610 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Oct. 1 



HEADS OF GRAIN 



From Different Fields 



WHY THE BEES OF A NEWLY HIVED SWARM MAY FIGHT. 



Referrine to p. 475, Aug. 1, I think I can answer the 

 puzzle, as I have had some experience similar to that 

 of Mr. Wheeler. All practical bee-keepers know that 

 bees, after they are stung, have a fashion of drawing 

 up and looking shorter (and darker too if of the yel- 

 low-banded race) , and very much smaller than before, 

 whether they are filled with honey or not. My first 

 suggestion is this: The swarm issued all from one 

 hive, so far as can be observed; but, more than likely, 

 a small after-swarm was hanging on the limb unob- 

 served by him, and the issuing swarm settled with 

 them, which they would be almost sure to do. Then 

 when hived, the bees of the big swarm which had a 

 laying queen stung to death the bees of the after- 

 swarm, which had a virgin queen. This has been my 

 experience in nine cases out of ten, where, from any 

 cause, two such swarms mix. 



Of course there are many other ways that an after- 

 swarm could have m.ixed in with them unobserved. 



A second cause for such trouble here in the South is 

 what we call "pauper" swarms mixing with our big 

 natural swarms. Bees here in Texas, if left with a big 

 supply of honey the previous fall, will be sure to 

 swarm the next April or May where plenty of pollen 

 is to be had, whether any new honey is in sight or not. 

 At such times we often have these " pauper " swarms 

 hanging around our apiaries. They are usually late 

 after-swarms that were not well supplied with honey, 

 and, becoming discouraged, swarm out about swarm- 

 ing time. „ ., J , ^ £4- 



They sometimes come from the woods, but more ott- 

 en from our box-hive neighbors who robbed their 

 bees injudiciously the previous fall. If these starving 

 swarms attempt to unite with any normal swarm, no 

 diflference what kind of queen either has, they are sure 

 to be stung to death. It is simply impossible to unite 

 these old starving bees with a normal swarm. I have 

 been told, however, they do not have these starving or 

 pauper swarms in the Northern States at swarming 



Rescue, Texas, Aug. 11. L- B. SMITH. 



[Taking every thing into consideration, you support 

 the theory that we offered in the footnote.— ED.] 



C.VN FINE COM3 



HONEY BE PRODUCED ONLY IN SHAL- 

 LOW FRAMES? 

 ■ On page 544, Sept. 1, Louis SchoU says: " As it is im- 

 possible to produce ap excellent article of comb honey 

 in any of the deep frames so much in use, our supers 

 are all of the shallow type, with the 5)8-inch- 

 depth frames. With these it is possible to use 

 full sheets of very light foundation. Room can 

 be given only as needed, especially on weaker 

 colonies, and the finished product can be remov- 

 ed sooner." Now, we think that a part of this 

 statement is misleading. The vast majority of 

 Texas bee-keepers use the full-depth Hoffman 

 self-spacing frames, and we know for a certain- 

 ty that just as fine and delicious comb honey can 

 be produced in the full-depth frames as can 

 possibly be produced in the shallow frame. 

 The writer has both kinds of frames in use; 

 and as to the quality of the honey, there is no 

 difference. It would be just as fair to say that 

 better corn can be produced by breaking the 

 soil with a 5?'8-inch plow instead of a full- 

 width 9-ineh plow; or, with one horse than 

 with two horses, on the supposition that, with the 

 one horse, the corn could be plowed just as 

 needed. After many years of experience, our 

 opinion is that the style of frame does not affect 

 the quality of the honey. The pasturage and 

 the strength of the colony are the features that 

 affect the quality. 



oMr. SchoU further says that, when the shallow 

 frames are used, the finished product can be removed 

 sooner. This can not be denied; but we emphatically 

 assert that taking the honey off the hive too soon after 

 completion causes it to be lower in grade or quality 

 than that which has remained on the hive for some 

 time after completion. Honey left on the hive grows 

 thicker and better in flavor as the days go by. All 

 prominent bee-keepers in the United States and in 

 other countries state that, in order to get the best 



grade of extracted honey, it must remain some time 

 on the hive. This is also true of comb honey. 

 Bartlett, Tex. T. B. Robinson, 



Pres. Texas Bee-keepers' Asso'n. 



BEES MOVED A SHORT DISTANCE WITHOUT LOSS. 



I have just had a little experience in moving bees a 

 short distance, that may be of interest. 



On account of a court decision in regard to the sur- 

 vey, we found it necessary to move our house, bees, 

 etc., about 60 rods. On July 24 we put the bees (12 

 colonies) down cellar, first tacking wire netting over 

 the entrances, and left them three or four days. In 

 the meantime we moved the house. We put the hives 

 in the same relative position to the house that they 

 were in before. But the surroundings were very dif- 

 ferent, there being cherry-trees in front and raspber- 

 ries back of the hives in their former position. I let 

 the bees out at 8:30, smoking them well, and put a 

 board in front of each hive. I saw a few bees flying 

 around the old location, but they were practically all 

 gone by night. So the moving was a perfect success 

 in every way. A. E. BoONE. 



Twin Falls, Idaho, Aug. 7. 



A HOME-MADE APPARATUS FOR CLOSING THE HONEY- 

 GATE AND RINGING A BELL WHEN A SIXTY-POUND 

 CAN IS FULL OF HONEY. 



The filling of honey-cans always takes time, and 

 there is, besides, the danger of wasting the honey on 

 account of cans running over. I often thought of Mr. 

 Hutchinson's electric bell for giving the alarm when 

 the can is full; but I went further, and devised an ap- 

 paratus that not only rings the bell but shuts the 

 honey-gate when the can is within one quart of being 

 full. If I made my bearings a little more delicate I 

 think I could fill the can even full every time. 



I run the honey direct from the extractor into a 

 strainer made in the form of a funnel that extends di- 

 rectly into the sixty-pound can. I have the extractor 



/3 13 13 



on the floor with the gate over a pit, at the bottom of 

 which is a balance-board with a weight on one end 

 and a honey-can on the other. When the can fills, it 

 overbalances the board and sinks down, thus releas- 

 ing the trigger that holds the weight. The illustra- 

 tion shows the whole "plan very clearly. The whole 

 apparatus costs less than $1.00 to make. 



The weight that rings the bell is wound up around 

 the axle shown at 16. When the axle-trigger is re- 

 leased, the weight runs down into the pit below, ring- 



