FEBRUARY 1, 1914 



Heads of Grain from Different Fields 



Is a Hungry Queen More Likely to be Accepted ? 



I have been much interested in your account of 

 the smoke method of introducing. I have tried it a 

 number of times the past season, and have failed 

 but once, and that was in the case of a double hive. 

 Afterward I noticed the partition between the two 

 colonies had a crack large enough so the bees of the 

 two hives could go back and forth. Whether this 

 was the reason for the failure I do not know. 



Do you think it would make any difference with 

 the success of the method if the queen has fasted a 

 few minutes before she is run in? There would be 

 a few minutes when she would be without food if 

 she were put into a cage alone, before we could get 

 the colony in shape to run her in. Supposing the 

 queen is received by mail with workers which would 

 feed her, would she be as acceptable, in your opin- 

 ion, as a queen that was a little hungry ? No doubt 

 you have had experience in this. I have not, as all 

 the queens I have introduced by this method have 

 been queens taken directly from my own hives. 



Have you been as successful in running virgin 

 queens into full strong colonies as you have with 

 fertile queens ? 



Randolph, N. Y., Dec. 1. George Shiber. 



[Undoubtedly the leak between the two hives was 

 the cause of the one failure that you report in the 

 smoke method of introducing. A fasting queen, un- 

 der ordinary conditions, will be more readily received 

 by the bees than one that has been well fed. You 

 will find the fasting method of introducing given in 

 Samuel Simmins' book, " A Modern Bee-farm." A 

 description of this same method will be found under 

 the head of " Introducing," in our ABC and X Y 

 Z of Bee Culture. Mr. Arthur C. Miller, however, 

 the author of the smoke method of introducing, does 

 not believe that it is necessary to go to the trouble 

 to starve the queen before she is given to the bees. 

 See his footnote regarding the fasting method as 

 given in our ABC and X Y Z of Bee Culture. 



Ordinarily it is easier to introduce a laying queen 

 than a virgin three or four days old to a full colony. 

 But a virgin just hatched can be more readily in- 

 troduced than a laying queen. But when the smoke 

 method of introducing is used, it does not seem to 

 make very much difference whether the queen be a 

 virgin or a fertile one. — Ed.] 



The Smoke Method of Introducing Used for Years 



It is several years since I adopted the method of 

 introducing queens by running them in at the en- 

 trance with a little smoke. If the bees then kill the 

 queen they would also kill her if she was introduced 

 under the best caging method. F. A. Hooper. 



Four Paths, Clarendon, Jamaica, B. W. I. 



[The smoke method of introducing, as applied by 

 Mr. Henry Alley, is very old; but Mr. Arthur C. 

 Miller's modification of the Alley plan, so far as we 

 know, is comparatively new. You will find quite a 

 difference between the Alley plan and the Miller 

 method. — Ed.] 



Combs Built in Sections Between Shallow Ex- 

 tracting-Combs 



In the Nov. 15th issue, p. 805, I read the article 

 by J. E. Hand on getting bees to work readily in 

 comb-honey supers when producing section honey. 

 I have made some experiments along this line with 

 frames such as are used in N supers. I fill these 

 with sections, and the sections with full sheets of 

 foundation ; then place these in shallow extracting- 

 supers, alternated with shallow extracting-combs, 

 making sure that the outside frames of the super are 

 combs. If these section frames are left a few days, 

 Ag described, and just over the brood-nest, or in a 



strong colony, and over an excluder, the foundation 

 will be found nicely drawn out if there is a fairly 

 good honey-tlow. 



These section frames, with sections of drawn 

 combs, can then be removed, and placed in section- 

 honey supers, with fences between them, and then 

 placed on any hive, when the bees will proceed to 

 work on them at once if there is honey coming in. 



I think if Mr. Hand will try this method, instead 

 of drawing out sheets of comb, and cutting up, plac- 

 ing in sections, etc., as he describes, he will find the 

 labor has been cut one-half without loss in principle. 



Shellman, Ga., Dec. 6. D. W. Howell. 



Should Winter Cases Project Below the Bottom- 

 board ? 



I should like to know about using winter cases. 

 I received one, and in putting it over the hive and 

 leaving it an inch higher than the top of the hive it 

 does not protect the lower part of the hive. Is it to be 

 used that way, or should it go away down over the 

 bottom-board and all, and an entrance cut in front? 

 Charles L. Sommer. 



North Tonawanda, N. Y., Dec. 3. 



[We do not know what style of winter case you 

 refer to; but the ordinary outside winter case that 

 slips down over a hive will not cover the bottom- 

 board and the entrance. The point of protection 

 should be applied to the top part of the hive. If you 

 are using a winter case that telescopes over the 

 general body of the hive, it is usually advisable to 

 remove the regular hive-cover, put on a super-cover, 

 and then place on top several folds of newspapers, 

 old carpeting, burlap sacks, or any kind of packing 

 that will make a space of 1 % or 2 inches over the 

 top of the hive and around the sides. When these 

 are carefully tucked down, the winter case is shoved 

 over the whole, making a nice warm enclosure over 

 the hive on the inside. The outside cover of the 

 hive is then put over the winter case for the winter, 

 or it can be taken inside of a building if necessary. 

 — Ed.] 



Hundreds of Acres of Sweet Clover Sown for Pas- 

 ture 



In the Dec. 1st issue, p. 869, I have read the 

 article by L. R. Witherell in regard to sweet clover. 

 This clearly proves that he is either ignorant or 

 prejudiced as to its good qualities. For 20 years I 

 have been advocating it as an all-round better plant 

 than alfalfa. I can show Mr. Witherell hundreds of 

 acres sown to sweet clover for pasture, and more 

 being sown every year. There is nothing as good as 

 sweet clover for enriching poor land. 



Salix, Iowa, Dec. 12. Lewis Lamkin. 



Prospects Good in Jamaica 



May be Gleanings readers vnll be interested to 

 hear what the bees are doing in Jamaica. We are 

 enjoying the finest November weather we've had for 

 many years, making ideal conditions for the bees. 

 It is sunshine and showers, not two days together 

 when the sun has not shone. The bees are working 

 on Christmas pops (bell-flowers) and a profusion of 

 minor bloom, many strong colonies storing well in 

 supers, and the weakest getting enough honey to keep 

 up brood-rearing. So favorable has been the fall 

 weather that no drones were destroyed by the beos, 

 so queen-rearing has gone on uninterruptedly, Jind 

 fine full-sized queens raised. 



Most apiarists have not had to feed an ounce of 

 sugar ; but, instead, have obtained a tidy surplus. 

 This season is in marked contrast to that of 1912, 

 when such wholesale losses were sustained by the 

 flood-rains, and the crop was so much shortened. 



