AUGUST 1. 1915 



039 



(D)f Gram firdDim DiffereM Fields 



The Backlot Buzzer 



UY J. II. DONAHEY 



Don't think that you are the only one that has the 

 bull's orr (I cold wet day. Every bee in the yard feelf 

 thr xan.f ivay. 



A Sting-proof Dress. 



I must lell tlie women wlio have " bees in their 

 bonnets," and yet are actually as afraid of a 

 bee ns they are of a mouse, about a suit so bee- 

 proof in its fonstruction that they may associate 

 >vith bees to their hearts' content without a sting. 



Make a garment of gin?ham or any light-weight 

 material, just like a child's sleeping-garment (ex- 

 cept a size too large). Don't shape the neck c^r 

 shoulders, but extend on straight like a sack, sev- 

 eral inches above the head; hem the top and run 

 a ?ood elastic in the- hem. Cut out a place for the 

 face and replace with fly-screen wire. Hem sleeves 

 .ind bottom of legs, and run elastic in the hems 

 so it will fit tight around the wrists and ankles. 

 Take fencing wire; make hoops, and sew a few 

 inside the garment, one at the neck to keep the 

 garment away from the body so the bees cannot 

 sting through. 



You will not have to wear many clothes under 

 this garment, as working with bees is such hot 

 work. You get into the garment at the top, then 

 put on a hat, and let the elastic in the top of the 

 cnrnienl fit tight around the crown of the hat. 

 'XTien there is not a crack or crevice where a bee 

 can get in. 



Of rnursf, after you become acquainted with bees 

 you will find the work very fascinating, and will 

 dis<ard all extra garments or wraps of any kind 

 except occasionally a veil. But the garment de- 

 scribed is fine for getting acquainted with bees. 



CiLA Sever. 



Pollen Dust on the Backs of Bees — How Did 

 It Get There? 



I have occasionally seen a honeybee with pollen 

 on the back of the thorax. Recently, in examining 

 a small colony, I was surprised to find all the pol- 

 len brought in exactly in that manner. I watched 

 the bees coming in for a long time, and saw only 

 one bee that had even a suspicion of pollen on the 

 legs. Tlie bees that were bringing in pollen had 

 masses on their backs, some of them quite large. I 

 am wondering if you had a similar report, and I 

 also am wondering how the bees pack the pollen on 

 the back. I chloroformed a few, and am sending 

 them to you in a box by to-day's mail. In chloro- 

 forming them I noticed it took out the color of the 

 pollen, which was a pronounced yellow, and also 

 dissolved some of it, or at least flattened the masses 

 on the backs. 



I fancy that somebody may pop up and inform 

 me that bees, in squeezing into the flowers, rub 

 oft' a little on their backs. I have occasionally seen 

 that powdery form, but these were evidently deliber- 

 ately made pollen masses equivalent to those usually 

 carried on the legs. Can anybody explain how the 

 bees pack pollen in that position 1 



Edward F. Bigelow. 



Arcadia, Soutli Reach, Conn. 



[It is quite a common occurrence to find pollen 

 on the backs of honeybees at certain seasons of the 

 year. It is evident that the bees do not take the 

 time to brush it off while in the field, but allow- 

 it to remain there, and then the dust is taken off 

 after they get back to the hive. Sometimes these 

 little patches of pollen are very conspicuous on the 

 backs of the bees. 



Your last paragraph explains how the pollen in 

 most cases gets tliere. If you examine some of the 

 flowers you will find that the pollen masses are ar- 

 ranged in .iust such a way that it will daub up the 

 backs of the bees. The bee^ are evidently after 

 the honey, and, pushing into the flowers, they are 

 compelled io brush against the pollen masses. 



Referring to the samples of bees you have sent it 

 looks as if they packed the pollen on their own 

 1 acks. — Ed ] 



Do Drone Larvae in Queen-cells Ever Mature? 



A few days ago I examined a hive and found 

 tlie iis'jal signs of an infertile queen. On one frame 

 the bees had built seven queen-cells on drone comb, 

 each one of which contained an unsealed drone larva. 

 .\s far as my observation goes, drone larva? in queen- 

 cells die soon after being capped over. I shall be 

 glad if you can tell me if there is any recorded in- 

 strince of drone larvae under such conditions having 

 reached maturity. I am told by an old hand at the 

 craft that hi; actually witnessed this on one occasion, 

 the result being the most extraordinary-looking bees he 

 had ever seen. Unfortunately he did not preserve 

 (hem. J. B. Sheppard. 



Apiary Inspector. 



Melson, B. C, June 26. 



[There have been instances recorded where drone 

 larva in a queen-cell reached maturity; but usually 

 the highly concentrated food seems to be too much 

 for the poor beast, and he dies. In this connection, 

 brood from a laying worker or drone-laying queen 

 in ordinary worker cells will often be neglected. It 

 will die about the time it caps over, smells horribly, 

 and gives one the injpression that it is either Phiro- 

 pean or American foul brood. Such brood does 

 not always die, but it frequently does. The cause 



