556 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



and sell at a moderate price have been one 

 of the great factors in building up our busi- 

 ness in apiarian supplies. Ernest informs 

 me that we now sell, on an average, 7-50 ma- 

 cliines a year ; and liquid honey, through the 

 help of the honey extractor, is now a staple 

 article of food throughout a great part of the 

 civilized world. In fact, the world at large 

 has almost given up the term ''strained 

 honey.'' 



It is a little singular that so great an in- 

 ventor should have been so very modest a 

 man. Although the matter often came up, 

 nobody could tell any thing about him, and 

 we hardly knew whether he was among the 

 dead or among the living, until the announce- 

 ment of his death came. And now, friends, 

 the fact that he never cared for honor or 

 publicity should not hinder us from keeping 

 the memory of Ilruschka in fond remem- 

 brance so long as bee culture shall be an in- 

 dustry and a science. May God be praised 

 that such a man lived, to be a blessing to us 

 all; and when we get into our little strifes 

 and controversies as to who shall have credit 

 of such and such an invention j let us take a 

 lesson from the inventor ot the honey- 

 extractor. 



HOW TO TELL WHEW BEES ARE GATH- 

 ERING HONEY, W^ITHOUT OPEN- 

 ING THE HIVES. 



FRIEND DOOLITTLE GIVES US SOME INTEKESTINQ 

 AND VALUABLE FACTS. 



'HEN bees are busy at work (g-oing- and 

 coming:), and we see no pollen, does it 

 indicate that they are getting honey? 

 If not, how can we tell?" This ques- 

 tion has been sent me for an answer 

 through Glkanings, and I will try to do the best I 

 can at it. Bees often tiy briskly when neither hon- 

 ey nor pollen is being gathered, especially in the 

 spring of the year. Again, in the summer season 

 when large (juantities of brood are being reared, I 

 have olten thought that the bees were getting hon- 

 ey (juite rapidly immediately after a long-continued 

 rain, and wondered at it; but an examination 

 showed that they were loaded only with water, 

 which is required in large quantities when brood- 

 reariug is going on rapidly. Once more: When 

 young bees come out for the first time to take an 

 airing, a casual observer might think they were at 

 work very busily, while the truth would be that 

 they were doing nothing but play. These young 

 bees have deceived very many in times of scarcity 

 of honey, in being taken for robbers, for in actions 

 they behave very much as do robbers in heading 

 toward the hive and circling away from it, and also 

 in being full to look at I have often watched them, 

 asking myself the question, " How can they be told 

 from robbers by the inexperienced?" piid must say 

 that only in looks do they appear differently, they 

 being light colored, and covered with down, while 

 robber-bees are generally old dark-colored bees 

 with the down scraped off. The actions of the two 

 are very similar. But4 have digressed a little. 



Bees that are getting honey of any amouut do not 

 fly as easily as a bee with no load, but come down 

 on the alighting-board with a kind of dropping mo- 

 tion that at once shows that the bee has a load of 

 something. Then the sound of the wings is differ- 



ent, for the motion is slower, so gives out a low 

 tired hum, instead of a sharp sound, as is given by 

 an angry bee. In times of basswood, when there is 

 a large yield, the bees will start out in early morn- 

 ing, loading so heavy that they will fall short of 

 the hive several feet, and often fall all around on 

 the grass and top of the hive, being unable to rise 

 for some time. As the day advances they do not 

 show this so much; but as night comes on they be- 

 gin to fall as before, some even staying out all 

 night, darkness overtaking' them before they get in. 

 In such times as this it is easy for anyone to tell 

 that the bees are getting honey. In times of clover 

 and other flowers, when the yield is not so great, if 

 you will lie with the eje on a level with the alight- 

 ing-board, it is quite easy to detect a loaded bee, 

 even though the load may be light, from one with 

 no load. Such loaded bees hold the abdomen lower 

 down than bees with no load, so that the abdomen 

 strikes the board as soon as the feet do, while with a 

 heavy load it strikes first, often causing the bee to 

 bound up, as it were, and sometimes tumble over. 

 Many an hour have I watched the bees in this way, 

 to see what could be told from outside appearances. 

 But so far 1 have given nothing definite, only as the 

 increase of honey in the hive kept pace with these 

 signs from without, which point that the above was 

 right. How did I tell for certain that these outside 

 appearances were correct? Well, if you will catch 

 a bee and dissect it you can know for a certainty 

 what it has in its honey-stomach, and this is the 

 way I tell, if I am not sure I am right from outside 

 appearances. As the bee drops on the alighting- 

 board, with a quick motion put the finger on its 

 thorax, bearing down till the thorax gives way, 

 which will kill the bee at once, and do it quicker 

 than any other way I have ever seen tried, even 

 quicker than the painless death that Prof. Cook 

 and the scientists practice in killing their speci- 

 mens for scientific research. Having killed the 

 bee, pick it up by the wings, when you will take it 

 by the thorax with the left hand, and with the point 

 of the blade of your jack-knife pull off the horny 

 scales of the abdomen by slipping it under them 

 and placing- the thumb above. When the honey- 

 sack is gotten out it is easy to tell what it contains, 

 by the taste. Don't understand that 1 go around 

 killing' and dissecting bees all the time during the 

 summer months in this waj', for only five or six are 

 killed in a season to guide me in my observations, 

 for I think it is very cruel to kill any thing-, only as 

 something of importance is to be gained. From 

 the above I think it will be easy for any one to tell 

 when the bees are at work, and when at play. 



DRUMMING OUT COMPARED WITH NATURAL 

 SWARMING. 



The following question has also been sent me for 

 a reply in Gleanings: "Where one can not give 

 needed time, how would it do to drum out the old 

 colony about swarming time, and hive them on full 

 sheets of foundation, putting on the section boxes 

 at the same time, and leaving them on the old 

 stand?" This plan would work very well; in fact, 

 quite as well as the most of the plans given for arti- 

 ficial increase, but I much prefer natural swarms 

 for work. The point to be decided is, " Which will 

 pay me the best— to care for the bees, and neglect 

 other work, or to care for the other work and neg- 

 lect the bees?" If the latter is decided on, then the 

 plan above given is probably as good as any. If 

 you could have nearly mature queen-cells to give 



