NOVEMBER 1, 1913 



769 



As to closing the entrance of the hive and 

 pounding' on it with the fist, that may at 

 times prove disastrous. I have resorted to 

 this to cause the bees to till themselves with 

 honey before shaking into the grafting-box, 

 and found the queen badly balled. This 

 taught me a lesson. Now I always find the 

 queen and set the frame she was on in a 

 safe place to one side before pounding on 

 the liive; then after shaking what bees I 

 want I hang the frame back in the hive 

 with safety, as the bees on the frame with 

 the queen have not been unduly excited, and 

 those in the hive have tilled themselves with 

 honey until they have become logy and have 

 no fight left in them. 



Medina, Ohio. 



ROUTING OUT THE BUMBLEBEES 



BY MRS. S. L. DORSETT 



As I have not noticed in Gleanings any 

 thing in reference to the bumble-bee I 

 thought your readers might be interested in 

 a bumble-bees' nest that was found on our 

 premises last week, a photo of whicli ] 

 inclose herewith. These bumble-bees are 

 the black-headed kind, the kind that sting 

 so viciously. These bees had built 7.5 large 

 cells and 25 smaller cells directly on a board 

 shelf in a building in which grain and feed 

 were kept, ingress and egTess being made 

 through a window. At first only one or two 

 large bees were seen at a time, and notliing 

 was thought of their presence except that 

 they came a little too near sometimes when 

 one went inside the building; but in the 

 course of three weeks, as nearly as we can 

 tell, these bees became so cross that it took 

 a brave one to enter the building, for they 

 would circle around one's head and throw 

 off a rank odor, making it very plain that 

 they were ready to fight to defend their 

 young. 



It became necessary to get rid of these 

 troublesome intruders, hence a well-filled 

 smoker was lighted, and two people, well 

 protected with gloves and veils, entered the 

 building. After filling the air with smoke, 

 as much as one could stand to remain inside 

 the building and work, the material on the 

 shelf was cautiously removed, and there, 

 directly on the bare boards, were a hundi'ed 

 beautiful cells. Over the top of these cells 

 was a layer of bits of rags and waste, just 

 such as a mouse would use for a nest, but 

 it was woven together much better than a 

 mouse-nest. It was more as a bird would 

 build a nest, only it was put over the cells 

 covering them comi^letely except one open- 

 ing just large enough for one bee to pass in 



A bumble-bees' nest built inside a coil of rope. 



and out. The whole nest was about as large 

 around as a table saucer, and four inches 

 high. Twenty of the cells had hatched, and 

 in their cells was found some rank-smelling 

 honey. The newly hatched bees were in the 

 vacant space up over the hatching cells. 

 The nest as shown was built in the center 

 of a coil of rope, and in shape it very much 

 resembled the old-fashioned straw hive. 

 West Point Pleasant, N. J. 



CARNIOLANS AND THEIR CROSSES 



BY SAMUEL SIMMINS 



In a recent issue information is asked for 

 regarding Carniolans suj^erseding queens, 

 swarming, etc. 



Ever since Mr. Benton first offered these 

 queens and bees I have continued to import 

 both queens and stocks down to the present 

 time from the native breeders. I have at 

 times imported original stocks in the orig- 

 inal long flat hives in which the combs 

 travel well, without breaking, as a rule. My 

 last consignment of this kind came to hand 

 in early June of 1911. It was chilly for 

 the time of the year, and the bees were as 

 silent as death upon arrival, being all but 

 starved through the stoi^es not holding out. 



But these Carniolans, while naturally 

 quiet under confinement, always travel well, 

 for the reason that our Carniolan friends 

 have learned that young bees travel safely 

 (with combs) almost any distance if they 

 have just enough food, which is not always 

 the case. The old bees are disposed of by 

 moving the hives to a fresh stand a few 



