228 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



October, 



from 70 to 93-tenths of milimeters. A 

 remarkable feature of the experiment 

 is that often, the swarms gave longer 

 or shorter lengths than the colonies 

 from which they came. This shows 

 that the drones must have a consider- 

 able influence on the w^orker bees, 

 which are his daughters. 



In trying to ascertain the relation 

 between the surplus obtained and the 

 length of tongues, it is necessary to 

 operate on colonies as nearly equal as 

 possible. For this purpose, Mr. Char- 

 ton Froissard selected eight swarms, 

 of nearly the same weight, issued from 

 the hives at about the same time and 

 therefore under nearly the same con- 

 ditions as to honey flow, temperature 

 etc. 



Five weeks later the swarms were 

 weighed, and the increase in weight, 

 consisting in combs built, brood pres- 

 ent, honey, etc. ascertained. The in- 

 crease in weight varied nearly like the 

 length of tongues. The swarm hav- 

 ing the shortest tongue length, 74- 

 tenths of milimeters, having increased 

 but very little in weight, while the one 

 with the greatest length of tongue, 

 9o-tenths of milimeters, had increased 

 12 pounds. 



to have the odor as strong as possible 

 and put them in the hive or wherever 

 they want the swarm to settle, which 

 it invariably does. This item is from 

 the Rucher Beige, May 1903. 



BELGIUM. 



Mr. R. Pincot (Rucher Beige) made 

 some comparative experiments be- 

 tween apiaries conducted on the natu- 

 ral swarming plan and those in which j 

 anticipated swarming is practiced. He | 

 finds that the apiary or rather the part 

 of the apiary) managed on the ordi- 

 nary anticipated swarming plan gave 

 70 per cent more surplus per colony 

 than the apiary where natural swarm- 

 ing was allowed. With the method 

 of anticipated swarming by double 

 permutation, the increase is more than 

 100 per cent, that is the total surplus 

 more than doubles. These figures are 

 somewhat approximative, as it is im- 

 possible to divide an apiary so as to 

 have the colonies absolutely of the 

 same strength in each portion. 



A correspondent, whose name is not 

 given, says that bees wintered in cel- 

 lar will consume, per colony, at least 

 10 pounds of honey during the winter, 

 less than those wintered outside. In 

 the cellar, from six to 16 pounds ac- 

 cording to the size of the colonj^ is all 

 that is necessary. In wintering out- 

 side, the small colonies consume neai'- 

 ly as much as the large ones, in order 

 to maintain the necessai-y tempera- 

 ture. He estimates 25 pounds per 

 colony, or about, for outside winter- 

 ing. A saving of 10 pounds per colony 

 at 10 cents per pound means 100 dol- 

 lars for an apiary of 100 colonies. 

 That's worth looking after. 



Sometimes it is difficult to find a 

 queen or cut the queen-cells of a very 

 strong colony, on account of so many 

 bees in the way. Mr. A. Wathelet 

 the editor of the Rucher Beige advises 

 in such cases to remove the hive to 

 a distance, put an empty one on the 

 stand, and visit the hive half an hour 

 or an hour later when the field 

 bees are out. Then return it to its 

 place. 



Mr. Debienne, in the Rucher Beige 

 says that during the honey flow the 

 bees ought not to be disturbed if pos- 

 sible. He had two colonies on scales, 

 doing about equally well. One day 

 he visited one thoroughly for some 

 purpose or other. At night the one 

 undisturbed had increased its weight 

 by four pounds more than the one vis- 

 ited. 



ITALY. 



Mr. Vincent Asprea says that where 

 he lives, in Southern Italy, the na- 

 tives secure their swarms in a very 

 simple and easy manner. They take 

 some leaves of the lime tree, (the tree 

 that produces the limes sold in the 

 stores or used at the soda water 

 stands), bruise or mash them, so as 



SWITZERLAND. 



A new wrinkle in bee-keeping has 

 been started in Switzerland. Apicul- 

 tural stations now receive virgin 

 queens from the bee-keepers and re- 

 turn them to their owners after they 

 are fecondated. Of the 367 queens 

 sent, 285 were mated and returned. 

 The others were lost. Needless to say 



