1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



379 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS, 



CHOOSING A LOCATION BEFORE SWARMING, ETC. 



N i-e^ard to bees hunting- a tree for a home before 

 they swarm, I say some of them do, as for in- 

 stance, I had a swarm come out the first of 

 June, and they never alighted, but started to 

 the tree. I threw water, and that did not stop 

 them; on they went, and I chased them to a neig-h- 

 bor's woods, and thej' went over their tree some ten 

 rods, and turned down toward the ground, and went 

 bacli to their tree, and went in. Again, I had two 

 swarms come out together, and they went off soutli- 

 west, and I followed them to a tree in sight of my 

 house. There they divided; a part of one swai-m 

 went back to their old hive, and the rest went in the 

 tree. Again, I found a lot of bees clearing out a tree, 

 about 1.5 feet high from the ground, and shortly I 

 heard a swarm come out and start for the tree. I 

 stopped them with water, and hived them, and tlie 

 next day they tried swarming again, and I stopjied 

 them and hived them again, and then there came a 

 rain and kept them for two days, and then they 

 stayed. But there was no swarm that went in that 

 tree. 



I should like to tell the folks how to find a bee-tree 

 in the woods. When you line a swarm, and think 

 you are close to them, or get a cross line of them, 

 then looli at the sun; take jour line toward your 

 tree; and ev^ery tree you look at, place the sun in 

 the top, or behind the tree; and if there is a swarm 

 in that tree, you can see them twenty rods off, in a 

 clear day. Between ten and two o'clock in the day 

 is the best time to hunt them. C. L. Hanseman. 

 Portland, Ionia Co., Mich.. Feb. 11, 1884. 



Friend H.. you have given us evidence a 

 little more conclusive in one part of it than 

 we have ever had before, if I remember 

 correctly. You saw the bees fixing the tree 

 preparatory to going into it. They tried 

 two or three times to go to the tree, but you 

 prevented them, and afterward you found 

 out that the tree was not occupied. Thanks 

 for suggestions in regard to bee-hunting. 



TOP OR SIDE STORING. 



There seems to be a controversy as to which is the 

 better way to have bees store honey— at the top or 

 side. Quite a number of years ago I settled that 

 point to my satisfaction. I got a theory or notion 

 in my head, that if, instead of extracting from the 

 upper story (as is the practice here), I would make 

 the main hive larger, containing 18 frames with 

 foundation, instead of 9, the usual number. I put a 

 division-board in the center, put in a new swarm, 

 and when the brood-nest was full I removed the 

 division-board. I thought the bees would, of course, 

 commence making honey sooner at the side in their 

 own hive than in an upper story; but to test it I put 

 on an upper story also; but to my surprise they 

 filled the upper story before they put an ounce at 

 the side. They say that one swallow does not make 

 a summer; but I have tried the same thing time 

 after time, with the same result, which proves to me 

 that over the brood-nest is the place the bees prefer 

 to put their surplus honey, and consequently the 

 best place. Joel Hilton. 



Los Alamos, Santa Barbara Co., Cal., April 7, 1884. 



Friend II., although I pretty nearly agree 



with you, I do not think your experiment 

 quite a fair one. If you give an upper storv 

 at the same time you give them room right 

 beside the combs, of course they will go 

 above, for the heated air from the cluster 

 rises, and they naturally go up with. it. Had 

 you not permitted any room above at all, 

 they would have been obliged to work each 

 side. If you put a case over the brood-nest 

 containing only a single tier of boxes, if the 

 colony is strong enough to fill it completely 

 with bees they will readily go over into boxes 

 placed beside the brood-combs ; and by this 

 means we should get more boxes arranged so 

 as to be all nearer to the center of tlie brood- 

 nest than if we had the same number of 

 boxes all above the brood, and this is the 

 plan upon Avhich friend Doolittle works. 

 Our friend who writes below strikes upon 

 the point you make. 



If I take a three-story hive in the best part of the 

 honey-flow, and raise it up, putting one under, will 

 the Queen lay eggs in the lower part, or will she go 

 down into the lower story at all? 



I would not give one dollar per hive to insure 

 them to winter without loss. I bought me a pair of 

 scales, and weighed all of my bees; and if I had not 

 done so I should have had dead bees before this 

 time, as some hives weighed 96, and one 41 lbs. ; 

 weight of hive, 33 lbs. I gave two full combs of 

 honey to this one, and they feel as heavy as they 

 did when I housed them. Now, when I set them'out 

 in the spring I will weigh them out, then I can tell 

 you how much they wintered on. N. C. Bank. 



Greenwood, Cass Co., Neb., Feb. 33, 1884. 



Friend B"., if you should raise up the three- 

 story hive, and put a lower story under it, 

 unless the colonies were very populous, very 

 likely the lower story would not be used at 

 all, for bees, as a rule, go up rather than 

 down, as I said above. In fact, where too 

 much room is given by piling up two or three 

 stories high, the bees will often crowd into 

 the upper one, leaving tlie lower combs en- 

 tirely deserted. Your idea of using a pair 

 of scales to equalize the weight of your hives 

 is a good one. ^ 



bees killing each other. 

 I had something happen to one of my hives last 

 summer which I can not find in the ABC, and I 

 wish you would help me out if you can. It is this: 

 The bees were slaying one another at a terrible rate. 

 At first I supposed it was robbers; but it was not, 

 for I closed the entrance, and then they crammed 

 the opening so full that they could not come out. 

 There were no bees trying to get in; they were all 

 trying to get out of the hive, and they would not try 

 to fly, but crawl a little way from the hive and die. 

 I smoked them, but it was no use; for as soon as the 

 smoke was gone it was all the same. 



SELLING EXTRACTED HONEY. 



I see in Gleanings, on page 30, 1884, that A. A. 

 Fradenburg can not sell his extracted honey. It is 

 the same here. There is one man here who 

 has spoiled the trade for honey. I have some init 

 away that I shall send you, to let you see what he 

 sells for honey. I sold ail I have had so far for 3.5 cts. 

 per pound, and I will not sell for less. 



Sandusky, Ohio, Feb. 37, 1884. F. Schnecke. 



Friend S., it is a little difficult to explain 

 what you mention, without being able to see 



