1886 



GLEANINCxS IN BEE CULTURE. 



S3B 



ment. It is true, I first got the idea of tin 

 separators from friend I)oolittle; but he 

 told me at ouce tluit they were not original 

 with him— that he first saw them at his 

 neighbor Jietsinger's. We afterward found 

 out that they were used and patented by 

 anotlier York-State man whose name 1 do 

 not now remember, even before JSIr. liet- 

 singer used them. For tlie sake of econo- 

 my, and to enable us to handle them as we 

 handle a brood-frame, I suggested the wide 

 frame, now in general use almost the world 

 over. I certainly did not intend to omit 

 giving credit anywhere ; but most of tiiese 

 things have come up so gradually, and so 

 many have contributed a little here and a 

 little there, that it seems a pretty hard mat- 

 ter to call any of these things after the name 

 of the inventor, unless, indeed, we do as our 

 English friends do, and attach a string of 

 names to something in common use that 

 has been given us by quite a number of dif- 

 ferent people. As we do not produce comb 

 honey, we are hardly prepared to decide 

 which arrangement is best, all things con- 

 sidered. We manufacture whatever the 

 brethren call for. 



SOME SUGGESTIONS IN REGARD TO 

 RETURNING SWARMS. 



MV WAY. 



XT is often necessary to return swarms of bees to 

 l^p the his'e from which they have issued, when but 

 ^r little increase in the ninnhur of colonieH is de- 

 "*■ sired. My plan for doinjj- this is to remove the 

 queen or queens from the swarm, and thus 

 compel the bees to go l)ack themselves. Gat the 

 swarm into a shallow swarming- -box, and carry 

 them about 200 feet from the iilaco where thcj* 

 clustered, and from the apiary. Gently shake the 

 bees on to a sheet or wide board, and place the Ikjx 

 two or three feet from thera, so that the queen can 

 be more easily found. She will often tiy when the 

 bees are shaken out, and will alight iiUo or at the 

 entrance to the box. If the queen should get into 

 the box, and can not easily be caught, shake the 

 bees out again, or carry the box with what bcrs are 

 in it to a new spot, leaving those that are not in the 

 box, thus having fewer bees to sort over. 



As soon as the queens are taken away the bees 

 will begin to get restless, crawling out of the box, 

 and flying, and will soon return to the hive or hives 

 from which they issued. If, after removing one 

 queen, the bees should stay contented, thej- should 

 be shaken out again, to tind the other queens. If 

 you do not care to save the queen, kill her by cut- 

 ting with a knife-blade. This can be done without 

 picking her up, which is quite difficult. I some- 

 times catch the queen in my hand when she is ris- 

 ing to fly. 1 like this plan of returning swarms 

 better than cutting out queen-cells. 



Removing and returning crates and supers to 

 hives, mashing bees, looking over the combs for 

 queen-cells, missing some that ought to be removed, 

 taking the chances of leaving but one cell to hatch, 

 and seeing the bees swarm after all, are more la- 

 borious and discouraging. 



Should your choice imported queen swarm, and 

 you do not see tlieni issue, you will know it liy the 

 bees returning to their own hive. 



A NEW INCUBATOR. 



Would not some of the readers of Gleanings like 

 to try the experiment of hatching chickens by tlie 

 heat of a colony of bees ? Now is the time to do it. 

 Place a sheet of liurlap on the frames, and a second 

 story on the hive, then put loose chaff in the second 

 story. I'ut in the eggs close enough to the bees to 

 get the right temperature. Moisten and air the 

 eggs occasionally. Should the bees swarm, return 

 them. Will the eggs hatch? Chas. A. Wooo.SO— 2'J. 



Tarry town, N. Y. 



I think, friend Wood, that the heat of a 

 swarm of bees is not sufficient to hatch 

 eggs. See what has been written in our 

 back fiutnbers in regard to the temperature 

 of the brood-nest of a colony of bees. You 

 will notice that it is not qtiite high enough 

 for hatching eggs. 



INTRODUCING VIRGIN QUEENS. 



FIIIEND IjAKCN gives IIS SO.ME OF IIl.S E.^PERI- 

 ENCE IN KEGAHI) TO THE MATTEK. 



§PEAK!NG of the lamp-nursery, the queens so 

 hatched, and the methods of iiitroducing 

 such queens, you saj': " It will be of no use 

 to attempt introducing these <iueens by cag^ 

 lug." Does this statement apply to all un- 

 fertile queensi' Would thei-e be, practically, any 

 difference between a queen hatched in the nursery 

 and one hatched in the natural manner? These are 

 my reasons for the above interrogatories: May 39 

 one of inj' colonies cast a swarm— a second swarm, 

 I had reason to believe; and after hiving the swarm, 

 and satisfying myself that they were provided 

 with a queen, 1 concluded 1 would j'cmove the 

 qvieen-cells from the old colonj', to prevent a sec- 

 ond or fhii-d swarm, intending to insert the choicest 

 cells in some colonies I had unqueened. On ex- 

 amination I found seven young queens in the old 

 colony, six of which were removed, caged, and in- 

 troduced to as many queenless colonies. Having 

 use for five queens mj'self, I gave friend Fisher the 

 sixth. All were caged and successfully introduced 

 to good strong colonies. One of my colonies I had 

 unqueened the evening before the caged queen 

 was placed in the hive. In this ca'Je the (jueen was 

 placed in the colony, caged 24 hours. The remain- 

 ing colonies were queenless from three to five days, 

 as shown by the register. The cages were impro- 

 vised—hurriedly and roughly made, yours nothav- 

 ing arrived yet. The cages were placed over an 

 abundance of uncapped honey, providing an abund- 

 ance of stores for the queen. To-day the queens 

 are all fertile, and apparently as prolific as any in 

 the apiary. I have secured some of my choicest 

 young queens by caging the cells, when within 

 three or four days of hatching— unqueening where 

 I wish to requeen, and placing the cage between 

 the combs, being sure the cage is placed with the 

 wire cloth over uncapped honey. Now, if queens 

 can be so introduced; that is, by caging the cells in 

 queenless colonies, there will be a wonderful sav- 

 ing in time over the method of giving unsealed 

 brood and larvse of the proper age for queen rear- 

 ing. Of course, cells can be given a queenless col- 

 ony; but what is the percentage of losses by this 

 method? With a caged cell they show evidence of 

 a willingness to destroy the cell, but are unable to 

 reach it. In six attempts at cell-caging, all have 



