1908 



GLEANINCiS IN BEE CULTURE. 



763 



Heads of Grain 



From Different Fields 



HERSHISER's scheme of spring management IN- 

 DORSED; THE EGG-LAYING POWER OF A 

 QUEEN THAT HAS BEEN CONFINED 

 IN A WEAK NUCLEUS. 



After reading the article by Mr. Hershiser on 

 page 347, I wish I could get every bee-keeper to 

 read it twice. If any one is in doubt about a 

 fresh queen being able to lay all the eggs an aver- 

 age colony can take care of, let him try a queen 

 that has been held in check by a weak colony un- 

 til about fruit-bloom time, and then give her all 

 the conditions favorable to brood-rearing, and 

 notice the results. I doubt if they will think it 

 necessary to have two queens to the hive. 



It is not so much the queen that gives results 

 as the conditions by which she is surrounded; yet 

 there is a vast difference in favor of a fresh queen 

 as compared with one that has, as it were, laid 

 out her litter and is approaching the time of her 

 usual summer vacation. 



Giving eggs and young brood to a strong col- 

 ony will retard swarming, even if you do not 

 take any of their mature brood from them; yet 

 there is nothing that will boom brood-rearing in 

 a weak colony like giving them a frame of hatch- 

 ing brood; but if you want to go them one bet- 

 ter, give at the same time one of the combs just 

 outside the brood-nest in the strong colony that 

 contains no eggs, but is filled with raw nectar 

 and newly gathered pollen. This, of course, is 

 to be placed next to the brood in the weak colony, 

 never between the combs of brood. 



So. Cabot, Vt. D. S. Hall. 



DIFFERENT SHAPES AND SIZES OF FOUNDATION 

 STARTERS. 



I was much interested in Mr. W. A. Pryal's 

 article in the Dec. 15th issue, on the subject of 

 bottom starters, as I have been experimenting 

 with them somewhat the past season. I had 

 about the same luck with them that he did, ex- 

 cept in one colony which I experimented on by 

 putting foundation in the sections in several dif- 

 ferent ways — top starter, full sheet, top and bot- 

 tom starters. There were even a few in which I 

 did not put foundation. The sections were all 

 filled up full, and you could scarcely tell one sec- 

 tion from another. In fact, the honey would 

 grade No. 1. The bees in this particular colony 

 are the best to work in sections of any that I have 

 ever had, and they did not offer to swarm at all 

 the past season. The queen of this colony is a 

 daughter of an untested red-clover queen. The 

 bees are as gentle to handle as any one could 

 wish. Edw. a. Reddout. 



Baldwinsville, N. Y. 



some of the IMPORTANT POLLEN AND HONEY 

 PRODUCING PLANTS OF THE CANA- 

 DIAN NORTHWEST. 



The first bloom we have here in the spring is 

 from the pussy-willow. It grows very plentiful- 

 ly along rivers and creeks in the Canadian North- 

 west, and is a great pollen-producer. At about 

 the same time we have the box-elder, or ash-leav- 



ed maple, and the prairie crocus, both important 

 for pollen. A little later the wild cherries, cur- 

 rants, and wild roses come in bloom, and still 

 later, about the begining of July, the willow-herb 

 and wild vetch come. Much honey is obtained 

 from the willow-herb, or fireweed. Last of all 

 come the wild aster and the goldenrod. A con- 

 siderable amount of honey is taken from golden- 

 rod some years. All these grow in the wooded 

 districts except the crocus. 



Swarthmore, Sask. Edwin J. Hope. 



MEETING OF PENNSYLVANIA BEE-KEEPERS. 



The Lebanon Bee-keepers' Association held 

 its regular spring meeting at the apiary of Messrs. 

 H. K. Beard Sc Brother, near White Oak Station, 

 on Saturday afternoon. May 2. President Mil- 

 ler, of Myerstown, occupied the chair. About 

 seventy-five bee-keepers were present, and all en- 

 joyed the different addresses and took part in ask- 

 ing and answering questions. 



The question-box was a feature of the meeting, 

 and there were all sorts of questions, interesting 

 and instructive. Many different views and meth- 

 ods were thus brought to light. This will also 

 be a feature of the July meeting, and all bee- 

 keepers who want questions answered should 

 make it a point to have them in the hands of the 

 secretary by July 1, so as to gave ample time to 

 procure speakers who will answer them intelli- 

 gently. C. F. Klees, Sec. 



Annville, Pa. 



NEW STYLE OF MILLER INTRODUCING-CAGE. 



I am sending you a style of Miller introducing- 

 cage upon which I should like to have your opin- 

 ion. You will notice the plug can be inserted 

 either way. One way covers the candy so that 



neither bees nor queen can gain access to it, while 

 the other way leaves it free for the bees to work 

 on. Chas. G. Macklin. 



Morrison, 111. 



[There are some features about this cage that 

 are very good; but if the cage is made small 

 enough to go down between the combs the hole 

 in the block will be very small — probably too 

 small for the queen to pass through safely with- 



