1911 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



115 



more queens or cells, so I sent for a queen, and by 

 the time she arrived the ten-frame hive was full of 

 eggs, there being from two to six in every cell. I 

 did not know what to do; but on following closely 

 the directions in the A B C and X Y Z of Bee Culture, 

 I was soon rid of those laying workers. The new 

 queen was then accepted all right, and began lay- 

 ing in a few days. 



Colony No. 21 had a fine year-old queen. One day 

 while examining the combs 1 found the brood- 

 chamber full of eggs from laying workers, and even 

 in thi-ee combs in the supers there were anywhere 

 from two to six eggs scattered all over. This colony 

 was given the same treatment, and a laying (jueen 

 introduced. 



M'hen distributing the brood-combs of bees all 

 around the apiary, as directed in the above-men- 

 tioned book, it is well to smoke the bees on the 

 combs thorovighly, so that there will be little fight- 

 ing and but few bees lost. 



What puzzled me was to learn what became of the 

 queen in colony No. 21. The first queen that I men- 

 tioned might have been lost while out on her mat- 

 ing-ttight; but I am at a loss to understand the loss 

 of the other one, as there were no signs of any kind 

 that the bees were preparing to swarm or supersede 

 their queen. Some may say that laying workers 

 are the result of carelessness on the part of the bee- 

 keeper. I can not agree with this, for all of my col- 

 onies are examined at least every two weeks. 

 Hereafter I shall never leave a colony without a 

 queen more than one week without either givlrg it 

 brood with which the bees can start queen-cells or 

 by providing a laying queen. 



La Crescent, Minn. G. H. Barbisch. 



[The queen of No. 21 possibly died a natural 

 death. If the virgin that followed her was lost in 

 mating, laying workers would naturally develop. — 

 ED.] 



Normal Loss of Bees from Fourteen Colonies in a 



Cellar; How to Know when Bees are 



Wintering Well. 



Is one quart of bees per month too much winter 

 loss for 14 colonies? When I swept up the dead 

 bees and threw them loosely into a quart measui-e 

 they just about filled it from Nov. 25 to Dec. 1. 1 

 suppose I shall not lose as many bees per month 

 during the remainder of the winter. Is this cor- 

 rect? My cellar is dry, and the temperature stays 

 between 40 and 43 degrees. During theflrst warm 

 weather it does not go higher than 45 degrees. 



RETURNING SWARMS TO THE HIV£S THEY CAME 

 FROM. 



Last year I put two or three swarms back in the 

 hives they came from, first placing an Alley trap in 

 front of the entrance and shaking the swarms 

 down on the alighting-board. The bees went back 

 In. although I kept the (jueen and drones outside. 

 Afterward the whole colony seemed to sulk, and, 

 all together, the plan did not seem very satisfacto- 

 ry. 



New Bethlehem, Pa, J. M. Walker. 



[The winter losses resulting from bees flying out 

 of the hives and dying on the cellar bottom will be 

 comparatively light during the fore part of the 

 winter, and very much heavier toward spring. In 

 estimating the amount that might be considered a 

 normal loss of bees per month we must take Into 

 consideration the time in the winter. One quart of 

 dead bees during December, from only 14 colonies, 

 we should say would be rather large. During the 

 first month, and the one following, the loss from so 

 few colonies, we should estimate, ought not to ex- 

 ceed one pint per month; but we would not consid- 

 er it bad wintering by any means if the loss were a 

 quart for each of the two first months, and possibly 

 twice as much for the next three months. Much 

 will depend on the strength of ths colonies. If the 

 hives are full of bees, every comb covered, we 

 should naturally expect a much larger mortality 

 than in a case where the colonies were light. It is 

 Impossible to make any absolute estimate of the 

 normal loss per colony dviring winter, either for 

 Indoor or outdoor wintering. If, when one goes 

 into the cellar, he finds every thing apparently 

 quiet, no roaring of any kind, and the air reason- 

 ably sweet, he may conclude the bees are doing 

 well — yes. they are wintering perfectly. On the 

 contrary, if the air smells of dysentery, and the 

 bees are making considerable noise, and buzzing 

 down on the cellar floor every few seconds he may 



conclude his bees are not wintering well. Indeed, 

 he may expect a heavy loss before spring. 



It never pays to put swarms back into the same 

 brood-nest from which they issue. When swarms 

 are hived back on the same stand, the old brood- 

 nest must be removed and an empty hive contain- 

 ing empty combs or frames of foundation should 

 be put In its stead. The supers, if any. that were 

 on top of the old hive should now be placed on the 

 empty hive now on the old stand. 



Yes, sir, "e; swarms will sulk almost every time if 

 you hive them back in their old quarters. You 

 must make a radical change in the brood-nest be- 

 fore they will stay contented and go to work. — Ed.] 



Borrowing Bees ; Plurality of Queens in a Hive is 

 Not Practicable; Queen-cell Protectors. 



In "Alexander's Writings,'" p, 75, is mentioned, 

 in connection with queen-rearing, the borrowing of 

 bees from several strong colonies for one day. How 

 is this done, the bees used, then returned? 



Pages 80—82 speak of a plurality of queens in one 

 hive : and it has been mentioned in Gleanings 

 that Mr. Alexander's son had a method of intro- 

 ducing several queens, but I have been unable to 

 find it. 



In introducing unprotected queen-cells to nuclei, 

 made by taking two couples or three frames of 

 bees from a queenless colony, are the cells likely to 

 be safer by confining the bees for a day or so? 



Auckland, N. Z., Nov. 14. S. C. Rhodes. 



[Mr. Alexander meant, by " borrowing bees," 

 taking from any colony, preferably one that is 

 queenless, anywhere from a pint to a quart of bees. 

 These bees can then be returned providing they 

 are not used with any other bees. 



We would not advise you to try the scheme of 

 more than one queen to a hive. While, apparent- 

 ly, it worked for Alexander, the great mass of our 

 readers have since declared that it was a failure 

 with them. The method of introducing by Frank 

 Alexander was subsequently described in Glean- 

 ings, Sept. 1, 1907, page 1136. 



We usually advise putting queen-cells in queen- 

 cell protectors. While cells can be given, a good 

 many times, without danger of their being destroy- 

 ed, it is usually safer to use the protectors.— Ed.] 



Frames Smaller than the Langstroth; Profits from 

 Bees 



A bee-keeper told me that a frame 13^ in. long 

 and 9 wide, inside measurement, would be about 

 right for this northern climate, and even better 

 than the Langstroth frame. His reason was that 

 bees have more brood than they can cover in L. 

 frames, and when cold weather comes the brood 

 gets chilled and dies. What is your opinion? 



Is it wise for a beginner to try stimulative feed- 

 ing? If so. how much should he feed? 



^yhat is the advantage of a loose bottom-board? 



Should 100 colonies in a good bee country produce 

 SlOOO in honey and wax ? or what is the average the 

 practical bee-keeper might expect? 



Maeton, Ont., Jan. 6. N. Allingham. 



[A great many different sizes of frames have been 

 tried, but the majority of bee-keepers have decided 

 that the Langstroth dimensions can not be im- 

 proved. The fact that hives containing frames of 

 Langstroth dimensions are standard is also a big 

 point in their favor: for when bees are sold on odd- 

 sized combs the selling price is always lower. 



In our opinion a smaller frame would not prevent 

 brood from chilling in the manner suggested, for 

 the amount of brood depends on the queen and on 

 the bees, and a smaller brood-nest is apt to result in 

 a smaller cluster. 



Stimulative feeding in the spring is considered by 

 most bee-keepers a questionable practice, it being 

 much better to provide a little more than enough 

 stores in the fall to carry the colony over until the 

 honey-flow begins in the spring or early summer. 



With loose bottom-boards the brood-chamber can 

 be manipulated a little more easily than when the 

 bottoms are fast. There are several changes that 

 are often desirable, and that can be easily made 

 with loose bottoms. However, the best plan of all 

 is to use crate staples on the sides, fastening the 

 body to the bottom, so that, when occasion de- 

 mands, the two can be separated very easily. 



One thousand dollars from one hundred colonies 

 in a season is a much larger return thnn the 



