1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUBE 



108 



POI>LEN IN lANUARY. 



Our bees are bringing in pollen from the alder to- 

 day, one month earlier than I ever remember of 

 their doing before. S. R. Neave. 



Hughes ville, Md., Jan. 5, 1890. 



NEW HONEY IN DECEMBER. 



We have May weather here in December. I could 

 extract 5 gallons of new honey, for 1 have plenty of 

 combs that are about ready to seal, that were per- 

 fectly empty ten days ago. and a plenty of brood in 

 all stages, from the egg to hatching. 



J. AV. Taylor. 



Ozan, Hempstead Co., Ark., Dec. '26. 



BEKS GATHERING POLLEN AND HONEY IN 

 DECEMBER. 



My bees and my neighbor's have been gathering 

 pollen and honey for the last week, Christmas not 

 excepted. They are roaring in the maples to-day. 

 I looked at a hive of mine yesterday, and found 

 young bees and eggs plentiful. I should like to 

 hear from some one further south on this question. 

 I should like to hear from friend Root also, to hear 

 what he thinks the result will be next spring. 



C. S. Hackworth. 



Oliver's Springs. Tenn., Dec. 27,1889. 



A GOOD QUESTION. 



Do bees always gather their entire load of honey 

 or pollen Irom one kind of bloom? 1 have watt-hed 

 them closely for two years, and have never seen 

 the first bee go from one flower to another kind to 

 finish. J. P. Ralston. 



Uniontown, Kan., Jan. 9. 



[I believe that bees usually confine themselves to 

 one flower, but quite a number of exceptions have 

 been reported. During a time of drouth, when the 

 bees are hunting here and there to see what can be 

 found to enable them to turn an honest penny, 

 they certainly hover around and examine a great 

 variety of flowers. When a bee is loading up, how- 

 ever, as a rule It takes the same plant.] 



A question FOR DOOLITTLE. 



Mr. DooUttle's article, on not raising drones, is 

 very fine indeed. But he does not tell us what to 

 do when we take out the frame with a lot of drone- 

 cells, and also lots of worker brood in the same 

 comb. We don't want to hang such up to dry, do 

 we? J. W. Smith. 



Moscow, Vt., Jan. 6, 1890. 



[Mr. Doolittle replies:] 



The only thing to do in this case is to cut out the 

 drone brood and fit worker comb in its place, un- 

 less you hiive weak colonies at such a time that the 

 frame of brood— minus the drone— can be set into. 

 The combs should be looked after in early spring, 

 before there is much brood in them. 



Borodino, N. Y., Jan. 9. G. M. Doolittle. 



QUEEN-EXCLUDING SEPARATORS. 



Would not metal separators be better if perforated 

 like the zinc you make? I think they would answer 

 the same purpose, and be more convenient for the 

 bees. F. E Thompson. 



Tiskilwa, Ills., Jan. 8, 1890. 



[There would be no particular advantage in sep- 

 arators perforated so as to be queen-e.\cluding, over 

 separators perforated with larger holes. Besides, 

 the first cost would be too much. Comb honey 

 does not sell at a price to warrant such expense in 

 the supers. And, by the way, who is prepared to 

 say that perforat'ons in separators are of any real 

 advantage? We have made perforations of all sorts 

 and sizes, for years past, and for a great many dif- 

 ferent parties; but my impression is, one after an- 

 other is dropping the perforations, and going back 

 to plain wood or tin. Am 1 right, friends?) 



0a^ QaEp;¥i6N-B@^, 



With Replies from our best Autliorities on Bees. 



All queries sent in for this department should be brietly 

 stated, and free from any possible ambiguity. The question 

 or questions should be written upon a separate slip of paper, 

 ana marked, " For Our Question-Box." 



Question 1.53.— a. What sort of hive cover do yuv 

 prefer— that is, should it fit upon the hive telescope 

 fashion'^ b. What distance aliove the brood- frames 

 gh<ndd the cover-board be when <m the hive? c. Is it an 

 advantage to have the cuver fice indies or more deep, so 

 that the cushion or honey-vase may be used under it? 

 d. If you use a deep cover, or a cover more than a bee- 

 space above the frame, how do you prevent the build- 

 ing up of burr-comlts at the approach of the lioney-sea- 

 son, before putting on the surplus cases'^ 



Plain board. No. b. Scant -'i inch. e. Think not. 

 d. Don't any more. 

 Michigan. C. A. J. Cook. 



a. That is my style of cover exactly, b. | inch. 



c. I think not. 



Ohio. N. W. H. R. Boardman. 



a. A plain board, well cleated at the ends. b. Ji 

 inch. c. It is no advantage, at least here in Cal- 

 ifornia. 



California. S. W. R. Wilkin. 



a. A plain board, cleated at the ends. b. ,■',-, of an 

 inch. c. No advantage that is not greatly overbal- 

 anced by the disadvantages. 



Illinois. N. C. J. A. Green. 



a. I prefer to have the cover fit upon the hive tel- 

 escope fashion, b. About {;■, inch. c. It is. d. I put 

 on my surplus cases before the honey-season is 

 well opened. 



Wisconsin. S. W. Geo. Grimm. 



Our Quinby frames rest on the bottom-board: a 

 cap with cover nailed on fits down over the frames, 

 resting on the bottom-board. We use a quilt be- 

 tween. 



New York. C. P. H. Elwood. 



a. I so use my cap or hood, which is 8 inches deep, 

 b. I use a beequilt over the frames when the sec- 

 tions are off, together with a sawdust cushion, c. 

 I so consider it. d. As at b. 



New York. C. G. M. Doolittle. 



a. Yes. b. We use a honey-board directly over 

 the bees, % of an inch above the top of the frames; 

 then our hive top, or cover, is 6 inches deep above 

 the honey-board. That gives room for a cushion 

 over the honey-board, under the cover, for winter. 



Wisconsin. S. W. E. France. 



a. I use an 8 or 9 inch cap. c. Yes, more than 5 

 inches; from 7 to 10 inches, so that, in the early sea- 

 son, the cushion may be used over the honey-case. 



d. It is time to give bees some surplus room when- 

 ever they build comb above the brood-chamber. 



Illinois. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



a. For my style of hive, with the frames even 

 with the top of the body, I use a cover wiih a two- 

 inch rim under the cover-board, b. That depends 

 upon the hive; from a bee space to such distance 

 as best suits the bee-keeper, d. See a. I don't pre- 

 vent it. 



Ohio. N. W. A. B. Mason. 



