411 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



is not swoet enough to take the place of good nec- 

 tar. The point is, with this uncertaintj' as to its 

 character, how can any such experiments be of 

 definite value as bearing upon "the pollen theory"? ' 

 Here we are at times greatly annoyed by the accu- 

 mulations of pollen in the hitiort combs. They ap- 

 pear to use a great quantity of it, and often clean 

 out comlis, I notice. 



Our season has been very backward, and for four 

 wcelts prior to the 22d wc had only one light rain. 

 Virginia will not, it is thought, produce more than 

 one third of a crop of wheat, and about the same of 

 hay and oats in consequence. Fruit-bloom was 

 abundant, and the yellow-locust bloom was wonder- 

 fully profuse, and it has supplied an unusual 

 amount of nice honey. \ hive on the scales gained 

 an average of .5 lbs. daily, and I have sections al- 

 ready capped; 90 colonies, and not a weak one 

 among them. Ten were lost by starvation and rob- 

 bing in wintering. 



Now as to the markets, never bef'oi-e ha\e prices 

 been so low, and markets so dull. As producers we 

 must be prei)ared to bear our share of the results 

 of the general stagnation. While we have to sell 

 cheap, we can buy low. It were useless to fold our 

 hands and cease endeavor. There are no liard times 

 when all that we need is so abundant. How differ- 

 ent would it be if famine or pestilence should visit 

 our fair land! Surely we can not expect to get ^0 

 and 25 cents per pound f ,)r honey, when refined 

 sugar is sold at 6 and Tc per lb. J. W. Poktek. 



Charlottesville, o* Va., May I;'.'), ISS."). 



Fi-iend Porter, excuse me for objecting to 

 any thiiiff from so good an authority as your- 

 self ; but no one has as yet given satisfacto- 

 ry proof that granuhited sugar can be adul- 

 terated, although it has been talked about 

 at different times for years past. The cheap 

 grades of Ijrown sugar may be adulterated by 

 grape sugar, and perhaps to some extent 

 coffee A may also be adulterated ; but gran- 

 ulated sugar is composed of dry hard crys- 

 tals, and grape sugar can not be made to 

 form crystals. If there is any thing that 

 can be used to adulterate granulated sugar 

 without detection. 1 have never heard of it. 

 Is not this matter of adulteration of granu- 

 lated sugar off from the same piece as the 

 adulteration of comb lionev V 



PREVENTING AFTER-SWARMS. 



hf.ddon's metiioii okdoinc it. 



Tc^TILIj .Vou please tell us, in Gle.vnings or oth- 

 ll'Af '^*''^'^<^' what is the Heddon method of pre- 

 W|w venting after-swarms, which we often see 

 '*■'*■ mentioned? E.vqitiukk. 



FRIEND HEDDON'S REPLY. 



About eight days after a colony casts a i>rime 

 swarm, the queen-cells, that were left behind 

 to re-queen the old colony, begin to hatch. The first 

 queen out instinctively scents danger from rival 

 queens that will soon hatch from the other queen- 

 cells; so she at once attempts to destroy her rivals 

 by stinging them before they come out for even 

 battle. The bees seem to dislike this act of de- 

 pravity; and to postpone bloodshed they divide up, 

 a part coming out with this queen (sometimes two 

 or more queens) while the,' rest remain to await the 

 batching of the other cejls. Thug wc get after- 



swarms. They seem to be Jack-at-a-piuch swarms, 

 and not the fulflllment of natural desires, as are 

 prime swarms. 



Many times several of these after-swanns are 

 cast, and it often seems that they never would 

 cease as long as the queen-cells bold out, and the 

 old colony could furnish workers to make up these 

 little swarms. We have been advised to stop this 

 after-swarming by clipping all the queen-cells but 

 one, soon after the prime swarm issues. This 

 method is a good one in theory; but in i)ractice, 

 bee-keepers have found that too often the cell left 

 will fail to hatch. Oftener the bee-master fails to 

 get all clipped but one, and out comes his second 

 swarm when he is least expecting it. 



Practical honey-producers arc asking for some- 

 thing else, and here is the system of management 

 that I adopted some years ago, and advocated, and 

 one which friend Hutchinson and others have tried 

 and reported " O. K." 



Let us suppose that colony No. S swarms June 

 ]5th. With a non-crasive crayon we mark upon the 

 hive, "O, June 1.5," and on the hive in which we put 

 the swarm, " S, June 1.5." Thus we distinguish the old 

 colony from the swarm at a glance, as we make 

 these marks in large figures. 



When we hive the swarm (always on full slieets of 

 wired fdn.), we place it on the old stand, moving the 

 old colony a few inches to the north (our hives 

 front east), with its entrance turned northward, 

 away from its swarm about 4.")'. As soon as the 

 new colony is well at work, having their location 

 well marked (say two days), we turn the old colony 

 back parallel with the new one. Now both hives 

 face east, sitting close beside each other. Wliile 

 each colony now recognizes its own hive, they are, 

 as regards all other colonies, fin one and the same 

 stand. 



The dates on the back ends of the hives indic.ite 

 that second swarming may be looked for about 

 June 23d. About two or three days before that 

 date, and when the bees are well at work in the 

 fields, we remove the old hive to a new location in 

 another part of the apiai-y. This depopulates the 

 old colony, giving the force to the new, leaving too 

 few bees in the old one for the young "misses" to di- 

 vide; and as they at once recognize this fact, Ihey 

 fight it out on the line of " the survival of the 

 fittest." 



It is supposable, that when the old colony 

 swarmed it contained two or three tiers of surplus 

 sections, more or less completed. It is well to at 

 once place part of them on the swarm; and when 

 the final removal of the old colon.y is made, the rest 

 may also be placed there: in which case there will 

 be no loss of surplus by robbing the old colony of so 

 many bees— not if your hives arc properly con- 

 structed, arranged, and manipulated. 



The old colony contains no very young brood, and 

 very many newly hatched bees, so there will 

 be no loss of brood t)y tliis operation— not in swarm- 

 ing time, in this locality and latitude. 



In six to ten days the old colony will have a fer- 

 tile queen, as a rule, and become quite populous 

 when surplus receptacles may be adjusted to it. 



In my i)ractice with this method, and the practice 

 of many others who have used it, I am not aware of 

 one instance of failure. The plan embraces the ad- 

 vantages of speed and certainty. It is done in half 

 the time you are reading this article. There is no 

 hunting for queens or queeU'Cells, or even opening 



