164 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



at all in their work. They store above until 

 the queen is caught above the excluder; and 

 then when the brood-nest is re-established 

 they move the honey from below. I usually 

 leave the old hive in place at least thirty 

 days to be sure all honey is removed. 



Last year one of the colonies I had pur- 

 chased and transferi-ed in this manner gave 



me 90 pounds of surplus (extracted), and 

 one shook swarm, both coming through the 

 winter in fine condition. In fact, this colony 

 did as well as the best I had. One should 

 choose a warm pleasant day to catch the 

 queen at work above. Any time between 

 ten and two o'clock will probably be best. 

 Corvallis. Oregon. 



A FINE DAY IN SOUTHERN NEW BMUNSWICi: 



BY L. T. FLOYD 



We placed our bees in the cellar Nov. 15, 

 plentifully supplied with stores, consisting 

 mainly of aster honey. We made an exam- 

 ination on Christmas day, and found that 

 the fronts of the hives had a few spots of 

 dysentery. On January 7 it rained all day, 

 taking off what little snow was on the 

 ground. The temperature rose to 50 degrees. 

 On the morning of the 8th, at daybreak a 

 thick fog hung over the valley, with a slight 

 breeze blowing. The mercury stood at 29. 

 The fog cleared about 11 o'clock, and the 

 sun came out warm. In the cellar we found 

 the bees noisy. There were more spots on 

 the fronts of hives than we had seen in four 

 years. 



At 11 :.30 tlie thermometer had risen to 40. 

 and while we took out one hive and placed 

 it on its summer stand it seemed too cold 

 for the bees to tiy. At noon the thermome- 

 ter showed a temperature of 45. A trip to 

 the orchard showed the bees in full flight. 

 We hustled to the cellar and carried our 

 twenty colonies to their summer stands as 

 fast as we could. We pulled off the covers 



and let the sun shine on the frames and 

 bees, giving each hive a light kick or two 

 before we left it. By the time we had them 

 all out, the thermometer registered the max- 

 imum at 48. 



We had an hour and a half of this kind 

 of sunshine, and the orchard was well 

 " sprayed," I can tell you. The way those 

 bees enjoyed that hour and a half repaid us 

 well for the work of carrj'ing them out. 

 After they had had a good flight they 

 cleaned the feAv dead bees, cappings, etc., 

 off their bottom-boards, and by 4 o'clock we 

 had them all back in the cellar again. Since 

 that tim.e thej- have been as quiet as I ever 

 saw them. 



This divides the winter pretty Well for 

 us, as we generally get them out by April 

 1. We think these bees would have been in 

 ven' bad condition before that time if they 

 liad not had tliis flight. We had no trouble 

 other winters; but in previous years they 

 generally had a good part of their stores 

 in clover honey. Clover failed us in 1914. 



Woodstock, N. B. 



BY N. FRED GARDNER 



At the time of writing this article there 

 has been introduced in the Oklahoma legis- 

 lature a bill drawn along the lines advised 

 by the Bureau of Entomologj', U. S. De- 

 part of Agriculture, providing for the in- 

 spection of bees and the necessary regula- 

 tions to compel the treatment and destruc- 

 tion of all diseases. 



This bill places the authority in our State 

 Department of Entomology, and does not 

 create anj^ new offices or departments, there- 

 fore the expense would be very small and 

 only such as would be required in actually 

 doing the work. 



There has already been some trouble witli 

 foul brood in several parts of the state, and 

 the need of the police power in this bill has 

 already been felt. Space will not permit the 

 printing of the bill here; but there are sure- 



ly many readers of this journal in Okla- 

 lioma who keep bees and understand the 

 importance of such a law. They surely 

 know of the expense in many of the other 

 states in fighting the disease after it had 

 gained a foothold. 



This is the strong argument in getting a 

 law at once, so bee disease may be con- 

 trolled cheaply before it causes a serious 

 loss in Oklahoma. If tliis work is begun in 

 time we may be able to keep tlie state prac- 

 tically free from disease. 



It is not known just wlien this bill will 

 come up for a vote; but if you are interest- 

 ed, write your state senator and representa- 

 tive at Oklahoma City at once, urging them 

 to support House Bill No. 294 by Lemon. 



Geary, Okla. 



