158 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Apr. 



GKAPE SUGAR MORALLY. 



¥ijf HAVE noticed fnr a long time that you are a ve- 

 il! hement advocate of grape sugar, and you seem 

 — ' to consider its manufacture perfectly right, legal- 

 lyand morally. I grant the legality of the thing; but 

 the morality, I question. Don't you know that the 

 chief end of grape sugar is to assist in brewing? 

 and do you consider brewing right because the law 

 allows it? It seems to me that its manufacture 

 ought to be discouraged, even if it is a good article 

 for feeding bees, for certainly something else will 

 answer as well. F. W. Comings. 



East Berkshire, Franklin Co., Vt., March 5, 1880. 



I think we nearly agree, friend C. when 

 we look at the matter alike. Would you 

 discourage the planting of orchards, because 

 so much intemperance is caused by cider- 

 drinking? Perhaps it will be best ; really, I 

 am not quite decided in the matter. But 

 shall we not consider about raising so much 

 corn, when it is so largely used by distillers? 

 Corn may be made into whisky or grape su- 

 gar, or it may be made into corn bread for 

 food. The first and last we agree on, but I 

 do not think we quite do on the sugar. I am 

 sorry it is used for beer, just as I am sorry 

 that cane sugar was used for the same pur- 



BDse before they found this cheaper article, 

 ut if grape sugar is so great a saving to the 

 brewers, may it not also be for other purpos- 

 es? When we can get maple sugar, sorghum, 

 or anything else that will be a safe feed 

 for bees, at even as good economy as this, I 

 shall assuredly adopt it ; but during the past 

 winter, so far as I am able to learn, bee- 

 keepers have saved hundreds of dollars by 

 using this instead of the more expensive 

 cane sugar. As a general thing, those who 

 bought it in the start are steady consumers 

 of it, year after year, whenever the bees need 

 help in that way. The charge that it was 

 used to adulterate cane sugar has been 

 dropped, I believe, by all, and we might say 

 almost the same for its use to adulterate 

 honey. That it is used for adulterating syr- 

 ups, I have no doubt; but the recipe I gave 

 for a home-made syrup, last month, wilt en- 

 able us to drive this speculation out, if we 

 post ourselves intelligently. I have sold 

 many tons of grape sugar, but I have sold it 

 under its right name, and have done all I 

 could to make everybody so fully acquaint- 

 ed with it that frauds with it will be impos- 

 sible. Friend Demarree objects to the name, 

 thinking it may mislead: therefore I have 

 called it, in the price-list, grape or corn su- 

 gar. 



^ in ■ 



INTRODUCING QUEENS. 



FRIEND DOOLITTLE'S EXPERIENCE AND CONCLU- 

 SIONS IN THE MATTER. 



EN this article I wish to give a bit of my experi- 

 ence as regards introducing queens, rather 

 than to point out any particular method for so 

 doing. In a practice of ten years, many tbinps have 

 come under my observation which have been inter- 

 esting-, and have thrown light on an operation which 

 has many times proven, not only to myself but to 

 multitudes of others, to be not always a successful 

 one. Among all the method* given for Introducing 

 queens, not one bas proven reliable in all seasons of 

 the year, and in the hands of all desiring to accom- 



plish this object. I am not going to say that a meth- 

 od may not be devised which will always be a suc- 

 cess with the thousands who introduce queens, for I 

 believe such may be the case, and that we may yet 

 perfect a plan by which the novice in the business 

 may be sure of meeting with success. To this end I 

 have been led to write this article. Heretofore the 

 loss of the queen has been charged mainly to the 

 bees rather than to the queen, parties even being so 

 rash and provoked as to crush a ball of bees inclos- 

 ing a queen under their feet, when in reality the 

 queen was the one to blame. Many queens would 

 never be molested in the least by the bees if they 

 would behave themselves as they did in the hive 

 they were formerly in; and we venture the predic- 

 tion, that when we can arrive at a plan that will al- 

 ways plaee the queen with strange bees in the same 

 quiet condition she was in while in the hive in which 

 she was reared, we shall be successful every time. 



To substantiate this position I will give some ex- 

 perience in the matter. In 1877, 1 had a queen which 

 began failing the first of July. Wishing to replace 

 her I went to a nucleus and took out their queen, 

 which had been laying about a week; then going to 

 the stock having the failing queen, I removed her 

 and placed this young queen on the comb instead of 

 the old one. She immediately commenced to peep, 

 just as a virgin queen does when there are rivals in 

 the ceils in a hive calculating to send out an after- 

 swarm. To this the bees paid no attention, but 

 came up to her with the intention of feeding her; 

 but instead of taking the food offered by them, she 

 put out a foot and struck at them, or laid hold of 

 their heads with her feet, and continued peeping. 

 She passed around among the bees, peeping at in- 

 tervals, for about five minutes, I should judge, I 

 watching all the while, when she came to a young 

 bee just hatched, all white and fuzzy. She immedi- 

 ately uttered a short peep and clinched the little 

 fellow, and stung it so it curled up and died in an 

 instauf.. At this the bees became exasperated, and 

 showed signs of hostility for the first time. They 

 begun to lay hold of the queen. With a little smoke 

 I dispersed them, and still continued to watch. In 

 about fifteen minutes she stung and killed half a 

 dozen of these young bees, and was seized each time 

 by the bees, but I dispersed them with smoke. At 

 all other times they were ready to feed her and treat 

 her as they did their old queen. Once or twice she 

 took food of them, but, as a rule, struck at them 

 with her feet. I closed the hive and left them. Up- 

 on looking the next day, I found queen-cells started, 

 and supposed her dead; but in twelve days they 

 cast a swarm, and, lo! there was my queen running 

 around in front of the hive, for her wings were 

 clipped. I opened the hive, but found no eggs or 

 brood (except sealed brood), cut off the queen-cells 

 and returned the bees, unon which she went to lay- 

 ing and made a fine queen. I have had several such 

 cases since, although not quite so persistent. 



Again, I have had queens which the bees treated 

 as they would their own queen, but they would not 

 stay in the hive at all. They would run out at the 

 entrance, often followed by a few anxious bees, 

 which would feed them and keep them alive. I had 

 one out thus till I had put iu another queen, and she 

 had begun to lay when I found the first under the 

 bottom-board. Thus many facts in my experience 

 go to prove lhat the queen has more to do with the 

 loss sustained in introducing than the bees. 



Well, if this is se, how can we remedy it? The 



