1882 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUllE. 



503 



en-yellow honey. Unless perfectly ripened, 

 the honey has often a, rank flavor that hin- 

 ders the sale of it.— i'onr fact in regard to 

 drones from worker eggs is another in the 

 mass of testimony that is accumulating. 



now TO GET PLENTY OF GOOD QtJEEN-CELLS. 



In August Gi.EANiNGS-your son states that he ob- 

 tained 82 queen-cells from four colonies of Holy-Land 

 bees. Last month I got 4t queen-cells from two col- 

 onies of 7* .iy?)/ids — one raising 23, and the other 21. 

 My plan of obtaining them is as follows: From the 

 hive in which you wish queen-cells started, take 

 away all combs containing either unsealed brood or 

 larvje, giving the bees one comb with eggs or larvjT? 

 from the queen from which j'oii wish to rear. The 

 hive should be well supplied with bees — the strong- 

 er the better. I maintain that the oHr /ramc will 

 receive the attention of the entire colony; also, 

 more queen-cells will be started on it than would be 

 on two or more frames, and the queens will be at 

 least equal to those raised during swarming-time, at 

 which period there arc five or six frames for the 

 bee3 to attend to. 



HOW TO GET THE (.)UEEN-CELLS HATCHED WITHOUT 

 CUTTING THE COMBS. 



Tell our bee-keeping friends who wish to raise 

 queens, but have no nursery, not to cut and disfig- 

 ure their combs, but adopt ray way of doing it suc- 

 cessfully. Take two empty brood-frames, and tack 

 wire-netting on the outer side of each. Between 

 these. Insert your frame of queen-cells. ]nto the 

 top-bar of one of the frames having the netting on, 

 fasten two hooks, about eight inches apart. Into the 

 other netted frame, fasten two screws for the hooks 

 to catch on, and thus secure the three frames firmly. 

 Fix, in a similar manner, one hook across the center 

 of the bottom-bars of the three frames. The ar- 

 rangement is then ready to be hung in some strong 

 colony. You can examine the queen-cells as often 

 as necessary, without fear that the bees can disturb 

 them. When a queen is hatched, unhook your top 

 hooks, and remove her. The above plan is good in 

 hot weather. Chakles E. Price. 



Smithtown Branch, N. Y., Aug. 28, 1882. 



Your plans are both good, friend P., but 

 neither can be called strictly new. Your 

 cage to incase the comb does very well in 

 hot weather, but will be deserted by the 

 bees wlien we have cool nights, and the cells 

 will be chilled. Your plan of incasing the 

 comb at little expense is rather a novelty. 

 If you have a comb in which there is no un- 

 sealed larvie, it does very well ; but if the 

 wire-cloth frames are put on before the 

 brood is all sealed, they will crawl out and 

 die, making a very unpleasant appearance, 

 to say nothing of the cruelty. We have 

 found it also quite a task to get it out of the 

 hive and open it, every time a queen is seen 

 out. The device known as a ''hatcher," to 

 be placed over the frames in a chaff hive, is 

 more convenient, and, we think, rather bet- 

 ter to stand cool nights. 



CALIFOHNIA. 



This has been a very spotted year for the oee-men 

 in California — lots of honey in some localities, and 

 none in others. Parties who have apiaries up in 

 the mountains, above the fog-line, have done pretty 

 well, while those in the valleys have taken out but 

 little honey. There were very heavy fogs all spring 



in the valleys, and it seemed to blast all the bloom. 

 I started with 73 stands this spring, and 10 of an in- 

 crease, and have taken out, up to date, 12,000 lbs. I 

 may get one more extracting. The bloom is drying 

 up fast, and it is hard to see what bees are gathering 

 honey from; but they are putting it in all the same. 

 Mr. Reasner, who has an apiary three miles west of 

 me, was to see me to-day, and says he has taken over 

 six tons from his 130 stands; at Mr. Turner's they 

 have taken out some five or six tons, so you can see 

 that the honey crop is not altogether a failure. 

 There has been but a light increase in bees this 

 year. Turner's is three miles east of me, all high 

 up in the mountains. G. W. Lechler. 



Newhall, Los Angeles Co., Cal., July 25, 1883. 



BAIitiING THEIR OWN QUEEN. 



In July I had a first swarm come off; settled all 

 right; got it down from tree. While going in, the 

 queen was balled on the sheet. I rescued her; let 

 her in, and she was balled again. I caged her, and 

 next morning found her dead and balled. The 

 swarm came out about ten o'clock, and flew about 

 15 minutes, and came back, and went into same 

 hive; gave them a sheet of brood, and they raised 

 42 queen-cells complete. If there is any thing 

 strange to you, say so; it is ahead of my experience. 



Minerva, O., Aug. II, 1882. J. A. Taker. 



I think the reason the bees came back to 

 their own hive, was because the queen failed, 

 for some reason, to go with them. They 

 were displeased with her because she did 

 not go with them, and so balled her, with 

 the intention of raising another that could 

 or would liy. By the number of queen- 

 cells they started, it seems they meant 

 •'business." 



A NEW WAY TO BRING A SWARM DOWN. 



I had a swarm come out while I was away, so it 

 went for the woods. But a neighbor saw them after 

 they had gone about half a mile; they threw dirt and 

 sticks among them, and yelled like so many savages, 

 but to no purpose. Soon the dog was noticed (he is 

 a hound); they took him up by the ears and just let 

 him yell, and ho did, and the bees came down in a 

 jifify, and were hived, and are now at work. How is 

 that? H.C.Johnson. 



Keesville, Ohio, Aug. 17, 1883. 



You tried it, and the bees came down ; 

 but, friend J., how can you be sure they 

 would not have come down any way V That 

 is, were they not just about ready to come 

 down before the noise V If friend Peters' 

 theory is the correct one, that they depend 

 on the sound emitted by the queen or scouts, 

 it may be possible the noise drowned this 

 note, and so brought them down ; but I 

 think we need to be slow in arriving at con- 

 clusions in these matters. 



SUGAR CANE THAT BEARS HONEY. 



I have sown some buckwheat, and there is some 

 "black-head" sorghum close by, and I look for a 

 very good yield of honey this fall. The bees like 

 sorghum, and woi'k on it liefore sun-up, and until 

 late in the day, and then again in the evening. Keep 

 up your Ilemindery department, by all means, and 

 say something under that head in every number. 

 Allen A. Letchworth. 



Graham, Young Co., Texas, Aug. 11, 1883. 



It would seem from the above, that this 

 honey sorghum secretes honey something in 



