MARCH 1, 1915 



Hesidls (0)f (Craim fremi Differeiult Fields 



The Backlot Buzzer 



How's the lime of year when Grandpa and the 

 berx both peep out of the front door, and wonder 

 when the thaw is coming. 



Trapping a Bee-eating Skunk 



I was intprcsted in the ••irticle on page 22, Jan. 1. 

 hy H. R. Boardman, but I was surprised Ihat Mr. 

 Boardman was so long in finding out how much 

 damage skunks do. Some years ago I had four bee- 

 > ards, and had each yard fenced with a tight board 

 fence 5 feet 4 inches high, surmounted by two 

 barbed wires. I always kept a box trap at each 

 yard, as the skunks would dig under the fence and 

 then devour the bees by the quart, and sometimes by 

 I he gallon, I believe. 



The reason I used a box trap is this. When I 

 catch the skunk in a box trap I take the trap (skunk 

 and all) and sink the trap in water until the skunk- 

 is drowned. There is no scent whatever. 



The be.st bait I know of is an egg, because other 

 animals will not bother it. For instance, if I bait with 

 fresh fish the chances are two to one there would 

 be a cat in the trap within half an hour after sunset. 

 So by the time Mr. Skunk would get around the 

 trap would be closed. 



How many bees can a skunk eat in one night? A 

 few years ago I drove out to one of my outyards 

 about seven miles from home, in November, and there 

 was about three in<-he8 of snow. I found a skunk 

 had dug a hole under the fence and had sat in front 

 of one of the hives on the stand so long that the 

 snow wa.s melted. He had scratched a strip of paint 

 off the front of the hive about two inches wide clear 

 across the entrance. I look some steel traps and 

 tracked him about one mile, intending to trap him 

 at his hole; but he went in a crack in the ledge 

 which was several hundred feet long. So there was 

 no chance to catch him there. 



Then I went back to the beevard and set the box 



trap near the hole under the fence. The next day I 

 had him. He got into the trap l)pfore he got to any 

 hive. When I skinned and dressed him there was 

 a tcacupful of undigested bees in his stomach. Tliis 

 wMs about 36 hours after he ate the bees. He weigh- 

 ed over H lbs., and I got over three pints of oil 

 out of him. Of course this was a very large one. 

 West de Pere, Wis. Paul ScitEURiNG. 



Will Granulated Honey in the Cellar-win- 

 tered Bees do any Harm? 



I am writing you concerning a condition the seri- 

 ou.sness of which is yet undetermined. Our bees 

 are snugly quartered in three large cellars, and are 

 apparently doing well ; but at the time of cellaring 

 we found an unsual amount of granulated honey in 

 the hives, and we are at a loss to know whether the 

 licps can or cannot use this granulated honey after 

 the liquefied is gone, and before time to remove them 

 from the cellars. We realize that bees will not 

 winter out on summer stands successfully in Utah 

 on sranulated honey, but do not know what results 

 will develop from it in the cellar. Since first begin- 

 ning to cellar our bees the granulation has been very 

 slight until now, but we feel a little uncertain this 

 time. 



The cellar temperature of 45 degi-ees F. plus the 

 additional warmth of the bee cluster has had a 

 tendency to liquefy slightly the granulation since 

 cellaring; and the granulation is less in strong colo^ 

 nies than in weak ones, and is less in the early flow 

 of honey than in that gathered toward the end of 

 the season. 



Beaver City, Utah, Feb. 2. G. W. GiBSOX. 



[Granulated honey will do no serious damage to 

 the bees in the cellar. Of course we prefer sealed 

 liquid stores ; but in the average cellar there is sufii- 

 cient moisture so the bees will be able to take care 

 of the granulated honey they have. Should the 

 cellar become very dry. which is not likely, they 

 would not be able to use granulated stores like 

 liquid honey in the comb. 



For winter feeeding Mr. J. E. Crane recommends 

 granulated honey in place of candy when regular 

 combs of sealed stores are not available, and Mr. 

 Crane is good authoritv. — Ed. 1 



Shipping Queens by Freight to Australia 



Last season I tried to get queens through the post 

 from the United States, but they all arrived dead. 

 Recognizing the futility of further attempts by post 

 I arranged to have a dozen baby nuclei sent by 

 freight with a queen in each. They arrived in due 

 course, reaching here just before Christmas, in the 

 heat of our summer. They were packed in well-ven- 

 tilated boxes measuring about 10x9x5 inches, and 

 each box contained two combs of honey. They had 

 been very carefully put up, and I do not think any 

 thing further could have been done to ensure success 

 unless it was the addition of a water-bottle. 



I am not too keen myself on giving the bees water 

 en route, as my experience and that of my sons makes 

 me rather dubious whether it is beneficial or not; 

 but I mentioned it because the editor of Gleanings 

 has appeared to advocate it. When I unpacked the 

 bees, two nuclei had died outright. One of these 

 had consumed all its stores, and four others had 

 about half the bees and the queens dead. Of the 

 other six alive, some were pretty weak, and two 

 have since died, leaving four out of a dozen. They 

 are good bees, good honey-getters, and very quiet. 

 Ma.ior Shallari). 



S. Woodburn, N. S. W., Australia. 



