188(1 



(^LEANINGS IN BEE CT^LTI KE. 



lOo 



FKOM DIFFERENT FIELDS. 



ROAD DUST AS POLI^EN. 



fEES do actually gather dirt for food. Here is 

 what I copy from my " Bee-Hook of Items," 

 dated April i;i, 188t. 

 " Bees are working lively to-day, and yes- 

 terday, after a confinement of a week of cool 

 weather. They are carrying in water and dust 

 from the road." 



1 never saw bees gather dirt but this once, and 

 perhaps it was a week that they worked on it. 

 They packed it just the same as they do pollen. It 

 was on account of frost and strong winds destroy- 

 ing the pollen from the trees that had been yielding- 

 pollen before, and, of course, they quit the dirt as 

 soon as they could gather elsewhere. I offer this in 

 reply to you on page 10, Jan. 1. Bees seem to be 

 wintering well so far, as we have had a very mild 

 winter up to date. .John A. Thornton, T.*?— 108. 

 Lima, 111., Jan. T,188o. 



CXV POI-I,E.\ BK .\RT1FICIALLV REMOVED FROM 

 CELLS? 



Please tell us if there is any convenient way of 

 e.\tracting pollen from old combs. Last summer I 

 filled my hives with combs where bees had died the 

 previous winter, and there was a large amount of 

 pollen in them. Will it prevent the queen laying— 

 that is, will the bees clean the cells in the brood- 

 nest, to make room for the queen to deposit her 

 eggs? or, should such combs be taken from them 

 ne.xt summer, and others supplied with foundation 

 be put intheirplace? Is itccrtainthatthey usemuch 

 ])ollen through the winter, if they have a plentj' of 

 lioney? Is it right to cut out all the drone comb in 

 the spring, and keep it out of colonies that you do 

 not wish to breed from? These are questions that I 

 don't recollect seeing answered in the A B ('. 



La Otto, Noble Co., Ind. K. S. Hanson. 



The subject of removing pollen from old 

 combs was up several years ago, and I be- 

 lieve we had one or two communications to 

 the effect that steaming them in a wash- 

 boiler, or some other similar way, till the 

 pollen was quite soft, would enable one to 

 throw it out by means of a honey-extractor. 

 Of course, one must take pains to avoid 

 melting the comb. In our locality we never 

 liave too much pollen ; that is, when brood- 

 rearing commences in the spring, by distrib- 

 uting the combs of pollen among hives rear- 

 ing brood largely, we get it all worked up 

 into brood without any trouble. I do not 

 tliink much pollen is used in the winter, un- 

 less l)rood-rearing is going on largely. — 

 Your question in reference to drone comb is 

 answered by friend Dadant in anotlier rol- 

 nmn. 



THE ST.\Nr-EY EXTRACTOR. 



We have made some slight improvements on the 

 extractor you saw at Detroit, but no great changes, 

 as we think they are now about good enough for 

 practical purposes. We intend to start a branch 

 shopsomewhere near Kansas Citi' during the month 

 of february, so that our friends in the South and 

 West may avail themselves of a chance to get a ma- 

 chine at a low rate of freight. - fi. W. Si'ANI.EV. 



Wsoming, N. V., Dec. l!t, IH.-T). 



FURTHER FACTS REGARDING FRIEND HOXIE'S 

 HOUSE-APIARY— P. 744, 188.5. 



As some one may build a house apiai-y like mine, 

 perhaps I ought to explain it more fully. Those 

 doors with glass in them are not for the purpose of 

 excluding bees or getting them out of the house. 

 They are onlj' for giving light and warmth in cold 

 weather; when the house is opened, no bees ever 

 get on them. I planned my house especially to 

 meet the objection you raised. In opening the 

 hives, the bees fly on to the screen doors; as there 

 is no other place the light enters, all I have to do is 

 to swing the door around against the side of the 

 house with a little jar, and they immediately fly otf. 

 I have tin spouts througli the house between the 

 hives, which I forgot to mention, and were put in 

 after I got my bees in the house. These spouts are 

 pieces of tin rolled up and put through a I'S-incli 

 auger-hole, level with the floor, and project outside 

 I'o inches. They are cut with a couple of projec- 

 tions on opposite sides, which are bent over against 

 the inside of the house, and nailed with two tacks. 

 These spouts are closed on the inside with short 

 plugs, with a nail in the end to pull them out by. 

 In order to have the bees that get on the floor go 

 out of these spouts, the tin passageway where it 

 meets the house must be made tight with putty or 

 thick paint, so the light can not shine through, or 

 they will try hard to get out there. In putting up 

 my bees for winter I made, out of pieces of barrel- 

 hoops and pieces of barrel-staves, an article some- 

 thing like the Hill device, which I put under the 

 cloth, and have the covers off; the upper story and 

 all around the hives are filled with dry leaves. 



Holloway, Mich., Dec. 1, 1885. H. S. HoxiE. 



We have tried similar expedients, friend 

 11., to get the bees out of the house-apiary ; 

 but the universal conclusion, by myself and 

 all the hands, is, that it is a good deal sim- 

 pler and easier to have the })ees outdoors 

 \vhere they do not have to be chased after 

 when they get outside of the hives. Al- 

 though our house-apiary cost several hun- 

 dred dollars, it stands to-day without a bee 

 in it, and probably will so stand for many 

 years at least. 



PACKING POLLEN ON THE HIND r<EGS; HOW IT IS 

 DONE. 



1 have been much interested in your articles on 

 the honey-bee, and in your description of " how 

 the bees back the pollen on their hind legs." You 

 appear to have some doubt just how they manipu- 

 late, as their motions arc so quick; and I just want 

 to say, that you have got it about right. Now I will 

 tell you what I saw with my own eyes. While visit- 

 ing at one of my neighbor bee-keepers we were 

 looking through some of his hives and we detected 

 the smell of pine tar. In looking more closely we 

 found that the bees had been using the tar in the 

 place of propolis, and the next question that came 

 up was, " Where did they get the tar?" 



TAR AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROPOLIS. 



" Well," said my neighbor, "the big wagon that we 

 have been hauling stoves on is standing down by 

 the barn, and it has been lubricated with tar, and 

 wc will go and see if they are at work at the tar 

 business now." 



When we arrived at the wagon there were sever- 

 al l)ees about the hubs and spindles of each wheel, 

 so wo concluded to watch and see how they man- 



