530 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



forated zinc diminishes the amount of hon- 

 ey stored in the supers. The testimony 

 above doesn't point that way. Bees will 

 store honey just as well above perforated 

 zinc as they will without any. 



ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS; WAGES FOR EXTRACT- 

 ING, ETC. 



1. One of my old hives has plenty of bees, but had 

 little brood, compared with others during the hon- 

 ey flow, and they stored no surplus at all. Is the 

 queen too old? or what is the cause? 



3. If a man goes out extracting for other bee- 

 keepers, what is the usual compensation? Do you 

 think 5 lbs. per hive too much? or would it be more 

 just to take a certain percentage? 



3. I want to establish an out-apiary next year, 

 with a party who keeps about (i to 10 hives himself. 

 He wants h lbs. of honey for every hive of mine, 

 and is williDg to give me 5 lbs. for every hive of his 

 for the care of his, both parties keeping their own 

 increase, if any. Is this arrangement just? If you 

 think the answer to these questions will interest 

 others, you may publish the same. 



Olmsted, June 26. M. R. Kdehne. 



1. Queens durinsr or just before swarming 

 time very often stop or diminish laying 

 temporarily. After the swarming season, 

 or after the colony has swarmed to a new 

 location, the queen will commence in good 

 earnest. 



2. About $2 00 or $2.50 per day ought to 

 be fair wages for extracting, the person 

 proposing to do the extracting furnishing 

 the extractor. Five pounds per hive would 

 be pretty big wages. 



3. The arrangement proposed would hard- 

 ly be fair. Supjioseyou owned, at the out- 

 apiary, 100 colonies, and the other party 

 owned 10. You would have to give him 500 

 lbs., and he would give you in return but 50. 



PROSPECTS POOR FOR THE LOCALITY OF E. FRANCE. 



Mr. Root:— When you were having your rainy 

 weather in Ohio we had a three-weeks' drouth. 

 Now we are having rain and floods— rain, rain, rain. 

 Cornfields are green with weeds. White clover is 

 scarce^that is, old enough to blossom. I was at 

 one of our bee-yards the 19th, and could put all the 

 clover blossoms that I saw for five miles, into a 

 peck measure. But the young clover is thick all 

 over the ground; but that won't blossom this year. 

 Bees have had a hard time to make a living for the 

 past three weeks. We went through one yard yes- 

 terday. I don't think they had, on an average, one 

 pound of honey per colony, and many did not have 

 enough for supper— not a bit of new comb built yet. 

 Basswood looks promising. E. France. 



Platteville, Wis., June 21, 1890. 



you please advise me in regard to the matter? I 

 should like to raise bees if I can make a success. 

 New Haven, Ct., June 26. E. W. Easter. 



From your letter we gather that the colo- 

 ny you mention was queenless, and of 

 course they would then dwindle down to 

 mere nothing just as you state. The colony 

 is now probably too far gone to help matters 

 any by giving them a queen. You could 

 very easily make another start by buying a 

 two-frame nucleus and an untested queen. 

 These if the hive is Langstroth size could 

 be put right into the hive where the bees 

 died, and in a very short time you would 

 again have a good colony of Italians for the 

 next winter. If your hive does not use the 

 regular L. frame you had better purchase a 

 pound of bees and a queen. 



WHY THE BEES DWINDLE. 



I should like to ask you for a little advice. I 

 bought me a swarm of bees one year ago this 

 spring. Last season was a bad one for honey. The 

 bees filled the hive full of comb, but did not make 

 enough honey to last them through, so I fed them 

 all winter when the weather was warm enough. 

 This spring the bees were in good condition, and 

 plenty of them; but for some cause they have 

 dropped off, and I don't think there are fifty bees 

 in the hive. I have watched them closely, and I 

 don't think there have been any moths near them, 

 but I think they grow less from day to day. Will 



WHY DID THE QUEENS STOP LAYING DURING THE 

 HONEY-SEASON? 



I should like to ask you a question in relation to 

 my bees, and, in fact, all the bees in this place. They 

 are dying a natural death, for the queens have not 

 laid an egg for six weeks; and what the cause is I 

 don't know. It is not for the want of stores or 

 honey-flow, for there have been hundreds of acres 

 of alfalfa in bloom of late, and the weather is not 

 unfavorable. 



ANOTHER POISONOUS HONEY-PLANT. 



The bees worked well for a couple of months 

 since, on a weed that is called loco. Now, that 

 same weed is very poisonous tu horses when they 

 eat it, and also to cows. It is not always fatal, but 

 they get crazy. Is there any thing in the flower 

 that will prevent queens from laying? While the 

 bees worked on it the queens were laying, and col- 

 onies increasing; but when the loco stopped bloom- 

 ing the queens stopped laying, aad consequently 

 the bees are dwindling down to nothing. Have you 

 ever heard of a similar case? There has been loco 

 here every year since we started bees here four 

 years ago. James Christianson. 



St. Johns, Ariz., July 1. 



Friend C, it seems to me you have an- 

 swered your own question ; namely, the 

 weather was not favorable. Queens will 

 not lay, as a rule, unless honey is coming 

 into the hive ; and no matter if there are 

 hundreds and thousands of acres of blos- 

 soms, there are times when there may not 

 be a drop of honey for the bees to get.— Per- 

 haps Prof. Cook can tell us something 

 about the poisonous honey-plant you men- 

 tion. I do not remember to have heard of 

 it before. Even though all you say be true, 

 I hardly think the honey is poisonous or has 

 any thing to do with the non-laying of the 

 queens. 



A QUEEN OUT FOR A PLAYSPELL. 



T received the queen in fine condition, and she is 

 now doing finely. She commenced laying the sec- 

 ond day after being received, and has filled three 

 frames of eggs. I introduced her as per directions, 

 and as I took a frame from the hive I stepped over 

 to arrange frames, and see all was right; and on 

 coming back in about fifteen minutes (I don't think 

 the time to be any more) my new queen was poising 

 at the entrance of the hive, taking her bearings 

 very carefully. I dropped to the well-known posi- 

 tion of a bee-hunter, to keep her against the hori- 

 zon, and had the pleasure of seeing her majesty 



