1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



39 



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Bridal Trips of Virgin Ciueens. 



Virgin queens will not take their bridal excursion so long 

 as unsealed brood is present, says Gravenhorst — he has known 

 of only a single exception. I have known of thousands of 

 exceptions. My queen-rearing nuclei are never without un- 

 sealed brood, yet the queens mate all right. Of course, in 

 natural swarming there is no unsealed brood in the hive at 

 the time the young queen mates, but I doubt if its presence 

 would have any effect in deterring her. — Review Editorial. 



Control of Swarming:. 



To control swarming we must remove one of the prime 

 factors. Brood is the only factor we can remove and not 

 defeat our object — honey. The removal of brood instead of 

 decreasing the honey-yield rather increases it. We may re- 

 move the brood by direct confiscation, or we can do it more 

 gradually by the removal of the queen. The first method 

 would be better where the flow is very short and profuse, the 

 second better where the flow lasts 40 to 60 or more days. 

 The cause of swarming is instinct ; its control, broodlessness. 

 Other methods at times seem effective, but the only method of 

 controlling swarming that is at all times a success, is brood- 

 lessness. — R. C. AiKiN, in Review. 



Superseding Queens. 



A queen should be allowed to remain as mother of a col- 

 ony as long as she retains her fecundity; for prolilicness, not 

 age, should be the test in this matter. I never supersede a 

 nice queen, no matter how old, until she shows signs of fail- 

 ing powers. We want queens for the eggs they lay ; and 

 for that reason, power of production, and not age, is the rule 

 to follow. I would not keep even a young queen, if she did 

 not lay up to a fair average, for there are a few queens that 

 are not prolific enough to keep four frames supplied with brood 

 as they ought to be ; and where I find such, I always give their 

 colonies something better to take their place. However, such 

 queens as this last are the exception and not the rule ; for the 

 bees do not often allow such queens to remain in the hive long, 

 especially if they are of the Italian variety. 



After experimenting in the direction of superseding queens 

 for years, I now decidedly prefer to leave it to the bees to de- 

 cide when their queens are worn out, unless, by outside obser- 

 vations, I believe they are holding on to some unprolific young 

 queen. Asa general thing, the bees will make fewer mistakes 

 in directing this delicate matter than the wisest apiarist is 

 likely to make. I have had queens that were five years old do 

 good duty till the commencement of their sixth year, when the 

 bees would supersede them that autumn, the same as they 

 often do in the autumn with queens commencing on their sec- 

 ond, third, or fourth year. — G. M. Doollttle, in Gleanings. 



Non-Swarmers Not Wanted. 



We do not think we want any non-swarming bees, and it 

 is our opinion that when the swarming propensities are bred 

 out, the keeper of such bees had as well have no pocketbook, 

 if he depends on his non-swarming bees. — Southland Queen. 



Fire in Bee-Cellars. 



Two in the symposium keep fire in the cellar. I suspect 

 that's a larger proportion than will be found generally among 

 those who cellar their bees. Of those who have tried it and 

 abandoned it, it might not be out of place to inquire whether 

 there may not have been a wrong use of a right thing. Mr. 

 Boardman says it grows in favor with him. I'm not sure 

 whether it does with me, but I'm sure the conviction grows 

 that it is all right. If a cellar stands too near the freezing- 

 point, you can bring the temperature up by making the cellar 

 closer; but you'll have better ventilation and air by bringing 

 up the temperature with a fire. We make fire for folks in 

 winter, and no harm comes of it. Why not for the bees? The 

 fire is put in an adjoining room, not in the same room with 

 the bees. .Tust why, I don't know. Perhaps the fire is made 

 with wood, in which case there might be too sudden a change 



of temperature, and the light from the burning wood might be 

 mischievous. For my own use I would no more think of put- 

 ting the fire in an adjoining room than 1 would a stove for 

 heating a sitting-room. But I use anthracite coal altogether. 

 A small cylinder stove keeps a steady, low fire, and the door 

 of the stove is left wide open all the time. That helps ventila- 

 tion. 1 think some fear that bees would fly into the open 

 door, but I never knew a single bee to do so. The fire is kept 

 going day and night all winter long, unless a spell of weather 

 comes that makes the cellar too warm. I may mention that 

 those colonies that stand nearest the stove winter as well as 

 any. — Dr. Miller, in Gleanings. 



Tlie Laying of a Queen. 



A queen can lay 3,000 eggs a day, but not every day. 

 Here are observations on a colony of bees I followed In Pales- 

 tine, January to December, 1891. As nearly as 1 could make 

 out, the colony numbered some 10,000 bees, Jan. 1. 



Daily average. Total. 



Average laying from Jan. 1 to 20, '91 100 2,000 



Spring waking-up. Jan. 20 to Feb. 7 66(5 11,988 



Almond flowers, Feb. 7 to March 3 700 16.800 



Beginning of orange blossoms. Mar. 3 to IS 2,333 34,995 



Full orange blossoms, Mar. IS to Apr. 10 2,600 57,200 



Beg'n'g of no flowers, then cactus, Apr. 10 to May 21 1,000 40,000 



Chaste-tree blossoms, May 21 to June 17 2.1 11 56,997 



Chaste-tree, then thyme. June 17 to July 10 2,277 .50,094 



Thyme and end of it, July 10 to Aug. 3 1,2.50 30,000 



Thistles, Aug. 3 to 29 400 10,960 



Honey in the hive, Aug. 29 to Sept. 13 200 4,000 



Peppermint and others, Sept. 13 to Oct. 14 , 115 3,000 



Nothing outside, Oct. 14 to Nov. 11 35 1,000 



Nothing outside, Nov. 11 to Dec. 10 38 1,000 



Nothing outside, Dec. 10 to 31 



Grand total 320,034 



About the same at the end of the season as regards the 

 number— 20,000 bees. At all events, this gives us an aver- 

 age of 76 eggs a day for 865 days, or 1,760 eggs ;i. day if we 

 take the honey-flow season from March 3 to August 3. The 

 colony did not swarm, and at the end of the season it was 

 reduced to very nearly what it was in the beginning; 300,000 

 bees were hatched, and passed away ; the colony had produced 

 nearly 180 pounds of honey. This honey was taken by the 

 extractor, April 10; April 18, orange-blossom honey ; June 

 13 to 19, chaste-tree honey; July 10 to Aug, 3, thyme 

 honey. — Ph. J. Baldensperger, in Gleanings. 



Place of Next North American. 



The North American Bee-Keepers' Association agreed to 

 come to Lincoln next year, and now some are kicking for fear 

 they cannot get railroad rates to suit. There are no Nebraska 

 men on the board of managers this year, and so we will have 

 no say as to the time of meeting; but if they will listen to 

 echoes from this end of the line, they can fix a time when low 

 rates are given. This year (1895) those attending the meet- 

 ing at Toronto paid full fare both ways, while at the same 

 time anyone between the Missouri river and Chicago could 

 have reached here for one fare plus .$2.00, for the round trip, 

 and from Chicago to the Atlantic ocean it would have cost one 

 fare plus .$4.00 for the round trip. Whenever you go east 

 again, better buy return-trip ticket first. 



Gentlemen, don't talk about holding the meeting in con- 

 nection with the G. A. R. encampment until after next year, 

 but come and see how well we can use you. Excursions to 

 Nebraska have been run by the railroads each year for several 

 years past, during the fall months from Eastern points, and 

 we have reason to hope that they will not be discontinued 

 next year. We still have elbow room for several good farmers, 

 and the railroads want to have them come and see this land of 

 ours. — Nebraska Bee-Keeper. 



Idarket for California Honey. 



It was figured out during the convention, that extracted 

 honey, on an average, for a series of years, costs 43-3 cents to 

 produce, and that the average crop is 65 pounds. As the 

 present price of honey is from 3 to 4 cents, it is evident the 

 bee-keeper is getting next to nothing for his labor. 



The present slipshod method of marketing honey is 

 largely to blame for the low prices. 



The citrus fruit men are so well organized that they can 

 estimate several months in advance the probable number of 

 carloads of fruit there will be to ship. The honey-producer 

 has never yet been able to tell how much honey has been pro- 

 duced, even months after its disposal.— J. H. Martin, of 

 Calif., in Gleanings. 



