148 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15 



would not hs troubled with over- weights. 

 Yes, the 5X4>4:xl|4 or i'^XbXl'X can be 

 furnished by us or any of the manuiacturers. 

 The l}i inch sections of our 4x5 or 4 '4^x5 can 

 be used in any ten frame super, providing the 

 right section-holders are used, and providing, 

 too, those ten-frame supers are deep enough. 

 We make super arrangements for both. — Ed.] 



RELATIVE WEIGHTS OF VARIOUS SIZES OF 

 SECTIONS WHEN FILLED WITH HONEV. 



In reviewing the last volume of GLEANfNGS 

 I find on page 357 your estimates in regard to 

 different sizis of sections, also Dr. Miller's 

 average weights. I was a little curious to 

 know how the 35^ X5X 1^ compared in weight; 

 so, having two crates of 24 sections each of 

 buckwheat honey I weighed them and found 

 that the crates weighed just alike, 21 lbs. each, 

 net, which would make 14 oz. per section. 

 That makes .17 more than Dr. Mdler's 4]4X 

 'i^XlH- Now, as the Danz., or 4X5X1^, 

 figures out only 1 of a cubic inch more than the 

 ofiXoXl}^ I can not see how it is going to 

 hold verj' much more. 



Your estimate of fg oz. per cubic inch agrees 

 with my weights of the 35^X5X1/^ as well as 

 Dr. Miller's 4>4X4>{X1>^. If we figure the 

 4X5 Xl^ on the same basis it would weigh 

 14 3 oz. I do not know what the majority of 

 bee-keepers like best, but my preference 

 would be for a section holding as nearly one 

 pound as possible. 



Suppose you use a section 4x5x1^^ ; that 

 would give 26 718 cu. in.; if we allow I'g oz. 

 per cub c inch it would give 1-5.58 oz. of hon- 

 ey. vSuch a sec. ion would work in an eight- 

 frame super all right by using the Danz. hold- 

 er and cleat, using 6 rows of 4 each, the same 

 as the A%-s.A}^-s.\y2. 



I believe that, the nearer we come to selling 

 what we pretend to sell, the better. When I 

 am selling butter in 1-lb. prints I would not 

 think of selling my print for 14 oz. I know I 

 should be the loser by so doing, as my cus- 

 tomers would look up another man who would 

 give them full weights. The simile is not 

 well drawn, as we can make the 1 lb. print of 

 butter exact, but can not the 1 lb. section of 

 honey. If the 4x5x1 J^^, when well filled, hold 

 16 oz , that is all that is necessary. But, do 

 they? 



Since I commenced to write this I thought 

 I would see if there was any difference in the 

 weight of buckwheat and basswood. In se- 

 lecting several boxes of each as near the same 

 as possible I found that the buckwheat gave 

 quicker weight, about % oz. This does not 

 prove that the buckwheat was heavier, how- 

 ever. The weights stood 14 oz. light ; 14^ 

 oz. dark. 



On page 53 S. J. Snyder reports 60 lbs ex- 

 tracted buckwheat. My bees averaged 31 

 3^x5x1 ;< sections, and filled their brood- 

 chamber full. I had eight colonies, and there 

 were 22 acres of buckwheat in reach of them. 

 W. W. Shepard. 



Wayland, N. Y., Jan. 23. 



[You will find many of your questions ans- 

 wered in the footnote to Charles Steiger's ar- 



ticle just preceding ; and in addition I would 

 state that we figure to have the 3|^x5xl>^ 

 plain hold approximately the same amount of 

 honey as the 4>4 square by 1 >^ or the 4x5x13/^ 

 plain; but in actual results there is a slight 

 difference. The 4x5 runs a trifle heavier, 

 while 3^x5 and the 4^'x4^ both run about 

 the same ; but the 4^ plain and the A% bee- 

 way section (l/'s wide) do not hold exactly 

 the same amount, the beeway holding a trifle 

 more. 



Referring to the weight of different kinds of 

 honey, there may be a difference. The buck- 

 wheat honey that I have seen in New York is, 

 as it is extracted, very thick, and, for the 

 same cubic contents of comb, I should suppose 

 it would run a little heavier than clover or 

 basswood. — Ed. ] 



UNFERTILIZED EGGS AND DRONES. 



1. What good reasons have we to believe 

 that the unfertilized egg produces the drone ? 



2. Why is it that a colony of bees rarely 

 ever makes any comb during dog days ? 



3. Does a colony ever winter drones ? If so, 

 why ? 



James L. Franklin. 

 Redbush, Ky., Jan. 13. 



[1. The long series of experiments conduct- 

 ed by Dr. Dzierzon went to show conclusively 

 that the unfertilized egg produced the drone. 

 Further than that, evcry-day observation 

 shows that virgin queens and laying workers, 

 if they lay at all, lay eggs that produce drones; 

 but even then it might be said, " How do we 

 know that those laying workers and virgins 

 had not been fertilized ? " There are plenty of 

 cases where virgin queens without wings have 

 laid eggs that produced only drones. 



2. I do not know exactly what you mean by 

 " dog days," but I presume you mean during 

 August, when little or no honey comes in. 

 Comb-building never takes place unless there 

 is a supply of food coming in from feeders 

 in the hive, or from natural sources in the 

 fields. The answer to your question, then, is 

 that comb is not built because there is no in- 

 coming of food. 



3. Yes, but not generally. There are liable 

 to be in any strong healthy colony a few 

 drones that are wintering over. — Ed.] 



questions FROM A BEGINNER. 



1. Can a reason be given why one colony 

 will store well in a super, while an adjoining 

 colony does not and can not be induced to go 

 into the super, colonies apparently equal ? In 

 one instance they were working well in the 

 super and suddenly quit work. 



2. Do you recommend destroying queen-cells 

 with the object of preventing swarming ? Is 

 not this practice liable to result in queenless 

 colonies ? Several colonies on which this was 

 practiced became queenless, though I can not 

 tell definitely the cause. 



3. What is the approved practice in increas- 

 ing colonies and preventing swarming? 



4. When is the best time to requeen ? 



5. When is the earliest that breeders can 



