1893 



GLEANINGS LN BEE CULTURE. 



121 



advance in cell-building. From all I know, if 

 the experiments were taken strictly, as Mr. de 

 Layens says, it would be unwise not to let our 

 bees build all their comb afresh every year. If 

 all our colonies would I'emain quiet, or even if 

 the swarms that issue as early as April would 

 not greatly lower the average, the general av- 

 erage would always be a good deal higher from 

 colonies on old-built combs than those colonies 

 which are generally helped with several brood- 

 combs, some empty, built out combs, and some 

 foundation; for, while the old hive l)ees can 

 work right away, the bees of the first swarm, it 

 is true, have the advantage of having the lay- 

 ing mother, while the i)arent swarm loses some 

 time wailing for the new queen to mate. IJut 

 suppose the bees swarm out again : then, of 

 course, the parent colony, having lost a great 

 deal during the first p 'riod of its queen's virgin- 

 ity, how much more during the second! 



KEMOVING PROPOHS. 



I jotted down in my note book the way in 

 which Miss Emma Wilson gets propolis off her 

 hives, separators, etc.. on page 419. to test it as 

 soon as I needed it. On p. 438 the junior editor, 

 in addition to the above, tells us to rub gi'ease 

 over thecontact part of brood-frames to pr(^vent 

 the depositing of propolis. Now, Mr. Editor, 

 do you really advise greasing all contact parts 

 of frames'? and why brood-frames only? Do 

 you intend to say by that, that the brood- frames 

 are more pi'opolized than others'? or is it be- 

 cause they are (with Northei'uers perhaps) left 

 untouched most of the time'? With us, in Pal- 

 estine, we made no distinction, but extracted 

 honey from every frame, no matter whether it 

 had brood in it or not. excepting open (unsealed) 

 brood, and there are never more than two or 

 three such combs in a brood-nest. Advanced 

 brood is not very much injured by passing 

 through the extractor. If the larv:e are moved 

 a little outward by reversing, they are put right 

 again; but what ai)out the others on the second 

 side? Well, I think the damage Is not sufficient 

 to warrant us in leaving the honey; then while 

 we are taking out the full honey-combs, occa- 

 sionally one brood frame slips along with the 

 others. 



DRONES CONGKEGATING. 



On p. 452, Mr. E. France, talking about drones 

 congregating, agrees with Mr. Doolittle that 

 drones do congregate ; but although I have 

 watched them occasionally as they congregated 

 in Palestine, I always found them only half a 

 mile from the apiary, making a great noise. It 

 is generally in thi^ afternoon, from one to four 

 o'clock, that they fly out. the forenoon being too 

 hot for them. May 14. 1890, and several days 

 following ; May 17. 1891. and following days; 

 and Apr. 1.5. 1892, and following days. I saw the 

 drones congregating, none out of sight, the 

 young queens rushing up and down, followed 

 by about two dozen drones, forming serpentine 

 and whirling figures as swift as possible, pass- 

 ing out of sight, and this not more than thirty 

 paces from the apiary. June 1, 1892. a queen 

 and two or three drones dropped down not ten 

 paces from an Arab apiary; but as there were a 

 good many weeds in the place I could not find 

 them. From all these observations, I think 

 that drones congi-egate also immediately in or 

 around the apiary, provided a good place, com- 

 fortably warm and without any wind, is found 

 near by, behind a mountain or above some low 

 lands. Ph. J. Baldenspergek. 



Nice. France, Dec. 9, 1892. 



[This is another of Mr. Baldensperger's care- 

 fully written articles, and we are sure it will be 

 read with interest. These articles are particu- 

 larly valuable because the data are not taken 



from memory, but from th(^ ever reliable note- 

 book. The same painstaking care in collecting 

 and preserving data always gives the exact 

 page when referring to previous communica- 

 tions. We wish our correspondents would kind- 

 ly remember this, as it saves much trouble. A 

 quotation from memory of something said a few 

 months back by some correspondent is apt to be 

 unreliable, and is sometimes exasperating. 



Referring to Mr. Baldensperger's inquiry in 

 regard to gn^asing the contact parts of brood- 

 frames, we would say that, by ,'n'ood- frames, we 

 meant all frames that ?/W(i/ be used for brood- 

 ing purposes, whether used for extracting or 

 not. It is our custom in this country to call all 

 frames not used for holding sections (such as 

 " wide frames," "section-holders," etc.), brood- 

 frames. So far as the propolis is concerned, 

 there should be no difference whatever between 

 the amount deposited on frames used in the 

 brood-chamber or those in the extracting-su- 

 pers. We do not recommend — or, at least, we 

 did not intend to— that all who use self-spacing 

 frames should rub the contact edges over with 

 grease. We simply desired to suggest the trial 

 of the plan. Reports .since, however, regarding 

 the value of the grease for the purpose are con- 

 flicting. We still urge further experiment in 

 various localities on a few hives.] 



RAMBLE 78. 



ON THE ROAD TO CAMPO; THE CONFLICT BE- 

 TWEEN HEE AND FRUIT MEN IN CALI- 

 FORNIA; A CHANCE FOR THE 

 BEE-KEEPERS' UNION. 



The scheme Mr. Hansen had in view when I 

 met him in San Diego, and which elicited my 

 hearty co-operation, was an extended camping- 

 trip into the mountains toward the Colorado 

 Desert. The preparations for the journey con- 

 sisted in getting a few necessities of life in the 

 line of sugar, salt, etc.; a double-barreled gun, 

 and a stove upon which to cook our game. 

 Our stove was not very cumbersome. It was 

 made from a square five-gallon oil-can. We 

 cut out one end and a portion of the other, and 

 then cut a round griddle hole in the top. nud it 

 is done. It makes a fine camping-stove, and 

 many of them are used in California. A com- 

 fortable tent was also supplied; some bedding, 

 a bale of hay, and a bag of barley. 



Mr. H. has one bay horse — large, fat, and 

 lazy, and bearing the name of Kimball. Give 

 him a cut \vith the whip and he will look 

 around to see if it is meant; and it requires 

 two or three more cuts to make him realize that 

 he must move. Kimball was a power, though, 

 when he got into motion. Our load, however, 

 was too much for one horse, and a companion 

 was hunted up. There are many horses in 

 National City, but Mr. H. hunted a long time 

 to find one just a little slower than his own, and 

 succeeded in finding a white horse bearing the 

 short but expressive title of Bob. 



Having the two horses, we next secured the 

 loan of a two-horse wagon; and here I found 

 that my friend possessed another peculiar hob- 

 by. It seemed to be his delight to borrow some 

 old ramshackle vehicle of his neighbors, and to 

 nicely repair it for the use of it. People were 

 therefore all anxious to lend to him, and he has 

 a great reputation of being a handy man in the 

 neighborhood. 



Of course, our wagon had to be repaired, and 

 the Rambler was requested to fix the brake. 

 When this vexatious job was finished, then the 

 box needed repairs; tnen astrap nailed on, and 

 nuts replaced. My patience became nearly ex- 

 hausted, and I remarked that we'd better go 



