264 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1 



NOTES FROM CANADA 



By R. F. Holtermann. 



HOW BEES HEAR. 



Some argue that bees do not hear, but that they 

 have means of recording the jar of the atmosphere. 

 In what other way do ^we hear? 



Say, Dr. Miller, I will confess that your state- 

 ment on page 122, March 1, surprises me — that 

 " queenless bees will build worker comb if iveak 

 enough." I should like a little more detail in 

 regard to this. 



J. L. Byer, page 92 of the March issue of the 

 American Bee Journal, writes: " No matter how 

 important the nature of the repository for winter- 

 ing may be, the quality of the stores is still more 

 important." Mr. Byer is certainly correct; but 

 the quantity of the stores is important too. 



AN UNUSUAL AMOUNT OF STORES CONSUMED. 



Our bees have used during the winter an unu- 

 sual amount of stores; in fact, some fifteen colo- 

 nies starved. I attribute this to the great varia- 

 tion of temperature due to our very changeable 

 winter. At this date, April 5, all but five of my 

 colonies are on the summer stands. 



TWO CORRECTIONS. 



The press misrepresented when they said there 

 were found 116 samples of Canadian honey, as I 

 reported in the April 1st issue. It should have 

 read 16. I wrote the Department of Inland Rev- 

 enue, and they gave me the above information. 

 The record as to returns from an apiary was not 

 that of Morley Pettit, but his father, 8. T. Pettit. 

 4>- 



PROVIDING PERMANENT MEANS FOR COMMUNICA- 

 TION THROUGH THE CENTER OF COMBS. 



Why use a whole inch of space for a central 

 opening in a comb, page 181, March 15, when a 

 much smaller space would be required if a tin 

 tube were used having the same size of opening.? 

 Mr. Hayes makes an exceedingly valuable sug- 

 gestion. Box hives, so far as free communica- 

 tion is concerned between all the combs, have a 

 great advantage over our modern straight combs. 

 Mr. S. T. Pettit always opened such passages in 

 combs. Many years ago he had an opening in 

 the side of the hive, through which an iron was 

 passed, which, when pushed in, cut a hole in the 

 same place through every comb. 



CHEAP TOOLS AND CHEAP HIVES. 



E. D. Townsend, page 160, March 15, says 

 that a common mistake that most beginners make 

 is to buy small or cheap tools and hives. Yes, a 

 beginner, because of his inexperience, is very 

 likely to choose a small cheap smoker because he 

 has but a small number of colonies. Again, 

 many are contented with any old hive and frame, 

 only to learn afterward that in so doing they were 

 penny wise and pound foolish. 



Mr. Townsend further says that he thinks the 

 main reason why the eight-frame hive is more 

 universally used than the ten-frame is that the 



first cost is less, and then those who start with the 

 eight-frame hesitate to make a change. I should 

 say that the first reason for the extensive use of 

 this size of hive in the past has been that it was 

 generally advocated. The second reason I would 

 give is that it costs less. The third is that many 

 do not yet know of any thing better. I once 

 heard a bee-keeper, who had the eight-frame 

 hive, ask what he should do with those hives 

 when he changed over to larger ones. The re- 

 ply was, "Sell them to greenhorns." 



The note of warning, cautioning all beginners 

 to start on a small scale, is good. I have had 

 quite a number of opportunities to sell a large 

 number of colonies to beginners; but my advice 

 has always been, " Don't begin with more than 

 two or three. " 



CLEANING HONEY-CANS. 



Allen Latham, page 130, March 1, suggests 

 the use of boiling water for cleaning honey-cans. 

 This is a good suggestion, for the heat soon dries 

 the tin. After a can has had a judicious shaking 

 there is no more water left in it than will evapo- 

 rate in a very short time, if the cans stand in the 

 hot sun with the openings at the top. 



Mr. Latham advises filling the cans complete- 

 ly with honey. This advice, however, may lead 

 to trouble in liquefying, as tliere is considerable 

 expansion when the honey is heated, and much 

 of it will flow over the top and be lost. 



A thin coat of honey on tin, if left for some 

 time, will often give a dark color to the water 

 used in washing it, and I have attributed this to 

 the action on the tin of the acid in the honey, in 

 conjunction with the air. It may be, however, 

 that this occurs only when the iron is not perfect- 

 ly covered by the tin. 



FAILING QUEENS. 



Dr. Miller, on page 122, March 1, writes: 

 " Last year a good many of J. E. Crane's best 

 queens failed in May." The doctor then says 

 that his own queens are superseded before there 

 is any noticeable failure, and he asks whether it 

 is a question of locality. The editor can not see 

 what locality has to do with the matter, and sug- 

 gests that the difference is caused by the differ- 

 ence in the strains of bees. However, for years 

 I have believed that locality has had something 

 to do with the superseding of queens. The first 

 time that I saw bees in a buckwheat territory at 

 C. W. Post's, Trenton, he showed me in Septem- 

 ber eight colonies where the old and young queens 

 were laying at the same time. Observation and 

 experience have led me to think that, where there 

 is a good fall flow, supersedure is more likely to 

 take place. I am inclined to think that, when a 

 queen fails in May, without being superseded, 

 either the colony has not wintered well, and the 

 queen has suffered with the other bees, or the 

 stores are bad. 



INFORMATION WANTED CONCERNING BEE-KEEP- 

 ING IN MAINE. 



For several months I have read with interest 

 the articles published, but I find nothing in re- 

 gard to bee-keeping in Maine. 



Phillips, Maine. C. M. Hoyt. 



