1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



643 



see that it would be easy for those who follow 

 nothing but queen-breeding as a business to 

 adopt a standard of purity, or secure something 

 which would be called " thoroughbred " at least; 

 but for the rank and file of houey-producers to 

 adopt the same standard would be quite anoth- 

 er thing. The workers from different queens of 

 the same color and general appearance show a 

 vast difference as to working qualities — at least, 

 such is my experience. In the spring of 1877, 

 while changing a colony from one hive to an- 

 other I noticed a fine- looking orange-colored 

 queen, with the workers all well marked. A 

 neighbor, who kept several colonies of bees, 

 was present, and remarked that he would pre- 

 fer a darker- colored queen for business, and I 

 agreed with his decision. No further notice 

 was taken of the colony than of others till about 

 June 2.5th, when the bees were nearly through 

 swarming. This one had not swarmed, but had 

 60 lbs. of section honey nearly ready to come off. 

 July 3d they gave a fine swarm which was hiv- 

 ed. Although the parent colony had none of 

 its queen -cells cut, it never offered to swarm 

 again; and the result, at the end of the season, 

 was 195 lbs. of ^section honey from the parent, 

 and 114 lbs. from the swarm, or 309 lbs. from the 

 old colony in the spring. The queen reared in 

 the old hive was very much like her mother, 

 and both colonies wintered with the loss of but 

 very few bees, and consumed comparatively 

 little honey, according to many others. The 

 next season they showed the same disposition 

 not to swarm till late; and from the colony 

 with the old queen I obtained 151 lbs. of section 

 honey, while there were but few other colonies 

 that gave over 100 lbs. I then reared nearly all 

 of my queens from this old one, as long as she 

 lived, and found the majority of them very pro- 

 lific layers, and their workers great honey- 

 gatherers. After she died I began getting 

 queens from other parties who reported good 

 honey-yields through our bee-papers, to cross 

 with mine, as in-and-in breeding is generally 

 considered injurious to bees. Many of these 

 queens did not prove to be equal to my own, and 

 were soon superseded. Some proved to be good, 

 and were used in connection with the above 

 strain, which I have kept largely in the major- 

 ity ever since. By this mode of crossing I have 

 bred up a strain of bees which pleases me ; and 

 after years of trial I believe them to be second 

 to none as honey-gatherers, although for their 

 purity I can give no guarantee, neither do I 

 think it necessary to guarantee any positive 

 purity of any stock, except that it be good in 

 every spot and place where you wish goodness. 

 I am still striving to advance further along the 

 honey-gathering line, so each year finds me se- 

 curing queens from the most approved sources, 

 although it is seldom I find one I care to use as 

 a breeder; but as this "seldom one" is of great 

 value, I consider myself well paid for all my 



trouble. There is nothing in all the realm of 

 bee-keeping that gives me more pleasure than 

 does this work of improvement of stock for its 

 honey-gathering qualities; and as we have sev- 

 eral of our most prominent apiarists at work 

 along this line, if perfection can be attained 

 with bees I doubt not that America will stand 

 at the head one of these days. But I doubt 

 about that standing " at the head" being for 

 ynirity of stock. 



UNITING BEES. 



Question.— WW] you please tell us in Glean- 

 ings how to unite two or more weak colonies so 

 that they may be strong enough for winter? I 

 have some small colonies which I wish to put 

 together this fall; and as I am only a beginner 

 in bee-keeping, any advice would be acceptable. 



Ansiver. — The uniting of two or more weak 

 colonies of bees for winter is the proper thing to 

 do; for two weak colonies, kept separate, will 

 consume nearly twice the stores that both to- 

 gether would united, and very likely perish be- 

 fore spring; while, if put together, they would 

 winter as v/ell as any large colony. The way to 

 proceed is as follows: If one of the queens is 

 known to be feeble or inferior, hunt her out and 

 kill her, so that the best queen may survive; 

 otherwise pay no attention to the queens, for 

 one of them will soon be killed after uniting. 

 Having the queen matter disposed of, go to the 

 colonies you wish to unite, and blow smoke 

 quite freely in at the entrance, pounding on the 

 top of the hive at the same time with the dou- 

 bled-up fist. When both have been treated in 

 this way, wait a moment or two for the bees to 

 fill themselves with honey, when one is to be 

 carried to where the other stands, and both 

 opened. Now select out the combs from both 

 hives which contain the most honey and come 

 the nearest to filling the frames, setting them in 

 one hive. In thus setting in, 'it is always best 

 to alternate the frames, whereby the bees are 

 so mixed up that they have no desire to fight, 

 for each bee touched by another is a stranger. 

 After the hive is filled, arrange the quilt or hon- 

 ey-board and put on the cover. Next put a 

 wide board or sheet in front of the hive, leading 

 up to the entrance, and proceed to shake the 

 bees off the remaining frames, taking first a 

 frame from one hive and then one from the 

 other, thus mixing the bees as before. After 

 all are in, set a board up against the front of 

 the hive, sloping over the entrance, so that the 

 next time the bees fly they willube compelled to 

 fly against it or crawl out around it, thus caus- 

 ing them to mark their location anew, so they 

 will not be as liable to return to their old place. 

 The mixing of them and causing them to fill 

 with honey has a tendency to cause the bees to 

 look after their location ; but the board helps 

 also in this direction. Also remove all relics of 

 the old hive, so there will be no homelik e look 

 about their old location to entice them back. 



