1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



381 



A PECULIAR WHITE PARASITE; WHAT KILLED 

 THE BEES? 



During: last season I lost about half of my 

 bees. The workino- bees did not appear to 

 live as long as usual. I had ten colonies that 

 became (jueenless within a few days in the 

 latter part of ^hly. Upon examining one of 

 my (jueens that died this spring I saw para- 

 sites on her in the form of a small white 

 louse. Will you kindly let me know what 

 you consider advisable to do in this case? 



Beyley, Ont., April 24. Thos. McKee. 



[This was referred to Prof. H. A. Surface, 

 Economic Zoologist at Harrisburg, Pa., who 

 replies:] 



Mr. A'oor— Ki'plylng to your letter of the Uth. referring to 

 a white parasite on a nueen-bee that died this siirlnt;. belong- 

 ing to Thomas Mi'Kee. of Beyley. Ontario. 1 heg to say that I 

 agree that It Is not llr<iiihi m i-a. and I do n^t wish to risk a 



fuess as to what It Is. Kvldently. there Is something wrong, 

 should "Ike to see speclniens of It. when 1 can reply with 

 greater Intelligence, and shall be pleased to do so. 1 wish that 

 all persons would be Informed of the importance of keeping a 

 watch for any unusual conditions, phenomena, pests, diseases, 

 etc.. and jireserve specimens. illuBtratlng the points observed, 

 and sending tlieni to some person who would be Interested In 

 studying the subject to the full extent. Of course. Dr. K. F. 

 Hhllllps. in charge of apiculture at Washington. D. C, would 

 be glad to receive such specimens as well as myself and others 

 Interested In this line. If your Incjulrer will kindly send spec- 

 imens Inclosed in some kind of box or vessel that will prevent 

 their being crushed in the mail, we should be glad to examine 

 them and give a prompt and detailed reply. I regret that, un- 

 der present conditions, I can say nothing more. 



H. A. Surface. Economic Zoologist. 

 Harrisburg. Pa., May 12. 



SWEET CLOVER WHERE NOTHING ELSE WILL 

 GROW. 



I want to try sweet clover in this very 

 dry part of the " panhandle " country. 

 Should I get seed from a section where there 

 is much rainfall or from a dryer one? I was 

 referred to you. Kindly quote me seed, and 

 give any suggestion you like. We have not 

 had an inch of rain in the last five months, 

 yet in the last ten years it has averaged 24.08 

 inches ; last year, 19.09. We expect rain 

 now at any time. We sow alfalfa in August. 

 I sowed red clover last June, and it did well. 



Canyon City, Texas, May 17. N. SCHEE. 



[There would be no reason why sweet- 

 clover seed grown in a country where there 

 is rainfall would not grow just as well in a 

 dry climate as seed grown in such climate. 

 Sweet clover thrives where almost nothing 

 else will grow. If the soil is absolutely dry 

 it will not grow; but it will thrive nicely on 

 some alkali lands where alfalfa will be chok- 

 ed out entirely. If you propose sowing it on 

 the same land that you sow red clover and 

 alfalfa it will grow of course. If the soil will 

 not grow any thing but sage brush, you 

 could hardly expect sweet clover to do much 

 if any thing. There must be a rainfall at 

 some time of the year; and if no rainfall, 

 there must be some irrigation. We found 

 much of it growing in Colorado up on the 

 mesas on the western slope, where nothing 

 else would take hold. When the alkali work- 

 ed up through the soil it killed out the alfal- 

 fa, but sweet clover took its place. — Ed. 



the color, I could not tell where it came from. 

 In the afternoon I was notified by an eleva- 

 tor owner, located about 40 rods from my 

 apiary, that my bees were bothering them in 

 the elevator; and, sure enough, they were 

 there by the thousands, on their " hands and 

 knees," digging away in a pile of wheat bran 

 near an open door — the prettiest sight I ever 

 saw in my life. Hundi'eds were at the in- 

 side of a closed window trying to get away 

 with their load of artificial pollen. I opened 

 the window, let them out, and requested the 

 elevator man to leave the door closed the 

 next day, when I gave them all the bran they 

 needed in the apiary, which ended the trou- 

 ble. Albert Tien. 

 Falmouth, Mich., April 22. 



uniting the WORKER BEES OF TWO COLO- 

 NIES. 



One large colony will make more than 

 double the honey that two swarms, each be- 

 ing half its size, will store. The large swarm 

 conserves the warmth so that it can draw 

 out the comb, and thicken and store the 

 honey with more efficiency than two small 

 ones. 



To utilize this principle the writer has a 

 plan which he intends to try the coming 

 season. He would like other bee-keepers 

 to try it and write to him, so that results 

 can be compared. 



The plan is to place two hives with bees 

 together side by side, and put a double 

 width super above them, so that the work- 

 ing bees can form one cluster in the super. 



If desired, the super can be made oi two 

 halves, so that one person can remove each 

 half separately when filled with honey. 



The writer will be glad to advise about 

 any details with bee-keepers who may be 

 interested in trying this plan. 



Wm. B. Leitch. 



Ridgewood, N. J., May 22. 



AFTER ARTIFICIAL POLLEN IN A GRAIN -ELE- 

 VATOR. 

 In .\pril, 1903, my bees were carrying pol- 

 len in large fjuantities; and, judging from 



BEES IN CAVES AND ROCKS; HONEY BY THE 

 BARREL. 



I took a colony out of a rock to-day, and 

 secured a barrel of comb and honey. At an- 

 other time I took a colony out of a badger- 

 hole in the ground. It looks natural to see 

 bees fly into a tree or in and out of a rock; 

 but to see them go down into a hole in the 

 ground is something new — to me at least. 

 In this part of the country there are hun- 

 dreds 01 colonies of bees in houses and 

 buildings of all kinds, rocks, caves, etc. In 

 one instance a colony of bees took up their 

 abode in a chimney, and they remained 

 there six years. I was once looking for a 

 swarm of bees in a rocky hill, and suddenly 

 two bees stung me on the chin. I slid down 

 past the entrance of the cavity that held 

 the colony in the rock. It took three sticks 

 of dynamite to blast the rock away so that I 

 could get to the bees. About one-third of 

 the bees stayed in the cavity, another third 

 went up into the air, and I guess the last 

 third stung me. Chas. S. Kinzie. 



Riverside, California. 



