Sept. 1. 1911 



537 



until the queens were cramped tor room. Under 

 these circumstance a iiueen may lay more than one 

 egg in a cell. We do not believe tliat the fact that 

 the colonies had dysentery througli tlie winter had 

 much to do with the behavior of the queens, al- 

 though poor queens might have such weak colo- 

 nies that they would readily succumb to dysentery. 

 Perhaps it would be all right to raise queens from 

 these eggs: but at the same time we .should dislike 

 to breed from a queen that was not normal in all 

 respects. But if the queen were merely cramped 

 for room, then of course it might be all right to 

 breed from these eggs. — Kd.] 



Bees and Smoke. 



We may never know whether bees inherit a fear 

 of smoke. I doubt it. All adult wild and tame an- 

 imals fear it because it suggests fire. I think it 

 likely that bees, like quadrupeds and babies, must 

 learn by experience, though to my mind it is suth- 

 cient explanation that the smoke causes the air- 

 passages to smart, and even suffocates. I think it 

 wise to blow smoke into the entrance of a hive, be- 

 cause the bees smell it, and. fearing it. begin to 

 gorge themselves. However, it is not for the bees 

 in the hive that I blow smoke in at the lower en- 

 trance, but for the benefit of the field bees, which, 

 returning partly laden, or, possibly, wholly so, will 

 attack a person ferociously: but if they go into the 

 hive they will generally be as docile as those which 

 were there when the smoke was first blown in, I 

 use smoke to drive the bees back. Just as others do. 



I have found that an odorless smoke, like the va- 

 pors of nascent ammonium muriate, will not af- 

 fect the bees at all, if free from ammonia or acid 

 fumes: but a perfectly colorless atmosphere charged 

 with the vapors of "liquid smoke," which is used 

 to cure meat, will make them uneasy, and some of 

 them will begin eating. This Is conclusive evi- 

 dence to me that the odor of smoke is all that is 

 necessary to keep the bees quiet unless they are 

 particularly ugly, when sometimes no amount of 

 smoke will subdue them. 



Buck Grove, la. A. F, Bonney. 



Keeping the Tops of the Hives Warm in Winter. 



Perhaps it may be of some interest to the bee- 

 keeping fraternity to state liow I care for my bees 

 during the winter. Late in the summer, when the 

 honey-flow is over, I examine each colony careful- 

 ly and make sure it has ample stores for winter, 

 and also that it has a good vigorous queen. If the 

 queen is of the current season's rearing, all the 

 better. Having satisfied myself that the colony is 

 in good condition I place a half-depth super over 

 the brood-chamber and let the bees seal it down 

 tight. As there is always an aljundance of propolis 

 in the fall, this is soon accomplished. I then place 

 directly over the brood-frames several thicknesses 

 of woolen cloths (preferably old blanketsi, and then 

 fill up the super witli old rags, dry leaves, grass, 

 etc.. and. last of all. about a half-inch layer of new.s- 

 papers. 1 then put on the cover; and if the weath- 

 er should become cold I wrap several thicknesses 

 of newspapers or carpet around the entire hive. 

 The entrances measure about 5 inches by Vz inch. 

 My hives face the north. While others have lost 

 three out of four colonies, I have never lost one 

 packed in this manner. I aim to have the tops of 

 the hives as warm as possible, not paying much at- 

 tention to the sides: and I think most bee-keepers 

 will agree with me in believing that this is the true 

 principle of successful wintering. 



HOW TO SEPARATE SUPERS THAT ARE STUCK FAST 

 WITH BURR-COMBS. 



It often happens that bees build brace-combs be- 

 tween the different supers on the hives: and to sep- 

 arate them is naturally a sticky and disagreeable 

 job, to say nothing of the disturbance to the bees 

 by pr.vlng them apart and cutting the brace-combs 

 as best one can. I proceed as follows: I drive a 

 small wedge at each corner of one side of the hive, 

 leaving a gap of about a sixteenth of an inch or a 

 trifle more. I then take a piece of fine wire, such 

 as is used to wire brood-frames, and draw it back 

 and forth— in other word.s. seesaw it to the other 

 side of the hive. Every burr-comb will thus be cut 

 in two, and the bees will hardly show they have 

 been disturbed. By this method there is no jarring 

 of the hive, and no disturbance: and what is often a 

 disagreeable task becomes a trifling one. 



Cinciimati, O. Albim Platz. 



Queen-excluders Under Supers. 



. Would you advise using excluders to keep the 

 queen from laying in the supers? How soon do the 

 young queens batch after the swarm issues ? 



Belleville, Pa. Voder Bros. 



[In the ijroduction of comb hone.v it is not cus- 

 tomary to use queen-excluders to keep the queen 

 in the brood-chamber: but when running for ex- 

 tracted, excluders are very often used. In fact, we 

 may say that most of our best bee-keepers think it 

 economy to put on excluders so that the upper story 

 of the hive will be free from brood, and, to a great 

 extent, of pollen. For further particulars on this 

 subject you are referred to the subject of " Drones 

 and Extracted honey " in our ABC and X Y Z of 

 Bee Culture. The young queens usually hatch 

 from the cells about the day that the swarm is cast. 

 Sometime.s they come out a day ahead, and some- 

 times not for two or three days. — Ed.] 



Will the Spraying of Cotton with Paris Green Cause 

 Trouble to Bees or Their Owner ? 



We have the army-worms eating up our cotton- 

 le.'iwes. and a friend about IM miles from me is poi- 

 soning his cotton with Paris green. I want to know 

 if the bees could get any of this poison without kill- 

 ing them, and store it in the supers so that it would 

 be dangerous for us to eat. There is much cotton 

 nearer than this friend's. 



Cliftonville, Mis.s. B. G, Patty. 



[We do not think the spraying of the cotton-plant 

 itself with Paris green would cause any trouble 

 with the bees or their owners unless the cotton 

 were in bloom at the time. If you find any bees 

 dying, we should be pleased to have you report, as 

 we are Interested in knowing about this. — Ed.] 



The Misuse of Copper Vessels for JVIaking Syrup. 



RefeiTing to the Straw on p. :386, in which a case 

 of bee-poisoning is noted after feeding syrup pre- 

 pared in a copper vessel, I beg to venture the opin- 

 ion that the trouble was caused by the misuse in- 

 stead of the use of such a vessel. A clean copper 

 vessel is all right: but one in which verdigris ibasic 

 acetate of copper) has been allowed to form is very 

 dangerous, as this substance is highly poisonous. 



Wilmington. N. C July 14. F. L. HUGGINS. 



[As Mr. lluggins is superintendent of The Cape 

 Fear Chemical Co. he can speak with some author- 

 ity. He is undoubtedly right. — Ed.] 



How IVIuch Stores does a Colony Consume in a 

 Year? 



About what amount of honey will an average col- 

 ony of bees consume during the year? I do not re- 

 niember seeing this mentioned in any of the l)ee- 

 books. 



Lexington, Ind., July 27. L. E. Mace. 



[It was estimated some years ago, that, during 

 the entire year, an average colony would consume 

 about 200 lbs. of stores during the 12 months. This 

 estimate was based on the northern tier of States, 

 where the winters are cold. If the colony would 

 yield a surplus of. say, 50 lbs., it would have to gath- 

 er 250 lbs. -Ed.] 



Proof that Bees Can Not Puncture Fruit. 



"Do bees puncture fruit?" Well. I say not, so 

 far as m.v experience goes. I have driven through 

 a half-cleared swamp to-flay. and saw great quanti- 

 ties of what we call wild balsam, with a profuse 

 yellow flower, and bees just roaring on it, I stop- 

 ped to take notes. This plant has the trick of 

 bursting its seed-pod when one puts his finger on 

 it. ^^'ell, I failed to see a single bee try to crawl 

 into the blos.som: but every one would go to the 

 front of the blossom, and smell: and if it contained 

 honey the bee would fly to the other end and lick 

 it out, provided the blossom had been already 

 punctvired. If not, it would leave at once and hunt 

 a blossom that sinelled of honey from the front, 

 then wheel to the other end. This flower is very 

 tender, and perhajjs three-fifths of the blossoms had 

 already been cut at the base by some other insect: 

 so we see that bees do not hunt honey with their 

 teeth, but with the tongue, which is provided for 

 the purpo.se. 



Hosenvorth, Ont. Charles Mitchell. 



