JANUARY 15, 1914 



Heads of Grain from Different Fields 



Moving Bees in Mid-winter 



On Feb. 1, 1913, bees had a flight. It turned 

 cold that night, and we had a snowstorm Feb. 11. I 

 moved 40 colonies about 100 yards, and a few days 

 afterward bees could fly again. I asked my man if 

 he noticed any bees go back to the old place. He 

 said, " Yes, they were all down at the old place for 

 a few days, but always went back at night." That 

 going back at night he was just guessing about. 

 From what I have noticed in moving a colony that 

 had been in ten days on account of bad weather, 

 this fall, late, and the going back last winter, I am 

 under the impression that a lot of flying bees are lost 

 by cold- weather moving. I have some to move a 

 short distance, but I am not pleased with this cold- 

 weather moving, as a flying bee has no time to hunt 

 a home when away from the cluster in cold weather. 

 They simply perish. I have a neighbor who was com- 

 pelled to move 30 colonies from one side of his house 

 to the other a few days ago. I asked him if they 

 went back. He said, " Yes, but they seemed to get 

 back home to their new location again," and added 

 that he could not notice that he lost any. 



Galena, Kan., Dec. 8. J. P. Brumfield. 



[Your bees had not been confined long enough to 

 move them only one hundi-ed yards. A far better and 

 safer way is to put them in the cellar and keep them 

 there for two or three months. Then you can move 

 them 10 another location ; but even then some of the 

 bees may be inclined to come back to their old stands. 

 When bees are moved out of the cellar, and put back 

 in the same location, though not on the same stands, 

 they will mix more or less; but this does no harm. 

 In moving bees in midwinter from one side of the 

 house to the other, it is desirable to have the old 

 location changed as much as possible ; and the longer 

 the bees can be confined to their hives before they fly 

 again the better. They will go back, providing it 

 does not turn cold toward evening too quickly, chill 

 ing Ihem so they can not return if they would. If 

 there is a period of a couple of weeks of bad weath- 

 er from then on, these chilled bees will never get 

 back ; but if the cold spell lasts only two or three 

 days, and then warms up so the bees can fly, these 

 chilled bees, as soon as they warm up, will generally 

 take wing and go home. This is not a crude giiess, 

 for we know whereof we speak. — Ed.] 



Best Time to Requeen 



What is the best time to requeen in central Iowa? 

 How is it best and easiest to find the old queen? 

 Edward Wurtzel. 



[The best time to requeen will depend somewhat 

 upon conditions. If there is European foul brood in 

 a locality, and the bees are black, the sooner you 

 do it the better. If you rear your own queens, a 

 good time to requeen is during the swarming season. 

 Cut out swarming-cells from the best colonies; put 

 them into nuclei where they can hatch virgins; then 

 allow them to mate. After they get to laying, kill 

 the poorest of the queens in the full colonies, and 

 put these young queens in their place. - If you buy 

 your queens the best time to requeen is after July 

 1, when prices are at their very lowest. During 

 July and August, queens can usually be bought at 

 quite a reduction in price, providing a quantity is 

 taken. 



There is no best and easiest way to find the old 

 queen. In the case of black bees it is sometimes 

 advisable to run all the bees through perforated zinc 

 and catch the queen on the metal after all the bees 

 have gone through ; but in the case of ordinary Ital- 

 ian and hybrid bees, or any bees that will be quiet 

 on the combs, the best way is to look over the combs 

 carefully one by one until she is found. — Ed.] 



Apiaries — Proximity of to Common Highway and 

 Line Fences 



Have you any knowledge of cases tried in this 

 State to determine the distance the law requires bees 

 to be set from a public or private highway ? The 

 reason I am inquiring is that a party is trying to 

 force a private highway through the edge of my 

 apiary. Should he be successful in securing the 

 road, would I be obliged to move my bees ? I have 

 always used this yard for my bees. 



Alamo, Mich., Nov. 29. Bert Williams. 



[We have no knowledge of any cases tried in 

 Michigan to determine the distance that bees may be 

 kept from a common highway. As a matter of pre- 

 caution, however, we always advise that bees be kept 

 as far away from roadways as possible, and in the 

 same way advise keeping a good distance away from 

 a line fence, especially if there is pasturage on the 

 other side, where horses or cows are allowed to 

 pasture. 



We do not know what the law would be in a case 

 such as you describe; but we may say in a general 

 way that you are liable for any damages that may 

 take place. We would advise you to move your bees 

 away from the proximity of the private roadway to 

 be on the safe side — that is, providing you can do 

 it, and we suppose you can. It is very much better 

 in cases like this to avoid trouble in the first place 

 rather than to run the danger of tourt proceedings. 

 — Ed.1 



A Correction 



Mr. Root: — I am in receipt of copies of the De- 

 cember 1st issue of Gleanings, and I wish to thank 

 you very much for the kind words, also for usherir'^ 

 me to the front cover of your magazine. I wish to 

 mention one error in the write-up. I note it reads 

 that I am a son-in-law of Mr. H. P. Cary, which 

 should be W. W. Cary, Jr. I think the following 

 explanation will make clear how this came about. 

 There was a senior and a junior Wm. Whiting Cary. 

 Senior W. W. Cary was the man who worked with 

 Langstroth and helped care for the first successful 

 importation of Italian bees to Long Island, imported 

 by Parsons. Mr. Parsons gave this Mr. Cary a sup- 

 ply of Italians when he returned home from his 

 season's work in 1860. W. W. Cary, Sr., continued 

 breeding Italian bees from that time on until W. W. 

 Cary, Jr., took the business and added to it the vine- 

 gar business, which has developed very rapidly. Mr. 

 H. F. Cary is the son of W. W. (!!ary, Jr., and he is 

 my brother-in-law. He now devotes his entire time 

 to the vinegar business, and W. W. Cary, Jr., spends 

 his winters in Florida. You will note the bee busi- 

 ness has been passed down from W. W. Cary, Sr., to 

 W. W. Cary, Jr., H. P. Cary, and to me. 



Lvonsville, Mass., Dec. 15. Earl M. Nichols. 



Snow Does Little Damage if Entrances Face Di- 

 rection the Wind is Blowing 



During the snowstorm on Nov. 9 and 10, as men- 

 tioned p. 836, Dec. 1, some of our colonies were 

 under snow to the depth of about four feet for some 

 time. In mountainous countries, where men and 

 beasts ai'e occasionally caught in snowslides we know 

 snow may be very porous, and air may pass through 

 it quite freely ; but we have all seen the result of a 

 sudden change of weather when snow changes from 

 a porous blanket to an air-tight covering — often in 

 as short a time as one hour; and couseqiently I 

 always look to all colonies facing any direction but 

 east, which have no windbreak on the east. I have 

 never found colonies with east entrances, and with 

 no obstruction or windbreak in front of them, en- 

 tirely difted shut. There is always a blow-hole form- 

 ed by the warm breath of the bees. This blow-hole 



