676 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Nov. 1 



CLOSE GROUPING OF HIVES FOR WINTER; MOVING IN 

 COLD WEATHER. 



I packed 12 of my single-wall hives as follows: I plac- 

 ed boards slightly above ground for a platform, and 

 put the hives side by side as close together as I could, 

 with an empty hive at either end. On top of each hive 

 was a super filled with chaff. Then I nailed a strip of 

 two-ply tar roofing-paper on the front, just above the 

 entrances of the hives, and another to the board under 

 the back of the hives. The outer edges of these strips 

 were brought up over the hives and nailed to a 2x4 

 lying lengthwise across them. I fixed the ends so there 

 ^ould be but little circulation. I have since noticed , 



END FOLDS 



page 1427, Dec. 1, 1908, a somewhat similar plan, spoken 

 against by Mr. Doolittle. I did not fill in between the 

 hives, however, with chaff, thinking the dead-airspace 

 Ijetter. 



I wish to move 38 colonies now, packed in double 

 «ases, to another location in the same yard before next 

 spring. I intended to do so as late in the spring as 

 possible, but before the weather became warm enough 

 for the bees to fly. Would you advise moving them 

 during the winter, or is my plan all right, of waiting 

 as long as possible, say until the latter part of March 

 or the first of April? A. P. LOOMIS. 



Hunter, N. Y. 



[The plan that you describe would be satisfactory in 

 a mild climate, but it would be very much better for 

 your locality to use packing in front and rear of the 

 hives. There ought to be a space of at least four inches. 



We would advise you to defer the matter of moving 

 your bees until next summer. You can then move 

 them a couple of feet at a time, on successive days, in 

 the direction where they are to be finally located, un- 

 til they reach their final destination. If you wintered 

 in the cellar and kept them indoors all winter you 

 could set them out next spring anywhere you chose.— 

 ED.] 



INFORMATION WANTED IN REGARD TO COTTON AS A 

 HONEY-PLANT; FLAT-BOTTOMED EOUNDATION. 



We occasionally see mention of cotton honey in the 

 journals; but I have never read any thing definite 

 about it, nor have I found any one who knew any 

 thing about it. I notice, p. 491, Aug. 15, that Mr. Louis 

 H. SchoU says that east and north of him cotton was 

 yielding plenty of nectar. ^^. ^^ ^ , *, ■ i. 



This is my first year in this State; and as this has 

 been a poor year I can tell nothing more than that I 

 have never seen more than a dozen bees on all the 

 acres of cotton I went through, «nd they were for pol- 

 len. D. D. STOVER. 



Mayhew, Miss., Oct. 2. 



[Cotton does not yield honey every year, and even 

 then only in certain localities.— Ed.] 



BEES AND BUCKWHEAT; DO BEES LEARN BY OBSERVA- 

 TION? 



"If colonies stand in buckwheat." says Buttel-Ree- 

 pen, " the flight is lively in the mornings until about 

 ten o'clock, then it lessens, and is entirely quiet for the 

 greater part of the day, beginning vigorously again 

 the next morning." This statement, published some 

 time ago in GLEANINGS, has led me to observe the be- 

 havior of bees on a field of buckwheat in Southern 

 Maine. The results observed differ slightly from 

 those given by Buttel-Reepen, and ari, perhaps, worth 

 recording. The bees begin visiting the flowers as 

 soon as they leave the hive in the morning, and con- 

 tinue to work upon them until about 12:30. Their vis- 

 its then quickly decrease in number until about 1, 

 when they c»"ase entirely. But for an hour or more 

 afterward the bees may be seen occasionally, flying 

 from blossom to blossom, pausing, however, for only 

 an instant, as they apparently discover at once that 



the flowers are now nectarless. So far as I know, 

 there is no more remarkable illustration than this of 

 the power of honey-bees to learn from observation. 

 Do any of your readers know of other instances? 

 Waldoboro, Maine. Herbert R. Oldis. 



[The statement of Buttel-Reepen regarding the bees 

 on buckwheat applies to most localities; but there are 

 some places where bees work on buckwheat all day. 

 This is because there is more nectar in buckwheat 

 than the bees can gather. There are other places 

 where the bees apparently quit working about nine or 

 ten o'clo-k. 



On the question whether bees learn by observation, 

 there is any amount of evidence to show that they very 

 soon adapt themselves to conditions. Whether they 

 will learn by experience in the same way we do, we 

 can not say positively. Some things take place in bee 

 nature through instinct. — Ed.] 



labels for the outside of split SECTIONS. 



I have noticed a great deal said about split sections 

 for honey. Some do not favor them, simply because 

 the outside appearance of the section shows the edge 

 of the sheet of foundation. It occurred to me that a 

 neat label pasted around the outside of the wood 

 might overcome this trouble. HiRAM M. SHARP. 



San Antonio, Texas, Jan. 29. 



[A small label pasted on top of a section will cover 

 up that portion of the comb projecting through the 

 top only. The one objection to such sections is the 

 suspicion that is liable to arrive in the mind of the con- 

 sumer that the honey is manufactured because there 

 appears to be a portion sticking through the split sides 

 that does not look like the work of bees. If a label 

 went clear around the section it might overcome to a 

 certain extent this objection. On the other hand, to 

 cover up might look to the consumer as if we were 

 trying to conceal the work of m.an. As we all know, 

 we bee-keepers have nothing to keep from the public; 

 but if that public gets hold of half a truth, it may dr iw 

 erroneous conclusions, <nd conclude that the whole 

 thing was "manufactured," and that we were trying 

 to cover up something. We are frank to say that we 

 would prefer to avoid the split section entirely, label 

 or no label. In either case it is liable to mislead. — Ed.] 



bee-keeping in MANITOBA, CANADA; PREVENTING AFT- 

 ER-SWARMS. 



My home is in the suburb of Norwood, which is just 

 VA miles from the center of Winnipeg, and is in the 

 city of St. Boniface. I had six colonies in the back 

 yard the past summer, one of them being a stray 

 swarm which I got right in the heart of Winnipeg, and 

 hived successfully. I do not run my bees for comb 

 honey, but use shallow extraoting-supers, never ex- 

 tracting from the brood-nest. Only three colonies 

 yielded a surplus, which totaled about 90 lbs. I did 

 away with second swarming this year by hiving on 

 the old .stand, giving the supers to the swarm, placing 

 the old hive alongside the new hive, but facing the re- 

 verse way. At the end of three days I had gradually 

 turned the old hive round, facing the original direc- 

 tion, and then picked it up and gave it an entirely new 

 position. This plan strengthened the swarm a^^d de- 

 pleted the parent stock, and there was no second 

 swarming. 



Our chief honey-yielderis white clover, which grows 

 wild over all the vacant lots. We have also Canada 

 thistles, but the authorities are getting after them with 

 the scythe. JOHN BAXTER. 



Norwood Grove, Manitoba, Nov. 23. 



[The plan here spoken of is a slight modification of 

 a well-known and reliable plan of preventing after- 

 swarms.— Ed.] 



IS THERE MORE POLLEN IN THE BLOSSOMS WHEN THE 

 BEES HAVE ACCESS TO THE PLANTS? 



From being considered a nuisance in many cases, 

 bees are now becoming recognized as a helpful factor 

 in the pollenizing of fruit-blossoms; and the bee-keep- 

 er is not quite as likely to be insulted, and threatened 

 with trouiale as formerly, even if the bees do happen 

 to visit the over-ripe or damaged fruit once in a while, 

 or even give some one a gratuitous sting. 



The stand taken by the experiment stations is the 

 reason for this change of opinion in a great degree, as 

 the statement of a bee-keeper was considered as made 

 by one with an ax to grind, and generally doubted. 



Now, there is one point in connection with the pol- 

 lenizing of flowers that I have never seen mentioned. 



