.'{20 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUBE. 



J±. I. ROOT, 

 EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, 



MEDINA, OHIO. 



TEIKITIS: $1.00 PER YEAR, POST-PAID. 



Is&ttJDTJXIJ^, J^TJG-. 1, 1879. 



Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, 

 immovable, always abounding in the work of the 

 Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not 

 in vain in the Lord.— 1 Cor. xv. 58. 



1 presume, with most of you, the yield from bass- 

 wood has failed, and that your bees are touchy and 

 cross; bo sure you are not following their example 

 in this respect. Remember the little text above. 



I have been to the expense of fitting a table to 

 the top of the grindstone figured last month, and 

 tried a saw on it. It fails only for want of a balance 

 wheel, and this cannot be added so as to be put out 

 of the way, without considerable more machinery. 

 —•♦♦•••»■ 



THE HONEY FARM THE 28TH OB" JULY. 



The bees are now working briskly on the Simpson 

 honey plant, borage, and mignonnette. The borage 

 affords the most bloom, and the bees are busy on it 

 from daylight until dark. The mignonnette is just 

 beginning to send out a perfume for quite a distance, 

 when the breeze is blowing upon it. The sunflowers 

 arc just opening, and make a very pretty sight. 

 The silver hull buckwheat is doing finely, and its 

 first blossoms will be out in a week. Even though 

 these crops are all doing nicely, it must be remem- 

 bered that 15 or 18 acres go but a little way in sup- 

 plying or keeping busy 250 colonies. 



The principal part of our queen rearers have now 

 adopted the candy cage and bottle (or some modifi- 

 cation of it), which I described and figured two years 

 ago. Friend Blood has sent us one of a larger size, 

 containing two bottles, and says he has never lost a 

 queen in them, even when sent to Cal. and Texas. 

 He prefers the sugar and water to honey as food. 1 

 agree with him, but I want a piece of comb added, 

 and bees enough so that the queen may be laying on 

 the way. Where we have a groat many section 

 boxes with a little honey in each, perhaps this, with 

 .the rubber bands and wirecloth caps, will be the 

 cheapest and simplest package we can devise. The 

 honey should be at least partially capped, for long 

 distances. 



INTKODIC11NG QUEENS. 



f^HIS subject may appear to be worn thread 

 bare; but, unless we talk about these things, 

 -* we will not be able to learn the best way to do 

 them. I have introduced, this season, over 125 

 queens. I have adopted various plans, and have be- 

 come thoroughly convinced that caging is not at 

 all times the safest or most expedient way. In this, 

 as in other things, I have been compelled to change 

 my mind. 



I commenced this season, by having my queens 

 fertilized in nucleus swarms; and, when laying, I 

 caged and introduced them to the swai'ms where 1 

 wanted them. I removed the old queen, sometimes, 

 the day before, but more frequently at the same 

 time, and saw no difference in this) respect in the 



new queen's being received. Not having provided 

 cells to supply my nuclei immediately, 1 economized 

 the strength of my little swarms by placing the old 

 laying queens in them, instead of the young Italians 

 removed. Not being very particular about the loss 

 of these old black and hybrid queens, 1 threw them 

 in, in the most reckless manner, at the time of tak- 

 ing out the young laying queens, shaking the bees 

 off all the combs into the bottom of the hive with 

 the queen, as I set them back, making the utmost 

 consternation in the household, and, in this con- 

 fusion, I shut up the hive and left them to get bet- 

 ter acquainted. 



I don't think I lost a single queen out of 20 or 30 

 introduced in this way; while of those of which I 

 was so careful, caging them for 24 hours, determin- 

 ing, if possible, not to lose one, quite a number were 

 lost. I will say here, that my nucleus swarms had 

 been strengthened from time to time from other 

 swarms, until many of them required a full set of 

 hive frames, and were quite fair swarms. The suc- 

 cess of this plan, then, was not altogether on ac- 

 count of swarms being light. Finding this to suc- 

 ceed so well with my old black and hybrid queens, I 

 resorted to the same plan of introducing my young 

 Italians, with equally good success. The results to 

 the nuclei were, before I had occasion to use them 

 again for young queens, the combs were well filled 

 with eggs and brood, and they are now heavy 

 swarms. 



HOW I INTRODUCED AN IMPORTED QUEEN. 



When we get an Imported queen, I suppose we all 

 feel a little uneasy about her until we find her filling 

 up the combs with eggs. At least, this is my expe- 

 rience. Having already learned that a day or two in 

 time wasted did not necessarily secure the safety of 

 the queen, I decided to spend no unnecessary time 

 in introducing her royal highness, through prison 

 grates, to her future subjects. Accordingly I went 

 to the swarm to which I wished to introduce her, 

 which had been queenless tor some time, and took 

 out a card of brood and bees. This was just at night. 

 I carried it into the bee house, and placed it in 

 the window, away entirely from other bees, and lib- 

 erated the queen quietly in the midst of a group of 

 young bees. I watched her closely for 15 or 20 min- 

 utes until it was evident, from the regard shown 

 her, that she was fast making friends on this side of 

 the water. I then took the card of brood to the hive, 

 placed it in, at one side, separating it from the rest 

 of the swarm by a division board. I raised the 

 frame half an hour after, peeped carefully in, and 

 saw her in the midst of a circle of devoted friends. 

 Next morning, I again called on my foreign lady. 

 By that time, they seemed to understand each other 

 quite well. In two days after, I took out the divis- 

 ion board and all has gone well since. 



My nuclei have been supplied mostly from the 

 lamp nursery, with young queens introduced as soon 

 as hatched, either at the entrance, or by dropping 

 them at the top of the frames. This plan has been 

 mostly successful, but not entirely so, as a few have 

 been rejected. It may be, however, on account of 

 some deformity or imperfection, as they have to 

 pass the closest examination. I think the better 

 way is to lift out a frame, and place them carefully 

 in the midst of the bees. 



H. R. Boardman, (Bee Master.) 



Ea. Townsend, O., July 19, 1879. 



The above agrees substantially with my 

 experiments, as you will see on page 301. 



