Dec. 1, 1911 



733 



any other brood above the excluder. The drone 

 brood In each instance was at the lower edge of the 

 comb, and just above the zinc. 



Last year, in rearing queens I shook a queenless 

 colony on to some combs that had been partly fill- 

 ed with honey, placing: a queen-excluder beneath 

 the bees, and giving them at the same time a 

 single coml) of eggs and larva; just hatched. Later 

 I found four fine large queen-cells on the face of 

 the comb next to the one which I gave them, and 

 which contained the only brood or eggs in the 

 hive. Mr. Simmins might claim that the drone 

 eggs, above the queen-excluder, were laid by a 

 worker bee, though 1 never heard of a laying work- 

 er in a colony containing a vigorous young queen, 

 such as each of the three colonies mentioned had; 

 and in the latter case, laying workers would be out 

 of the question, for the cells developed fine young 

 queens. 



Battle Creek, Mich. Frederick H. Harvey. 



More Wasps Going in and Out of a Hive than Bees. 



1 was interested in reading the letter from Mr. 

 Hand, p. 514, Sept. 1, on outdoor feeding and the 

 comments following, as I had put out two pans of 

 syrup a few days before, and I had the annoyance of 

 seeing it practically all taken by wasps; so, until I 

 have further information, I have stopped feeding 

 this way and am feeding inside the hives. 



We have had much trouble with wasps this year, 

 and they seem particularly bad just now, attracted, 

 probably, by the honey extracting. With one of 

 three queens which I bought this season I formed 

 a nucleus; but found, a few days after, that there 

 were more wasps going in and, out of the hive than 

 there were bees, and on the alighting-board a very 

 considerable number of bees' legs. 1 opened the 

 hive and found in it numerous wasps. One of the 

 frames of drawn-out foundation holes had been 

 eaten, and the hive-floor was strewn with bees' 

 legs. The capped brood given to the nucleus had 

 the cappiugs stripped off, and the brood was muti- 

 lated. The queen with a few bees was between two 

 frames. 



1 added another frame of bees, and closed the en- 

 trance with grass. To-day, 48 hours after, the bees 

 have eaten through the grass and seem to be all 

 right. Yesterday, while the entrance was closed I 

 put a bottle of syruij on the hive-cover, and by this 

 means caught a lot of wasps. We find the wasp 

 a serious nuisance. I am unable to find out what 

 becomes of the bodies of the bees. I saw several 

 young bees emerge from the hive in a crippled con- 

 dition. Had they been stung? Can you give me 

 any information that will help me in my troubles? 



Okanagan Landing, B. C. K. Peters. 



[Wasps making so much trouble is unusual. See 

 our reply to C. Isaac, p. 636, Oct. 15. — Ed.] 



Carbolineum to Drive Ants Away ; Spiders a Source 

 of Annoyance. 



Ants have annoyed me in the way complained of 

 by Mr. Muth-Rasmusseu, page 634, Oct. 15. Last 

 spring 1 painted my bottom-boards with Avenarius 

 carbolineum, and no ants appeared. Later in the 

 season 1 put out an unpainted bottom-board, and 

 the space between the super and outer covers was 

 soon occupied by thousands of ants, but they did 

 not seem to object to the carbolineum which had 

 been used on the alighting-boards. 



Various kinds of spiders have troubled me very 

 much in other seasons by building webs and nests 

 vinder my alighting-boards, and lying in wait for 

 any returning bees that, missing the entrance, 

 chanced to fall to the ground. After the treatment 

 with carbolineuni the spiders were also conspicu- 

 ous by tht-ir absence. This is my experience with 

 carbolineum for one season only. 1 give it for 

 what it is worth. Speaking of spiders, the big yellow 

 and black fellows seem to me to show as much cal- 

 culating intelligence as any insect I ever came in 

 contact with. Every fall, morning after morning, I 

 have to tear down the great webs which they have 

 liuilt in front of the hives. In order to suspend 

 their webs in proper position to catch the bees in 

 ilight they frequently string their supporting ca- 

 bles from a high fence to small fruit-trees several 

 feet away, showing considerable engineering skill. 



Referring to Mr. Rineharfs question, p. 635, Oct. 

 15, I never see a picture of an apiary with shade- 



boards on the hives, and weighted down with 

 bricks and stones, without wondering why more 

 bee-keepers do not use the deep cover. I do not 

 see how it can be more expensive or more trouble 

 to handle than the flat cover with shade-boards 

 and weights, and in this climate it is good for both 

 summer and winter, with no change except the 

 addition of a few inches of packing between the 

 super and outside covers for winter. 

 Louisville, Ky. W. C. Furnas. 



Wintering a Surplus of Queens; a Plan for Re- 

 queening After the Honey-flow. 



Some time ago Gleanings published a few re- 

 ports on the question of the wintering of a number 

 of queens in one brood-nest. Apparently it did not 

 attract much attention, as we have heard but lit- 

 tle about it lately. Next to better methods of rais- 

 ing queens, I consider this the most promising 

 field for investigation in all beedom. 



I wish to requeen every year: so, as soon as the 

 honey-flow ends I divide the brood-nest in halves 

 by inserting a close-fitting division-board. Out of 

 this Board I cut a space 6 x 12 in., and cover it with 

 wire cloth. To each half I give a select cell from a 

 choice breeder. After each queen has been laying, 

 I take frames, bees, queen, and all from one side of 

 the division-board, and place them in the upper 

 story, putting in their place empty frames of comb 

 or frames of foundation, at the same time remov- 

 ing the division-board. Between the upper and 

 lower story I place a queen-excluder. The result is, 

 two queens breeding strong colonies which are 

 sure to winter. Then if 1 can not carry both queens 

 over the winter I have a choice of two that have 

 had a good long time to show their worth. But if 

 I can winter both, 1 have two queens laying in one 

 hive, and large quantities of brood early for the 

 harvest. 



At the beginning of the honey harvest, pinch the 

 head of one queen and let the other one survive. 

 Now, what is the matter with that proposition? I 

 wish to avoid useless experiments, and have been 

 very much pleased with the idea. Will it work? 



Toronto, Can., Nov. 6. Charles B. Hopper. 



[Your plan is all right if it will work; but so many 

 have met only failure when trying to work two or 

 more queens to the hive that the prospect for oth- 

 ei's to make a success of it is not assuring, to say 

 the most. The same failures in trying to winter a 

 plurality of queens to the hive is equally discour- 

 aging. We do not wish to throw cold water on ei- 

 ther proposition, and therefore we commend your 

 zeal in going at the matter as if you expected to suc- 

 ceed. It is that spirit that makes success. We 

 should like to hear from you next spring and sum- 

 mer. If you or any one else can evolve a plan 

 whereby two or mure queens can be wintered so as 

 to be available the following spring when they are 

 so scarce, you will ijlace the bee-keepers of the 

 world under great obligation to you. It is well 

 worth the trial. 



We know there are some who say they have suc- 

 ceeded; but apparently no one has been able to du- 

 plicate their success. — Ed.] 



How Many Colonies will a Square Mile of Alfalfa 

 Support ? 



Can you give me an estimate of how many colo- 

 nies of bees can be kept profitably per square mile 

 of alfalfa in an irrigation project, where it is pro- 

 duced for hay, and blooms twice, being in bloom 

 about a week each time? I consider a yield of 

 nearly 100 lbs. of extracted necessary for success 

 here. 



Garland, Wyo.. Oct. 26. John Hendricks. 



[This question is one that can not be answered 

 definitely. Those who live in the alfalfa region 

 have said that, when conditions are just right, as 

 many as 1000 colonies might be kept on 40 acres of 

 alfalfa. Of course, conditions are so rarely just right 

 that this number is all out of proportion with the 

 average. The truth is, there are times when only 40 

 colonies would starve on 1000 acres. There is really 

 no way to tell except to start with a few colonies, 

 and cautiously increase. We should say that it 

 would be the exception rather than the rule when 

 more than 2(i0 colonies at the very most could be 

 kept in one location — the average number being, 

 perhaps, not far from 100 colonies. — Ed.] 



