AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Q30 
que£n, or containing a queen either unfertile or 
uninapregnated, will soon dwindle away, leaving 
the hive well supplied with honey, as was the 
case with farmer A’s. 
Second —farmer A, has again made complaint— 
“The worms have completely destroyed the best 
swarm of bees I had.” Why, farmer A, did you 
consider it the best or even one of the best of 
your stocks 1” “ Because,” he replied, “ it 
swarmed four times, and no other stock did as 
well, for none swarmed over twice.” I am not 
at all surprised, that the worms took possession 
of the contents, for what was to hinder them or 
impede their progress. Certainly it could not be 
bees. Just think of it reader, four swarms of 
bees from one stock in one season ! This decrease 
in bees is almost enough to render it worthless, 
even had not the moth-worm taken possession. 
Two swarms are enough in one season, from any 
stock, especially, when allowed to swarm natur¬ 
ally. I am aware that stocks occasionally cast 
three or even four swarms, and yet, so far recov¬ 
er by the next season as to go through the same 
routine of over-swarming again. It is almost 
always advisable to return all swarms after 
the second—which may be effected by depriving 
them of their queen or queens. This must be 
done soon after they swarm, Or they will lose all 
instinctive knowledge of the parent stock. In¬ 
stances of stocks recovering from over-swarming, 
and becoming populous, are extremely rare, es¬ 
pecially where the bee-moth is lurking about. 
Stocks becoming reduced from over-swarming, 
are not the only ones that are destroyed by moth- 
worms—it occurs more frequently from loss of 
the queen. The old or oldest queen always leaves 
with the first swarm; therefore, the queen remain¬ 
ing after the stock is through casting swarms, 
is young, and being unimpregnated, must leave the 
hive to meet the drones or male bees. During 
her excursion she is liable to become lost, either 
by severe winds, or by being caught by birds, of 
more commonly is killed at once On entering a 
wrong colony. Colonies standing near each other 
in hives painted alike, are nearly as certain to be 
selected by the queen on her return, as her own ; 
and in almost every such case she is instantly 
stung by the worker-bees, resulting in her death 
unless the colony is queenless ; then, she will 
generally be kindly received. Should this be 
the result, or should she be killed by attempting 
to enter the wrong colony, it would make no dif¬ 
ference, as far as that is concerned, with the stock 
from which she emerged. The now queenless 
stock would dwindle away in the course of a 
few months, even if not destroyed by worms. 
The loss of the queen during her flight to meet 
the drones, is the cause of no queen being found 
in the parent stock, fifteen or twenty days after 
the issue of the first swarm. If but one stvarm 
is cast, she may be seen in the hive about the 
eighth day after its issue. There may be excep¬ 
tions, however, as she sometimes emerges from 
her cell sooner, and occasionally later. 
In conclusion, I would advise all who wish to 
guard as much as possible against the loss of 
queens, which in the majority of cases results 
from the hives being placed too near each other, 
that the colonies containing young queens should 
be at least six feet apart. Such colonies, are the 
stocks that have cast swarms, and all swarms 
after the first that issues. Sometimes first swarms 
contain young unimpregnated queens, but as such 
instances are rare, nothing need be said here con¬ 
cerning them. It is better, if room can be spared, 
to have all colonies two rods apart, placed under 
fees, on the North side, and facing the South¬ 
east. The stands should be movable, so that 
colonies can not communicate with each other, 
without first rising on the wing. In this way, 
robbing may, in a measure, be prevented, as the 
temptation is greatly diminished. The best stand 
for movable comb hives is constructed thus :— 
Take four pieces of board—two, 14 by 8 inches, 
two, 20 by 8 inches, and nail the ends firmly to¬ 
gether, forming a rectangular box. This stand is 
simple and may be very cheaply made. 
M. M. Baldridge. 
Niagara Co., N. YJuly, 1860. 
-■*•—«— m m 9 - 
Inaugurating a Queen Bee. 
The incidents attending the inauguration of a 
Queen among bees, are less ceremonious, per¬ 
haps, than a similar transaction among men, yet 
to the observing naturalist they are full of inte¬ 
rest. An account of one of these events, hap¬ 
pening the present season, was described in a 
private letter, recently received by Samuel B. 
Parsons, and it interested us so much, that 
we solicited the privilege of making the extract 
below. Mr. J. H. Pierce of Montgomery Coun¬ 
ty, Ohio, received an Italian Queen bee from Mr. 
Parsons, and Mr. Langstroth happening to be in 
the neighborhood, was requested to undertake 
the ceremony of inaugurating the new-comer as 
royal mistress over a native stock. It will be 
seen, that the republican tribe did not at first 
submit quietly to the usurpation. ‘‘....He 
(Mr. L.) first took avvay the Queen from a colony, 
driving off the bees that followed her, and when 
they had become uneasy and anxious from the 
loss of their Queen, he presented the new Queen 
at the entrance of the hive, in which were the 
bees which had adhered to the comb, and those 
that had returned from abroad. She entered im¬ 
mediately, but was instantly surrounded and en¬ 
closed by a knot of bees, and uttered a shriek of 
alarm, which caused Mr. Langstroth to disperse 
the bees and catch her, for fear she would be 
smothered. He then introduced her in the wire 
cage, in which she had been sent, and hung her 
in the hive, permitting the whole swarm to 
return. He left her in this way perhaps half an 
hour, and as they appeared to be feeding her, 
then released her among the bees, who appeared 
to be now more willing to receive her. This 
was about 12 o’clock. After dinner, at 3, Mr. 
Langstroth started home. Mr. Rossel, the bee¬ 
keeper, after this went to the hive, took off the 
honey-board, and found the Queen on the bot¬ 
tom of the hive, running as fast as possible, 
the bees pursuing her, and she squeaking. She 
ran out in front and took wing, but as she rose 
above his head, he fortunately caught her, and 
clipped her wings. He then sprinkled the hive 
with peppermint water, and as the bees in a few 
moments appeared quiet, gave them the Queen 
again, and they received her very peaceably. The 
next morning, he examined the hive, and found 
her upon the comb “ all right.” Mr. Pierce 
writes further: “We now attribute the trouble to 
the fact of Mr. Langstroth’s cleansing some wax 
from his fingers with turpentine, just before he 
handled the Qaeen, and they retained the scent, 
although he washed them afterward in clear 
water. We have found, if bees are robbing a 
hive, and the owners are dispirited, that a little 
whiskey, sprinkled upon the floor of the hive, so 
excites and enrages them, that they at once 
fight furiously, and kill every robber they can lay 
hold of. The turpentine doubtless has the same 
effect, and the queen being scented with it, was 
very offensive to the bees. 1 have entered into 
this detail, presuming you will be interested in 
our method and success, and also that you may 
[August, 
have additional proof of the delicacy of the bees’ 
olfactories, and the danger of offending them in 
this regard.” 
--» - -—-a On---- 
Diseased Bees. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist . 
I wish to inquire in reference to the bees win¬ 
tering the past season. We commenced the 
Winter as usual with our bees, covering each 
hive with a separate box. But almost as soon as 
the cold weather commenced, the bees began to 
leave the hive, and fall down on the ground in 
front. They discharged their fasces on the in¬ 
side of the hive until all was completely covered. 
Nothing that we could do seemed to alleviate the 
disease. The loss of bees in this section has 
been very great, although the weather has not 
been near as cold as many winters before when 
our loss would not amount to anything. Out 
hives are well ventilated both at top and bottom. 
Now we feel anxious to find out what is the cause. 
Jackson Co., Mich. J. Butler. 
Remarks.— Notwithstanding the moderate 
weather, the bees were probably too cold. We 
know of but two causes to induce this trouble, 
viz .; foul brood, or too much honey stored. To 
winter well, bees must have empty cells, into 
which a portion of them may creep in severe 
weather. Ordinarily, there are enough left by the 
brood that matures after the honey fails in the 
flowers. When a great portion of the brood fails 
to mature and leave the cells in consequence of 
disease, it prevents close packing. Sometimes 
a colony pillages honey from another until their 
own combs are too full. During some seasons, 
the flowers may yield honey so plentifully that 
the bees fill their combs until there is little room 
for the bees except a thin layer between the 
combs—this, if the complaint was general in your 
section, was the probable cause. The colony in 
such cases must spread over a large space in the 
hive; they can not maintain the same degree of 
heat, and they consume more honey, the accumu¬ 
lation of faeces is much greater, their bodies be¬ 
come distended beyond endurance, they leave the 
hive in all kinds of weather, and perish. Remedy : 
Remove to a warm dark room till the weather is 
warm enough for them to fly. This affliction of 
getting too much honey, does not often occur in 
large apiaries. 
Fast Horses at the Fairs—A Suggestion. 
So much has already been said in the Agricul¬ 
turist, both in words and in caricatures, against 
the introduction of running and trotting horses at 
agricultural exhibitions, that it seems hardly 
necessary to add anything more at the present 
time. Let those “fast’’men and women who 
delight in seeing horses ridden or driven at break¬ 
neck speed, get up performances on their own 
hook; they have no right to introduce a race 
course into an exhibition of agricultural and hor¬ 
ticultural products. The legitimate object of 
such an exhibition is to display improved farm 
and garden products, and labor-saving imple¬ 
ments, which may be studied quietly and calmly 
by cultivators for the purpose of learning how to 
improve their own practice. 
A correspondent, however, suggests a mode of 
exhibiting the speed of horses which w unobjec¬ 
tionable, and may be of practical utility. We 
have seen the same suggestion in the Niagara 
Falls Gazette, the Ontario Times, and two or 
three other exchanges. For most farm purposes 
it is desirable that a horse should be a fast walk' 
er. A horse that can trot or gallop a mile the 
