1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



271 



Another fact in regard to the filling of 

 boxes was brought out by R. H. Holmes, one 

 of the most careful and conscientious bee- 

 keepers of Vermont. He stated that he had 

 had small sections filled as perfectly as he had 

 ever had those that were larger. Some of the 

 finest honey he had ever produced was in sec- 

 tions 4^x3^x1 yi, and would weigh just yi, 

 lb. This would qu.te contradict what I 

 thought was the reason for the imperfect fill- 

 ing of those I saw in New York and Washing- 

 ton ; but I believe it much more important 

 that we get at the truth than that any theory 

 of mine should be proved correct. I hope that, 

 before we are much older, we may know more 

 about it. J. E. Crane. 



Middlebury, Vt., Mar. 7. 



3. I would do both ways ; but generally I 

 would shake the bees in front of new hives. 



4. Hon. Geo. E. Hilton is respectfully re- 

 quested to give the desired information. — Ed.] 



PROSPECTS DISCOURAGING IN THE EXTREME 

 IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



From present indications this year seems 

 destined to be one of the most trying that the 

 various industries of the southern portion of 

 this State have ever encountered. The bee 

 interests in particular will suffer to such an 

 extent that it will force many to seek oth- 

 er fields or means of making a livelihood. 

 The present estimate places the loss of bees 

 last year at 50 per cent, so you see that a fur- 

 ther loss at the same rate would almost de- 

 stroy the few remaining. The pitiable con- 

 dition of the ranchers who are dependent 

 entirely on the annual rainfall is beyond com- 

 prehension, and, as a result, many a man will 

 suffer for the actual necessities of life. 



G. W. Brodbeck. 



Los Angeles, Cal., March 7. 



PREPARING TWO-STORY HIVES FOR WINTER ; 

 TRANSFERRING, ETC. 



1. How would you prepare double -deck 

 eight-frame hives for cellar wintering? 



2. In transferring from various styles of 

 movable-frame hives to eight-frame D. hive, 

 by Heddon process, when would you do it? 

 Our main honey-flow is f ■■ om clover and bass- 

 wood (fall flow usually very light) but we ha\e 

 much raspberry forage, usually getting some 

 swarms therefrom. 



3. In transferring, would you drive bees up 

 into a hiving-box, or take out old frames and 

 shake them down in front of new hives ? I 

 wish to increase stock by a second "drive" 

 later. 



4. Can Mr. Geo. E. Hilton tell us, through 

 Gleanings, how he gets his bees ready for 

 the raspberry honey-harvest ? 



Cedar Falls, la., Jan. 28. J. D. Bixby. 



[1. I would not try to put two story hives 

 in the cellar. A colony can usually be crowd- 

 ed into one story late in the fall or about the 

 time the bees are put into the cellar. 



2. By the Heddon method you can transfer 

 at any time, although if I had to transfer some 

 time during the season I would do it either in 

 the early spring or after the honey harvest. 

 Spring is to be preferred, for then you will be 

 enabled to use modern comb-honey supers. 



PIOW DID THAT WORKER BROOD GET THERE? 



Dr. Wm. S. Adams, of Guys, Md., sends me 

 the particulars of a very unusual case, and 

 asks for an explanation. It seems on first 

 reading that there must be some mistake; but 

 that can hardly be, every thing being given 

 with such circumstantiality of detail from 

 notes taken on the spot. 



An examination of his colonies April 15 

 showed brood in two or three frames in each 

 colony, a few colonies having brood in the 

 fourth frame. One colony had a sprinkling 

 of brood scattered throughout five of its 

 frames, showing that it was unusually strong; 

 and the brood being in worker cells, and 

 capped over with raised cappings, showed 

 clearly that it was the work eiiher of laying 

 workers or a drone-laying queen. It was not 

 opened again until 25 days later, May 10. On 

 that date were still found raised cappings as 

 before ; but in one frame, a little below the 

 center, was found a solid patch of sealed 

 worker brood, regular oval, about two inches 

 in diameter, and in the center of the patch a 

 well-formed sealed queen-cell ! On either 

 side of this frame was added a frame of 

 emerging worker brood, and in due time the 

 young queen left her cell, was fertilized, and 

 built up a fairly strong colony. 



Now, how did that patch of worker brood 

 get there ? One explanatien might be that 

 a comb with a patch of eggs or brood had 

 been put there and forgoiten. But that 

 explanation is ruled out when the doctor 

 tells us that in the same frame were scat- 

 tered cells of the laying workers' work, and 

 it is further ruled out by the information 

 that the doctor's health was 'such that he 

 did not touch the hives during the preced- 

 ing 24 days. A played-out queen might lay 

 a few eggs from which workers or queens 

 might be reared, but in that case some sealed 

 worker brood ought to have been seen April 

 15. Moreover, a queen so nearly played out 

 that she laid only a few worker eggs would 

 have those few well scattered, and not in a 

 compact patch. It's asking too much to ask 

 us to believe that the bets brought the eggs 

 or larvae from some other hive. The only 

 reasonable guess I can think of is that by 

 some means a laying queen from some other 

 hive, possibly one that swarmed out in the 

 excitement of a spring flight, entered the hive, 

 and was tolerated long enough to lay the 

 patch of eggs. If any one has a better explan- 

 ation, I don't insist that mine is the right one. 



Marengo, 111. C. C. MiLLER. 



WATER-SOAKED COMB HONEY ; ITS CAUSE. 



By the way, I do not remember ever see- 

 ing any thing in Gleanings in regard to no 

 air-space between cap and honey, made by hy- 

 brids. At least one-half or two-thirds of all 

 my honey this year had no air-space between 

 cap and honey. The capping was flat on hon- 



