934 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15. 



prove the time as we should we can learn more 

 than enough to make that cost good, besides 

 the benefit which we derive socially. All of 

 these things are great helps to us, and should 

 be eagerly sought after, as they will be if we 

 have a natural qualification for the calling 

 which we have chosen. If any persons love 

 something else more than they do to study 

 bee-keeping, and only do this as a sort of duty, 

 let them be assured that they have mistaken 

 their calling, and the sooner they leave it and 

 go to that which at all times gives them pleas- 

 ure, the better they will be off, and the better 

 it will be for the world. 



But I feel that I should say a word to our 

 questioner about putting off getting ready for 

 next season till he knows how his bees winter. 

 I can not help thinking that this is a mistake 

 on the part of very many. The question 

 should be, " Am I to continue in the bee busi- 

 ness ? " If so, then I must be prepared for a 

 full honey-harvest from the number of colo- 

 nies I have ; otherwise, that full honey-har- 

 vest may come and find me " napping." My 

 plan has always been to prepare hives to the 

 number I wish to increase my colonies to, 

 should the coming season be the best, and sec- 

 tions to the amount of 125 pounds for each 

 colony I have in the fall. And I do all of this 

 preparing during the winter months, getting 

 every thing all in perfect order before the sea- 

 son opens, so that, when the time for active 

 labor in the apiary arrives, I shall not be hand- 

 icapped by not being in readiness for any 

 " down-pour" which may happen to come. 



BEE-KEEPING IN COLOMBIA, S. A.; STINGINESS 

 BEES. 



1. Do you think it possible to send queens 

 down here? 



2. We are in need of bees here on account 

 of lack of distribution of pollen in the flow- 

 ers. We are 3500 feet above sea-level ; tem- 

 perature 60° Fahr., on an average. Do you 

 think bees will do well here? 



3. We have a bee here resembling the Ital- 

 ian, but which has no sting. It is not a good 

 worker. Would it be possible to breed them 

 with Italians, or has it ever been done — that 

 is, form a new species or kind ? 



J. R. Genuit. 

 David, Chiriqui, Rep. of Colombia, S. A. 



[We can send queens successfully to you, I 

 think, providing there is no great interval be- 

 tween the time of arrival of the queen at port 

 and arrival at your hands. We have sent 

 queens successfully to Australia, New Zealand, 

 and within the last two days have received ac- 

 knowledgment of the successful receipt of 

 queens at Natal, South Africa. We send 

 queens regularly to Cuba, Jamaica, and to oth- 

 er islands of the West Indies. While we do 



not guarantee safe arrival, we put up our 

 queens in the most approved forms, and would 

 say that at least half of the queens sent to 

 foreign ports by us go through alive and in 

 good condition. Although jou are located, 

 as you say, at an elevation of 3500 feet above 

 the sea, with an average of 60° Fahr., I do 

 not see why you could not keep bees success- 

 fully. 



The stingless bees are in no way to be com- 

 pared to the Italians, nor in general to the 

 Apis mellifica, to which blacks, Italians, Syr- 

 ians, and Cyprians belong. You could not 

 cross the stingless bees with the Italians nor 

 with any of the other bees of a northern lo- 

 cality. — Ed ] 



QUALITY AND QUANTITY IN QUEENS. 



On page 746, in a Straw, Dr. Miller says, 

 " It's a goud plan, when you take a super of 

 sections off a hive, to pencil on one of them 

 the number of the colony. Then when you 

 find a super of greasy-looking sections you 

 know where to replace a queen next spring." 

 Then you add, " Good scheme ! and while you 

 ■ are about it, it is a good point in favor of num- 

 bering hives " Both are good points; but I 

 think you both have missed the most impor- 

 tant point — one that I have aimed at practicing 

 for years ; and that is when you find one of 

 those exquisitely filled and finished lots of sec- 

 tions that excite wonder and admiration, and 

 capture the first prizes at our leading exposi- 

 tions. You know where to go for a first class 

 queen to breed from next season; for, in my 

 experience, bees that do that sort of work 

 never fail to be extra honey-gatherers. Then 

 we have quality and quantity. 



S. T. PETTIT. 

 Aylmer, Ont., Can., Nov. 11. 



INTRODUCING QUEENS; THE WIRE-CAGE PLAN 

 A FAILURE. 



To R. A. Lapsley, page 762, I say, amen. I 

 have repeatedly failed, and never succeeded, 

 by that plan ; that is, the queen would be eat- 

 en out and the bees would accept or reject 

 just as they liked. I have no more use for 

 the plan in question. 



The last plan given by Dr. Miller, on page 

 725, 1892, is the best I ever tried for valuable 

 queens. The only objection is the necessity 

 of putting brood above an excluder a few days 

 before the introducing is done, so you will 

 not have unsealed brood to perish, with no 

 bees old enough to feed them. But it saves 

 the queen — that is what we want. 



I should be glad if breeders would clip all 

 queens sent out. I have never had one fly 

 away when introducing, but came near losing 

 several. W. A. H. Gilstrap. 



Grayson, Cal., Oct. 31. 



ALCOHOL-LAMP FOR DAISY FASTENER. 



I use an alcohol-lamp with the Daisy foun- 

 dation-fastener. No chimney is needed, and 

 there is never any smoke to soil the sections. 

 The lamp costs 25 cents, and wood spirits 

 about §1.25 per gallon. E. E. BoGUE. 



Stillwater, O. T., Nov. 8. 



