October, 1918 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



603 



woatlior tho lioney is wanned up to soiiio- 

 tliing like the temperature of tlie broo(i- 

 iiest. Tlieii when the thermometer takes a 

 sudden ])hinge away below zero, the bees 

 with a big lot of honey do not get the full 

 effect of it, beeause the heat that has been 

 stored up in the honey is slowly given out; 

 and it seems that such a colony should stand 

 the shock better than the one with emjity 

 combs. Then, too, the presence of unlimit- 

 ed stores in early spring seems to have a sort 

 of moral effect. As Doolittle expressed it, 

 the bees say, "There's millions at our 

 liouse," and they go at the rearing of brood 



^vithout reserve. 



* * li- 

 lt seems to be an understood thing that a 

 few colonies of bees will winter in a cellar 

 better than a large number. If the cellar 

 is a little too cold, the larger number of 

 colonies will generate more heat, and why 

 shouldn't they winter better than a smaller 

 number? Or, to put the question in more 

 general form, why will a small number of 

 colonies winter better in a cellar than a 

 large number? I'm not sure I ever saw" that 

 question answered. Just now, I can think 

 of no other reason than that the air is purer 

 with the smaller number. If that be the 

 true reason, then it would seem that the 

 larger number should do just as well as the 

 smaller, if by any means the air be kept just 

 as pure with the larger number. I am 

 strongly of the opinion that such is the 

 correct idea. It is somewhat doubtful 

 whether beekeepers in general are awake to 

 the importance of good air for bees. I sus- 

 pect that wrong temperature in cellars is 

 not so much responsible for bad wintering 

 as w^rong air. [We agree with you most 

 emphatically on the importance of* having 

 plenty of fresh air when the temperature 

 goes above .50. The probabilities are that 

 too much emphasis has been placed upon the 

 advantage of air when the temperature is 

 down to 43 and 45. When the mercury goes 

 up to 60 then it is that the bees require a 

 great deal of air. Better keep the tempera- 

 ture down to 45, if possible; but, if not, give 

 ))lenty of fresh aii-. — Editoi'.] 



M. C. Richter talks some good sense at 

 page 544, especially when he says: "Colo- 

 nies at this time which have yielded 50 per 

 cent or less of the average yield per colony 

 in an apiary by all means should be re- 

 queened as soon as possible." Never was this 

 so important as now, because honey was 

 never so high in price as now\ p]ven sup- 

 posing honey is sold at only 15 cents a 

 pound, and supposing the average yield of 

 the apiary is only 60 pounds, let us see how^ 

 it will iigure out. The colony that yields 

 only 50 [ler cent is 30 pounds shy of the 

 average, and that 30 pounds at 15 cents 

 a pound will bring $4.50. If $1.00 is paid 

 for a queen that will bring up the colony 

 to the average, that will leave the beekeeper 

 $3.50 to the good — a matter worth consider- 

 ing. Let jjs, however, consider sometliing 



more nearly the actual, altho conservative. 

 Let us suppose the average is 100 pounds, 

 and the price 20 cents. In that case a short- 

 age of 50 per cent will amount to $10.00. 

 Wouldn't it be good business to advance one 

 of those ten dollars for a new queen? But 

 that's not all of it. If that poor queen is 

 left undisturbed, her influence will continue 

 into succeeding years, and not the least of 

 the mischief she will do will be to furnish 

 scrub drones for forthcoming virgins.- 



• I think Mr. Eichter would agree with me 

 in going still farther, and advising that 

 every colony wdiich falls below- the average, 

 whether it he 50 per cent or only 5 per cent 

 below, should be marked for requeening just 

 as soon as convenient, and then requeened 

 wnth a queen that wall not only bring the 

 colony up to the average, but above the 

 average. And then having on hand bees of 

 the best stock, he will rear his own queens, 

 keeping constantly in mind the slogan, 

 "Breed from the best." 

 « * « 



Speaking of getting rid of laying workers, 

 this is said on page 554: "Another method 

 that is sometimes employed is simply to 

 take the hive several rods away from the 

 apiary and shake the bees onto the ground 

 and then return the hive to its original lo- 

 cation. The workers will return to the hive, 

 but the laying workers can not find their 

 way back and will be lost. ' ' It is not al- 

 ways wise to combat cherished traditions; 

 but, if the editor will obligingly take the 

 witness-stand, I should like to ask a few 

 questions. As all workers are believed to 

 mark carefully the location of the hive upon 

 taking their first flight, and as the queen 

 does so with equal care, do you believe that 

 a laying w^orker never marks the location of 

 its hive? If it does so, why should it not 

 find its way back to that hive? Consider- 

 ing that a large number of workers are en- 

 gaged in the disreputable business of laying 

 eggs, and that consequently each layin'?; 

 worker can lay only a con'paratively small 

 number of eggs, do you belie\e that a laying 

 workei', like a queen, is limited to laying 

 eggs as its sole business? Do you know 

 that ii la.\'ii'g worker is not in the habit of 

 going afield for nectar, just the same as 

 other workers? Do you know that dumping 

 at a distance from the hive the bees of a 

 laying-worker colony will have any other 

 effect than to lose the bees too young to 

 have yet flown, if any such young bees be 

 Dresent? [We, together wdth the rest of the 

 beekeeping fraternity, are obliged to confess 

 considerable ignorance concerning laying 

 workers. We do not know whether laying 

 workers ever mark their locations or not, 

 nor could we swear that laving workers 

 never gather nectar, altho we seriously 

 doubt it. But we do know that we have 

 often eliminated laying workers by simply 

 dumping the bees at a distance from the 

 hive and then introducing a queen-cell or 

 queen; whereas, if introduced directly, we 

 have frequently met with failure, — Editor.] 



