19}9 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



443 



HEADS OF Grain 



From Different Fields 



NO BROOD IN COMBS UNTIL POLLEN WAS SUPPLIED. 



Mr. /?oo^— NoticinfT your Quotation from a letter 

 from H. G. Quirin, in the May 1st number of GLEAN- 

 INGS, in respect to bees lackintr pollen, I'd like to triye 

 my experience two years airo at Lake Geneva. Wis. 

 Some time the last of March or early April (I do not re- 

 member the date I I went up to examine my little apiary 

 — some 30 or more colonies. I found them all stronij 

 in bees, and havintr plenty of honey; but not a cell of 

 pollen in the apiary, nor a cell of brood, capped or un- 

 capped, nor an eetr, could I find. I was trreatly puz- 

 zled, for it was the first experience of the kind I had ever 

 had, and I wrote immediately to Dr. Miller, askinsr him 

 what he thoutrht I'd better do. He replied that as the 

 season was so far advanced the bees would be likely to 

 obtain natural pollen soon and would come out all 

 right. 



I happened to have several little jars of malted milk 

 la dry powder as fine as flour'; and as I like to experi- 

 ment I dusted this over the top-bars of every hive, and 

 within two weeks the middle frames of every hive were 

 well filled with brood in all stages of development, 

 from the eers to capped brood. Now, whether the malt- 

 ed milk was used as pollen, or whether natural pollen 

 was obtained in sufficient quantities, I'm not able to 

 say. I wonder if any one else ever tried this substitute 

 for pollen. 



Query— why this condition of the bees in this apiary? 

 There was the usual quantity of pollen in the fall when 

 they went into winter quarters. On thinkintr the mat- 

 ter over I concluded that, as they were so strong in 

 bees, they had bred up early in February and along in- 

 to March, thus using up their stores of pollen before 

 the season opened in the spring. This would account 

 for the strength of the colonies. Wm. M. Whitney. 



Evanston, 111.. May 5. 



I Malted milk given direct to the colony as here sug- 

 gested has been before given in these columns. While 

 it will induce brood-rearing, a cheaper bean meal would 

 probably do just as well. Possibly ordinary rye meal 

 would answer. If any one else has tried giving ni- 

 trogenous food direct to a colony, especially the cheap- 

 er pollen substitutes, we should be pleased to have him 

 report.— Ed.] 



TWO SWARMS COMING OUT AND UNITING; SHUTTING 

 UP A REFRACTORY SWARM THAT KEEPS COMING OUT. 



I had a queer thing happen the other day in the way 

 of bees swarming. One swarm came out and cluster- 

 ed on a fence; another swarm came from No. 1, and 

 clustered on a fence-post. I don't know where the first 

 swarm came from 'I mean which hive'; but the last 

 time I saw them coming out I placed hives convenient 

 for each swarm, and they both partly went in. The 

 first swarm then absconded and went into the air; then 

 immediately the second one did the same. They unit- 

 ed, and all went back into No. 1. Of course one of 

 those swarms was foreign to that hive 'both being 

 prime swarms'. Is that an unusual occurrence? If so, 

 what was the cause? I immediately gave them anoth- 

 er body of frames, full size, hoping to hold them; but 

 in two days, out they came again. I hived them all 

 right this time, but in three days they came out again 

 I this time from the new hive', but went back without 

 clustering, and are working all right, apparently, now. 

 They may be without a (lueen. I understand all that; 

 but why they should unite and go into a hive strange 

 to one of them after they had clustered separately I 

 don't understand. James E. Fowler. 



Newficld.s, N. H.. May 31. 



(During the swarming time one shouid be prepared 

 to expect almost any thing. If two swarms are in the 

 air at the same time they are quite apt to unite and go 

 together in one cluster or in one hive, especially if the 

 queen of one of the swarms is missing. It is not at all 

 strange, therefore, that the " foreign " swarm united 

 with one of your own swarms. 



From the circumstances here related we should in- 

 fer that the queen in your own swarm did not, for some 

 reason, go forth with the bees, possibly because her 

 wings were clipped. Such a swarm would, quite like- 

 ly, after clustering, go back to its old hive. "The other 

 swarm with the queen, or without one. would very 

 naturally unite with a swarm that was going into any 

 particular hive, whether it was their own or that of 

 some other. In the meantime, the two lots of bees get 



the swarming mania, and, no matter how much you 

 hived them, they would be likely to come out again 

 until they get over their craze. When a swarm acts 

 like this we would not fuss with it a second time. We 

 would hive the bees, and immediately carry them down 

 in a cool dark cellar and keep them there for two or 

 three days until they "cooled off." In the mean time 

 they would start drawing out the comb; and if the 

 queen began laying they would be almost sure to stay 

 contentedly after you put them outside. Sometimes it 

 helps a little to give a swarm that persists in coming 

 out a frame of unsealed brood; but when they get the 

 swarming mania the only thing we know to do is to 

 shut them up down cellar until they get over their 

 frolic. A swarm that keeps coming out is a good deal 

 like an old sitting hen — the more you bilk her the 

 more she seems determined to carry out her natural 

 instincts. Therefore we treat the swarm just as we 

 would treat the hen; viz., shut it up. — Ed. I 



A new way of fastening full sheets of foun- 

 dation IN brood-frames, and at the same 



TIME provide winter PASSAGES. 



My method of fastening full sheets of foundation in 

 brood-frames also provides permanent openings 

 through the top-bars of the frames, allowing free com- 

 munication to all parts of the hive. No wedge or ex- 

 tra saw-cut is needed for holding the foundation, and 

 there is no need of a bee-space over the top-bar when 

 my plan is followed. 



SiP^SSF^...--^ 



I bore six ^/sineh holes through the top-bars, as 

 shown in the illustration. These holes should be a 

 little nearer the lower edge of the top-bar than the 

 upper edge. There should be a saw-cut in the lower 

 edge of the top-bar deep enough to extend half way 

 through the holes, as shown. Then when the founda- 

 tion is slipped into this saw-kerf it may be quickly 

 fastened by punching a round piece of wood or metal 

 into all of the holes, giving it a twisting motion to 

 fold over the edge of that part of the foundation ex- 

 tending into the hole. Joseph G. Hutt. 



Peoria, 111. 



bee-keeping IN MAINE. 



I noticed the request for information in regard to 

 Maine bee-keeping, p. 264, May 1. In reply I will say 

 that box hives are common in this part of the State. If 

 the owners are busy they pay no attention to the bees, 

 although an empty box is often inverted over holes 

 bored in the top of the brood-box, so that a little sur- 

 plus honey is secured. The usual way of getting the 

 honey, however, is by sulphuring the colony. 



One farmer, who knows nothing about bees, bought 

 a colony two years ago. When a swarm was cast he 

 put his box hive down by the cluster and left it there. 

 The bees flew away of course. After that a friend 

 made him a brood-chamber and a super and cover aft- 

 er modern patterns; and the next time a swarm is- 

 sued he hived the bees like a veteran, and set the su- 

 per on the ground, bottom-board on top of it and the 

 brood-chamber above that. Then he cut a hole through 

 the tin cover to " let in air." 



I have 17 colonies of hybrid bees on closed-end 

 frames of Langstroth dimensions. The hive-walls are 

 made of two half-inch boards with half an inch of 

 packing between. I think a warm hive is necessary in 

 this climate. The colonies are put in the cellar about 

 the middle of November, although strong colonies 

 sometimes go through the winter out of doors. 



Holton, Me. H. L. Merritt. 



