376 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15 



jail," blowing- in smoke, and after a little 

 flying about the old place the bees accepted 

 the new situation. [Our own experience 

 leads us to believe that Mr. Forst was mis- 

 taken; that many more bees returned than 

 he supposed. Our bees have to be confined 

 at least three days of twenty- four hours 

 each before they will stay where they are 

 put. We have tested this thing over and 

 over again, hundreds of times, and it is our 

 practice to shut the entrances up tight and 

 keep them closed for at least three days. 

 Of course, the beginner needs to understand 

 that a weak colony or nucleus can be so 

 treated without danger of smothering. — 

 Ed.] 



Honey consumed in a year by a colony 

 of bees, according to careful investigations 

 at Swiss stations, as reported by H. Kra- 

 mer, in Schweiz. Bztg., varies greatly alt- 

 er the following table of pounds: 



Minimum. Maximum. 



October— Jauuary 4.4 11. 



February— April II. 33 



May— July 19.8 39 6 



.\ugust— September 6.6 13.2 



Total 41.8 86 8 



That would be about 70 pounds as the av- 

 erage annual consumption of a medium col- 

 ony. 1 think Doolittle puts it at about 100, 

 and Getaz at about 200. [This is an inter- 

 esting set of figures. It certainly does 

 seems much more reasonable than those 

 given bj' Mr. Getaz, showing a consumption 

 of 200 lb=. for one year. If a colony actu- 

 allj' consumed that amount, and gave the 

 bee- keeper only 50 lbs. surplus, it would 

 look as if there were a big waste some- 

 where. This is an important question, and 

 it has its practical side too. Perhaps some 

 of our experiment stations can be induced 

 to take it up. Any further information will 

 be gladly received.— Ed. ] 



According to Sch/es. -Hoist. Bztg., the 

 bees must bring in 25,000 loads of nectar io 

 make a pound of honey. But big loads and 

 little loads must make that vary greatly. 

 fPrcf. B. F. Koons, of the Agricultural 

 College, Storrs, Ct , in 1895 conducted a se- 

 ries of experiments, weighing not only bees 

 but their average loads. He weight d sev- 

 eral hundred bees, and his figures stocd 

 about as follows: 10,000 bees could carry 

 one pound of honey. This was the mini- 

 mum number. But he found that more oft- 

 en it would take 45,000 bee-loads to make a 

 pound. His average, theref re, was 20,000 

 in round numbers. These figures very 

 closely tallied with weighings made by 

 Prof. Lazenby, of the Ohio Agricultural 

 College, and by Prof Gillette, of the Colo- 

 rado Experiment Station. It should be said 

 that both made their figures without the 

 knowledge of what the other was dring, 

 much less what had been reported by Prof. 

 Koons. The fact that they all so nearly 

 agree is somewhat remarkable, and proves, 

 if it proves any thing, that they worked 

 with wonderful precision. — Ed.] 



Hans had a colony of bees. Like the ear- 



nest bee-keeper he was, he went frequently 

 in winter to see how they got along. One 

 day they were making a good d al of noise. 

 " Must be too cold with this miserable zero 

 spell," said Hans. So he got rags and 

 stopped entrancj and cracks as nearly air- 

 tight as possible, A few days later he 

 found them quite still, "Good thing I 

 thought to shut 'em up warm," said Hms, 

 "Now they're sleeping well," When 

 spring came and flowers bloomed they were 

 still sleeping.— Bienen- looter. [While this 

 seems like a good j jke to the practical bee- 

 keepers, and the result is just what we 

 should have expected, yet there is many a 

 beginner, just like our friend Hans, who 

 has made the same f ital m istake. We have 

 had reports of it in our back volumes. It is 

 perfectly natural that one should plug a 

 hive up to keep out the cold air. He rea- 

 sons that the houses we live in have closed 

 doors; that churches and auditoriums de- 

 signed to receive hundrrds and thousands 

 of people are closed tight, and kept so for 

 an hour or so; but he does not understand 

 that the hive is probably hermetically seal- 

 ed except at the entrance. — Ed.] 



M. D re LOS tells in Bulletin de la Meuse 

 that he fed a weak colony and started rob- 

 bing. Notwithstanding narrowed entrance, 

 only night brought a respite. Next day, 

 when excitement was at its highest, he 

 opened the entrance wide, and when the 

 largest number of robbers were inside he 

 fastened them in, giving plenty of air. Aft- 

 er a week's imprisonment he opened the en- 

 trance. The robbers remained loyal to 

 their new sovereign, all was lovely, and he 

 had a strong colony, [This to me is a new 

 kink, and I do not see any reason why it 

 should not work exactly as here described. 

 In referring the matter to my father he first 

 said the same thing was mentioned in our 

 ABC book. Although I have been over 

 that volume dozens of times, and have re- 

 written large portions of it, I do not recall 

 that the same thing ever appeared in it, A 

 careful search does not reveal it, although 

 there are similar methods, but not the iden- 

 tical plan here described. When I explain- 

 ed that, he still thought it was surely de- 

 scribed in our back volumes years ago. 

 But it is a good point, especially for queen- 

 rearing yards, 



J, F, Mclntyre described in our A B C a 

 robber trap that involves the same princi- 

 ple. When a colony is being robbed furi- 

 ously he lifts the robbed hive off its stand 

 and puts another hive just like it in its 

 place. The entrance is provided with bee- 

 escapes so that, when the robbers once go 

 in they can not get out. They of c urse 

 rush into the trap hive pell-mell; and when 

 they are all trapped, quiet is restored. We 

 know from experience that usually only one 

 or two colonies are concerned in robbing, 

 unless, perchance, there is general robbing 

 throughout the yard and there is a general 

 uproar. If there are not too many bees in- 

 volved, a robber-trap will catch the whole 

 of them, and all will be quiet. — Ed.] 



