222 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Apb. 1 



thirsty or hungry, when it sees what it 

 wants it goes after it where it sees it. 



As to this matter of the fugitive charac- 

 ter of the odor of any dilute material ex- 

 posed to the air, I am well posted, having 

 experimented with supposed rabbit-repel- 

 lents for several winters, and tried nearly 

 every bad smell in the chemistry, using 

 them in mixture probably a hundred times 

 as strong as could be done in the spray, and 

 the smell of a thick wash of crude carbolic 

 acid, whale-oil soap, and iodoform will per- 

 sist for but a few days. Even gas tar add- 

 ed will not help much. 



Carthage, Mo. 



BEE-KEEPING AS A HOBBY. 



Why Hives are Examined. 



BY F. DUNDAS TODD. 



Chapter Six. 



At certain times of the year it is impor- 

 tant that the bee-keeper know exactly the 

 conditions that obtain inside the hive, tor 

 instance, in the spring, in the fall, and often 

 just after the end of fruit-blossom, before 

 the honey-flow starts, he ought to know 

 without any doubt whether or not there is 

 sufficient honey stores on hand. It not in- 

 frequently happens that a colony will make 

 deeper inroads upon the winter stores than 

 was anticipated, so that the bees are not in 

 condition to take steps toward raising, not 

 merely a big family, but a prolific one, such 

 as is essential early in June. 



When one keejis a careful record of indi- 

 vidual hives he comes across features for 

 which it is often liard to find an explana- 

 tion. The condition of the honey stores in 

 spring is certainly one of them. For in- 

 stance, tliere may be standing side by side 

 two hives that in September were apparent- 

 ly alike in numbers and amount of stores, 

 yet at the end of March one will be in prime 

 condition while the other may be on the 

 verge of starvation, and even worse. At the 

 close of fruit-blossom a similar condition 

 may arise. One colony may have hustled 

 enough during the period of bloom to have 

 a suriilus of food on hand, while its neigh- 

 bor may have turned the nectar into more 

 bees about as fast as it was brouglit in. 



Again, it is essential to the existence of 

 the colony that a queen be present at all 

 times, or at least suitable conditions for pro- 

 viding a new one. But the mother of the 

 hive is liable to die at any time from acci- 

 dent or disease, just as are other bees. When 

 free flight becomes established at the end of 

 winter it not infrequently liappens that a 

 colony has no mother, and is, therefore, 

 doomed to extinction in a few weeks. Or 

 she may survive the winter, but break down 

 as soon as the heavy egg-laying period de- 

 velops, when, of course, the bees will en- 

 deavor to raise a successor from the larvae 

 on hand. When such a condition arises be- 

 fore any drones are fiying, the young queen 



will not be fertilized, therefore she will be 

 unable to populate the hive with worker 

 bees, and, consequently, the colony will 

 cease to exist in a little more than a month. 



It is essential for the bee-keeper to know 

 when such untoward conditions arise, so 

 that he may better the working conditions, 

 supplying food where such is scant, and 

 utilizing queenless bees to the best advan- 

 tage. Outside indications will often give 

 him an inkling of the inside conditions; but 

 exact information is obtainable only by an 

 examination of the inside of the hive. 



Leaving general terms alone, let us take 

 a concrete case. Where I am located, the 

 honey-fiow is over by the middle of July 

 (for two seasons there has not been any) , 

 and the bees then do their best with pick- 

 ings from thistles and fall dandelions. In 

 !:<eptember they are fed the winter stores, 

 and I jot down in my note-book the condi- 

 tion of each colony. When free flight comes 

 in March, my attention is attracted to two 

 colonies which we will designate A and B. 

 The latter, on September 3, is noted as being 

 very strong, and as having brood in two 

 frames. Before the end of the month it is 

 fed all the syrup it will take up; and since 

 the queen is in her first season I naturally 

 anticipate favorable conditions in March. 

 But when other hives are busy, only a few 

 bees are seen to issue from this one, so a 

 quick examination is made, only to find 

 that the total population consists of a queen 

 and perhaps 200 workers. Not over a hun- 

 dred dead bees are found inside the hive, so 

 it is evident the population had run down 

 rapidly in November and December, for on 

 October 20, when the hive was packed for 

 the winter, it is noted as being strong. Un- 

 less this queen is assisted by adding more 

 bees to the hive the colony will soon be out 

 of existence. 



A was one of the best colonies in the yard. 

 From a weakling in May an imported queen 

 had made it a powerful hive in June; in 

 fact, it was one of the few that gave a sur- 

 plus, about 20 pounds of dark-colored honey, 

 which was distributed to less fortunate col- 

 onies. On September 3 it was strong, had 

 no brood in the frames, but the queen was 

 present. The stores were almost at the van- 

 ishing-point, so it was fed all the bees could 

 take up. On October 20 it was packed for 

 the winter, condition strong. Later, dead 

 bees were thrown out by hundreds, while 

 even more were found on the bottom-board. 

 This condition continued for several weeks, 

 then stopped entirely. 



In March its bees seemed rather disinclin- 

 ed to fly, and very little pollen was carried 

 in; so the suspicion developed that it must 

 be queenless. Then all at once it got very, 

 very busy — so much so that robbing was 

 suspected, therefore the entrance was con- 

 tracted to about half an inch, then a little 

 heap of flour was piled up in front so that 

 every bee on leaving had to plow through 

 it. In a few minutes I could see white- 

 marked bees entering three other hives. A 

 quick examination of A showed no eggs, no 



