652 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



cold-frame. The little hive got very hot, 

 and some of the bees went to exploring the 

 greenhouse in quest of water. They found 

 it where 1 provided it, and not only carried 

 in loads of water, but stored it in cells close 

 to the brood ; but it does not follow from 

 this that they sometimes put water in the 

 combs under natural circumstances, but I 

 thought it possible they might in very hot 

 weather. 



]\[0TE^ -ft^f^B QUEl^IEg. 



WHAT TO DO WITH A CONTBACTED BROOU-CHAM- 

 BER AFTER THE HONEY-SEASON. 



T HAVE the most of my bees contracted to <i L. 

 jMp combs. Had I better leave tliem so until they 

 ^l are through with the fall flow of honey? We 

 "*■ are looking for one in August and September. 

 Or had I better add more combs when the flow 

 of white honey is over (which is very light), as I 

 have never had them contracted to less than 8 L. 

 combs before? J. S. Willard. 



Bedford, la., July 14, 1888. 



LAt this time of year, if honey has stopped coming 

 in you had better give the bees their full capacity 

 of brood-chamber. What fall honey you secure 

 will probably not be enough to make very much 

 surplus. What you get will be needed to be stored 

 in the brood-nest for winter.] 



QUEENS FROM THE SOUTH NOT INFERIOR. 



Is it advisable for Northern men to buy their bees 

 from the South, to breed from? 



Lander, Pa., July 9, 1888. J. G. Townsend. 



[Friend T., bees from the South, if from a reliable 

 breeder, are just as good as those from the North. 

 Perhaps those bred in a Northern climate might be 

 a little hardier, but we should think not.] 



HOW TO GET BID OF MORILIiA CHERRY SPROUTS. 



What is the best plan to destroy morilla cherry 

 sprouts? They are encroaching on my apiary 

 grounds. I have been digging them up, but that 

 only increases the pest. L. Crim. 



Prescott, Iowa, July 18, 1888. 



[Will some nurseryman please give our friead 

 the information he requires?] 



WHEN TO transfer; HOW TO DO IT NOW. 



What time, during this month and next, is the 

 best time to transfer bees? Mat. Young. 



Frankfort, Ind., July 4, 1888. 



[This is not the best time of year to transfer bees. 

 Do this work during fruit-bloom, or during that 

 part of year when there is very little honey in the 

 {lives. Just now the combs will be filled. As the 

 honey-flow has probably stopped now, you will have 

 to be very careful and not let robbers get started. 

 We would advise you to do the work just about 

 dark. Be very careful after the job is completed, 

 that there be no chunks of honey lying around for 

 the robbers to get at next day. 



raising ITALIAN QUEENS IN A LOCALITY WHERE 

 THERE AKE BLACK DRONES. 



Can I be successful in raising full Italian bees, 

 my place having no bees on it? I live only about 

 half a mile, though, from a small apiary of black 

 bees. W. W. Pbigmore. 



Alma, Mo., July 5, 1888. 



[Friend P., you can not be successful every time 

 in raising pure Italian queens in your locality, 

 under the circumstances you mention. Probably 

 one-half or two-thirds of them will prove to be 

 truly mated. By the use of drone-guards applied 

 to your neighbors' hives (see page 5 of catalogue 

 mailed you) you can get rid of the black drones.] 



WASTE PAPER INSTEAD OF CHAFF. 



Will waste paper be as good as chaff to stuff the 

 chaff hive with ? Seth Sagar. 



Grafton, Wis., July 10, 1888. 



[Friend S., waste pa[)er might be as good as chaff', 

 but it would be altogether too expensive. It is by 

 no means certain that it would be any better, or 

 even as good.] 



bait FOR bee-hunting. 



Please send me a prescription for preparing 

 sweet bait that will draw bees far and near at any 

 time of the year. A. L. Gresham. 



Mill Spring, Mo., July 8, 1888. 



[Friend G., bees are sometimes attracted by oil of 

 anise or by burning some old pieces of comb con- 

 taining pollen and honey on a plate. After starting 

 them in this way, we give them honey diluted with 

 water to about the consistency of raw nectar. See 

 " Bee-Hunting," in the A B C of Bee Culture.] 



flying drones. 



I notice a great many drones, flying in my hives. 

 Should that be allowed at this season of the year? 

 I have had very strong swarms from all but one 

 hive. The prospect for honey is small, compared 

 with that of a neighbor who gives his bees no at- 

 tention at all. E. M. Tyson. 



King of Prussia, Pa., July 16, 1888. 



[Friend T., the presence of so many flying drones 

 just now indicates nothing very wrong. Just as soon 

 as the honey harvest is cut off, the bees will kill the 

 drones themselves, if they have a good fertile 

 queen. If they have not they will retain the drones 

 until one has been reared.] 



A swarm returns seven times. 



My bees have swarmed out seven times, and gone 

 back to the old hive every time, so my one swarm 

 is one swarm still. I can't tell what is the trouble 

 with them, only I am about discouraged hiving 

 them, only to have them go back in an hour or so. 

 Martha K. Mathews. 



Coldwater, Mich., July 13, 1888. 



[From your statement we should suppose that 

 your queen had defective wings. The bees return- 

 ing so many times indicates that she for some rea- 

 son did not go out with them. If they have not 

 done so already they will i)robably kill her. After 

 a colony has made repeated attempts to cast a 

 swarm they become disgusted with tlieir reigning 

 (jueen if she does not go forth. The result is, that 

 we generally see another one in her place.] 



BEES that won't GO ABOVE; WHAT'S THE MAT- 

 TER? 



My bees are not doing any thing this season in the 

 way of storing surplus. Although they gather 

 enough for themselves they will not work in the 

 sections partly filled with comb. There is at least 

 15 pounds of honey in the brood-frames. They do 

 nothing but rear brood; and a very few, compared 

 with the number in. the hive, gather anj' thing. 



Sedalia, Mo., July .5, 1888. Frank Feeks. 



[The reason your bees do not go up into the su- 

 pers is because honey is probably not coming in 

 fast enough. We have noticed the same condition 

 of affairs in our own locality. Houey has been 

 coming in very slowly. There ought to be more 

 than l.'j pounds of honey in the brood-nest, to start 

 the bees going above] 



QUESTION 49. 



Mr. O. O. Poppleton can tell us what the bees 

 prefer, if he will take a peep into those Cuban box 

 hives. I have transferred 13 here. All had the 

 end of the comb to the entrance. 



NON-SWARMING. 



I have several hives that have not swarmed for 3 

 years. W. J. Drumright, 



Sarasota, Fla. 



