564 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15. 



with several queens. B. B. wants to know 

 whether that often happens. Ans.—A swarm 

 Is quite apt to have more than one queen with 

 it, especially if it is a second swarm. In that 

 case there may be four or five virgin queens. 



B.F. M.. of West Viruinia, inquires in regard 

 to a certain suspected sample of diseased brood, 

 a sample of which he smds. ^7i.s-.— We are not 

 of the opinion that the brood in question is af- 

 fected by what is known as foul brood. It is a 

 good deal like what was described last year in 

 Gleanings, page 594, Aug. 1st. It occasionally 

 gets quite a start in an apiary: but as it is not 

 very infectious it goes off itself when the honey 

 begins to come in. We think you will find the 

 brood to be all right further on in the summer. 



J. A. S., nf Virginia, desires to get as many 

 Italian drones as possible from his two Italian 

 colonies. All the rest of his stocks are blacks. 

 .^1/1.5.— Uncap all the drone brood in the black 

 colonies. Give the two Italian colonies each 

 a frame of drone comb, putting the combs in 

 the center of the brood-nest. If no honey is 

 coming in, feed them about half a pint of syrup 

 daily. As soon as drones from Italian colonies 

 are hatched out and ready to fly, put drone- 

 guards over the entrances of the black colonies, 

 and the chances are that your queen will be 

 fertilized by Italian drones. 



A. C, of Tllinois, desires to know when it is 

 the best time to requeen. Ans. — During the 

 swarming season. A number of nice and choice 

 cells will be at hand, and hybrid or other unde- 

 sirable queens can be disposed of, and the 

 choice cells put into queen-protectors can be 

 given to the colonies. This will, for the time 

 being, stop all swarming; and by the time the 

 young queen is laying, all ideas of swarming 

 will be given up. There is no use of talking, 

 we get better queens from cells reared during 

 the swarming season. We formerly di-puted 

 that, but we now tiik- it all back. 



W. C, of Illinois, wishes to know whether 

 it is advisable to take off the sections as fast as 

 they are tilled, or leave them on the hive until 

 after honey-gathering is over. ^?i.s.— In large 

 apiaries it would hardly be practicable to take 

 off every section as soon as it is nicely complet- 

 ed. The usual practice is to leave the crate on 

 until most of the sections are filled out, and 

 then remove it. The partly finished sections 

 can be put together in one or more crates, and 

 put back on the hives for the bees to complete, 

 providing the honey season has not already 

 ceased. The only objection to leaving the hon- 

 ey on longer than when fully completed is, that 

 it becomes travel and propolis stained, and, of 

 course, is less salable. 



H. T. O., of Florida, desires to divide, and 

 give queens to the queenless halves of the di- 

 vided colonies in the most economical and sat- 

 isfactory way. He has had difficulty in rearing 

 queens. Ans. — During the months of August 

 and September, untested queens will be down 

 quite low. In lots of a dozen they can probably 

 be purchased for 60 or (55 cts. apiece. See our 

 advertising columns. These queens, while cheap 

 in price, will most of them prove to be as prof- 

 itable and serviceable as any; and it is certain- 

 ly an advantage to buy queens occasionally, 

 outside of your own locality. In this way a 

 new infusion of blood will be secured. If our 

 correspondent prefers to rear his own queens 

 we would recommend to him any of the meth- 

 ods in the text- books. 



H. H., of Pennsylvania, wishes to know 

 whether we would n-commi'nd the Simpson 

 honey-plant for his locality. Ans. — It is in 

 some respects a remarkable honey-plant: and 

 as it blossoms shortly after clover, and contin- 



ues to be in bloom till nearly frost, a small field 

 of it goes a long way toward keeping the bees 

 out of mischief, as the bees work on it from 

 morning till night; but after having tested it 

 carefully, the expense of setting out the plants 

 and keeping them in cultivation is, many times, 

 more than can be gotten out of it. There are 

 some places where it grows naturally; but it is 

 not advisable to grow this or any other honey- 

 plant that is not valuable aside from the honey 

 it produces. Artificial bee pasturage should be 

 confined to the clovers, buckwheat, and seven- 

 top turnip. 



J. C. S., of Arkansas, has a lot of bees on a 

 farm 18 miles distant; and he desires to know 

 whether he can, at this season of the year, 

 bring them home safely; and if so, how. Ans. 

 — We would avoid moving bees in the height of 

 a honey-flow; and under no circumstances 

 would we do so then unless we were sure that 

 the bees would get more honey in another loca- 

 tion. If the weather is warm, or what may be 

 termed **hot," with the mercury running up to, 

 say, 90 in the shade, we should prefer to fix up 

 the bees about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. We 

 would fasten the frames, if they are loose or 

 the old-fashioned kind; tack wire cloth over 

 the entrances, and fasten wire cloth over the 

 top. Bees, during hot weather, should not 

 have any regular hive-cover on while being 

 moved. If a colony should be a very strong 

 one (and such is pretty apt to be the case), the 

 bees should be put into two hives or else have 

 an empty upper story, with wire-cloth cover. 

 As soon as the bees have quit flying, load them 

 on the wagon and bring them home by moon- 

 light, if you can select such a night in the 

 month. As soon as you arrive home, place the 

 hives on their permanent stands, and remove 

 the wire cloth from the entrances, so that if, in 

 any case, the bees should be suffering from 

 want of air, they can be relieved. 



Heads of Grain 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS. 



MKS. HARRISON'S BEE-HAT. 



I want to speak in favor of Mrs. Harrison's 

 bee-hat. I have one, and I think it is ahead of 

 all the veils I have tried, as it is not easily soil- 

 ed or torn; can be easily put on, and is safe. 

 For the cape I take two pieces of calico (or any 

 thing you choose), 18 inches square ; sew to- 

 gether about 5 inches on each side; now sew it 

 to your wire cloth, letting the seams you have 

 just sewed come on the shoulder; now attach a 

 string or band at the lower corners of the back 

 cape. I put a band clear across the lower end 

 of the back cape to make it stronger, letting 

 the ends come out long enough to tie over the 

 front cape across the bust. The only trouble I 

 have found with it is, I can not eat the buiT- 

 comb honey when taking off honey. 



Barron, Wis., June 27. Mrs. F. G. Hall. 



FRIEND .TENKINS ON A WHEEL. 



Friend Root.-— Hail, brother wheelmen! I 

 am one of you now. Ever since the safety has 

 been abroad in the land, I have yearned for 

 one; yea, verily, have ached for it; but, as you 

 know, I am a cripple— one leg gone— and I 

 doubted my ability to manage a bicycle suc- 

 cessfully, so that I never felt justified in invest- 

 ing the price of a good wheel in the experiment. 

 But I have a cousin and his wheel with me 

 now; and the first thing with me was to tackle 

 that wheel, and settle that question as to 

 whether I could ride one or not, no matter if it 



