42 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 



and trees, golden willow giving the first, and selen- | 

 dine and a weed with white blossoms, in the woods, I 

 the last. This was kept up for five years, and then 

 notes compared, so as to give the mean time of the 

 blossoming of all plants visited by the bees. Thus 

 With this knowledge I could work the bees under- 

 standirigly; and if the season was early or late, 

 vary operations accordingly. 



If those entering, or those already in the ranks 

 of bee-keeping, would thoroughly post themselves 

 in this matter, they would find it a great service by 

 way of receiving a good yield of honey. 



Age at which bees gather honey. 

 This may be thought by some to be of little in- 

 terest; but taken in connection with the above, it 

 has much to do with the surplus honey we get. 

 Many seem to suppose that the bee Is capable of 

 going to the fields to gather honey as soon as hatch- 

 fed, or in three or four days at least; but some facts 

 prove that they do not do so. Bees may be forced 

 to go Into the fields for pollen and honey at the 

 age of from four to six days; but when the colony 

 is in a normal condition, as it always should be to 

 store honey to the best advantage, the bee is 16 

 days old before it gathers honey. If we take 

 combs of bees just hatching, and place them in a 

 hive without any bees, as is frequently done to in- 

 troduce a valuable queen, we can see young bees 

 not over five or six days old go to the fields, being 

 compelled to do so for pollen, water, etc., because 

 there are none of an older age to go; but this does 

 not prove that the bees of that age usually do so, 

 any more than the experiment of feeding 30 lbs. of 

 honey to bees confined to the hives before one 

 pound of wa.v is produced, proves that it always 

 takes 20 lbs. of honey to produce one pound of 

 comb. 



I have conducted two experiments since I kept 

 bees, to ascertain the age at which they fli'st gath- 

 er honey; and as each prove the same, I believe 16 

 days to be the time when the bee brings her first 

 load of honey, when the colony is in a normal con- 

 dition. 



About the middle of June a black queen is re- 

 moved and an Italian introduced in her place. The 

 date was kept regarding the time the last black 

 bee hatched, and ^Ylisn the first Italian emerged 

 from the cell. Then the hive was watched, and not 

 an Italian was seen at the entrance till the sixth 

 day, while none were noticed on the wing, marking 

 their location till the eighth day, when, at 3 p. m., 

 quite a few came out for a " playspell," as it is term- 

 ed. Every pleasant day the number of Italians at 

 these playspells increased, but none were seen out 

 of the hive at any other time till the 16th day after 

 the first Italian hatched. At this time a few came 

 in with pollen and honey, commencing to work 

 at about 10 a.m. After this the number of Italian 

 honey-gatherers increased, while the number of 

 blacks decreased, until on the 45th day after the 

 last black bee was hatched, when not a black bee 

 was to be found in or about the hives. 



If the above is correct, and 1 believe it is, it will 

 be seen that the eggs for our honey-gatherei'S must 

 be laid by the queen ')! days before our main hon- 

 ey-harvest, if we would get the best results from 

 our bees, as it takes 31 days from the time the egg 

 Is laid, to the time the bee emerges fi-om the cell; 

 and this, added to the 16, nuikes the :?" days. To be 

 sure, the bees, from the time they are three days 

 old, help to perform the labors in the hive, such as 



building comb, feeding the larvse, evaporating 

 nectai-, etc., hence are of much value toward se- 

 curing the ci"op of honey, if we have plenty of bees 

 over 16 days old; but otherwise, all hatching after 

 the middle of the honey-harvest are of little use. 

 I have given this article thus early, so it may be itl 

 time for our Southci'n friends; and I believe that 

 on these two items hangs very much of our success 

 or failure as apiarists. G. M. Dooltttle. 



Borodino, N. Y., Jan. 3, 1888. 



I have often had the above points in mind, 

 friend D.; but several things come in to 

 make our phms uncertain, even if ever so 

 well laid. During this past season, for in- 

 stance, we made great calculations on clo- 

 ver honey whicli— didn't come at all ! Our 

 hives were boiling over with bees, and no 

 surplus. This brought them in good shape 

 for basswood, and they did well on it for a 

 few days. Then canie the question. Shall 

 we keep tliem full of bees and brood for fall 

 harvest, or not ? In a good many locations 

 this great army of workers have to be fed to 

 keep tliem from starving, while in other 

 places quite a bountiful yield of fall honey 

 came from goldenrod, aster, etc.; and often- 

 times localities that liave not for years giv- 

 en fall honey, suddenly give a fair yield, 

 while those that have almost always given 

 stores enough in the fall to winter them 

 over, frequently fail entirely. The conse- 

 quence is, the one who supposed his bees 

 ! were ready for winter, found them in a 

 starving condition; and many of the breth- 

 ren who bought sugar, and went out to pre- 

 pare the hives for ieeding, found the brood- 

 I nest full of honey, and in some cases the 

 ' bees were filling boxes rapidly, while the bar- 

 rels of sugar were just being unloaded for 

 feeding up for winter. Notwithstanding 

 this, I think it is an excellent plan to know 

 wliere the honey comes from, and when it 

 may be expected ; and also to avoid loss, 

 caused by raising a great lot of consumers 

 when they are not needed or wanted. 



SECTIONS JPILLED OK" ONE SIDE. 



OLIVER FOSTER .VROUES IN FAVOR OF SECTIONS 

 OPEN ON ALL SIDES. 



fN page 039 Dr. Miller speaks of the difficulty in 

 getting bees to build uniformly on both sides 

 of the foundation in sections; and as he 

 leaves the problem unsolved, and invites sug- 

 gestions from others, I will offer a few. 

 The doctor thinks he sees the cause in their prone- 

 ness, when honey is scarce, to continue storing in 

 combs or cells already started. He also hints at 

 two other causes— too large starters, and too few 

 bees; but perhaps these last are conditions to be 

 overcome rather than to be removed. I will sug- 

 gest another cause, which I think plays an impor- 

 tant part: Imperfect communication between the 

 sections. Bees act upon the principle that "in 

 union there is strength." Especially is this true 

 in comb-building. Like a wise general they are 

 very cautious about dividing their forces without 

 having a direct communication with the main body. 

 So they do not begin work indiscriminately in dif- 

 ferent parts of the super, but extend their combs 

 from one common center. As an illustration, take 



