■lU 



ULEANINCJS IN JJEK CULTURE 



Ai'K. lb 



Stray Straws 



V.y I>K. C. ('. MiLLEK, Marengo, III. 



Texas ought lo be a better honey State 

 tlian it is with all that bigness shown, page 

 ■21A. 



'1"'hk (Jkkman bee-keej^eis' association 

 ( Imkerbuml) nowniunbers 90,062 members. 

 — Lelpz. Bztg., T.O. 



As TO foul-broody bees swarming out when 

 thrown on foundation, doesn't it make a 

 difference wliich kind of foul brood? 



Dr. JiRiENNiCH says, although his 

 (|ueens stop laying by August 15, colonies 

 come out strong in s])ring on account of the 

 bees" loii(/( vitif. He thinks that is ever so 

 much better \\va}\ a lot of bees reared late to 

 use up pollen stores. — Schwz. Bztg., HO. 



Ideal conditions for taking out bees this 

 year. March 20, soft mai)les bloomed. At 

 dusk, opened cellar wide. Next morning. 

 :U°, bright and still. Partly shaded .cellar 

 window. (Quietly set bees on stands, clos- 

 ing entrances to one S{[uare inch or less. By 

 noon, (52° with all bees out. Flew glorious- 

 ly: no mixing; no robbing. 



Foul brood utterly destroyed an ai)iary 

 of 20 colonies. The hives were sold to sur- 

 rounding bee-keepers, and in every case took 

 the disease with them. — Schwc'n.' Bzig., 144. 

 [The same thing hapjiens in this country, 

 and only emphasizes the great imi)ortance 

 of an eflfeclive State law that will stop work 

 of this kind. A bee-keeper who is so igno- 

 rant of or indifferent to the rights of others 

 should be held in check by a law that will 

 l)rotect those who are i)osted or have regard 

 for the rights of others. — Ed.] 



John H. Lovell,, p. 213, from what you 

 say I su])i)ose T said something about bees 

 and roses not ({uite on the s((uare, but you 

 don't give page, so I'm left to guess. J'er- 

 haps I insisted that bees get nectar from 

 roses. If so, I l)eg ])ardon. I don't know 

 that they do, but I do know that they tear 

 t he buds to pieces. Vou say they are '' look- 

 ingfor nectar." Don't youihink "the men- 

 tal attributes of the honey-bee are far too 

 high to permit" it to do all that digging when 

 •'looking for nectar" where there is none? 



Eree Saroknt. I'd like to answer your 

 seven (piestions, ])age 2;)(), l)ut the "boss" 

 <loesn't like me to talk '"territory." But he 

 may allow me just to whisper to you that, 

 your foundation ))eing wrt)ng. your whole 

 fabric toi)i)les. Vou assume that the num 

 who owns land owns the nectar on it. Not 

 a bit. He can't sell it; can't prosecute any 

 one for stealing it; so he doesn't own it. 

 So there, now. [The discussion of the right 

 to certain ))ee territory we thought best to 

 close for the jtresent at least. We are no 

 nearer a solution to this much-mooted (jues- 

 lion than we were twenty-five years ago. 

 If there were as much diversity of ojiinion 



among our legislators as there has always 

 been among bee-keei)ers themselves we 

 could never get a law that would give exclu- 

 sive territorial rights. There would have to 

 be united action before our legislators, no 

 matter how favorably disposed, would ])ass 

 a law. — Ed.] 



I don't know enough to know whether 

 it is better to disinfect all foid-broody hives 

 or none; but here's a question: If it's neces- 

 sary" to disinfect a hive, is that enough? If 

 there is danger from a s])ore on the wall of 

 a hive, is there not danger from one on the 

 stand at the entrance? If so, is there not 

 danger from one on the ground close to the 

 entrance? or fin"ther out? .lust how far from 

 the entrance does danger end and safety be- 

 gin? Here's what I supi)ose the situation 

 here: For every s]K>re left in a hi\e there 

 are 100 or 1000 of them on the floor at the 

 entrance, and they are still plentieron the 

 grouiul. thinning off as the distance from 

 the entrance increases: yet for rods the 

 ground is covered with millions upon mil- 

 lions of s))ores. Is there no danger from any 

 one of these if there is danger from one on 

 the wall of the hive? [The entrances and 

 even the alighting-boards should be disin- 

 fected just as much as the rest of the hive. 

 Years ago, when we disinfected our hives 

 by scorching, we held the hives with a i)itch- 

 fork over a bonlire aiul allowed the llames 

 to strike the alighting-boards at the en- 

 trances. A common gasoline torch will do 

 this work very effectively. — Ed.] 



E. Frankio made a dozen fertilizing boxes 

 with double glass. He saw a number of 

 queens each return two or three times with 

 mating-signs. The (jueen was balled for an 

 hour upon returning unless she returned 

 without mating-signs. ^ — I)< ntsc/i( Bziiclit. 

 [This matter of balling (pieens just return- 

 ing from a nuiting trij) dei)ends uj)on condi- 

 tions. We have just been talking with Mr. 

 Pritchard, who raised ;'>00() queens last year, 

 and who had abundant oi)portunity to ob- 

 serve and investigate. I'nder normal con- 

 ditions, he says, bees will not ball their 

 ((ueen when they come back to their hive, 

 whether fertilized or not. Sometimes l)ees 

 will follow after a (pieen and pull away the 

 lilament that hangs to the end of her body. 

 This (juestion was also referred to our Mr. 

 Hain, and he says this l)alling business de- 

 pends on conditions. If bees have been al- 

 lowed to get into a luibit of robbing they 

 nuiy l)all a ipieen, whether fertilized or not. 

 when she returns from her llight. If a 

 (pieen, on the other hand, he says, goes be- 

 yond the i)ro])er mating age for any reason, 

 aiul fails to meet the drone, the ))ees ma\' 

 become disgusted and kill her by balling. 

 They, or at least Nature, seems to know 

 that an old \irgin will ])rol)al)ly not meet a 

 <lrone, and hence she had l)etier l)e killed. 

 This pri)UMi)leai)plies in thecaseof a colony 

 with a clijjped (pieen I hat has tried to swarm 

 re])eate(lly. and on the third or fourth fail- 

 ure to go forth with the (|ueen the l)ees will 

 ])robably ball that ijueen, thinking it is 

 iiigh time to get anotlier. — Ed.] 



