392 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



June 15 



hatched, I gave them a laying (lueen. Six weeks 

 after, I looked and found both the old and young 

 queen laying, and that with piaetioally no honey 

 coniLng in— something a little unusual. 



Do beans ever yield honey? 



Marshall, Mich., May 21. ti. F. Pease. 



[.See answer to Uber. 



It is not uncommon to find cells started in laying- 

 worker colonies. The bees .seem to know that con- 

 ditions are not normal, and they will make abortive 

 queen-cells. The larva' in these cells will develop 

 about so far, some of them will die, and others will 

 reach mq^turity; but of course they will be only 

 drones and rather overfed drones at that. 



It is not uncommon to find an old and a young 

 queen in the hive at the same time, even after the 

 honey harvest. If the old queen is failing, the 

 young bees and the new queen will very often tol- 

 erate the old mother; but as a general rule .she will 

 be found missing toward the cooler part of the fall. 

 -He] 



A Hive-Body Filled with Sheets of Foundation 



Placed Below the Brood-Chamber to 



Prevent Swarming. 



I have read about some of the late devices for pre- 

 venting swarming by giving room below the brood- 

 chamber. Having tried different plans I very soon 

 learned that an empty hive-body would give room, 

 and in some ca.ses retard and perhaps prevent 

 swarming. If the lower hive is provided with 

 drawn comb it will be filled with brood and honey, 

 and the supers neglected. I think the cleated af- 

 fairs would be expensive for just this purpose. 



A few .vears ago. while I was working on this sub- 

 ject, the full set of frames with full sheets of founda- 

 tion suggested itself; and while 1 tried only a lim- 

 ited number the results were satisfactory. I rea- 

 soned this way: If a colony needing more room 

 were given foundation above and below the brood- 

 chamber the bees would work above rather than 

 below the brood from choice, and give the desired 

 room below the brood. I would not leave the foun- 

 dation below any longer than necessary, as all su- 

 pers, etc., should be removed when the honey-How is 

 over. These frames of foundation may be used as 

 brood or store combs after accomplishing their an- 

 ti-swarming purpose. 



Oswego, X. Y., May 7. F. H. Cyrenius. 



been placed: but I would advise going slow on the 

 proposition. The advice on page 278 is good. 



The opening of the non-swarmer shown on page 

 299, by ( ieo. H. Bedford, is, in my opinion, too large; 

 and when the honey-How stops it is an Invitation 

 for robbers to commence their work. 



Dunlap, Wash., May 11. M. Y. Calcutt. 



Another Defender of the Black Bee. 



I have read Mr. Macdonald's article, page 29t>, 

 May 1. and can sign my name to every word of his 

 defense of the black race, for this country as well. 

 I have had black bees for thirty year.s. and have 

 had no trouble from wax-moths. When asked 

 what I do to keep the moths from killing the bees, 

 my answer is, '" Xothing." 1 see to it that the col- 

 onies have enough honey and a good queen: and if 

 any colony then allows moths to nest in the hives 

 in sufficient numbers to harm them I should want 

 that colony to be killed, any way, for I would not 

 consider it worth any thing. 



My bees are easy to handle; are vigorous; they 

 swarm very little; and, although I am not in a good 

 locality f)n account of so much cultivated land, I 

 have secured in fair seasons 100 lbs. per colony. 

 Well, I have kept improving my stock while sev- 

 eral of my neighbors have introduced Italian blood 

 only to their sorrow. There are many large bee- 

 keepers who keep only black bees, and they are 

 well content to leave good enough alone and say 

 nothing about it. 



Elk lUver, Minn. G. I). Heuking. 



The Non-swarming Devices Found Satisfactory. 



• )n p. 29.'). May 1. is shown an " anti-swarniiug de- 

 vice"lsaid to have been invented by .Mr. .lunge. 

 I wish to say that I have used this device in my 

 bee-y.ird for a couple of years or more. I use slat- 

 ted fences spaced I'o Inch in a sys-inch super, the su- 

 per having four IK-lnch holes on each si<le covered 

 with screen wire. There is also a shutter to close 

 down over the holes in cold weather. I have tried 

 these devices, without the slatted fences, using the 

 four-inch ])lain separators inste.id. and pushing the 

 hive forward on the bottom-board so as to leave an 

 opening at the back for ventilation. I am using in 

 some of these a H-inch space between the separat- 

 ors. So far as I have used these, no swarming has 

 taken place from any hive under which they have 



Pollen from Frosted Flowers Made Trouble. 



1 think tliat B. 1. ( lilman. p. 248, April ir,, will find 

 that the trouble with his bees was the early pollen 

 gathered. All of the pollen was used up during the 

 honey-flow in September and Ctctober. That honey 

 was from white cliaparall, which yields no pollen. 

 After this there came a hard freeze that killed all 

 the flowers, and the bees got no more pollen until 

 February: then they got some from mistletoe and 

 .some other small shrubs that were badl.v frosted: 

 then the trouole began. The voidings looked like 

 pollen grains mixed with water. It did not resem- 

 ble the dysentery that I have seen up north. The 

 difficulty disappeared with warm weather and lots 

 of flowers, but left .some colonies weak. It was 

 worse with the blacks. 



Moore. Texas, April 26. T. Holmes. 



[There may be something in your statement to 

 the effect that pollen from fro.sted blossoms would 

 cause trouble. We never heard any thing of the 

 kind before.— Ed.] 



Do Queens from Swarming-cells Cause Deteriora- 

 tion ? 



I am pleased with Alexander's abrupt, convinc- 

 ing style of writing. One thing he says I can't un- 

 derstand — namely. " Bees deteriorate when queens 

 are reared from swarming-celKs." Has this ques- 

 tion been disci. ssed? If so, when? It may be true, 

 but I want to know his explanation of the matter. 



Chatham. Va., May 4. Brvce Anderson. 



[There was some discu.ssion on this question at 

 the time Mr. Alexander's statement was first pub- 

 lished in these columns. As we remember it, Mr. 

 Alexander explained his position by saying that 

 swarming-cells had too much of a tendency to de- 

 velop a swarming strain. Bees given to swarming 

 are not profitable. He thought it much better to 

 breed non-swarming strains froni cells the larva? of 

 which had been well fed out of the swarming sea- 

 son.— Ed.] 



A Queer Place in a City for a Swarm to Locate. 



During the noon hour of July 10 a swarm of bees 

 suddenly appeared on F.ast Market St. and entered 

 a storm-water-catch basin through an Iron lid liav- 

 ing several holes inserted to allow water to enter. 

 The location in question was about 100 feet east of 

 Main St.. in the business center of Akron, a city of 

 60,000 inhabitants. Being in the vicinity at the 

 time stated, my presence was requested: but the 

 queen had entered before I arrived on the scene. 

 For the time being they certainly were masters of 

 the situation. \'ehicles. automobiles, and pedes- 

 trians all shared alike in making their Immediate 

 presence elsewhere: nor did they yield when a po- 

 liceman arrived with a big stick and a fine polished 

 badge. After all had quieted down, the Iron lid 

 was pried up and the bees were hived in a box to 

 be removed to a more remote locality. 



No doubt bees always seek a location convenient 

 to water; but they were unwi.se In making their se- 

 lection on the side of a street opposite where a sa- 

 loon is located. 



.\kron, ()., .July 30, 1909. A. J. Halter. 



Who Pays the Cost of the Cans ? 



When a producer of honey sells his product, must 

 he add the cost of the cans or lose that amount? I 

 have asked several bee-men. .Sonie say add on the 

 cost, and some do not. 



Arnlm, Texas, May 7. A. F, Kemp. 



[As a general rule the producer furnishes the 

 cans. When he makes a price on his honey, that 

 price, unless no definite statement Is made to the 

 contrary, includes the package. This is true of 

 comb honey, and in nearly all cases it is a rule with 

 extracted. — Ed. ] 



