810 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15. 



laying queen from the South, and thus a good 

 colony may be saved which otherwise might 

 be lost. Still, I consider it much more desir- 

 able to purchase a queen from the South and 

 introduce her to the queenless colony, where 

 such is possible, than to try to winter over 

 either a queenless colony or one having a vir- 

 gin queen. My reason for so doing is this: 

 Such purchased queen will commence to lay 

 during February or ISIarch, and from her 

 brood the colony will be materially strength- 

 ened before a queen could be procured in the 

 spring, and thus the colony becomes ready to 

 take advantage of the early honey-flows in the 

 spring, which would be of little use to the 

 colony which went through with a virgin 

 queen. 



But there are some other thoughts brought 

 to mind by the question, which it might be 

 well to notice. How does any one know that 

 all the drones are killed off in his section of 

 country previous to October loth or November 

 1st ? I have been quite sure several times that 

 there was not a drone within reach of my 

 queens' flight, and yet the spring proved that 

 every one of my laie-reared queens had found 

 drones from soinewhere, as they were all pro- 

 lific lavers of worker-eggs. In fact, every 

 time I have tried to winter over virgin queens 

 by way of experiment, all but two proved to 

 be fertile in the spring, only as I clipped their 

 wings so it was impossible for them to fly out 

 in search of any drone that might chance to 

 be left. So I have ceased to worry over late 

 queens failing to become fertile. 



Another thought is, th\t no li-e- keeper 

 should trv to rear queens lat? in the season 

 unless he' preserves several hundred drones 

 from the verv best slock they have ;n the yard 

 or apiary. It is a very easy matter lo ke'^p 

 choice drones, even as late as December 1st, 

 by taking franit s of drone brood from choice 

 colonies ]ust before drone-rearing cea.ses, and 

 putting said brood in a colcmy horn which you 

 now remove the queen. Ten days aft.-r the 

 queen is removed cut off all queen-cells, and 

 such a colon V will keep iis drones as long as 

 any are desirable in the fall. If a frame of 

 scaled worker brood is given to this colony 

 occasionally, its strength will be kept up so 

 that the flight of drones will be more profu.se 

 late in the season than would be the case if 

 the workers become few in numbers. Then 

 if an upper story filled with combs of honey 

 be placed on the colony which is to retain the 

 drones, the drones will fly still stronger, for, 

 to fly strongly, drones need plenty of honey 

 within easy access. 



If you do not think it too much trouble, 

 drones can be made still more active by feed- 

 ing the queenless colony containing them 

 plenty of warmed syrup or honey at abnit 

 noon" in September, half pa.st eleven during 

 October, and at eleven o'clock in November, 

 feeding only on such days as bees can fly. If, 

 in addition to this, you go to this drone-keep- 

 ing colonv on some day during the latter part 

 of" Sepleniber, when it is still and yet so col 

 that you will not be liable to be troubled with 

 robber-bees, and carefully go over every frame 

 in the hive, killing every drone that is at all 



inferior as to size, marking, or in any other 

 way, you will have something along the line 

 of drones for your late-reared queens to mate 

 with that will enhance the value of every col- 

 ony of bees containing such queens from 2-5 to 

 50 per cent. This is what I have done several 

 falls, and I think it has paid me fully as well 

 as any work I ever did in the apiary. If we 

 are to keep up with the times we must strive 

 for the bt's/ bees as well as the dcsl honey, put 

 up in the most marketable shape. 



KEEPING AND USING OLD COMBS. 



Question. — A few weeks ago I lost a colony 

 by starvation and worms. I burned some sul- 

 phur under the combs and killed the worms. 

 Will the bees accept such combs next spring? 

 They still smell of sulphur. What should I 

 do with the hive of combs till I can use them 

 next spring ? 



Anscver. — First, let me say that the thought 

 of losing any good colony of bees from 

 "worms" is erroneous. The larvce of the 

 wax-moth get possession of the combs only 

 when the colony of bees becomes so weak (or 

 is gone entirely) that it can not properly cov- 

 er the combs. If your colony starved, then 

 the worms took possession after the bees were 

 dead. The burning of sulphur, to kill the 

 worms, was the proper thing to do. As far as 

 the smell of sulphur on fumigated combs is 

 concerned, 1 am of the opinion that it is agree- 

 able to l;ees which can takepo.ssession of them 

 afterward. At least, I have noticed that such 

 combs, latel}- fumigated, will call robber-bees 

 in crowds in much less time than will combs 

 not so fumigaled. But e\en it offensive just 

 after fumigation, the smell of sulphur would 

 all vanish Iv-ng before you could use the combs 

 in the spring-. 



There should be no difficulty in keeping 

 combs from now till next May in any place, 

 unless it be in the far South, where thej' 

 might have to be looked after occasionally to 

 see that worms did not get on them again. 



A good way to keep combs is to hang thim 

 two or more inches apart in an airy room, 

 after they have been fumigated; and if thus 

 left they will take care of themselves till 

 swarming time next year, in most parts of the 

 United States and Canada. If they are to be 

 kept a year or more, or over summer, they will 

 need fumigating or fre-^zing till we are siu'e 

 there are no more moth-eggs to hatch, when 

 they can be packed in any place which is 

 proof against tlie female wax-moth, when they 

 will keep for an. indefinite period, provided 

 tlie place where they are stored is kept fairly 

 free from moisture. In great dampness they 

 would take on mold, and become rotten. 



THF, fence; a suggestion. 



Friend E. R. /?^;oA— \\"hen I .'Jent you that sample 

 hive last winter I thought you would get on to the idea 

 of the cleated separator and nobce-way (or nearly so) 

 stction. It is my opinion that the top and bottom 

 b.-irs of the sectio'ns should be a little narrower than 

 the sides or uprights. I believe it would give a better 

 finish at the.se points. However, you are on the right 

 track, but be sure not to put all "the bee-spnce in the 

 .separator, for if you do the cappings will frequently 

 be broken along the edges by being attached to the 

 separator cleat. ' R. C. Aikin. 



i,oveIand, Colo., Nov. 4. 



