946 



GLEANOGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15. 



queen-breeders lay the same stress on using 

 honey, and first-class honey at that? The 

 same writer says: "Avery important and not 

 sufficiently observed point is, to have the hives 

 at sufficient distances from each other in order 

 to keep the bees from getting lost when they 

 return. If this is less imperative during the 

 honey-harvest, it is not the same in spring, 

 especially if one has bees of different races. I 

 have often had queens balled, fatigued, and 

 even killed, at the first flight in spring; there- 

 fore, for some years I've been keeping my hives 

 at sufficient distances, and thus the bees of con- 

 tiguous hives do not mix; the queens are more 

 tranquil, and can develop their brood without 

 difficulty." 



Another bee-keeper, who u^e'^ the Wells hive, 

 closes with perforated zinc the entrance to the 

 other colony, when one of the two colonies has 

 a virgin queen, and her time to be fertilized 

 has come, so that the young queen, when re- 

 turning, can not go wrong. Well, if. like the 

 majority, one has no double but just single 

 colony hives, would it not. when a virgin is 

 about to make her nuptial trip, be practical to 

 use zinc at the entrances of the adjoining hives 

 (on either side)? 



Mr. Chatelain, of St. Marc, Belgium, says 

 that, when a queen issues with a prime swarm, 

 her abdomen hangs down; when a second 

 swarm issues, the abdomen is held horizontally; 

 when a virgin queen gops out on her wedding- 

 trip, the abdomen is held up. 



Concerning the question of heredity, a corres- 

 pondent says: "I am happy to tell you, dear 

 sir, that my long observations have given me 

 results like those of your honorable correspon- 

 dent, Mr. Chas. Dadant; viz., that the nurse- 

 bees do not transfer their characteristics to the 

 young bees or queens which are not of their 

 own blood." 



A correspondent who reports a short honey 

 crop found out an old truth, but which can not 

 be repeated often enough: "The weak colonies 

 have done hardly any thing, while the strong 

 ones have amassed a good deal." He had unit- 

 ed or strengthened his colonies. 



A Mr. Dampoux had 34 straw skeps. 14 of 

 which were small, 20 larger. Fearing the 

 trouble of transferring them in the usual way, 

 he simply set them (after closing, I presume, 

 their entrances and removing or otherwise fix- 

 ing their bottoms) upon the frames of Dadant 

 hives which he had furnished with foundation. 

 The colonies of the 14 small hives went " down- 

 stairs "and took possession of their new quar- 

 ters; but with the 20 larger ones the thing was 

 a failure. 



Another correspondent uses the following 

 mode of transferring: Toward the end of Feb- 

 ruary, or at the beginning of March, " before 

 the bees could fly out much," he places an 

 empty " patent hive " where he wants it to re- 

 main. He then sets the box hive inside of 



the patent hive, on the bottom of the same. 

 The supposition is, of course, that the box hive 

 is the smaller one; were it too large, it might 

 do to set it on the frames of the patent hive, as 

 in the preceding case, or on top of it. The en- 

 trance of the box hive should come as near 

 the entrance of the patent hive as possible. 

 The box hive is set on two pieces of scant- 

 ling, or the like, so that, if necessary, feeding 

 can be done underneath. The top of the whole 

 is well covered. About the first of May an ar- 

 tificial swarm— as large as possible in order to 

 contain the queen — is taken from the box hive 

 by drumming, and then dumped or driven into 

 the patent hive, which had previously been 

 filled with frames of comb or foundation. The 

 patent hive is covered with a honey-board, on 

 which the box hive is placed, the entrance of 

 which is thpu closed. Twenty-one days after- 

 ward, the honey-board is replaced by a Porter 

 bee-escape, and twenty- four hours thereafter 

 the box hive is taken away and its honey ex- 

 tracted. 



I mention the*e two instances because, in 

 your A B C. you advise placing the patent hive 

 071 top of tho box hive, while the two Swiss or 

 Frenchmen set it underneath. 



The honey-harvest in 1893 was not satisfac- 

 tory, on an average, and " reports discouraging " 

 are by far in the majority. A Belgian reports 

 that his whole crop consisted of — honey-dew. 

 It being very thick, the combs had to be soften- 

 ed over boiling water; thus, in a room over- 

 heated by fire, and filled with water vapors, our 

 poor " brother." " friend," "colleague." labored 

 for seven long hours to extract — thirty kilo- 

 grams, and, besides this, he was. though used 

 to manual work, rewarded with having his 

 hands sore and swollen all over. 



St. Petersburgh, Fla. 



To be continued. 



MOLASSES-MAKING. AND HOW BEES ARE 

 KILLED. 



A M()KTAI> COMBAT BET A^EEN A WASP AND A 

 SPIDER. 



By Novice. 



Molasses-making has been going on in this 

 vicinity for two weeks, and my bees have suf- 

 fered in consequence. They fly about the boil- 

 ing syrup, and as soon as they get over the 

 kettles the heated steam causes them to drop. 

 My colonies have lost fifty per cent of their 

 strength in this way. 



The plague of yellow-jackets has been unu- 

 sually bad this fall. My idea has always been, 

 that a bee is insensible to fear. This is a mis- 

 take. They certainly do fear the nimble yellow- 

 jacket, and in many cases I have seen the bees 

 give way before him, and allow him full license 

 to plunder. This is not always the case, how- 



