1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



367 



in brood-rearing; hence when daily feeding- is re- 

 sorted to, but little should be fed to each colony, 

 which, as a rule, should be given just at night, or 

 near sundown, so as to prev^ent robbing and de- 

 moralization. There are different ways of giving 

 this feed, such as feeders of various kinds kept by 

 all dealers in supplies; by tipping the hive up a lit- 

 tle in front when a tight bottom-board is used, and 

 pouring the feed in at the entrance, or in at the top 

 over the bees, and by filling the combs with feed, 

 and setting one such comb in the hive every few 

 days. When plenty of empty combs are at hand, I 

 prefer the latter plan, and do not know but that it 

 stimulates the bees to as great extent as by any 

 other way ; the reason why 1 prefer it, being that it 

 is much less work. To fill the combs with the feed, 

 lay one flat down in a wash-tub, wash-boiler, or 

 something of the kind having deep sides, so as to 

 prevent the feed spattering about the room, when 

 with a quart dipper, whose bottom has previously 

 been punched full of small holes (punching from 

 the inside out), the feed is dipped and held up about 

 a foot over the comb, so as to fall in fine streams in- 

 to the cells, thus driving out the air, and filling 

 each cell full. Now turn the comb over, and fill the 

 other side, when it is to be hung up to drain a little 

 while, after which it is ready to be placed in the 

 hive the same as a frame of honey. If a person has 

 but few colonies, and likes to work at them, daily 

 stimulative feeding is only a pleasure; but with 

 hundreds of colonies it is very laborious, and is 

 considered by many to be only a waste of time, es- 

 pecially when the colony has plenty of honey in 

 the hive. The feed to be used at this time of year 

 is made by dissolving two pounds of granulated 

 sugar in one pound of boiling water, and it is ready 

 to feed as soon rs it is cool enough not to burn the 

 bees. 



TWO QUEENS WITH A SWARM. 



Next he asks: "Do bees ever have two queens? 

 Last summer I hived a swarm that had two queens, 

 and my neighbor tells me that there were two 

 swarms." The first, or prime swarm, never has 

 more than one queen with it unless the old queen 

 has been killed by some accident, for the old queen 

 always goes with this swarm, leaving maturing 

 queen-cells in the old hive, from which, when hatch- 

 ed, the young queens lead out all after-swarms. 

 The only exception to this is where the old queen is 

 lost, as hinted at above, near the swarming season, 

 when several queen cells will be formed so that 

 young queens may lead out what appears to be the 

 prime swarm, the same as they do after-swarms; 

 but such swarms can hardly be called prime 

 swarms. About eight days after the first swarm 

 has issued, the first young queen will be hatched, 

 as a rule; but if after-swarming is considered best 

 In the economy of the hive, the young queens are 

 kept in their cells, and fed through an aperture in 

 the royal cell, by a little knot of bees, say a dozen 

 or two. If swarming is not considered " economy 

 by the bees," then all the other queen-cells are torn 

 down and the young queens destroyed, so that the 

 first hatched is the only queen in the hive. If the 

 cells are protected as above, the first-hatched queen 

 seems to get in a rage and utter shrill notes at in- 

 tervals, called " piping," which our questioner has 

 doubtless heard. This is kept up for two or more 

 days, when the second swarm, or first of the after- 

 swarms, issues. The queens kept back in the cells 

 are growing in age the same as the one which is 



out, and 80 it often happens that, during the hurry 

 and bustle of swarming, the knots of bees leave the 

 queen-cells, when these young queens hastily finish 

 biting the covers off their cells, and go out with the 

 swarm, in which case there are two or more queens 

 with a swarm, so that you were probably right and 

 your neighbor wrong. 



WHICH Vi'AY SHOULD HIVES FACE ? 



fie next asks: "Should a hive face north or 

 south?" All bee-keepers agree, I believe, that 

 hives should never face north of an east-and-west 

 line, and the majority favor a south-easterly direc- 

 tion— at least, that is miy preference. The reason 

 for this is, that the sun entices the bees out to 

 work earlier in the day, while a northern exposure 

 keeps them in later; and in winter, where wintered 

 on the summer stands, it is almost sure to result in 

 the loss of the colony, from our rigorous north 

 winds blowing in at the entrance, and the confine- 

 ment of the bees, caused by the entrance being in 

 the shade on mild sunshiny days. The only colo- 

 nies I ever tred to winter facing the north died be- 

 fore spring. 



SHADE FOR HIVES. 



The last question asked is, " Is it best to have a 

 roof over the hives, or have them under a shade- 

 tree for shade?" Some of our best beekeepers 

 use a shade-board made of lath, or light lumber, to 

 shade the hives during the summer months; but if 

 the locality is at all windy, a weight of some kind 

 must be used on them to keep the wind from blow- 

 ing them away. Years ago I used a 15 or 20 pound 

 stone to keep these shade-boards on, and consider- 

 ed them necessary at that time; but as it had to be 

 lifted every time the hive was manipulated, it soon 

 became so laborious that I could not follow it. 

 Shade-trees (not very dense) are always good; but 

 after all kinds of shade have been tried by myself, 

 I now prefer to paint the hives white and let them 

 stand in the sun. G. M. Doolittle. 



Borodino, N. Y., May 3. 



Eriend D., I should hardly agree with you 

 in regard to the danger in having hives 

 face to the north. In arranging our hives 

 in the hexagonal apiary, a great number of 

 them faced northward ; but we have not 

 noticed any particular difference, unless it 

 was during the cold and chilly winds in the 

 spring of the year. I believe I pretty near- 

 ly agree with you in regard to painting a 

 hive white, and leaving it in the sun. 



EXTKACTORS FOR CALIFORNIA. 



,1. F. M'INTYRE DECLARES IN FAVOR OK THE RE- 

 VERSIBLE PRINCIPLE. 



Frie/dZ JfooL-— I take it for granted that you feel 

 the same with regard to extractors that you do 

 with regard to Italian bees and other races. You 

 say you could sell one race as well as another, and 

 want to know the truth. 1 do not know the state 

 of bee-keeping in the east, but in this county it is 

 almost entirely in the hands of specialists. If you 

 will turn to page V34, 188!l, you will see all the bee- 

 keepers in this county, with the number of bees 

 each has. A few years ago there were three times 

 as many bee-keepers, and several of the smaller 

 ones on the list have sold out since that report was 

 made. I have bought Jepson out, just below me 

 on the list. You see he had 75 colonies and a Novice 



