AUGUST 15, 1912 



Heads of Grain from Different Fields 



Laying Workers and How to Treat Them 



One year ago in June I purchased a two-frame 

 nucleus. This spring I clipped the queen. About 

 the 10th of June they swarmed, but we did not see 

 them till they were going back in the hive, nor did 

 we see the queen on the ground. The next day I 

 found the queen at the entrance dead. I do not 

 know whether she did not get back, or they killed 

 her and carried her out. 



Ten days after a large swarm came out and clus- 

 tered I set a new hive near them with full sheets of 

 foundation, and they rushed in. I then set the old 

 hive aside and put the new swarm in their place. 



Ten days after I looked at them they had drawn 

 out all the comb and stored considerable honey on 

 the outside of the frames. I have not found any 

 brood in either hive since they swarmed. 



About the 20th of June I bought two queens — 

 one for each hive. The bees were about 30 hours 

 in eating out and releasing the queens. They killed 

 them both at once. There is but very little brood in 

 the old hive. By the appearance there are several 

 eggs laid in one cell — each looks very large, acts like 

 a laying worker. Is there any thing I can do to 

 save the bees? Must I let them die, and start over 

 again ? F. B. Penner. 



Vineyard Haven, Mass., July 13. 



[From the facts given in your letter it seems ap- 

 parent that the queen of the hive was lost when the 

 swarm came out the first time. Either her wings 

 were defective so she could not fly, or she was clip- 

 ped. In either case she failed to get back into the 

 hive. But if that be the case it is a little strange 

 that they should not have had a number of swarm- 

 ing cells' in the hive. One of these should have sup- 

 plied a virgin queen, and you should have had a 

 laying queen in the colony. If a virgin hatched 

 from a cell she failed to mate, or was probably lost 

 on one of her mating trips. This would leave the hive 

 queenless. A queenless colony will develop laying 

 workers in a course of two or three weeks. There- 

 fore a laying-worker colony will not accept a laying 

 queen. At least we can set that down as a general 

 rule that has exceptions. When you attempted to 

 introduce the queen that you bought, the laying- 

 worker colony probably killed her, and left it in as 

 hopeless a condition as before. The fact that you 

 find more than one egg in a cell is pretty conclusive 

 proof that there must be laying workers in the hive. 

 They are very hard to get rid of, especially for a 

 beginner. You might try giving them a ripe queen 

 cell from some other colony if you can secure one. 

 Sometimes a vigorous young virgin, after she 

 hatches, will be accepted; and if she is she will 

 clean out the laying workers, or at least the bees do 

 so. 



Very often, and we think we may say generally. 

 the giving of a cell is only a little better than the 

 giving of a laying queen. If you have other bees, 

 scatter the brood and bees in other hives and break 

 up the colony altogether — that is, providing the giv- 

 ing of a ceU does not work. — Ed.] 



What is the Advantage of a Large Smoker ? 



I once thought a larger smoker would probably 

 give me better service, first, because it would give 

 me more smoke ; and, second, longer service with 

 one filling. After using a Jumbo I find that it does 

 give more smoke, but altogether too much — more 

 than half of it is wasted. During all the time I 

 used the smaller smoker, I never saw the time when 

 I did not have all the smoke I needed. What is the 

 object of sending out a great volume of smoke when 

 a small stream will answer all the purpose ? And if 

 a larger smoker produces more smoke, it also uses 

 more fuel; and if it uses more fuel it burns out 

 faster, and, consequently, will not last any longer 

 with one filling than a smaller one. 



Since I use the larger smoker I use twice the fuel 

 I did with the smaller one. To be sure, the amount 

 of fuel used is practically valueless. But we are 

 not all so fortunately situated that we can any time 

 step into a machine-shop and help ourselves to all 

 the greasy waste we need. Some of us backwoods 

 fellows have to depend on something else. I am 

 surrounded by old apple-orchards, and have to resort 

 to rotten apple-tree wood for my smoker material. 

 This, too, has no intrinsic value ; but, after all, dur- 



ing the past twenty or thirty years I have spent 

 quite a little time in gathering and preparing my 

 fuel; and if I have to spend twice that time on ac- 

 count of a larger smoker, the latter would be an 

 actual damage to me or to anybody who uses it. 



La Salle, N. Y., June 15. G. C. Greiner. 



[A small smoker will give nearly as much smoke 

 as a large one, or it will give as much as any one 

 would ordinarily need in going over his hives. The 

 chief merit of a large smoker rests in the fact that it 

 will take a larger amount of fuel, and will, there- 

 fore, run longer without refilling than a small 

 smoker. Where one burns comparatively large 

 chunks of firewood, rotten wood, or any kind of 

 bulky fuel, the large smoker with a big barrel is 

 much more suitable than the small one. As a rule, 

 extensive beekeepers use the large sizes, and the 

 smaller ones the smaller ones. — Ed.] 



A Bunch of Questions 



1. Can I use 4i4x4V4xl% sections in the same 

 super where I have used ^V^xAV-i^'i-Vz ? 



2. How can I get the queen out of the super ? 

 Can I use a bee-escape? 



3. How can I stop a bad case of robbing? 



4. Which is the best cover — the single-thickness 

 board cover or the metal cover with inner cover ? 



Fosston, Minn., June 26. Subscriber. 



[1. The 1%-inch beeway sections require different 

 fixtures, such as section-holders, separators, etc., 

 than the 1%-inch plain sections; but if you have 

 the fixtures to go with them you will not have much 

 trouble in altering the super so as to take them. 



2. About the best way to get a queen out of a 

 comb-honey super w uld be to take the sections out 

 one by one until you find her and carefully lift her 

 off, and put her on one of the combs below. If you 

 simply put a bee-escape between the super and 

 brood-chamber, it would not work very well ; for if 

 there is any brood in the super the bees probably 

 would not go down below and desert it, nor would 

 the queen be likely to go below through the escape. 

 Very few queens give much trouble by going up in- 

 to the comb-honey super ; and rather than use queen- 

 excluders for a queen that is inclined to do so it 

 would be better in the end, probably, to requeen. 



3. There are a good many ways of stopping rob- 

 bing : but one way where robbing has not progress- 

 ed very far is to throw a bunch of wet grass over 

 the entrance of the robbed colony. Another way is 

 to exchange places between the robbed and the rob- 

 bing colony. Still another and the best way is to 

 carry the colony being robbed to a cellar for a day 

 or two, then carry it back after contracting its en- 

 trance. 



4. We regard the metal-covered telescoping cover 

 with super cover underneath as about the best 

 cover, all things considered. — Ed.] 



Large Reported Honey-yields 



Some time ago I wi'ote you, stating I thought 500 

 or 600 lbs. of honey per colony too high an estimate. 

 You replied you would not let any such statement 

 be published, as that would be impossible; yet on 

 page 297, May 15, Mr. Chadwick tells of an entire 

 county averaging 700 lbs. per colony. Why did he 

 not say a thousand, and make it sound more like it ? 

 A man in this locality obtained 500 lbs. from one 

 colony, and people wondered how it was done. 

 Come to find out, he put all his swarms in a dry- 

 goods-box, hence results. Now, you might hive fifty 

 swarms in a box car and have them fill it, and then 

 write it up for Gleanings and have something 

 worth while. It takes a large piece of fat pork to 

 make me swallow these tales. 



Walter C. Bennett. 



Frankfort, N. Y., June 17. 



[Well, friend Bennett, it looks as if you had us 

 where the hair is short. We shall have to back 

 down and acknowledge that perhaps you have the 

 laugh on us. On p. 486, Aug. 1, you will see 

 where Mr. Chadwick explains the figures of large 

 yields. We may say incidentally that California 

 bees and California climate, with the right kind of 

 management, and good seasons, will sometimes do 

 wonders. We might say the same thing of New 

 York State. However, it is our general policy to 



