustrated the simple unpatent¬ 
ed glass honey box used by Mr. Quinby, and have 
also described and approved the patent movable 
honey frames used in Langstroth’s hive. We 
now find an apparent improvement upon these 
movable frames, patented only a few days since 
(Nov. 9,) by Mr. Phelps. The main features of 
this improvement are shown by the accompany¬ 
ing engravings 
Fig. 1. 
Fig. 1, is one of the Phelps’s hives, with the 
top and back opened to show the internal arrange¬ 
ment. The ends of the improved s:ctional frames 
are shown at A, A, A, A. 
Fig. 4. 
Fig. 2, is a side view of one of the frames, A, 
tken out. Inside of this are four smaller frames 
I, E, E, E, each one of which is about 5 inches 
quare. Fig. 3 is one of the smaller frames taken 
ut. Fig. 4 shows several smaller frames, E, E, 
1, E, arranged in a box to be placed in the top of 
be hive, when desired. 
The advantage of these small frames, placed in 
ny kind of hive, is, that the honey is deposited 
y the bees in small pieces of comb, say 5 inches 
quare, which is a very convenient size for taking 
ut to place upon the tabic, without disturbing 
he remainder of the comb in the least. In man- 
pulating with bees, also, the different frames, 
1, A, or E, E, can be removed, replaced, or shifted 
s may be desired. 
We do not describe the other portions of the 
live, as we are not disposed to commend or con¬ 
demn it as a whole. There is, however, an oth¬ 
er peculiarity worthy of notice. The frames A. 
A, A, can be shut off from the main body, II, & G, 
and then, by inserting a long tin exit tube, the 
working bees will go out of the apartments con¬ 
taining tiie honey frames, and in returning will 
enter the main body through a more open aper¬ 
ture. In this way the bees can be soon cleared 
from the honey, leaving it free for removal, with- 
out resorting to smoking, driving, or any other 
operation 
Hunting Wild Bees 
J. W. H. inquires for instruction in hunting 
wild bees, which abound in many sections ot 
the country. We have had no recent experience, 
but remember several successful bee hunts when 
a boy at the West, and we could enjoy such 
an excursion now a-days. The whole oper¬ 
ation in olden times consisted in going out 
to a field with a basin or box of honey, at 
a time when the bees were out at work. 
The honey was set upon a stump or log 
and soon attracted a number of bees.* 
Various mints and essences were by some 
supposed to attract bees sooner. As fast 
as they filled themselves with honey they 
started off in a straight line for one or 
more distant points. A “line” of bees 
would after a time be formed, and by tak¬ 
ing a number of objects as a guide, it was 
noi difficult to trace the bees to their home 
in 0 tree. Not unfrequently the “line” 
would lead a mile or two, or more, to a 
neighbor’s bee-house. When a “ bee-tree” 
was discovered, it was kept a secret until 
after the honey gathering season was over, 
when the tree was cut down, the bees 
killed by burning straw, and the honey col¬ 
lected. Sometimes, when the tree was ol 
suitable form and size and had fallen un¬ 
broken, the entrance was closed, a section 
of the trunk cut off above and below the 
swarm, and taken home and set up for producing 
future stocks. 
Not unfrequently two or more persons would 
discover the same tree, and each keep the secret. 
The party first on the ground would, of course, 
get the honey. We have known two par¬ 
ties chance to meet at the same hour to 
cut down a tree. Then t’here would be a 
dispute as to priority of discovery, and 
sometimes the discussion was settled by a 
union of forces for the attack, and a subse¬ 
quent equal division of the spoil. A more 
common difficulty, as the country filled up, 
was the ownership of the tree claimed by the 
owner of the land, from whom the tree could not 
be purchased at a price low enough to warrant 
the finder in buying and cutting it down. Not 
unfrequently the tree was cut down “ on the sly,” 
and many a law-suit has resulted from such an 
operation. These difficulties gradually put an 
end to bee-hunting, as a country is settled and 
timber becomes valuable. 
* Sometimes the bees will not come to the honey in the 
box. When this is the case catch one or two, or more, 
from flowers, confining them upon the honey by covering 
the box with a piece of glass, which should be taken along. 
They will soon fill themselves when they may be let go. 
They will frequently return with a host of companions 
in the course of an hour or two, and a constant “ line ” 
will soon be formed. 
Genius has limits, virtue has none ; every one 
pure and good can become purer and better still 
