o2S 



GLEANINGH IN BEE CULTURE 



May 15 



disturbance of the brood necessiiry. Is twice a year 

 to see that a queen is present (by her works), and 

 that there are sufficient stores — namely, in the 

 spring during fruit-l>looni just before putting on 

 supers; and. again, in autumn after the honey sea- 

 son, about Sept. 1, when talking off supers. If ei- 

 ther or both are lacking, tlie only remedy is to re- 

 queen, to feed, or to do both. 



Toledo, o., April 7. - Charles Stewart. 



[We expect to have shortly an article on this sub- 

 ject from another who has had a wide experience 

 with this garret method of keeping bees. — Kd.] 



Black Brood and the Sectional Hive. 



I wish to thank you for your courteous reply to 

 my criticism, p. 157, March 1, and also to call your 

 attention to another editorial in your issue for .June 

 1, 1909, in which you say, "If black brood should 

 once get started in an apiary of ours we would treat 

 the whole apiary, irrespective of whether individu- 

 al colonies showed the disease or not." I regard 

 this as sound doctrine, and we would certainly 

 adopt this plan if foul brood of any kind were to 

 break out in our apiary. From this point of view, 

 by employing economic methods of treatment I 

 can not see wherein the sectional hive would be a 

 very bad proposition. Far be it from any desire of 

 mine to cover up any of the weak points of the sec- 

 tional hive, and it is easy so see that foul brood 

 might get a pretty strong foothold in an apiary 

 where the frames were seldom handled and the 

 brood-chamber divisions interchanged freely. 



It is my candid opinion that, if bee-keepers would 

 keep only pure Italians, and see to it that they were 

 liberally supplied with food at all times, there 

 would be little trouble from foul brood or other 

 diseases. The intermittent periods of semi-starva- 

 tion to which bees are often subjected by careless 

 bee-keepers saps the vital force of the bees and 

 brood, and make them fall an easy prey to disease 

 germs that are everywhere present. An ounce of 

 prevention is worth a pound of cure, and judicious 

 feeding is worth many pounds. 



Birmingham, O. .1. K. Hand. 



How to Use Unwired Foundation so it Will Not 

 Stretch. 



Last spring I inquired as to the feasibility of mak- 

 ing Increase in an upper story by the Alexander 

 plan of using full sheets of foundation without wir- 

 ing. 1 tried it with quite a number of colonies, and 

 It was perfectly successful in every case, the editor 

 to the contrary notwithstanding. The bees occu- 

 pied the upper story gradually, drawing out the 

 foundation as the queen needed it, making nearly 

 perfect combs — that is, they were perfect except for 

 the space that was not filled above the bottom-bar. 



The queen seems to find things exactly to her lik- 

 ing, and just spreads herself over the new combs. 

 The only difficulty is, if the honey-flow comes on 

 early the bees are apt to put a lot of honey In the 

 way of the queen. 



The only foundation that was at all stretched was 

 the frame that I .sometimes put in the lower story 

 In place of the frame that I take out with the queen 

 on it to put in the upper story. Vj. L. Brown. 



Warren, Minn., Dec. 15. 



[While one can get fairly good combs drawn out 

 from foimdatlon that is not wired, yet the facts re- 

 main that an unwired comb can never be handled 

 as readily and as rapidly, either in or out of the 

 hive, or in an extractor, as one that has been se- 

 curely stayed; and, what is of considerable Impor- 

 tance, even If horizontally wired, foundation will 

 have less elongated or stretched cells near the top-" 

 bar. 



A great deal has been written on the best weight 

 of foundation to use. The old-fashioned, or medi- 

 um brood (which, of course, is more expensive by 

 reason of its extra weight), will usually make bet- 

 ter combs than the light brood. — Ed.] 



A Chicken that Ate Drones but Not Workers ; a 

 Remarkable Case. 



One day last fall while working in my yard I no- 

 ticed a chicken at the entrance of a hive, catching 

 and eating bees. I watched him for some minutes. 

 He would catch a bee going in or coming out, or 

 jump up and catch one. I recited a few lines on the 

 demerits of a fowl that would eat a man's bees, and 

 cha.sed him out of the yard. Koon I caught him at 



the same performances. I called my wife, and we 

 decided to cut his head off, which we did. L'pon 

 examination of the chicken's crop we found it full 

 of drones but not a single worker bee. After the ob- 

 .servation 1 reproached myself severely for killing 

 the goo.se that had laid for us the golden egg. But 

 the unsolved problem with me is, how did the fowl 

 know the difference between a bee tliat can sting 

 and one that can not ? 

 Havythorne, Wi.s. I,ewis ICfaw. 



No Inspector Provided for in Iowa. M 



I noticed with some amusement the remarks ^ 

 about the Iowa law appointing a bee-inspector. 

 There was such a law passed, but no inspector was 

 appointed. The legislature failed to provide funds 

 to sustain the office, and probably no provision will 

 ever be made. Any advice on the subject will be 

 appreciated. 



Anamosa, la., April 15. Frank Snydek. 



[This only emphasizes the great importance of 

 having all foul-brood bills, before they are placed 

 before State legislatures, carefully reviewed by an 

 expert. Dr. E. F. Phillips, of the Bureau of Ento- 

 mology, Washington, D. C, has made this a special 

 study, and is willing to furnish copies of model bills. 



In this ca.se It is po.sslble the Iowa legislature 

 amended the bill, practically spoiling it. This has 

 been done before. — Ed.] 



Will Bees Remove Honey-dew from Bait Sections? 



In putting bait sections in supers from last year 

 with honey-dew in them, and cutting the caps so 

 the bees will remove it, will the beesjjut the honey- 

 dew back in the sections again with new honey? 

 Jo.SEPH S. Bowman. 



Harrisonburg, Va., April 16. 



[The probabilities are that the bees would not re- 

 move the honey-dew from the bait sections unless 

 the brood-nest were running short of stores. Any 

 bait sections containing honey-dew should be con- 

 signed to the solar wax-extractor. It would be very 

 risky to put them Into a super, expecting the bees 

 to remove it and put good honey in its stead. 

 There is no probability that they would do it. 

 When new honey came In they would store on top 

 of It. Such sections would have to be sold for less 

 price. — Ed.] 



Can Old Bees Raise a Queen? 



When I find a queenless swarm with a laying 

 worker I give It a comb of hatching brood, and In a 

 few days I put in another comb with eggs and hatch- 

 ing larvse or a ripe queen-cell. The young bees soon 

 dispose of the laying workers, and they will raise a 

 queen if they have eggs or hatching larvse. From 

 that I conclude that only bees under a certain age 

 are capable of raising a queen, and that old bees can 

 not raise a queen. 



HuUy, Colo., Dec. 24. C. Stimson. 



[The plan you outline for disposing of fertile work- 

 ers is standard and good; but you are wrong in sup- 

 posing that only young bees can raise queens. The 

 fact has been proven that old bees, when they have 

 to, will assume the function of nur.se bees or of rais- 

 ing a queen. — Ed.] 



Honey Secured from the Field Pea only when no 

 Other Source is Available. 



On page 235, April 1, a correspondent wishes to 

 know If bees gather honey from common field peas. 

 1 have anywhere from five to twenty acres of them 

 every year, and my bees always get a gpod deal of _ 

 nice honey from them. I know this to be true, as m 

 the peas bloom when there is a honey dearth, gen- \ 

 erally. and .so the bees gather honey from them. 

 However, I notice that they do not work on It 

 much if there Is a better lioney-plant blooming at 

 the same time. C. H. Eatham, .Ik. 



Hapldan, Va., April 4. 



Keeping the Bottoms of Hives and Brooders Dry. 



Tell A. I. H. that I have discovered that a bunch 

 of straw or hay two inches thick placed under 

 Clough's lampless brooders, either outdoors or 

 Indoors, will keep the bottom dry. There will be 

 no warping of the boards. This applies to hives as 

 well in winter when standing low on the ground. 



Aurora. 111., Nov. 19, 1909. \'. W. ("i.oi'GH. 



