1879 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



127 



less. Was the queer killed or lost in the transfer? 



[I should think the queen was probably lost; but 

 it is a very singular thing for the bees to desert their 

 combs and brood, even if she was.] 



I want to increase gradually till I have 100 or 200 

 colonies; will it pay me to buy a Barnes saw to 

 make my hives? 



[I should think a Barnes saw would pay anyone 

 who had 25 colonies.] 



HOW TO ARRANGE THE COMBS IN TRANSFERRING. 



In transferring, I placed the combs side by side; 

 should I have placed an empty frame between each 

 two combs? [No.] Or all empty ones at one side? 

 [Yes.] The latter was the way I did it. 



[Put the combs of brood close to each other, ex- 

 actly as they were before transferring, or there will 

 be much danger of the brood's being chilled; espe- 

 cially, if it is early in the season.] 



BOARD COVERS FOR SHADE. 



In shading hives, how would it do to make a'wide 

 cover of boards, say 4 or in. larger every way than 

 the hives, and just place 2 bricks on top of the hive, 

 and place these boards, or covers, on the bricks? 



[Such a cover for shade answers very well, but is 

 in danger of being blown off by the wind, and is apt 

 to be unsightly. It also makes more trouble in 

 opening hives, than where we have some kind of a 

 plant or vine for shade.] 



WILL BEES SWARM BEFORE THE HIVES ARE FULL? 



My bees have only about 4 to 5 frames filled with 

 comb. Will they "fill the empty frames before 

 swarming time? 



[They will probably fill out the other combs before 

 swarming, although they do not always do so.] 



WHEN TO PUT IN THE SECTIONS. 



Shall I wait until nearly swarming time before I 

 put on upper stories, containing 56 empty section 

 boxes? 



[Yes; or rather wait until they have got every- 

 thing below filled with bees, brood, and honey.] 



Bees have wintered hero spleudidlv. 



B. C. Taylor. 



Wilmington, N. C, March 13, 1879. 



ABSCONDING IN SPRING. 



I hear a great deal of complaining among my 

 neighbors, about their bees leaving their hives and 

 joining others, and, in some instances, going to the 

 woods. In every instance, they report honey in the 

 hive deserted. We cannot explain; can vou? 



Evansburgh, O., March 18, 1879. L. B. Wolf. 



[If you examine these hives closely, I think you 

 will find something that is wit all right. See ab- 

 sconding in A B C] 



Bees have not wintered well in this locality; the 

 old fashioned bee disease, or dysentery,';has raged 

 fearfully, caused by a honey dew that we had last 

 August. Now, Mr. Root, if I should tell how I know 

 so much, some one that kept 3 or 4 swarms all last 

 season would contradict me, so I will keep still. I 

 wintered 214 colonies all in the cellar, except 12 that 

 I tried out doors. I lost one swarm out of the 214, 

 and found several weak. We are having very nice, 

 warm weather for the season, just what we most 

 need for the unfortunate. Hiram Koop. 



Carson City, Mich., March 11, 1879. 



CHAFF HIVES VERSUS COMMON ONES. 



I have only lost 6 out of 55 stands this winter. I 

 use Langstroth frames but about 10 in. deep, and 

 chaff hives, which I think are just the thing, as my 

 neighbor lost 30 in inch board hives and American 

 frames. R. I. Osborn. 



LeClaire,'Iowa,iMarch 10, 1870. 



GREASING FRAMES AND.RABBETS TO OET OFF PROPO- 

 LIS. 



Will you be kind enough to tell me how it will do 

 to dip the ends of all wood top bars in hot tallow, 

 and grease the bearings of the hives with the same 

 (rubbing all off with a cloth), to prevent bees from 

 daubing on so much propolis? S. T. Pettit. 



Belmont, Ont., Can., March 14, 1879. 



[It will do first rate; for, if tlir> bees do daub it 

 with propolis, the propolis will readily slip or peel 

 off, when pushed with the finger. The trouble of 

 fixing all the frames where you have a great many 

 hives is the only objection that I know of.] 



I had 4 colonies last spring, increased to 8, and 

 made 400 lbs. of extracted honey. They are under 

 the snow, and I want the new smoker before the 

 snow goes away. S. Wood. 



Nottawa P. O., Ont., Can., March 10, 1879. 



My bees are working on rye flour nicely. Have 

 lost 4 nuclei and 2 full colonies to date. 

 Columbus, Ind., Feb. 4, 1879. J. M. Brooks. 



SWARMING OUT IN THE SPRING. 



I have lost just 2 stands of bees out of 24. I win- 

 ter in a cellar with the door open. Some of my 

 neighbors who wintered on summer stands lost halt', 

 or two-thirds. One of my colonies came out last 

 Saturday (March 8th), and settled on a hive about 2 

 rods away. They had honey, eggs, and bees just 

 hatching out. The hive was all right, and in good 

 shape every way (except it was an American). Can 

 you tell me the cause of their swarming out? 



Wyoming, 111., March 15, 1879. W. P. Turner. 



[Bees are more apt to swarm out thus, when win- 

 tered in doors. I think the colony must have been 

 weak in numbers, and very likely their hive was 

 open and cold; hence they left it.] 



I received my smoker all right and was glad, too. 

 Oh ! how nice it is! I am much pleased with it— very 

 much pleased; it was packed all right, and works ail 

 right. It makes lots of smoke. My hybrid bees are 

 afraid of it, "you bet." Ben Mullikin. 



Brighton, 111., March 19, 1879. 



I am glad to see that you have applied a cover to 

 your feeder. I was somewhat surprised to see H. 

 W. Shuck's advertisement stating that he had pat- 

 ented the feeder. I think any disiiiterested person 

 will say he has considerable "cheek" to claim it as 

 his. 



[The above seems rather hard on friend Shuck, 

 but I can but feel that the rebuke is a just one. He 

 who would take out a patent, and claim as his in- 

 vention, an implement so well known to be the joint 

 efforts of many, must have a good deal of hardi- 

 hood.] 



I hope your inventions and improvements will 

 continue. Although we have never thought favor- 

 ably enough of more than 1 in 10 to adopt them, nev- 

 ertheless we value Gleanings for these same in- 

 ventions. 



We are glad to see the number and quality of the 

 wood cuts on the increase, and trust your subscrip- 

 tion list will encourage you to continue them. A 

 cut is easily read by almost any mind. 



GERMAN ICE SCALE. 



We are in want of a cheap scale and looked for the 

 cut of the "German Ice Scale" which you proposed 

 giving. 



[We ordered some of the German ice scales, but 

 the manufacturers assured us that they were very 

 unreliable, and we did not get them; they might do 

 for weighing bees for winter, for all that.] 



As a general thing we can agree with your views 

 and sentiments; but on the glucose question we 

 think you are on dangerous ground. We would ad- 

 vise all bee-keepers to adopt the motto, "Touch not, 

 taste not, handle not." Could you see some of the 

 honey offered for sale in the Boston markets, you 

 would decide that a stringent law against adultera- 

 tion is needed. Its sale can not be stopped until 

 there is a penalty attached. 



[Put me on track of those who are offering adul- 

 terated honey, and I will put them in the Humbugs 

 and Swindles without hesitation. Give us the strin- 

 gent laws and we will vote for them to a man.] 



FDN. 4's CELLS TO THE INCH. 



We shall use considerable fdn. during the coming 

 season, but do not want more than i'i cells to the 

 inch. Combs with this size cell, built in 1876, have 

 never contained drone brood, and they produce the 

 largest bees. 



[Our mill for making fdn. 4'i cells to the inch has 

 been made over into the smaller size, but we have a 

 little of the fdn. on hand, that we shall be glad to 

 sell you. I am inclined to agree with you, that such 

 comb does raise larger bees.] 



We do not take much stock in your new wooden 

 quilt. We use rubber cloth and find it answers well, 

 although rather costly. Bees carried in rve meal 

 yesterday. C. W. & A..H. K. Blood. 



Quincy, Mass., March 11, 1879. 



