ism 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



When our harvest ended last June I did not 

 think there would be any honey in the fall, 

 and I left on about 75 upper stories full of cup- 

 ped sage honey, there not being a pound of 

 winter stores in the lower liives. However, 

 they gathered enough from tarweed and other 

 bitter flowers to about half fill the lower combs. 

 The escapes are put on in the afternoon, and 

 the upper stories taken into the tent th(^ next 

 morning, and extracted during the day. The 

 empty combs are returned to the hives the fol- 

 lowing evening, to be cleaned during the night; 

 and now after live days there is only occasion- 

 ally a stray robber smelling around. This could 

 not be done without escapes, and I am so well 

 pleased with the plan that I shall try to leave 

 half the crop (if we have any — prospects look 

 poor now) on another season, and extract it 

 after the hot weather is over, and there are no 

 ants to bother. 



The honey is thick enougli to be eaten with a 

 fork, without any trouble, but the extractor 

 must be turned like a thrashing-machine cylin- 

 der, which is easily done by putting a small 

 cog-wheel on the crank end of the crank-shaft 

 of a two-frame Novice machine. Then another 

 larger cog- wheel, to which the crank is attach- 

 ed, is arranged on the side of the can just be- 

 low the smaller wheel. It takes a little more 

 turning, but the work is as easy as in hot 

 weather. C. W: Dayton. 



Pasadena, Cal., Dec. 1."). 



[This is one of the best reports, if not the best, 

 we have received showing the value of the bee- 

 escape as a labor-saver. We commend its care- 

 ful reading to all of our subscribers. — Ed.] 



MATING OF QUEENS. 



DOES EARLY SPRING MATING OR LATE FALI/ 

 MATING HAVE ANY EFFECT UPON THE 

 LONGEVITY AND FUTURE USEFUL- 

 NESS OF QUEENS? 



[In Stray Straws for Nov. 1.'). page 843, Dr. 

 Miller referred to Guenther, a (Terman,authori- 

 ty, and editor of the Centrctlblatt, as saying 

 that queens fertilized in the middle of May 

 were not as prolific or long-lived as those fer- 

 tili/ed so late that they did not lay until the 

 next spring. Regarding this point, Dr. Miller 

 has received a letter that goes to confirm Mr. 

 Guenther's position. As the facts are too valu- 

 able to be confined to a private reader, the doc- 

 tor sends the letter on, which we are very glad 

 to reproduce.] 



Dr. Miller: — Your item concerning Mr. Guen- 

 ther's observations (p. 842) reminds me of a case 

 [ had some years ago. I had a valuable queen 

 from which I wished to requeen as many of my 

 solonies as possible; and, in my eagerness and 



ignorance combined, I ran the business rather 

 UiU'. in ihe fall. I had on(i fine virgin that I had 

 about despaired of having fertilized before the 

 weather should become too cool. Rut I had 

 managed to provide the colony with plenty of 

 choice drones; but for a full week after she; 

 should have been out, the weather was too cool. 

 On the 18th of October it became warm, with 

 butlittle wind. I closed them in early in the 

 morning, and shaded them until the afternoon, 

 when I loaded them on a spring wagon and touk 

 ihem over a mile from home to a hillside f.icing 

 south. I then poured half a pint of warm hon- 

 ey over the frames. That set up a great com- 

 motion among the bees, and drones and queen 

 were soon on the wing. In less than ten minutes 

 I had the satisfaction of seeing my queen return 

 with the mark of fertilization. She did not lay 

 any eggs that fall. The following season she 

 gave evidence of being a valuable queen. When 

 she was two years old I traded her, with her 

 colony, to a neighbor for some shoats. Two 

 years later the purchaser sold out to go west, 

 and I bought the hive and bees back. He stat- 

 ed that they had been bountiful honey-gather- 

 ers, but had never swarmed, which I doubted; 

 but when I had taken her home I opened the 

 hive and found the same old queen stiil there. 

 There could be no mistake in the matter, as I 

 had clipped both her wings rather close in the 

 spring following her rearing, and the late own- 

 er had never handled the combs. 



The first season after I bought her back was a 

 poor one; but her colony was one of the best 

 in the yard. The following spring, then in her 

 sixth year, she was still there with a good colo- 

 ny of her progeny. Knowing her age I suppos- 

 ed she would not live until the season would 

 fairly open; and being anxious to see how long 

 she would live, I removed her in April to a hive 

 having only about a pint of bees. A good sea- 

 son followed, and she built up a strong colony, 

 and gave me 30 lbs. of surplus comb honey. 

 She was superseded in September of that year, 

 being a little over a month less than six years 

 old. 



Is it possible that her long idleness before the 

 next laying season might account for superior 

 quality and longevity? I am disposed to be- 

 lieve that Mr. Guenther has opened a question 

 worthy of investigation. G. B. Replogle. 



Centerville, la., Dec. 4. 



[We should be glad to hear from others who 

 have made observations along these lines. The 

 theory put forth by Guenther, and confirmed by 

 G. B. Replogle, looks reasonable. The average 

 honey-producer usually finds it more practica- 

 ble to raise queens after the honey-season; i. e., 

 in late summer and early fall, when the change 

 of queens will effect the least disturbance. 

 That being the case, the advisability of late 

 mating will dovetail very nicely with common 

 practices.— Ed.] 



