1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



G31 



in which many bees were killed. It may also be 

 that the reason lies in the fact that queens are more 

 easily superseded the latter part of the season, that 

 being the time in which the bees do the most of 

 this work where left to do it themselves. 



While this part partially failed, the getting- of 

 nice queen-cells above the excluders was a perfect 

 success, even when the bees were living only from 

 hand to mouth, as not a single failure occurred. 



PREPARING FOR WINTER. 



Perhaps some will think there is time enough to 

 talk on this subject three months from now; but I 

 wish to say that I have found that August is the 

 month in which we lay the foundation for our suc- 

 cess or failure in wintering bees. All colonies 

 should be reinforced and made strong during this 

 month, or in the breediug, not in the fall. If any 

 queens are old and feeble they should be supersed- 

 ed at once, and not wait till into September, for the 

 eggs laid during this month are to make the bees 

 which are to go through the winter— yes, and those 

 that are to do the work the succeeding spring. I 

 had my eyes opened considerably on this point this 

 year. Last year I bought some hybrid bees, one 

 colony of which were nearly black. Into this I in- 

 troduced an Italian queen the 30th of August; and 

 as she did not breed very much last fall, of course 

 the bees going through the winter were mostly hy- 

 brids. 1 watched this colony very closely, and you 

 can see that I learned something new when I tell 

 j on that there were quite a number of nearly black 

 bees going in and out of the entrance July 4th of 

 this year; hence these bees were nearly if not quite 

 ten months old. G. M. Doolittle. 



Borodino, N. Y, July 16, 18X9. 



FOUNDATION VERSUS COMBS. 



IN FAVOR OF EMPTY COMBS IN THE SURPLUS 

 APARTMENT. 



Dr. Miller desired a statement from differ- 

 ent bee-keepers as to their success with sec- 

 ' tions filled with old combs left over from the 

 previous yield, I herewith give you my plan: 

 I always have more or less comb left over 

 from year to year. In the fall of 1884 I had 3000 sec- 

 tions partly tilled with honey, it was extracted or 

 fed back to the bees. In 1885 there was no honey; 

 1886, clover yielded enough to rear large quantities 

 of brood, so the 25 old stands swarmed in June. I 

 sandpapered my sections and scratched off the end 

 of the cells ]4 of the way down to the base, and put 

 them on the 25 new swarms. As fast as the bees 

 hatched in the old hive, the bees were brushed off 

 into the new swarm, leaving just bees enough to 

 care for the young queen in the old hive. Bass- 

 wood opened July 10, lasted 14 days; and those 25 

 new swarms gathered and stored 3(J0J lbs. of bass- 

 wood honey in the 14 days, all sealed. I had over 

 1000 partly filled sections which were extracted. 

 The old combs looked as fine and white as those just 

 drawn from foundation. In 1887 we had no honey, 

 and not much in 18^s. This year I had 30 Heddou su- 

 pers tilled with sections containingold combs. I weut 

 through the former method, excepting that I filled 

 a good many crates alternately with old combs and 

 one with foundation. They are still on the hives. 

 The combs are filled with honey, and sealed, while 

 the foundation is fairly worked out with some hon- 

 ey. Some of the old combs are worked away out into 



the next section of foundation. I use no separa- 

 tors. I prefer giving supers of foundation to heavy 

 swarms which will immediately occupy them. 

 Basswood will now soon open. It is just loaded 

 with buds. J. H. Reed. 



Milford, Wis., July 10, 1889. 



Your testimony is strong in favor of un- 

 finished sections. See our remarks at the 

 foot of J. A. Green's article, in the current 

 issue. 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS, 



THE DOVETAILED HIVE JUST THE THING. 



fHE hives and other goods came all right, and 

 in splendid shape. You beat the world on 

 fine goods at low prices. The Dovetailed 

 hive is just the thing to put bees in; and the 

 section-holders are the nicest arrangement 

 for the double chaff hive, better than a crate. Ten 

 holders put crosswise fill the bill, and a person can 

 get them out easily. 



SHIPPING BEES FROM NORTH Til SOUTH TO CATCn 

 THE HONEY-FLOW. 



Tf nothing happens to prevent, I want to go to 

 Florida this fall with 200 swarms of bees to catch 

 the honey-How from orange-blossoms. I have been 

 thinking about the Dovetailed hive ever since it 

 came out. I have been shipping bees in light cases, 

 and I came to the conclusion that I would have the 

 Dovetailed hive shipped in the flat. But since I 

 saw your letter, explaining how it could be used to 

 ship bees in, I think it is just the thing to kill two 

 birds with one stone. You may think I am wild, 

 but I am not. If bees can be shipped from the 

 South in the spring, and do better than bees winter- 

 ed here, why won't the rule work both ways? They 

 claim the trouble is to get bees ready for the 

 orange-blossoms. I am going to take them there 

 ready for work. C. E. Jones. 



Delaware, O., July 11, 1889. 



Yes, sir, friend Jones, the Dovetailed hive 

 will be just the thing for shipping bees from 

 north to south. We should be glad to have 

 you report the success of the enterprise. 



WHY THE BEES WILL NOT RAISE A QUEEN. 



Please unravel the following knotty and to me 

 mysterious behavior on the part of a colony I have. 

 They cast two swarms, and afterward lost their 

 queen ([ saw her after she was hatched). I pre- 

 sume she was lost in her wedding-flight. The hive 

 has remained entirely free from eggs or larvsv, 

 showing the absence of even a fertile worker. I 

 gave them a frame containing eggs, which they 

 either destroyed or ate up. I then gave them a 

 queen-cell which they tore open and demolished. I 

 then gave them a frame containing eggs, larva 1 , 

 and sealed brood. The eggs were destroyed, and 

 the larvae, I think, sealed up; but no queen-cell 

 made— we can not find a queen in the hive. All the 

 frames are filled with honey, save the one with 

 brood, I gave. Would it do to give a queen, or 

 break up the colony and combine with other colo- 

 niea? We can not find any thing bearing on this 

 case in the ABC. W. B. ROHMER, M. D. 



Bay St. Louis, Mo., June 12, Isko. 



It is not at all unusual for bees to refuse to 



