7GG 



t;J.EA:\L\GS i:\ iiEE CLLTLUE. 



Nov. 



six frames of scaled honey. Ever}' comb is held up 

 to the light; and if its contents are not clear of dark 

 honey, or last year's honey-dew, it is rejected, and 

 saved for spring- feeding-. The Hill device is placed 

 over the center of the brood-nest, with its backbone 

 parallel to the frames. Over this is next placed a 

 sheet of burlap, a tritie larger than the inside di- 

 mensions of the chaff hive. A layer of loose chafl', 

 two or three inches deep, is then strewn over— dish- 

 ed in the center, and deeper around the sides, to al- 

 low for the convexity of the chafl^ cushion which is 

 placed on top. This arrangement, while it permits 

 the escape of moisture, renders it impossible for a 

 cold current of air to blow around the cushion into 

 the swarm. 



We have now just 186 colonies packed in this man- 

 ner, after doubling up. It was in just this way that 

 we wintered our bees last year, witli, however, the 

 exception that they now have honey instead of su- 

 gar stores. 



WHICH IS BETTER, WilEAT OU 0.\T CHAFF? 



We very much prefer wheat chaff to oat chaff, as 

 the former seems to be a better absorbent, while 

 the latter, though possibly equally good an absorb- 

 ent, does not dry out. Colonies last year that had 

 the oat chaff did not winter nearly as well ; the chaff 

 was wet and moldy, and had become matted down. 

 On the contrary, the wheat chaff was nice and dry. 

 So this year we have nothing but wheat chaff' on all 

 the hives. Eunest K. Root. 



TWO QUEENS IN A HIVE. 



.\LSO SOME KIM) AVOKDS. 



f^ HE goods shipped as per my last order (by 

 ^h mail) were duly received. Thanks for your 

 S prompt attention. All goods came to hand 

 in first-class order. The hammers, No. 3, I 

 consider the prettiest I have ever seen, both 

 in size and finish; and the little pianos, price 15cts., 

 are regular "daisies." In fact, I viould not take a 

 dollar for mine, and do without it. You can 

 say to all carpenters, that these planes arc just the 

 handiest siding plane they can get, as one can be 

 carried anywhere in the apron pocket, and, no mat- 

 ter if you are at work on a scaffold, you have your 

 plane with you. I am a practical mechanic, and 

 know whereof I speak. 



I have something to report which I never heard 

 ofbefoi-e; that is, two young- queens, Italians, re- 

 maining in the same hive for one season, laying 

 peaceably side by side. The facts in the case are 

 as follows: Last April a fine swurm of Italians 

 came out of the hive and were duly hived. The 

 seventh day, being on the lookout, I heard a piping 

 in the hive (the parent stock), and of course I kept 

 a lookout for a second swarm, which came about 

 the 12th day. I noticed, in hiving the swarm, that 

 there were two fine-looking young queens with it, 

 both of which went in with the swaim. I kept a 

 close watch, expecting, as a matter of course, that 

 one of the queens would be killed; and as I never 

 found a dead queen in front of the hive, I supposed 

 that energetic workers had carried the extra queen 

 clear off, so I gave the matter no further thought. 



A few days ago, in looking over my hives I lifted 

 out a center frame from the above-mentioned col- 

 onj', and there 1 found two fine-looking Italian 

 queens on the same comb, not two inches apart. 

 How do you account for it? I can not And a similar 



case mentioned in any of the bee-books, and I have 

 " Langstroth on the Hive and Honey-bee," and 

 have read the ABC, also a good many bee-journals. 

 I can find cases mentioned of two queens in one 

 hive — an old one and young one, but never two 

 from the same let of queen-cells. The queens are 

 both good, as I have taken one of them and intro- 

 duced her to a colony of hybrids, and she was well 

 received, and both colonies are doing well. 

 Gonzales, Tex., Nov. 3, 1885. M. Brokrs. 



Thanks for your kind words in regard to 

 our Utile plane and other things, friend B. — 

 Although cases are rare, where two queens 

 of the same age remain peaceably in one hive, 

 yet they have been mentioned in our past 

 volumes ; and it has been suggested, tnat, 

 by selection, we could secure a race of 

 queens not hostile to each other ; and 1 con- 

 fess that I can not see why the task is much 

 more difficult than securing a strain of 

 poultry that never sit. 



LOSS OF QUEENS ON THEIR WED- 

 DING-TRIP. 



ALSO CAUSING THEM TO TAKE THEIR FLIGHT BY 

 FEEDING THE COLONY. 



HILE attending the Kentucky State Bee- 

 Keepers' Convention I heard the subject 

 discussed in regard to the loss of queens on 

 their wedding-tour. It was decided that it 

 was owing to the disposition of the bees, 

 which I think is true, as I have twice observed the 

 bees balling their queen at the entrance, immedi- 

 ately on their arrival from their wedding-trip. 

 Nothing was said in regard to a remedy for this. 

 A few years ago I thought I had made quite a dis- 

 covery, when I could induce my virgin queens to 

 take their wedding-flight, even when the weather 

 was not favorable, by tilting the hive back and 

 pouring in half a wineglass of syrup on the sixth 

 daj' f rom the time of hatching. But when I read 

 friend Alley's book I saw that he had made the dis- 

 covery, instead of me, although he uses a feeder, to 

 which I object. I do think, if you are careful in 

 feeding so as not to attract robbers, that the feed- 

 ing temporarily changes the disposition of the bees, 

 and thus the life of many a queen is saved. This is 

 according to my own observation, as I have very 

 few losses since I adopted the above plan. 



My nucleus hives consist of an extra box, such as 

 is used in the upper story of the L. hive, with three 

 permanent division-boards, permanent bottom, and 

 a cover, two L. frames to each compartment, and 

 one entrance at each side, and one at each end, two 

 pieces of enameled cloth to cover the frames; thus 

 any part can be e.vamined without disturbing the 

 others, and twenty-flve such boxes are suflBcient to 

 run one hundred queens. 



WINTEKING. 



I use the L. hive as friend Muth gets them out, 

 with the extra box and ten frames in the upper 

 story. I have had the best results when I leave 

 this extra box on all winter with ahundance of good 

 honey, and the entrance-blocks awaj'. A burst of 

 sunshine does not make them rush out, and a cold 

 wind can not reach the cluster. My objection to 

 the above plan is, that so few have adopted it. I 

 should like to hear from others who have tried it. 

 Those that are not prepared as above are packed 



