970 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



by huilding worker comb; hence we must inquire 

 why the bees store the honey in the brood-chamber 

 instead of in the surplus-apartment. In my opin- 

 ion, it is because sufficient inducement, or room, is 

 not given in the supers. At the convention at 

 Indianapolis, Mr. Bingham said that bees hived in 

 an empty brood-nest of ordinary size would occupy 

 and fill the brood-nest before they would g'O to 

 work in a super furnished with fdn., and placed 

 over said brood-nest. 1 do not feel inclined to take 

 issue with Mr. Bingham, as I have never experi- 

 mented in exactly that manner, and I well know 

 that bees delight to woi'k in a body. As I have 

 many times explained, however, I do not hive my 

 swarms in a brood-nest of ordinai-y capacity, but in 

 one contracted to Ave L. frames, or to one section 

 of Mr. Heddon's new hive, hence some of the bees 

 must enter the supers. Another thing-: I never put 

 on supers only, with fdn. alone. The supers are 

 always removed from the old to the new hive, and 

 there are usually 56 one-pound sections in these 

 supei's, sometimes as many as Si, and the combs 

 are in all stages of growth, from fdn. upon which 

 the bees have just commenced work, to the finish- 

 ed sections. Not only is there an abundance of 

 i-oom in the supers, but the half-flnished combs are 

 a great attraction for the bees, as they furnish 

 a place for the bees to store the honey they have 

 brought with them, and only a little work is re- 

 quired to make room in them for the honey that is 

 gathered. If these do uot furnish sufficient room, 

 another case of sections furnished with fdn. is 

 placed between them and the brood-nest. In this 

 way the bees are induced to hrgin storing honey in 

 the supers; and where they begin, there they are apt 

 to continue; thus there is no necessity, no dcgire, 

 to build drone comV) in the brood-nest in which to 

 store honey. A queen-excluder keeps the queen 

 below; and as soon as any comb is built she is 

 ready with her eggs; and brood once started in a 

 comb, it is continued to the bottom of the comb. 

 The result is, that nearly all the honej' goes into 

 the super while the brood-nest becomes a brood- 

 nest indeed. 



Some one has reported, that putting the frames 

 only 1| inches apart, from center to center, would 

 prevent the construction of drone comb. It maj' 

 have a tendency in that direction, but it will not 

 entirely prevent it when the bees wiKh to raise 

 d^jnrs; at least, that is the distance apart I space 

 my frames; and when the queens are old the l>ees 

 will build some drone comb and raise drones in it. 

 At the Indianapolis Convention Mr.*Poppleton said 

 this question was discussed in a lively manner at 

 the Iowa State Convention held a short time pre- 

 vious; and of the dozen, or such a matter, who 

 spoke upon the subject, flvc-sixths preferred fdn. 

 to empty frames, as they not only were troubled 

 with an excess of drone coinh, but actually secur- 

 ed less honey when no fdn. was used. I can not 

 understand this. M3' experience has been exactly 

 the opposite. I do not claim to be any smarter 

 than a great many " whole families," but I can 

 uot help wishing that I might be present when 

 these brethren are having so much trouble. Mr. 

 Poppleton suggested that there might be something 

 in locality. With a slow yield, success would be 

 more certain. There may be something in this; 

 but we had a splendid flow last year from clover, 

 and no trouble from drono comb. Perhaps some 

 one will want to know what to do with old queens, 



if it is to their age that the building of drone comb 

 is attributable. Candidly, I don't know. Of course, 

 queens can be killed before they are old, and 

 young queens introduced in their places, but I 

 don't approve of this plan. It would necessitate 

 considerable labor— more, I think, than would be 

 profitable, considering the small amount of drone 

 comb that will result from this source. It must be 

 remembered, that queens are superseded at any 

 time during the working season, and it is only 

 when it occurs immediately after swarming that 

 drone comb will be built. 



I see friend Doolittle's "separator" article on 

 page 939 calls tor something from myself. This 

 subject calls for more than a passing notice. To do 

 it justice would make this article too long, so I will 

 give my views in a future number. 



W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Rogersville, Genesee Co., Mich., Dec. 6, 1888. 



Friend 11., as my mind took in point after 

 point in the above paper, I recalled to mind 

 many facts of past experience to corrobo- 

 rate all you say ; and in -view of the above I 

 am ready to admit that more surplus honey 

 can be bl)taiued by making the bees build 

 their own combs in the brood-chamber, 

 than by giving them frames tilled with 

 foundation. There are so many points to 

 be observed, however, I am afraid many of 

 the friends will be too hasty or too heedless 

 to sttcceed as you succeed ; but when it 

 comes to a matter of dollars and cents, I 

 think they will eventually learn to do it. 

 It seems to me, however, there is going to 

 be considerable danger of starving your bees 

 after the honey-tlovv is over, if you don't 

 look sharp, especially in localities like our 

 own. Where we so seldom have honey- 

 Hows in the fall of the year, our bees are 

 consumers, and producers to but small ex- 

 tent. The progressive bee-keeper, however, 

 ought to be able to feed his bees promptly 

 as soon as the flow of white honey is over, 

 and I for one am not a bit afraid to be 

 seen buying sugar to prepare our bees for 

 winter. The great point seems to be to get 

 all the marketable honey in surplus sec- 

 tions ; and to do this, it seems to me quite 

 likely the shallow frames are the ones to use. 



THE DULL PROSPECTS FOR BEE CUL- 

 TURE AND OTHER INDUSTRIES. 



IS THEItE A REMEDY .-' 



'N the Ohio Farmer for Dec 4, there ap- 

 Ip pears a short editorial in regard to the 

 h article in our issue for Oct. 1-5, page 812, 



I' 



j|L article in our issue for Oct. 1-5, page 

 ^ on the low price of lioney. I make the 

 following extract from the remarks : 



This man took 6 10 gallons. If this is his year's 

 crop, and he keeps four men at work, at a total cost 

 of $;5.0:i a day, he ought to have at least ^3 00 a gal- 

 lon for his honey. He can't possibly get over one- 

 fourth that price, net. He certainly is "in the 

 ditch," and wo don't wonder that Mr. Boot calls 

 upon the brethren to help him out. 



Mav I call the attention of our friends of 

 the Ohio Farmer to the fact that our Texas 

 friend says he keeps four men at work, at a 

 cost of SH.fiO per day. and yet secured only 

 1 00 gallons of honey V If it takes fottr men 

 •SOO days in the year to secure such a crop of 

 honeyas mentioned above, I agree with our 



