1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



B53 



Nucleus of Caucasians. 



First premium. .lohu M. Davis. 



Second " I. A. Moore. 



Third " .1. .1. Reams. 



Nucleus of any other race. 



First premium. .1. M. Buchanan. 



Second " B. ( i. Davis. 



Third " .1. .1. Keani.s. 



Fourth " 1. A. Moore. 



Display of uueens in cages. 



First premium, B. (>. Davis. 



Second " .1. M. Davis. 



Third " 1$. J. Fox. 



liest photofrrajjh of apiary. 



First premium, .1. M. Buchanan. 



Second " .1. .1. Keams, 



Largest and best display of bees, bee-i>roducts, ini- 

 l)lements, etc.; exhibit to be made by individu- 

 al bee-keeper. 



First premium, N. ( ). M^alker. 



Second " .1. M. Buchanan. 



Third " .1. .1. Heams. 



Fourth " B. J. Fox. 



We believe Mr. J. M. litichanan is again 

 superintendent of this (lei)artnient; and 

 while the preniiuni list for 1910 may not yet 

 be printed, it will undoubtedly be much the 

 same as the above list for 1909, and infor- 

 mation can doubtless be secured by address- 

 ing him. Bee-keepers who can do so shotxld 

 by all means encourage the superintendent 

 and the State Fair Board by putting up a 

 splendid exhibit the coming fall. 



OBSERVATIONS ON SPRING STIMULATIVE 

 FEEDING. 



A BALKY SWARM, 



BY EDW. T. MITRRAY. 



I am sending a i)hotograph of a balky 

 swarm that one of my neighbors had last 

 June. This was the second swarm that is- 

 sued from an old Langstroth hive. The 

 bees started to btiild comb on the outside of 

 one of his empty hives. Later on they com- 

 menced work in frames that were inside the 

 hive. 



Torresdale, Pa. 





When Bees Can Not Fly in the Spring, Stimula- 

 tive Feeding is a Waste of Energy. 



BY F. DUNDAS TODD. 



A SWARM THAT INSISTED ON BUILDING 

 COMBS OUTSIDE THE HIVE. 



That title is not right. You see I did not 

 do any stimulative feeding at all, but I 

 made a few observations which ga\e me 

 food for thought, and I want to tell my con- 

 clusions to other peo})]e. 



Most bee literature written on this conti- 

 nent is naLiually from men who live in av- 

 erage regions; but the climate in this out- 

 post is so different that we see things differ- 

 ently. It was somewhere in the Middle 

 States that a little girl once said, ".Just as 

 soon as it gets warm enough to tlo anything 

 it is too hot to do anything," which, by the 

 way, is a rather neat way of expressing the 

 sudden jump from winter to summer in 

 most parts of the Lnited States. In this 

 part of the world, summer creeps upon 

 us; one bee-keeper says spring here is a 

 long-drawn-out agony. This year we had 

 ten glorious days in the first half of March 

 when the bees rushed in pollen at a tre- 

 mentlous rate; then for three weeks the 

 weather was so cool, clotidy, or wet that 

 hardly a bee left the hives. It may be safe- 

 ly said that, during that period, not a snap 

 of iioUen nor a drop of nectar was carried in. 



< )n looking over the colonies on March 12 

 I found about a third of them rather short 

 of stores, so I gave these a pint each of 

 syrup, and no more have they had up to 

 date. The very strongest colony was m 

 exti-emis, living from hand to mouth; but 

 it got to be the same as the rest. I had to 

 go out of town immediately, so for a month 

 the bees were run on the let-alone plan. 



Now for the observations. In the middle 

 of .January I examined a hive, finding in 

 one frame a patch of eggs that co\ ered a 

 space slightly larger than a dollar. On 

 March 2 pollen began to be carrier! in, so on 

 the 12th I overhauled every hive and found 

 brood in every one that was queenright, 

 ranging from' two to four frames. The 

 strongest hive, but a weak one in stores, 

 had brood in two frames only. It was evi- 

 dent that egg-laying had started with the 

 advent of pollen. 



The next examination was on April 17, 

 eight days after flight had been reestab- 

 lished, and on this occasion I found that, 

 with only six excei)tions, the frames con- 

 taining brood corresponded almost exactly 

 with the number on March 12. Further- 

 more, as none were sealed the eggs must 

 ha\e been laid after the resumjjtion of 

 flight a week previously. The hustling 

 queen had extentled from two to six frames, 

 leading the procession; yet in the matter 

 of stores this colony was in bad shape, but 

 strong in bees. The hive best provided 

 with supplies, one of fair strength, had 

 made no headway at all. 



Here, then, is the noteworthy feature. 



