1909 



GLEANINGS IN BKE CULTURE. 



227 



BEE-KEEPING IN THE 

 SOUTHWEST . 



By Louis Scholl, New Braunfels, Tfx. 



The proper time for moving bees used to be in 

 the winter; but not so now. Too man)- have 

 discovered that it has a wonderful effect on them 

 to move them to a new place just long enough 

 before the honey-How to cause the move to stim- 

 ulate the colonies toward rearing a great lot of 

 bees of the right age to roll in the honey; and, 

 my! how they do it too! 



" Shaking " bees is all right so long as the right 

 conditions prevail and you know how to do it 

 and what to do it for. It should be remembered 

 that, by using this term "shaking," it is not al- 

 ways meant that the bees are shaken off the combs, 

 etc. We apply the term to all kinds of manipu- 

 lations with the beps that have a tendency to 

 S'imulate them. We are making much use of 

 this in various ways again this season. 



UH.AT KIND OF PROPOLIS DO THE CAUCASIANS 

 GATHER.? 



Caucasians collect much propolis, but it is not 

 sticky — more like putty, of a grayish-green color, 

 and easily scraped off — p. 125, March 1. Does 

 this mean that they will collect this kind when 

 other bees are collecting that sticky stuff, or do 

 they get the putty kind when other bees do not 

 bring any propolis at all. It would seem from 

 the above that they gathered only a certain kind, 

 different from that brought in by other bees at 

 any time. 



THE EFFECT OF THE COLD SPELLS. 



Several late cold snaps, not cold enough to do 

 serious haim, have retarded the bees and plant 

 growth just enough to give all a sudden start at 

 the proper time. Even- thing was rather in ad- 

 vance of that time of the year until the recent 

 cold spells. Had it not been for these, bees 

 would have been swarming in a wholesale way, 

 especially since they wintered splendidly on ac- 

 count of the great amount of stores from the 

 late fall flow. Although the vegetation would 

 have been early it would also have been less 

 thrifty on account of being too early in the sea- 

 son. The bees, therefore, would have suffered 

 much. We are trying to keep up w ith our colo- 

 nies and discourage the swarming fever until the 

 mesquite flow, which we expect early this month. 

 After that opens the bees will resort to storing 

 honey, and drop swarming operations. 



A NEW TRICK ON THE ROBBERS; GIVING IT TO 

 THEM " IN THE NECK." 

 A unique way for dispelling robbers that are 

 trying to prey on a colony was shown me recent- 

 ly by my assistant. Instead of going to the 

 trouble of smoking the bees, contracting the en- 

 trances, etc., he simply gives the hive con- 

 taining the colony being robbed a vigorous kick 

 or two. This results in stirring up the bees, and 

 they come out with a rush, and pounce on every 

 thing in sight. The " robbers " are the ones that 



get it " in the neck," and a vigorous fight is 

 then kept up against them. It is the easiest way 

 I have seen, and can be accomplished in less 

 than no time while oi-.e is busy at something else. 

 A great mistake, and one I have often seen bee- 

 keepers make, is to pour volumes of smoke into 

 a colony when robbers are trying to enter. This 

 pacifies only the inmates and makes them the 

 more helpless. 



BEES BY THE POUND; D SEASES. 



Speaking of sending bees by the pound, etc., 

 in cages, p 120, Mr Editor, you say, "Besides 

 effecting a great saving in express charges, it will 

 eliminate the possibility of sending foul or black 

 brood from one portion of the country to the 

 other." It seems that this would make it less 

 dangerous, but I am doubtful as to whether "it 

 will eliminate the possibility " entirely or abso- 

 lutely. It seems as though there would still bs a 

 chance for some of the spores, if not the germs, 

 to find their way along on the trip to the destina- 

 tion, unless the recipient is very careful and 

 knows what to do It is to be understood, of 

 course, that the bees came from an infected 

 apiary, and then the packages would be very 

 much like a queen-cage with bees and queen. 

 We have known of cases where disease has been 

 spread by such. I may be all wrong about the 

 above, however. 



■4?- 



A NEW KINK IN MOVING BEES. 



We have been moving bees considerably this 

 season, and ha^e learned several new kinks. One 

 of these is from M. E. Van Every, one of our 

 extensive bee-keepers who claims that, when 

 bees are to be moved a long distance, it is better 

 to load them on the previous evening, haul them 

 several miles after dark, and then leave them 

 standing on the wagon until next morning. 

 I'hey are then moved any distance, and will be 

 much more quiet, and haul better, than if kept 

 moving without the stop immediately after load- 

 ing For this reason, when Mr. Van Every has 

 bees to move frrm his home yards he loads them 

 in the evening, hauls them to the far end of his 

 pasture, and returns to hitch up again the follow- 

 ing morning to move them to their final dest na- 

 tion. Has anybody else ever tried it.? 

 ^^ 



IS EARLY SPRING WORK NECESSARY.? 



Early spring manipulation, says Mr. Rauch- 

 fuss, p. 125, March 1, is not necessary, because 

 the bees in a full hive, with plenty of stores, do 

 not have to be looked at till the first of June. 

 This depends upon locality; and while it may 

 hold good in Colorado it does not pay to leave 

 your colonies so much alone here. The time of 

 the honey-flow has much to do with it also, and 

 in this respect he may be right. For an eailier 

 flow it would be better to shake up the colony 

 early in the spring. Especially is this true with 

 a colony well filled with stores, as it often hap- 

 pens that the queen is hampered in her egg-lay- 

 ing by combs clogged with honey. The bees 

 often clog the combs next to the brood with 

 pollen to such an extent that the queen is kept 

 from spreading out. These and other obstacles 

 should be looked after early, and the colony 

 shaken up. 



