388 



that the queens came introduced, and that this one 

 had started to lay eges in cells of this comb. The 

 question is, Where did they get the comb? for they 

 could not get out of the hive in all this time, but had 

 brood-frames with comb and honey in the hive. I 

 have never heard nor known that bees could work 

 over old wax, so should be pleased to have this point 

 made clear. 



Downer's Grove, 111., May 6. J. Mey. 



[Bees can build comb while in confinement, for, 

 in fact, they make their wa.x out of honey. As they 

 were supposed to be supplied with it in your case 

 they could easily build comb; but it is a very unusu- 

 al procedure. It is not at all surprising that the bees 

 refused to go down on the brood-combs, because, if 

 there was a little bit of comb in the cage that con- 

 tained a few eggs, the queen and the bees, you will 

 find, would stay where that piece was. They would 

 gradually, however, work down in the hive, because 

 the capacity of the cage would become too limited in 

 a short time. — Ed.] 



Cottonseed Meal Eagerly Taken by Bees 



On age 272, April 15, Mr. Kos Hurst suggests 

 that Mrs. H. Millard, Feb. 15, page 131, use cotton- 

 seed meal as a substitute for pollen instead of albu- 

 minized sugar or rye meal. Mr. Hurst says that he 

 has never read where cottonseed meal was fed to 

 bees as a substitute for pollen. Bees will carry in 

 cottonseed meal if they can get it early in the spring 

 before there are any flowers or enough flowers to 

 produce the amount of pollen necessary. I have seen 

 tees working so thick in hoppers that contained dry 

 mash for chickens that the chickens refused to eat 

 except early in the morning and late in the after- 

 noon when the bees were not flying. The mash con- 

 tained a good deal of cottonseed meal, and the bees 

 worked until they had gotten nearly all of the meal 

 out of the mash. 



The best way to feed the bees the cottonseed meal 

 is to mix it with wheat bran, half and half. Some of 

 the bees are sure to be di-owned if the meal is fed to 

 them just as it is. After the meal and bran are 

 mixed, pour it into a flat box and mound it up. The 

 mash should be stirred and mounded up every day, 

 as the bees work it down level when they get out 

 the meal. 



If the weather is favorable, the bees will soon 

 carry in enough to fill the brood-chamber. A little 

 honey smeared around the sides of the vessel that 

 contains tlie mash will soon attract the bees. Brood- 

 rearing seems to be carried on as easily with cotton- 

 seed meal as with pollen gathered from flowers. I 

 am sure that cottonseed meal can be used to great 

 advantage in localities where pollen is scarce in the 

 early spring. 



Here at Beeville cottonseed meal costs $1.50 per 

 100-pound sacks. A hundred pounds of meal added 

 to bran as needed should supply at least 200 colonies 

 of bees with pollen for at least one month. 



Beeville, Texas, May 12. C. E. Engle. 



What to do with Sections Containing Pollen when 

 Grading 



How many cells of pollen can pass in fancy sec- 

 tions? How many in No. 1? I use excluders, and 

 yet I have lots of sections with pollen. I use the 

 Danzenbaker system of comb-honey production. Here- 

 tofore I have sold such honey to farmers at 8 cents 

 for fancy, but it does not pay. 



New Boston, Mo. F. H. Thiele. 



[We submitted this to Mr. F. Rauchfuss, manager 

 of the Colorado Honey-producers' Association, and 

 he replies : ] 



The question of pollen in sections has never been 

 taken into consideration when framing our rules, 

 because in all of the experience that we have had 

 during the last fifteen years there have been probably 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE 



one dozen sections found with a few cells of pollen 

 in. For this reason it is a negligible quantity, and 

 not to be considered; but if it were in a location 

 where it happens often, as it seems to in Mr. Thiele's 

 location, we would consider such as not fit to go 

 into any thing but the No. 2 grade, no matter how 

 well they may be finished and filled. 

 The Colorado Honey-producers' Association, 

 Denver, Colo., May 12. P. Rauchfuss. 



Sheep Not Necessary to Make White Clover Yield 



I agree with Dr. C. C. Miller that it is not neces- 

 sary for sheep to pasture in white clover in order 

 that it may be more productive. In fact, cattle are 

 better, as they do not eat the crown out of the plant 

 as sheep will do. Poor farming has hurt the land in 

 this locality so far as producing white clover is con- 

 cerned. The short rotation, advocated by the experi- 

 ment station at Wooster, for bringing back fertility 

 to our soil, is detrimental to white clover unless 

 farmers sow it ; and that is what they should have 

 Ijeen doing for years. A chemical analysis of white 

 clover shows that it is richer in protein than almost 

 any legume which is grown for forage. 



Bloomingdale, Ohio. W. B. Ralston. 



A Correction 



In describing my arrangement to get bees out of 

 the extracting-supers, p. 230, April 1, you used a 

 cut which I think does not make it plain. I make 

 the box 18 or 20 inches high. This box could be 

 tight on the sides and ends, except that the side 

 furthest from the operator should have an opening 

 the full length of the box, and about three inches 

 wide in order to give air or ventilation to the bees 

 after they slide down the chute below. 



Lakeville, Ind. C. A. Bunch. 



Removing the Queen 



Can as much comb honey be secured from colonies 

 where the queen is removed as by the shaken-swarm 

 plan ? 



Honeoye Falls, N. Y., Feb. 24. Gilbert Bros. 



[Caging the queen to prevent swarming, when 

 running for the production of comb honey, seems to 

 fake the life out of a colony. The bees attempt to 

 rear queen-cells; and if a single cell is missed, a 

 swarm will come out very soon after the virgin 

 hatches. The methods of shaking swarms, we should 

 say, would be much more satisfactory than dequeen- 

 ing; and it would be our opinion that more honey 

 could be secured. — Ed.] 



The Number of Bees to the Pound 



Will you inform me of the number of bees in a 

 quart or a pound? If a pound, what is the space 

 they occupy ? 



Canton, Mass., April 21. E. C. Brittox. 



[There are about 3200 bees in a quart and about 

 4500 bees on the average in a pound. This number, 

 however, will vary according as to whether the bees 

 are filled with nectar or not. A bee can carry half 

 its own weight in honey and possibly a little more at 

 times. If, therefore, the bees are filled with honey a 

 proper reduction should be made from the figures 

 already given. — Ed.] 



Death of Melvin Isbell 



I should like to have a brief notice in Gleanings 

 of the death of my husband, Melvin Isbell, which 

 occurred May 3. He was a veteran beekeeper, keep- 

 ing bees since a man of 20. He also took Glean- 

 ings, since its first beginning, and had nearly every 

 one in good condition. He was 63. I think he kept 

 the most bees of any one in Chenango County. 



Norwich, N. Y. Mrs. Melvin Isbell. 



