788 



GLEANINGS IN JJEE CULTUUE. 



Oct. 



First, yes, to a certain extent. I shall use them 

 more largely in the future. Second, queen-exclud- 

 ing is ray preference. Third, I thinli so. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



I use both tlie slatted and the queen-excluding-. 

 I must have the queen-excluding- in practicing- the 

 contraction method. I think they will pay ior 

 themselves. Du. A. B. Mason. 



T don't use that board, giving- the preference to 

 the zinc. II' I did I would have it queen-excluding. 

 T think thej" pay for themselves in less than three 

 seasons. PAur. L. \'iAiiLON. 



I use them, and prefer to have them queen-ex- 

 cluding. As well may you ask, "Will a hee-hivc 

 pay for itself?" They are indiapensahlr when the 

 surplus is taken from the top of the hive. 



W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Yes. T have constantly used my slatted sink 

 break-joint honey-board since I invented it 8 or 10 

 years ago. With me it pays for itself every month. 

 1 prefer it queen-excluding, to the extra cost of 

 maliing it so, which nearly doubles the cost of it, 

 yet we gain nine-tenths of its advantages when not 

 queen-excluding. This honey-board ivili surely 

 come into general use. James Heddon. 



Question No. /-.'.— Is it possible to breed a non 

 swarming race of bees? If so, should we commence 

 with pure Italians, or should we breed from sever- 

 al races? 



No. PAUI. L. VlALLON. 



I do not think it possible. W. Z. Hutchinson. 

 I think it is scarcely possible. R. Wilkin. 



No, not when worked for comb honey. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



It may be possible, but not desirable. 



Mrs. L. Hauiuson. 

 No. All races would swarm under certain cir- 

 cumstances. Dadant & Son. 



T think it possible, but not quiclily or easily 

 reached. I suspect a pure race might be the best 

 ground to Avork on. C. C. Milleij. 



I don't think it is, but an excessive tendency to 

 swarm may possibly be bred out, especially if pure 

 Italians are experimented with. 



O. O. POPPLETOX. 



I don't know what may be possible; but I very 

 much doubt our being able to produce a race of bees 

 that would be non-swarming. It is nature to swarm, 

 otherwise the race would run out. E. Fk.vnce. 



I don't know any thing about it. I don't dare to 

 say no, for what seems an impossibility to-day may 

 be an accomplished fact to-morrow or in the near 

 future. Dr. A. B. Mason. 



Judging from experience with other animals, I 

 should say yes; but it will take time. I should 

 commence with colonies that show little tendency, 

 and yet were good breeders. I think Italians fa- 

 vorable for the experiment. A. J. Cook. 



The longer I keep bees the more 1 doubt the pos- 

 sibility of a non-swarming race. Crossing several 

 strains or races tends to increase swarming, if I am 

 correct. The nearest approach to success may be 

 expected with a pure race. K. E. Hastv. 



No one can give more than an opinion. It may 

 be possible, but would take a very long time, with 

 most careful and persistent effort. Think of the 

 length of time that nature has been breeding them 

 just the opposite Avay. I would say, breed from 

 crosses: if from any pure race, by all means, the 

 brown Germans. James Heddon. 



Now, friends, in .spite of the weighty opin- 

 ions to tiie contrary, I am going to suggest 

 tliat it is as reasonable to get bees that will 

 not swarm as lo have hens that don't sit. 

 The only trouble is. we liave not any bee- 

 keepers or bee-raisers who have the patience 

 that our poultry-friends have had in select- 

 ing and encouraging — or, if you please, dis- 

 couraging — special traits. To be sure, we 

 can do it. If I am not mistaken, there are 

 colonies in many of our apiaries that have 

 never swarmed lit all ; and I shouldn't won- 

 der if we have some queens that never will 

 swarm. Are we sure, friends, that we have 

 not got them already, if Ave just look into 

 the matter ? There would be one trouble in 

 the way at present: The queens we rear 

 will, in spite of us, be crossed by drones 

 from swarming colonies. The poultry-men 

 are ahead of us in that respect ; that is, they 

 have a great advantage in their favor. 



^mE^ ;«]\iD QnE^iEg. 



SMALL SWARMS LATE IN THE FALL. 



T SHOULD like to inquire as to the probable cause 

 ^f of my bees sending out small swarms of a pint 

 W and less, at this season of the year. The honey- 

 "*■ boxes are not lull, and hardly any honey is be- 

 ing gathered now, or has been for more than 

 a month. The dry season has shortened the honey- 

 crop a great deal. E. A. Bishop. 

 Talladega, Ala., Sept. 29, 1887. 



[Friend B., such small swarms as you mention 

 are generally the result of the swarming mania; 

 but it is a little strange that they should get it so 

 late in the season. Perhaps you have been having 

 a honey-flow, and it is slowly tapering off. Is not 

 this the case?] 



THOSE MOSQUITO-HAWKS ; HOW TO CATCH 'EM. 



I see the friends have a very slight idea of the 

 number of mosquito-hawks. Our Kansas and 

 Texas friends will understand. They are not quite 

 so bad as a small shower of grasshoppers. If I 

 were going out to catch them I should want a net a 

 mile long and one hundred yards deep, and two 

 steam-balloons to carry it. Only one specie, the 

 large green ones, catch bees. W. J. Drumright. 



Sarasota, Fla., Sept. 6, 188". 



S. T. PETTIT'S manner of HANDLING CROSS BEES. 



Let me tell you and friend Doolittle (see page 681, 

 Gleanings) what I use for sweetening sour-tem- 

 pered or cross bees. T take a piece of wood, 'o inch 

 by one inch, and 14 inches long. On this I nail a 

 piece of stiff wire cloth, whose meshes are about 

 6 to the inch. The piece is cut 6 by 8 inches, and is 

 nailed the long way up and down the handle. 

 Round the corners a little, and your instrument is 

 ready for use. This cooler will hit j'our little an- 

 noyer every time without difficulty, as it does not 

 blow the bee out of line when you strike, and is 

 wide enough to take effect without taking aim. 



S. T. Pettit. 



Belmont, Ont., Can , Sept. 'ZO, 1887. 



