506 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



(3CT. 



WINTERING AVITH THE WHOLE UPPEK STOKY ON. 



I Should like to hear from you and others in regard 

 to wintering in the two-story Langstroth hive. A 

 gentleman of this neighborhood, who keeps a few 

 stands of bees, always winters with good success 

 with the upper story left on, thus giving the bees 

 access to twenty combs. Ilis reasons are, that in 

 the fall, when it would be desirable to remove the 

 upper story, that often he finds largo quantities of 

 brood which can not well be taken off, and, even if 

 he should crowd all in the lower story, there would 

 not be enough room for the stores necessary for 

 their welfare. My plan has been to crowd them all 

 down, place a division-board on each side, and feed 

 till the combs bulge. The former plan proves to be 

 the most successful in this neighborhood, and has 

 more advantages than any other plan, to my knowl- 

 edge. Let's hear from you. W. S. Edwards. 



Grosbeck, O., Aug. 28, 1883. 



The plan you mention will do very well 

 for very powerful colonies; and as it gives 

 most abundant ventilation, it might succeed 

 when other stocks died for want of such 

 ventilation. It is, in fact, just about on a 

 par with the plan that has been so fully 

 discussed, of leaving the top story on full of 

 sections. Without question, many bees are 

 lost by being blanketed and chaff-packed 

 too closely, but still I think I should prefer 

 your plan of fetching them down to a few 

 combs, and then feeding until these combs 

 bulge. Put over them coarse burlap or the 

 wood mat, and then till in loose dry chaff, 

 or chaff in a very porous burlap cushion. 



Friend II. Drum, Adelphi, (.)., showed at 

 the Ohio State Fair a shallow box with slat- 

 ted bottom, in which he puts about four 

 inches of loose chaff, and i)laces it over the 

 bees. lie says he has had excellent success 

 with this arrangement, when he had bad 

 losses with more chaff. I'he wooden slats 

 are so close that neither bees nor chaff can 

 get between them. It amounts virtually to 

 the same thing as our wooden mats. 



FROM 19 TO 66, AND ALMOST A TON OF HONEY. 



It Is raining, and I now have time to send a report 

 to date. I extracted 1325 lbs. ; comb in one-pound 

 sections, 175 lbs. I think I have about as much more 

 ready to take off the hives. Spring count, 19 colo- 

 nies; increased to 66, and have five nuclei; 4 frames 

 to unite yet. As I am an A B C scholar, I should be 

 pleased to have you Inform me what to do when 

 both upper and lower stories of L. hives are full of 

 brood at this season, and no more increase is desired. 

 I will give a full report at the end of honey-flow. 



S. H. Moss. 



Colchester, McDonoughCo., Til., Sept. 1, 1882. 



If two stories are full of brood, friend M., 

 put on a third story, of course, and let them 

 till that too, and then give them room for 

 the honey, and it will surely come, sooner or 

 later. I can not quite agree with the doc- 

 trine, that bees ever rear too much brood at 

 any time of the year. In our experience we 

 never saw too many bees in a hive, for if 

 they go into winter quarters with a great 

 force they will come out in the spring usual- 

 ly with a great force, and these colonies are 

 the ones for any kind of business. Of course, 

 extra large colonies should have winter 

 stores to correspond. 



DIFFICULTY IN INTRODUCING QUEENS. 



The yield of honey just now is unprecedented for 

 this time of year. I have had unusual trouble in intro- 

 ducing queens this summer. More have been killed 

 than in years before. Within a week I have intro- 

 duced iivc, and am sure that two arc dead, and think 

 that three are. I removed the old queen, and intro- 

 duced by caging and letting the queen remain 36 or 

 40 hours, then inserted a piece of honey for same 

 hive, and let bees release the queen. Why were 

 they killed when honey is coming so freely? 



Decatur, 111., Aug. 19, 1883. E. A. Gastman. 



As a rule, we can introduce queens with 

 very little trouble, when honey is coming in 

 freely, but there seem to be exceptions to 

 the rule. At such times, letting the hives 

 remain queenless until queen-cells are start- 

 ed, before we attempt to let the queens 

 out, is usually successful. Are you quite 

 sure, friend G., that these stubborn hives 

 had not a second queen, as has so often been 

 reported of late ? 



THE COMPRESSION THEORY— MORE FACTS. 



I notice in your issue for August, a communica- 

 tion from friend Hayhurst, on page 397, on the sub- 

 ject of compression theory, to which I am much in- 

 clined, although not quite an enthusiast. On page 

 291, June No., I gave you some facts which may go 

 to support the views expressed by some apicultu- 

 rists on that subject. In that article I neglected to 

 state that the drone comb was all drawn out from 

 drone fdn. purchased of you; it was full and com- 

 plete drone com)). Nearly ''.io whole in 13 colonies 

 was filled with worlcer bro )d; a small per cent of 

 drone brood and honey in the remainder. The sur- 

 face of the drone-cells, when filled with worker 

 brood, was much like worker brood generally, ex- 

 cept the intervals were larger and more distinct 

 than in the pure worker comb. This I noticed at the 

 time, with the drawing-in of the celU at the surface, 

 but I thought that dra-.ving-in was the work of nurs- 

 ing bees capping over the brood, and never, until I 

 read this article in August No., did I think of the 

 work as having been done before the ova were de- 

 posited. I shall take some steps to ascertain the 

 facts, if possible. Geo. B. Peters. 



Hot Springs, Ark., Aug. 30, 1883. 



GOLDENROD IN JULY. 



About July 33, 1 saw goldenrod in abundant bloom 

 in Canada East and New England. Ours is just be- 

 ginning to open. I, and doubtless many others, 

 would be glad to pay for seed of the earlier varie- 

 ties. In this vicinity they would be desirable to suc- 

 ceed white clover as bee pasture. Can't you make 

 arrangements to secure seed or plants for this fall's 

 planting? I shall have no surplus honey, and prob- 

 ably shall have to feed for winter. 



Dayton, O., Aug. 29, 1883. J. H. Peikce. 



Goldenrod seldom blossoms here before 

 September, and I have never before heard 

 of it in July, that I recollect. Although we 

 have it here in abundance, we can hardly 

 call it a honey-plant, as it yields so little. On 

 the shores of J.ake Erie, perhaps 30 or -10 

 miles north of us, it often enables the bees 

 to fill their hives with a beautiful golden 

 honey. Can not some of our Canadian read- 

 ers tell friend P. where he can get seed of 

 this early-blooming goldenrod? 



