1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



497 



speak of are probably something after the 

 fashion of the Apis clorsata. I have seen 

 our own hornets fly from their nests jnst as 

 you state, as straight and almost as swift as 

 a shot from a gun. Why in the world didn't 

 some of you caution the Coolies, instead of 

 letting them get stung in that way, when 

 they were entirely innocent? I should not 

 have blamed them if they had turned around 

 and commenced stoning the whole of you 

 wliite people — missionaries and all. We 

 should like to see one of those big hornets, 

 preserved in alcohol. 



JlE/IDg 0F &WW 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELD 



WHY DO LAYING QUEENS DESERT THEIR HIVES 

 SOMETIMES, AND ENTER OTHERS? 



AM sorry to inform you that I lost that nice 

 Italian queen you sent me last summer. I 

 had just got her a good colony built up in five 

 weeks from the time I got her, and she left her 

 hive and I found her one morning on the 

 alighting-board of another hive, on the opposite 

 side of my yard, with a lot of bees balled up on her, 

 about the size of a walnut, and they had killed her 

 before I found it out. I can't tell what possessed 

 her to leave her hive and go to another. I had her 

 in a hive that was painted white, and the one I 

 found her on was a marble-colored hive. I took 

 what eggs she had and gave them to some queen- 

 less hives, and got several queens; but none ever 

 produced as yellow, nice Italians as she did. She 

 never laid a drone egg while she stayed with me, 

 and of course the queens I got from her had to 

 meet the drones from my other bees, which were 

 not very good Italians. I want to get another 

 queen of you after a while, and try my luck again. 

 McDaniels, Ky., May 21, 1889. J. H. Hart. 



I am aware that queens apparently in a 

 normal condition do sometimes get out of 

 their own hives, and go into an adjoining 

 one, or into some other hive in the apiary ; 

 but I have never been able to give any ex- 

 planation of it, more than that the colony 

 had swarmed some time when no one was 

 around; and the queen, not being able to 

 follow the bees, on account of a clipped 

 wing, or for some other cause, had crawled 

 along the ground, entered another hive, and 

 succeeded in displacing the reigning inmate. 

 If your queen's wing was clipped, this might 

 be the explanation. 



JAPANESE BUCKWHEAT SUPERIOR TO THE COMMON 

 FOR HONEY. 



I got one pound of Japanese buckwheat from you 

 in the spring of 188s. I sowed it on new land full of 

 roots, as I just took the timber off. I got over 3 l / 2 

 bushels of seed, much nicer and plumper than that 

 1 got from you. I had a few stalks of the old vari- 

 ety; and while the heads felt like chaff, the Jap- 

 anese was loaded with grain. I think this will take 

 the lead, and all others will go to the wall. I agree 

 with Prof. Cook as to its being a honey-producer, 

 for the bees worked on it all day, while they left 

 the other before noon. The great trouble with 

 buckwheat in this latitude, 44^°, is, if put in early, 



the hot weather will blast it; if put in later, early 

 frost will catch it. But with the Japanese, both are 

 obviated. I prepare my ground as I would for 

 oats, and sow not more than a peck to an acre. 

 You will get more grain from that amount, on an 

 acre, than any larger amount. Try it as I have, 

 and be convinced. L P. Cousins. 



New London, W r is . May 27, 1889. 



WHO IS THE IUGHTFUL OWNER OF THE SWARM? 



I should like your opinion as to the rightful own- 

 ership of a swarm of bees. I have 33 colonies of 

 bees, probably three times as many as the whole 

 neighborhood within a range of three miles. One 

 of my neighbors found a swarm on my place, about 

 half a mile from my bees, on an apple-tree, and 

 came to me to get a hive and borrow my bee-veil 

 and smoker. Now, in all probability the bees were 

 mine, and to say the least I thought it looked a lit- 

 tle cheeky. Now, who was the rightful owner— the 

 man who found them or the man whose place they 

 were found on? G. F. Steeves. 



Panama, Neb., May 11, 1889. 



As you state it, the bees are yours, with- 

 out question. The old clause in our laws 

 that applied to bees found in a forest would 

 not apply to a swarm of bees found in one 

 of your own apple-trees on your own prem- 

 ises. Any justice or any jury in the land 

 would decide the matter in this way, with- 

 out any question. 



THE GOLDEN BEE-HIVE, AGAIN. 



The " Golden " bee-hive, shown up by Gleanings 

 a few years since, has made its appearance in our 

 midst, sold by one Pickerls. Has the fellow a pat- 

 ent on this hive or not? None of our intelligent 

 bee-men buy said hive, but find voluminous objec- 

 tions thereto. Ten dollars for family right is the 

 small tax he requires, and some pay it. Amite Co., 

 Mississippi, paid about $1500 for its use. 



W. F. Roberts, M. D. 



Clinton, La., May 21, 1889. 



It is not worth while to inquire whether 

 there is a patent on the Golden bee-hive or 

 not. It has been reported as a humbug and 

 swindle for ten or fifteen years past, and 

 every one who hears of it should take pains 

 to post people in reference to it. The opera- 

 tions of those who have it in hand are fully 

 given in our back volumes. You had better 

 let patent hives alone entirely. I think 

 every intelligent honey-producer at the 

 present day will second this advice. See 

 extract from DadamVs new book, on the first 

 page of editorial matter in last issue. 



FEEDING in spring, etc. 



1. What is best to feed in spring to stimulate 

 brood-rearing? 



2. How much should be fed each night? 



3. Will such feeding pay? 



4. Do you think honey-boards or separators are 

 any hindrance to the bees? Lester Jodson. 



East Sidney, N. Y, 



1. The best feed to give the bees in the 

 spring, for stimulating, is granulated-sugar 

 syrup ; but from motives of economy it is 

 better to give them combs containing old or 

 dark honey, or if you have some old extract- 

 ed that is not salable. First heat it, to 

 make sure that you kill all germs, and then 



