452 



GLEA]SIINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15. 



against dark capping of sections. [Perhaps 

 so; but when we tried to force the %-inch- 

 deep top -bar on our customers they just 

 wouldn't have ft. — Ed.] 



A REMARKABLE CASE of fidelity to a (jueen is 

 reported by R. Wilkin. March 19 he found a 

 queen alive in a hive, the queen having been 

 left there caged last October. Glad to get that 

 point, for I always supposed the queen was left 

 to shift for herself during winter; but plainly 

 the bees fed this queen five months in her iron 

 prison. 



Why do people Insist that my queens won't 

 work in two stories ? I never said they wouldn't. 

 Now a Florida Mann asks what kind of top- 

 bars I used that stopped the queen. With top- 

 bars 13^ x% my queens go freely from one story 

 to another. But in a few cases I shut a queen 

 in an upper story, and she sulked, and wouldn't 

 lay outside the brood-nest. 



A. B. Anthony thinks there should be a new 

 word coined, to express in fewer syllables "ex- 

 tracting-super" or "extracting-case." "Su- 

 per" generally refers to comb honey; but pos- 

 sibly it will do just as well for extracted, just 

 as "surplus" refers to both kinds of honey. 

 But if any one has a short name for " super for 

 extracted honey," let's have it. [Suppose you 

 coin one, doctor. — Ed.] 



You SAY', Mr. Editor, p. 424, "I do not re- 

 member that in any work in English this mat- 

 ter of the position of eggs .... has been 

 touched upon." That's because you don't read 

 Gleanings. See last paragraph of page 348, 

 where a direct quotation is given from Cowan's 

 Honey-bee. Let's settle the question. [I give 

 up. I read the article, but had forgotten it. 

 But our bees seem to say there is no particular 

 angle. Say, doctor, suppose you examine yrmr 

 combs and report your findings. Books don't 

 always tell the truth.— Ed.] 



Years ago A. I. Root taught that a frame 

 of brood would prevent a swarm from abscond- 

 ing, while Doollttle insisted it would have the 

 opposite elTect. I wish they could come to an 

 agreement, for I've an idea that, although gen- 

 erally the brood has the right ejBfect, yet in 

 some cases it works the other way. What do 

 you think about it nowadays, G. M.? \My ex- 

 perience accords with yours, doctor. Some- 

 times when a swarm would leave a frame of 

 unsealed larvas I was strongly tempted to side 

 with Doolittle; but then I concluded that the 

 bees would have decamped in spite of any 

 thing.— Ed.] 



R. L. Taylor reports in Review the result of 

 five colonies wintered in cellar and five out- 

 doors, supposed to be alike. Those in cellar 

 consumed a shade less than 9 pounds each; 

 those outside, a shade more than 18 each, and 

 three of the latter died. That's strong testimo- 

 ny in favor of cellar wintering, and yet — and 



yet — I don't know. [The outdoor colonies were 

 "without protection," save that they were on 

 the south side of Mr. Taylor's honey-house. If 

 they had been put into double-walled hives 

 packed, the difference in consumption of stores 

 would not have been so great. We can winter 

 outdoors in double-walled hives successfully, 

 in our location, but if they happen to be in 

 single hives the bees generally die; and, if they 

 don't die, there is a heavy consumption of 

 stores. The results of Mr. Taylor's experiments 

 are quite what we should expect in our locality. 

 -Ed.] 



Speaking of amalgamation, the editor says, 

 p. 416, " The majority are opposed to having an 

 international organization." How many times 

 must you be told that the Union is already in- 

 ternational, and always has been ? At least 21 

 votes were cast for Canadians at the last elec- 

 tion. Now will you please tell us just one ob- 

 jection that has any foundation in fact? [The 

 organization is called the National Bee-keep- 

 ers' Union; but, like some other national bod- 

 ies, it extends its privileges to residents of 

 other countries. In reply to your question, an 

 international organization is too much of a 

 good thing — too big to handle, and, what is 

 more, bee-keepers of the United States don't 

 want it, if letters to that effect that are contin- 

 ually coming in mean any thing. You know 

 you can lead a horse to water, but you can't 

 make him drink. You may advocate an Inter- 

 national Bee-keepers' Union, but you can't 

 make bee-keepers on this side of the line ac- 

 cept it, if I am any judge of the apicultural 

 pulse. The North American, an international 

 organization, has not been such a success as It 

 ought to be. Already there has been some 

 friction among the two factions represented by 

 Canada and the United States. I refer, for in- 

 stance, to the incorporation matter. The Can- 

 adians have entered no protest against mak- 

 ing the Union a distinctly national body — one 

 that can have annual meetings, and discuss 

 apicultural questions. If you try to amalgam- 

 ate there will be a "howl." Then why not 

 make the Union what we want it to be, and let 

 the North American stand as it is ? This is the 

 only course under the condition of things that 

 is open to us, in my judgment.— Ed.] 



THE BOARDMAN PLAN OF FEEDING. 



I have been greatly interested in the Board- 

 man plan of feeding, to throw all the nectar 

 into the sections. But right at the outset a 

 great dilficulty confronts me as to its adapt- 

 ability to this climate. In January and Feb- 



