676 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 15 



that were not much better than those you 

 describe; but Mr. Morton, Niver's brother- 

 in-law, the one who made the basswood 

 frames Niver describes, was a very fine 

 workman, and I have not a doubt he could 

 select a grade of basswood that would be 

 the equal of any averag^e pine. From what 

 I saw of Mr. Morton's workmanship, he 

 never used any stuff unless it was thoroug-h- 

 ly seasoned; and for any thing so important 

 as a brood-frame he would use nothing- but 

 the most select stock. — Ed.] 



I LOOK UP to W. H. Pridgen as authority 

 on queen-rearing- matters ; but isn't he 

 pressing the argument just a bit too far 

 when he says one can prove to his own sat- 

 isfaction that larvas fed from the start as 

 royal larvas are superior by comparing the 

 amount of food fed to royal and worker lar- 

 vds of same age? Are you sure, friend 

 Pridgen, that the extra amount of pap that 

 the royal larva doesn'f use is of any real 

 benefit? What good comes from the dried 

 jelly left in a cell after the queen emerges? 

 Don't you think more difference is made by 

 the kind than the quantity of food in the 

 last two days of feeding? But while doubt- 

 ing the validity of 3'our argument, don't 

 understand me for a minute to advocate the 

 use of larva; three days old. I always use 

 the youngest I can. I don't know zvhy a 

 younger larva should be better than one 

 three days old, but I believe it is better 

 from the simple fact that when queenless 

 bees .are left to their own devices they choose 

 the younger larva. |I take it that, while 

 you may differ with Mr. Pridgen in theor3^ 

 you agree with him in practice; and if the 

 bees select the younger larvae, why shouldn't 

 we? and if it is a fact that the3' do make 

 such selection, is it not based on the theory 

 Mr. Pridgen has jiropounded? What harm 

 is it if the queen larva does have an over- 

 plus of food? Is it not the practice of na- 

 ture to give a lavish supply? and if lavish, 

 is there not a reason for it? I don't know; 

 but surmise that nature is not wasteful. — 

 Ed.] 



I SUSPECT there are some things about 

 that filling of brood to top-bars not fully 

 understood — at least by me. Certainly 

 there will be more honey in my frames later 

 on, else the bees would starve in winter. 

 Replying to your question, Mr. Editor, 

 when mj' bees have not been busy at starv- 

 ing they have been storing very sloivly. I 

 think that years ago there was more honey 

 in the tops of the frames. It may be the 

 difference in seasons, but I more suspect 

 the difference in bees. You may be right — 

 I think you are — in believing that there will 

 be more honey under top-bar after flow is 

 on. But will not the brood be at its utmost 

 at the beginning of storing? and then if 

 there's nothing to hinder their starting in 

 the sections there would be nothing that 

 "would make the bees very loath I0 go up 

 into the supers" afterward, for after they 

 are well started you know they will not 

 only cross two inches of honey, but six or 



ten inches, to store in an upper story. Let 

 us make careful observations to try to find 

 out more about the matter. [From what 

 j'ou have said elsewhere, I take it no honey 

 has been coming in to speak of, and t'here- 

 fore the brood in j'our frames would be 

 much higher than it was with us during 

 the corresponding period. But there will 

 generally be some honey, according to our 

 experience, with the average bees above the 

 brood, even if the frame be shallow. But 

 the deeper the frame the larger amount of 

 honej' there will be; and the less inclined 

 will the bees be to go up into the supers. 

 Perhaps the truth is somewhere between us. 

 — Ed.J 



Dr. Gandy, p. 605, says that b3' his meth- 

 od bees ma3' be made to produce double the 

 ordinar3' surplus and perhaps more. But 

 as I read further on I find that conditions 

 with him are so utterly different from mine 

 that it is hardl3' worth while for me to con- 

 sider his plans. He says, "Bees, even in 

 an eight-frame hive, generally use the two 

 outside frames on each side of the hive for 

 honey and pollen, and this leaves but four 

 frames for brood-rearing. " In this locali- 

 ty, unless a colony is very weak, there will 

 be at least six frames of brood, seven is 

 CDmmon, and many have brood in eight 

 frames. If there is another spot in the 

 world where a strong colony will keep onl3' 

 four frames filled with brood in an eight- 

 frame hive, where is it? Another thing 

 wouldn't work here at all, and I don't be- 

 lieve it would in any other place aside from 

 Dr. Gand3''s. After a swarm started to 

 come out he gave additional surplus room, 

 and the swarm stopped coming out, the bees 

 already out returning. If a colony of mine 

 started to swarm, you might take off' all 

 supers, and pile on empty supers clear up 

 to the clouds, and the swarm would keep 

 right on just the same. [I do not believe 

 Dr. Gandy, although the words might war- 

 rant the construction, meant just what you 

 imply. He certainly could not mean that, 

 when a swarm is actually coming out, it 

 would stop at the very tnoutent the bees 

 could have more room. I have traveled over 

 the country about as extensiveU^ as any one 

 among bee-keepers, I believe. But I never 

 heard of a condition that was any thing 

 like this; therefore I do not think Dr. Gan- 

 dy meant what the words imply. But there 

 is a great deal else that he sa3's in the way 

 of strong colonies and artificial pasturage 

 that deserves more than passing notice. 

 See editorials. — Ed.] 



Reading "how to burn a bad case of foul 

 brood," p. 641, raises the question whether 

 it would not be less loss to disinfect bees, 

 hive and all, with formalin, //it is thorough- 

 ly established that formalin will destroy all 

 spores. Of course, the disinfected bees 

 would be dead. [But is it settled that for- 

 malin will destro3' the spores, even if it 

 does kill the bees? and would you, doctor, 

 if you had only one or two cases of foul 

 brood in a yard, wish to take your chances? 



