194 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



are familiar, that regulates the number of bees that 

 may be kept within a certain territory, and it is 

 doubtful if any law would Le constitutional if it were 

 passed. The only thing we can suggest for you to do 

 would be for you and your neighbors to go and visit 

 these parties and explain to them that the locality 

 is already overstocked ; show them that, when so 

 many bees are put in a place like this, it usually cuts 

 down the yield; that it would be unprofitable for 

 them as well as for you. The cost of moving bees 

 from one locality to another is so great that the 

 average beeman, if he looks to his own interests, will 

 fnd some place where it is not already overstocked. 

 The same problem that confronts the beekeeper 

 around Phoenix and Tempo, Arizona, confronts the 

 leekeepers in various parts of the West where alfalfa 

 is grown very largely. We know of many localities 

 in the West that formerly yielded anywhere from 

 100 to 200 pounds per colony ; and now those same 

 localities will not furnish more than 25 to 50 pounds 

 per colony, simply because so many beekeepers have 

 located in the territory that the yield is cut down. 

 This policy results in a freeze-out game. After a few 

 years the less successful will go out of business, or, 

 rather, they will quit keeping bees or sell to their 

 neighbors who are more successful, with the result 

 that, in time, there will not be many more bees than 

 enough to take care of the territory propei-ly. No, 

 there is absolutely nothing you can do except to use 

 diplomacy of the finest sort, and moral suasion. 



There is one thing that you can do : If these peo- 

 ple who come in to your locality are bringing in 

 diseased bees, they can be stopped. Go to your foul- 

 Irood inspector and have the bees inspected. If they 

 have disease they will have to be removed or treated 

 immediately. Most States have a law now by which 

 it is unlawful to ship diseased bees into the State. 

 Where you can learn that such shipments are con- 

 templated you can have the inspector on his watch 

 and have the bees stopped and examined before they 

 come inside. Come to think, however, Arizona has 

 no foul-brood law, so that you really have no re- 

 course of any sort except moral suasion. — Ed.] 



Requeening to Prevent Swarming; Does a Capping- 



melter Make a Room too Warm 



to Extract in ? 



Can you advise me of any beekeepers who dequeen 

 their colonies to control swarming ? I have heard 

 that some beekeepers remove all queens at the ap- 

 proach of the swarming season, holding them in a 

 ■ nucleus for a time, and returning them in about 10 

 days. 



I have seen the description of the new capping- 

 melter. Does it throw very much heat when in use ? 

 We have always been afraid that we couldn't stand 

 the heat which would come from it. Could a gaso- 

 line stove with an elevated tank be used instead of 

 the coal-oil stove? Please advise as to how much 

 f.oor space the capping-melter occupies. 



Wooler, Ont., Jan. 23. Warrington Scott. 



[The practice of dequeening a colony to prevent it 

 swarming is not so common a*? it was a few years 

 a^o. It works in a few cases with ordinary Italians; 

 but in a yard of Carniolans that we tried out last 

 summer it absolutely failed to do the work. The 

 Carniolans swarmed out with their virgins, and made 

 us no end of trouble; and if they had no virgins 

 they would unite with some swarm in the air. One 

 objection to dequeening to prevent swarming is that 

 it takes the life and energy out of a colony. One 

 with a queen will be much more active than one 

 without, as a rule. We do not know of any one now 

 who is practicing that method of swarm prevention. 



Regarding the capping-melter, the board in the 

 table is 4 feet long, 2 feet wide, and stands 29 inches 

 high; and the pan is 18 inches wide and 3 inches 



longer than the table, so that it projects at one end 

 to hold the knife, so that the uncapping-knife can 

 be dipped in hot water. 



You ask whether this machine with the stove will 

 heat up the extracting-room. A good deal will de- 

 pend upon the size of the room. If it is of sufficient 

 size to work to advantage, and there is plenty of 

 ventilation, you will not notice this extra heat; but 

 if the room is small, and only a single-thickness wall, 

 and exposed to the sun's direct rays, on a hot day 

 you will find the capping-melter rather warm to 

 work over. If you are in a position to get an electric 

 fan it will cool the room and keep it very comfort- 

 able while you are working. If there is no electricity, 

 it is very easy to rig up a little fan in connection 

 with the extractor. A gasoline-fetove with an elevated 

 tank can be used, provided the pipe is extended a 

 foot or so, horizontally, so as to be out of the way 

 of the melter. — Ed.] 



Good Bee Locations in Oklahoma and Kansas 



If you were to choose a location where you could 

 branch out in the bee business and make the pro- 

 duction of honey your only business, where would 

 that location be? G. M. Whitford. 



Arlington, Neb., Jan. 20. 



[The question propounded above is a rather hard 

 one to answer. There are many very fine locations 

 in the United States that are not already occupied ; 

 but there are many other good locations that are 

 already overstocked with bees and beekeepers. Some 

 splendid locations have been utterly ruined because 

 with too. many beekeepers in the locality it injures 

 the business so that there is no profit in it. There 

 are many good locations in semi-arid regions of 

 Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. In these States 

 it is advisable to locate in a valley along some stream, 

 and we would not go into the bee business very 

 heavily anywhere unless the alfalfa or some one of 

 the clovers can be grown quite extensively in the lo- 

 cality. There are many places in Oklahoma and 

 Kansas, for example, that have almost no bees, and 

 yet where alfalfa is grown. In such locations there 

 are some splendid opportunities for the keeping of 

 bees. The business perhaps is more profitable in the 

 irrigated regions where alfalfa is produced; but one 

 difficulty in such locations is that the field in most 

 cases is already overstocked with bees and beekeep- 

 ers. We find, however, that there are many locations 

 in semi-arid i-egions where there are practically no 

 bees kept. W^hile the alfalfa does not yield as well, 

 perhaps, in what is called the dry-farming districts, 

 yet it yields enough to make the business very prof- 

 itable, providing enough colonies are kept. We do 

 not care to indicate any particular locality, but 

 would suggest that you make a tour through north- 

 ern Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. There are many 

 splendid locations in your own State; but be careful 

 to find some place along the rivers and creeks, es- 

 pecially in the valleys. High land is not as good a 

 place to grow alfalfa in a semi-arid State as in the 

 valleys. — Ed.] 



Little Mortality Around Cincinnati 



Bees are wintering perfectly here on their sum- 

 mer stands — very light mortality ; less than a handful 

 to each hive. Bees had five flights during December, 

 and nine so" far in January, as follows: Jan. 1, 2, 

 6, 18, 19, 20, 23, 25, 26. Has any one ever seen 

 similar conditions ? Colonies will surely come through 

 the winter exceptionally strong, and they were pack- 

 ed with stores late in the fall, so there is hardly any 

 likelihood of starvation. White clover is very abun- 

 dant ; and unless all signs fail, we will have a fine 

 honey year in 1913. In this locality, bees will start 

 gathering pollen about March 1. I have 11 colonies 

 in good condition in my back-yard suburban apiary. 



Cincinnati, Jan. 27. Albin Platz. 



