642 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15 



SOME QUESTIONS I AM ASKED 



Do Weak Colonies have Good Queens ? 



When to Requeen; Attitude of 



Farmers toward Bees. 



BY E. W. ALEXANDER. 



Mr. D. T. Gaster, of Randleman, N. C, 

 wishes me to answer through Gleanings the 

 following question : "After weak colonies are 

 built up in the spring, according to your plan, 

 do they usually do as well as other colonies, or 

 should their queens be superseded ?" 



In answer I will say that I have never had occa- 

 sion to supersede them of tener than other queens. 

 With us all queens, when two years old, are 

 superseded unless it should be a very choice one. 

 We usually supersede queens for one of two rea- 

 sons — either on account of their arriving at the 

 age limit, or when we buy bees, as we sometimes 

 do, they have queens of all ages and colors; then 

 we supersede them as soon as possible, and in 

 their place introduce good well-bred Italian 

 queens. 



I am often asked if it is not as well or better 

 to buy our queens in the fall, at a reduced price, 

 than to buy them in early summer. That 

 depends wholly on the condition our colonies are 

 in. If the old queen is failing to keep her hive 

 well filled with brood without any apparent 

 cause, then we supersede her in early summer; 

 for if she is kept until fall the colony will have 

 but little brood, will be weak in bees, and the 

 young queen we give them will start so little 

 brood that the chances are the colony will be 

 dead in the spring, or so weak in bees that it 

 will be almost worthless. But if the queens we 

 wish to supersede are in full strong colonies, 

 with their hives well filled with brood, then to 

 buy queens in the fall for these colonies is all 

 right; and if the new queen does not start much 

 brood she will still have a good colony to winter 

 in. 



These are very important points that should 

 never be overlooked in superseding our queens. 

 I want a queen to occupy the hive she is to win- 

 ter in at least 40 days before the breeding season 

 closes. This gives her time to become acquaint- 

 ed with the colony, and fill the brood-nest once 

 or twice with brood. If we all look to this part 

 of our business as we should we shall have fewer 

 weak colonies in the spring, and in the end we 

 shall have more surplus, and secure it with much 

 less labor. 



Another question I am frequently asked is, 

 "What is the opinion of the farmers in your 

 locality in regard to the effect of your bees work- 

 ing on their buckwheat-fields.?" 



Some 25 years ago, when we came to Delan- 

 son, it was almost the universal opinion that our 

 bees would injure their buckwheat so as to make 

 the crop almost worthless, but the farmers soon 

 changed their ideas on the subject. The buck- 

 wheat here is all thrashed by men who have 

 thrashing-machines, and go from farm to farm 

 thrashing the grain for a stated price per bushel. 

 These men soon noticed that, when they came 

 within three or three and a half miles of our 

 apiaries the yield of grain was much better than 

 outside that circle ; in fact, it yielded sometimes 

 nearly twice the amount per acre. This was a 



surprise to some farmers. Their orchards also 

 gave them much more fruit. The change of 

 opinion among them has been so complete that 

 they are now anxious to have our bees do well. 



I sometimes wonder if there is any other busi- 

 ness that has had to go through the mire of 

 ignorance and superstition equal to bee-keeping. 



Still another question I am often asked is, 

 "Will the greater part of the honey in the future 

 be produced by the specialist, or by men who 

 have other lines of business to follow in connec- 

 tion with bee-keeping.?" 



In order to give this question any thing like a 

 correct answer we must not only go back and 

 review the bee-keeping of the past, but we must 

 look upon it in the future as being subject to the 

 same natural laws and conditions as all other 

 lines of business. For some time we have seen a 

 continual concentration of capital in every line 

 of business. The men who have a thorough 

 knowledge of their business, and an unlimited 

 amount of capital, are fast driving the less fortu- 

 nate out of business, and I can not see how bee- 

 keeping can be an exception. 



When I was a boy a large part of our farmers 

 kept a few colonies; but now we seldom see any 

 bees through the country except in large apiaries. 

 And the same change will continue to go on 

 until there will be comparatively few men engaged 

 in the business, and these few will be located in 

 the exceptionally good locations, keeping their 

 thousands of colonies, and having the best of 

 every thing connected with bee-keeping that 

 money can buy; and they will sell their surplus 

 at -wholesale to reliable parties, giving them 

 three or four months" time if they wish, which 

 often makes quiteta difference in the price favor- 

 ing the producer. There are many young men 

 now starting in the business who will in time 

 drop out; but some will continue, and they are 

 the ones who will be the honey-producers of the 

 future. They will first work for men having 

 had a long experience until they have a practical 

 knowledge of bee-keeping. Here, among other 

 things, they will learn the value and necessity of 

 a good location. To these they will naturally 

 go, where, with their practical knowledge of the 

 business, they can produce honey at half the cost 

 that the inexperienced man can in an ordinary 

 location. 



Delanson, N. Y. 



Heads of Grain 



From Different Fields 



A HALF-INCH STARTER AT TOPS AND BOTTOMS OF 

 SECTIONS. 



Dr. Miller says the bottom starter is his baby. 

 Yes, and a robust one it is too. In his diagnosis 

 of Mr. Pryal's trouble he says in substance, "I 

 am of the opinion that the plan will work as well 

 in California as in Illinois; also that the space be- 

 tween the two starters in this case caused the 

 trouble, and with a space oi\% inches or so be- 

 tween the starters the bees would lengthen each 

 starter, and, when high enough, why should the 

 lower one not lean over.?" 



I feel a little timid about clashing with Dr. M. 



