686 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



trouble. I am inclined to think, however, 

 that this kind of honey is secreted by dif- 

 ferent riowers. At one time it made its ap- 

 pearance in different localities when the 

 asters were in bloom. Several have sug- 

 gested, as you have intimated, that it comes 

 from a species of pine. Although it be- 

 haves somewhat like grape sugar, 1 am sure 

 it is a natural product, and not the result of 

 feeding, either intentionally or unintention- 

 ally. I do believe it is the product of honey- 

 dew — that is, the kind which you send us, 

 for it has no bad taste, and might be relish- 

 ed by some. Such honey is sometimes very 

 handsome ; but when customers come to cut 

 it, they are, as a rule, not very well pleased 

 with it, and it should be disposed of at a 

 low price, with a full understanding of 

 what it is when it is sold. Sometimes we 

 see the cells alternating with cells of good 

 honey. The sample you send us seems to 

 be entirely candied— every cell. 



YOUNG QUEENS LAYING ONLY SMALL PATCHES OF 

 EGGS. 



What makes young- queens sometimes in nuclei 

 lay a patch of eggs about the size of a man's hiiiid, 

 and then stop and lay no more till those are hatch- 

 ed out? 1 have had a good many young' queens 

 this summer that never laid at all. They got their 

 full size, and looked as if they were laying- to the 

 uttermost, and I never could find one eg-g- from 

 them. I killed them after a proper length of 



time. J. LlNGENFEI-TER. 



Akin, N. Y., Aug. 8, 1888. 



Friend L., the reason why the young 

 queen lays small patches of eggs, and stops 

 when in nuclei, especially if the nucleus is 

 a small one, is that she has not bees enough 

 to take care of any more. Put her in a 

 strong colony, and she will lay right along 

 uninterruptedly. I have tested this a great 

 many times. I have also had young queens, 

 just MS you have stated, that would not lay 

 at a 1 ill a small nucleus ; when placed in a 

 full colony of bees, however, they would go 

 light to work and lay splendidly. I would 

 advi'-^e you not to kill any more until you 

 have tested them with a good lot of bees. 



MAPLE SUGAR FOR BEK-FOOD, ETC. 



1. Is maple syrup as good to feed bees for brood- 

 rearing as granulated-sugar syrup? 



2. Ts it a** good for winter stores? 



3. Do bees ever gather honej- from field corn? 



4. Do bees injure buckwheat? A. F. Gaffney. 

 Claremont, N. H., Aug. 8, 1888. 



Friend G., maple sugar is probably not 

 worth as much as granulated-sugar syrup, 

 because it contains more impurities. For 

 some reason it is not as good for winter 

 stores unless it is a very choice quality in- 

 deed of maple syrup.— Bees gather honey 

 from the tassels of sweet corn to some ex- 

 tent. Wliether they do so or not from or- 

 dinary field corn, is a question I can not 

 answer. My impression is, however, that 

 the most they get from any kind of corn- 

 tassels is pollen. It comes pretty near to 

 being corn-starch, you know. — To be sure, 

 bees do not injure buckwheat. Why do 

 you ask such a question V Have you some 

 of the old-fogy element around you who in- 



sist that bees injure fruit-trees, clover-blos- 

 soms, etc., in taking the honey V Tell all 

 such people to compare the crops of buck- 

 wheat, clover-seed, and fruit, in localities 

 where there are no bees at all, with other 

 localities where bees are kept in great 

 numbers. The advantage shows in favor 

 of the bees every time. 



COMPARING NOTES IN REGARD TO COMMISSION 



MEN. 



We should like to hear from jour readers -who 

 sent honey last fall to H. K. Wright, of Albany, 

 N. Y., if they received the prices for it which he 

 quoted in Gleanings. If they did, some of us 

 honey-producers would like to know it, as the other 

 commission men did not get those prices; and if 

 they did not, we should like to know that also, as 

 you have given him considerable free advertising 

 in Gleanings. W. S. Ward. 



Fuller's Station, N. Y., Aug. 4. 1888. 



Friend W., from what I know of Mr. 

 Wright I am quite sure he will have no ob- 

 jection whatever to having bee-keepers re- 

 port in regard to the prices they have receiv- 

 ed for the honey sent him. We are willing 

 to give any commission man, or anybody 

 else, a good deal of free advertising so long 

 as they help to take our honey off our hands 

 and pay us good prices. Of course, we 

 want to know that the party is a reliable 

 and responsible one, and we are glad to say 

 that friend W^right is good for all he prom- 

 ises. 



A METHOD TO GET RID OF FERTILE WORKERS. 



I noticed in Gi-eanings of July 1, page .5:34, that 

 G. O. Salzman wanted to know how to get rid of 

 fertile workers. My method is to close the hive 

 that has been taken possession of by fertile work- 

 ers; remove it from the stand; place another in its 

 place;.take the hive, bees and all, ten or twelve rods 

 away from the apiary; open the hive and takeout 

 the frames one by one; shake and brush every bee 

 from the combs, and place them in a tight box and 

 carry the frames into the house. 1 look them over 

 and take those that have no drone brood or eggs in 

 them, and put them in the empty hive that is on 

 the stand, as quickly as possible. Close it up and 

 keep it closed two or three hours; go to the old 

 hive, and shake all the bees into the grass. In 

 about two hours the most of the bees will have re- 

 turned to the old stand and clustered on it. Take a 

 frame of brood that has brood in all stages, from 

 some other hive; place it in the center of the hive, 

 then open the entrance part way and you will have 

 no more trouble with the fertile workers. The 

 bees will immediately build from one to eleven 

 queen-cells. I have tried this way several times, 

 without a single failure, but with the most satisfac- 

 tory results. Mrs. C. E. Pettis. 



Garland, Pa., Aug. 4, 1888. 



I think your plan is a very good one, Mrs. 

 P., unless it is considerable trouble. In- 

 stead of giving the colony brood, and let- 

 ting them build queen-cells, I would give 

 them a laying qui en, especially if they had 

 been long troubled with a fertile worker. 

 Moving a colony away and giving them a 

 new set of combs will generally get rid of 

 the fertile worker ; and in our experience 

 we seldom do any thing more than give 



