500 



(iLEANINUS IN BKK CULrUJll-: 



skft. 1 



Will Bees do Well in a Cave where the Sun Shines 

 on the Hives Only a Part of the Year ? 



I am starling an outyard seven miles from liome 

 in a canyon that has a fair amount of bee pasturage 

 In it — principally sweet cloVer. I have the bees lo- 

 cated In a large cave on the side of the canyon, fac- 

 ing south. The sun does not shine on the hives 

 froiu about May 1 to Oct. 15, at which time it will 

 strike them in the middle of the day during the re- 

 mainder of the year. The cave is very dry with the 

 exception of a little seepage or drippings in one 

 end. Do you think bees would do well in such a 

 place? Would they winter well there? The climate 

 is mild in winter. Do you think their being in a 

 cool place would have much effect on their swarm- 

 ing? 1 use the ten-frame Jumbo hive, and will try 

 for both comb and extracted honey. 



Mohler, Wash., Aug. (>. C, L. Skider. 



[It is a little difficult to say whether the cave de- 

 •scribed would be a good place to keep bees or not. 

 We would suggest putting half the bees in the cave 

 and the other half out in the open air and note the 

 results. It is our opinion, based on considerable 

 observation, that you will find that those colonies 

 that have moi-e sunshine will do better than tho.se 

 that are shaded so much. — Ed.] 



Introducing Cells and Virgins ; after Trying Both, 

 the Majority Prefer to Introduce Cells. 



1 think Mr. Pritchard has the better of the argu- 

 ment with Mr. Bain on the question of giving cells 

 instead of newly hatched virgins to nuclei, no mat- 

 ter whether to single or twin nuclei. After trying 

 both plans in the past twelve or fifteen years I have 

 decided that it Is more satisfactory to introduce 

 cells, largely because there is an actual saving of 

 time over the other plan, even when the virgins are 

 kindly received. Just why this should be, I am un- 

 able to say: but after reading the editorial on ijage 

 336. June 1. I again gave the matter a trial with the 

 usual results — that is, the queens hatched from the 

 cells that were given to nuclei were laying from 

 one to several days — generally two or three — before 

 the virgins were laying that were introduced just 

 after they hacl hatched. Probably Mr. Pritchard 

 has also found this to be the case. 



Holly Hill, Fla, C. S, Harris, 



Ventilation at the Top to Prevent Swarming. 



I agree with Dr. Miller, page 440. July 15, as to the 

 value of top ventilation, I use eight-frame hives, 

 and run for both comb and extracted honey. For 

 the last three years, during the honey season I have 

 been giving top ventilation by sliding the supers 

 far enough to let the bees pass in and out between 

 each one, 1 also raise one end of the cover over the 

 upper super. During this time I have had only one 

 swarm out of every thirty hives— a little over three 

 per cent — and there were no queen-cells cut out. I 

 keep one empty super on top during the honey- 

 flow. The bottom entrance is only J's Inch by the 

 width of the hive. 



The colonies having plenty of ventilation at the 

 sides and top average one swarm out of thirty, as 

 mentioned above, while those in hives that were 

 closed all except the lower entrance swarmed two 

 or three times each. I use a large shade-board that 

 keeps out all of the rain. 



Philadelphia, Mo. Elmer IIipkins. 



Why would Not these Bees Stay Hived ? 



1 have a swarm whose actions I can not under- 

 stand. I hived the bees in the most approved man- 

 ner, giving them two frames of brood, and attend- 

 ing to the shading and ventilating of the hive. Hut 

 the.v have swarmed out .again and again for over a 

 week. 1 finally i)laced a queen-excluder under the 

 brood-frames, and now they return of their own ac- 

 cord, but continue to swarm. The queen is not 

 clipped, and so far 1 have been unable to find her. 

 Why do they act in this way? 



Ashland. Wi.s., Aug. 6. J. E. Cooke. 



[We occasionally find a colony that has a mania 

 for swarming. The only thing to do in that case is 

 to lilve it. then carry the hive (bees and all) down 

 cellar and keeiJ them there for a week till they can 

 cool off — the cellar to be darkened as much as i)os- 

 sible in the mean time. Of course, while they are 

 in the cellar they should be given a frame or two of 

 honey, — Ed.J 



Are Snakes Immune to Bee-stings? 



(iarter snakes are enemies, we know. Are they 

 immune to bee-stings? I liave .seen them scramble 

 out of a hive with twenty or more bees trying to 

 sting them, but none seemed to succeed in lodging 

 its weapon, 



Montpelier, O,. July 21. G. W. JoiCE. 



[Some years ago. noticing some snakes crawling 

 out of a hive we picked one of them up on the end 

 of a .stick and repeatedly dumped it in front of the 

 infuriated bees. While they made desperate at- 

 tempts to insert their .stings, the snake .seemed to 

 be entirely unharmed. We then killed the snake, 

 but could not find the slightest trace of stings on 

 its body. It is possible there are some snakes with 

 a skin soft enough so the stings would penetrate 

 them. We are of the opinion that garter snakes, at 

 least, can not be harmed by bees. — Ed.] 



When to Remove Finished Comb-honey Supers. 



On some of my hives there are from two to four 

 comb-honey supers. Is it proper to keep on build- 

 ing up as soon as the sections are full? 



Millerton, N, Y„ Aug. 9. H. J. Pfahl. 



[If you were producing extracted honey we would 

 advise you to keep on stacking up the supers, al- 

 lowing the honey to remain on the liive as long as 

 possible: but with comb-honey production it is a 

 little diflerent; tor if the honey remains on the hive 

 long after it is finished, the bees traveling over the 

 surface of the comb give it a dauby brown look, and 

 it is then called "travel-stained.'" Usually, the 

 sooner the finished sections can be removed, the 

 better.— Ed.] 



Sweet Clover — Didn't Need Teaching. 



I have a small piece of sweet clover, and it surely 

 is a great plant for the bees to work on. I have a 

 mare which T did not need to teach to eat sweet 

 clover. I just simply put it in her manger, and 

 she ate it as readily as any other clover. 



H. r. Eakins. 



Colman. Michigan. August 8. 1910. 



[Friend E., your report is right in line with others 

 we are receiving almost dail.v. We hope all of 

 our readers who have had any experience in feed- 

 ing sweet clover to horses and cattle will report. — 



ED.] 



Shooting Down a Swafra. 



Miss Amy Machold. an eleven-year-old girl, in the 

 absence of the men-folks found a swarm in tlie top 

 of a cottonwood-treo: and. being unable otherwise 

 to get them, took her brother's rifle and shot them 

 down and afterward hived them. 



We observed Italian bees working on red clover 

 in preference to lucerne and white clover. Is this 

 unusual? 



Blackfoot, Idaho. Wili.tam Machold. 



[Yes. if the lucerne and white clover were yield- 

 ing nectar: but the probabilities are that neither 

 was yielding at the time, and red clover was. — Ed.] 



Why Were the Young Bees Being Carried Out? 



I should like to know why my bees are carrying 

 out so man.v yn\ing bees. The.v will carry these 

 .voung bees out bodily, and carr.v them nearl.y out 

 of sight sometimes. These young bees, when let go, 

 will fly at once, and .sometimes will go nearly to the 

 ground before taking wing, 



Crooksville. O,. Aug, 8. E. O. Pettit. 



[We are unable to say why your bees are carrying 

 out young bees, without further iiarticulars. We 

 can onl.v surmise that the brood from which they 

 were reared was overheated at some time, and that 

 these same young bees are in some way defective. 

 Usually such bees can not fly. It is possible that 

 the young bees in question were able to use their 

 wings to some extent, even though they were de- 

 fective. You may put it down as a rule that tlie 

 regular workers of a colon.v will not tolerate any 

 bees in a hive that are not structurally perfect in 

 every way: and under the circumstances we shall 

 have to a.ssume that there was .something wrong 

 with those bee.s. There is a bare possibility that 

 bee-paralysis maybe the cause of the trouble. In 

 that case you would see black shiny bees rather 

 than young-looking fuzzy ones.— Ed.J 



