GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



er swarms will build almost exclusively work- 

 er comb and I have often used them tor such 

 comb-building, using them up in that way; 

 but if I wished them to become strong for win- 

 ter I would give them every advantage possi- 

 ble and foundation is one of those advantages, 

 where we do not have the empty combs to give 



We have them now in good condition except 

 stores for winter ; and if stores are lacking 

 thev must be fed, the same as any other colo- 

 ny which is short of stores when winter ap- 

 proaches And, if thus short, don't delay the 

 feeding till cold weather, but do it just as soon 

 as you reasonably expect that the honey har- 

 vest is over for the year, allowing 2o pounds 

 of good stores for each colony. 



HOW TO FIX HIVES FOR CELLAR WINTERING. 



Question.— Please explain how you put bees 

 into the cellar, as to roof and bottoms. Do 

 you leave them on or take them off and leave 

 in the bee-yard? Also tell about ventilation 

 at bo. torn or top of hive. My cellar is damp, 

 and I have many combs mold. 



Answer —Although these questions are a 

 little out of season I will briefly answer them, 

 as they are from the same person as were the 

 questions about after-swarms, and he wishes 

 answers to the whole in one issue. Where 

 hives have a deep cap or hood, this is general- 

 ly left on the summer stand, and loose bottom- 

 boards are often left there also, in which case 

 the first hives at the bottom are set up on 

 pieces of 4X4 scantling so as to give plenty of 

 bottom ventilation. Then these bottom hives 

 are allowed to stand nearly their width apart, 

 so that when the next tier is brought in, they 

 can be set so that their lower edges rest on the 

 upper edge of two other hives below, this leav- 

 ing the bottom all open for ventilation, and so 

 on till the top of the cellar is reached. This 

 I think is the Boardman plan, and it is a good 

 one. The only plan I prefer to it is that used 

 by Dr Miller, which is to so make the bottom- 

 board that it shall have a bee space on one 

 side and a two-inch space on the other, using 

 cleats of that width when making the side 

 which is to be up for wintering. Having such 

 a bottom-board, on some warm day, when the 

 bees are flying, a week or two before you ex- 

 pect to put them into winter quarters, reverse 

 all the bottom-boards in the apiary, which will 

 give a space of 2^ inches under the bottoms 

 of the frames, instead of the usual y%. This 

 seems to be ample for ventilation, and with 

 me the combs come out free from mold, where 

 either the Boardman or the Miller plan is used; 

 and mv cellar is so damp that it absolutely 

 drips with moisture nearly all winter. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



E F., Wis. — We use only about one-fourth 

 of the manuscript that is sent in for publica- 

 tion. Perhaps some that we do use is not as 

 good as some we refuse. If so, we err in 

 judgment in our selection. It is seldom that 

 any publication is interesting to every reader, 

 from cover to cover. What will interest one 

 will not another. 



PREVENTION OF SWARMING BY CUPPING ; BY 

 PUTTING ON EXTRA SUPERS. 



1. Which is thought to be the better plan to 

 stop swarming — by clipping the queens' wings 

 or by killing the old queen and leaving the 

 colony to depend on a young queen ? 2. If by 

 clipping wings, how short should they be cut ? 

 3. Is it advisable to put on crates to give them 

 more room to stop their hanging out when 

 there is not any honey coming in, or ought I 

 to keep crates off till honey commences to 

 come in? A. I. Brown. 



Palo, Mich., May 31. 



[1. Clipping queens' wings will not stop 

 swarming. It will only prevent the swarm 

 from absconding in the absence of any one at 

 home to take care of the bees. A swarm with 

 a clipped queen will fly out ; and when it dis- 

 covers the queen is not with it it will return to 

 the old hive, or, better still, if the apiarist is 

 on hand, to a hive with empty combs or foun- 

 dation, which the apiarist will have placed 

 there. 



2. Wings should be clipped on one side 

 only. Cutting the large wing up close may 

 be sufficient ; but I would advise cutting both 

 wings on one side, cutting back far enough so 

 there is little more than stubs left. 



3. Giving an extra crate of sections may 

 discourage swarming, but it will not necessa- 

 rily prevent it. — Ed.] 



THE BARBER PLAN OF STARTING BEES INTO 

 SUPERS. 



I see by Gleanings we are advised to put 

 on shallow extracting - supers to start bees 

 sooner in storing surplus honey, after which 

 they will work more readily in sections. Are 

 we to take off the extracting-supers as soon as 

 the bees get well started, or let them complete 

 them? Which would you advise? 



Corinth, Me., May 29. S. W. Cressy. 



[The half-depth extracting-super may be 

 taken off at the time of putting on the comb- 

 honey super, or it may be placed on top of the 

 latter, and left there until it is sealed. But I 

 would advise, generally, putting this partly 

 filled extracting-super on top of another col- 

 ony that needs a little coaxing above ; then, 

 as soon as they get to storing well, take it 

 away and put in its place a comb-honey super. 

 In this way one extracting-super might act as 

 a coaxer for five or six colonies ; but if a bee- 

 keeper has a market for extracted honey, I 

 would leave the extracting supers on each 

 hive, and run for both comb and extracted at 

 the same time. This is contrary to the accept- 

 ed orthodoxy of bee-keeping ; namely, that 

 one should run for either comb or extracted 

 honey and not for both ; but I am satisfied 

 that this orthodoxy, if such it "be, should be 

 revised. — Ed.] 



