1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



377 



HEADS OF Grain 



From Different Fields 



TROUBLE IN INTRODUCING. 



I am having trouble with the southern-bred 

 untested queen I bought of a breeder some 

 two or three weeks ago. I introduced her 

 in the usual way, the colony accepting her 

 seemingly peaceably, which fact I wrote you. 

 After two days from the time she was releas- 

 ed I looked into the colony to see if she had 

 commenced laying, and found her balled but 

 with no eggs. I released her quickly, placed 

 her in the cage again, put the cage upside 

 down between the top-bars in the center of 

 the hive, and left her thus for about 48 hours. 

 Then I released her again and watched her 

 carefully, and all seemed to go well for about 

 two days more, when, on opening the hive 

 again, I found her balled and still no eggs. 

 Again I caged her as before, leaving her caged 

 about a day, when I took a frame of mostly 

 sealed brood from another hive and placed 

 it in the queenless colony, thinking it might 

 encourage her to lay, and at the same time 

 help to keep up the strength of the colony, 

 which has been without a laying queen since 

 last fall. 



For about 48 hours all was peaceable in the 

 hive again, but I could not see that she had 

 laid ar^' unless on the edges of the comb of 

 brood we gave her; but we found her balled 

 again. Tirin^ of the game we caged her 

 again and left her in the hive, and — well, 

 here we are to you for advice. 



The queen seems well and lively, but in 

 size and appearance she looks almost like a 

 virgin. But it is not unusual for mailed 

 queens to look that way for a few days after 

 being released. I have introduced a good 

 many queens, but have not had any act quite 

 like this. If you could advise me what to do 

 in this case we should appreciate it very 

 much. W. P. Keeper. 



Summerville, Pa., May 9. 



[There is a possibility that she might have 

 been a virgin, she having been put into the 

 cage by mistake of the breeder. If she were 

 such, of course he should replace her. There 

 is one thing you did that may have caused 

 the trouble of balling. It is bad policy to 

 open the hive just about the time the queen 

 is to be released. If you will refer to the di- 

 rections usually sent you will see it is not 

 advisable to release the queen at the time of 

 opening the hive, for very often the disturb- 

 ance causes the bees to ball her, even one 

 that has been in the hive for a year or so. A 

 colony that has been queenless for some 

 length of time is very sensitive, and the very 

 act of opening the hive not infrequently 

 causes the bees to attack the (jueen, especial- 

 ly if she is just released. This would be true 

 of a laying queen, but a virgin queen the 

 bees would be likely to attack and kill if she 

 were four or five days old, and the colony 

 strong, almost as soon as she was released. 

 Experience has shown us that it is better to 



let the bees release the queen themselves, 

 and not open the hive for several days. To 

 do this the bees are supposed to gnaw away 

 at the cardboard; and ii they do not get this 

 gnawed away, it is removed by the apiarist 

 to expose the candy; then the bees should 

 eat out the candy, thus releasing the queen 

 in from five to twenty-four hours. The bees 

 must get in a state of quiet before the queen 

 is released. — Ed.] 



BEE-KEEPING IN NORTHEASTERN GERMANY. 

 In traveling by rail through Germany I 

 noticed that the northeastern section, ap- 

 proaching the North Sea, is mostly a level 

 country, used for pasturage and hay, and the 

 people are chiefly engaged in dairying. There 

 are, however, here and there, great stretches 

 of elevated sandy land, densely covered with 

 a low species of heather, that is a mass of 

 purple bloom throughout summer and au- 

 tumn, and here many people find it profit- 

 able to give some attention to bees. It is not 

 uncommon to see two or more hives near a 

 peasant's cottage, and occasionally you will 

 see a collection of from fifteen to fifty hives 

 cosily housed in an open shed built for their 

 protection. These sneds are mostly made 

 with two shelves, one above the other, so as 

 to accommodate adouble number of hives, and 

 are well closed in the rear. Sometimes the 



A SMALL SHEDDED APIARY AS ONE MAY SEE IN 

 NORTHERN GERMANY. 



sheds are built like a house court, with a 

 locked door entrance, thus protecting the 

 bees from robbers as well as from annoying 

 or injurious winds. The hives appear like a 

 large closed stone or cement jug, with the 

 en&ance near the top, as indicated in the 

 sketch. How the honey is taken out I can 

 not say. It may be that, like the jug money- 

 banks for children, those honey-banks have 

 to be broken to get the honey stored in them. 

 LaPark, Pa. Geo. W. Park. 



BUTTERMILK BUCKWHEAT PANCAKES VERSUS 

 THOSE MADE WITH YEAST. 



"There are more ways to the woods than 

 one" is also true when it comes to making 

 pancakes; and, I would add, there is still a 

 difference between netting to the woods and 

 making pancakes, wnich will be appreciated 

 when you eat the pancakes made with sour 

 buttermilk. Everybody will probably agree 

 with me that there will be no difference in 

 the woods, no matter which road you take to 



