510 



CJLEANLVGS IN BEE CULTUBE. 



July 



days' advancement; but a few days later, when the 

 capping commenced, to my astonishment it did not 

 indicate drone brood, but had the flat caps instead 

 of the rounded which are placed over drone brood— 

 whether in drone or worker cells, and on the 21st or 

 22d day after she commenced laying, as usual the 

 worker bees were appearing. The queen is now in 

 my apiary, a valuable one. and keeps up a ten- 

 frame colony as prolific as If she had met the 

 drones the 6th or 8th day of her life. So this is an- 

 other exception to the generally accepted rule or 

 theory as regards the fertilization of the queen- 

 bee. The hive was not within ten or twelve feet 

 of any other, and I am well satisfied there was no 

 loss or exchanging of queens, but that she was the 

 identical queen hatched fiom the cell given in May, 

 and did not lay an egg until she was 27 or 28 days 

 old. I did not notice the evidences of copulation, 

 and can not tell when that took place ; but I think it 

 must have been two or three days before she com- 

 menced laying. W.P.Henderson. 

 Murfreesboro, Tenn., June, 1887. 



JS[©¥Ef5 ;^]VD QUEl^IE^. 



no FIRST SWARMS LEAyE- BEFORE THEY HAVE A 

 CAPPED yUEEN-CEI.L? 



fOW about Mr. Doollttle's assertion, that the 

 first swarm of bees never leaves till the 

 queen-cells, or some of them, are capped? 

 With us the exceptions to this rule are very 

 common. I should say that one-third of our 

 first swarms leave before cells are capped. Is this 

 due to locality, or more likely to difference in the 

 strain of bees? Our bees are now largely of Syr- 

 ian extract, and that may account for the differ- 

 ence. How have others found ItV A. J. Cook. 

 Agricultural College, Mich., June, 1887. 

 [I believe that, when we had nothing but black 

 bees, the rule given by friend Doolittle used to be 

 pretty certain; but when the Italians came they 

 swarmed quite frequently without any sort of prep- 

 aration in the way of queen-cells. Perhaps we 

 have not quite understood Mr. D.; for I presume 

 he is as well acquainted with the above facts as al- 

 most any one of us.] 



EUTOCA VISCIDA. 



The plant sent from J. P. Israel, Olivenhaln, Cal., 



Is Eutocaviscida, Henth. It has no common name. 



Experiment Station, 



Columbus, O., June 11, 1887. Per Crakj. 



LOTS OF HONEY. 



We commenced this spring with 13 swarms, and 

 have had 36 now. We had one swarm the 7th of 

 May. Our bees are making lots of honey. We lost 

 .5 swarms. F. D. Shepkey. 



Sparta, Mich., June, 1887. 



WET WEATHER. 



Constant wet weather during the past ten days has 

 caused us a loss of one-fourth of our crop of honey. 

 Colonies have been scarcely self-sustaining yet, and 

 today many are dying for want of food— a verj' un- 

 usual thing after Juno 1. S. W. Morrison. 



Oxford, Pa., June 8. 1887. 



WINTEUINO BEES IN THE SNOW. 



My mode of wintering bees is as follows: Place 

 the hives on some level foundation, and pack them 

 in rows as closely together as possible. Cover them 

 with boards the width of the hive. With the first 

 snow, cover the boards up with snow as much as 



possible, and add with each snowfall, until covered 

 to a depth of 3 or 4 feet. They will come out all 

 right in the spring. Any one wanting more partic- 

 ulars about my experience In this covering can ad- 

 dress me. L. H. Spencer. 



Streaton, 111., June 30, 1887. 



[Your plan would probably work all right with 

 you; but with a January thaw, such as most of us 

 have, followed by a cold snap, it might be disas- 

 trous to the bees.] 



celery. 



I got one packet of Golden-leaf bleaching celery 

 from Burpee last spring, and I raised the nicest and 

 best I ever saw. I bleached it with boards 13 in. 

 wide. The season was very dry. I ran water be- 

 tween the rows. Wm. Astry. 



Franklin Square, Col. Co., O., Mar. 8, 1887. 



HOW to get rid of black ants. 



I have found a remedy for black ants that Infest 

 hives. It is new to me, but perhaps not to you. It 

 is fine salt sprinkled over them and In the cracks 

 through which they crawl. I have driven away 

 whole nests. Bees are in good condition. There is 

 lots of white clover. H. Stillings. 



Boling, Kan., May 24, 1887. 



a suggestion on miller's plan of removing 

 sections. 



I have been looking over Dr. Miller's article in 

 Gleanings, on taking sections out of supers. In 

 place of knocking and pounding, why not have a 

 small light lever attached to your table, and when 

 you get your super in i)lace just bear down gently 

 on your super till it drops off? Aaron Brogler. 



Jacksboro, Tenn., May 33, 1887. 



clover. 



Is mammoth clover as good for bees as the com- 

 mon red? We wish to seed .")0 or 60 acres to clover 

 — alsike mostly I think, the coming spring. 



Mrs. J. N. Martin. 



Pauline, Kan., Jan. !), 1887. 



[Mammoth clover Is fully as good as the common 

 red, and I believe it usually yields a good deal more 

 honey, although I believe alsike is generally con- 

 sidered more profitable, when we consider both 

 honey and seed.] 



more proof that king-birds DO not swallow 



BEES. 



King-birds do kill bees. They catch them on the 

 wing, and just give them one snap and let the bee 

 fall. It does not look as if they had time to suck 

 the honey, but I believe they do. I have sat in one 

 place and shot seven of those birds without getting 

 off the seat. I have not been pestered with them 

 for two years. S. Templeton. 



Aroma, Ind., May 22, 1887. 



milkweed pollen. 



I am in the bee-business, and on reading your 

 book I try to keep posted; but here is something 

 new to me. What this is on my bees I can not tell. 

 They come out of the hive and fall off the alighting- 

 board, crawl around a little and soon die. T send 

 you a few inclosed, to investigate. 



A. M. McDonald. 



Blum, Hill Co., Tex., Apr. 26, 1887. 



[Why, friend M., your bees have got the milkweed 

 pollen clinging to their legs. Haven't you seen it 

 pictured in the ABC book? The question is. How 

 do they get it in April? There can't be any mistake 

 about it, for it is the veritable saddlebags append- 

 ages, so familiar to us every fall. I hardly believe, 

 however, that enough of your bees will die from 

 this cause to produce any great loss.] 



