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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Headg dDf Gram froim Differeett Fields 



The Backlot Buzzer 



BY J. H. DONAHKY 



With one glance at the outside of a hive, an expert 

 beekeeper nan tell wivat is going on within, but in 

 goldenrnd season he don't need to look at all. Me juxt 

 Amcllii 'em. 



Why Packing Material or Absorbents 

 Become Wet 



I am especially anxious to get some advice from 

 you relative to a point involved in wintering bees. 

 Some of my hives arc single-walled, some double- 

 walled. Heretofore I have, when putting them in 

 shape for winter (I winter on summer stands) 

 placed throe or four small sticks, each about the 

 siie of a corncob, crosswise directly on top of the 

 brood-frames. Over this I put a piece of burlap. 

 Then I put on a super, filling it with sawdust or 

 shavings. In the case of the double walled hives 

 this material would be dry in the spring. In the 

 case of nearly all the single-walled hives the con- 

 tents of the super just above the brood-frames were 

 wet in the spring. On the single-walled hives I 

 put a covering of newspapers (that is, on the sides), 

 and over all I put a sort of jacket of tar paper. 

 I have wondered if at least, in the case of the 

 single-wr.lled hives, I should put a super cover di- 

 rectly over the frames instead of the burlap. 



Bees in this section of the country have been 

 unusually cross this year. There has been much 

 complaint. Can you suggest any reason for this? 



A farmer has complained to me about his bees 

 hanging around his barn a great deal. I told him 

 that I would look into the matter. I can think of 

 no odor that would attract them there. Perhaps you 

 can give a possible explanation. 



Chadron, Neb., Sept. 11. E. P. Wilson. 



[We are not surprised at your experience. When 

 the packing material is too scant in amount there 

 will be a great deal of condensation inside of the 

 hivp. This naturally passps upward, making the 

 packing damp; and when the weather is severely 

 cold this damp packing will freeze. It is then 

 worse than no protection at all. When single-walled 

 hives are used there should be a sealed cover be- 

 tR-een the packing and the colony. If double-walled 

 liivts are in use, there should be a sealed cover 

 unless the packing material is very abundant on top 

 and sides — not less than six inches on sides and 

 ciids nor less than ten inches on top. Under such 

 conditions Dr. Phillips says it will not make very 

 much difference whether a plain board or a porous 

 cover is used over the brood-nest. The general 

 practice, however, when packing is ample, anywhere 

 fi'om six to ten inches, is to use the absorbent plan. 

 Hut when so used there must be a space over <he 

 top of the packing, leaving room for the free circii- 

 lation of air through ventilating holes in the cover 

 at the ends. W^hen a sealed cover is used these 

 ventilators are not needed. We would advise you to 

 use a suppr cover on your single-walled hives, wrap- 

 ped in paper, and possibly a sealed cover for double- 

 walled hivps. If the packing material is less than 

 ten inches on top, and three inches on the sides and 

 ends, we would use a super cover. 



Some seasons bees are much crosser than at oth- 

 ers. They will be very cross when the flow is inter- 

 mittent, especially if it comes on heavily and shuts 

 ol'f during the middle hours of the day. This is one 

 rea.son why bees are so cross during a buckwheat 

 flow. They are also cross when they work on 

 honey-dew. The dews of the morning soften the 

 saccharine matter on the leaves, and then the bees 

 work on it at a furious rate. As soon as the sun 

 dries np this sticky stuff the bees stop their work, 

 and then they are cross — awfully so. Sometimes I he 

 }ioney-fiow is intermittent on clover, basswood, the 

 goldenrods, and the asters. When the yield stops 

 suddenly on account of rain or cold, the bees will 

 become cross. Chilly weather is apt to make bees 

 cross at any time. 



When bees frequent barns or stables they are 

 undoubtedly in quest of artificial pollen which they 

 obtiiin from the bran or meal in the chopped feed 

 given to the cows or chickens. They may be quite 

 troublesome at such limes; but as soon as natural 

 pollen is available they will immediatel> drop the 

 artificial product. — Ed.] 



Requeening with Queen-cells Not Satisfac- 

 tory; Difficulty of Raising Cells where 

 there has been European Foul Brood 



Having read so much about requeening by using 

 ripe queen-cells I attempted to requeen a number of 

 colonies by l.hat method this season ; but only about 

 one queen out of each dozen reached laying age. At 

 first I used cells from which the queens were ready 

 to emerge; but after reading Mr. Doolittle's defini- 

 tion of a ripe queen-cell, which he says is a cell 

 from which the queen is to emerge in from 20 to 30 

 hours, I thought that my trouble lay there; but 

 after trying a number of cells of that age I could 

 do no better. Very rarely were the cells destroyed ; 

 but the virgirs disappeared, and the colonies tried 

 to rear queens of their ov.n brood. It did not seem 

 to make any difference whether the colony was Ital- 

 ian or black. The colonies which were hopelessly 

 queenless did better, but not satisfactorily. 



I have been having quite a fight with European 

 foul brood, and have found that in colonies where 

 there has been any of the disease during the season 



