2£6 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 1 



sections, so a cluster can be formed, and comb- 

 building carried on inside of that cluster. 

 Don't misunderstand me when I say that bait 

 sections are not necessary in a warm super. 

 They are not necessary as bait — that is, to in- 

 duce the bees to come and work in the supers; 

 but they are of the greatest value as furnish- 

 ing room to store honey at the beginning of 

 the flow. 



It is this way : When there is but very lit- 

 tle gathered in the field, the secretion of wax 

 is small accordingly. When a flow of honey 

 comes, the secretion of wax, somehow or oth- 

 er, increases in proportion, but not at once. 

 It takes perhaps five or six days to establish 

 the secretion and make a good start at comb- 

 building. During these five or six days but 

 little honey will be gathered, simply because 

 there is no room to put it in ; but if you have 

 drawn comb, or sections partly built up, honey 

 will be stored in them and you will gain that 

 much. More than that, during these few days, 

 if the bees have no other room they will cram 

 all they can in the brood-nest, cramp the 

 queen in her egg-laying, and finally swarm — 

 at least, very often. 



Knoxville, Tenn. 



[I wish to place special emphasis on the 

 last three paragraphs of this excellent article. 

 The matter of protecting comb-honey supers 

 d"es not receive nearly the attention that it 

 ought. Often the great heat from the sun 

 and the coolness of the night have a depress- 

 ing (not to say drive-away) effect in the su- 

 pers. Not a little has been said about this ; 

 but the great mass of producers pay very lit- 

 tle attention to it. Quite a few use and insist 

 on using double hives or large deep covers 

 that telescope over the whole top of the hive. 

 Mr. Danzenbaker has long used and advocat- 

 ed a double-walled super, or what is practic- 

 ally such ; and on top of the sections he re- 

 commends, and will have for his own use, a 

 paraflSne-paper mat — this mat having on top 

 of it layers of news paper for additional pro- 

 tection. One of the secrets of his success in 

 producing such fine well filled comb honey is 

 the protection which he is very particular to 

 have, and there is no denying that, when his 

 directions are followed to the very letter, some 

 great results have been secured. I fancy, 

 therefore, that Mr. Danzenbaker will say amen 

 to every thing Mr. Getaz says on this matter 

 of protection. — Ed] 



LONG-TONGUED ITALIAN BEES. 



Why we Want Them. 



[The following, clipped from the Michigan 

 Fanner, strikes a heavy blow, indirectly, in 

 favor of the very thing bee - keepers have 

 been working for in the way of long-tongued 

 bees :] 



will our farmers ever learn what harm they are do- 

 ing themselves and the agriculture and hoiticulture 

 of the State l5v allowing the destruction of bumble- 

 bees on their farms? They have been told repeatedly 

 that the bumble-bee is the only thing under heaven 

 or among men that can polleni^e the red clover so 

 it will produce a crop of seed, and yet they go 



on destroying the best friend they have on earth, 

 and allow it to be done by their sons or hired men. 

 And then they poke their hands down into their pock- 

 ets and pay about 8H.0O per bushel for clover seed 

 raised where bumblebee'^have not all been destroyed. 

 They do not seem to realize that so small a thing as a 

 bumble-bee can 611 so important a place. 



The bumble-bee is about the only insect with tongue 

 long enough to reach the red clover. The honey-bee 

 can not do it. The honey bee can reach the mam- 

 moth clover. This accounts for the large yield of 

 seed sometimes secured from this variety when situ- 

 ated where many bees are kept One man reported a 

 yield of 12 bushels per acre from a field near 100 colo- 

 nies of bees. 



We have not space to tell you all about this subject, 

 or how the people of New Zealand had to .=end to this 

 country for bumble-bees before Ihey cou'd raise cloi-er 

 seed. A word to the wise should be sufficient Then 

 how shall the destruction of these our be.-t friends be 

 stopped? How many farmers who read this article 

 will .step out and boldly nail up a notice on the barn 

 reading like this : " Bumble-bees must not be molested 

 on this farm"? A notice of this nature should do 

 some good in calling the attention of thoughtless per- 

 sons to this impoitant subject 



The reason the old queen-bee is often seen about 

 the barn or sheds in the sprii g is that she builds her 

 nest in a mouse-nest, and, not finding one suitable in 

 the field, she betak' s her.self to the barn. This will 

 be particularly true in a wet spring when the mouse- 

 nests in the field are too wet and unsuitable for her 

 purpose, and it is then that she should not be molest- 

 ed, as the shelter of the buildings is just what is need- 

 ed at such a time. This was very noticeable about 17 

 years ago when we had it so very wet all the fore 

 part of the season, which made it impossible to build 

 in the mouse-nests in the fieM. This caused almost a 

 wholeale destruction of the bumble bee family, from 

 which they have never fully recovered. 



They tried to make their nests about the barns or 

 stables, but were knocked down and killed through 

 fear that they might sting some one or sting the 

 horses. But they are very peaceable if let alone. The 

 year it was so wet there was a large nest not over two 

 feet from our heads where we went into the stable, 

 and where we had to open and shut the door, but no 

 one was stung by them. So let us all do all we can to 

 protect the beautiful summer queen when she comes 

 in the sprin.g, dres.sed in rich colors of black and gold. 

 We should all see in her a beauty and value we have 

 never seen before, and realize more fully the impor- 

 tant part she fills in perpetuating our greatest source 

 of fertility — clover. "J. A. Pearce, 



[The above may be putting the value of 

 bumble bees rather stronglj', but I am inclin- 

 ed to think our friend is not far out of the 

 way. — A. I. R.] 



J. B., Ga. — Regarding the various ways of 

 extracting pollen from the brood-combs, I 

 would say that the most satisfactory way that 

 I know of is to soak the combs over night in a 

 tub of water. The next morning put them 

 in a honey-extractor and throw the pollen out. 

 This plan has been advocated by quite a num- 

 ber ; and, if the pollen is not too old or pack- 

 ed too hard, it will come out quite readily. 



J. R., Ten}i. — Referring to "inky drops" 

 and the prevention of same, we can only say 

 that no smoker will prevent them entirely, 

 but some smokers with a curved snout will 

 prevent the creosote, for that is what the inky 

 drops are, from running oat of the combs on 

 to the brood. The nuisance can be abated by 

 using the right kind of fuel, of hard wood or 

 any kind of wood that has very little pitch in 

 it. Avoid using propolized rags, fine shav- 

 ings, or sawdust. Chips of hard wood, even 

 basswood, will do very well. The smoker we 

 sent you is as proof against inky drops as any 

 smoker that is made. 



