236 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1 



on one side, on two or three frames, the 

 larvae will be superabundantly fed with the 

 larval food, and very easily transferred. 



"Drone comb in shaken swarms," page 

 1055. Mr. Gill's method of making forced 

 swarms is very good indeed (I say this be- 

 cause I use the same method with good re- 

 sults). But, really, Mr. Morrison's "little 

 half- story," with full sheets of foundation, 

 may be used with splendid results where 

 one wants nearly all the honey in the su- 

 pers, as I know from an extensive trial. 

 Put such a big swarm in a shallow case, 

 with abundant super room, and they will 

 very often swarm out. Hive them in two 

 cases, with abundant super-room, and they 

 will stay. They will almost invariably 

 build comb and rear brood (while storing 

 in the supers) in the upper case only, for 

 the first week, so at the next trip to the 

 yard the lower case is removed. Of course, 

 they will then occupy and fill more supers 

 than they would if they had been hived in a 

 full-depth eight-frame hive. 



At one yard there was a shortage of shal- 

 low cases having but one for each swarm. 

 There was a lot of rims of light stuff, four 

 inches deep, used to hold chaff cushions; so 

 when hiving the forced swarms I put one 

 of these empty rims under each shallow 

 case. At the next trip every swarm was 

 found doing good work, and the light rims 

 removed. 



Boise, Ida. 



PUTTING SWARMS BACK ON COMBS INSTEAD 

 OF FOUNDATION. 



I have been studying on the different 

 plans given in these columns for putting 

 back swarms. I want to try the plan next 

 summer of letting the bees swarm out, and 

 then taking away four of the middle frames 

 of brood. Instead of putting back four 

 frames of foundation, would it do just as 

 well to use frames of comb? I have lots of 

 them. Another question is this: If a queen 

 gets into the habit of having a small brood- 

 nest the first summer, is she supposed to be 

 of any use after that? Some hives seem to 

 have queens whose bees are allowed to fill 

 the brood-nest too full of honey. 



Farris, Wash. Anita A. Byers. 



[This was referred to Dr. Miller, who re- 

 plies:] 



Combs will answer as well as foundation 

 in carrying out your treatment of swarms. 



Restricting a queen as to laying in her 

 first summer is not likely to make any ap- 

 preciable difference in her second summer's 

 work. 



Having answered the questions asked, let 

 me answer one you haven't asked, by say- 

 ing how your proposed treatment of swarms 

 is likely to succeed. Swarming will be de- 

 layed, and in some cases prevented entirely, 

 by taking away four frames of brood or less 

 before preparations for swarming have pro- 

 ceeded too far; and the nearer to completion 

 those preparations, the more difficult to per- 

 suade the bees to give up all thought of 

 swarming. When preparations are com- 

 pleted, and they have actually proceeded to 

 the act of swarming, no light thing will 

 dissuade them; and after the removal of 

 four frames of brood you may pretty safely 

 count on their swarming out again. 



C. C. Miller. 



QUEENS THAT DO BETTER WORK THE SEC- 

 OND season. 



The queen I got from you two years ago 

 last June did very poorly the first summer, 

 but the second summer she did a good deal 

 better. Geo. F. Leslie. 



Edgecliff, Pa. 



[Friend L., this sometimes happens, but 

 I think not often enough, as a rule, to pay 

 trying a queen that makes a poor record the 

 first season. Of course, we want to be sure 

 she has a good chance — plenty of bees to 

 start with, and everything favorable. I have 

 sometimes kept queens for special reasons 

 through a second season, even though they 

 would not seem to be able to produce the 

 usual amount of brood the first year; and I 

 remember a few cases where they s^eemed 

 to be better the second 3'e;ir * We keep im- 

 ported queens usually as long as they live, 

 even though they sometimes get so old as to 

 lay only a few eggs — that is, where the 

 queen has been a valuable one, and we 

 want her eggs for rearing stock. It has 

 been suggested that very prolific queens 

 sometimes exhaust themselves the first sea- 

 son, but I have not been able to find any 

 such. The queen that produces a tremen- 

 dous lot of bees the first summer will be 

 very likely to do the same thing, or nearly 

 the same thing, the summer after. — A. I. R.] 



FLAT covers OF CALIFORNIA REDWOOD. 



Referring to covers for hives, page 1044, 

 you say, " The fact is, clear wide boards 

 in sufficient quantities to care for the trade 

 for such covers can not be bought at any 

 price." I suppose you mean pine lumber 

 that wide can not be procured; but I am 

 using flat covers made of California red- 

 wood, and I buy it at retail for 6 cents a 

 foot, which is the same price I would have 

 to pay for clear pine 12 inches or over in 

 width. 



I can buy redwood from 10 to 24 feet long, 

 and 4 to 24 inches wide, all clear, and 

 dressed both sides, at the price mentioned. 

 Our lumber-dealer tells me it will not 



* Not very long ago friend Doolittle mentioned in 

 the A nierican Bee Journal a queen that was condemned 

 the first St asan : but the next year she proved to be 

 the best queen the man ever owned. 



