188? 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



437 



would be, pevhaps,' one of the simplest ar- 

 rangements that can be devised. We do 

 not notice any arrangement to clamp the 

 hopper-shapeiTrims, F, F, together, but per- 

 haps none is needed. 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS. 



SWARMING OUT IN MAKING AUTIFICIAL SWAKMS. 



T DIVIDED a hive for a neigrhbor, and every thing 

 (glf went on nicely until the queen hatched. She 

 ^r destroyed all the cells and swarmed out the 

 "*■ next day, taking with her about half of the 

 bees. I was not there when they swarmed, but 

 came along about si.x hours after. He had managed 

 to hive them nicely, and left the hive about :w feet 

 from where they settled. The bees were passing 

 fi-om one'hive to the other at a rapid rate, but were 

 quiet. I examined the hive they came from, and 

 they had not a queen. 1 tonic them back to their 

 old home, put them in, and in a few minutes they 

 were all quiet. What I do not understand is, why 

 the young queen should swarm out. It was not for 

 the want of honey, for they were in a new hive, and 

 every thing was tidy, and they had some brood. 



WHY THE BEE.S DID NOT WORK IN AN ARTIFICIAL 

 SWARM. 



I also divided a hive and put in a queen-cell. The 

 bees would not come out when the entrance was 

 open, and would have stayed there and starved had 

 they not been fed. After the queen was 24 hours 

 old the.>- began to stir out a little. They seem to be 

 doing nicely now. They had plenty of bees :o keep 

 the brood warn), and work at the same time. Why 

 did thej- act in such a manner ? J. F. Blenett. 



Smithville, Monroe Co., Ind., May Ifi, 1887. 



Friend 11, it is a little hard to tell why 

 the young queen swarmed out the next day 

 after she was liatched. Such things some- 

 times happen in making artificial swarms. — 

 In regard to the worker bees that would not 

 go out of the hive, it was because they were 

 not yet old enough. When you divide a colo- 

 ny, the flying bees wuU almost always go back 

 to their "old stand— that is, if the old stand 

 is not moved at all. Consequently no stores 

 will be brought in until these young bees 

 are old enough to take their flight, and go to 

 work. lu such cases, unless there is honey 

 in the combs, they are liable to starve right 

 in the height of clover or basswood bloom. 

 The only way is to feed them until they get 

 old enough ; but a better way is to do your 

 dividing m such a way that ybu will have at 

 least a few working bees thai will stay in the 

 nucleus. See directions for dividing," in any 

 of our text-books. 



RELATIVE .\M0UNT OF STORES (.'ONSUMED IN OUT- 

 DOOR AND CELLAR WINTERING. 



On page 8!I3, 1886, Dr. C. C. Miller asks, "Does cel- 

 laring lessen the vigor of bees?" Having expei'i- 

 mented on that point, also as to the amount of 

 stores saved, 1 give you my figures. Nov. 20, 1885, 1 

 put in the cellar 7H colonies and left 6 good strong 

 ones on their summer stands in double-walled hives, 

 with 'a-inch dead-air space and .5 inches cut straw 

 over the frames. 1 weighed all the same day. Apr. 

 20, 1886, I took the bees from the cellar, and weighed 

 all again. To make the average a fair one, 1 took 



the weight of 37 of the best colonies from the cellar 

 a^iainst the 6 wintered out. The 37 in the cellar 

 consumed 9^4 lb&. each; and those out, 13 lbs. each. 

 To sum up, cellaring increased their vigor, and in .5 

 months used 26 per cent less stores. 

 Albion, N. Y. G. H. ASHBY. 



CAN OLD MOLASSES-BARRELS BE USED FOR THE 

 STORAGE OF HONEY ? 



How would it do to take syrup-barrels, say those 

 such as we get (i or 10 lbs. of syrup in, wash them 

 out and put extracted honey in them? Would it 

 injure the honey in any way? I don't intend to 

 ship the honey in them, only I want something to 

 answer the same as a tank. If they can not be got 

 clean enough by washing with water at the bung- 

 hole, I could knock one head out and then cover 

 them with a cloth and lid. If they won't injure 

 the honey it would be a big saving, as 1 can save 

 the barrels when I empty them of syrup for the 

 honey season. They do not cost me any thing, and 

 they will hold about 600 lbs. apiece, and 10 of them 

 will hold the amount that I would want a tank to 

 hold. I am told that such a tank would cost me 20 

 or 30 dollars. I have so far been keeping my honey 

 in the largest stone jars, also in large tin cans; but 

 they are too expensive. If you have had no expe- 

 rience in putting honey in such barrels, or can't 

 answer it to a certainty, perhaps some of the read- 

 ers of Gle.\nings can. C. M. Hicks. 



Fairview, Md., Feb. 14, 1887. 



Friend H., there is no way to make mo- 

 lasses-barrels, or wooden barrels of any 

 kind, keep honey as nicely as tin cans or 

 stone crocks, unless they are coated with 

 wax or parafline, or somiething similar. You 

 may wash the wood ever so clean, and dry 

 it ever so dry, and when it becomes soaked 

 with honey the wood will give the honey 

 more or less of a woody flavor ; and where 

 the barrels have been once used for molasses 

 the honey will be sure to have a molasses 

 taint. I would not undertake to use them 

 without waxing them, according to the di- 

 rections in the A B C book. You might try 

 one or two, to see if you do not find it as I 

 state. 



HONEY MADE BY FEEDING SUGAR. 



I inclose an ad vei-tisement which I cut from one 

 of our local i)apers. You will notice what a pretty 

 insinuation it contains regarding our "Northern"' 

 honey. Perhaps some of the readers of Gle.^n- 

 ings can tell us a little something of this extensive 

 or celebrated bce-l'arm. Charles H. Smith. 



Pittsheld, Mass.. April 30, 1887. 



NOT OSF. KLAKE OV S.SOW. 



.\iul liver :ilMI illtfeivnt varieties of llo\ver> in 1)1. n, in nil winti'r 

 Ions:, nt 

 DR. D. K. FOX'S lEl.KBRATED APIAKY. iiK litK-KAKM 

 (of 1(H) hivesi, .lesuits' Beiiil. L:i. His Northern ageni has just 

 reeeived IflOO Ih.'^. of this jmie extiaeted oriinKe hlo>som honey, 

 fresh from theapiiry. This honey is as line flavored as any 

 ever introdiu-ed into Slassacliii.settsj and i^ warranted strictly 

 pure it l)einj; yatliei-ed tmni notliinK hut llnwers and has a 

 much nicer llavor than Nnrtlierii lionev made liv feedinc' the 

 bees on sufrar. Samples of this lioney can be foiiii I in all ihe 

 leadinvr yrroeerv stores in J'ittstield and vicinit.\ . 



Thanks, friend S. To be sure, we want to 

 know all about Dr. 1). R. Fox, of Jesuits" 

 Bend, La. But is it not possible, and alto- 

 gether likely, that it is the ailvertiser in 

 your town who is responsible for these slurs, 

 and that friend Fox kntnvs nothing of itV 

 In any case, however, he sht)uld be notified 

 that he is reflecting on good and lionest 

 men. Perhaps some of tmr readers can tell 



