1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



497 



were going to do, and just then the queen alighted 

 and ran Into the hive, the bees following till they 

 all went in. 



On the third day afterward this performance was 

 repeated, the queen going in as before. On the fifth 

 day the bees came out again, this time clustering 

 about 30 ft. away. The next day there was another 

 swarm from that hive; then I examined the combs, 

 and found a nice-looking queen, another queen just 

 about out of the cell, another queen about half 

 grown, and three other cells. I should be very 

 glad to know the cause of the swarming. 



Heaton, N. Dak. Mrs. D. B. Schwab. 



[This seems to be a case of continuous after- 

 swarming. Usually, with a first swarm, the old 

 queen and the swarm leave just before or just about 

 the time that the virgins from the cells begin to 

 hatch. If there is nothing done with the parent 

 colony these virgins will be quite apt to take out 

 after-swarms when they take their flight. The usu- 

 al rule is to cut out all the cells but one after the 

 first swarming, and even then it may require ad- 

 ditional treatment to prevent the bees swarming 

 out.— Ed.] 



Are Foul-brood Scales and Honey Often Found in 

 the Same Cell? 



A. H. Gilstrap. p. 412, appears to have found that 

 which I have long been looking for — namely, the 

 decayed larvse of foul brood and honey occupying 

 the same cell. While I have, time and again, dili- 

 gently sought for this combination, I have as yet 

 been unable to find it. Occasionally isolated cells 

 of live brood can be found in capped honey: and so 

 also can capped-over foul-broody cells be found un- 

 der the same conditions ; but to find honey stored 

 in any cell showing any trace of foul brood I have 

 as yet been unable to do, 



I should not wish to be quoted as authority that 

 this combination does not frequently occur, as my 

 observations have been confined quite largely to 

 cleaned-up combs: but I am very sure that it is a 

 far more rare occurrence than is generally sup- 

 posed. By the way, this is one of the strongest 

 proofs supporting the clean-up theory. If the dried- 

 down scales of American foul brood, as we are 

 taught, can not be removed by the bees, what be- 

 comes of the evidence of them when those .same 

 cells are filled with honey? 



A CORRECTION. 



On page 416, July 1, I was made to say. " When I 

 returned I expected to render those foul-broody 

 combs of this one colony at once: but to my sur- 

 prl.se the brood was perfectly healthy," What I 

 really meant was that the brood was apparendy 

 healthy. 



Prophetstown, 111. Henry Stewart. 



Another Way of Filling Empty Combs with Syrup 

 for Feeding. 



On page 341, June 1, Mr. Doolittle tells us how to 

 fill empty combs for feeders. I have a trough large 

 enough to dip a Langstroth frame down the full 

 depth. I pxit the syrup in the trough and dip the 

 cut combs down into it clear up to the top-bar. I 

 place the combs into the syrup very slowly so that 

 the air in the cells can have a chance to get out. 

 As the syrup runs into the lower part of the cell, 

 the air is forced out of the iipper part. Then I take 

 the comb out and place it in a hive-body, near by, 

 over the uncapping-table, the drip from the combs 

 passing directly down into the capping-can, as 

 when I am extracting. 



I fill the combs about noon, so that the drip will 

 have disapi^eared by the time the evening feeding 

 commences. By this plan of feeding one can select 

 the combs that he wants for brood-combs, fill them, 

 and put them in the hives right where they are the 

 most needed. Of course, combs containing good 

 sealed stores are all right, I agree with Doolittle 

 on this point. 



Soldiers Grove, Wis. C. S. Gald. 



Good Results when Hive is Shaded. 



On page 360. June 1. reports are called for in re- 

 gard to the efficiency of colonies in shaded hives. 

 I agree with Mr. Barbisch, for I have had a hive 

 standing between two buildings for four years. 

 The sun shines on it for about 2% hours toward 

 evening in the summer time. In the winter, for 

 about three months the sun does not reach the hive 



at all. Last year was a little below the average: 

 but I secured from this colony SS.'S worth of ex- 

 tracted honey, and my next best colony, in a hive 

 where the sun could reach it, gave me So.35 worth, 

 the others that were not shaded extending all the 

 way down to S2. 15. This colony standing between 

 the two buildings has not swarmed for the last four 

 years. Chas. W. Hopsecget. 



Clear Lake, Wash. 



Willows for Bee-forage in New Zealand. 



Mr. Doolittle has mentioned willows as being good 

 bee-forage in spring. I can fully indorse what he 

 said, as here in Kaiapoi we have miles of willows 

 along the Waimakariri River — both weeping and 

 straight — which yield an abundance of nectar, last- 

 ing with both kinds from two to three weeks. On a 

 bright day the trees fairly hum with the bees work- 

 ing so that they can be heard for some distance. 

 When one looks into the catkins the nectar can be 

 seen quite easily with the naked eye. The trees 

 grow to a considerable size here, it being no un- 

 common sight to see willows with trunks two to 

 three feet in diameter, and of a good height. The 

 weeping willow is only six weeks without leaves for 

 the whole year. 



Kaiapoi, N. Z,, May 6. S, Rinaldi. 



The Proper Plan to Get Foundation Drawn Out. 



I am short of extracting-combs, and wish to have 

 them built from foundation this season. I desire 

 no increase, and like to leave the bees in the fall on 

 new combs. The reasons are to have fewer drone 

 combs: second, to have a stronger comb to extract 

 from. The question is now, which is the better: 

 when bees need room to put the second story with 

 foundation on top, giving the queen both stories, 

 and then when filled with honey and brood reverse 

 them, putting the upper story on the bottom and 

 then keep the queen below with an excluder, or to 

 put a hive with foundation on the bottom-board in- 

 stead of reversing later, and then when filled with 

 honey and brood to keep the queen below with an 

 excluder? 



Falmovith, Michigan. Albert Tien. 



[We would recommend the first plan, of putting 

 foundation in the upper story, rather than in the 

 second.— Ed.] 



Bees that Lived all Winter and then Stored. 



Concerning the life of a bee. page 280. May 1, I will 

 say that I introduced an Italian queen to a colony 

 of Banats the latter part of last August. She did 

 not lay at all last fall, but is doing finely this 

 spring, and her bees were very evenly marked. 

 Now, the entrance of this hive faces east, and all of 

 ray others south or north, and at least 12 ft, away. 

 What I want to say is that there ai'e quite a few Ba- 

 nats left in that hive now, and they have been 

 working quite steadily since March 20. I killed the 

 old Banat queen because her bees were so cross. 



Oneco, Ct., May 12. T. B. Mowey. 



Swarms from Swarms. 



I had a good deal of trouble with my first natural 

 swarms. Just about the beginning of the buck- 

 wheat flow, which is always a large crop here, these 

 first swarms will start to swarming again. This 

 makes it bad, as it is very important that the bees 

 all be at work. I had plenty of supers on, and the 

 bees were not crowded for room. I had eight or 

 nine that bothered me more or less in this way. 



Cranesville, X. Y., Jan. 11. F. W. Rankie. 



An Apiary Lost on Account of a Flood. 



On July 30, last year. I met with a severe loss on 

 account of high water. About "0 hives washed 

 away, aljout 45 of which contained bees and honey. 

 I thought they were above the high-water mark. 

 On Feb. 4 back water caused me to move some of 

 the hives and place them on trestles. This time 

 the water came from the creek. I had kept bees on 

 this ground for 25 years, and had no thought of 

 danger fi'om the water. 



A lot of the hives were caught by my neighbors, 

 and in all I have recovered about 40 empty hives 

 and one which still had the bees in it after floating 

 down the river for six miles, I estimate my loss at 

 about 8500. 



Cornishville. Ky. Geo. W. Morris. 



