952 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



them in a new place where the sun romes in the 

 hay-door in the laornin? and forenoon. I banked 

 each end and back of the row of hives with hay and 

 took off the queen-traps, and they had a good fly 

 and clean-up, and were happy as a dusty traveler 

 after a bath. Every day when it is warm enough 

 I open the door and let in thti sun ; and when it is 

 cold or windy I leave it shut. If they want to fly 

 they go through the cracks. 



Their hives were perfectly clean, and had very 

 few dead bees in them. Our coldest weather last 

 winter was 29 below zero one night, and 24° be- 

 low two other niarhts. I am well satisfied with the 

 way they wintered. 



Sherburn, Minn. D. M. Reynolds. 



Remove the Snow from the Front of the 

 Case during a Thaw 



From my observations and a limited experience I 

 am inclined to believe that, when there is an antici- 

 pated thaw, it is better to remove snow from the 

 covers and ground near the hive or winter case. Any 

 considerable bulk of snow allowed to melt undisturb- 

 ed produces an excess of moisture about the hive. 

 The slow melting by day and freezing by night tends 

 to produce hard ice, which is very objectionable 

 about the entrance and adjacent parts. 



The direct rays of the sun upon the hive will, 

 mail}' times, brin-^ tJie bees out while there is j'et a 

 depth of snow enveloping almost every available 

 alighting-place, and the bees, not being fully adapt- 

 ed to outside conditions, fly about in a way not un- 

 like Noah's dove, seeking some place whereon to rest 

 h(r feet. Finding none, they drop, more or less ex- 

 hausted, on the snow, soon chill, and never return 

 to the hive. Had the snow been removed, the little 

 that will remain is qiiickly melted and often out of 

 the way before sufficient warmth reaches the bees to 

 bring tiiem out. Thus with a comfortable place on 

 which to rest, the bees will be invigorated rather 

 than chilled, and many more be able to make a safe 

 return. 



Barnesville, O. Thomas Dewees. 



Black Bees on Red Clover 



We still have lots of alsike and white clover in 

 bloom, and the bees are working on them when the 

 weather will permit. Some one has said that bees 

 work on red clover only in a dry season. I thought 

 that might be the case, as my bees worked on it 

 last season when we had a drouth, and this season 

 has been very wet. Just once did I find the bees 

 very thick on the red clover. Mine are not long- 

 tongued red-clover bees, but just common blacks. 

 How about this? 



Decatur, Ind., Sept. 24. W. W. H.4wkins. 



Sealed Covers for Wintering 



It does not always pay to experiment. When you 

 liave a sure thing it is well to stick to it. I found 

 this out last winter. Having heard and read a 

 irreat deal about giving ventilation to bees in win- 

 ti-r quarters I resolved to give the thing a trial. I 

 left on the hives the boards used with the bee- 

 escapes. The latter were removed and a strip of 

 screening tacked over the opening. On this I laid 

 crosswise four sticks of wood and covered them 

 with burlap. Then I put a heavy layer of straw 

 over and around the hives, completing the job by 

 placing a water-tight cover on top of the regular 

 wintering box whch I have been using for years. 



Well, these bees wintered very poorly. Two colo- 

 nies were dead outright, two others were queenless, 

 and I did not take notice of it till May. Then they 

 tore to pieces four good queens, which I introduced 

 in the regulation way. By the time they had laying 

 queens the season was well advanced. The remain- 



ing colonies were of medium strength. But my 

 whole apiary was queered by this experiment. It 

 would have been a poor season anyway. This made 

 it doubly so. Before this, with sealed covers, I 

 had always wintered all of my colonies. They al- 

 ways came through in fine order, and gathered good 

 crops, so I shall go back to the good old way. 



One man's experence may not count for much ; 

 but the sealed cover has some doughty advocates — 

 e. g., the editor of Gleanings. Even if this were 

 not the case, I should say I care not what course 

 others may take ; but as for me — give me the sealed 

 over every time. 



Detroit, Mich. L. LIST. 



Sees Laying Workers Lay 



I have caught two laying workers in the very act 

 of laying. The first time was about ten years ago. 

 I had a case that baffled me. I finally went through 

 the hive and selected the frame which had the most 

 recently laid eggs. I held it in my hands for some 

 time, and after a little I noticed a bee back into a 

 cell. 



I nabbed her, and there were the freshly laid 

 eggs. I opened her and she had eggs in her body. 

 I had tried to raise a queen in the hive by putting 

 brood and eggs in the hive, but failed. After this 

 I had no trouble in requeening the colony. 



Just last year I had another case of the same 

 kind. I tried finding the laying worker in the same 

 way, but could not do so. At last I took the comb 

 with the freshest-laid eggs and watched it for some 

 time. Then I saw the bees clustering about one 

 bee with their heads all pointed toward her. She 

 was an old-looking bee, somewhat longer in the 

 abdomen than the others. I killed her, with the 

 same results as in the case above. I soon had a 

 young queen in the hive. 



In the fifty years of my beekeeping experience I 

 have not always had such good fortune. I would 

 suggest that the best way to oust the laying worker 

 would be to open the -ive, take out the frame with 

 the freshest eggs, and put them in a separate hive. 

 Nine times out of ten you will get rid of the laying 

 worker. You can then raise or introduce a queen. 



Leeton, Mo. John M. Mohler. 



Getting Ready for Winter in Arizona 



I wintered fifteen colonies over a super of extract 

 ing-combs last winter. After the bees were done 

 gathering honey in November I took off the supers 

 and removed the brood-chambers from the bottom- 

 boards. Then I set the supers that were almost 

 empty on the bottom and set the brood-nest on top, 

 so the bees could keep warmer during cold weather. 

 Then I fixed the entrances with the entrance-blocks. 

 The bees wintered finely. The mice never got inside 

 of the hives. The moths damaged but one comb, 

 which was in the side of the brood-chamber. 



This fall I had twenty colonies — some three, 

 some three and one-half, and some four stories high. 

 Most of the combs are full of honey, pollen, and 

 brood. 



Roosevelt, Ariz., Oct. 6. John B. Bureau. 



The Amours of Apis Mellifica 



A dog will look up in his master's face, 



And knowingly wag his tail. 

 The man, answering back with a friendly smile — 



At least it will seldom fail. 



The way a bee has of making love 



Is one of the strangest things; 

 It sits right down, gives its tail a tilt, 



And gracefully wiggles its wings. 



Grafton, O. Mrs. S. J. H. S. 



