1888 



GLEANINGS m 13t:E CULTUllE. 



61? 



modern appliances, the apiarist would be 

 well calculated to make people stop and 

 stare, and ask questions. 



0aR QaEg3Fi0N-B0^, 



With Replies from our best Autliorities on Bees. 



All queries sent in for this department should be briefly 

 stated, and free from any possible ambi(fuity. The question 

 or Questions should be written upon a separate slip of paper, 

 and marked, " For Our Question-Box." 



Qhestion Sl.—Wheii a colony is run for extracted 

 honey, xhimhi the queen have access to both upj^er and 

 loin r atiiries'? Will such liberty prevent or laryely 

 check swanniiig'/ 



Yes. Yes. 



H. R. BOARDMAN. 



Yes, to both questions, if plenty of room is griven. 



A. B. Mason. 

 I prefer that the queen be kept in the lower story ; 

 yet so keeping her augments swarming very much. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Yes, emphatically, especially if all your extract- 

 ing-combs are worker-combs. Dadant & Son. 



1 prefer my queens to have access to both stories, 

 and swarms are, with me, the exception and not 

 the rule. Chas. F. Muth. 



I think it would chock swarming, but I'm not 

 sure it would be best in other respects. 



C. C. Miller. 



Yes, if you desire honey rather than increase. 

 Such liberty will, in my experience, largely check 

 swarming. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



The queen should be allowed access to all parts of 

 the hive. It will largely check, if not entirely pre- 

 vent, the desire to swarm. L. C. Root. 



I am inclined to think that the queen had better 

 have her own sweet will. Say slightly, instead of 

 largely, in the second question. E. E. Hasty. 



I should prefer that she have access to the lower 

 story only. I think that giving her the liberty of 

 both stories tends to discourage swarming. 



O. O. POPPLETON. 



Until within the past two years, both of them 

 poor honey seasons, this has always been my prac- 

 tice, and with me it has entirely prevented swarm- 

 ing. James A. Green. 



I prefer to have her out of the way of the upper 

 story. Neither will prevent or check swarming, so 

 far as I could see, since using queen-excluding 

 boards. Paul L. Viallon. 



I prefer to have her remain below, and she usual- 

 ly pleases me. If she did not I should use a slatted 

 honey-board, and, if necessary, it would not be a 

 queen-excluder. A. J. Cook. 



When two stories are used, it often would be 

 more convenient to keep the queen below, or out- 

 side the hive. Too much brood is a hindrance for 

 either comb or extracted honey. The liberty of 

 the queen will check swarming somewhat. 



P. H. Elwood. 



Such liberty will tend to check swarming, but not 

 enough so that the apiary so worked does not need 

 constant watching. There is the rub. Whether it 

 is best or not depends upon how your stock of 

 combs and queens proportion with each other in 

 any given season. James Heddon. 



I let the queen in both stories, thinking I get 

 more honey; but to avoid annoyance with brood 

 above I often wish I had her shut down. It only 

 very slightly checks swarming. R. Wilkin. 



The natural tendency of the queen is to breed in 

 the upper story, and desert the lower. I used to 

 exchange the upper lor the lower combs when the 

 uppers were filled with brood. A few years ago I 

 ran fifty chaff hives for extracted honey — eight 

 combs below and twenty on top. By changing as 

 above, and by spreading the upper combs by placing 

 the empty combs between the full ones, and mov- 

 ing the full ones gradually to the outside, I suc- 

 ceeded in almost entirely checking swarming. Only 

 one out of the whole lot swarmed, and they were 

 all large colonies too. Geo. Grimm. 



For extvacting we use large hives, and let the 

 queen all through the hive. The more combs we 

 give a colony, the less they are inclined to swaim. 

 We use the L. hive, 8 frames, three stories high; 

 usually extract once a week, divide so as to increase 

 one new colony from three or four old ones; have 

 very little swarming. We have 12 colonies in Met- 

 calf hives; space occupied, 13!^ inches by 13i4. x 43 

 inches deep. We have had them three years. Thei-e 

 has been but one swarm, and that went back; no 

 winter loss for the three years outdoors. 



E. France. 



There seem to be some differences of 

 opinion in regard to this matter, friends ; 

 but I believe the general feeling is, that 

 where we use the extractor, if we want to 

 escape the annoyance of swarming it is bet- 

 ter to let tlie queen go where she pleases. I 

 have had quite a similar experience to the 

 one mentioned by George Grimm. 



Question No. tiS.— /. In running for extract cd ho7i- 

 cy, is it (tilrixolilr to contract the broiid-chamlter if a 

 qnren-cxcluiUng honcy-hodrdheused Itetwcrn the up- 

 per and lower stories^ 2. Whether contraction is 

 practice or not, does it pay to use a slatteil honiy- 

 board, either with or without zinc strips for extract- 

 ing'^ 



1. No. 2. No. 



E. France. 



1. No. 3. No. Mrs. L. Harkison. 



I have never tried either. Geo. Grimm. 



No to both questions. Dadant & Son. 



1. No. 2. Not with me. Dr. A. B. Mason. 



I have not found it so, to both questions. 



A. J. Cook. 



I would use no honey-board when extracting. 

 Give all the bees perfect freedom of access to all 

 parts of the hive. L. C. Root. 



I have never found any use for queen-excluders 

 between the surplus and brood apartments. In 

 raising either e.vtracted or comb honey. 



H. R. BoARDMAN. 



1. I don't believe it is, but I've had no experience. 

 3. I think, on account of the tendency to prevent 

 swarming, it might bo better to allow the queen 

 full range. C. C. Miller. 



1. Not at all. I want free access to a large brood- 

 chamber and a large honey-chamber, the size to be 

 governed by the size of the colony, as a matter of 

 course. 2. It does not, in my estimation. 



Chas. F. Muth. 



