636 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



Wasps Making Trouble in Montana. 



We have been having a great deal of trouble here 

 from the wasps and yellow-jackets that are rob- 

 bing and destroying our b^es. I lost eight or nine 

 colonies in that way last fall, and they are at the 

 bees again this fall. My bees are Italians, but the 

 wasps simply come in from somewhere and rob 

 and kill them. They do not build any nests inside 

 the hive; but early in the summer they started 

 some between the inside and outside cover. There 

 are some hornets here also, but they hs^\e not been 

 bothering very much as yet. The wasps seem to 

 work earlier and also later than the bees. I have 

 sat for an hour at a time in front of a hive and de- 

 stroyed about a hundred wasps; and while I was 

 killing one, perhaps five or six more escaped, so 

 they are pretty thick. I have been told that the 

 only remedy is to find the nests and destroy them ; 

 but that is not an easy matter, as we live in a place 

 surrounded by Cottonwood, willows, and wild-rose 

 brush. 



When the wasps start robbing a strong colony, 

 the bees are thick in front at first, and try to fight 

 them; but later the wasps win. They dart back 

 and forth so Quickly that the bees are confused. 



My wax-extractor lid became a little warped so 

 that it did not fit just right, and at onetime I found 

 a number of wasps Inside on the wax. It occurred 

 to me to put poison in the extractor, since the bees 

 could not get through the crack, and I first tried a 

 yeast cake mixed in a cake of honey. It attracted 

 them all right, but I could see no dead ones. I^ater 

 I used a sheet of poison fly-paper that had been 

 soaked in a little water: and although the wasps 

 seem to be getting fewer in numbers, I can find no 

 dead ones. So far no bees have got in: but I am 

 afraid that the lid may fly down some time and al- 

 low the Isees to get at the poison. 



Rancher, Montana. C. Isaac. 



[We have had a number of reports from Montana 

 and some of the other western .States in regard to 

 the depredations by wasps and hornets, and they 

 are apparently more serious pests than most bee- 

 keepers realize — at least in some localities. It hard- 

 ly seems to us that the few that could be poisoned 

 would make much difference. We believe that it 

 would be better to make sure that all colonies are 

 powerful and pure Italians, then have all the en- 

 trances contracted during the time when the wasps 

 are so thick.— Ed.] 



Amount of Wax in Old Combs ; Two Queens Win- 

 tered in One Hive. 



How many pounds of wax should I get from 100 

 lbs. of the average old comb, a Hatch press to be 

 used? Last fall I united two weak colonies, leav- 

 ing both queens with the united colony. Last 

 April, on opening the hive 1 was surprised to find 

 both queens living and laying. .-Vs there was no 

 division of any kind, both tiueens having access to 

 an.y part of the hive, I considered it remarkable. 



Kverett, Mass. T. J. Hawkins. 



[It depends entirely upon whether these old 

 combs contain honey or wliether they are dry; also 

 whether there is much ijollen in the cells. We 

 have sometimes obtained 50 per cent of wax by 

 weight; but as a rule it runs a little less than this, 

 owing to the fact that there is usually a little hon- 

 ey or pollen in the combs. Of course it depends, 

 too, upon the age of the combs, as new combs 

 .yield a much larger proportion of wax by weight 

 than old combs. 



Two ciueens, if they are found together in a hive 

 during the summer, almost invariably fail to keep 

 up friendly relations or else the bees do not toler- 

 ate both queens, for one is usually all that can be 

 found in the spring or even in the late fall. If you 

 could duplicate this experiment you would have 

 something valuable: but we presume that it is just 

 by accident that the two queens lived through the 

 winter. It would (•ertainly be very convenient if a 

 surplus of queens could be wintered over in this 

 way, to be used the following spring for requeen- 

 ing, etc.— Ed.] 



short legs, with wood at two sides, and queen- 

 excluders similar to those I use on my twelve- 

 frame L. hives for the two other sides and the bot- 

 tom. I am well pleased with the plan, for I could 

 easily find the queens after the bees were nearly all 

 in. Of course I found a few queens when I was 

 lifting out the combs, for I was careful not to use 

 so much STnoke that the queens would not run oft 

 on the hive. I removed all the combs that were 

 above the excluder in other hives first, then those 

 in the lower story by themselves, before I began to 

 shake. 

 Low Banks, Ont., Sept. 11. Ila Michener. 



Bees Injuring Alfalfa. 



Some of the ranchers here are circulating the re- 

 port that there are so many bees here that they 

 can"t fatten cattle on their alfalfa hay. They assert 

 that the bee.« take its strength. I am satisfied that 

 the bees do not hurt the feeding value of the alfal- 

 fa. Some even blame the bees because they can't 

 raise alfalfa seed. What do you think of such 

 people ? 



New Castle, Colo. S. R. Stewart. 



[We have heard the same story before: but how 

 any sensible man can blame the bees for alfalfa 

 failures is more than we can see. The bees have 

 about as much connection with the failure as the 

 tree had in the case of the elephant. A little boy 

 heard his elders telling conundrums, and so he 

 proposed one himself, not knowing it had to have 

 a ■' point." He asked why an elephant did not like 

 mince pie: and when no one could answer he said 

 It was because the elephant could not climb a tree! 



We supijose these ranchmen have the idea that 

 the l^ees take up all the moisture of the alfalfa 

 plants, causing them to dry up and die. The pity 

 of it all is that the bees are these ranchers" best 

 friends. -^Ed.] 



Colonies Packed in a Box. 



I have a plan for wintering my two colonies of 

 bees, and wish to ask your advice in the matter. I 

 have thought of taking a large box, and, after 

 guarding against its leaking, place the hives in it, 

 surrounding them with chaff, then putting on the 

 cover. Would it be better to leave the entrance so 

 they could go in and out as they wish to all winter? 

 or do you think that plan would not work? 



Ithaca, Mich., Sept. 11. Geo. Stivers. 



[Your plan of packing your colonies in a large 

 box in the manner you describe will be all right : 

 but you must be sure to have the entrances so ar- 

 ranged that the bees can have a free passageway to 

 the outside at all times. If you shut them in, the 

 result will be very disastrous. — Ed.] 



The Queen-finding Sieve a Success. 



As the weather was cool and cloudy when I was 

 ready to introduce a lot of ciueens that I ordered, I 

 thought I would try the plan given by J. E. Crane, 

 page 451, Aug. 1. Accordingly I made a box with 



Rearing a Queen in the Super, etc. 



I am very much interested in Florida, as I hope 

 to go there some day. I wish to say that the series 

 of articles by Mr. E. G. Baldwin, on bee-keeping in 

 Florida was worth a year's subscription. I am 

 only a beginner, starting last year with one colo- 

 ny. My son and myself bought six more this 

 spring. I let two queens la.v in the supers, and 

 thereby had two strong colonies. One of these I 

 divided and got two good colonies, the mother 

 colony giving me 25 lbs. of honey. The other strong 

 colony I let alone, and that gave me 35 lbs. I had 

 one swarm: and in trying to introduce pure Italian 

 queens three were killed. 



This has been a poor year about here. We got 

 about 140 lbs. of honey from seven colonies, and 

 shall have to feed some syrup. 



New Bedford, Mass. I. Elliott. 



Will Unsealed Honey Sour? 



I should like to know if honey would sour if kept 

 in unsealed combs. 

 Chicago, 111. R. K. 



[If unsealed honey is kept in a warm dry place 

 we do not think there will be any danger that it 

 will sour: but usually, since it has not been thor- 

 oughly ripened when it is still unsealed, it is a lit- 

 tle harder to keep than sealed honey. Any honey, 

 if kept in a cool damp place, will absorb moisture 

 from the air. and. after beconiing very thin, will 

 sour very quickly. — Ed.] 



