i8<v: 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



495 



cells. Hosiiii's this comb of lirixwi, vou may rIvc, 

 at your roiivtMiidirc. franirs of l)rood, cniiity 

 combs, or combs of lioiicy: but if you give emp- 

 ty combs the bees will put honey in tlu>in that 

 you want in tht> sin-tions. If you don't care to 

 put in more than t\\x> or three combs all toKetii- 

 er (tliat's all I generally put in), put in a dum- 

 my, and the bees will not Imild comb in the va- 

 cant space— at least, mine didn't. If you want 

 to raise (jutMMi-cells. put in choice brood and you 

 will get tine cells. Now put on the supi'r~you 

 probably luui oni' on before they swarmed — and 

 cover up. On top of the cover set the new hive 

 containing the brood-combs : release the ()neen 

 in tliis hive on top. and let them alone until t(>n 

 ilays from the time the swarm issued. Then 

 take away the new hive with its contents, and 

 put back in its place the old hive, (lueen and all, 

 and tile work is done. They may swarm again, 

 wlun the same process will be repeated. 



What shall you do with the hive with the few 

 combs that yon have taken away? Well, they 

 are yours, and you can do what you please with 

 them. You have a grand chance to start one or 

 two nuclei, for these qu<'enless bees will stay 

 wherever they are put. and their cells will soon 

 hatch. Or you can give back the bees, and use 

 the combs wherever they are wanted. 



Perhaps it occurs to you that I have not told 

 you to kill any queen-cells. You needn't pay 

 the slightest attention to the queen-cells that 

 were left with the queen. That colony is weak 

 in bees, and for a few days no honey is brought. 

 in. and the bees themselves will destroy every 

 last cell. 



It is only fair to say that this is merely a vari- 

 ation of the Doolittic plan, to cage the queen, 

 kill the cells in five or six days, then in live or 

 six days more release the queen after again kill- 

 ing the queen -cells. I followed his plan with 

 satisfaction for some time, and it has the ad- 

 vantage that I never had a colony, so treated. 

 swarm the second time, while my plan has the 

 advantage that I do not have to go over all the 

 combs twice to kill queen-cells. 



i*ossibly you may raise the question. '" When 

 the old hive is moved below fi'om above, what 

 becomes of the field-bees on their return to the 

 old spot they have marked above?" Well. I'll 

 tell you. They'll fly around th(! spot where 

 they think their home ought to be: then a dis- 

 consolate cluster will settle on top of the super, 

 and finally a line of march will crawl over the 

 front to the entrance below, and the trouble is 

 over. 



SEALED COVERS. 



Strong arguments have appeared in favor of 

 sealed covers for winter : but the experience of 

 the Dadants seems to be a settler on the other 

 side. It seems a clear case, that, at least in 

 that instance, .sealed covers meant death, and 

 absorbents life. Hut isn't it possible that other 

 conditions were different? How was the venti- 

 lation at the entrance? If the entrance was 

 very small, or closed entirely, it might be the 

 saving of the colony to have a good-sized hole 

 at top. Before I used movable frames, follow- 

 ing the advice of Mr. (^)uinby. I turned my box 

 hives upside down in the cellar; and with the 

 whole bottom of the hive thus open they win- 

 tered well. Certainly, with sealed covers there 

 is need of more ventilation below than where 

 the air can escape above. 



Then there might be other conditions making 

 a difference. I think that any one who looked 

 at Ernest's colonies with sealed covers, as I did 

 last February, would have been favorably im- 

 pressed, as they looked so comfortable, bright 

 and lively, and. withal, so small. One thing I 

 noticed : In every case, on that cold day, the 

 thermometer over the cluster, with the glass in- 

 tervening, showed the same temperature, 45°; 



and as the bees in the centei' of the cluster al- 

 ways looked jusi as wide awak(! as in sumnn'r. 

 it raised the query in my mind whether bees 

 are often, if cNcr. dormant right in the middle 

 of th<> cluster. ( )r(iinarily. only the outside bees 

 can be seen. Still. I think I have read of the 

 cluster having i)eeu torn open in winter, when 

 all were dormant at the centei'. If Ernest made 

 observations in that diri'ction, it would be in- 

 teresting for him to tell us whether he (!ver 

 foiuid the b(H!S entirely dormant in the cisnter 

 of the cluster; and. if so, what relations seemed 

 to exist between dilTerent outside temperatures 

 and the appearance of the center of the cluster. 



Marengo. III. C. C. Mii.i.ion. 



[No. we have never found them so.]; 



G. "W. YORK. 



THE NEW rriU>ISHEK OF THE BEE .tOUKNAI. . 



In accordance with our promise of last issue, 

 we now introduce to you our friend and co- 

 worker of the American Bee Journal, Mr. G. 

 W. Y'ork. We bespeak for him the same liberal 

 patronage that was bestowed on the former 

 proprietor, Thos. G. Newman. The subjoined 

 biographical sketch, with the half-tone, we ex- 

 tract from the ,1 (/M'/'/'vni n<'r Jiiii nidi : 



G. w. y()i;k. 



George Washington Y'ork, whose picture is 

 shown herewith, was born on February 21, lS(i2, 

 in Mount Union (near Alliance). Stark County, 

 Ohio, where his father, John B. Y'ork, was com- 

 pleting the course of studies in Mount Union 

 College, which is there. 



When "(Jeorge" was seven years old, the 

 York family (which later consisted of ten mem- 

 bers) moved upon a farm of nearly 100 acres, in 

 Randolph, I'ortage County, O. Here he found 

 ample opportunity to work as well as to grow. 

 Each winter he attended the country school, 

 and at the age of U'> years began teaching in 

 the district schools of surrounding townships, 

 which he continued until 30 years old, excepting 

 the time spent upon the farm during summers. 



