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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Dec. 1 



it is possible he may at times produce new 

 combs cheaper than he can buy foundation. 

 I am not sure that artificial heat applied dur- 

 ing this experiment would have given a 

 more economic result, because the bees, be- 

 ing fed freely with diluted honey, develop- 

 ed a fairly high temperature. But what 

 economical production can compare with the 

 mighty roaring industry displayed by the 

 bees when the weather is hot, and untold 

 wealth of golden nectar is spread over a 

 thousand acres around them? 

 Heathfield, Eng., Nov. 1. 



[Mr. Simmins is a bee-keeper who has done 

 a large amount of experimental work along 

 practical lines. We have before referred 

 to the fact that he has made some discover- 

 ies in the line of methods of management 

 that have been many years ahead of the 

 times. 



In the matter of keeping bees in a warm 

 room the result of his experiments are quite 

 in line with our recent experiments, and 

 with those conducted by our Mr. A. I. Root 

 along in the early 70's. Taking it all in all 

 we are thoroughly in accord witn all that our 

 correspondent has to say. — Ed.] 



INTRODUCING QUEENS. 

 The Flour Method Practical and Safe. 



BY ELMER J. WEAVER. 



It is a simple matter to introduce queens 

 by dusting them with flour if they are rear- 

 ed in the same yard, and taken from one 

 hive and introduced into another inside of a 

 few hours. The results are the same if the 

 queens are taken to another yard, provided 

 they are not out of the hive too long. 



The method I employed with success was 

 to remove the old queen, place the frames 

 back in the hive, and dust several small 

 handfuls of flour over the tops of the frames 

 in such a manner that the flour got well 

 mixed with the bees between the frames. 

 The queen was then coated thoroughly with 

 flour and run down between the combs, fol- 

 lowed by a good sprinkling of flour. 



This plan was not entirely successful when 

 practiced with queens received through the 

 mails, so was modified in the following man- 

 ner: After removing the old queen, the bees 

 were shaken from the combs into the bot- 

 tom of a hive, dusted thoroughly with flour, 

 and the queen coated with flour was dropped 

 among them. The frames were then re- 

 placed carefully, and the hive not opened 

 again for a few days. In each case tried, 

 this plan proved successful, with the excep- 

 tion of one weak colony that was so demor- 

 alized that, before reacning a normal condi- 

 tion, robbing started in and the queen was 

 missing. This reminds me that, if this plan 

 is made use of during the robbing season, 

 the entrance should oe reduced to a single 

 bee-space or else the work postponed until 

 near sundown, so that the colony can regain 

 its normal condition before morning. 



Several months ago I requeened eleven ■ 

 colonies for a friend living about thirty-five 

 miles from my home. The bees were the 

 most vicious of any that I ever tried to han- 

 dle. The only way in which they could be 

 quieted was to use one third tobacco-stems 

 and two-thirds partly rotten wood in the 

 smoker. To find the queen a queen-exclu- 

 der was tacked to the bottom of a hive-body 

 and set on top of a hive containing several 

 combs. The bees were shaken into this 

 empty body, and a few puffs of smoke start- 

 ed them through the excluder down into the 

 hive below. After finding the queen the 

 bees were dumped back into the hive, dust- 

 ed thoroughly with flour, and the queen put 

 into flour and then dropped among them. 

 The hives were then not opened for several 

 weeks. On account of the difference I did 

 not examine the bees again; but about Oct. 

 1 my friend looked hastily through the hives 

 and reported sealed brood in nearly all of 

 the hives requeened. He did not make a 

 thorough examination, on account of the 

 crossness of the bees, and so did not attempt 

 to find the queens, the presence of brood 

 showing that all were accepted. At this 

 same time my own colonies had no unsealed 

 brood in the combs, as the extreme drouth 

 in this section stopped all pollen supplies 

 some weeks earlier. 



I believe that those who try this method 

 will not go back to the slow cage plan again, 

 as the flour-introduced queens are laying 

 before the others are liberated by the bees. 



Ronks, Pa. 



A KIND WORD FROM INDIA. 



My dear Mr. Root: — Not long ago a very accomplish- 

 ed lady whose life is full of good works wrote me: "I 

 have not lived in vain if I have been able to give the 

 missionaries a good laugh." Measured by this stan- 

 dard you too have not lived in vain. GLEANINGS has 

 been coming to us for over 20 years, and grown and 

 improved with the years. We thank you. My husband 

 does not find much time for reading, but he manages 

 to see what you say, pretty often, and to have a good 

 laugh over many things. We not only enjoy your ser- 

 mons, but are often much benefited by them, strength- 

 ened in the faixh, and in efforts for the good of others. 

 "You in your small corner, I in mine," so we are all 

 working for the same end, the salvation of the world, 

 and it matters not whether for east or for west. 



There is not much inducement to bees to make any 

 amount of honey here, as they can eat directly from 

 the fresh flowers; still, they do produce some very nice 

 honey, and once in a while we get some that is eatable. 

 If we could get it first hand or in the comb it would be 

 all right; but the natives are much given to straining 

 it through any cloth, and that may be one taken from 

 off the body, often so dirty that Mrs. Root would not 

 allow her floor to be scrubbed with it. 



I was glad when you said you and Mrs. Root kneeled 

 by your bed at night. All these things strengthen 

 somebody, and help some one to better effort. Twice 

 a day with my hand in my husband's we kneel before 

 our God. Life is sweet with all its sacrifices, and full 

 of work, with no holidays. Our oldest son is here in 

 the work with us. Our four daughters are in school 

 in Newton Center, Mass., and we hope they too will be 

 missionaries when the time comes. 



We had fifty inches of rain here during June; but 

 when we have six months of no rain we get so dry that 

 the world almost burns up; jungle fires are terrible, 

 and we lost heavily last spring by them. May you long 

 live to preach through Gleanings as well as in your 

 life. Mrs. M. C. MasON. 



Tura, Assam, India, Sept. 1. 



