818 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15. 



to death. Four six-penny nails fasten these 

 frames to hives, driven down with the heads 

 left so as to draw out easily with a hammer. 



I am trying to devise some plan to clamp 

 these screen -frames on so as to save time and 

 confusion, and marring of frames. Vandeusen 

 clamps do not do, although I shall try them 

 again. 



It will never do to crowd a real strong colony 

 from a two-story to a one-story hive, for mov- 

 ing; but with the medium strong I can do so. 

 If hot weather, I should not crowd them. 



Now take a careful driver, and you can move 

 with success. lam almost always with these 

 big teams to see that all goes well. 



When moving so many bees at one time, if 

 set in one apiary, to avoid a great confusion of 

 bees they should be released in the evening, 

 and the next morning they are quiet and not as 

 cross. In hot weather I prefer the night for 

 moving. 



I am using the Porter escape with success. 

 Bee-men are certainly behind the times if they 

 can afford to and then do not use them. A thor- 

 ough trial is all that is necessary to convince 

 any one. Of course, with heavy honey for ex- 

 tracting it does not come out as clean; but I 

 prefer them to brushing bees, and then you can 

 avoid killing so many bees; and when the 

 honey season is closing, and bees beginning to 

 hang around the extracting- house, and follow 

 you around, inclined to rob, then is when one of 

 the great advantages of the Porter escape 

 comes in. With me, near the coast, it is much 

 cooler, and takes much longer for them to leave 

 the super; but in the heat of the season, if put 

 on in the evening, the super is clear by morn- 

 ing, with but few exceptions. 



I'll try, at my first opportunity, to give my 

 mode of preparing bees for the honey harvest, 

 extracting, canning, etc. 



Ventura, Cal., Oct. 3. 



Knowing that our friend Mr. Mendleson 

 was one of the; most extensive bee-keepers in 

 the world, and one^who does things on a mam- 

 moth' scale, I have been trying to get him to 

 write, giving some of his ;methods of manage- 

 ment; and it is with no little pleasure that I 

 am now permitted to present the first? article of 

 the series. That his business is conducted on a 

 mammoth scale is evidenced by the two bee- 

 moving wagons shown herewith. [ Why, think 

 of moving a whole apiary of 150 colonies at a 

 single load ! and, as if two wagons were not 

 enough, he has two such ! Why, friend M., 

 you fairly make those of us who lind a 25-col- 

 ony wagon large '.enough for our needs feel 

 small. Yes, I should think'you would want to 

 go along with the load or loads; for if the bees 

 of 07ily one .colony should break loose, sting 

 those six horses, and if those horses should take 

 a notion to run down one of those rough moun- 

 tain roads, and if the wagon should^tip over — 

 my. oh my ! /shouldn't want to be' anywhere 

 within a mile. I am well aware that I have 

 stuck in a lot of ifs; but I suppose yon go along 

 so that if the bees break forth from one colony 

 you will be on hand with that smoker to stop 

 further proceedings instanter. — Ed.] 



Those bee-escapes: It is unaccountable how 

 some bee-keepers, good ones too, feel that they 

 can get along without them.— Ed.] 



SrPERSEDURE OF QUEENS. 



SHALL THE BEES OR THE APIABIST TAKE THE 



MATTER IN HAND? OLD AND YOTJNG 



QUEENS. 



By Dr. C. C. Miller. 



r Some think it is best to see that no queen 

 older than two years is left in the apiary, while 

 many of our best bee-keepers believe in letting 

 the bees take care of the matter to suit them- 

 selves. I must confess I don't know for certain 

 which is best. Generally I have allowed the 

 bees to choose their own time for superseding. 

 Of the 64 queens that started the season this 

 year in the home^ apiary, 6 were reared in 1892, 

 25 in 1893, 8 in 1894 24 in 1895 ; .^ zu 



Q Four of the 1892 queens were superseded in 

 April or May, and the six averaged very poor 

 work in the supers, although two of themj did 

 good work. Although there were exceptions, I 

 got'; my best work; generally from the 1895 

 queens. It is noticeable that the 1893 queens 

 exceeded in number those reared in 1894 and 

 1895. c Especially noticeable i§ the very small 

 number of 1894 queens, only 8. I think that 

 may be accounted for by the difference in sea- 

 sons. The year 1894 was a very poor season 

 throughqut, the bees giving no surplus, and 

 not getting enough for winter. So there were 

 not many queens superseded. 



The year 1893 was a year of some surplus, so 

 there were a good many supersedures. In 1895 

 the early crop was a failure; but the fall flow 

 was fine, so there were supersedures enough. 

 In general, it seems that the bees supersede 

 their queens after a hard season's work much 

 more than after a season of light work. Is it 

 because the queens lay more in a good season? 



Without going into particulars. I may say 

 that I am well satisfied that it makes a good 

 deal of diflference whether a queen is supersed- 

 ed in the spring or the fall. Geo. L. Vinal may 

 be right in thinking late-reared queens superi- 

 or; but even if they are no better it is not hard 

 to see why a colony changing its queen in 

 April or May will not do so well. Take two 

 colonies alike, and let one of them change its 

 queen at the time when each has its hive about 

 hal led with brood. No eggs are laid in the 

 hive for a week or two, at the very time when 

 it's most m portant, and one can easily believe 

 that the colony which keeps its queen will sur- 

 pass the superseding one. 



But when the superseding occurs in the fall 

 (and I think by far the greater part occur then) 

 the hive is filled with bees, and the loss of a 

 week or two in laying is scarcely felt. More- 

 over, the young queen lays enough longer in 

 the fall to make up the deficiency; and this 



