768 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



(be best one for fancy comb boney in use 

 to-daj^ ; but to attain success one must be 

 always on bis job. 



As to the claim made by some that bees 

 in Danzenbaker hives will swarm more than 

 in some other hives, I have found by ex- 

 perience that, when the conditions are right 

 for swarming, they will swarm from any 

 hive unless prevented from doing so by 

 some interference from the beekeeper; but 

 I see that they swarm only a little more 

 from Danzenbaker hives than other hives. 

 I confess that, as a general rule, crowding- 

 will produce swarming, and the smaller the 

 hive the more crowding- can be done, and 

 the more the bees feel the need of more 

 room. 



Hagerstown, Md. 



AN OUTDOOR COLONY 



BY C. E. BARTHOLOMEW 



The accompanying- picture shows a swarm 

 of bees that chose the under side of a fallen 

 elm tree upon which to establish their home. 

 This was a large colonj-, and when found 

 had built out nearly as mucli comb as would 

 be required in the brood-chamber of an 

 eight-frame hive. The most peculiar thing 

 about this colony was that the brood (and 

 there was a large amount of it at the time 

 the colony was taken) was nearly all on 

 the outside of the outside combs. There 



Avas several pounds of honey stored in the 

 inner combs. This colony was taken Augaist 

 4, and has now settled down to work in a 

 ten-frame hive. The photograph shows the 

 side view of the combs as the bees clustered 

 upon them. This is the third time I have 

 observed comb-building in (he open; but 

 this is the first instance where (hey were 

 caught while at work. 

 Ames, Iowa, Aug. 1.3. 



A CAUTION AGAINST SOME METHODS OF DI- 

 RECT INTRODUCTION 



BY J. C. MOSGROVE 



A colony that built combs out of doors. Nearly all 

 of the brood was in the outside combs, the honey 

 being in the inside. 



Opinions on direct introduction vary 

 among- beekeepers as much as the tempera- 

 ments of the different races vary among- the 

 bees. I am not picking for a scrap, but I 

 am not in favor of using smoke when run- 

 ning in a queen, for this reason : If it is at 

 a time when there is a dearth of honey the 

 colony will be demoralized to such an extent 

 that it falls an easj- victim to robbers, or 

 the smoke may cause the bees to fall upon 

 the queen and kill her. 



I am in favor of placing- the queen close 

 to the entrance and letting her slip quietly 

 in without any commotion whatever. I 

 practice this method, and I get very good 

 lesults. But for beginnei's and all amateurs 

 I would advise the use of a Miller cage. 

 This cage is best, too, for introducing a 

 queen from the mails. 



In regard to odor I shall not argue that 

 point ; but this I will mention : Mr. Miller 

 states that in an apiary of thirty odd colo- 

 nies there were three distinct strains of 

 Italians and one of blacks; and as the 

 honey-flow was extremely light until the 

 middle of July, an examination of the colo- 

 nies showed very few bees in them that 

 Avere not raised there. Directly following 

 there was a heavy flow from calethra, and 

 witlun a week every colony had a consider- 

 able part of its population made up of all 

 the different strains. He asks, " H-ad the 

 bees' sense of smell gone wrong?" No, I 

 don't think so, and odor had nothing to do 

 with it either, because a bee coming from 

 the fields heavily laden with honey or pollen, 

 alighting in front of a hive other than its 

 own, may crawl unmolested within. Why? 

 Because a laden bee going into a strange 

 hive is not looked upon by the inmates as 

 a thief or an interloper, for it brings its 

 burden to add to the store, and is not ti-ying 

 (o pilfer the fruits of another's labor. On 

 (he other hand, just let an empty bee go 

 buzzing around a strange laive. What is 

 (he result? In plain English, she is very 

 promptly " kicked out." 



