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42d YEAR. 



CHICAGO, ILL, OCT, 16, 1902, 



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^ Editorial Comments. 





Uniting Colonies, where necessary, may in many 

 places be done now as well as at a later date — perhaps bet- 

 ter. It is better that the bees have a chance to arrange 

 matters to their liking, and get quietly settled down some 

 time before winter sets in. 



Heartsease has always been counted an important 

 honey-plant in the low grounds of the Mississippi valley, 

 especially in Nebraska, but farther east it has not been 

 considered of much value. This wet year, however, it has 

 been reported as yielding quite a late harvest in northern 

 Illinois, and perhaps in other parts east of the Mississippi. 



Uniting Colonies in Autumn.— F. Volkman, gives in 

 Leipziger Bztg. a plan which may suit those who have the 

 time for it : Lift out the combs of the colony to be united 

 and put them in an empty hive, replacing them with empty 

 combs. After about IS minutes brush the bees from their 

 combs back into their hive with its empty combs, making 

 sure to remove the queen. In not more than half an hour, 

 the bees will begin to run out of the hive, having discovered 

 their queenlessness, when the hive must be moved close to 

 the hive to which it is desired that the bees shall enter. If 

 it be desired to give the bees to two or more colonies, the 

 hive must be moved accordingly, as soon as each receives 

 its quota. 



White Clover, in northern Illinois, yielded nothing in 

 its usual season — June and July ; indeed, bee-keepers were 

 at that time feeding to prevent starvation; later on. how- 

 ever, white clover blossoms kept gradually increasing in 

 number, and apparently in condition, for the bees began 

 working on clover to some extent after the middle of 

 August, and were still to be found on clover at the close of 

 September. It is not an unusual thing to see a sort of sec- 

 ond crop of white clover, upon which bees do not work, but 

 this year it did not seem so much like a second crop as a 

 continuation of the first, the very sparse early bloom grad- 

 ually becoming more and more plentiful, showing more 

 bloom in October than in June. 



Treatment of Laying Workers — As a rule, the best 

 thing to do with a colony of laying workers is to break it 

 up, distributing the bees where they will do the most good. 

 If the affected colony be given to a colony with a laying 

 queen, a new colony can afterward be made from the colony 

 thus strengthened, and the outcome will be better than if 

 an attempt had been made to keep the faulty colony intact. 

 Some may like a variation of this plan thus given by W. 

 Hickox in the Rocky Mountain Bee Journal, only it is pos- 



sible that others may not be so favored as he in having 

 cells always started : 



Take two or three combs, containing eggs and brood in 

 all stages of development, from a strong colony, replacing 

 with same number from the queenless one. Put a queen- 

 excluder on top of the strong colony, and upon this place 

 the hive with the laying workers and brood. Oueen-cells 

 will be built ; when these are sealed place the hive upon a 

 stand by itself, or remove the lower hive to a new location, 

 leaving the top one in its place, as preferred. I have not 

 had a failure so far in saving the colony by this method. 



Queen Introduction.— When a new queen has been in- 

 troduced, the failure to find such a queen several days later, 

 or to find eggs laid by her, is by no means proof positive 

 that she is not present. It is not such an unusual thing for 

 a queen to remain for a week without laying after being 

 introduced, and then to do good work afterward. Speaking 

 on this subject, L. S. Crawshaw says in the British Bee 

 Journal : 



For instance, I have introduced by direct introduction — 

 or the " Simmins " method — queens which have been con- 

 fined in postal cages, and several days have sometimes 

 elapsed before they settled again to lay. This may not be 

 unusual, the ovaries are to be stimulated afresh. Take the 

 case of one young queen, in my own experience. She was 

 a traveled " tested queen." of different race from my own 

 or neighqoring bees, and was introduced at night to a 

 strong colony. She " piped " for some time as though 

 frightened or roughly treated, and an examination three 

 days later failed to reveal any signs of her. 



I made an examination on the fifth day, and failed to 

 discover eggs or enlarged cells, and a frame of younger 

 brood was therefore added. On again examining the hive 

 next day I found some addition of eggs to this comb ani 

 also in the one adjacent. 



Sugar Syrup Granulating — There is a difference of 

 opinion as to this matter. Some maintain that no precau- 

 tion is necessary to prevent granulation, while others re- 

 port that sugar syrup stored in the comb by the bees has 

 granulated badly. All depends on circumstances. If the 

 feeding be done early, and if there be as much water as 

 sugar, or more, the bees themselves will make all the change 

 necessary, and the syrup will not granulate. But this will 

 not do for late feeding. 



If thin syrup is fed late, not only will the bees fail to 

 make the proper chemical changes in it, but they will fail 

 to evaporate it, leaving it unfit for winter stores. So the 

 syrup must be made of about the consistency of honey, or 

 about five parts of sugar to two of water. The bees can 

 not be relied on to ripen this so it will not granulate. The 

 addition of an even teaspoonful of tartaric acid for every 20 

 pounds of sugar will be necessary to prevent granulation. 



It is better to feed the thin syrup, providing you feed 

 early— and the early feeding is the better— but if you are 

 unfortunate enough to be late about your feeding, then give 

 the syrup thick, and add tartaric acid. Still better than 

 the acid is adding extracted honey to the syrup, if you are 

 so fortunate as to have that article. 



