500 



GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTUKE. 



Oct. 



red clover, but both blacks and Italians work on the 

 present crop. Many of the Ligurians suck the hon- 

 ey from the flowers, while others, and all blacks, 

 work their tongues hetween them. 



SAINFOIN HONEY. 



This is of quite a light color, comparing favorably 

 with the autumn crop of the heather districts, the 

 latter being remarkably dark; but it commands a 

 good price nevertheless. Saml. Simmins. 



England, August, 1882. 



DIFFERENCE IN QUEENS. 



I commenced feeding my two stands of bees to 

 start the queens to laying. One queen seemed to 

 lay so rapidly she soon ran off from the other queen. 

 I was astonished to see one hive run over in so short 

 a time with bees, and the other queen laying but 

 few eggs on two or three frames. She was a healthy- 

 looking queen, and a large one. Why was it, Mr. 

 Root? The two stands were treated alike. This 

 queen finally died this summer. The other stand I 

 soon commenced to divide. I ran it to three stands, 

 and from the first stand I made I divided once, 

 which made four from the one stand. Is this too 

 much increase, or not? They are all in good con- 

 dition for winter. They have from six to ten racks 

 apiece, breeding rapidly now. They are working on 

 buckwheat nicely now. I took 50 lbs. of comb hon- 

 ey from this strong hive, and raised six queens, 

 while I did not get any surplus honey from the 

 weak hive and this other queenless hive. 



Eubanks, Ky., Sept., 1883. I. G. Eoff. 



While there is a wide difference between 

 queens, friend E.,I am inclined to think the 

 one you mention was failing when you found 

 her laying so poorly, and her final decease 

 would encourage the idea. Even though 

 queens should lay an equal number of eggs, 

 the one that scatters her eggs through a 

 number of frames is not as profitable as the 

 one that fills a comb with eggs laid at or 

 near the same time. A poor queen should 

 never be tolerated a day longer than we can 

 help it ; and in your case a prompt exchange 

 of queens would have made you several dol- 

 lars better off in just a few months, as one 

 can readily see, as you state the case. 



ASTERS, ETC. 



I commenced the season with 45 colonies; I now 

 have 95; have taken 1450 lbs. poplar and 1693 of sour- 

 wood, and the prospect is now good for a considera- 

 ble quantity from the aster. Until this year the as- 

 ter has been scarce in this neighborhood, though 

 plentiful in other portions of the county; but if it 

 increases another year as it has done this, we shall 

 have any amount of fall honey. 



J. F. Montgomery. 



Lincoln, Tenn., Sept. 4, 1883. 



TWO COLONIES EACH ROBBING THE OTHER. 



While in the city of San Diego, on the 10th of July, 

 Mr. J.S.Harbison requested me to visit a number of 

 Holy-Land and Cyprian colonics which he keeps 

 near his home in the city. Well, we fouiid two 

 strong hives with brood in all stages, and about 15 

 feet apart, each robbing the other. A continual 

 stream of bees were going and coming each way, 

 loaded with honey, while others were coming in 

 with pollen gathered from the flowers. Mr. Harbi- 

 son had discovered It in the morning, and waited be- 

 fore stopping them until I could have a chance to 

 see them. He said it was the first time he ever saw 



any thing like it in all his long experience in bee- 

 keeping. The rest of the bees, about 50 colonies, 

 were working away on outside feed, and not giving 

 any attention to the robbers. To show that other 

 bees were not interfering, Mr. Harbison sprinkled 

 flour on the robbers at the entrances of the hives, 

 but we found none going to other than the two 

 mentioned. 



California will not produce much honey this sea- 

 son. I shall get about 30 lbs. of comb honey to the 

 hive on an average; many hives are not making 

 any. Many apiaries will not make any. 



J. P. M. Rainbow. 



Fall Brook, San Diego Co., Cal., Aug. 10, 1883. 



We have heard of one case of this kind be- 

 fore. The hives, it would seem, happen to 

 be so nearly of the same scent, that inmates 

 go from one to the other indiscriminately. 

 This being the case, and finding rich combs 

 away from home, they naturally load up and 

 carry it to the vicinity of their own queen, 

 not noticing the bees that are eagerly doing 

 the same thing with the stores of their own 

 hive. It would seem a few must go to the 

 fields, or this sort of " industry " would soon 

 kill itself. It reminds one of the crowd of 

 boys who traded jack-knives all one after- 

 noon, and when night came each boy had a 

 better knife and half a dollar" boot money" 

 besides. 



handling bees in EARLY SPRING. 



I do not think that I shall ever open a hive of bees 

 again in early spring, until the young bees have be- 

 come numerous. Why it injures them, I do not 

 know; but handling weak colonies almost always re- 

 suits in the loss of the queen, or causes her to quit 

 laying, while those in a like condition, properly 

 stimulated, come out strong. 



CAN A COLONY BE TOO STRONG VERY EARLY IN THE 

 SPRING? 



W. Z. H., in the August Gleanings, asks which is 

 preferable for surplus honey, a hive full of bees in 

 early spring, or one just moderately strong. Ishould 

 prefer the latter for surplus honey, providing you 

 have them built up strong at the beginning of the 

 main honey season. If they do not put the first hon- 

 ey in the sections, they generally outstrip the strong 

 ones when they make a start, and keep it up with 

 greater energy. After a queen has once stocked a 

 hive with bses and brood, they generally swarm, or 

 the bees store too much honey below where young 

 bees have emerged. I have sold, this season, three 

 frames of brood and the queen from my strongest 

 stocks, and then had them tuilt up in time for the 

 honey season. For profit in both bees and honey, I 

 will take those that are extra strong early in the 

 season. Leroy Vankirk. 



Washington, Pa., Sept. 4, 1883. 



THE RED-CLOVER QUEEN. 



Can you tell me where you got the red-clover 

 queen, mentioned on page 491, 1880? I got some of 

 her stock, and it is superior to all others, so I would 

 like to trace up her ancestry. Aug. J. Hintz. 



Lemont, 111., Sept. 4, 1883. 



She was only a daughter of an imported 

 mother, like all our other queens, friend II.; 

 but she was selected because her hive was 

 full of sealed honey when all the rest of an 

 apiary of over 2u0 had to be fed. We judged 

 they got the honey from red clover, by the 

 dark-green pollen they brought in. It seems, 



