1178 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1 



selling too late There is no reason in the world 

 why honey could not be sold in October, No- 

 vember, and early in December. A year ago, 

 for example, all the markets of the East were bare 

 of comb honey. Dealers could not get it for 

 love nor money, in spite of repeated calls for it; 

 but along about the holidays some of the Western 

 producers began to send in their cars of honey, 

 and by the time they reached the East the panic 

 came on, and prices went to the bad. There can 

 be no question but that those late shipments of 

 Western honey last winter are largely responsible 

 for the weakened market in the Central Northern 

 States, where most of this honey was dumped. 

 It was so cold that some of it candied on the 

 way, and then, too, it was too cold for the dealer 

 to ship again, even if there had been a demand 

 for it. While the producers possibly got their 

 money, the majority of them this year will have 

 to take a cent or two less per pound for their hon- 

 ey and for their folly. If they had shipped this 

 honey a month earlier, when they could have 

 done It, and when there was a strong demand for 

 it, it would have sold almost instantly, and the 

 result would have been a clean market ready for 

 fresh goods. 



Except, perhaps, in the Central States we should 

 say that the market was stable. Producers 

 would do well not to hold their honey too long. 

 We would especially urge this this year, that the 

 honey be sold around home to grocers and con- 

 sumers direct. Better peddle some of it, bottle it 

 — do any thing rather than to send to a weak 

 market and make it weaker. 



TIMELY HINTS ON FALL UNITING. 



A SUBSCRIBER wishes us to give full particulars 

 of how to unite weak colonies at this time of the 

 year. As we have had other inquiries of like na- 

 ture we will take a little space to cover the ground. 



If we put two separate lots of bees together 

 that were located on stands remote from each 

 other in the same yard, there will be more or less 

 of returning bees to the old stand. These will 

 be practically the old ones. As they will die 

 alonar about midwinter, their loss may not be 

 considered very great. But some, and perhaps 

 all, of these old bees mav be made to stay in 

 their new quarters. If they" be put back a couple 

 of times, the gieat majority of them will stay put; 

 but this involves considerable labor. 



In view of the fact that bees will go back to 

 their old stands, Mr. Doolittle has advised unit- 

 ing in the brood form early in September. This 

 will leave the hive or the stand to be vacated in 

 late fall with a few old bees. These maj- be al- 

 lowed to die, for it may be said they will not be 

 worth much to the strength of the colony. 



A very good way to unite, and avoid all loss 

 of returning, is to do so at the very time of put- 

 ting them in the cellar. For example, A and B 

 are both too weak to winter outdoors. We will 

 place the two together in one hive, making a 

 brood-nest out of the best combs selected from 

 the two hives, leaving the other combs for reserve 

 feeding in the spring. As soon as the two fami- 

 lies are placed in one hive they shou'd be put in 

 the cellar immediately, and left there till sp'ing. 



Another wiy to unite without bees returning 

 is to take two weak colonies, one from one out- 

 yard and the other from another, and put them 



together at either one of the outyards, or at the 

 home yard. There will be, of course, no return- 

 ing; for when bees are taken away from their 

 usual environments for, say, a radius of a mile 

 flight, they will stay where they are put. 



But suppose there is no outyard, and it is de- 

 sired that there be no returning. One may shake 

 into an empty box, or, better, a box having wire- 

 cloth sides, bees from, say, three or four nuclei, 

 and then put the box down cellar. The more 

 different lots of bees one can get in the mix-up, 

 the better. After they have been down cellar for 

 24 hours, they may be put anywhere on a perma- 

 nent stand, and there will be very few of them 

 that will go back. But this again involves con- 

 siderable work. 



Thus far we have said nothingabout the queens 

 and the possible fighting on the part of the unit- 

 ed bees. As to the queens, if the apiarist is not 

 particular the bees will take care of that, leaving 

 but one queen. We said the bees; for we do not 

 know whether the bees do the eliminating or the 

 queens fight it out, leaving the victor the mother 

 of the colony. But certain it is, nature seems to 

 take care of it if the apiarist does not take a hand 

 in it. 



But suppose there is a choice of queens (and 

 there usually is). He will then kill the least de- 

 sirable one and introduce the other in an intro- 

 ducing-cage. It may not be necessary to cage; 

 but as a matter of precaution we would advise it. 



The queen problem will be nicely taken care 

 of if one of the lots of bees is queenless and the 

 other has a queen. In that case, put the separate 

 sets of combs with the bees together; and if there 

 be no fighting, the queen will be accepted. 

 Another good plan is to put one family up stairs 

 and the other below. But do not mingle the 

 combs at the time of uniting. 



But how about the bees fighting when put to- 

 gether.? This depends much on the season of the 

 year, the strain of bees, or whether they are well 

 supplied with stores. With ordinary gentle Ital- 

 ians there will be little or no fighting in uniting. 

 Bur if both strains be hybrids, Cyprians, or other 

 cross strains, there will probably be some trouble; 

 in such cases, feed before uniting We had two 

 lots of bees united that were entirely annihilated 

 by one fighting the other. It is then always ad- 

 visable to use smoke. If the two families to be 

 united are separated by a wire-cloth screen for a 

 day or two, there will probably be no battle; but 

 when the bees get to stinging each other to death, 

 the only thing to do is to use smoke, sometimes 

 putting a little tobacco in the smoker. 



If the uniting be deferred until quite cool 

 weather there is much less trouble from fighting 

 than if the process takes place early in September. 



Where one is running for queen-i earing, and 

 he has reached the close of the season with a lot 

 of weak colonies, it is well to anticipate the work 

 of uniting by putting the hives in pairs. All 

 that is necessary then is to take away one of the 

 hives; and after that, put both lots of bees in one. 

 The hive that contains the two united forces is 

 placed about half way between where the hives 

 formerly stood. This will then catch the flying 

 bees of both hives. If the hives be placed in 

 groups of three, the three families are all placed 

 in the center hive when the other two are remov- 

 ed entirely. 



