26 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 



remains in the fields. AVhere there are 

 high hills or mountains, the bees often work 

 in valleys while snow covers the high lands. 



SWEET CLOVER NOT YIELDING NECTAR. 



My neighbor sowed about V2 acre in sweet clover 

 last fall, and now it is iu full bloom. He says there 

 is not a bee at work on It yet, and it has been in 

 bloom for 10 days. C -n you tell us why they arc 

 not at work on it? 



I commenced this spring- with three colonies, Ital- 

 ians, and they have increased to 14, all in good con- 

 dition now, and plenty of honey besides. I had 15 

 colonies of black bees in the spring, and they have 

 increased to 28 colonies, and three of these colonies 

 did not swarm at all, so 1 have about 42 colonies in 

 all from 18 in the spring, and all natural swarms. 

 I have no report yet on honey. R. S. Rains. 



Lovelady. Texas. 



Friend R., we have had the same experi- 

 ence with sweet clover, but the next sea- 

 son it seemed to yield honey bountifully, 

 and has every season since that. Sometimes 

 the bees will not touch it while basswood or 

 red clover is yielding, but they go on to it in 

 great numbers as soon as the honey from 

 these sources is gone. 



THIN SECTIONS TO HOLD A POUND— HOW LARGEV 



I want to make a section box 1 7-16 inches wide, 

 of such size as to hold a pound. Can any of the 

 readers of Gleanings give me the necessary infor- 

 mation? How near will AH xi'ia x 1 7-16 be to the 

 right siz J to hold 1 lb.? W. S. Vandruff. 



Kirby, Pa , Nov. 19, 1885. 



Friend V., it all depends on wliether you 

 expect to use separators or no separators. 

 Without separators, I think the size you 

 give would be pretty nearly right. If sepa- 

 rators are used, you will want it, I should 

 say at a rough guess, nearly 5 inches square; 

 for 7-16 is no thicker than a good many 

 brood-combs where honey is stored in the 

 upper part. 



A beginner's experience in transferring. 



I must tell you about my progress at beeing. 

 First my father kept bees for about 20 years, always 

 afraid of them, and never took any honey, only 

 " maby eight or nine pound " a year from seven or 

 ten swarms; so I read ABC, bought a smoker 

 from you, then I tackled the box hives and shook 

 the bees in a Simplicity hive that I made. I took 

 one hive of bees in the wood-shed, and was going to 

 transfer (by book form), but I had trouble in get- 

 ting the side off the hive until one hee took me 

 " kazip " on the ear, then I settled to " biz." I got 

 "astraddle" the hive, with hatchet and chisel in 

 hands, and went to work. I got along finely, and 

 kept on until I transferred ten hives (different 

 days). I liked it, for it is so much fun; if I'd get 

 stung 25 or 30 times, it soon would be forgotten 

 while working with the bees. I had several swarms 

 this summer, and several left. Honey was not very 

 good for yield, but nice eating, although I got a fair 

 supply— enough to sell some, and kept plenty to eat, 

 which is about 150 to 300 lbs. for my brother and me. 

 We are both small boys— about 180 lbs. apiece is our 

 weight, and we like honey. I tried to get m3^ broth- 

 er to eat too much honey, so he would get sick, and I 

 could try the remedy for colic— that is, only plenty 

 of sweet milk, and drink it; but h was not subject 

 to any such ailings. 



1 had some sections partly filled, so I took all out 

 except one hive, and in front of that I put a box 

 filled with these partly filled sections, for the bees 

 to take up the honey from below and finish filling 

 their partly filled ones; so 1 completed some sec- 

 tions, and the I'est are emptj', ready for next year. 

 I noticed last spring with my bees that I could tell 

 (by smelling) the difl'erence between drone and 

 worker comb. Is it a common thing? Can bees 

 hear any sound that is loud, such as loud talking? 



Aviston, III. J. J. Randall. 



Friend R., your plan for getting the bees 

 to complete partly filled sections. I should 

 think, would be in great danger of inciting 

 robbing. However, if you have got along all 

 right, that is all that is wanted.— I have nev- 

 er before heard of anybody who could tell 

 drone from worker comb by the smell. We 

 should be glad to have others try it and re- 

 port.— The matter in regard to bees hearing 

 has been pretty fully discussed in our back 

 volumes. The general decision seemed to be 

 that they could not hear unless the sound 

 were accompanied by some sort of a jar ; but 

 as more or less jar accompanies every sound 

 that is made, I do not see how the question 

 can be very definitely answered. 



questions from a beginner in regard to 

 wintering. 



I do not like to bother you very much; but if you 

 will answer two or three questions I shall be obliged. 

 I have got my bees all in two-story chaff hives, with 

 oat-chaff cushions on top, and three one-inch pieces 

 under the cushion to hold it up. The cushion fits in 

 pretty close, but the frost comes up around it. Do 

 you think it will do any harm? They have got all 

 of their frames of honey, nine and ten, the same as 

 they had all summer. Wo have lots of snow here 

 now. The wind blcv.' so the other night that it 

 filled the entrances full of snow, and it froze in 

 there so full that no air can get out. Is it safe to 

 leave it in there, or would you dig it out? I tried to 

 dig out some of it, and the bees came out on the 

 snow and died. I have a swarm of bees that arc 

 very sick now. They are crawling out and dying 

 all the time. The queen is a daughter of the import- 

 ed queen I got of you. As it is a good colony I do 

 not like to lose it. If you can tell me any thing 

 about it I shall be very glad. Francis C. Smith. 



Kilmanaugh, Mich., Dec. 7, 18S5. 



I do not think the frost is any thing out of 

 the way, friend S. The moisture from the 

 breath of the bees ought to come up around 

 the cushion ; and where the weather is very 

 severe, of couise it will make frost around 

 the openings. Don't bother with the snow 

 at all. I can not remember where I have 

 ever known snow to do harm. On the con- 

 trary, it is the bee-keeper's best friend; and 

 yet we have more inquiries every winter in 

 regard to snow around the entrances than 

 almost any other one subject. Disturl)ing 

 the bees by trying to clear the entrances re- 

 sults just about as you mention. I do not 

 know what is the troiible with your sick bees, 

 unless it is that they have bad honey. Put- 

 ting lumps of candy right over the bees, so 

 that they may subsist on candy stores in- 

 stead of the honey in the combs, will some- 

 times stop the trouble until we have weather 

 warm enough to permit them to fly out. 



