GO 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1875- 



I have had some experience similar to that of At- 

 kinson in Jan. No. liast season I placed a caged 

 Queen in a black (iueenless stock ; after 3G hours I 

 went to release her- it was a cold wet misty day. I 

 raised the honey board, se)tarated the frames, took 

 the wax stopper but of the cn;-e and held the mouth of 

 the cage down to the frames; tl>c (Juecn went out of 

 the cage and down the combs but soon returned to the 

 top of the frames and took flight. 1 bade her good by 

 and closed the hive ; in a week I went to introduce 

 another Queen when to my surprise I found an Italian 

 Queen in the stock and "laying eggs. I h:id similar 

 experience in hiving a natural swarm also. 



Eu. Wbllington, Kiverton, Iowa. Feb. 18th, '75. 



HOW TO WOUK THD LONU OK STANDAK1> HIVES. 



I have had New Idea hives in use four seasons, the 

 only objection I have to them is that the bees build 

 loo much drone comb. When the honey harvest is 

 over 1 make new swarms with the extra frames and 

 bees, and put in a <livision board. 



J. WiNKiKLD, Hubbard, O. Mar<'h 3rd, 1875. 



By making an entrance in each end of the 

 Standard liivcs it is quite an easy matter to 

 inalte two (colonies of one. The modus operan- 

 di would be somethiuij: like this; after honey 

 gathering is over put in the division board, 

 rear an extra Queen, and at the approach of 

 winter it will be an easy matter to have two 

 good colonies. In the spring if botli are strong, 

 one should be lifted out and put into a new- 

 hive. Both can then be built up until they till 

 their hives, just in time for surplus honey, and 

 then we arc to keep down tlie swarming im- 

 pulse by faithful use of the extractor, and so on 

 with another season. We are to have tiro good 

 colonies in every hive at the approach of win- 

 ter, and should "they get weak eitlier or both of 

 them in the spring, they can be united or rath- 

 er kept in the same hive during the honey 

 season. This plan will require less labor, es- 

 peciaUji during cool or unpleasant weather, than 

 any system with which we are acquainted, for 

 your hive at all times is in perfect rig, and 

 contains all the machinery needed for all sea- 

 sons. "We nearly forgot to consider the objec- 

 tion mentioned of drone comb, but if we can do 

 no better, we can get our combs made in weak 

 colonies, a //7 friend Dean; remember a set of 

 combs will last a life time. 



Last spring I bought 2 swarms of bees or what we 

 called 2 swarms, paying 8(>.00 for one and Sl.OO for the 

 other, I took from them 100 lbs. of honey, put 9 stocks 

 in winter quarter^— or perhaiis I shoulil have said, I 

 increased them to 9 stocks. Their winter quarters is 

 the center of a large straw stack— cnt in a (loov-way 5 

 feet, then enlarged it to 8x10—7 leet iiigh, tliey appear 

 all right. Would yon give them upward ventilation 

 in their hives ? (;haules McfoiJMK'K. 



Wavcrly, Iowa. Dec. 20th. 1874. 



We think under such circumstances they 

 should have sliglit upward ventilation, that is 

 if you use honey boards, (guilts that are not 

 covered too much with propolis would be all 

 right. Please tell us frientl M., how the straw 

 stack bee house answers by this time. 



On ))ngo 142 your correspondent asks for the best 

 melhotl of harvesting mustard seed, 1 would like to 

 have that (juestion answered. He also asks whether 

 the black is better than the white. I should preler the 

 white. Two years ago I sowed a small piece. It di<l 

 well and the bees worked on it well in the morning. 

 Whether they get m\ich honey from it I cannot tell 

 but it is a siilendid jilant to sowfor pollen. I think it 

 could be cradled without trouble. 



I. K. Daniels, Lodi, O. Dec. 24th, 1874. 



Do you think that a novice needs a smoker and veil 

 too? How do von \niite weak swarms with stronger 

 ones:- H. Qi'Ai.K. Feb. 24tli, '7.'). 1 Address lost.] 



We think a smoker should answer the pur- 

 pose of a veil generally, but exceptional cases 

 occur, such as robbing, or cases in which a 



Queen must be hunted for some emergency etc., 

 etc. We would recommend that bees shoukt 

 not be handled as a general thing, whan a veil 

 seems necessary yet we have seen rol)bing go- 

 ing on at times at such a rate that the air 

 would l)e full of angry bees ready to sting; 

 smoke in such a case is of but little avail, and 

 one must then, if obliged to go among the 

 hives, either wear a veil, or take stings as tUey 

 come. The latter course requires the courage 

 of a scarred veteran. For uniting colonies see 

 page 121, Vol. 2. Unless the Queen to be saved, 

 is caged as in introducing, there is alway some 

 danger of her being killed. 



whi:n ani> how to itakianizk most fkofitai«lv. 

 Should not Italianizing be done early enough, so the 

 colony would be all changed before winter? The 

 Italians destroy the blacks after they become a major- 

 ity and this leaves the colony too weak to keep suflio- 

 ient animal heat during the winter and spring. 



James Ely, West Alexandria, Wash. Co., Pa, 



Of course if you can Italianize a colony so 

 early that the young Italians have a chance to 

 participate in the lioney harvest, it will be a 

 great advantage. Those who do this however 

 should not rely on dollar Queens, but should 

 pay tlie price of a Queen in May or June. As 

 we liavc said before, dollar Queens probablj 

 cannot be furnished so as as to pay expenses 

 before July. If you rear your own Queens, the 

 question comes up as to how it can best be 

 done. If you destroy the old Queen and give 

 them a (^ueen cell in May or June, and thu^ 

 deprive them of eggs for two or three weeks as- 

 mentioned in another column, there is great dan- 

 ger of thus damaging tlie colony for honey, for 

 that season, more than the extra value of the 

 Italians. With the Standard or a similar hive, 

 we can make a nucleus in tlie back end and 

 raise our new Queen, without stopping the old 

 one from laying at all. When both are laying, 

 and have got their combs well filled remove 

 the old one, until then, and no time is lost. It 

 is true tliere is some danger to the young 

 Queen when they are united, but not much if 

 honey is coming in, and the colony is watched 

 for a day or two after. If the young Queen in- 

 attacked, she will be kept for some hours in a 

 ball of bees before she is injured, this must b( 

 watched for. Throwing such a ball of bees 

 into a glass of water is a very safe way to lib- 

 erate the Queen. Don't be frightened if she 

 appears dead after this cold bath, she will soon 

 revive if put in a cage Hnd warmed. Remo- 

 ving the old Queen, and giving them a young 

 Queen just hatched, from a lamp nursery or 

 otherwise, is a very economical way, and but 

 little trouble, but even then we lose (see page 

 52) from 5 to 15 days, and we can much better 

 att'ord this loss after the honey season than 

 before it, more especially if our colonics are 

 weak. We must think it an error alH>iit Ital 

 ians killing off the blacks, we have nevir been 

 able to disco\ er that bees jimong theiiiselves 

 make any distinction in regard t-o race or color. 



IMcase state how many revolution i per minr.tc yon 

 run the honev extractor"? 

 Wm. Ci. Noht«)N, Honeoye FalN, X. V. Fel . 26, '7.'>. 



It is hard to tell accurately without 'csting 

 actual work, by the watch, but as nearly as wt: 

 can judge by turning an empty machaic, for 

 Langstroth combs, it re(]uirts aboul. 75 per 

 minute. In cool weather and with thick lion 

 ey, of cours'' greater Velocity will ^e -'.uired- 



