GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



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QUESTION.— 

 I have a 

 stock of bees 

 that originat- 

 ed from an apiary 

 that was Italianized 

 about 40 years ago. 

 During all that 

 time these bees have 

 never been station- 

 ed closer than a 



mile and a half from other bees. Under such con- 

 ditions what is the probability of my bees having 

 1 ecome mixed with other breeds, thereby needing 

 to be Italianized again? They are clearly marked 

 as the Italian bees are described. G. M. Depew. 

 Kentucky. 



Answer. — It is indeed remarkable if you 

 have been able to keep your Italian bees 

 pure without requeening for that length of 

 time. We would certainly expect them to 

 mix with hybrids or blacks if there are such 

 bees within- a mile and a half. 



Question. — My bees cut wax foundation along 

 the wires. What can I do to stop them? 



Michigan. Maurice Geary. 



Answer. — It is possible that the wires 

 were imbedded too deeply in the foundation. 

 This sometimes causes bees to cut the foun- 

 dation along the wire; or it may be that 

 no honey was coming in at the time the 

 foundation was given. In such a case the 

 feeding of a sugar syrup until the founda- 

 tion is partly drawn would prevent the bees 

 from gnawing the foundation. 



Questions. — (1) Will you please advise me as to 

 keeping my colonies so close that their hives al- 

 most touch each other? Is it better to place them 

 some distance apart? (2) Will keeping them in the 

 sun hinder them from working? (3) Is it neces- 

 sary to use an inner cover next to the roof, either 

 with sections or extracting-f rames ? 



Alabama. Geo. P. Smith. 



Answers. — (1) It is advisable to have the 

 hives a short distance apart. If too close 

 the bees sometimes become confused and go 

 into the wrong hive. Young queens are 

 easily lost in this way. In our apiaries we 

 like the hives at least six feet apart, and 

 doubtless a little further would be better. 

 (2) Some shade during the hottest part of 

 the day is desirable. If too hot, the bees 

 often loaf, and we have known them to 

 swarm and leave in very hot weather when 

 a little shade would have remedied the trou- 

 ble. (3) An inner cover should be used as 

 well as the outer for either section or ex- 

 tracted-honey production. 



Questions. — (1) It is sometimes recommended 

 not to put in all the frames of full sheets of foun- 

 dation at one time lest it discourage the bees. 

 Should the vacant space be left in the middle or at 

 one side? (2) Please tell me the common prices 

 for extracting a neighbor's honey. 



Alabama. Wiley Gentry. 



Answers. — (1) Any good colony ought not 

 to be discouraged by giving a full set of 

 frames of foundation. However, it is better 

 to insert one or two frames of drawn comb 

 in the center, for this will give the queen 

 a place to lay at the very start, and the bees 

 will be much more inclined to be satisfied. 

 If possible it would be well to insert a 

 frame containing some young brood. The 



GLEANED by ASKING 



Fowls 



LJ 



1 



August, 1919 



colony would 

 not be nearly so 

 apt to swarm 

 out. When giv- 

 ing frames to 

 nuclei the frames 

 are usually 

 crowded over to 

 one side of the 

 hive; but in no 

 case should one leave a vacant space in the 

 middle of the hive, nor should one ever leave 

 a space in the hive of a full colony, since 

 the bees would be certain to fill the space 

 with crooked comb. If foundation is given 

 when no honey is coming in, it will be neces- 

 sary to feed in order to get the foundation 

 drawn into comb. (2) About two cents 

 a pound would be a fair price for extracting 

 a neighbor's honey. At this price it would 

 be a paying transaction for both parties. 



Question. — I am sending you a fly which I 

 cautfht. These flies take a bee around the body 

 with their legs and hug them tight, and seem to 

 have a bill which they drive into the back of the 

 bee and them cat it. They take bees in the air 

 also, and take them off the board in front of the 

 hive. There are many of them here, and I am 

 afraid they will kill the bees out here in this terri- 

 tory. They also bury the bees and keep doing it all 

 the day. Is there any way to stop it? 



Kansas. Charles Engelman. 



Answer. — This is a species of the dragon 



fly. They are rather troublesome thruout 



the South. Aside from moving the apiary 



we know of no way of stopping the trouble. 



Questions. — (1) Do clipped queens ever grow 

 new wings ? I clipped mine about two months ago, 

 and had to clip again recently, but I imagine she 

 has been superseded. (2) Is it possible to make 

 increase after the honey flow in the fall ? 



New York. Arthur M. Cole. 



Answers. — (1) Queens do not grow new 

 wings after they have been clipped. Your 

 queen was evidently superseded. (2) It is 

 possible to make increase after the main 

 honey flow in the summer; but after the fall 

 flow it would be rather late, and unless your 

 colonies are remarkably large ones we would 

 hardly advise this. The division should be 

 made in time so that the colonies may ar- 

 range their brood-nests for winter. 



Question. — I had a swarm the other day, and 

 put it in a new hive on the old stand, moving the 

 old one away. In half an hour another swarm 

 came from another hive and clustered on the fence. 

 When it came back to the yard it went straight in 

 with that other swarm, and did not go near the 

 hive it came from. Why was this? During the ten 

 years I have kept bees they never did this before. 



Pennsylvania. C. Shindledecker. 



Answer. — Swarming bees from different 

 colonies often join each other, not seeming 

 to distinguish their own swarm from any 

 other. It is possible that a few stragglers 

 were still going into that new hive, and 

 this swarm noticed it and went in with 

 them. Or it may be that they heard those 

 bees and recognized them as swarming bees 

 and therefore joined them. 



Qi'.estions. — (1) Why do you and others recom 

 mend a black veil, at the same time stating that 

 l.ees detest black, and say that black clothes, par- 



