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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1. 



tion in nature. In a town or city, where each 

 house has its garden and fruit-trees, I consider 

 that one who keeps a few swarms of bees is a 

 public benefactor, helping to supply his neigh- 

 bors for a mile or more around with more and 

 better fruit than they would otherwise receive. 

 The class could easily test this by screening 

 branches of apple, cherry, plum, and pear, 

 before the blossoms open, and then counting 

 blossoms and the fruits that set and mature, 

 comparing these branches with others that 

 were exposed to bees. Flowers and the pro- 

 duction of seeds could be studied in the same 

 way. Honey-trees and honey-plants should 

 then receive some attention, and problems of 

 planting parks and shade-trees with some rea- 

 sonable consideration for the needs of our 

 helpful and fascinating little friends. 



In this section it is sometimes said that the 

 basswood can not be planted to advantage on 

 account of borers, and the same is generally 

 true of the honey-locust. This is because our 

 woodpeckers especially, other birds as well, 

 have been so neglected or killed off. Our in- 

 terest in bees and honey by the natural and 

 important interrelations of all the different 

 parts in the great scheme of living nature ex- 

 tends to an interest in certain injurious insects 

 in tree, flower, and fruit culture, and in birds. 

 This is but one example among many of ir- 

 radiation of interest when we have really de- 

 veloped a warm focus of interest in some par- 

 ticular thing. 



As a result which may appeal to bee-keepers 

 especially, we ought to have generally dissem- 

 inated an intelligent knowledge of the whole- 

 someness of pure honey, which would increase 

 its consumption in this country tenfold. I 

 think the honey-bee is soon to be given a trial 

 at teaching practically applied industry, in- 

 telligence, and thrift in our public schools. 

 At the outset we should like to hear all the 

 possible pros and cons that practical bee-men 

 have to offer ; and we should be especially 

 grateful for suggestions as to the best hives 

 and apparatus for demonstrating the life of 

 the hive. 



Clark University, Worcester, Mass. 

 Sept. 12, 1899. 



[In one place in the article above, Prof. 

 Hodge speaks of seeing a bee go into a cell 

 and stay there five hours, apparently sleeping. 

 We often say that bees work for nothing and 

 board themselves — work all day and sleep all 

 night too. We have come to learn that the 

 mammals require seasons of rest, and why 

 should not insects also require it ? — Ed.] 



HOW OUEENS ARE PROBABLY OFTEN LOST. 



How this Loss may be Avoided; Importance of 

 Numbering Hives. 



BY WM. MUTH-RASMUSSEN. 



Although I never have any brood in my sec- 

 tions, it is no rare occurrence to find a queen 

 among them. What she is doing in the super 

 when there is not an empty cell available for 



her, is one of the " mysteries of bee-keeping " 

 that perhaps may never be explained. I am, 

 however, always watching for queens when I 

 take honey off. I use a slatted honey-board 

 between the brood-chamber and the super, and 

 wide frames to hold the sections. 



By the way, while I have seen both section- 

 holders and other contrivances for holding 

 sections, I have never thought well enough of 

 them to abandon the wide frame ; and I have 

 heard many say that, for keeping the sections 

 clean, it is superior to any other arrangement. 

 A. I. R., why didn't you leave well enough 

 alone ? I use the Porter bee escape, putting it 

 under the super in the afternoon as late as pos- 

 sible, and take the super off the following 

 morning. The escape works all right, with 

 two exceptions. During very warm nights 

 the bees seem loath to go below ; and if the 

 queen is in the super, many bees will remain 

 with her. If I find a number of bees among 

 the sections, and especially if these bees seem 

 inclined to show fight, I invariably expect to 

 find a queen there. In such case 1 have found 

 it prudent to smoke the bees a little in order 

 to subdue their vindictiveness for the time 

 being. 



Now, as the loss of a queen may result in 

 the loss of a good deal of honey, and perhaps 

 the loss of a whole colony, I find it expedient 

 to prevent this by a very little extra trouble. 

 All my hives are numbered, both on front and 

 back, so that I do not need to walk around a 

 hive to ascertain its number. On the back of 

 each super is tacked a piece of section. On 

 this I write the number of the hive when I 

 take the super off. As the supers are being 

 constantly changed during the honey season, 

 by putting empty ones on for the full ones ta- 

 ken off, the numbers on these tags will, of 

 course, also be changed by striking off the old 

 and putting on the number of the hive from 

 which the super is last removed. If, there- 

 fore, I find a queen among the sections, after 

 taking the super to the honey-house, the tag 

 will tell which hive she belongs to, and I re- 

 turn her immediately to her own home. A 

 case in point : 



Last Saturday, Sept. 30, I took off a lot of 

 supers under which I had placed escapes the 

 day preceding. To-day, Monday, I took the 

 sections out. While doing this I saw a queen 

 standing on the face of a comb, but, contrary 

 to the rule, she was quite alone, and there was 

 scarcely another bee in that super. If there 

 were any with her when the super was taken 

 off they must have left during Sunday, and 

 gone out through the bee-escape over the win- 

 dow. This was something out of the ordina- 

 ry. If a bystander had asked me if I expect- 

 ed to find a queen there I would have answer- 

 ed, " Certainly not." Nevertheless, there she 

 was, and, by accident, in plain s'ght, other- 

 wise I might have overlooked and perhaps lost 

 her. But the tag told me where she belonged, 

 and within two minutes she was back in her 

 own hive again. As it is getting to be too late 

 in the season for having queens fertilized now, 

 I should surely have lost that colony by dwin- 

 dling and being robbed before spring, if I had 

 not known where to put the queen. 



