1911 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



311 



of honey it would do no harm, for they would fill 

 the empty sections, and then all could be taken off 

 again. I have not yet tried this, but desire to know 

 how it would work. 

 Goodland, Ind., Feb. 8. Jo. Xakziger, 



[The question of putting an empty super above or 

 below one partly filled depends entirely on condi- 

 tions: as. for example, the strength of the colony, 

 the strength of the honey-flow, and whether the 

 season is well on or near its close. In some cases it 

 is better to put the empties on top. Unless the col- 

 ony is very strong and the honey-flow good, extra 

 supers should be put above rather than below; and 

 even if the colony is strong it is better to put the 

 empty on top when the season is near its close. At 

 the beginning of a strong flow, and with a powerful 

 colony, we advise putting the empty xinder the 

 half-filled super already on the hive. 



We would not advise your scheme of putting on 

 supers in the spring with half the sections filled 

 with honey and the other half empty. Better by 

 far give the necessary stores by inserting frames of 

 .sealed honey or by feeding. By your plan the emp- 

 ty sections will become badly soiled before the bees 

 get ready to put honey in them during the honey- 

 flow. There is no objection to feeding back from 

 sections that are partly filled or otherwise uudesir- 

 able, of the previous season. — Ed.] 



Does the Presence of Comb Interfere with the 

 Introduction of a Queen ? 



After reading your article, p. 49, .Jan. 15. 1910. en- 

 titled "Shipping Bees in Pound Packages Without 

 Combs," It occurred to me that you probably had 

 forgotten the teachings of Swarthmore when you 

 said, page 52, that it is the absence of queen brood 

 and comb that causes the bees to accept a strange 

 queen — italics mine. 



Some years ago I Introduced a number of queens, 

 or, rather, made increase by shaking bees into a 

 prepared hive that contained at least one comb of 

 honey but no brood, shutting them up for six hours, 

 then running a laying queen Into the hive. While 

 T tried only about a dozen I didn't lose any; and if 

 I remember correctly I took all the bees from one 

 hive to make each new swarm, or, in other words, 

 there was no mixing of bees from different colonies. 



One of the first colonies I found this way swarmed 

 out the day I set It out. After that, when setting 

 them out after the queens had been in the hives for 

 48 hours I gave each one a frame of young brood 

 and had no more trouble with their swarming out. 

 So I think your article is misleading in placing as 

 much stress on the absence of cowife as of queen and 

 brood. 



Erma, N. J., April 1. F. H. Fostbk. 



[It is our opinion, based on experience covering 

 many years of practical work in putting up bees by 

 the pound, that the absence of combs as well as of 

 brood is an Importani factor in the introduction of 

 queens. When bees are put Into a wire-cloth cage 

 or box without brood, comb, or queen thPir colony 

 spirit Is utterly broken. Their condition is so hope- 

 less and forlorn — that is to say, so abnormal — that 

 they "do not care whether school keeps or not." 

 Now, then, if those same bees be given a comb or 

 combs, even though there Is no brood in them, 

 their condition begins to approach the normal, and 

 the colony snirit begins to show evidence of assert- 

 ing itself. While we have no doubt that you could 

 introduce queens to bees that were queenless but 

 had broodless combs, yet that fact on a small scale 

 would not prove that the presence or absence of 

 comb was an unimportant factor. Do not lose 

 sight of the fact that the chances for successful in- 

 troduction as described in Gleanings, p. 49 of last 

 year, are very greatly enhanced by making the 

 conditions surrounding the bees as nearly abnor- 

 mal as possible.— Ed.] 



The Care of Newly Hatched Queens. 



What shall I do with queens from the time they 

 are first hatched until I need them? I shall have 

 seven more queens than I shall have places for, 

 very soon, but shall need them later. How shall I 

 keep them? How long can they be kept from the 

 colony? 



Bakersfleld, Cal., April 7. R. L. Mobley. 



[We are afraid you will find It a difficult matter 

 to keep extra queens on hand that you have no use 

 for unless you form nuclei, and you will have to 

 have pretty good-sized nuclei too. Queens kept In 



cages inside a hive are often not well cared for: and 

 queens kept for too long a time in very small nu- 

 clei are liable to swarm out If there is not enough 

 cell room for eggs. You could keep surplus queens 

 a few days in the regular mailing-cages, for the 

 candy in the cages will supply the food just as it 

 does on the journey: but you must remember that, 

 the longer the queen is away from the bees, the 

 worse it is for that queen: furthermore, when the 

 queen is finally mailed the cage should be supplied 

 with fresh candy.— Ed.] 



Split Sections in Open-top Holders. 



The illustration represents ray method of using 

 foundation 3Js x TVs (a piece 3; s x 15% cut in two) in 

 4K split sections in placeof the regular size furnish- 



3£-£^ SPAcer 



c 



HALF OF HOLDER 



BOTTOM. 



ed for the same. I have no buckling; there Is less 

 gnawing by the bees: a saving In foundation, and. 

 If desired, the sections may be split on only two 

 sides, thereby leaving them stronger. I use the 

 ordinary open-top section-holders with solid bot- 

 toms. 



I first place the sections and fences in position In 

 the super. I us ^ the extra-thin super foundation, 

 and there is plenty of friction to hold it in place till 

 all are firmly keyed up with springs or otherwise. 

 If using sections split on only two sides it might be 

 necessary to leave the foundation projecting a lit- 

 tle on top, and touch the edge with a warm iron. 



For years I have fed my 

 colonies successfully by 

 pouring syrup in at the en- 

 trance with the flat funnel 

 shown. I tip up the fronts 

 of the hives so the syrup 

 will not run out: and, as all 

 my bottom-boards are par- 

 affined, there is no leakage. 

 D ELLON D. Smith. 

 Wyoming, N. Y. 

 [Pouring syrup into the bottom-board after the 

 front end of the hive is lifted up a little is perfectly 

 feasible provided the bottom-boards are old enough 

 to be covered over with bee-glue; otherwise the 

 syrup will leak and cause robbing. Before using 

 bottom-boards as feeders It would be well to in- 

 spect them carefully: and any that show any place 

 where they might leak should be closed up with a 

 mixture of beeswax and rosin. — Ed.] 



Why did the Swarm Return to the Old Hive? 



Being a Gleanings reader I take the liberty of 

 asking a question. Why do bees swarm and return 

 to the hive whence they came? Monday afternoon 

 (May 1) I had a swarm come forth, and. after cir- 

 cling a while, it settled on the old stand and en- 

 tered. To-day, May 3, this swarm did the same 

 thing. How do you account for these strange pro- 

 ceedings? 



Cornerstone, Ark. S. W. Boswell, Jk. 



[The probabilities are that the queen was not 

 able to follow the swarm, either because her wings 

 were defective or because they had been clipped. 

 Asa general thing a swarm will not return to it.s 

 old hive if the queen is with them.— Ed.] 



Florida Drouths. 



I should like to tell Mr. E. R. Root that some 

 three years ago on the Pinellas Peninsula we had a 

 drouth which lasted about ten months: also that, 

 in a long and varied experience, I have never seen 

 a worse country for a poor white workingman than 

 Florida. 



Ruskin, Fla. H. J. Newman. 



