GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



201 



in this section in my boyhood days of thirty-five 

 years ago, there is hardly one now; and the few 

 that are left are of the " second growth," or so 

 crooked and scrubby as to be of little value for 

 lumber. 



To orolong the season so as to have honey in 

 August, I would advise sowing buckwheat. 

 The honey it produces is not of so great value 

 as the white honeys, yet it comes at a time 

 when it helps the bees in building up for win- 

 ter, and brings a price in market that will pay 

 for the labor expended, while the grain will 

 amply pay for the whole raising of the crop, so 

 that all that is secured by the bees and their 

 keeper is clear gain. 



REPLACING QUEENS. 



Question. — Is it best to change queens that 

 are three years old? I have some that were 

 just as good layers as ever last fall, in my 

 strongest colonies; but I am told that I should 

 change them in the spring, as they will fall to 

 give good results next season. How long do 

 queens live? 



Answer. — Best queens live to be four, five, 

 and six years old; but the average life of queens 

 is about three and a half years. The length of 

 a queen's life, other things being equal, depends 

 upon the tax that is put upon her egg-laying 

 powers, and under our modern management 

 queens do not average so long-lived as they did 

 in box-hive days. I do not think that the ques- 

 tion of age, however, should be considered in 

 the matter of changing queens, except so far as 

 it may be taken as a sort of rule to judge of 

 when they will be apt to fail. I would not re- 

 place a queen so long as she lays up to her full 

 average, especially in the spring, for early spring 

 is a time when any queen that is of any value 

 can supply all the eggs that her colony can care 

 for and bring to perfection. A change at this 

 time results in a loss of bees at just the time 

 when each bee is of the greatest value to push 

 forward the rearing of others for the honey- 

 harvest; hence if queens must be changed I 

 would advise waiting till about 20 days before 

 the honey harvest; for the loss of eggs usually 

 sustained through a change of queens will then 

 be no loss at all, as they would produce bees 

 that would arrive on the stage of action after 

 the honey harvest is past, only to become con- 

 sumers instead of producers. 



As to the changing of queens, I pay very lit- 

 tle attention to the matter where the colonies 

 are working for honey instead of queen-rear- 

 ing, for I find that nineteen colonies out of 

 twenty will supersede their own queens as soon 

 as they need changing; therefore it is a waste 

 of time for me to be worrying about this mat- 

 ter, keeping track of the ages of all queens, etc., 

 when the bees will look after the matter at the 

 proper time. The bees will attend to this 

 changing, and make fewer mistakes than you 

 are likely to make, no matter how careful and 



wise you may be. Now, if any think Doolittle 

 wrong in this matter, let them set apart a cer- 

 tain number of colonies to try each way, and a 

 term of years will tell you which will pay you 

 the better. 



J. B.. Fa.— The Langdon device did not prove 

 to be a ?uccess, and was abandoned as not ac- 

 complishing the desired end. As to whether 

 the bees fought when thrown together, I don't 

 believe there was any trouble along this line. 



J. B., Midi.— A good deal depends upon your 

 climate as to when you should take the bees 

 out. Better a little late than too early. Better 

 wait till about the middle of April or first part 

 of May. The usual rule is when soft maples 

 come into bloom. 



E. A. C, TT'is.— An absconding swarm may 

 go anywhere from a few feet to several miles. 

 Usually they go to the woods, from one-half to 

 a whole mile from the point of starting. For 

 further particulars see "Absconding Bees," in 

 our A B C of Bee Culture. 



A. R. W.. N. I".— 1. As a general rule, bees fill 

 the lower part of the hive or brood-nest full of 

 honey before they go up into the supers. 2. 

 Some bee-keepers have two entrances, especial- 

 ly if the hive is a tall one; but usually one is 

 enough, providing it is large. 3. About 25 lbs. 

 of sealed stores is required for a colony in a 10- 

 frame Langstroth hive. 



J. M. C, Ala.— The item in regard to glucose 

 seems to be written by some one interested in 

 the glucose industry. Even assuming tnat it is 

 harmless, it has very little if any sweetening 

 power, and is almost invariably used for fraud 

 —that is, to piece out honey and other sweets. 

 It is never sold under its real name, unadulter- 

 ated, to consumers. Many of the statements in 

 it are absolutely untrue. A few years ago the 

 writer tasted glucose adulterated in various 

 mixtures of honey; also tasted liberally of the 

 pure glucose itself, and he had quiteaslck spell 

 after it. 



G. B., N. y^.— It is not advisable to feed syrup 

 during mid-winter. Better give them a mix- 

 ture of powdered sugar and honey kneaded into 

 a stiff dough. The probabilities are, your bees 

 do not require any feeding all. The course you 

 are pursuing tends to stimulate them unneces- 

 sarily, and will be more likely to kill them than 

 to save them. If they have stores in combs, 

 better let them alone and keep them as quiet as 

 possible. The only information we can give 

 you on the subject of winter feeding is that 

 contained under " Wintering," in our A B C of 

 Bee Culture. 



