12 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1 



Some little time ago 1 challenged Dr. Mil- 

 ler for the proof, and I hereby acknowledge 

 its receipt. If any one else has seen a plu- 

 rality of fertile workers in the act of laying, 

 I wish he would hold up his hand. While 

 we are getting proof, let us have plenty of 

 it.— Ed.] 



The American Bee-keeper Yy^n^ the ranks 

 of those who prefer four- piece to one piece 

 sections, and " would prefer to pay the 

 market price for the four- piece style rather 

 than to accept as a gift the folding kind." 

 I wonder, now, I wonder, if it can be that 

 a large number prefer the four-p ece. I 

 must confess that I changed to the one-piece, 

 not because I liked them better, but because 

 I wanted to be in the fashion. [If I am not 

 mistaken, this preference for four-piece sec- 

 tions will be found to be confined very 

 largely to certain limited localities — Ver- 

 mont, New York, and Michigan. There 

 was a time when ihe one piece sections had 

 more of a tendency to assume the diamond 

 shape than now, and this was responsible 

 for the preference for the four- piece goods. 

 However, it is pleasant to know there will 

 be a good many who will be perfectly will- 

 ing to go back to the four- piece sections 

 when the time comes that the lumber for 

 the one-piece is no more to be had except 

 at prohibitive prices. — Ed.] 



Editor Hutchinson thinks a plain board 

 cover cleated to prevent warping "is all 

 right for a large majority of localities;" 

 and Editor Root savs. "There is nothing 

 better than the old fl it cover " I'm much 

 surprised that two m n who look as in- 

 telligent as they do should talk that sort 

 of stuff. C'eats don't prevent warping; and 

 if they did they can't prevent twistinji, and 

 twisting is worse than warping. Besides, 

 we want a cover with a dead-air sp ice, so 

 as to be cooler in summer and warmer in 

 winter. A cover is the last thing about a 

 hive on which to economize. A good cover 

 can't be m^de with' ut c sting something, 

 and it's worth all it costs. [But neither 

 one of us, doctor, intimated that the old fl it 

 cover was perfect; for, speaking for myself, 

 I never saw any cover of any construction 

 that would not warp, twist, or check, somc- 

 whit. The plain elected boird for most lo- 

 calities had as few faults as any cover I 

 ever saw; but, as I have aire idy explained, 

 a single board is now out of the question for 

 most localities because of is cost. — Ed] 



" A CONFINEMENT of six wccks in chaff 

 hives outdoors during the cold weather 

 ought to put the bees into condition where 

 they will stay in the new location if they 

 were moved before they had a fly," p. 1043. 

 Correct. Also, the same in other than chaff 

 hives. Also, in cellar as well as outdoors. 

 Also, in hot as well as — yes. better than — 

 in cold weather, for a much shorter confine- 

 ment is necessary. In hot weather half a 

 day's confinement or less will make them 

 stay pretty well wherever put, providing 

 they do a sufficient amount of worrying 

 trying to get out. [But is it not dangerous, 



especially for a beginner, to shut up bees 

 in hot weather for moving to a new loca- 

 tion? That is, are the bees not liable to 

 suffer from want of air? In forming nuclei, 

 in the springtime and summer, it is our 

 regular practice to shut up the entrances 

 for two or three days, then open them up, 

 at the end of whxh time the bees will stay 

 with very little difficulty. While this prac- 

 tice would be perfectly safe with very weak 

 colonies, it might cause the loss of some 

 strong stocks treated in a like manner. 

 But, say! we can get around the difficulty 

 by putting on an upper story with a wire- 

 cloth top, then putting a shade- board over 

 the whole. The regular moving screen 

 could be used very well for this purpose. 

 But it is well to bear in mind that those 

 who have full- sized colonies to move a short 

 distance can do it best in winter. — Ed.] 



Geo. W. Phillips is giving us some in- 

 teresting stuft" about queen rearing, p. 1048. 

 The problem is to know how much of it is 

 for professional queen-rearers and how 

 much for us little fellows who merely rear 

 queens for our own use — for example, that 

 argument, p. lOiO, as to the advantage of 

 queen-right colonies. There are times when 

 not one of the four points applies to some of 

 us who are working for honey chiefly. [If one 

 desires to rear his own queens, especiallj' 

 if he wishes to requeen his old apiar3', he 

 had better follow the inodus operandi de- 

 scribed, for he will thus save time and also 

 insure a better quality of queens. It maj' 

 take a little more time with the first batch; 

 but after one has familiarized himself with 

 it he will find it a real pleasure, and an 

 actual saving in time. And then it is true 

 that there are many large bee-keepers who 

 have anywhere from 300 to 1000 colonies, 

 and there are a few whose colonies run up 

 into the 2000 mark. Such bee-keepers can 

 hardly afford to buy all their queens, and 

 therefore it behooves them to use the latest 

 and best methods known to queen rearing 

 science. The general plan outlined by Mr. 

 Phillips is a modification of several plans 

 tested out in an experience in rearing 

 thousands of queens in our own yards. 

 The small bee-keeper may, perhaps, get all 

 the surplus queens he needs from swarm- 

 ing-cells found in some of his best colonies. 

 —Ed ] 



A CELLAR with no outside door has in 

 southeast corner a bee-room 9X12, with 

 window opening in woodshed under well 

 platform, chaff sack in window. This in 

 New York State. I am asked whether this 

 is ventilation enough. I think so. if w indow 

 is 3 ft. by 1 or larger, and chaff pretty 

 loose. What says ye editor? [ This matter 

 of ventilation, I am coming to believe, de- 

 pends largely on locality. At Medina, 

 which is much warmer than Marengo, I 

 am sure, very sure, that more ventilition is 

 required, because, when it becomes very 

 warm outf^oors, considerably above the 

 freezing-point, it is apt to be warm in the 

 cellar. Warmth arouses the activity of the 



