1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



941 



umns were filled with it; and even in the 

 last year or so we have had articles speak- 

 ing of it very highly. That alsike is one of 

 the best honey-plants in the world has come 

 to be so generally accepted that very little 

 is said about it. —Ed.] 



1. How long is it after a swarm goes out 

 before the young queen is ready to take her 

 wedding-flight? 



2. Is the Carniolan any different from the 

 common black bee? If so, where do they 

 come from? 



3. Can a worker queen usually go through 

 a queen-excluder? H. R. McGarrah. 



Hanna City, 111. 



[1. No definite rule can be given here, as 

 a good deal would depend on conditions; but, 

 generally speaking, the young queen would 

 be ready to take her flight within four or 

 eight days. If she hatched about the time 

 the swarm came forth, and had been held 

 back in the cell, she might fly within three 

 or four days. 



2. The Carniolans, to the casual ob- 

 server, would look about the same as the 

 common black bees of this country. They 

 are a little different, however, and quite dif- 

 ferent in characteristics. They are gentler, 

 generally very quiet, being very much like 

 the Italians. Their bodies are more of the 

 bluish cast rather than of the brown. They 

 came from Carniola, Austria. 



3. By " worker queen " you mean fertile 

 or laying worker, probably. There is no 

 reason why such queens could not go through 

 perforated metal the same as any bees. — 

 Ed.] 



an interesting case of foundation. 



Some time ago I got some foundation from 

 America; and on giving full sheets to my 

 bees they drew out the fine cells which I 

 afterward found contained nothing but 

 drones. On half-sheets being given they 

 drew out the foundation into drone-cells, 

 and pieced out the i-est of the space with 

 cells * smaller, which hatched out into work- 

 ers all right. I enclose a small piece of 

 foundation, of the bees' own manufacture, 

 to show the size of cell. What gets me is 

 that the queen-excluder is just right. I 

 have watched the young ones hatch out, and 

 they are much smaller, it seems, than the 

 adults. Do you think this is the solution, 

 that they grow, after hatching out, to the 

 size of the American bee? 



Would the introduction of an American 

 queen get over the difficulty by enlarging 

 the species so as to get a bee that would 

 take kindly to the American foundation, al- 

 though at the beginning the first batch 

 would have to be hatched in the old (small- 

 er cell) comb? or would it require a swarm 

 from America? Geordy. 



Shanghai, China, July 8. 



[We have examined the samples of foun- 

 dation that you have sent to us. The natu- 

 ral comb base which your bees made shows 

 six cells to the inch, while worker bees of 



this country require five cells to the inch. 

 It is not much wonder that your bees were 

 confused and reared drone brood on the reg- 

 ular foundation having five cells to the inch; 

 nor is it strange that they should piece out 

 the cornb with smaller cells. It is evident 

 the ordinary foundation will not answer for 

 your bees. — Ed.] 



A SWARM THAT WOULDN'T STAY HIVED; NOT 

 ROBBING BUT PLAYING. 



My bees played for me a peculiar freak in 

 June last. One colony swarmed. I fixed 

 them up nicely (as I thought) for house- 

 keeping, and went about my work, about 10' 

 A. M. At 4 p. M. I saw all going back, to 

 the old hive; in three days they came out 

 again. I hived them again, and again they 

 came out and alighted close to where they 

 had settled before. I tried to hive them 

 again, but they would not stay, and finally 

 they went away. What was the cause? 



About a month after this, the colony'that 

 these went from I discovered in great com- 

 motion—more so, if possible, than when they 

 swarmed. I thought they were being rob- 

 bed. I closed the entrance to enable them 

 to ward off the intruders. In a few min- 

 utes they had all settled down as quietly as 

 though nothing had been occurring, and re- 

 mained so. What did that mean? 



Some three days later I observed the'same 

 actions on the part of bees that^I had'hived 

 about four weeks before. 



Connersville, Ind. John T. White. 



[Bees bent on swarming will sometimes: 

 cut up peculiar freaks. No explanation'can 

 be offered. — Ed.] 



A FLAT HONEY-KNIFE HANDLE. 



It is important to have a flat honey-knife 

 handle. Put the knife in the vise, and plane 

 the handle half oval or flat. Whittle it with 

 a jack-knife. It is the best thing I have 

 discovered lately. W. L. Coggshall 



West Groton, N. Y. 



[I believe this suggestion is a most excel- 

 lent one; but our friend did not specify 

 whether that flatness was to be on a plane 

 parallel with the blade of the knife or at a 

 right angle to it. We as manufacturers can 

 just as well have the handles flattened 'as. 

 round; but before making any change we 

 should be glad to get expressions from" bee- 

 keepers on this point. —Ed.] 



A DIFFERENCE IN THE GRADING-RULES. 



Would it not be well if the bee-papers, in 

 printing the rules for grading comb honey, 

 would use the same wording throughout? 

 By comparing the grading-rules in Glean- 

 ings and Review I find quite a difference. 

 For instance, in regard to "Fancy," Glean- 

 ings says, "All the cells sealed except an 

 occasional cell, ' ' while the Review says, ' ' All 

 the cells sealed except the row of cells next 

 the wood. ' ' The Review claims to give the 



