September 22,1887.3 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
surface. No tree or shrub ought to be moved in a dry state at the roots. 
A basin should be formed, opening out the soil near the stems in extent 
according; to the size of the ball to be removed, and after this has been 
filled with water a few times the soil will be found well moistened to a 
good depth below. Never drag a tree or shrub out of its position. A 
good trench ought always to be opened out with forks around it and the 
tree well undermined, nor should a very large bail of soil about the 
roots be aimed at, these very frequently breaking away in large pieces. 
Pick away with a fork all unoccupied surface soil, and flatten the ball 
underneath while it yet rests on a small pedestal of subsoil. It can 
then be safely slided on to a strong board or barrow, and carried to a 
fresh site, and which ought previously to have been well and deeply 
dug. Mix leaf soil or spent manure with the surface soil. Always plant 
rather above the level Carefully stake all newly planted trees. 
Deciduous trees not to be moved yet. 
»1HB BEE-KEEPER. 
NOTES ON BEES. 
BEES VISITING ONE KIND OF FLOWER. 
At page 195, “ C. W. D.” brings up the question 
atresh regarding bees visiting one kind of flower only in 
one journey. It is rare that bees work upon two different 
kinds of flowers before returning to the hive; it is the 
exception, not the rule. Still, I have observed this take 
place on more than one occasion. In the spring of 1886 
I observed a bee first work upon a Crocus, then take to 
Aiabis; but there was very little pollen of the former 
upon the thighs of the bee. 
SWARMING. 
At pages 194 and 195 “Felix” makes some remarks 
upon swarming that I do not agree with, or misunder¬ 
stand. He is quite correct when speaking of “ work bein<* 
partially suspended for the day;” but when he speaks 
about the drones flying, “ fussing about, anxious for the 
moment to arrive when the old home shall be deserted for 
-new shelter, . I think he errs. Drones do not leave the 
old hive to join the swarm in great numbers, which I 
think is wisely ordained. lie then says, “ Eggs are 
placed in royal cells from four to five days before the 
issue of the swarm.” Is this not an overdrawn picture ? 
In all my experience I never saw nor heard of the queen 
bee laying an egg in a partially constructed queen cell. 
On the other hand, she tears to pieces every tenanted cell 
she has access to. Queen cells are raised by the bees 
around the egg laid at first by the queen in an ordinary 
worker cell. In fact, instead of the queen making any 
preparations for swarming, she seems mostly reluctant to 
leave the hive even after young queens are batched 
and seems to prefer immediate death to abdication in 
favour of any youthful pretender. Moreover, I have 
witnessed the parent queen depositing eggs while the bees 
were in the act of swarming, which is strong proof that 
“ the old queen does not lead the swarm.” Very rarely 
indeed will a laying queen be allowed to exist where young 
princesses are running about. 
“ Felix,” in speaking about young queens hatching or 
creeping out of their cradle, does not state what actually 
happens. Where many queens are brought forward in a 
lnve, it happens more often than otherwise that the first- 
hatched queen is killed, unless when queens have been 
brought forward at an unseasonable or improper time. In 
that case the first-hatched queen is allowed full vent to 
her wrath to destroy every royal cell within the hive, and 
this she performs in tyrannical style. Instead of one 
queen only being allowed full freedom, I have very often 
picked out a dozen queens from casts, while from the 
sounds uttered within the hive there were as many running 
about. When so many queens are brought forward they 
261 
delay considerably the prosperity of the hive, and all 
surplus queens and queen cells should be destroyed on the 
eighth, or not later than the tenth, day after the first 
swarm has issued. It is wise counsel of “Felix” to 
remind bee -keepers to examine stocks containing young 
queens, to know whether the queen exists or is fertilised; 
but on the other points I disagree with him. 
QUEENS DETHRONED. 
I have from time to time given hints regarding the 
dethroning of queens regnant by stray ones, but the 
following is about as interesting as any I have recorded. 
A young fertilised Carniolian queen at the head of a very 
small nucleus of bees had already commenced to lay, and 
the bees to carry pollen briskly. As it had a scarcity of 
food I fed gently, thinking all was going well, until one 
day I joined one nucleus to another that had lost its 
queen, slightly altering its position and wholly its cover¬ 
ing, which in a great measure interrupted the working of 
the bees and encouraged robbers—to such an extent that 
at one time I was anxious for its safety. But by-and-by 
they began to defend; still there was a commotion, indi¬ 
cating an encasement, but the nature of the whole affair 
suggested the prudence of letting it alone to settle its 
own battles. 
On the following day, and on the eve of leaving home 
for some time, I was horrified to find, as I thought, the 
queen killed, surrounded by a few bees. She was greatly 
mutilated, and to my astonishment prettily striped, by 
far too much so for a Carniolian. I had examined her 
before, and could not recollect any unusual appearance 
about her. I dissected her and found her fertilised. I was 
almost disgusted with my hurried alterations, and instead 
of arranging my supposed queenless hive properly, and 
feeding it, left it uncared for—-for what was the use of a 
few bees without a queen, and perhaps I had plenty 
without her ? The first one I examined presented a 
pitiful appearance. The drones and workers were crawl¬ 
ing in a dying state outside the hive. It had been robbed 
in so quiet a way that I never suspected anything wrong 
until I examined the inside of the hive. The queen was 
gone, and an attempt to raise a successor had been made 
until sheer hunger put a stop to the work of the bees. 
Two queens lost in one day was more, with other losses, 
than I had reckoned on, so I left next morning in the 
hopes that their places would be filled by imported ones^ 
but the uncertainty of getting these at the time wanted 
impelled me to make fuller arrangements to breed pure 
queens in this country, if spared until another season. 
On my return home after two weeks’ absence, my joy 
was greater than my grief had been when I viewed the 
hive that had the defunct queen working extra well. I 
examined it, and found not only eggs and brood in all 
stages, but the original Carniolian queen healthy and un¬ 
scathed. Where, then, did the dead queen come from ? 
This was not difficult to answer. Surely from the robbed 
one. But why was it so beautifully striped with yellow ? 
Had I not handled the original Carniolian queen, knew 
her, and saw her laying? Certainly. The mystery, how¬ 
ever, was soon cleared up when I recollected the numerous 
queens that were flying about in July. One of the Syrian 
queens, from a Syrian cast, had entered the nucleus hive 
after its queen had been laying, but was deposed by the 
young Syrian, who was in turn fertilised, and left its own 
hive when it was being robbed, and attempted to again 
establish itself at the head of another hive. The above 
remarkable case shows how bee-keepers may be disap¬ 
pointed by such freaks—deposing, perhaps, an imported 
queen. 
