334 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



April 1. 



proceeded to fill up the combs to their very 

 corners, and top-bars with brood." Mr. Brad- 

 ley says nothing as to the laying qualities of 

 those received: but it would seera that he went 

 rightto breeding from them, and gives the point 

 which I consider of greater value than the pro- 

 lificness of the individual queens, which have 

 been subjected to such great abuse as they must 

 be in going so far, and the o/ie poi?it above all 

 others which is to the interest of all apiarists. 

 He says, in speaking, of the young queens: 

 "Their queen-daughters are vei'y even layers, 

 and very prolific. They fill the brood-frames 

 from side to side and from top to bottom, and 

 their worker progeny leave nothing to be desired 

 in the way of work. On the whole we are more 

 than satisfied with the resultof our enterprise." 

 This proves the position I have taken in the 

 past. that, through a direct cross, comes the 

 greatest energv and activity in our pets. 

 Borodino. N.' Y., Mar. 5. G. M. Dooi.ittle. 



[We are glad that our friend Mr. Doolittle 

 has taken hold of this matter in the careful, 

 painstaking way so characteristic of his meth- 

 ods of work. There is no doubt, in point of 

 theory and fact, that his flat cages are better 

 than the block cages we used with such good 

 results last season. The latter has done mar- 

 velously well: but where there was an oppor- 

 tunity for comparison it was evident that the 

 flat cage was the better. We have examined all 

 the cages carefully; and while our correspon- 

 dent seems to favor style No. 1, we rather in- 

 cline toward No. 2. as shown in the engraving, 

 because it is stronger and of better proportion. 

 This latter has the very desirable feature of 

 having candy at both ends; and, besides, it 

 seems to us that it can be made equal in point 

 of ventilation to the still flatter cage No. 1. 

 This, as nearly as we can i-emember, before we 

 submitted it to our engravers for reproduction, 

 seemed to be frail, and not one we would dare 

 to trust to the vicissitudes of a long journey. 

 The reason we decided on the block form in the 

 first place was. because the postal regulations 

 stipulated that kind of cage: but if the " powers 

 that be" will permit these flat cages to pass 

 through the mails (and they did in Mr. Doolit- 

 tle's case) they (No. 1 or 2) will be the ones to 

 adopt.] 



COBS AND KERNELS. 



INTERESTING FACTS AND OBSEKVATIONS BY 

 F. GREINEB. 



1. From the standpoint of the comb-honey 

 producer I have never found it profitable to prac- 

 tice dequeening for the purpose of increasing 

 the honey crop, except in connection with the 

 renewal of the queen; and in that case I should 

 rather consider it a remedy for curing or pre- 

 venting the swarming fever. It requires very 

 good judgment in anticipating the honey sea- 

 son, in having the young queens commence lay- 

 ing just at the right time, etc. One may easily 

 fail. 



2. It seems to be the desire of all colonies of 

 bees in normal condition to breed many drones 

 at a certain time of the year. Gratify this de- 

 sire, and a state of contentedness and general 

 harmony is established, without which no colo- 

 ny may be expected to do its utmost. Now, 

 while some of our noted bee-keepers, Baron 

 von Berlepsch at the head, liave theorized that 

 drone comb is out of its place in the brood- 

 chamber, many of us havi' noticed colonies 

 almost overrunning with drones, outstripping 

 others that were practically without them; and 

 I believe it best to allow each colony a liberal 



amount of drone comb; perhaps half an L. 

 frame full may not be too much. 



3. I believe the majority of our comb-honey 

 producers, and also the manufacturers of comb 

 foundation, are in favor of using light founda- 

 tion (full sheets) in sections, and it may be poor 

 policy to opi)Ose its use; but should we not in 

 the first place consider the wishes of the con- 

 sumer? To judge others by myself. I should 

 say they do not want it. I do not like to chew 

 the disagreeable backbone, for even the liglitest 

 brand is not entirely woi-ked out. May we not 

 injure the honey-trade by the use of foundation 

 in sections except for starters? 



4. It is not so much the good quality of the 

 section as it is the quality of the honey, the 

 color, finish, texture, and flavor of the honey 

 the section is filled with, that pleases the con- 

 sumer most. 



5. They seem to be periodical, these discus- 

 sions of "Italians versus Blacks." From time 

 to time they have made an appearance, and 

 also again of late. I have always been greatly 

 in favor of the black bees, particularly because 

 their product is so much better as to looks, and 

 sometimes I have been quite uncharitable 

 toward those booming the yellow race. Well, 

 now, after an experience of over 1.5 years with 

 both races I am still undecided in the matter. 

 I think that, if the management requires to 

 hunt out queens often, then the pure Italian bee 

 takes the preference. 



6. To find a black queen in a powerful colony 

 is not (»ften an easy task. Many times every 

 comb has to come out of the hive; the remain- 

 ing bees must be examined critically, perhaps 

 dumped out into a sheet; and I am not sure but 

 that sifting the entire drove through a sieve of 

 queen-excluding metal may yet prove the 

 quickest way to attain the desired result. 



7. My colonies of pure Italian bloods do more 

 propolizing than either hybrids, blacks, or Car- 

 niolans. They store a greater amount of pollen, 

 also more honey in the brood-chamber. 



8. On page 15.5 Mr. Ehvood expresses almost 

 exactly my ideas of grading comb honey. Un- 

 doubtedly he is right in saying, "Unsealed, 

 partly filled sections, and such containing bee- 

 bread.* should be kept at home." Some years 

 we have a good many sections which, although 

 all built out and sealed, are yet light in weight; 

 the combs are not full thickness. No objection 

 could be raised to shipping such; but they 

 would better be crated by themselves, as it is 

 desirable to have all sections contained in a 

 crate as near alike in weight as is possible. 



9. The Porter escape is perhaps ahead for use 

 on the hives; but on a whole stack of supers the 

 four-point Dibbern escape gives better satisfac- 

 tion. The light tailing in through the center 

 hole attracts the bees, and causes them to come 

 out much quicker. Robbers will seldom ob- 

 struct the passage at the points, but will hover 

 on the screen just above the center hole. I 

 used to think that the most natural escape, the 

 one which would facilitate the exit of the bees 

 most, was the old Reese cone-escape. In this, 

 however, I was mistaken: for. after a while, 

 the returning and the robber bees, also young 

 bees from within, begin to cluster at the apex 

 of the cone, and hinder the escape of the bees. 



10. Removing the full super from hives in 

 out-apiaries— many times, I practice the old 

 method of driving bees down with smoke, lift- 

 ing up the super quickly, brushing ott' what 

 bees are on the bottom, then stacking up from 

 10 to 12 supers on top of an escape-board, also 

 placing one on the top of the stack, and await 



* In all my experience I have come across but one 

 person fond ot bee-bread, wlio actually preferred 

 honey containing a liberal amount of it. 



