380 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



grinding it this way there is a considerable 

 quantity of fine flour along with it. We get 

 the best results by using a common feed- 

 grinder or crusher, and grinding cobs and 

 all, and mixing in about one-tourth oats 

 while grinding. An apiary of 200 colonies 

 will work over about ten or fifteen bushels 

 in a day, and clean out all the fine flour; but 

 on account of the weather they do not work 

 more than a day or two a week at that time 

 of the year. 



We tried feeding sugar syrup and honey 

 both at the cattle-yards and at home; but 

 that did not stop the trouble. We also tried 

 oat flour and white corn flour, which is put 

 out by an oatmeal factory in Sioux City, but 

 the bees would hardly touch it, as, in the 

 fine grinding, all parts of the kernels seemed 

 to be mixed together, and I believe the grain 

 is sterilized or otherwise treated at the mill. 

 As soon as the maple and elms are in bloom 

 the trouble instantly stops. 



Edward G. Brown. 



Sergeant Bluff, Iowa. 



hill, until they reach a plane about on the 

 line of the entrance, when they will alight 

 and crawl in. — Ed.] 



WHY so MANY DEAD BEES IN FRONT OF A 

 HIVE JUST OCCUPIED BY A SWARM? 



Yesterday a swarm found its way into an 

 empty hive which I had standing outside 

 ready for use, and to-day I found about two 

 quarts of dead bees in front of the entrance, 

 and a tremendous amount of wax flakes such 

 as we sometimes find on the bottom-board. 

 Can you account for this? E. B. Stone. 



Campbell, Cal., April 2L 



[It is evident that the swarm, on entering 

 the hive and taking possession, cleaned out 

 a quantity of dead bees that were already in 

 the hive. The very fact that you found more 

 or less litter thrown out at the same time 

 would seem to indicate that they were mak- 

 ing a general job of housecleaning, throwing 

 out all loose dirt, and, of course, all dead 

 bees. We should doubt, however, if what 

 you saw were " wax flakes," as bees are not 

 likely to throw away good property like this. 

 —Ed.] 



CAN BEES FLY BACKWARD? 



An interesting question regarding the hab- 

 its of bees has come to my attention, and I 

 should be grateful if you or some of your 

 workers could help to answer it. It is this: 

 Can a bee fly backward? If so, how? 



Dorchester, Mass. Wm. H. Sterne. 



[Bees can gyrate back and forth sidewise, 

 and can also fly backward, but not on the 

 same plane. When they do fly back it is on 

 a descending line as if they were sliding back- 

 ward down hill. We do not believe that it 

 would be possible for them to fly backward 

 on a horizontal line like the hummingbird. 

 If you will watch the bees when they are 

 just about to alight in front of an entrance 

 you will notice, sometimes, how they will fly 

 some four or five inches above the entrance, 

 almost alighting on the hive, and then by a 

 quick slidmg down movement will slide 

 backward on their wings, as it were, down 



A COLONY 45 YEARS OLD THAT NEVER 



SWARMS. 



Mr. A. M. Schaffner, of Derry Church, Pa., 

 a man grown old in the bee business, and an 

 honored member of the Lebanon Bee-keep- 

 ers' Association, is the owner of a colony of 

 bees 45 years old. This remarkable colony 

 still occupies the original hive, which is a 

 common box hive, much in use at that time. 

 On top of this hive is a receptacle for three 

 drawers like boxes for surplus honey. Each 

 drav/er holds, when filled, 17 lbs. of honey, 

 which the bees fill every year, giving their 

 owner about 50 lbs. of surplus honey. They 

 still occupy the original combs; there is noth- 

 ing done to them with the exception of put- 

 ting on the surplus arrangement, and the 

 taking off at the season. The most remark- 

 able feature, however, is that they never 

 swarmed to Mr. Schaffner's knowledge, but 

 supersede their queen from time to time as 

 it becomes necessary. How is that for a non- 

 swarming strain? E. L. Brown. 



Lebanon, Pa. 



INCREASE BY THE ALEXANDER PLAN. 



I had planned to make increase this season 

 on the lines laid out by the late E. W. Alex- 

 ander — by putting the new hive on top of the 

 old one, with excluder between, and raising 

 up a frame with the queen on it; and then, 

 when full of brood, separate the two. It 

 works finely so far as I have tried it, except 

 that there is sulking in the old hive while 

 they are waiting for the young queen to be- 

 gin laying. If some one couTd only devise 

 some way to get a young queen matured and 

 laying in the lower hive before separating 

 the two the system would be complete. 



Would it not be possible to have combs 

 built from full sheets of foundation in the 

 upper hive, without wiring? 



Warren, Minn. Ernest L. Brown. 



[It is hardly safe to use full sheets of foun- 

 dation unless the frames are wired. Of 

 course, one can use extra-heavy foundation 

 without wires; but that would be too expen- 

 sive. — Ed.] 



"TANGLEFOOT" PREPARATION TO PREVENT 

 ANTS FROM GETTING INTO HIVES OR TANKS. 



I often see notes of how to keep ants out 

 of hives. We use around our trees, to keep 

 Fuller's rose-beetle down (they eat the young 

 buds), a preparation known as tree-tangle- 

 foot. It IS essentially the same thing as is 

 used to make fly-paper. It comes in tin pails, 

 and is doubed in a narrow band around the 

 tree. I have used it to keep ants out of my 

 honey-tank. I have never been bothered 

 with ants in the hives. R. K. Bishop. 



Orange, Cal. 



[This is a good suggestion. Our southern 

 bee-keepers who are troubled with ants will 

 please take notice. — Ed.] 



