DECEMBER 15, 1913 



907 



start cells, as a rule, in these upper stories ; but 

 they will finish and cap over those that have been 

 already started. 



Queens can be mated from an upper story with 

 perforated zinc between the two parts of the hive; 

 but ninety-nine times out of a hundred the plan will 

 fail. The only way to make it work at all is to use 

 a wire screen between the upper and lower stories, 

 and then use a separate entrance to the upper story, 

 preferably in the rear. 



Yes, rearing cells in the upper story has a tendency 

 to incite swarming. The presence of a large number 

 of cells ready to hatch within a few days will start 

 up a swarm as nothing else will do except an over- 

 crowded condition of the hive and lack of ventila- 

 tion.- — Ed.] 



Do Bees Steal Eggs ? 



This question has been discussed pro and con for 

 years ; but it is not my intention here to undertake 

 to settle it nor even to e.xpress an opinion. My whole 

 object in writing this is merely to record an inter- 

 esting case that came to my attention. 



On May 15, 1913, in company with Thos. Parker, 

 of Bedford, Iowa, I drove to the home of J. H. Fitch, 

 who has a tine apiary in Danzenbaker hives near 

 Bedford. Among the hives examined was one con- 

 taining a drone-layer. The hive was full of drone 

 brood and drones, with but comparatively few work- 

 ers. Not a trace of worker brood could be found 

 within the hive. On one of the frames Mr. Parker 

 found a sealed queen-cell, and on the opposite side 

 a partially built queen-cell. We were very much 

 interested to know whether this cell contained a 

 drone larva, such as often happens in such colonies. 

 We decided that in case the cell really contained a 

 female larva there was no way to account for it 

 unless the bees had secured a fertile egg from some 

 other colony. 



On June 26, a little more than a month later, Mr. 

 Pitch wrote me that the cell had, in fact, contained a 

 queen, and that there was at that time sealed brood 

 in three frames. He said that the queen was a very 

 fine-looking one, and the colony gave promise of 

 prosperity. 



This is the most striking instance of this kind that 

 ever came to my attention, for the old queen was 

 very plainly a drone-layer. I have heard of similar 

 cases, but this is the most puzzling one coming under 

 my own observation. 



Atlantic, Iowa. Frank C. Pellett. 



Does the Caging of a Queen in Her Own Hive 

 Cause the Building of Queen-cells ? 



If an old or laying queen be caged and placed in 

 her own hive, will the bees build queen-cells the same 

 as though she (the queen) were taken out altogether? 

 And may that queen be liberated again in her hive 

 at any time ? or must one of the plans for introduc- 

 ing be followed out ? Must all queen-cells be removed 

 before she is liberated or introduced? 



If the queen be caged, and placed in another hive, 

 will she be fed by those bees the same as she would 

 be were she caged and placed in her own hive ? 



Berne, Ind., Nov. 20. Moody Brenneman. 



[One can cage a queen in her own hive, and the 

 bees will feed her, and at the same time build cells ; 

 but a strange queen caged over another colony that 

 already has a queen, probably will not be fed. A 

 dozen or so queens may be caged over a colony that 

 is queenless, and the bees will feed some and not 

 others ; that is to say, they will select out one or 

 more queens which they seem to accept, and to smear 

 the wire cloth of the other queens over with bee-glue, 

 thus smothering them to death. 



A queen may be kept caged in her own hive if 

 kept queenless for a month or more; but it might be 

 advisable iu any case to have a little candy. In the 



case of a strange colony it is very important to have 

 candy, especially if that strange colony already has 

 a queen at large in the hive. If there is, therefore, 

 but the one queen in the hive, and she has been 

 caged for some time, she may be liberated any time 

 providing no virgin has hatched from one of the cells. 

 If there are capped cells, as a matter of precaution 

 they should be cut out before the queen is released, 

 or the bees might kill the queen, knowing that young 

 virgins would soon be due. Bees will very often 

 seem to prefer a prospective virgin to a laying queen. 

 — Ed.I 



Parcel Post in Germany 



In Germany the charge for a package up to 11.1 

 lbs. is the same, be it one pound or eleven. The 

 minimum charge to a distance not over 10 miles is 6 

 cts. ; for any greater distance anywhere within the 

 empire the charge is 12 cts. 



The post accepts parcels up to 111 lbs. For each 

 kilogram over five kilograms the following charge is 

 made : 



Within the first zone, not over 10 miles, for each 

 additional kilogram, 1 V-t cts. 



Within the second zone, not over 20 miles, for 

 each additional kilogram, 2 V2 cts. 



Within the third zone, not over 50 miles, for each 

 additional kilogram, 5 cts. 



Within the fourth zone, not over 100 milas, for 

 each additional kilogram, 7% cts. 



Within the fifth zone, not over 150 miles, for each 

 additional kilogram, 10 cts. 



Within the sixth zone, over 150 miles to anywhere 

 within the empire, for each additional kilogram, 12% 

 cts. 



Packages of very large dimensions, baskets with 

 plants, cages with animals, etc., there is an addition 

 of 50 per cent to the regular charge. Five kilograms 

 is called a post parcel. This term is commonly used 

 in advertising hone}'. The price for the post parcel 

 containing 4^/^ kilograms honey includes the car- 

 riage and C. O. D. charge usually. The C. O. D. ar- 

 rangement is a great convenience. The postoffice 

 makes for the C. O. D. an extra charge of only 2y2 

 cts. over the amount the money order would cost. 

 The party receiving the package pays the cash, but 

 has no address to write, while the sender knows he 

 will get the amount of his bill without delay. Goods 

 and honey are usually sent C. O. D. 



The package for honey used is a tin pail with a 

 cover that fits water-tight. As a rule the honey sent 

 by parcel post is crystallized. Although the pail 

 will hold the liquid honey, yet the hauling is not 

 gentle. For a greater distance the only safe way is 

 to wait until the honey has crystallized. The pails 

 are filled with liquid honey, and set aside for crys- 

 tallization. No wrapping is necessary. 



J. A. Heberle, B. S. 



Markt Oberdorf, Bavaria, Germany, Nov. 8. 



Not One Failure when Introducing by the Smoke 

 Plan 



I have just read the Nov. 15th issue, and say 

 amen to J. E. Marchant's article, page 804. I really 

 believe this smoke plan to be the best thing ever 

 given to beekeepers for the introduction of laying 

 queens and virgins. When friend Miller's article 

 first appeared in Gleanings it made me " sit up and 

 take notice," and the next day I introduced a laying 

 queen to a strong colony after first removing the 

 queen they had ; and bad weather came on so that 

 I was unable to look into the hive for a few days ; 

 and when I did I found the queen all right, and she 

 was laying in good shape. The plan pleased me so 

 much I wanted to go further, and so I introduced .t 

 queen to a colony which I found queenless and hav- 

 ing queen-cells well under way. This was also a 

 success. I then tried virgins, giving them to two 

 and three frame nuclei. 



