1058 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1 



first, second, or third super. Then as you clean 

 each you know just where it came from. Keep 

 a record of your hives near you also for reference 

 if desired. 



Now notice the constant variation in the combs 

 built by different colonies. Here is one where 

 the combs are of snowy whiteness, almost every 

 one filled perfectly, so you will prize very highly 

 the colony that produced it; and, if possessed of 

 other good qualities, it may be just such a one as 

 you may wish to rear queens from next spring. 



The very next super may be filled with combs 

 with more or less pollen in them. What is the 

 cause of this.? Were the bees queenless while fill- 

 ing the super, or was it because of a slovenly way 

 of scattering pollen through their hive? A glance 

 at the record will show. If they had a queen she 

 should be blacklisted. Here is another with vari- 

 ous irregularities, with some of the combs twist- 

 ed and attached to separators and plenty of brace- 

 comb. 



We soon find another with thin lean combs, 

 some of them hardly finished, but, oh my! how 

 every section and separator is stuck up with 

 propolis! It takes twice as long to clean such 

 sections, and, when finished, they do not look 

 well. Evidently the bees of the colony that pro- 

 duced it were not lazy, but their industry was 

 misdirected. Better place the queen of that colo- 

 ny on the black list to be removed at the earliest 

 opportunity. After finding half a dozen supers 

 fairly satisfactory we find one with more or less 

 brood in the central combs. Why is it there ? 

 Was the brood-chamber crowded with honey or 

 was it owing to a lack of honey when the combs 

 were built, or an unusually prolific queen ? 



Here is another style of sections we are pretty 

 sure to come across. They are well filled, well 

 capped over, but those cappings are badly stain- 

 ed or discolored with dark wax or propolis, or 

 what not. Shall we place the queen of such a 

 colony on the black list too, whose workers do 

 not do just such work as pleases us.? It grieves 

 me that we must visit the misdeeds of the children 

 on the innocent queen mothers. Well, we need 

 not blacklist the queen whose workers stain their 

 combs badly, for I have found a way by which 

 it can be largely prevented. 



We may think of a large pile of supers of hon- 

 ey to be cleaned, not as a great job of disagree- 

 able sticky work, but, if properly numbered, as 

 a great volume, each super a page, giving us the 

 history and character of each colony so far as it 

 relates to storing surplus honey. To me the 

 opening of this volume, and reading it page by 

 page, is a great source of pleasure as well as in- 

 struction. I am usually glad, though, when I 

 am through. 



I have said nothing about a cleaning-machine, 

 as I know little that can be said for them. I find 

 I can clean from 100 to 120 per hour, although 

 the weather has been intensely hot, and the sec- 

 tions just removed from the hives, and I doubt if 

 a machine could do more. 



I believe the use of plain sections, perhaps, 

 simplifies and helps the rapid cleaning of sections 

 more than any other one thing; and if there was 

 nothing else to be said in their favor this alone 

 ; should be sufficient to make them popular. 

 . Middlebury. Vt. 



[We understand from the description that the 



super is placed in the middle of the table while 

 an operator sits at either end. Some prefer to 

 stand up a part of the time at least ; and if the 

 table were made just right for standing, chairs 

 could still be used if extensions were nailed on 

 the legs. 



Mr. Crane does not say just how he uses the 

 scraping-knife. We infer that he makes a sort 

 of sweeping motion toward the table, causing 

 the particles of propolis to fly in that direction. 



We suggest that our correspondent have some 

 nice photographs showing the table, the operators 

 at work, and the manner of holding the section 

 in one hand, and the use of the knife in the other. 



We would hold this article for the photos, but 

 the subject matter is so seasonable that we have 

 thought best to publish it at once and the photos 

 afterward. — Ed.] 



MILKWEED AS A HONEY-YIELDER. 



Is the Plant Detrimental to the Bees ? 



[The following note was received by Professor Surface, who, 

 thinking that it might be of interest to our readers, sent it on to 

 Gleanings, together with his answer. — Ed.] 



Prof. H. A. Surface — dear Sir: — Watch close- 

 ly the honey from milkweed. Last year it yield- 

 ed a good crop of honey. Locality may make 

 some difference, but it is valuable here as a hon- 

 ey-plant. L. B. Whitney. 



Covington, Pa., June 24. 



[Replying to the above, Prof. Surface says:J 



Mr. L. B. Whitney — dear Sir: — I appreciate 

 your communication upon this subject, and 

 would call your attention to the fact that milk- 

 weed is very objectionable as a honey-producing 

 plant for the reason that the pollen-bearing 

 blooms of the plant pull off and stick to the legs 

 of the bees and disable them, and cause the oth- 

 ers in the hives to throw them out, and they are 

 thus killed in great numbers. If you will look 

 closely at bees that have been getting honey from 

 milkweed you will find little yellow appendages 

 on their legs. These are parts of the flower 

 known as anthers, or pollen-sacks; and as they 

 stick so closely as to disable the bees they event- 

 ually cause the death of the honey-gatherer. 

 Thus the value of milkweed as a honey-producer 

 is to be more than questioned, and I would rec- 

 ommend mowing it down as a matter of preser- 

 vation of the bees. Whether all species of milk- 

 weed have the power of injuring bees by the 

 pollen-sacks adhering to the legs or not, I do not 

 know; but it is true of the low kind with pink 

 flowers which especially grows in swamps. 

 H. A. Surface, 

 Economic Zoologist. 



Harrisburg, Pa., June 26, 1908. 



[At the convention of the Northern Michigan 

 Bee-keepers" Association, held last April, one of 

 the members mentioned having secured a fine 

 crop of honey from the milkweed. He reported, 

 the flavor as being pretty strong at first, but it 

 became milder until it was but little stronger 

 than white-clover honey. The color was so 

 light that he received \}i cents more per pound 

 for it. — Ed.] 



