26 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



duced in strength if more than one normal 

 swarm issues. Professional bee-keepers usu- 

 ally make their increase artificially, however, 

 and it is not at all a difficult matter to double 

 the number of colonies in a year. In fact, an 

 expert, when all conditions are favorable, can 

 increase a three-frame nucleus which is only 

 about one-third the size of an ordinary colony 

 into ten full size colonies by fall, but of course 

 this is beyond the reach of the average 

 amateur. The whole question of increase is 

 fully explained in the ABC&XYZof Bee 

 Culture. 



Q. Will beating tin pans, ringing bells, etc., 

 stop swarms? 



A. Nri. Almost every swarm immediately 

 after it issues will soon cluster anyway at 

 some convenient point until the bees get their 

 bearings. How the custom of beating tin 

 pans, etc., started no one knows. If a swarm 

 is inclined to make for the woods at once, 

 the bees can be made to cluster very quicklv 

 if a good spray pump is at hand for a good 

 drenching so wets their wings that they are 

 forced to cluster until they can dry off. 



Q. Is it possible to remove bees from hollow 

 trees or the walls of a building? 



A. Yes, this may be done without trouble 

 but the easiest way is to cut down the tree 

 or remove some of the siding of the building, 

 as the case may be, but if this is imprac- 

 tical a device known as the bee-escape mav 

 be placed over the opening or entrance wliich 

 will allow the bees to pass out but will pre- 

 vent them from going back in again. If a 

 hive containing comb is arranged close to the 

 opening on the outside, all the bees may be 

 secured in this way, or practically all of them 

 except the queen and brood. A new queen 

 will have to be on hand and introduced to the 

 bees. Most of the modern books on bees de- 

 scribe the various processes of transferring 

 bees from trees or buildings into hives, so 

 that one who is desirous to start in this way 

 need have no particular difficulty. 



Q. What strain of bees is the best? 



A. There are not as many different vari- 

 eties of bees as of poultry, for instance, ow- 

 ing to the fact that since the mating of the 

 queens and drones takes place in the air, the 

 male parentage can not be controlled, hence 

 if a number of different varieties of bees were 

 kept in the same yard they would soon be 

 hopelessly mixed up and a mongrel bee be 

 the result. The Italian bees are preferred by 

 the majority of bee-keepers in this country, 

 although the Carniolan and Caucasian bees 

 are beginning to be used somewhat where 

 early brood rearing is desired. 



Q. Can one who takes care of bees keep 

 from being stung? 



A. Yes. if necessary, one can so protect 

 himself with a good veil, gloves, etc., that 

 there is practically no danger of receiving 

 a sting; but practical bee-keepers after they 

 have been stung a very few times are not 

 bothered very much in this way, for the stings 

 lose their effect, that is the system becomes 

 immune to the poison so that no swelling 

 takes place. 



Q. Is there any danger of bees stinging 

 neighbors or their cattle? 



A. There is some danger, but at the same 

 time very little. Occasionally, sweaty cattle 

 or horses if allowed to get in the direct line 

 of flight of the bees, will irritate them so that 

 they may be stung, taut after all, such in- 

 stances are not the usual thing. If proper 

 precautions are taken, neighbors need not be 

 annoyed in any way. If robbing is allowed 

 bees are always more irritable. 



Q. How may I know when bees are rob- 

 bing? 



A. When bees are working in the field 

 there will be a quiet, contended hum that is 

 very different from the excited high-key note 

 that one hears when bees are robbing. At 

 such times they are almost sure to be cross, 

 and when it is allowed to continue they may 



sting not only human beings but domestic 

 animals. A careful examination of the apiary 

 and surroundings may show that the bees are 

 either robbing some hive or hives, or have 

 got into the honey-house or kitchen, and are 

 helping themselves to sweets. In the case 

 of the building, the doors should be closed 

 immediately. Toward night, they can be 

 opened allowing the robbers to go back home. 

 But doors should be kept carefully closed the 

 next day and thereafter because the robbers 

 will come back. 



If the bees are robbing some colony or 

 colonies there will be found more or less 

 fighting at the entrances. Some bees will be 

 stung to death; and after the colony is over- 

 powered, robbers will rush in and out at a 

 terrific rate. There will be a general uproar 

 in the apiary; and if these conditions con- 

 tinue, other colonies that perhaps are not as 

 strong as they should be, will be robbed and 

 possibly overpowered. The remedy is, to 

 carry the robtaed colonj' or colonies down cel- 

 lar immediately, where they should tae kept 

 two or three days. When set back on stand, 

 the entrance should be contracted down t) a 

 space so that only one or two bees can pass 

 at a time. For full particulars on this =ub- 

 subject. see "Robbing," in the ABC & XYZ 

 of Bee Culture. 



Q. How can I distinguish the play-spell of 

 bees from robbing? 



A. On bright days, especially those days 

 following inclement weather, after bees have 

 been shut up for some time, one will often 

 find an unusual commotion in front of some 

 particular hive. Bees will be flying thickly 

 before the entrance in such a way that a be- 

 ginner might suppose it to be a case of 

 robbing; but there will be no fighting, no bees 

 struggling against each other, no dead bees, 

 but, on the other hand, bees will be flying 

 around aimlessly in front of the entrance, a 

 few going in and some out. When there is 

 robbing going on, there is a life-and-death 

 struggle; and after the colony is overpowered 

 the robbers will be rushing into and out of 

 the hive at a furious pace. For further par- 

 ticulars, see answer to preceding question. 



Q. What kind of hive is the best? 



A. This question can not be answered defi- 

 nitely. Complicated patent hives are usually 

 very little if any better than the cheap wooden 

 boxes that they are sold at a high price to 

 take the place of. The standard ten-frame 

 hive is preferred by the majority of honey 

 producers, but if comb honey is to be pro- 

 duced the upper part of the hive should be 

 of a different style than if the bees are to 

 run for extracted honey. Beginners in the 

 North will succeed best with the ten-frame 

 double-walled packed hive that is warm in 

 winter and cool in summer. 



Q. What are the different parts of a bee 

 hive? 



A. A regular beehive consists of a floor 

 or bottom board; a brood chamber which con- 

 tains the ten frames that surround the combs; 

 the super that holds the square sections for 

 the surplus honey, and the cover. The brood 

 chamber is a plain box usually with notched 

 or dovetailed corners to give added strength, 

 and with the end of the box rabbeted at the 

 top to hold the projections of the top bars of 

 the frames that surround the combs. The 

 bees are induced to build the combs in these 

 frames by means of a sheet of what is known 

 as comb foundations that is suspended in the 

 middle of each frame, which acts as a pattern 

 to enable the bees to build their combs 

 straight. If this were not used they might 

 build the comb crosswise of the frame or in 

 bunches or in clusters, so that it would be 

 impossible to separate one comb from another 

 for purposes of inspection. The super or 

 upper part of the hive gets its name from 

 the fact that it holds the superabundance of 

 honey. The modern bee-keeper does not rob 

 his bees; that is, he does not take from them 

 honey that they require for their own food, 

 but simply removes the surplus of which there 



