Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1870-09-09
FARM AND HOUSEHOLD
Honey GafherlnR.

~ AlOuM fAlNO AO AOOkJGllOAD
Honey Gathering.
MANY still think, thatbees make honey,
dome believing that the workers make It,
others that 1t Is the work of the drones to
make honey, others again suppose. that
both classes make Il. Such Is not the
case, however; neitherworlterg nor drones
ever make o drop Of honey. Honey ID
nothing more nor less than the sweet nee.
ter found in almost evory flower, and Is
gathered from the flowers by, the work
ers only. Lighting upon the l1owerl they
thrust in their proboscis or tongue, and, !
extracting the sweet, they convey it to
their stomach or honey bag. As soon as
they have obtained all the honey bag will
hold, they return to the hive and empty
lbs contents intos cell. One can readily
see that III would NOT undergo much
change in so short time, while careful
experiments prove that it undergoes no
change whatever. II they feed upon
syrup made of sugar, they will deposit
syrup N the cells, ,andy Il il is st15ngly
scented with any flavoIing extract i will
the cells. This Being true, IL is evident
of honey. With little practice any bee
keeper may easily determine, from the
taste of the honey what flowers 1t was
gathered from. SnWih not say it can be
done in every Case, but in many cases it
can.
Some might be ready to ask, how can
that be, when they gather from flowers OF
! different kinds end mix It all together? (?
1t would certainly be difficult to tell, II
such were true but they do not mix il
together. AS rule, bee that commences
! TO work upon white clover continues to
/ gather from that hoReTluntil its honey
sack is full. Such is their nature they
do not 60 from one kind of flower to an
other, but having commenced to gather
from any one kind, they continue to do 30
until their honey-bag is full and each
kind of honey is also deposited by itself
4 in the combs Bees working upon differ
ent howers do not deposit in the same
/ cells. ANY person wishing to prove this
can do 30 by examining the combs about
the time the bee commences to work on
buckwheat, and they will find the dark.
colored huckwheat honey in cells by itself,
quite separate from the light white clover
honey. They also do the same when
gathering pollen or bee bread; each kind
is kept by itself as much as possible. Why
they do this is more than am able to say
1t is, however, very convenient arrange
mert for the bee keeper, as he can select
the best honey and keep it by itself for
his own use, or sell itate higher price.
swARMING.
The philosophy of swarming is bu
little understood. Many suppose tina
when spring opens a swarm begins t
grow, and when sufficiently large and nu
merous enough in bees 1t is cast fortl
with It's queen. Hence the question /
often asked: Is there more than on,
swarm in hiveP There is never more
than one swarm in hive, strictly speak
ing. Though we may put two, or ever
three swarms together, and all IN ont
hive, yet in short time, if they do NO
swarm out, the queens are all killed bu
one, and the two or three sWarms becomi
one. 1t is often the case that there ar,
bees enoughsinsth the hive st one time I,
form two or three good swarms still i
can only be called one swarm until di
vided artiticially or naturally. The prep
aration for swarming is all made by tn
workers. The hive, or rather combs O
the hive, being filed with brood AM
honey, and the harvest good, and the hiy
populous, the workers construct queer
cells and commence to rear young queens
In about eight days a swarm comes Of
and the old queen with it.
Generally the swarm clusters on con
venient tree or bush, and number of tn
workers go out and hunt home. WheI
such is found, the whole swarm take
wing and goes to it, In some cases q hom
Is found before the swarm comes off; i
which case the swarm is quite likely t
leave for it without clustering. Ther
are also instances where q swarm comm
off discovers an empty hive, and at one
enters it, Two or three cases of thi
kind have occurred in this vicinity thi
season. -.
When the swarm remains long In IL
cluster, e part of the workers go out an
gather honey, bringing in food for th
, others and in a few instances swarm
have commenced comb-b building on th
limb or bush where they clustered, an
before home was secured. This com
becoming large, and the queen hay
ing deposited eggs in it, the swarm has n
fused to leave, making the bush or tre
their home, have built large combs and II
mained in the open air during the season
!, About nine days after the first swarm ha
issued, a second swarm comes off if tn
colony is populous. A separate cluster {
. bees guarding each cell, when a queen e,
cspes from one cell she is not allowed I
, destroy the others, but like the old quee
goes off With swarm, which is called
second swarm. The queen in such
, swarm is a virgin queen, and does nc
commence to lay for several days aftt
the swarm is hived.
. Third and fourth sWarms are the resu
, OF the other cells Matching; each cluste
of workers guarding its queen, will nc
allow them TO meet and destroy eac
other; the consequence is, several littl
swarms come of, called third, fourth an
: fifth swarms. In some cases they all com
of together, and all cluster togethe
forming what is called swarm wit
several queens. Such swarm being pu
into hive during the night following
the queens are set at liberty, and all ar
destroyed but one.-J H. Thomas, i