1911 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



257 



The Importance of Having Hive Lumber Cut 

 Heart Side Out. 



Mr. Scholl's method of repairing old hivea and 

 supers that have warped, as outlined on pages 90 

 and 91, Feb. 15, and to Mr. Wesley Foster's diagram 

 of dovetailed hives on p. 355. June 1, 1910, I would 

 say that I have no criticism to offer; but I should 

 like to make one suggestion. Mr. Foster has left 

 out one essential detail. He did not say that the 

 hives should be made with the heart side of the 

 lumber on the exterior. If the manufacturers of 

 hives would take the trouble to make them with 

 the heart side of the lumber out, and If afterward 

 the hive were kept well painted, there would never 

 be any warping as shown in Fig. 2 B, p. 355, June 1. 



All lumber warps from the heart. For example, 

 a floor made of boards with the heart side up is al- 

 ways smooth: but when the sap side is up It Is un- 

 even because the edges are up. 



There would be quite a saving of time in putting 

 hives together if the suggestion made above were 

 followed. All the joints of my hives are put togeth- 

 er with thick white-lead paint, thus rendering them 

 water-proof. Perhaps I am too much of an old fogy 

 In this matter, but I think It pays in the long run. 

 I have been a wood-worker all my life, and retired, 

 not because I have a barrel of money, but because 

 of poor health. I took up bee-keeping as a fad, and 

 it has grown to such an extent that it keeps me 

 moving most of the year. 



Red Bank, N. J. C. H. Root. 



[We believe that most manufacturers attempt to 

 make their hives so that the heart shall be on the 

 outside of the hive when put together. Sometimes 

 in the rush of the season the workmen may get 

 careless and put the hand-holes and the rabbets on 

 the wrong side of the boards.— Ed. J 



Making Increase by Placing a Queen in an Upper 

 Story of Empty Combs 



Please give me your opinion of the following plan 

 for increase (or dl\ Iding) and requeenlng. In ear- 

 ly spring, when brood is well started and queens 

 can be reared, place a queen and empty combs in 

 an upper story, and all the brood In the lower sto- 

 ry, with an excluder between them. At the same 

 time, place two ripe queen-cells In the lower story 

 with brood, one in the protector and the other in a 

 long cage with candy. If the one In the protector 

 fails to return after a flight, the other can be liber- 

 ated. Would the virgin below be accepted? and 

 could she get through the excluder to the laying 

 queen above? And then in order to requeen the 

 story above, about two weeks later (May 15), di- 

 vide, catching the old queen, and then place two 

 ripe cells the same as In the lower story? 



If you think this plan advisable, please give the 

 earlier dates on which this operation could be un- 

 dertaken. Also state when it is practicable to be- 

 gin feeding in spring. Would the center of the or- 

 dinary unflavored chocolate candy be good to put 

 in a cage to feed a queen? 



Detroit, Mich., March 5. W. S. Van Horn. 



[Your plan would probably work providing it 

 were warm enough; but we certainly would not ad- 

 vise doing this in " early spring," as you suggest, as 

 you would be likely to lose a good deal of brood, 

 and disorganize the colony generally. The virgin 

 below might or might not be accepted. A good 

 deal would depend on conditions ; but in early 

 spring we would imagine that the laying queen 

 would come as near the cluster as possible. If she 

 should occupy the lower edge of the upper set of 

 frames, the probability Is that the virgin below 

 would be killed; and It is also possible that the lay- 

 ing queen above would be sacrificed, and the vir- 

 gin allowed to become the reigning mother. A lit- 

 tle later on in the season, when the colony has be- 

 come very powerful, you could put on an upper 

 story of empty combs, as suggested, and the virgin 

 in the lower section and the laying queen in the 

 upper section would probably both be allowed to 

 reign supreme. In general, we may say It Is bad 

 policy to work for Increase by any plan in the 

 spring in northern climates. 



You can begin feeding In the spring at almost any 

 time when the bees can fly freely, but we would not 

 advise It before. It Is always better, however, to 

 give combs of sealed stores in the spring, said 

 combs being taken from a reserve supply kept for 

 the purpose. We always make it a practice here In 

 Medina to keep extra combs of stores over, to give 

 out In the spring.— Fd.] 



Satisfying the Desire to Swarm, yet Preventing 

 Increase. 



Not having nor wanting many colonies, and be- 

 ing unable to procure queens, what would be the 

 objection to the following plan? 



When a colony is pretty strong, and directions 

 have been followed under head of " Increase," page 

 284, ABC and X Y Z of Bee Culture, would It be ad- 

 visable, after queen-cells in the top story have been 

 sealed, to cut out all cells but one and put the frame 

 with this one below, placing the old queen In the 

 original hive above with the newly hatched and 

 hatching bees, and leaving her there as long as her 

 laying capacity Is good? If plenty of room for sur- 

 plus were given, the only objection I can see is that, 

 when the young queen hatches below, a swarm 

 might go off with her. But would this be likely, 

 with the old queen excluded, and unsealed brood 

 in the lower hivef As an experiment would you 

 advise it? 



Shan-hai Kwan, China. J. F. Moore. 



[The modified form of Alexander Increase that 

 you propose would work, we think; but you would 

 get far better results by using a laying queen In 

 place of cells or virgins. Mr. Alexander recom- 

 mends laying queens because, with virgins or cells, 

 so much valuable time Is lost that it defeats, to a 

 very great extent, the very object of making in- 

 crease in this way. — Ed.] 



Alfalfa and Bee-keeping in New Mexico. 



Mr. Root: — In your issue for April 1 you have an 

 article headed " Drawbacks to Bee-keeping in New 

 Mexico; the Future of Alfalfa very Uncertain." We 

 have always looked upon your magazine as one 

 which endeavors to state facts; but the heading 

 which you give the article by Mr. Metcalfe is en- 

 tirely misleading. He refers to the condition exist- 

 ing around Mesllla Park. This condition does not 

 exist In all sections of New Mexico; In fact. In the 

 Roswell district there Is alfalfa which Is twenty odd 

 years of age, and It is still yielding large crops. 

 There is plenty of water there from the artesian 

 sources, and no chance for the uncertainty of the 

 future of alfalfa. There are many colonies of bees, 

 and at least fifteen of the citizens there make their 

 living from bees alone. Over fifty-two keepers of 

 hives are around Roswell. 



New York, April 5. H. Robinson. 



Swarms Entering Empty Hives; the Record Bro- 

 ken Again. 



I can beat Mr. Calvin C. Hunter's bee-story some- 

 what, page 561, Sept. 1, 1910. The bees died off very 

 badly during the winter of 1909. but I know of 31 

 swarms going into hives around here. Mark Hurd, 

 of Marshall, superintendent of the apiarian de- 

 partment of the Calhoun County fair, had 10 colo- 

 nies in the fall of 1909, and he lost all but two, leav- 

 ing eight empty hives. He just shook out the dead, 

 bees and left the hives as they were. In June a 

 neighbor asked him if he would come over and 

 hive a stray swarm for hira, for they were afraid of 

 it. He did so, so that he had only seven empty 

 hives left. In June stray swarms came and filled 

 all of the seven empty hives, and all made a full 

 super of honey apiece. He said he did not let ei- 

 ther of his old colonies swarm, and most of the 

 bees must have come for miles. 



Marshall, Mich. G. F. Pease. 



The Sour Smell from Aster. 



On page 150, March 1, more information is request- 

 ed regarding the source of a sour odor from the 

 hives. Under my own observation it has been 

 mostly from asters. In Shenandoah Valley, In Vir- 

 ginia, where I lived for fourteen years, there were 

 many acres of the small white aster, locally known 

 as iron-weed. There were several seasons when 

 the bloom was in sheets, affording a good yield of 

 surplus. The honey was a very light amber, of 

 fine quality, and was considered next to white clo- 

 ver. At such times a strong odor could be noticed 

 when walking among the plants, which was dis- 

 tinctly sour in the vicinity of the hives. I have 

 never noticed this except when the asters were 

 yielding nectar. My Italians have seldom done 

 much on goldenrod when any thing better was 

 within reach. A "knock-you-down " smell about 

 the hives is often noticeable, too, when buckwheat 

 is yielding plentifully. Burdett Hassett. 



Alamagordo, New Mexico, March 16. 



