780 



A Divided Brood-chamber for Cell-building 



I desire to know about the divided brood-chamber 

 for the rearing of queens as given in the "Modern 

 Queen-rearing." The answer, I presume, is obvious 

 enough, and yet perhaps my reasoning would be at 

 fault. In the divided-brood-chamber method, are the 

 bees allowed to come directly from the field into the 

 center compartment — that compartment in which the 

 queen-cells are being built, and from which the 

 queen is excluded by the use of perforated zinc? I 

 should also like to know why it wouldn't be just as 

 well to have these three frames at the side of the 

 hive instead of in the center, thereby eliminating 

 the necessity of moving the queen first from one to 

 the other compartment. I take it that, perhaps, this 

 would be more liable to cause the cells to become 

 chilled; and possibly being to one side, and, there- 

 fore, not breaking up their home so much, would 

 cause them to be indifferent in their attention to the 

 cells. I do rot think I have misunderstood the plan, 

 and I think I can see sufficient reason for the cells 

 being in the center of the chamber, but wondered 

 what experience had shown. 



Salisbury, Vt. FRANCIS J. Peterson. 



[Referring to the divided brood-chamber, on page 

 11 of "Modern Queen-rearing," we may say that 

 the bees from the field have access to all compart- 

 ments of the hive. Ordinarily the bees would store 

 most of the honey around the brood where the queen 

 was, neglecting the other side from which she is 

 temporarily absent. Then when she is transferred 

 over to the other side the bees will begin storing 

 their honey where she was, and where the eggs are 

 being laid. As a matter of fact, the workers are 

 perfectly free to go to any portion of the liive; but 

 the queen is confined to one side or the other. 



It is much better to have the cell-building right 

 ii! the center of the hive, because it must be in the 

 warmest part. You have very largely anticipated 

 the reason for this in supposing that the cell-build- 

 ing should be in the center of the hive on account of 

 the extra protection and warmth. Then there is a 

 further reason : If the hive were divided into two 

 parts — one part of which was only one-third as 

 large as the other part, and the cell-building were 

 put on one side, the colony in the larger part would 

 have more of the colony spirit ; and as the queen 

 would have access to all of the six combs, there 

 would not be the same stimulus to complete the cells 

 in the other section of the hive where there were 

 only three frames. By dividing the hive into three 

 equal parts, the portion where the queen is is so 

 small that two-thirds of the hive is actually queen- 

 less ; while with the other plan referred to, one-third 

 of the hive would be queenless while the other 

 portion would be supplied with a queen, and there 

 would be brood in probably five or six combs. This 

 condition would take away largely the desire to 

 in the other portion that is separated off by means 

 oi perforated zinc. — Ed.] 



Fermentation of Comb Honey Due to Continued 

 Wet Weather 



On page 705, Nov. 1, you ask some one to throw 

 light on the question of comb honey, as asked by 

 Mr. S. A. Fuller, Helena, Ark. This is the simplest 

 thing in the world to diagnose. The honey was gath- 

 ered with a very great surplus of water, and the 

 bees in their rush failed to guess just when to seal 

 it, and did it too soon. The result was fermentation. 

 To make the matter more clear I will say that colo- 

 nies short of bees during wet seasons when honey 

 is coming in rapidly are extremely bad about sealing 

 honey that contains too mucli water. I have had 

 honey ferment in the hives so badly that actually the 

 fermenting gases would burst the cells and cause 

 th« honey to run out. I have.many times uncapped 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



honey that would be so badly fermented or soured 

 that the honey in the cells would not be much more 

 than a mass of bubbles. In practically all cases 

 where this kind of fermentation was manifest, it 

 was in weak colonies during wet seasons at a time 

 when honey was coming in rapidly. A heavy rain 

 will not cause this condition. It comes at a time 

 when continued rains occur for days, and produce 

 a very vigorous growth of vegetation, and when the 

 nights are devrj'. I have noticed that very great 

 fermentation is confined to the colonies short of bees, 

 and the fermentation decreases as the bees grow 

 stronger, until none is noticeable in colonies that 

 were normal or above normal. I have not had honey 

 even taste of fermentation for four years, which is 

 due to the dry weather conditions prevailing in 

 Texas. I have had honey so badly affected in the 

 combs in the hives that it had to be thrown away. 

 It was not fit to eat and not fit to give the bees. 

 Bartlett, Texas. H. P. ROBINSON. 



Laying Workers; How to Get Rid of Them 



On p. 5l!3, Aug. 15, the editor advises Mr. P. B. 

 Fenner to break up a hive and distribute the combs 

 among other hives in order to get rid of laying 

 workers. I have not the slightest trouble in deal- 

 ing with these pests, and my remedy is as old 

 as the hills. If I find laying workers I take the 

 whole hive fifty yards away, out of view of the old 

 stand; dump all the bees on the ground and leave 

 them there. Then I take the empty hive and bare 

 combs, and put them back on the old stand. I give 

 the bees two frames of young brood, and the next 

 day a cell or a queen if I have one. I have always 

 been successful when doing this, for the laying 

 workers do not find their way back. 



Major Shallard. 



(S. Woodburn, N. S. Wales, Sept. 9. 



[It is true that this is an old treatment for the 

 trouble ; but it is a lot of work, and one or two have 

 reported that it failed to work. — Ed.] 



Comb-building Again on an Introducing-cage 



I read with pleasure the article by Mr. Bigelow, 

 Oct. 15, page 657. I had a similar experience. I 

 set my queen-cage between two frames ; and upon 

 going there a few days after, I found a piece of 

 comb with eggs. I had a queenless nucleus with 

 nothing to raise a queen from, so I took the comb 

 from the introducing-cage, and grafted it to the side 

 of the frame. I went to that nucleus about one 

 month later, and found brood in all stages, with a 

 nice young queen which had been reared from this 

 piece of comb. I think that beekeepers had better 

 leave all cages in for awhile, and see what next will 

 happen. 



Webster Groves, Mo. W. T. Sales. 



Denies that the Honey Soured 



In, your issue of May 1, 1912, p. 265, you pub- 

 lished a letter for me in which I was criticising Mr. 

 I. Hopkins' method of extracting honey before being 

 ripe, and ripening it by artificial means outside of 

 the hive. In the above-mentioned letter I stated that 

 Mr. Hopkins while in charge of the apiary in con- 

 nection with our exhibition had some honey exhibited 

 which soured. Mr. Hopkins' has sent me a lawyer's 

 letter in which he denies that there was ever any 

 honey soured, and asks me to withdraw, or proceed- 

 ings will be taken against me. As the beekeeper who 

 told me he saw the honey, and noticed that it had 

 gone sour, and of its sudden removal, is away in 

 England at present, and is not expected back until 

 December, I replied that all I could do was to write 

 to GIjEANings and state that Mr. Hopkins denies 

 it. , A. Ireland, 



24 Andover St., Merivale, N. Z., Oct. 3. 



