IWI 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



825 



close it, when you will next take n frame 

 from the first hive opened, and shake the 

 bees off from it down in front of the en- 

 trance, holding- close down so the bees are 

 in or as near the entrance wiien leaving the 

 combs as possible." 



"\Vh_v this close holding- and shaking?" 



"So the bees will take wing as little as 

 possible, and so that none need fall so far 

 from the hive but that they can readily 

 run in with the majority. Having them off 

 the first frame, next shake the bees off from 

 a frame to the next hive, and so on, alter- 

 nating in the shaking the saine as in filling 

 the hive, thus mixing the bees from the sev- 

 eral hives all up." 



"WliA' do you wish them mixed up? " 



"The mixing of the bees takes the dispo- 

 sition to fight and kill one another all out 

 of them when filled with honey as above; 

 for when each bee touches another it is a 

 stranger, so that the individuality of each 

 colony is lost, and the combined two, three, 

 or four colonies unite within two or three 

 hours to make one individual colony again, 

 wliich will protect itself from all intruders, 

 the same as the separate colonies did be- 

 fore. ' ' 



"Is that all there is of it?" 



"Not quite. As soon as the bees are all 

 shaken oft" their combs, gently blow a little 

 smoke on the outside bees to make them all 

 enter the hive, should any be slow in doing 

 so; and as soon as all are in the hive, place 

 a board about half as wide as the hive 

 against it, standing the bottom out a piece 

 from the entrance so it stands slanting up 

 over it. ' ' 



"What do you do that for?" 



"This is done so that the next time the 

 bees fly they will bump against it, as it 

 were, this causing- them to know that it is 

 a new location they occupy, when they will 

 mark the place the same as a new swarm 

 does, after which they will adhere to it in- 

 stead of going back to the old location they 

 used to occupy before uniting. And to help 

 in this matter further, it is always best to 

 remove every thing from the old stands so 

 that nothing home-like remains to entice 

 them back." 



"What about tlie queens? Do 3'ou put 

 them all tog-ether?" 



" If there is ;i choice of queens in anj' of 

 the colonies to be united, hunt out and kill 

 or dispose of the poorer ones, so that the 

 best may be preserved. This hunting-out 

 of the queens is better done some day be- 

 fore the uniting, for in the smoking and 

 pounding process the queens will not be 

 where they are readily found when uniting. 

 If there is no choice in queens, and the ex- 

 tra queens cire of no value, the bees will at- 

 tend to the matter, killing all but one of 

 them." 



[This is good sound orthodox teaching, 

 according- to our practice in our apiaries, 

 •especially that part recommending the 

 mixing of the bees to prevent their return- 

 ing to their old stand. — Ed.] 





WINTERING IN CELLAR WITH AN UPPER 

 ENTRANCE. 



"Good morning, Mr. Carter." 



"Good morning, Mr. Patterson." 



3lr. P. — I came in to inquire about my 

 bees. What makes them crawl iill over the 

 cellar-bottom, and die?" 



3/r. C. — Well, as nearly as I have made 

 up my mind it is because they have been 

 shut up so long, and have got so full that 

 they must get outside of the hive a short 

 time ; and, as thej' go one in a place, they 

 get lost, and die. 



3/1. /l— Why do you think they get lost? 



yJ/r. C. — In 1898 you know we liad a very 

 long winter. 



3/r. P. — Yes, I reinei-nber that well, for 

 my bees all died that winter. 



J/;-. C~Well, I lost half of my bees that 

 winter, and the other half came through in 

 fine order. 



3/r. P. — What was the difference in tlieir 

 wintering? 



3/r. C. — I had a 54-inch hole in tlie front 

 of half of my hives, and the other half did 

 not have anj^ hole in, and the colonies that 

 had holes in their hives all lived ; and in 

 the hives that did not have a hole in the 

 front, the bees all died. 



3/r. P. — Did you let the hives stand on 

 the bottom-boards ? 



3/r. C. — No; I raised them all up and 

 put a block one inch thick under all of the 

 hives I had. 



3/r. /'.—What did that hole have to do 

 with it? 



3/r. C. — The bees came out of those holes 

 and daubed the fronts of the hives nearly 

 all over, and tliey would crawl back into 

 the hive again. 



3/r. P. — About how manj' bees were there 

 out at a time around those holes ? 



J//-. C. — There would be, near spring, a 

 bunch from the size of a dollar to the size of 

 your hand, and they would keep buzzing all 

 the time, and they did not get lost and die, 

 but they lived and went back into the hives. 

 In the summer I keep tliose holes closed up, 

 iind m winter I keep them open. 



Eagle Grove, la. C. K. Carter. 



[I can scarcely believe that the presence 

 of a :^4-inch hole a little way above the en- 

 trance would make all the difference be- 

 tween successful and unsuccessful winter- 

 ing. There must have been something 

 wrong in the food or cellar, to have caused 

 the bees to soil up the fronts of their hives 

 so with dj'sentery. It is a general practice 

 in wintering, either to set the hives up on 

 bloclvs above the bottom-board, or, better 

 still, take the bottom-board off entirely, and 

 place the hives in rows about 4 inches apart. 

 The next row of hives is set on top of the 

 lower row, over the spaces between the hives 

 below. — Ed.] 



