GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



tanks, we are frank to say we were con- 

 tlenined bj' beekeepers and buyers eveiy- 

 where for letting the doctrine appear in our 

 columns icithout a protest; and Mi'. Alex- 

 ander himself once told us that because of 

 this he had more mad bees (beekeepers) 

 buzzing about his head than he had ever 

 had before. 



After saying all this, we believe it is, 

 nevertheless, a fact that in most of the 

 ^extracting of a whole j'ard, some combs will 

 4)9 only half sealed and some only a third, 

 ■j-et all are put through the extractor. A 

 few combs out of the whole lot will do no 

 1' articular harm, even if not ripe. 



In favor of Mr. Hopkins, we may say he 

 is one of the best beekeepers in the south- 

 er)! hemisphere. As a man and as a pro- 

 ducer he stands high. But his own country- 

 men, judging from the letters we have re- 

 ceived, are opposed to the doctrine of ex- 

 tracting before the combs are sealed, al- 

 though they may admit that he is probably 

 expert enough to do the work. But we are 

 firm in the belief that any artificially rip- 

 ened honej^, while it may be thoroughly in- 

 verted from the standpoint of the chemist, 

 will lack some of the beautiful richness and 

 flavor that is so much pi'ized in honey that 

 has been allowed to ripen on the hives. — 



Ed.] 



«~»^» 



OUEENLESS COLONIES GATHER POLLEN BE- 

 FORE BECOMING OUEENLESS 



BY R. 0. MARTIN 



On page 797, Dec. 15, Mx. Holtermann 

 says, " The evidence of a queenless-colony 

 condition last fall will be pollen-clogged 

 combs, indicating that the bees gathered 

 pollen, and did not have larvae to feed the 

 pollen to, and it had, therefore, accumulat- 

 ed in the combs. I find no exception to this. 

 Does this, then, not prove conclusively that 

 (|ueenless colonies do gather pollen"? 



The evidence of no larvae to feed is good ; 

 but I do not take much stock in this as an 

 argument to prove that queenless colonies 

 gather pollen. My queenless colonies have 

 not only the pollen, but plenty of honey too, 

 for that matter. Does that prove that queen- 

 less bees gather honey and pollen? Cer- 

 tainly not, because tlie lees had gathered all 

 or nearly all of this pollen and honey before 

 they lost their queen. 



Did you ever examine a colony that had 

 just lost a queen, and did you not find the 

 combs full of Honey and pollen? I am 

 speaking of a colony that has lost a virgin 

 queen on her mating-trip, when nearly every 

 cell of brood had hatched. If the young 



queen had made her flight safely, wouldn't 

 the bees have hustled to get that honey and 

 pollen out of her wa}^? 



Did j-ou ever see a queen come out of the 

 hive to mate, and watch for her return, she 

 being lost "? Have you, then, noted the colo- 

 ny's actions as the bees run out and in, up 

 and down, and almost all over the hive? 

 Have you watched them the next day, and 

 the next, etc. ? They are always looking for 

 their queen. They come out on the alight- 

 ing-board, hesitate a while, fly away in a 

 half-hearted way, and this at a time of the 

 year when the bees are not robbing. Occa- 

 sionally you will see one with a small amount 

 of pollen; but look at the hive that has a 

 young queen just beginning to lay. See 

 how they run out on the board, and away 

 they go. Do you see any difference in the 

 two colonies? It is easy to distinguish be- 

 tween them, for the bees of one are all hus- 

 tle and the others seem very lazy. The bees 

 with the queen bring great loads of pollen; 

 but the queenless bees scarcely ever have a 

 load — not enough to clog the combs in a 

 year at that rate. 



When the robbers are active it is harder 

 to tell the queenless colony. There is a dif- 

 ference even then, however, for the robbers 

 will hang around the queenless colony more 

 than they will around a colony with a queen. 

 That is the way bees act in this locality. 



Naylor, Mo., Jan. 5. 



Making Increase Before or After the Main Honey- 

 Flow 



Beiu? a subscriber to Gleaxixgs I come to you 

 for advice. I had considerable experience with bees 

 in Illinois some 25 years aso : but all conditions here 

 are so entirely different I feel like a beginner. Spring 

 will begin here about Feb. 1 : and by the last, bees 

 will be actively at work much of the time. From the 

 middle of March to late in April we get most of our 

 natural swarms with a few any time till late fall 

 — usually a short honey-flow in April from fruit, 

 mostly peaches ; then they just about get their living 

 till .July 5, when there will be a fair harvest with a 

 steady yield for three months or more. Now, under 

 these conditions please tell me what is the best meth- 

 od to manage so as to secure all the increase possi- 

 ble, and still have all, both old and new, in first- 

 class order for fall harvest. 



Winton, Cal., Jan. 23. L. T. Ayres. 



[The conditions here described are ideal for mak- 

 ing increase and securing a honey crop, and we 

 believe you can make such increase before the main 

 crop comes on. 



As to the method of increase, the one we would 

 recommend to you is given in the ABC and X Y Z 

 of Bee Culture, under the head of " Increase," or 

 what is known as the Alexander plan. We have had 

 very many favorable reports regarding this, and we 

 believe that you wiU secure better results with less 

 loss of brood than with any other one that you can 

 adopt. For further information you are referred to 

 the subject of " Nuclei," found in its alphabetical 

 order in the same work. — Ed.] 



