1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1445 



temperature. It this can not be secured, a large 

 amount of ventilation must be provided in such 

 a way as not to let in light. — Ed.] 



WHY HONEY SOMETIMES FERMENTS IN THE HIVES. 



I have noticed the different articles in Glean- 

 ings on fermentation of honey in the hives, and 

 have just read the one on page 1254, Oct. 15th. 

 I have had considerable experience along this line, 

 and I find that the main cause of fermentation in 

 our locality is too much rain vrhen the alfalfa is 

 in bloom, or the giving of too many extracting- 

 cases of fully drawn combs at a time, inducing the 

 bees to bring in more of the thin nectar than they 

 can take care of, resulting in the fermentation. 

 I have seen it so bad that some of the cells would 

 burst open after being capped over; and my rem- 

 edy has been to extract the honey and throw it 

 into the vinegar-barrel or use it for spring feed- 

 ing. In hives run for comb-honey I seldom have 

 such trouble. 



Fermentation often takes place in hives with 

 the strongest colonies. I have never noticed the 

 bees dying in such hives, but they get very un- 

 easy, and cover the front end of the hives for 

 days, and show other signs of uneasiness. The 

 honey sours, and the caps burst open, thus keep- 

 ing the bees busy cleaning up over and over. To 

 prevent this, run for comb honey or don't give 

 too many extracting-cases of drawn combs al one 

 time. 



After the honey has begun to ferment in the 

 hive the combs may have to be extracted two or 

 three times to stop it. 



Augusta, Kas. R. L. Snodgrass. 



A BEE-VEIL IN WHICH THE WIRE CLOTH IS 

 SHADED. 



Wire-cloth veils are the most satisfactory of 

 all. I have worn them for years, and would not 

 tolerate a soft veil. I have found them much 

 more satisfactory when sewed to the brim of a 

 stiff straw hat. I sew the wire cloth to the hat- 

 brim so that more than half of the brim will pro- 

 ject over the wire cloth which shades it. Then 

 I can see through it better. 



Fillmore, Cat W. C. Gath right. 



MOVING COLONIES FROM OUTYARDS. 



What is the best way to move bees from out- 

 yards after Nov. 15, to home yards, a distance 

 of four miles.'' Would it be best to move in the 

 fall or spring.? Why.? 



A Reader of Gleanings. 



[Use a spring-wagon, or else plenty of straw 

 under the hives. Any time may be selected after 

 the bees have ceased to fly every day. Cover the 

 entrances with wire cloth. — Ed.] 



HOW SKUNKS SOMETIMES DO SERIOUS DAMAGE IN 

 A BEE-YARD. 



While looking through my apiary to-day 

 I saw signs of skunks that indicated they were 

 destroying many of my bees. These signs might 

 not be noticed by one not having had experience. 

 I think many cases of bees not wintering well on 

 their summer stands might be traced to the depre- 

 dations of these animals. My apiary is located 

 in a village lot, and very near the house, or I 

 might not have discovered the midnight thieves. 



Several times last fall we heard a faint scratching 

 on some of our hives in the evening; and as some 

 of our bees were very cross I took a lantern and 

 went to discover what was disturbing them. I 

 found two or three skunks at different hives eat- 

 ing more bees than most of us can afford to lose 

 at this time of the year. I killed five, but still 

 they came. I finally stopped them by placing 

 poultry netting around the entire yard, but they 

 had so weakened several colonies that they did 

 not winter, and many more came through very 

 weak. 



I told my story of my night visitors to several 

 of my friends who keep bees, and in every case 

 they trapped and killed several of the " varmints. " 



Bees visited by skunks will be very cross, and 

 will come boiling out of the hive on the least 

 provocation. The alighting-board will show 

 claw-marks, and look dirty; and you will some- 

 times see many bees killed but not eaten. 



East Trumbull, O. W. C. Eastman. 



[We have had reports before, showing that 

 skunks in some localities do serious damage to a 

 bee-yard. — Ed.] 



WHY DID THE BEES TEAR DOWN THE QUEEN- 

 CELLS.? 



What causes the bees to tear down the queen- 

 cells at about the time they are ready to cap over.? 

 I have been troubled more or less all summer by 

 having them removed at about the time they are 

 capped. I have tried queenless bees, caging 

 the queen, fastening her up at one side of the 

 hive with a queen-excluder, and placing them over 

 a queen-excluder on a strong extracting colony, 

 but they removed them all in about the same 

 proportion; that is, they tore them down oneway 

 as much as another. It does not make any dif- 

 ference if honey is coming in or if I feed them. 

 I have used black, Italian, Carniolan, and Cau- 

 casian bees for building queen-cells. Caucasians 

 and Carniolans are the best cell-builders with me. 

 They remove the finest cells of any. Now, I 

 should like it if you can tell what causes the 

 trouble. I have tried about all the plans of rais- 

 ing queens I have ever heard of or can think of 

 that should cause them to tear the cells out; but 

 I can't tell why they keep on doing it. 



Baldwinsville, N. Y. Edw. Reddout. 



[The tearing-down of the queen-cells as here 

 described, we should say, was due to the fact 

 that a virgin hatching much ahead of the rest 

 was responsible for the mischief. As she was 

 looking very much like a worker after the first 24 

 hours, you might have failed to note her pres- 

 ence. There is no reason why uncapped cells in 

 a queenless colony should be torn down unless 

 there is a queen loose. In rare cases the inmates 

 of the cells might be affected with foul brood, 

 and die from disease before maturity. — Ed.] 



BEE-PARALYSIS. 



A conference was held last week in West Mait- 

 land, on the above subject, by three of our lead- 

 ing bee experts, viz., Mr. W. S. Pender (N. S. 

 W.); Mr. Beuhne (Victoria), and the writer of 

 this article. Mr. Pender kindly provided mi- 

 croscopes for the occasion. Mr. Hutchison, in 

 supplying the subjects for investigation, said he 



