544 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



HOW TO GET HID OF DRONES. 



Could you tell mo the best way to control tlie 

 breeding: of drones? Are the "drone-guards" ad- 

 vertised, g-ood for the purpose'/ Also what will re- 

 move piupoliiJ from the hands and cloth covei'S? 



J. H. Scott. 



Gaylord, Otsego Co., Mich., May 21, 1880. 



The drone-guards are exactly tlie things, 

 friend 8. Printed directions on the paper 

 that is wrapped around them will give you 

 all the instructions you need. We control 

 the breeding of drones by the use of comb 

 foundation.— The best thing to remove prop- 

 olis that we know of is a soap that we ad- 

 vertise for the purpose, called "scourine." 

 Benzine will also readily dissolve it, but it is 

 dangerous to have about. Notice what 

 friend Terry has to say about the use of gas- 

 oline. 



WAS the queen eost in the swaum? oh what 



MADE them act SO? 



I had my first swarm yesterday morning-, and I 

 want to ask if I did right in the way they were 

 hived. The bees flew around near the hives for 

 about 20 or 2.5 minutes, then Avent in the direction 

 of a small swamp, and first alighted on a board 

 walk that crosses this marshy ground. They were 

 not in a compact mass, but scattered over a dis- 

 tance of three or four yards. I tried to sweep them 

 into a cloth, but did not succeed. They then went 

 about 15 yai'ds, and alighted on the g'rass at the 

 edg-e of the swamp, in about 10 or 12 bunches about 

 the size of larg-e potatoes. I succeeded in gretting- 

 them hived by placing over them a part of an old 

 box hive. They would crawl into this, then I would 

 shake them in the top of the hive; I g-ot them all in 

 except a few scattering- ones, then moved the hive 

 about .300 feet away on the other side of the house; 

 but in half an hour they had left the hive, and I can 

 not saj- where they went. I thoug-ht they had gone 

 back into their old hive, as there seem to be as 

 many bees there as before, and that the queen was 

 lost in the swamp. Did 1 do right in hivinj^ them 

 before they were in a compact bunch? 



0— John L. Kugler, 4. 



Philadelphia, Pa., May 24, 1886. 



Friend K., I tliink I should have waited 

 until the bees collected in one compact clus- 

 ter. This would be an indication that the 

 queen was with them. AVhenever there is 

 any doubt about having secufed the queen, 

 a comb contiiining some luisealed brood 

 should be given, or they will surely desert 

 just as yours did. 



TRANSFEHIIING KROJr LOG TllVES; AESO A KIND 

 WORD. 



We take pleasui'o in acknowledging the i-eceipt of 

 the goods sent us. We now thoroughly understand 

 the one-piece section, and say they gave perfect sat- 

 isfaction. We started in the fall with 2.") colonies, 

 nearly all in hollow log hives. We lost 2, and have 

 now 2;> colonies. We transferred into the chalf 

 Simplicity hive. Some of oiu- old hives were hollow 

 gums, and could not be split ; so in order to transfer 

 them we laid them on the side and nailed strips 

 along them so as to guide the saw, and sawed them 

 open with a cross-cut saw. We have 408 sections in 

 17 colonies, most of which will soon be ready to take 

 oft'. We live almost on the backbone of the Alle- 

 ghanies, where the mountain-sides and deep ravines 



are covered with locust, poplar, basswood, etc., and 

 we find the bee-fever is a little contagious among 

 those who come near enough to see the sections fill- 

 ed with beautiful white comb honey, ready to cap 

 over within three to five days. As a remedy for 

 their disease, we have advised them to take Glean- 

 ings. Don't you think it would help them? 



HoucniNR & Hughes. 

 Pipestem, W. Va., June 7, 1886. 



CENTRAL VIRGINIA FOR BEE-KEEPERS. 



I have long wanted to write a few lines, showing 

 our bee-keeping friends the advantages of this sec- 

 tion. In a few words I will tell the facts. We have 

 a mild and healthy climate; pure air, and an abund- 

 ance of excellent water; freedom from malaria and 

 mosquitoes; soil good, and easily worked, and not 

 liable to droughts, though much of it is stony and 

 hillsides. Apples and pears grow finely and of ex- 

 cellent quality; peaches grow well, and yield ex- 

 cellent crops when not cut otf by frosts. Grapes, 

 and all the small fruits, do admirably. Roads and 

 schoolhouses are already built. Bee-pasture is 

 in abundance, and mostly going to waste for want 

 of apiaries. Much of the above applies to the whole 

 of the Blue Kidge, though some localities are bet- 

 ter than others. 



There are two points worthy of regard— the differ- 

 ence of elevation of the hillsides causes a length- 

 ening of the flowering season. From our house to 

 the foot of the hill (three miles by the i-oad) makes 

 a difference of ten or twelve days in the blooming 

 of the yellow locust, thus prolonging the honey- 

 gathering days; and then the tenacity of the seeds 

 of the red clover. I have plowed under the second 

 crop of clover when the seeds were ripe; cultivated 

 two crops of corn on the land, then plowed the 

 third year, and raised an excellent ci-op of hay 

 without sowing any more seed, and this can be 

 done, rotation after rotation, with clover, corn, 

 wheat, or rye, indefinitely. Catnip grows on all our 

 hillsides. Raising fruit is done very profitably, and 

 land can be bought so cheap that I believe a good 

 investment would be to pasture sheep, raise bees, 

 and let the yellow locust grow up spontaneously till 

 they are large enough for fence-posts. 



A. H. Van Doren. 



Liberty, Bedford Co., Va., June, 1886. 



HOW TO use THE JONES GUARD. 



You say in your catalogue that the Jones beeen- 

 trance guard can be fixed over the entrance when 

 the drones are all out, and at night destroy the 

 drones. Now, I should like to inquire if there ever 

 is a lime when the drones are all out; and if so, 

 when is it, and how early in the season will it do 

 to destroy them? A. J. W. 



Macedon, New York. 



During tlie warm months of the year the 

 drones begin to take their flights from the 

 hive about 1 r. m. By half-past one, most 

 or all of the drones will be out ; so if the 

 guard be attached to the entrance soon after, 

 the returning drones will be shut out, and 

 may then be disposed of. The few remain- 

 ing drones, if any, will be young drones, 

 and can be gotten rid of in like manner. If 

 more convenient, having found the queen, 

 all the bees can be shaken oft' the combs in 

 front of tlie entrance. The workers will 

 readily pass the guard, and the drones will 

 be e.xcluded. See page 461. 



