JlLY, 1919 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



459 



wliat different odor from that of the colony 

 in -whieli they are placed, still they act 

 quite naturally. In fact, many of them do 

 not realize that anything has happened if 

 the work is done carefully. Usually when 

 fighting occurs the bees have been excited, 

 and this helps to bring on the trouble. If 

 a frame of young bees was taken, there 

 would be no danger from fighting. When 

 the frame is taken from the hive, and gent- 

 ly shaken, only the young bees are left on 

 the comb, which may then be inserted in the 

 other. hive. (2) Bees would seldom ball the 

 queen because she was picked up in the 

 hand, and yet they would be more apt to do 

 so than if she were not touched. Doubtless 

 the hands change her odor somewhat. (3) 

 When frames are handled, the bees cover 

 the brood so that the temperature may be 

 higher than that of the surrounding air; 

 but we can not say as to the exact length 

 of time required to chill the brood. How- 

 ever, the brood should not be handled at a 

 temperature lower than 60 degrees Fahren- 

 heit, and even then we would not leave it 

 exposed longer than necessary. (4) When 

 the brood is moved to a new location, some 

 of the bees do return to the old stand, but 

 these are the old bees. All of the young- 

 ones stay with the brood; and since they 

 have never flown from the old hive they will 

 always return to the new location. You see, 

 by the time t^ie brood is moved to the new 

 location it is all sealed, and is, therefore, 

 easier for the bees to keep warm. There is 

 quite a little heat in the capped brood, but 

 not enough, without the presence of bees, 

 TUiless. of course, one were to put the brood 

 into a room at a temperature of about 90 de- 

 grees. 



Question. — Can you tell one how to distinguish 

 swarming-cells from .supersedure cells ? 



England. W. B. Wallace. 



Answer. — In case of swarming, colonies 

 usually build many moi'e queen-cells than 

 when su})erseding their queen. Fui-thermore, 

 if the brood is carefully examined, one will 

 note that in case of supersedure there is 

 not nearly so much brood; and he will often 

 notice, from the scattering way in which it 

 is i>laced, that the queen is apparently fail- 

 ing. Sometimes colonies start out with the 

 apparent intention of superseding but end 

 by swarming. Supersedure cells are general- 

 ly more uniform in size than swarming cells. 



Question.s. — (1) After the middle of April I put 

 all weak colonies over strong" ones (according to the 

 Ale.xander plan), and, due to rush of work, I have 

 not used many excluders, letting the queen have 

 access to 25 combs. She invariably goes above, but 

 is crowded down as the super is filled with honey — 

 sometimes entirely so. I believe I do not get as 

 much honey this way, and theire is the trouble of hav- 

 ing brood in the super. These cordbs containing brood 

 and honey are left on the hives and filled with a 

 later honey. I mark these combs and reserve them 

 for winter stores. (2) Referring to the swarm 

 control you practice, why is it nece.ssary to tear out 

 any cells in the top hive ? I have frequently raised 

 brood above an excluder, and had the bees develop 

 cells to which I have never paid any attention. In 

 fact, I should liavc never known that cells were 



there by any results. (3) Why would it not be 

 perfectly practical to allow the queen to mate from 

 the top hive. (1) What is a desirable method or 

 tlie most up-to-date jiractice of heating honey in 

 the combs for extracting. A. W. Fleming. 



New York. 



Answers. — (1) In the method you have 

 been using, do you not think that you would 

 like it better to put the queen in the lower 

 story below a queen-excluder after the dan- 

 ger of swarming is over? In that case, as 

 soon as the brood above the excluder hatch- 

 es, the bees would fill the cells with honey, 

 and you would, therefore, overcome the ob- 

 jection to which you refer. (2) We should 

 not like the plan of allowing queen-cells to 

 hatch above an excluder when there was no 

 upper entrance, since when handling the 

 colonies these virgins might get into the 

 lower story quite easily. More than this, 

 we have had reports of such queens passing 

 thru the excluder and leading out a swarm. 

 If we did not tear down cells in that upper 

 story, then if several colonies were treated 

 the same day they would require attention 

 again before our next trip, for we plan to 

 visit our apiaries every seven or eight days. 

 More than this, if we tear down the capped 

 queen-cells, and again at the end of seven 

 or eight days tear down all but one queen - 

 cell, we then know that it is impossible for 

 the bees to raise another in that story, since 

 the brood will then be all sealed. (3) If 

 a small entrance is left at the upper story, 

 it is quite practical to mate the queen from 

 above. This is when several supers inter- 

 vene between the lower and upper brood- 

 chambers. We do not think you will like 

 the plan after the honey flow stops, how- 

 ever. (4) It has been pretty well proved 

 that it does not pay to warm combs except 

 as the whole room is warmed. In many ex- 

 tracting-houses they build a fire or have an 

 oil stove, or sometliing of that kind, to 

 raise the temperature of the room for a few 

 hours before extracting. It is impractical 

 to attempt to heat two or three supers of 

 combs by putting them for a short time in a 

 high temperature, for there is danger of 

 melting the combs. The safest way, there- 

 fore, is to raise the temperature of the room 

 to a pointj say, between SO and 90 degrees 

 for a few hours. The honey is then thin 

 enough for extracting, straining, etc. 



Questions. — (1) Miss Fowls, in the Beginners' 

 Lessons, tells what to do " when the bees are bring- 

 ing in nectar." I w^ant somebody to tell me how 

 one is to know when nectar is coming in. Are 

 they always bringing in nectar when their baskets 

 are laden with pollen? (2) Please let me know 

 the prevention or cure for the cockroach pest in 

 hive.s. W. N. Northrup. 



Georgia. 



Answers. — (1) Bees sometimes bring in 

 honey and pollen at the same time, but they 

 may bring in either load without the other. 

 When bees begin bringing in honey they do 

 not fly as lightly; also, there is a busier 

 kind of humming which you will soon learn. 

 The bees are a!so better-natured, and not in- 

 clined to rob; and when the hive is opened 



