376 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1 



knife over the wings where they touch the 

 end of my thumb, cutting off all the winirs 

 as closely as I wish. No part of her body 

 has thus been touched except those remain- 

 ing between my thumb and fore fingei'. 

 She drops right baclsi among her bees on 

 the exposed frame-top, and is never molest- 

 e 1. It is a very simple operation, and verj' 

 ([uickly performed. The only thing to be 

 watched is to get a good hold of her wings 

 at the first grab. I am not sure but a queen 

 may be injured holding her by one wing 

 only. When caught in this way she has a 

 notion of twisting or spinning around, 

 which probably causes her intense pain. I 

 thought I had lost a queen in this way last 

 summer, for she seemed dead for live or ten 

 minutes after I had released her. How- 

 ever, she was but paralyzed, and came to 

 again later, and she may be in her hive 

 now. Others to whom I related the inci- 

 dent thought the queen was simply fright- 

 ened, which would not prove an injur}' to 

 her. I have never before seen a queen show 

 the effect of a scare in this manner when 

 she was picked up properly. 



When I fail to catch a queen properly I 

 let her go again and make a second attempt 

 later. The knife is the tool to use in clip- 

 jung, for we always have one with us. The 

 closer the wings are cut, the easier the 

 queen may be found at any future time. 

 The peculiarity of her appearance is a 

 marked distinction between her and the oth- 

 er bees in the hive. 



We are often advised by our best author- 

 ities to so manage our colonies as not to pro- 

 duce any bees that can become only con- 

 sumers. Then, again, we are advised to 

 stimulate our bees in the fall after the hon- 

 ey season by daily feeding in small doses, 

 so that our colonies will go into winter 

 quarters with plenty of young bees. How 

 can these two apparently opposite recom- 

 mendations be harmonized, for fall feeding 

 means producing bees that will become only 

 consumers? I take it that the first advice 

 is not to be taken in the full sense of the 

 word. The raising of a moderate amount 

 of brood during August can prove only ben- 

 eficial, and in localities that do not fur- 

 nish enough bee-pasture to produce this 

 rearing of brood during August, daily feed- 

 ing for a few weeks will undoubtedly be a 

 good thing. In my own locality we huve 

 sufficient honey. coming in all through Au- 

 gust to keep the bees storing honey, and 

 breeding. Even drones are usually reareti. 

 It is no particular advantage to have our 

 colonies breed much later than Sept. 1, and I 

 would just as soon discourage breeding aft- 

 er that time as to encourage it. Bees, I find, 

 e.xhaust themselves while breeding; and as 

 many bees die as come upon the stage of 

 action during the cooler fall months. Our 

 bees here generally remain quiet during the 

 last half of September and all of October. 

 They do not wear themselves out. Practi- 

 cally the bees hatching during September 

 are as vigorous and well prepared to en- 

 dure the hardships of winter as the October- 



hatched bees produced by late stimulative 

 feeding. By Oct. 5 our hives are usually 

 free from brood, and any coinbs may be re- 

 moved after this date. Generally speaking 

 our bees come through the winter in good 

 shape, which is the proof of the pudding. 



We used to hear a great deal about re- 

 ducing the numbers of combs to just what 

 the bees can cover in the fall. Of late not 

 so much has been said on this point. Has 

 the bee-keeping fraternity come to the con- 

 clusion that it is not necessary or best? 

 Whatever others may thinlc of the matter, 

 my own experience is this: A cluster of 

 bees is admirably fitted to retain the 

 warmth they produce. The}' are not cover- 

 ed with fur like some animals, yet very lit- 

 tle warmth is lost. We can often see ice 

 and frost within the closest proximity of 

 the cluster of bees during cold weather. 

 Even the best-packed chaff hive shows a 

 low temperature inside after a protracted 

 cold spell. A few more or less unoccupied 

 combs do not change this result to any ex- 

 tent. I have a few exceptionally roomy 

 chaff hives that take a number of combs 

 more than the regular (ten-frame). I used 

 to contract to six or seven combs; but for 

 some 3'ears I have not done so; and, sur- 

 prising as it may seem, they always have 

 wintered a little better than the other ten- 

 frame hives. 



In wintering single-walled hives on the 

 summer stand I have not been very success- 

 ful, and have not practiced it much during 

 the last 15 years; but I can say that I al- 

 ways had better success when three combs 

 had been removed and chaff-packed dum- 

 mies had been inserted instead. My prac- 

 tice is to winter colonies in single-walled 

 hives in the cellar; and I am inclined to be- 

 lieve that for me it is best if part of the 

 combs are taken out before the bees are 

 taken to the winter repository. This is not 

 so much on account or for the benefit of the 

 bees, but more for the good of the combs. 

 In one of my cellars the unoccupied combs 

 become moldv'. It is a rather damp place. 

 We know from experience that honey does 

 not keep very well in a damp place. Even 

 in my comparatively dry house-cellar honey 

 becomes thin after being stored there a short 

 time. It- is the same with the honey in the 

 unoccupied combs of the hives in the cellar. 

 < )ne might say that such a winter reposito- 

 ry is not a fit place for bees. Perhaps it 

 isn't; but after many years of using these 

 cellars I find they answer pretty well their 

 purpose, and I shall probably continue 

 using them. More combs shall be removed 

 in the future from the hives that go into the 

 damp cellar. 



Not long ago a bee-keeping friend from 

 Canada asked my advice as to what size of 

 frame to adopt. It seems to me this subject 

 of "what frame is best" has been worn 

 threadbare; but then, as there are always 

 new comers it is, perhaps, best to say a 

 word now and then about it for the benefit 

 of beginners. This friend in Canada has 

 ten hives now, but thinks of increasing to 



