1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



265 



here. I have about 28 acres ihis year, and I 

 would continue it on my farm if it were not 

 for my neighbors' bees, which get as much 

 honey as I do or more. About the last days 

 of May, 1898, the bees were without stores, 

 very little brood, and quite weak ; yet the crop 

 of honey taken that year paid me over $100, 

 besides keeping it on the table all the time for 

 six or eight in family, and the principal part 

 of the crop was from sweet clover. It makes 

 good pasture in early spring, and, if turned 

 under after blooming, it will tell on a wheat 

 crop. 



Last summer, while breaking the clover 

 land, I fastened a piece of domestic cloth on 

 and above my disk plow, and caught quite a 

 lot of the flying seed while plowing. I have 

 been sowing the seed all around the fences on 

 the farm. I prefer raising honey instead of 

 weeds and bushes. J. H. Roderick. 



Dodd City, Tex., Feb. 28. 



or room they will be ready at any time, sound 

 and good. — Ed.] 



CONTROLLING SWARMING AND AVOIDING IN- 

 CREASE. 



I have a few hives of Italians (less than half 

 a dozen), and run for comb honey. I try to 

 go "by the book," and the book is Root's A 

 B C. Now, as no increase is wished for, please 

 tell me what is the best way lo avoid increase. 

 In early spring, when I get the bees to breed 

 they get very strong ; and instead of going to 

 work they swarm out about April 1. This is 

 not desired. W. P. Banner. 



Beaufort, S. C, Feb. 16. 



[I would advise you to catch or kill your 

 queens at the approach of the honey season. 

 This will prevent swarms, and at the same 

 time check brood-rearing and thus avoid rear- 

 ing a lot of bees that would be useless con- 

 sumers later on. But after the queens are de- 

 stroyed, it will be necessary for you to go 

 through the colonies carefully to cut out all 

 the queen-cells in eight days. And in eight 

 days it will be necessary to perform the same 

 operation again. In order to get every cell it 

 may be advisable to shake all the bees off the 

 combs, otherwise you are liable to miss one 

 when combs are covered with bees. For par- 

 ticulars regarding this, see "Prevention of 

 Swarming," in the A BC of Bee Culture, which 

 you have. — Ed.] 



CLEANING MOLD FROM EMPTY COMBS. 



Will you kindly let me know which is the 

 best way to clean empty combs (for extract- 

 ing) of mold, so that they could be used again ? 

 Only a part are moldy, and this not much. 



Escondido, Cal., Feb. 23. L. Marno. 



[If combs are a little moldy, ordinarily no 

 harm will be done. "When you need them, 

 set them right down in the center of the brood- 

 nest, and the bees will soon clean them up 

 sweet — much chearer than you can, even if 

 you could do it. Combs should ordinarily be 

 stored in a dry place, subject to a freezing 

 temperature in winter. This will kill the moth- 

 miller eggs and larvse, if there are any ; and 

 if they from that time are kept in a tight box 



DRONES in early spring ; DO THEY WIN- 

 TER OVER, OR WHERE DO THEY COME' 

 FROM? 



In setting my bees out of the cellar on the 

 first day of March I saw as many as fifty drones. 

 They came from several different hives, and 

 seemed perfectly at home. To-day was a nice 

 warm afternoon, and there were a good many 

 flying. I do not remember seeing any ac- 

 counts of drones being wintered over, and 

 thought it might be a matter of some interest. 

 My bees did not kill off the drones last fall, 

 or at least not nearly all of them, as many 

 were flying every warm day in November. 



A. A. BONNEY. 



Tygh Valley, Ore., Mar. 5. 



[As a rule, drones in hives with queens are 

 killed off just as soon as the honey-flow ceases; 

 for the bees seem to recognize that they can 

 not afford to keep around a lot of useless con- 

 sumers ; but a month or so after the wholesale 

 slaughter there will be a few more drones rear- 

 ed, perhaps a dozen or two in a few colonies, 

 and these are usually left unmolested. It is 

 these chaps that are allowed to go through the 

 winter ; for the bees seem to recognize, also, 

 that if the queen is lost there will be no drones 

 during the coming spring for the young queen. 

 But drones are reared, even in winter — that is, 

 providing it is not so cold as to prevent the 

 rearing of ordinary worker brood. Here and 

 there will be a larger cell, and in it will be a 

 drone grub along with the other worker larva. 

 These drones are not molested, and are allowed 

 to remain unless stores in the colony are very 

 short ; in which case the bees will be liable to 

 lead their "dads" out of the hive "by the 

 ears " — at least they sometimes look as if they 

 were doing that very thing ; for there will be 

 two or three workers tugging at one poor un- 

 fortunate drone. He is then held at bay just 

 at the entrance, and, no matter how he strug- 

 gles to get in again, he is ruthlessly pushed 

 back by the mere force of numbers against 

 him. — Ed.] 



HONEY RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA ; AN EX- 

 AMINATION OF THE STATE BY COUNTIES. 

 After some twenty years spent in traveling 

 through the central and northern part of Cal- 

 ifornia it. strikes me that my observations in 

 regard to the section as a location for prospec- 

 tive bee-keepers might help out friend Mar- 

 tin's article. 



Down in the San Joaquin Valley is a large 

 tract of alfalfa land stretching from Kern to 

 Merced Cos. In Fresno Co. the field is over- 

 occupied (at Selma). In Tulare Co. there is 

 still a large area unoccupied. Going north 

 there is a section in Sacramento, Placer, Sut- 

 ter, Butte, and Yuba Cos., where a limited 

 number of apiaries could be started. These 

 are all valley locations. Back of these are the 

 mountains. In the hills of Fresno are a num- 

 ber of small openings ; Mariposa the same. 

 In Tuolumne a large number of bees are kept 

 in one section. The higher altitudes are with- 



