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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15. 



Some of the best, although they are generally 

 taken up by residents on the field, are in Cen- 

 tral and Eastern New York, Colorado, Arizona, 

 New Mexico, Nevada, and California. In 

 some of our newer States there are quite a 

 number of fine locations that are not yet taken ; 

 but they are so far from the markets that the 

 expense of transportation stands in the way. 



4. Yes, providing that there were suitable 

 windbreaks on the west and north sides — or, 

 better still, windbreaks on all four sides. It 

 makes a vast difference whether outdoor-win- 

 tered colonies, no matter how well packed, 

 are properly sheltered from the piercing winds. 



The presence of snow, and plenty of it, will 

 be beneficial, providing it does not melt, run 

 down into the entrances, freeze, and hermeti- 

 cally seal the same. The entrances must be 

 kept reasonably clear, so that air can be ob- 

 tained. 



5. Yes, if protected by windbreaks, and if 

 in sight of some farmhouse, or sufficiently 

 near some dwelling to prevent the depreda- 

 tion of thieves. Thieves and mice are apt to 

 make rather bad work on outdoor-wintered 

 colonies. While out-apiaries may be left the 

 whole winter long without examination, it is 

 far better to take a look at the hives, even 

 from the outside, occasionally. It has been 

 our practice of late years to bring our out-yard 

 home, for the simple reason that thieves have 

 a fashion of tearing open the colonies for just 

 a morsel of sweet. While they steal only a 

 few cents' worth of honey, they actually rob 

 us of a good many dollars' worth of bees and 

 comb. 



6. Better stay where you are by all means. 

 If you can average 50 lbs. of comb honey you 

 have a good location. — Ed.] 



HONEY FROM CAI,IFORNIA PRUNE - TREES ; 



HOW MUCH MORE EXTRACTED THAN 

 COMB CAN BE PRODUCED? 



How much more honey ought bees to make 

 in running for extracted honey than in run- 

 ning for comb honey when the flow is plenti- 

 ful ? How much would you estimate it per 

 day per colony? 



Prune-blossom yields an abundance of nec- 

 tar here. Reading in the ABC book of the 

 basswood-bloom, and the amount of nectar, 

 reminds me of the prune-bloom and its nec- 

 tar. I was plowing in prunes here during the 

 bloom, and my clothes got all wet with the 

 nectar. It blooms here about the middle of 

 March, and lasts about ten days. What I am 

 trying to get at is, if it would pay to keep 

 bees here for the prunes in an extensive way. 



Orangevale, Cal. D. C. Jenkins. 



[Just how much more extracted than comb 

 can be produced is something that can not be 

 answered in definite percentages, as so much 

 depends on the conditions, location, style of 

 the hive, size of the combs, and the kind of 

 honey-flow. A few bee-keepers claim that 

 they can produce just as much of the one as 

 of the other ; but the great majority agree 

 that more extracted can be secured than of 

 comb. Some put the figure at 25 per cent. 

 Others go even so high as to make it 50 per 



cent more. It is not to be understood, that 

 bees will gather more honey in the extracted 

 form than of comb ; but more of the former 

 can be gotten in marketable shape. 



I have never yet heard of honey being gath- 

 ered from prune-tree blossoms ; and if the 

 amount anywhere near equals the amount from 

 basswoods, the prune-trees in your locality 

 must be tremendous yielders of nectar. When 

 you get a good sample of genuine prune-tree 

 honey, that you are sure has no other honey 

 mixed with it, I should be glad to have you 

 send me a sample by mail. I have never tast- 

 ed of such honey, knowingly, and should like 

 to know what it is like. — Ed.] 



REQUEENING a whole APIARY ; HOW 

 SHOULD IT BE DONE ? 



Friend Root : — By request of a friend I 

 write this, and ask your opinion as to whether 

 it will be best for him to buy several select 

 tested queens from such mjen as Doolittle, Al- 

 ley, Root, Miller (and perhaps others), to 

 raise queens from, or buy an extra-good im- 

 ported Italian, and breed from her. I have 

 charge of his apiary, and shall want at least 

 250 or 300 queens, possibly more. Last Octo- 

 ber Mr. M. bought queens from several breed- 

 ers, both north and south, and I must say I 

 never saw so many worthless queens in one 

 apiary. As the number he bought was about 

 180, you see the outcome was a losing one to 

 him. Breeders who put out the finest adver- 

 tisements sent the poorest queens. Fully four- 

 fifths of them were impurely mated. One 

 breeder sent a select tested, and I think she 

 must have been so, from the number of black 

 bees she produces. Naturally Mr. M. is a lit- 

 tle shy about buying queens this year. We 

 shall want the queens in June, and I advise 

 buying an extra good imported one and raise 

 our own. Mr. M. wants your opinion. We 

 want pure Italians, but don't care for bright 

 colors ; but we want bees for business. Per- 

 sonally I have never yet found any thing bet- 

 ter than leather-colored Italians. 



[I never would advise requeening an apiary 

 by purchasing all the queens, or a large part 

 of them, from the different breeders. In the 

 first place, it would be too expensive ; and in 

 the second place, queens that have been 

 through the mails are never quite the equal of 

 those that have never seen Uncle Sam's mail- 

 bags. Of course, this is only an opinion, but 

 it is based on quite an extended observation, 

 and on the fact that queens reared in the yard 

 seem to be better than the great majority that 

 are purchased. Those reared by the old-fash- 

 ioned methods will not be as good as those 

 raised by the Doolittle plan under the stimu- 

 lus of the swarming fever, or a stimulus brought 

 on artificially by feeding a little every day. 



In the rearing of queens, one of the most 

 important things to be considered is stimula- 

 tive feeding, especially during that time when 

 cells are being reared by the cell-building col- 

 onies. All such should be very strong ; and 

 on being fed a pint or half a pint daily they 

 very lavishly supply the cells with royal food, 

 and this is what makes good queens. 



