1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



65 



next to it, but could not find the queen. I tlien 

 took the brood-frames out of the hive containing 

 the queen and handful of bees and placed them 

 with the swarm, and you never saw a more con- 

 tented lot of bees, not one of them offering to 

 fight. 



L Why did the queenless colony accept the 

 queen from the swarm when she crossed over 

 (which she evidently did)? 



2. Why did she go to that hive? Was it to 

 use the brood-frames drawn out by the queen- 

 less colony? 



3. Why did the bees in the queenless colony 

 go to the new swarm except the handful that 

 stayed with the queen? Willis N. Zeitler. 



Punxsutaney, Pa , Dec. 4. 



IThe probabilities are that the first hive to 

 which you refer contained laying workers; at all 

 events, the behavior of the bees toward the queen 

 and queen-cells that you gave them is quite in 

 line with what such a colony might do, although 

 as a rule it will accept cells. The swarm that 

 you put beside the laying-worker colony was 

 probably much stronger numerically; and such 

 being the case it would absorb the bees from the 

 weaker colony. When two colonies are set side 

 by side, it generally happens that the stronger 

 will draw from the weaker. The former will 

 make the bigger demonstration in front of the 

 entrance. The mass of bees in the air has a ten- 

 dency to go to the colony where there is the 

 strongest Hying. In the case under consideration 

 it is not at all strange that the laying-worker col- 

 ony became weaker and weaker. 



It is not easy to account for the fact that the 

 queen of the swarm should desert her old colony 

 and go into the other. It may have happened 

 somewhat in this way: The swarm, after you 

 placed it beside the other, came out unknown to 

 you, and returned. But the queen, by mistake, 

 went into the wrong hive, that is, went with the 

 laying workers. If their hive at the time was 

 very largely depleted in force, the remaining bees 

 would probably accept any thing in the shape of 

 a queen; for it is much easier to introduce to a 

 weak stock than to a strong one. Again, it is 

 true that a colony will sometimes refuse to ac- 

 cept a caged queen, but will take one that goes 

 into the hive by mistake. Why this is so, we 

 can not explain. Colonies are like persons. 

 Some of them have queer freaks, and will at times 

 do any thing contrary to all rules and precedents. 



Your questions we have already answered in 

 our general statement. — Ed.] 



NO OANGIR IN GROUPIVG COLONIES CLOSE TO- 

 C.ETHER FOR WINTER. 



On page 1427, Dec. 1, a correspondent of Mr. 

 Doolittle proposes to winter a number of colonies 

 together, with the hives set so close tiiat they 

 touch each other, except the entrance part, which 

 will face outward, packing underneath, on top, 

 and all around the whole with chaff or carpet, so 

 that the heat of the whole will keep all warm and 

 at an even temperature. 



This is an economical way to get all the ad- 

 vantages of double hives, as I assume, from the 

 entrances facing outward, that they are to be left 

 open for the winter. The heat from adjoining 

 colonies would hardly affect any seriously, as I 



have placed my hand under the top cushions of 

 several hives in freezing weather, and found it 

 hard to locate the cluster by the warmth; and 

 even if a colony gave out much heat, the experi- 

 ments of Mr. Cieo. W. Phillips, which appeared 

 in Gle.'\nings some time ago, would show that a 

 colony can be entiiely surrounded by a tempera- 

 ture of 70° and winter successfully, when the en- 

 trance is open, thus giving good ventilation. 



A windbreak would be a necessity, though, on 

 all sides but the south, in this locality. By plac- 

 ing the hives in two rows a few feet from the 

 south side of some building, one row facing the 

 north, back to back with one facing the. south, 

 the use of windbreaks might be avoided. It 

 might be a good plan to place a half-story or su- 

 per with chaff or cushion in it on each hive, then 

 place the next tier. The confusion of the bees 

 when their location is changed in fall and spring 

 is the greatest difficulty to be overcome and deter- 

 mine as to whether the plan is practicable or not. 



Elyria, O., Dec. 19. W. J. Miller. 



[The greatest objection to this grouping plan 

 is the confusion when the hives are placpd on 

 their summer stands. In spite of this there are 

 some prominent bee-keepers who winter this way. 

 The heat of the cluster in cold weather is not 

 very pronounced. — Ed.] 



HOW MUCH DOES A DEALER MAKE ON HONEY? 



I should be pleased to have you give me some 

 idea of how much a merchant generally makes 

 on a section of honey. If a section is retailed at 

 20 or 25 cts. , what would be a fair price for a 

 bee-keeper to receive? There is so small an 

 amount of honey raised here that we know little 

 about it at home. The honey shipped in is not 

 liked because of the condition it arrives in, and 

 there is not much shipped in any way. I always 

 get a good price for my honey, but have taken 

 different prices, as some merchants, before know- 

 ing the quality of the honey, pay less than others. 



Farris, Wash. Miss Anita A. Byers. 



[Some years ago it was figured out at a conven- 

 tion that honey sent to the city on commission, 

 and selling at 15 cts. per lb., would net the pro- 

 ducer only 10 cts. The 5 cts. was supposed to 

 cover freight, drayage, leakage, and commission 

 at 10 per cent. If the dealer or the one who sells 

 to the consumer pays 15 cts. he will sell that 

 same honey for not less than 18 cts., and he may 

 get 25. Much will depend on the market, and 

 whether the dealer has a fancy trade or an ordi- 

 nary country trade. 



Where a producer can sell locally we advise 

 hini not to send honey to the city, but take it 

 around to his own grocers. From these people 

 he can get 15 cts., if he can get any thing, pro- 

 viding the honey is No. 1 or fancy. If it is a 

 country store, such honey will sell to the con- 

 sumer for 18 or 20 cents. — Ed.] 



A TARIFl ON HONEY AND WAX NOT FAVORED. 



I am sorry that the Detroit convention recom- 

 mended a higher tariff without a general discus- 

 sion of the question, because there is at present a 

 tendency to recede rather than to advance from 

 the extreme stand generally held in this country. 

 Judging from effects in general, the almost cer- 



