1887 



GJ.EANING.S IN BEE CULTURE. 



661 



should not think of replacing tlie qneen just 

 to get swarms. Yon do not say.any thing 

 about the amount of honey received. If sat- 

 isfactory, let them go on. " I presume you do 

 not mean by the term " drone-laying queen'' 

 that yoiu- queen produces all drones ; for in 

 the latter case the colony is already virtual- 

 ly extinct. Unless the drt)ne-layihg queen 

 is removed, and that promptly, the colony is 

 lost. 



QUESTIONS ON WINTERING, BY A BEGINNER. 



I shall be pleased to have you answer the follow- 

 ing: questions in Gleanings: InalO-frame Lang-- 

 stroth chaff hive is it best to leave the frames just as 

 the bees have them filled for winter, or would it be 

 better to change the center frames to the outside of 

 the hive, and bring- the outside frames to the center, 

 as they ai-e better filled with honey? How many 

 frames should be left in the hive when 10 frames are 

 used? and if any are taken out, how should the space 

 be filled for wintering on summer stands? Do bees 

 sleep? has'been a question asked lue. The honey 

 crop in this county is less than half a crop, and but 

 very few swarms. P. M. Little. 



New Waterford, ()., Aug. 23, 1887. 



By all means, friend L., leave the frames 

 just as the bees tix them. They know how 

 they want their stores fixed for winter, a 

 great deal better than you do. The number 

 of frames to be left on the hive depends on 

 the quantity of bees in the colony ; but in 

 most cases 1 think six or seven are quite 

 sufficient, putting a chaff division-board on 

 each side, in place of the combs removed. 



BEES DROPPING DOWN BEFORE THE ENTRANCE. 



For information I must appeal to you in regard 

 to my bees. I, as well as one of my neighbors, was 

 somewhat puzzled over our bees on the loth of this 

 month. On the 1.5th it was cloudy all day, and rath- 

 er muggy. Bees worked well on buckwheat (which is 

 out in bloom;) but about 10 or 11 o'clock they ap- 

 peared to drop or fall in front and all around the 

 hives as far as 10 or 15 feet from the hives. The 

 ground and grass, and, in fact, every thing they 

 could cling to, was crowded with them. They ap- 

 peared to be heavilj' loaded. A great many had 

 pollen; and as soon as they would alight they would 

 appear to be overdone. They did not disappear 

 until about the same time next day. I should not 

 have thought so much of it had not my neighbor's 

 acted just the same way. I thought it might be an 

 unusual occurrence, but it may be common. 



John W. Goddard. 



Upper Black Eddy, Pa., Aug. 17, 1887. 



Friend (t., 1 have seen bees, when heavily 

 laden, drop down around the hives as far 

 away as a yard, or four or five feet, perhaps ; 

 and when the weather suddenly turns cool 

 they often get so chilled they stay in the sun 

 until it warms them up before they will go 

 into the hive ; but I think I never saw them 

 so far away as tifteeji feet around the 

 hive ; and I have never seen them away 

 from home at night unless the weather 

 had turned chilly after they went out for 

 food. As you state it, it seems to be some- 

 thing quite unusual. I do not believe that 

 bees usually supersede their queens unless 

 the queen "is in some way defective, or fails 

 to keep the combs filled with eggs as she 



ought to do, and we hRve kept queens as 

 many as two and even three seasons. Where 

 they coniinence (pieen-cells, it is generally 

 thouglit to be an indication that they con- 

 template either swarming or supersedure ; 

 V)ut this is by no means always true. 



LARGE brood-chambers, TO PREVENT BEES FROM 

 STARVING DURING POOR SEASONS. 



This present year, it seems to me, would settle 

 the question of hirge or small brood-chambers. 

 Ours, 7 Quinby frames, we think none too small, and 

 we wish this year it had been 8, as it is a calamity to 

 us to have our bees run out of honey. 



Roseville, Ills., Aug. 1.5, 1887. Mrs. L. C. Axtell. 



I am very well aware. Mrs. A., that a 

 good many colonies could be saved by 

 having the brood-chamber larger ; but the 

 question then arises. Is it policy to carry a 

 surplus of honey, perhaps for several years, 

 just because the bee-keeper might be care- 

 less, and neglect to look after their needs 

 during a dearth of honey? By no means let 

 us permit the bees to starve. If we have 

 small brood-chambers, we must be more 

 careful, and must look after the wants of 

 our little friends better than if we permit- 

 ted them at all times to carry a surplus. 



IS ALSIKE A HYBRID.'' 



In regard to a discussion between friends Muth 

 and Cory, concerning alsike turning to red clover, I 

 wish to relate a little experience in the matter. I 

 sowed about three acres of alsike with oats. It 

 came up and grew nicely; the second year it was 

 two to three feet tall— a purple bloom, and the bees 

 worked on it strong. The next year red clover 

 sprang up almost entirely. I plowed it under and 

 put in wheat, all but a little gravelly corner, which 

 has sprung up this spring in alsike again. It eems 

 to be a hybrid, crossed between red and white. It 

 first goes to one and then the other. There can be 

 no mistake about the way this clover did. The 

 seed sown was not half as large as red, and a dark- 

 ishbrowu seed. C. L. Gough. 



Rock Spring, Mo., June 6, 1887. 



Friend G., our best authorities seem to de- 

 cide that alsike is not a hybrid — see recent 

 articles on this subject in Gleanings ; we 

 are therefore obliged to conclude that red- 

 clover seed had been for some years in your 

 soil ; but the conditions not being just right 

 it had not before germinated. I believe it is 

 a fact, that red clover very often comes up, 

 and sometimes so as to rhake quite a good 

 stand, where no alsike has been sown at all. 

 A great many times the matter is passed by, 

 without giving it any particular notice, arid 

 this is one reason why so many insist that 

 alsike fin all v turns to red clover. 



ABSCONDING, AND LEAVING COMBS OF HONEY AND 

 BROOD. 



The six queens arrived safely, and we divided four 

 of our most prosperous stocks, giving them, of 

 course, a queen, which they took. They all appear- 

 ed to do well. One day last week we found two of 

 the divided colonies had taken flight. Is this a com- 

 mon occurrence, with hrood and honey in the cham- 



