454 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



®(o)[idw(B[p©siGd(o)[jd© \^dG[}d [Bco)(dDd1]G 



At Borodino, New York 



FINDING BLACK OR HYRRID QUEENS, ETC. 



"I have no trouble in finding yellow Ital- 

 ian queens; but with a colony of hybrids 

 having an almost black queen, or with 

 blacks that will stampede on the least prov- 

 ocation, I confess 1 lose all patience." 



"Finding black or very dark-colored hy- 

 brid queens often baffles an exjiert, to say 

 nothing of a beginner. Much care in open- 

 ing the hive is the great secret of success, 

 and here is where I think you probably 

 failed. Then if you choose the hours be- 

 tween 10 A. M. and 2 p. M., when the bees are 

 at work and flying freely, you will find in 

 this another valuable secret. I know of 

 many beginners who have thought that a 

 cool day, when the bees are somewhat slug- 

 gish, is the time to do all work with the 

 bees. There never was a greater mistake 

 than this. Choose the time when the larg- 

 est number of field bees and sporting young 

 bees are out of the hive, and the chances 

 will be much better. At such times the 

 hive is not congested with bees as it is on a 

 cool cloudy day, or early in the morning or 

 late in the afternoon. 



'•Therefore, choose a time when the day 

 is warm, the sun shining brightly, and the 

 bees flying freely. Open the hive slowly 

 without jar, and use as little smoke as pos- 

 sible, allowing what you do use to float 

 slowly over the tops of the combs. Then 

 be very careful not to kill a single bee; for 

 if bees are killed they throw off a scent of 

 poison which is very apt to arouse the ire of 

 the whole colony. From this we would be 

 obliged to use so much smoke in quieting 

 them that the whole mass would likely be 

 stampeded, under which condition it is 

 nearly impossible to find the queen of any 

 race. Having the hive ojiened, sit doM-n by 

 it with your back to the sun, so that the 

 sunlight will strike the side of the comb 

 nearest j^ou. Now remove the comb next 

 to the side of the hive; examine it quickly; 

 and if you do not see the queen, set it in an 

 empty hive brought for the purpose, plac- 

 ing it on the side furthest from you. On 

 removing the second comb from the hive, 

 glance down upon the side of the comb in 

 the hive which was next to the one just 

 raised before you look at the one you have 

 in your hands. If the queen is on that side 

 of the comb, when the strong sunlight 

 strikes her she will immediately commence 

 to run around the comb to get out of the 

 light. If you do i.ot see her at once (which 

 you will be apt to do if she is there, as the 

 strong light striking her as she is running 

 makes her very prominent) , then look on 

 the side of the comb you hold in your hands 

 that is furthest from you, as the queen is 

 sure to be on one of the dark sides of the 

 combs. If she is not there, set this comb 

 in the other hive, close to the one that you 

 put in first. Proceed in this way till all the 

 frames are taken out, unless you find the 

 queen sooner. 



" If not found, look at the corners or else- 

 where about the hive wherever you see little 

 clusters of bees; for if the queen is very shy, 

 or you have used too much smoke, or jarred 

 the hive somewhat, she may leave the 

 combs and run down into the corners or 

 elsewhere about the hive. If you still do 

 not find the queen, proceed to put the combs 

 back in the same order you took them be- 

 fore, glancing them over in the same way; 

 and in nineteen cases out of twenty you 

 should find any queen before the combs are 

 all back, as tliey were at the start, even if 

 the colony is composed of pure black bees 

 and you are only a novice. 



" As I said at the beginning, taking care at 

 the start, so as not to stampede the bees, 

 and having as few bees in the hive as pos- 

 sible when you hunt, is the great secret of 

 success. These, together with a strong 

 light and a knowledge of how any queen 

 will act under certain conditions, give you 

 the key to the whole matter." 



'• WiU it pay me to plant different things 

 for the bees to forage upon? " 



"Unless the desired flora cover the hun- 

 dreds of acres owned all about the apiary by 

 others you can not meet with the success 

 you otherwise would; for planting and sow- 

 ing for honey where nature does not pro- 

 vide natural forage in profusion can not 

 make up for what is lacking. It may help 

 somewhat, where the environments keep 

 you in a jilace where nature does not fur- 

 nish flowers in profusion. 



"There is no subject of more importance 

 to the bee-keeper, nor is there one that gives 

 him more pleasure, than the study of the 

 honey -producing flowers in his locality. 

 No matter where they bloom, if bees gather 

 nectar from them they at once become an 

 object of interest. By having the desired 

 flora in our location, and then so manipu- 

 lating or working our colonies that the max- 

 imum number of bees come on the stage of 

 action just at the time when the flora pro- 

 ducing the maximum amount of nectar is 

 in bloom, our success is assured." 



" Where shall I put my comb honey when 

 off the hive so it will keep best?" 



"To keep comb honey perfectly, the tem- 

 perature should never go below 70 degrees 

 F. From 80 to 95 degrees is what should be 

 aimed at during the day time; and the 

 room in which it is kept should be dry and 

 as airy as possible. A (hirk room keeps the 

 color of the combs better. Keeping honey 

 in a warm dry room makes it thicker, rich- 

 er, and heavier. When thus kept, if there 

 is honey in unsealed cells this honey will 

 becojne so thick that it will not ruii out, 

 even if the combs are turned down on their 

 sides. If the room is damp, and the tern 

 perature falls lower than (jO degrees, the 

 honey takes on moisture, becomes thin, and 

 eventually sours. Therefore, always store 

 honey in a warm dry room but never in the 

 cellar." 



