1901 



GLEANIN(JS IN BP:E CULTURE. 



861 



a sing-le pound of ln)ne_v. Tlie use of the 

 extractor cuts no figure in preventing- 

 swarms there. 



Instead of killing- off drones at the beg-in- 

 ning- of honey harvest, they keep all they 

 have, and keep raising- more all summer. 



Stuart, Fla. O. O. Poppleton. 



[Yet we here in the North have for 3'^ears 

 been practically ignorant of the peculiar 

 swarming conditions as they exist in Flor- 

 ida, Texas, Arizona, and California; and 

 even at the present time many are inclined 

 to discredit the statement made by me, even 

 when confirmed by you men who have lived 

 in the field for 3^ears. — Ed.] 



to move bees a few rods to a shed for 

 winter; can it be done? 



Would it be prudent to move bees from 

 sui-nmer stands, a few rods, to a shed (it 

 is open to the south), and pack them close 

 together? These bees are in single-walled 

 hives. 



In making nuclei by the Somerford meth- 

 od, it tells us to cage the queen. What kind 

 of cag-e is used, and where is it kept when 

 the queen is in it? Amos FeleV. 



West Hartland, Ct. 



[I would not advise putting the bees into 

 a shed just now if they ai-e to be moved only 

 a few rods. You might leave them in their 

 present location until settled cold weather 

 coines on, and then move. Change the ap- 

 pearance of things as much as possible at 

 the old location, taking away all hives and 

 every thing else that may be familiar to 

 the flying bees. If the weather should con- 

 tinue cold for three or four weeks after 

 inoving, there would be very few bees re- 

 turning on the next wann day. 



Any kind of queen-cage will answer for 

 the purpose named, providing it is or can 

 be supplied with food. — Ed.] 



HONEV FROM CORN ; THE PROOF OF THE 

 PUDDING. 



Do bees gather honey from corn? Accord- 

 ing to Mr. Gale we inight as well expect 

 "figs from thistles" as honey froin corn. 

 In Mr. Gale's experience, "We may as 

 well expect to get honey from ferns or mosses 

 as from grasses, or expect a hen that is 

 without ovaries to lay eggs, as to expect 

 honey from a plant that has no nectaries. 

 Bees can not gather honey from maize, be- 

 cause the flowers have no glands where- 

 with to secrete it." Now, a nectariferous 

 glandule is one that produces nectar or 

 honey. It has been said, that "Seeing is 

 believing; but feeling is the naked truth." 

 If you would determine this "corn honey" 

 secretion for yourself, go out in the corn- 

 field before sunrise ; walk in among the 

 stalks, and watch the bees. You will find 

 them fairly swarming over the tops of the 

 corn. Step up closer, and you will observe 

 that they insert their heads well into the 

 bell-shaped cups, and work most indus- 

 triously. Now pick off some of these cups. 



and strip them between the thumb and fin- 

 g-er nail, and you will see exuding a starch- 

 like liquid, sweet to the taste. Return to 

 this same corn-patch an hour after the sun 

 has shone on it, and the bees will be ab- 

 sent. If the bees were simply after pollen 

 they would continue their trips throughout 

 the day; but as they are in search of nectar 

 they discontinue their visits as soon as the 

 sun has evaporated the nectar from the 

 flowers. Since the corn nectiir is to be had 

 only in the early morning, the bees natural- 

 ly gather from other sources throughout the 

 day, and, inconsequence, the "corn honey" 

 of one section will not be of that of another 

 section, as the mid-day sources of honey 

 will differ. Corn, more than any other 

 plant, closes its flow of nectar earl3s in 

 consequence of its flowers being all expos- 

 ed on the extreme tops of the stalks, and is, 

 therefore, more in the direct rays of the 

 sun. Go out into a corn-field and test the 

 matter for yourself. 



Within the past month I was asked to 

 take the honey from the apiary of Ira Flan- 

 ders, of Big Ti'ees, Cal. I found three 

 hives with bodj' and super filled with hon- 

 ey; three with a few combs just started, 

 and twelve with not even a comb started, in 

 the supers. These bees were all in one 

 row, and j'et there are honest bee-keepers 

 who will 7iot believe that such conditions 

 can exist, because they do not meet with 

 them. E. H. Schaeffle. 



Murphys, Cal., Sept. 8. 



[Mr. Schaefile seems to offer indisputa- 

 ble proof, at least for his locality. Strange 

 that no one has before suggested testing 

 the corn-blossoms just as we test the blos- 

 soms of white and red clover. It is too late 

 to make a similar test in our locality; but 

 I sugg-est that those of our readers who can 

 do so try it at the proper season next sum- 

 mer. For the present, at least, I think we 

 may conclude that Mr. Schaeffle is right, 

 and that corn does, in some localities at 

 least, produce honey; but it would be folly 

 to assume that it does do so in all locali- 

 ties. Alfalfa, for example, one of the best 

 honej'-plants in the world, yields little or 

 no nectar in the East, although it makes a 

 fairly good fodder for cattle. — Ed.] 



TRp:ATMENr OF balle;d oueens. 

 I have bought about 25 queens this year, 

 beginiaing during May, having received the 

 last ones this week. With the ordinarj^ 

 mailing-cage, where the bees are allowed 

 to release the queen in from 12 to 48 hours, 

 as the case may be, I have in one or two 

 cases opened the hive in three daj's and 

 found the queen balled. To introduce her 

 again I put her back in the cage and make 

 a mixture of honey and sugar, so thick that 

 it will not rvui, and fasten her in the cage 

 with it, and then try her in the hive again. 

 B3' this means I have not lost one, and I 

 have in some instances introduced this way, 

 so the queen was not in the hive more than 

 six hours before she was released, and I 



