310 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15. 



severe drouth destroyed many. Their owners 

 say "the worms eat them up." Fruit-trees 

 are blooming, and the ti ti is white with its 

 lovely racemes, redolent of perfume. Door- 

 yards are gay with phlox drummondi, exhib- 

 iting all the Colors of the rainbow. Bees ap- 

 pear to work much on dew-berries. They run 

 over the ground, forming a mat; and it's now 

 white with many winged visitors. 



Mrs. L. Harrison. 

 vSt. Andrews Bay, Fla., March 22. 



[Yes, I saw plenty of Bermuda grass on the 

 island; but, strange to tell, it does not seem 

 to grow there with the luxuriance it does in 

 many places in Florida, particularly Fort 

 Myers. I was very pleasantly impressed with 

 the beautiful green grass in that locality, es- 

 pecially right in the streets, as you say. I got 

 up very early in the morning, when every 

 thing was wet with dew, and the grassy lawns 

 and streets and fields and knolls made me feel 

 as if I should like to live in Fort Myers. My 

 impression is that Bernmda grass thrives best 

 in particular localities, and it may be utilized 

 for many purposes besides being ornamental. 

 I would advise testing it in different places, 

 especially in tropical regions, where it is hard 

 work to get a sod wnth other kinds of grasses. 

 —A. I. R.l 



C. A. A., N'. V. — You need have no fear 

 about sparrows. They are almost as thick as 

 the bees in our vicinity, and we never knew 

 them in any way to molest the bees. 



E. (r., Pa. — The best way to utilize queen 

 from queen-cells removed from hives to pre- 

 vent swarming, is to put the cells in nuclei or 

 queenless colonies, and allow them to hatch. 



T. A. 3/., N.J. — I regret to inform you 

 that bees do soil clothes in the way you speak 

 of. The only way to do is to make the matter 

 satisfactory with your neighbors in some way. 

 If you sweeten them up with a few sections or 

 bottles of honey you will probably have no 

 further trouble. 



J. B., Pa. — Your location would be excel- 

 lent for keeping bees. Certainly the proxim- 

 ity to water would do no harm, and the moun- 

 tain on the other side would have a tendency 

 to prolong the season. Bees are very often 

 near water without the least particle of trouble. 

 I do not see why the honey should be dusty 

 from the smoke of frequently shifting switch- 

 ing-engines. Better leave your bees where 

 it is most convenient to attend to them. 



W. H. B., Ptah. — The problem nowadays 

 is to prevent swarming, not to encourage it. 

 If you want your bees to swarm, stimulate 

 them by feeding, as recommended under 

 "Feeders" and "Feeding," on page 2.S of 

 catalog mailed you. Get the colony fairly 

 boiling over with bees, and then contract the 



brood-nest, and you will have swarming with 

 a vengeance. 



E P. .S., Pa. — There will be no trouble in 

 putting entrance-guards on the hives in the 

 manner you describe in your letter. When a 

 swarm tries to issue, and the bees have return- 

 ed, you will need to change the inside condi- 

 tions of the hive; that is, give them anew 

 hive with frames of foundation with their old 

 super, if they had one, on the old stand. The 

 parent hive, with brood and a few bees, re- 

 move to a new location. Of course, the zinc 

 must not be used at the entrance when you 

 desire a young queen to be- fertilized. The 

 purpose of the perforated metal is to prevent 

 swarms from leaving, and to keep undesirable 

 drones from flying. We use entrance-guards 

 every summer in our out-5-ard, and carry out 

 the plan laid down under " Swarming," in our 

 catalog. 



fF. T. S., JCis. — At the approach of the 

 honey-flow put on one super. When this is 

 partly filled out, put another one under it. If 

 the flow still continues to be good, and the 

 first super is about completed, raise the two 

 up and put still another under ; but ordinari- 

 1)^ it will be better to put the third super on 

 top, and allow the bees to complete the combs 

 in the first super, or the one that is now in 

 the middle. As the season wanes, it is al- 

 ways advisable to put the extra super on top of 

 the pile. Hives may be used as soon as the 

 paint is thoroughly dry. If they stand two 

 days after being painted, that ought to be suf- 

 ficient, ordinarily. Do not use too much drier 

 in the paint. A paint that dries slowly will 

 weather better than one that dries too soon. 



I shall be glad to hear from you regard- 

 ing the relative merits of top and bottom ven- 

 tilation in the cellar. 



S. E. //., So. Dak. — I see no reason why 

 bee-keeping could not be made to pay in a re- 

 gion where there are hundreds of acres of al- 

 falfa and clover ; but if you already have a 

 good position where you are I would not ad- 

 vise you to leave it just yet. You had better 

 correspond with parties in the vicinity, espe- 

 cially bee-keepers. The nearest names we can 

 give you, in South Dakota, are : J. H. Cha- 

 pin, Winfred ; Daniel Danielson, Clarkson ; 

 S. R. Hillman, Canova ; W. H. Hubbard, 

 Canton ; George H. Jones, Spearfish. 



While we should be very glad indeed to get 

 your trade, it is only fair and honest to state 

 here that the business of bee-keeping is verj- 

 uncertain. Some years it pays well, and oth- 

 ers it is a source of expense ; but it is more 

 certain in alfalfa regions than anywhere else 

 in the world, especially if the alfalfa is in the 

 region of artificial irrigation, and the water- 

 supply is certain. If you have had experi- 

 ence, perhaps you could take fifty colonies 

 and make a start, and make a success. We 

 would suggest that you get a leave of absence 

 for a short time, with the privilege of taking 

 your old position up again. Look over the 

 field, and inquire of local beekeepers how the 

 seasons are. If you decide to enter into the 

 business, I shall be glad to hear from you 

 further. 



