808 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15. 



200 colonies to \}4, and ran them that way for 

 two years, side by side with others spaced Ifg". 

 The hives spaced IJr reared more brood, stored 

 much less honey above the brood in the brood- 

 chamber, and consequently stored more in the 

 supers, built less brace-comb between the top- 

 bars, and reared less drones. I changed all my 

 hives back to IM centers, and it would be a 

 hard matter to induce me to even try l^-inch 

 spacing again. I say that 1% is right for the 

 brood-chamber, and from 1^ to 1% is right for 

 the extracting super, with a queen-excluder 

 between super and brood-chamber. 



My honey-ci-op this year is 37,000 lbs., all 

 white and thick, and put up in new 5-gallon 

 cans, two in a case. 



There is a war going on in California, be- 

 tween new honey cans and cases, and second- 

 hand oil cans and cases. The new cases cost 90 

 cents each, and the oil-cases cost 40 cents each. 

 Dealers keep advising bee-keepers not to use 

 oil-cans, and yet they will not pay the differ- 

 ence In cost for new, cases. If it were not for 

 the fact that oil-cases' are bound to hurt the 

 market for California honey, we would all put 

 our honey in them, for we can not affoi'd to pay 

 from one to two hundred dollars a year to have 

 Gur honey look nice, and not get any more for it. 



Fillmore, Cal., Sept. 26. J. F. McIntyre. 



UNITING BEES, ETC. 



FRIEND DOOLITTLE GIVES US MINUTE DIREC- 

 TIONS JUST HOW TO DO IT. 



I have just been uniting up some weak colo- 

 nies of bees, or, rather, large nuclei, as they 

 would be more appropriately termed; and I 

 liked the way I did it so well that I thought the 

 readers of Gleanings might wish to know how 

 it was done. In the first place, the queens in 

 a part of the colonies were taken away to fill 

 late orders; but if I did not wish to use the 

 queens not needed in the united colonies, I 

 killed the poorer ones, as I considered them; for, 

 so far as I have practiced this plan, I find that 

 queenless bees are less inclined to quarrel, and 

 are more disposed to stay where put, than are 

 those having queens. Having the queens dis- 

 posed of, from the colonies which are to be 

 united, wait three days to a week (three days 

 in any event, so the colonies may realize their 

 queenlessness) for some cool cloudy day when it 

 is from five to ten degi-ees colder than is required 

 for the bees to fiy, when you will find the bees 

 all clustered conii)actiy, something the way they 

 are in winter. When taking the queens away, 

 take all the combs from the hives but three (the 

 three which contain the most honey), and 

 spread these combs about three-fourths of an 

 inch apart, setting them out about two inches 

 from the side of the hive, so that the bees may 

 be all clustered on these combs instead of hang- 

 ing to the sides or any part of the hive. The 

 hive which is to receive these bees and combs 

 is to be also prepared beforehand, by taking 

 away all the combs but three or four, those be- 

 ing left being the ones having the most honey 

 in them, said combs being placed close to one 

 side of the hive. • 



When the right day arrives, light your smoker 

 and put on your veil, for in following the plan 

 described you may not be able to use the hands to 

 get a stinging bee off the face as you otherwise 

 would; for. during a part of the operation, both 

 hands will be so employed that you can not use 

 ihem at any thing else. Now go to the hive 

 having the queen, and uncover it. giving the 

 bees a little smoke to keep them quiet, and 

 leaving the hive open so that you can set the 

 other frames right in without any hindrance. 



Next go to one of those that you took the queen 

 from, blowing plenty of smoke in at the en- 

 trance while uncovering the hive. Blow a few 

 puffs of smoke around the combs and over them, 

 when the smoker is to be set down, the two 

 front fingers placed between the two first frames 

 near their ends, the large fingers between the 

 second and last frames, while the third and lit- 

 tle fingers are placed beyond the third frame. 

 Now close up with the thumbs and all of the 

 fingers, thus lifting the frames and cluster of 

 bees all out of the hive at once, when they are 

 to be carried to the open hive where they are to 

 stay, and sit down in it all together, close up to 

 the frames of bees that are in this hive. Go 

 back and get the smoker, and blow smoke 

 enough on the bees to keep them down, when 

 you can arrange the frames, division-boards, 

 and hive, as you like, without very many, if 

 any, bees flying. Should a few bees stick to the 

 hive that you took the frames out of, bring the 

 hive to the one having the united colony in it, 

 and brush them out on top of the frames, as 

 they will be pretty well chilled by this time. 

 In doing this you will have to smoke those in 

 the united colony pretty well, or many will 

 fly at you, for these partly chilled bees will 

 throw their poison out on their stings so that 

 the scent of it will angei- the bees that are in 

 the united hive. If you fixed all as it should be 

 when taking the queens away and preparing 

 for uniting, and smoked the bees as I have told 

 you, there will be only now and then one that 

 will require this last operation, as all will be 

 snugly clustered on the combs. Close the hive 

 as soon as you have things fixed to suit you, 

 when you are to remove every thing from the 

 stand of the colony that was united with the 

 other, so that, when the bees come to fly on the 

 first warm day, they will find that all that 

 looks like their old home is gone. Some bees 

 will fly or hover over the old spot where home 

 was, but, not finding it, will return to the united 

 colony. In this way I never hav(> had any 

 quarreling of bees, nor any queens killed; and 

 it is so simple and easy that I like it much the 

 best of any plan of uniting bees laie in the fall. 



DEAD UEES AT THE ENTRANCE. 



A correspondent writes thus: "We have had 

 a week or more of very cold weather for the 

 time of year; but yesterday was so pleasant 

 that the bees came out from the hives. This 

 morning I found great numbers of dead bees at 

 the entrances. Was it so cold that they died 

 before going back in, or what?" 



No, the trouble was not that it was too cold 

 when the bees were flying, for bees rarely fly at 

 this time of the year when it is too cold for them 

 to get back. Really there was no trouble, un- 

 less it was that your bees were not properly 

 protected from the cold during the previous 

 cold spell. I would not be afraid of guessing 

 wrong if I said that your bees are in single- 

 walled hives; for in chaff hives many bees do 

 not die during the first cold snap, as they do in 

 single-walled hives; for 1 take it for granted 

 that the dead bees you found out at the en- 

 trance were the bees which had died in the 

 hive during the cold spell you speak of, and 

 that the live bees had drawn them out at the 

 entrance on this pleasant day which you speak 

 of. Now, while a chaff hive keeps many 

 bees from dying early in winter, yet I have 

 an idea that these bees that do thus die on 

 the approacli of winter are nearly or quite 

 worn out by old age, hence they do not keep 

 pace with the receding cluster, and are thus 

 carried off early in the season, yet are really of 

 no great account, although making quite a 

 showing at the entrance, to one not knowing 

 the cause of their being there. 



Borodino, N. Y., Oct. 39. G. M. Doolittle. 



