338 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



and in tlie very best humor for the iiio.st vigorous 

 storing. If you care to take a little more trouble, a 

 little variation may be better. When the old queen 

 is out of the way, leave the cells undisturbed. In 

 less than a week after the first cell is sealed, the 

 young queen will emerge. About this time go every 

 evening and lay your ear against the side of the 

 hive. As soon as tlie first virgin has emerged, you 

 will hear her piping. No danger but you'll recog- 

 nize it the first time you hear it — a shrill note long 

 drawn out, followed by several other notes in rapid 

 succession, each one shorter than its predecessor. 

 You will hear the replies of her young sisters as 

 they quahk in their cells. If still light enough you 

 may act at once. If not, go next morning and kill 

 all the cells in the hive. That's all; the bees will 

 do the rest, for you have left the piping queen, which 

 is now in full possession. This is better than de- 

 etroying all cells but one, for in that case you may 

 leave a cell with a poor queen, or even with a dead 

 larva in it. 



Marengo, 111. C. C. Miller.. 



When is a Pear Not a Pear? 



Dr. Miller, on page 177, refers to a statement 

 made by some one that the alligator pear is worth- 

 less if allowed to ripen on the tree, and says the 

 same rule holds good with nearly all pears. It does 

 not seem to be generally known that the alligator 

 pear, or avocado, is not a pear at all, nor any re- 

 lation thereto. The pears belong to the apple fam- 

 ily, the avocado to the laurel family, which includes 

 sassafras and camphor trees, and several varieties of 

 bay trees. The botanical name is Persea Persea; 

 but lately the government botanists at Washington 

 say Persea americaiia is the correct term. 



T have never found that it made a particle of 

 difference whether the avocado pears ripened on the 

 trees or not. They should be eaten when mellow, 

 not when the least bit hard, and not when overripe 

 or mushy. They usually drop from the tree a few 

 days before they are just right to eat. Of course, 

 to ship them any distance they would have to be 

 picked greener. 



Boca Raton, Fla. F. H. Chesebro. 



Double Up the Eight-frame Hive 



What shall I do with my two-story eight-frame 

 hives of bees in the spring when running for comb 

 honey? Let me explain: In the spring, soon after 

 apple-bloom, I find my best colonies are becoming 

 crowded. I then take brood from them and give to 

 the weaker colonies as fast as I think they can 

 cover and take care of the brood; but even then I 

 had last season about twelve colonies that I appar- 

 ently could not keep down. So I gave them an 

 extra hive body and set of combs which they filled 

 very quickly. 



Now, I don't want to divide, and I have tried 

 placing a super on top, when sometimes I get a 

 small amount of comb built, but nothing like what 

 I get with my strong one-story colonies. If I place 

 a super between the two bodies, the sections that are 

 finished are very dirty. 



Has it been found to be of any particular advan- 

 tage to go to the extra work of placing a small strip 

 of foundation in the bottom of sections when the 

 top strip or piece comes within about V4, inch of 

 the bottom? 



Elkhorn, Wis. W. L. Shermax. 



[Where the eight-frame hive is used, the plan of 

 making them two stories during the early bloom 

 previous to the main flow is a good one. If a queen- 

 excluder is not used it gives the queen room to lay 

 to her utmost capacity, and will produce tremen- 

 dous colonics of bees. This is what you want for 

 successful comb-honey production. 



Where the clover-flow comes on, remove the upper 

 story and take from the lower hive the outside comb, 

 which, when a two-story hive is used, will seldom 

 be found containing brood, and take from the upper 

 story sufficient combs of brood to fill the lower one 

 clear full. It will now contain nothing but frames 

 full of brood and perhaps a little honey. The queen 

 should also be put into the lower hive. Then put 

 on your supers. If one super will not hold all of 

 the bees, then put on two or three. If the weather 

 is warm, block the hive up from the bottom-board so 

 as to give abundant ventilation below; and if weath- 

 er conditions are right and the bloom in abundance 

 you will be surprised at the amount of honey that 

 will be stored. The honey from the remaining combs 

 can be extracted and sold, or fed back. 



By this system your hive will be crowded with 

 bees and brood, and they will probably swarm ; and 

 yet colonies that are in such condition that they will 

 go into the supers with a rush, especially if the 

 honey-flow is heavy, sometimes will not swarm as 

 readily as others that are not quite so strong. In 

 case there is more brood than will go into one hive, 

 about the only thing that you can do with it is to 

 give it to other colonies, if you have such, that will 

 take it, or make increase. It is practically im- 

 possible to produce comb honey on top of a two- 

 story hive. This you have found by experience. 



Your experience with placing sections between 

 two hive-bodies containing brood is in keeping with 

 that of other beekeepers who have tried that plan. 

 It is a good place to get the foundation drawn out 

 and storing started; but after that they should be 

 removed. The cappings will always be discolored 

 with material taken from the brood-combs. 



It is a decided advantage to use a bottom starter. 

 You can always be sure of the combs being securely 

 fastened to the bottom of the section, which is not 

 always the case where only a full sheet is used that 

 comes within a quarter or half an inch of the bot- 

 tom. — G. H. R.] 



Making Division-board Feeders of Metal 



My Doolittle feeders require repairing every year. 

 Since the feeders are made of wood, they shrink, 

 which, of course, causes a leak. Feeder testing and 

 repairing has become quite an annual affair. I 

 have been thinking that the feeders should be con- 

 structed of stout galvanized iron, then painted, and, 

 while the paint is wet, apply very fine sawdust. The 

 sawdust would take away the cold touch of the iron, 

 for which it is known the bees have a strong dislike; 

 and, from the standpoint of the bees, would be the 

 same as a wooden feeder, the coarse sawdust also 

 giving the bees a good footing when taking the 

 syrup. 



From the standpoint of the beekeepers there would 

 not be any loss of time in testing and repairing, 

 and, above all, there would not be the annoyance 

 that is caused by a leaky feeder. 



St. Albans, New Zealand. W. A. Sillifant. 



But is Paralysis Caused by Pollen Constipa- 

 tion? 



M. Y. Calcutt says, page 26, Jan. 1, that bee 

 paralysis is caused by the bees becoming pollen- 

 clogged. That being the case I can see where the 

 cascaret would relieve them. But what I can't get 

 through my head is this : If the bees are pollen- 

 clogged, as he says they are, and giving them a 

 cascaret will effect a cure, then how can it effect a 

 cure to discontinue brood-rearing when they are 

 storing honey in the supers? 



Why would they not be pollen-clogged just the 

 same after brood-rearing has been discontinued, and 

 they are storing honey in the supers as before? 



Council Grove, Kan. Robt. N. Rowland. 



