1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



741 



oblaiiied in tlie experiments upon tlie subject of 

 wax secretion and tlie evaporation of honey, for the 

 reason that thej' were nearly free from those ele- 

 ments of uncertainty that must necessarilj' enter 

 into nearly all experimental work in the apiary, 

 sucli as season and condition of bees. 



Wiien the bees were taken from the cellar, on 

 April 18, they were in rather poor condition, due 

 doubtless to the dampness of the cellar and the 

 character and amount of the stores. The loss dur- 

 ing' the winter and spring was about one-third of 

 the number placed in the cellar. 



In May and June the bees of the whole apiary 

 were ti-aiisferred from the old hives into the modern 

 dovetailed hives, and from the old reversible frames, 

 of thi'ee distinct sizes, to the new, wide, thick-top- 

 bar fi'araes of the Langstroth size. In this opera- 

 tion all drone comb or otiier imperfect combs were 

 rejected and rendered into wax. By this change 

 the apiary was placed upon a modern footing, the 

 hives made uniform, the operations and manipula- 

 tions of the apiary rendeied more rapid, and its 

 beauty and value increased. 



The spring was very backward and rainy. During 

 fruit-bloom the bees Hew but little, and their influ- 

 ence upon the fertilization of the flowers of our 

 fruits is seen in the almost complete failure in this 

 vicinity of al! tree fruits and others largely depen- 

 deni upon the bees for the dissemination of pollen. 

 As tlie rainy, cloudy weather did not cease until 

 about the first of July, the eai-ly part of the 

 clover Ijloom was lost to the bees. No supers were 

 put on until July 8, and at that time strong colonies 

 were swarming, with almost no honey in the hives. 

 All of the white surplus was taken from basswood, 

 which yielded well. July 2."> the season for white 

 honey closed. A little surplus of late honey was 

 gathered dui-ing August, and the bees filled up the 

 hives well for winter. A yield of about 26 pounds 

 of surplus per colony was obtained, and there are 

 now in the apiary tiftj^-flve colonies in excellent 

 condition for winter. 



BREKDIN(i. 



During the year 1S91 the apiary was entirely re- 

 (jueened, only a few old queens being reserved for 

 breeding. This season the opportunity was taken 

 to replace all those of the former year's rearing 

 tiiat liad proven themselves inferior. A number of 

 Carniolan queens were introduced, and queens bred 

 from them. Added familiarity with the cross of 

 the Carniolan bee with the yellow race increases 

 my satisfaction with their v^aluable traits. They 

 have proven themselves fully as desirable as either 

 race in its purity, and they have some points of su- 

 jK-riority. 



A test was made of the claims advanced for 

 Tunisiin, or so-called "Punic" bees. During the 

 early part of the season they exhibited no traits 

 that would distinguish them from the native black 

 bee. showing the same nervousness under manipu- 

 lation. They build large numbers of queen-cells, 

 and do not cap their honey with that peculiar 

 whiteness characteristic of the common black bee. 

 After the close of the honey season they best show- 

 ed their origin and distinctive peculiarities. When 

 ever attempts were made to handle thera they be- 

 came exceedingly angry. This trait of excessive 

 iiTit:ibility seems to be their most distinctive mark. 

 As tio point of superiority was discovered, their 

 several manifest defects make them a race not to 

 be recommended as desirable for introduction 

 am luir our Americ:i,ti bee-keepers. 



REMOVING THE QUEEN TO I'REVENT SW.\RMINr:. 



As the bee-keeping industry develoiis and new 

 methods and devices come info use, each tending to 

 lower the price of the product, an increased ten- 

 sion is placed upon the apiarist in an effort to man- 

 age large numbers of colonies to increase his annu- 

 al yield. The natural tenderu^y of bees to increase 

 by swarming and the care and attention occasioned 

 thereby have given rise to various plans for its 

 prevention or control. One of the best of thi^se 

 plans, yet one little used, is outlined in the follow- 

 ing, the value of which, at the suggestion of Mr. 

 Aikin, of Loveland, ('olo., I undertook to test: 

 Early in spri.ig two colonies were select etl, as nearly 

 alike in strength as it was possible to get them. 

 These were kept at the same strt-ngth, the amount 

 of brood in the hives having been equalized several 

 times. The harvest did not open until about July 6, 

 and upon the 8tli supers were given them. July 13, 

 queen-cells were found partly constructed in colony 

 No. 1. The queen was removed, and four days and 



also eight days afterward all queen-cells were de- 

 stroyed. On July 35 (thirteen days after her re- 

 moval) the queen was returned. This colony did 

 not swarm at all. The other colony (No. 3) was 

 allowed to work without interference, and it was 

 not until July 31 that they swarmed. As the har- 

 vest from linden was about closing, the swarm 

 was returned and all queen-cells destroyed, in the 

 hope that they would not attempt to swarm again 

 before the close of the season. They did not swarm, 

 yet it may be supposed that this interference with 

 their instincts tended slightly to decrease their en- 

 ergy. The rt'sults in total amount of honey gather- 

 ed are as follows: ^fo. 1 gained in weight 37 pounds 

 between July 6 and 35. and No. 3 gained W pounds 

 during the same time. 



If from the total gain of No. 3 we sulitract 5 

 pounds as the weight of brood it contained in excess 

 of the brood in No. 1 on July 25, we still have 4 

 pounds as the amount of honey gathered by No. 3 

 greater than the amount gathered by No. 1. These 

 colonies were both worked for comb honey with 

 like treatment of supers. 



This experiment is valuable testimony to prove 

 that the removal of the queen to prevent swarming 

 does somewhat affect the amount of honey gathered 

 by the bees. The supers showed even a larger 

 difference in the amount of honey stored in the 

 sections, for the reason that, where tlie queen is ab- 

 sent, tlie bees till the brood-chamber with honey. 

 When the queen is returned this w II to a greater 

 or less extent be removed to the sections. Although 

 the interference in this manner with the economy 

 of the hive probably always reduces the amount of 

 honey stored, yet because of the lessening in tlie 

 labor and watching necessary during the swarming 

 season, I deem it advisable to follow this method 

 when any similai- plan seems necessary. 



WAX SKCRETION. 



To determine the amount of honey consumed by 

 the bees in secreting one pound of wax, this experi- 

 ment, first undertaken in 1891, was repeated tliis 

 year. As the conditions were much more favorable, 

 the results were very gratifying. There was entire 

 absence of a natural honey-flow, the weather was 

 favorable, the colonies were of the same strength, 

 and in prosperous condition, they took the food rap- 

 rapidly, and built comb readily. The result gives a 

 less amount of honey as necessary to be fed the 

 bees in order to have one pound of wax secreted than 

 was obtained in this experiment last year. This 

 was to be expected because of the more favorable 

 and exact conditions. Two colonies were taken 

 which I have designated as Nos. 1 and 3. No. 1 was 

 given a virgin queen and no comb or honej". No. 2 

 was given a virgin queen and empty combs. It was 

 noticed that the bees did not fly from either of 

 these hives as vigorously as from the others of the 

 apiary, and that No. 1 was the more quiet of the 

 two. Twenty-four a (I a hnlf pounds of food were 

 given, and almost e.xactlj 1 lb. of wax was secreted 

 by No. I. By weighing the combs both before and 

 after being melted and taking the difference, the 

 amount of pollen was ascertained. In both colo- 

 nies the young ((iieens had besun to lay. having- 

 been fertilized during the ten days the e.xpei'iment 

 was in progress. 1 now feel confident that more 

 careful work on the i)art of ollitTs who have under- 

 taken to solve this question will give practically the 

 same results as are summari/,ed on the ne.xt page. 



PI.ANTINO FOR HONEY. 



There were in bloom at the .station this season 

 three acres of sweet clover {MeAilotiis nllm) sown in 

 June, 1891. It was sown on rather poor clay soil, 

 yet it made a fair growth last fall and camethVough 

 the winter in good condition. It began to bloom 

 July 8. and continued in bloom until the 30th of 

 Septembei'. Tlie period of greatest bloom and hon- 

 ey seci'etioii was from ,Tuly ;.'() to September 1. It 

 grew rapidly and was very rank, reaching a height 

 of about six feet. The amount of bloom was great, 

 and the bees were continually busy upon it; yet 

 during the period from July 34 to .August 10, while 

 it was in full liloom and while all other natui'al 

 sources were absent, no honey of any appreciable 

 extent wasgathei'ed, and tlu' hive upon scale lost in 

 weight. Probably some honey was obtained during 

 the season from this sweet clover, but in such limit- 

 ed quantities as to make any estimate of tlie value 

 of the plant as a honey-producer impossible. At 

 the (iresent time the ground is covered with brush, 

 so thiit labor will be necessary in clearing the land 

 befoi'c plowing can be done. 



