G92 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



dummy, or something of that sort. In a 

 moderate honey-flow the bees will not oc- 

 cupy this side "space; but when honey is 

 corning in freely they M'ill be pretty apt to 

 till it full of comb and honey if left to them- 

 selves. 



BEES BUILDING COMBS CROSSWISE; WHY SWARMS 

 SOMETIMES LEAVE. 



I had one swarm this spring, and increased to 

 five. The last one came out the Fourth of July. I 

 hived them, and never went near them until the 

 6th. I found they paid no attention to the frames, 

 but built their comb across them. I took the 

 frames all out, tore the comb off the frames, and 

 put it in straight, and left them till the next morn- 

 ing. When I examined them they had a little 

 honey in the combs, but could not find any queen. 

 They left about 10 o'clock. Can you tell me why 

 they left? W. Wright. 



Ludington, Mich., Aug. 7, 1888. 



Friend W., bees will occasionally build 

 combs crosswise of the frames, but usually 

 they don't. To avoid any such mishap, use 

 strips, or, better still, full sheets of founda- 

 tion. It is possible that you killed the 

 queen when you straightened the combs ; 

 and it is possible, also, that, because of the 

 altered condition of tlie hive, the bees took 

 a notion that they would depart for quar- 

 ters where their hive would not be changed. 

 Without fuller particulars we can not as- 

 sign a reason why swarms will occasionally 

 abscond. See "Absconding Swarms," in 

 the A B C, which you have. See also 

 "•Foundation." 



HOW TO GET propolis OUT OF COMBS ; AN AL- 

 LEGED CASE OF BLOOD-POISONING FROM 

 BEE-STINGS. 



What would you advise doing with combs when 

 they are tilled almost full with pollen? My bees 

 have made scarcely any honey this year yet; and 

 to All their combs, they are doing it with pollen. 



A man died here this summer of what his physi- 

 cians said was blood-poisoning caused by bee- 

 stings. He was an old bee-keeper; his name was 

 Harnet, and he had kept bees for years. Do you 

 really think that killed him? Mrs. H. J. Proper. 



Franklin Corners, Pa., July 31, 1888. 



The best way to get pollen out of the 

 combs is to let the bees get it out in brood- 

 rearing. If you don't want them to have so 

 much pollen now, remove the frames con- 

 taining an excess of it and store them away 

 until such time as you would like to have 

 your bees rear brood— as, for instance, in 

 the spriug. Pollen can be removed after a 

 fashion, it is said, by allowing the combs to 

 soak in water for a time, after which they 

 are to be sprayed with a force-pump. We 

 have never tried the plan, but we have had 

 reports from some who said they succeeded. 

 If we are correct it was a slow job, and 

 hardly worth the time.— We feel quite sure 

 it is a mistake, that the person of whom 

 you speak died of blood-poisoning as the 

 result of too many stings. The physicians 

 in charge surely were not informed. There 

 are thousands of bee-keepers who probably 

 have had as many or more stings than the 

 one you mention, and yet we never hear of 

 their dying because of blood-poisoning on- 

 ly occasioned by stings. So far as anybody 



knows, the virus produces a temporary ef- 

 fect only. It is true, bee-stings sometimes re- 

 sult in death, but that has nothing to do 

 with blood-poisoning. 



A CRIPPLED queen; ARE SUCH AS GOOD? 



Will a queen with a maimed pollen-leg do as good 

 service as one uncrippled? I have one, a large 

 beautiful yellow queen, crippled. She was all right 

 before taking her flight, but afterward 1 noticed 

 that she was crippled. She would lift her maimed 

 leg on her back, and use the other leg all right. 

 Yesterday I noticed it cramped tight to her side, 

 and eggs in the middle of the cell; but once in 

 a while we see one lying at the bottom. She proves 

 to be a poor layer. I have an extra queen. Per- 

 haps 1 had better give the bees a better queen. 



S. R. Brinek. 



North Springfield, O., Aug. 11, 1888. 



As a general rule, the loss of one leg from 

 a queen does not impair her usefulness. 

 She does not present quite so nice an ap- 

 pearance ; but, so far as we are able to ob- 

 serve, she will lay just as many eggs. If 

 the queen you mention is so crippled as to 

 be unable to deposit her eggs properly, and 

 is likewise a poor layer, you had better re- 

 place her. 



FOUR-PIECE sections. 



Friend Boot;— Both yourself and Mr. Green make, 

 as the chief objection to the four-piece section, the 

 time required to put them together. Mr. Holmes, 

 the president of the Vermont B. K. A., recently 

 told me he put together 1000 sections in less than 

 four hours, and glued them. First the glue should 

 be thin, then the sections should be dipped into it 

 by the handful. The rest will come with practice. 

 Does this leave much to be desired in the way of 

 sections? I pledge you my word, that Mr. Holmes 

 spoke the truth. J. H. Larr abee. 



Larrabee's Pt., Vt. 



Why, friend L., our girls in the factory 

 consider it no difficult task to fold 1000 one- 

 piece sections per Jwur. This is their regular 

 rate. It seems to me the objection totherour- 

 piece still holds good. Time is money, even 

 to a bee-keeper. You will remember that 

 the little folks reported very nearly this 

 speed. 



IN FAVOH OF FLAT-BOTTOM FOUNDATION ; PER- 

 FORATED ZINC NOT DIMINISHING THE 

 HONEY CROP. 



In some of the back numbers of Gleanings you 

 ask for reports on perforated zinc and flat-bottom 

 foundation. I have used Vatideusen flat-bottom 

 foundation No. 3 for the past five years. The pres- 

 ent season I used (i pounds, filling the sections full. 

 The latter part of the season I tried the Dadant and 

 Falcon brand, but the bees accepted the flat bot- 

 tom the most readily of the three. I never have 

 complaintsof fishbone when using it. 



I have used perforated zinc on 30 colonies per 

 year for the past three years, and have had but one 

 queen pass through it. Chicago perforated zinc is 

 too small for bees to pass through when full of 

 honey. I can not see that the zinc lessens the hon- 

 ey crop. From some colonies I took 125 pounds 

 extracted honey, leaving plenty to winter on be- 

 low. I consider it one of the best things in my 

 apiary. I have no trouble with upper and lower 

 brood-frames being built together when using it. 



