1879 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



359 



TOO MUCH POLLEN AGAIN. 



Bro. Root:— I do not see the point. See page 271, 

 July No. of Gleanings. You say you think that 

 you would make the bees rear brood, and use up 

 that pollen instead of cutting- it out. We know the 

 strongest instinct of the honey bee is for storing. 

 When they cannot store honey they will store pollen, 

 and the more bees there are, the more storing will 

 be done. Nearly all of our flowers here have pollen, 

 and much of the time our atmosphere is not good 

 for the secretion of nectar. When it is not in the 

 flowers for the bees to gather, they gather pollen; 

 and they are doing more of it in this neighborhood 

 this summer than ever before. We are doing very 

 poor business in the line of honev. E. Liston. 



Virgil City, Mo., July 25, 1879. 



Notwithstanding, friend L., I would like 

 to try yonr "too much pollen." If I could 

 not make them use it up otherwise, I would 

 divide the colonies and raise hees. Give me 

 pollen enough, and I can always raise hees 

 hy the bushel, even if there is but little hon- 

 ey coming in, or but little in the hives. 

 There was one colony in the house apiary 

 that seemed to have an especial fancy for 

 pollen. After basswood had failed, they 

 kept bringing pollen from the corn, in such 

 an incessant stream, that the entrance fairly 

 sparkled with the bright yellow loads on 

 heavily padded workers, and I could please 

 visitors almost any hour of the day, by 

 showing them the entrance to this hive. 

 They had a young ambitious queen, of 

 course, and to keep her going, they gathered 

 pollen and almost nothing else, as it seemed. 

 Well, to my astonishment they raised brood 

 and built comb right along, while the rest 

 seemed to be losing. It is true, they have 

 combs packed almost solid with pollen, but 

 I would like a whole apiary of just such 

 stocks. If we do not get honey now, we 

 shall get bees, ready for the clover and bass- 

 wood next year. 



BLACK BEES BEING ROBBED BY A NEIGHBOHS ITAL- 

 IANS. 



During the last days of April, we had a few very 

 fine days, and the bees were out doors enjoying 

 themselves. My place, of some 11 acres, is sur- 

 rounded with two rows of soft maple trees. I cut a 

 large number of those trees at this time, the sap 

 flowing very freely, and I very soon discovered that 

 the stumps were well supplied with bees. I have a 

 neighbor some 100 rods distant, who had 12 or 15 

 stands of bees. They very soon found the maple 

 sap, and also my hives. The first we knew my 

 neighbor's bees were generally going for ours. We 

 did all that I had learned from the Journal to stop 

 the robbing. About dusk, I uncovered our hives, 

 which we had covered with wet cloths. The next 

 morning, I was in season to watch the renewal, if 

 the robbers came, Jnd none came. About 9 o'clock, 

 1 thought I would examine my hives, as I saw but 

 few stragglers around some of the hives. Turning 

 up 5 hives on one stand, I found my bees to the last 

 one piled up, dead on the board. Now, how about 

 that? Please answer. You may say, it was probably 

 my own bees that were the depredators; not so, for 

 my neighbors bees are Italian and mine are black. 

 Besides, I stood in a line between us, and observed a 

 continual passing back and forth from the direction 

 of my neighbor's. H. L. Payson. 



Ashkum, Ills., July 21, 1879. 



I do not think, friend P., the maple sap 

 had anything to do with it, and. begging 

 your pardon, I am afraid the whole trouble 

 came from your not having given your bees 

 proper attention. Do you know that those 

 5 colonies all had laying queens, before they 

 were robbed? If not, that was your first 

 fault. As you describe it, I should say that 

 one or more of your colonies were queenless, 

 and unless you know to the contrary, I 



should say the bees had died out of one or 

 more, leaving honey unprotected. The first 

 fine weather, the bees of your neighbor 

 found this, got started, and unless your oth- 

 er colonies were strong, with entrances 

 properly closed, they would be quite apt to 

 make a general raid on your apiary. It may 

 be that one of your stocks swarmed out, 

 leaving honey, as has so often happened of 

 late, and this was what started them. Your 

 letter rather gives the idea that while you 

 have common bees in box hives, with at 

 least 5 on one bench, your neighbor has Ital- 

 ians, nicely cared for, in movable frame 

 hives. If I am mistaken, I beg pardon. 



A QUEEN whose eggs won't hatch. 



I have a fine, large queen, since last fall, in my 

 apiary, that lays plenty of eggs, but not one of the 

 eggs will hatch. What's the matter with them? Can 

 you tell? She did very well last fall, was in a chaff 

 hive, and not exposed any more than the others 

 right round her; but not an egg has hatched since 

 she commenced to lay this spring. 



Fairview, Pa., July 23, '79. Theod. M. Moltz. 



We have before had reports of queens 

 whose eggs never hatched, but I do not 

 know that I ever before heard of one that 

 had been a good queen and afterwards failed 

 in this way. All these facts seem to form a 

 sort of connecting link in a chain ; for in- 

 stance, we have queens that won't lay at 

 all ; we have queens that lay eggs, but the 

 eggs never hatch ; we have one report of a 

 queen that layed and the eggs hatched into 

 larvae, but never developed into full grown 

 workers ; we have queens that lay eggs but 

 they produce only drones. Drone laying 

 queens are comparatively common ; queens 

 that won't lay are also (usually from de- 

 defective wings); but queens that lay eggs 

 that never hatch are quite rare, only three 

 having been reported to my knowledge. 



MORE ABOUT THE SIMPSON HONEY PLANT. 



I noticed in Aug. No. of Gleanings that you have 

 purchased about two hundred plants of friend Simp- 

 son, and set them out in your honey garden, and 

 that they came into blossom July 8th. Now, I would 

 like to inquire whether those are the early or late 

 variety. The early variety blossomed with me, May 

 23d, and remained in blossom four weeks. The late 

 variety blossomed July 3d. I have some stalks 

 seven feet high with 30 branches out from the main 

 stalk. Some of the side branches have six or seven 

 smaller branches. The main stalk is an inch 

 through and it will remain in blossom until frost 

 comes. I consider it the best honey plant we have; 

 it comes right after white clover and remains in 

 blossom the balance of the honey season. I have 

 some stalks that do not show their buds yet. I will 

 send you in this letter about l-4()th part of one stalk. 

 I think, if the seed was saved and planted the same 

 distance apart as we plant corn, one stalk would 

 furnish seed for a thousand acres. Anyone wishing 

 seed tan make it known. 1 will save a quantity of 

 seed of both varieties. W. P. Irish. 



Norton Centre, O., Aug. 2, 1879. 



Ours is exactly like the specimen you 

 send, friend I., but I have never seen any 

 that blossom so soon as you mention. It 

 certainly is ahead of anything I have ever 

 seen. AVhile the bees work but an hour or 

 two in the morning on the buckwheat, they 

 work all day long on this plant and, between 

 sundown and dark, the number of bees con- 

 gregating on it to get into the buds which 

 open about dusk, is simply enormous. If 

 comb honey were exposed to them, they 

 would hardly come in greater numbers, or 

 stay longer. 



