164 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Mar. 1 



ring. If you had taken pains to "line them up" we 

 think you would have found they were not going to a 

 place seven miles away, but to some point near at hand. 

 —Ed.] 



what is the yellow dust under the brood-combs? 



the proper space under the bottom-bars 



in winter. 



1. What is the yellow dust to be seen on the bottom- 

 board of the hive during the winter months — some- 

 times considerable? I have seen something like it 

 during the summer when bees gnaw combs. Are col- 

 onies in good condition when considerable of that dust 

 appears? 



2. Will the bees clean up dusty sections that have 

 starters in them? The reason I ask this is because at 

 times this is a dusty country, and otherwise I could 

 not save any sections by the superful le t over from a 

 previous year and which have been drawn out consid- 

 erably at times. 



3. For colonies wintered outdoors, is it advisable to 

 have much space below the frames and above the bot- 

 tom-board during the winter, considering them to 

 have, of course, tue entrance contracted to Js x 6? 



Chadron. Neb., Feb. 1. LEE Card. 



[1. We do not know that we are able to give a really 

 positive answer to this question. The yellow dust 

 may be particles of propolis and the leavings of pollen 

 which the be^s do not use, or a sort of pollen mold or 

 dirt. Any dust or litter that comes in contact with 

 bees will generally become more or less soiled, and 

 take on a yellow color. The suggestion has been 

 made that bees use only the pollen that has been 

 mixed with honey. If the combs are well supplied, 

 the presumption is that all the pollen in the form of 

 dust that brushes off from bees that come into the 

 hive is neglected or not used. If so, it may be and 

 probably is taken at other times when there is a scar- 

 city of nitrogenous food in the hive. 



Yellow dusi on the bottom-board of hives that accu- 

 mulates during the winter monttis is no different from 

 that which accumulates at other times of the year, 

 probably. In any event, its presence does not signify 

 that there is any thing wrong with a colony. There 

 will nearly always be such leavings with any good 

 strong stock 



2. A good rousing swarm, when it enters its new 

 quarters, will do a good job of housecleaning ; bui if 

 dusty sections be placed on a hive duiing a big hon- 

 ey-flow the probabilities are that the bees would not 

 stop to clean them up. They might do so if they had 

 plenty of time. It would, therefore, be advisable to 

 have all sections as clean as po.-sible. 



3. In ei her indoor or outdoor wintering it is advis- 

 able to have as much space under the frames as possi- 

 ble for tne accumulation of dead bees. Their carcases 

 will often close up the space between the bottom of the 

 frames and the bottom-board; and during the latter 

 part of winter and early spring the accumulation will 

 very often clog up the entrance. A closed entrance 

 usually means death to the colony. The greater the 

 space between the bottoms of the frames and the bot- 

 tom-board, the less liability of clogging the passage- 

 way to the entrance. Generally it is not practicable 

 to have a deeper space under the frames than >3 inch 

 in the average hive. The modern hives turned out by 

 most manufacturers now have reversible bottom- 

 boards having a Js space on one side and ■)» on the 

 other. With such boards one can give additional 

 space. The entrance should, of course, be /S x 6 inch- 

 es, or preferably K x 6 or 8 inches ; but with such a 

 narrow slot it is very importani to see that the dead 

 bees are raked out occasionally, especially toward 

 spring. — Ed.] 



WHY did THE BEES UNCAP THE HONEY? 



I don't understand my bees this fall. They seem to 

 have uncapped a quantity of honey. Not long ago 

 they seemed to have enough for the winter all capped, 

 but when I looked at them a fortnight or so after, they 

 had uncapped nearly all of it. There seemed to be a 

 good deal of honey; but very little of it was capped. 

 Miss Margaret V. Hamilton. 



Aurora, Ind., Dec. 17. 



[We are unable to explain why your bees should, 

 within a period of a few days, uncap nearly all their 

 honey. The only suggestion that we can offer is that 

 robbers from without made an onslaught on this hive; 

 but if that had occurred, you or your neighbors would 

 have had knowledge of it, and the robbed colony would 

 have bef-n deprived of all its stores. 



Can any of our readers offer any satisfactory explan- 

 ation?— Ed.] 



WHAT IS THE LEAP-CUTTER BEE? 



Will you please tell me what the leaf-cutter bee is ? 

 I have never observed it. 



Bradshaw, Neb. C. B. PALMER. 



[This was referred to Prof. H. A. Surface, who says:] 



The editor has forwarded me the letter and speci- 

 mens. I lind upon examination that these are the 

 nests of the leaf-cutter bee, belonging to the genus 

 Megachiki. The larv£e, or young, are contained therein. 

 This bee makes its nest by cutting round pieces out of 

 leaves and pasting them together, as you have ob- 

 served. Such are the facts in the case. As to how 

 this comes to be so, there is some speculation and the 

 rest is guesswork. However, it is my idea that the pa- 

 rent leaf-cutter made her nest inside the bee-hive, and 

 the honey-bees left this without notice for a while, 

 perhaps because they were very busy with the nectar- 

 flow; but when they realized the presence of an intru- 

 der they cast it out and you found it in the entrance. 

 There may be some other explanation for its presence 

 there, and I suppo e that another person's guess 

 might be as good as mine in this regard. 



H. A. SURFACE, 



Harrisburg, Pa., Sept 22. Economic Zoologist. 



FEEDING ARTIFICIAL POLLEN INSIDE THE HIVE. 



I have been reading the article by F. Dundas Todd, 

 p. 53, Jan. 15, and will offer my plan of feeding pollen. 

 I take a piece of canvas (8 or 10 oz. duck), one inch 

 short of length and depth of frame used in the hive. I 

 tack a i'li strip on each side of the top edge to act as a 

 top-bar, so that the canvas may hang on the rabbets 

 like a frame. Then I paint each side of the canvas 

 with hot extracted honey and hang it in a very warm 

 place until the cloth appears quite gummy. Finally I 

 coat a large plate very thinly with honey, spread on 

 the flour, and mix well. Care should be taken not to 

 have it sticky. I find a putty-knife is a fine thing with 

 which to mix it, then spread the mixture on each side 

 of the canvas. One of these frames hung in a pollen- 

 famine colony will help wonderfully. 



Three Rivers, Mich. WM. Z. RUGGLES. 



DYSENTERY STAINS WITHIN THE HIVES. 



Did you ever know your bees to smear their hives 

 all over inside of the hives? I have two that did to- 

 day, and yet they did not fly much. What would you 

 do with them? Those I fed on sugar are all as nice 

 and bright as they were in the fall. The two in ques- 

 tion have all honey-dew. ROBERT INGHRAM. 



Sycamore, Pa., Jan. 20. 



[When a colony has dysentery so badly that it stains 

 the inside of the hive it is usually past recovery unless 

 settled warm weather comes on almost immediately. 

 We are not surprised that there should be so great a 

 difference in the condition of colonies fed on sugar 

 syrup and those having only honey-dew. Reports 

 have shown this before. — Ed.] 



GETTING RID OF RATS WITH SULPHUR. 



I moved to my present home two years ago. and 

 found the place alive with rats. They were in the 

 barn, house, out-houses, woodpile — in fact, every- 

 where that a rat could hide. Last year in putting up 

 my corn I sprinkled sulphur in it as I put it in the crib; 

 also on hay, oats, etc., and now there is not a rat on 

 my place. Some of my neighbors have t. led sulphur, 

 and they have no rats. I use about one pound of sul- 

 phur to 100 bushels of corn. I sprinkled it around 

 well next to the wall. I believe that rats can be driv- 

 en entirely away by the use of sulphur. 



Brookston, Texas. J- R- SCOTT. 



[Has any one else had any experience in the use of 

 sulphur in getting rid of rats as here described?— ED.] 



HONEY THE SAME PRICE TWENTY YEARS AGO. 



It is rather poor encouragement for bee-keepers 

 when honey is 12 to 16 cts. a pound, just as it was 

 23 years ago. All other things are double in price. 



Williamsville, N. Y. WILLIAM IRR. 



[See article by O. L. Hershiser, on page 104, Feb. 15th 

 issue, for a general discussion of this question.— ED.] 



FOUL BROOD IN A BEE-TREE. 



I cut a bee-tree this fall that was two miles from any 

 bees in hives. It had foul brood. So you see bees can 

 have foul brood in trees as well as in hives. 



Sheltin, Conn., Nov. 29. EUGENE S. HUBBELL. 



[This is the first report we have received of this 

 character.— ED.] 



