APRIL 13, 1914 



313 



Uniting in Spring; Rearing Early Drones 



I have a colony of bees which has lost its queen 

 within the last few days. On one frame they have a 

 few scattered cells of brood, which is all capped, but 

 no eggs nor uncapped brood. They have started 

 several queen-cells, none of which have brood or 

 eggs. 



I should like to know if I can unite this queenless 

 colony with another late swarm of last season, which 

 has a young queen. Both have plenty of honey, and 

 the young queen has a nice lot of brood now. Can I 

 do this successfully at this time of the year? 



What is the proper way to handle one frame of 

 drone comb to each hive? I now have the drone 

 comb at the side of the hive. When would you move 

 it to the center? Most of them are full of honey. 



Ghent, O., March 30. R, E. McKissON 



[We think it would be advisable for you to unite 

 this weak colony with one of your stronger ones. To 

 do this, remove tlie cover from the strong colony and 

 place upon it a sheet of newspaper. Over this set 

 the weak one after having removed the bottom-board. 

 .Vfter a few days you will find that the bees will have 

 eaten away the paper and united peaceably. It is 

 best to do this in the evening after the bees have 

 quit flying, in order that you may have all of these 

 in the weak colony. 



If it is extra-early drones that you are after, you 

 can accomplish this by moving the drone comb to the 

 center of the brood-nest at almost any time now; and 

 in order to stimulate the bees to the rearing of 

 drones, and to get the queen to lay in the comb, it 

 would be a good plan to mutilate the cappings of the 

 sealed honey. However, we doubt the advisability 

 of tr\ing to produce drones ahead of the time when 

 queen-rearing can be successfully carried on. It 

 would be better to wait until about fruit-bloom time 

 before making such a manipulation. — Ed.] 



Swarm Control and Increase 



I have five hives of bees, and am in business so 

 that I cannot be at home e.xcept Sundays. I should 

 like to do something to keep them from swarming. 

 and at the same time increase them. They are in 

 frame hives, but the combs are not straight enough 

 to remove without damage. My idea is to put a body 

 with full sheets of foundation under each colony. 

 with - a queen-excluder between the two bodies to 

 keep the queen in the upper body. When the bees 

 start work below, remove the upper body with the 

 queen to a new stand and either introduce a queen 

 to the colony on the old stand or put in a one-frame 

 nucleus with queen. Then the field bees from the 

 old hive will return to the new one in the old loca 

 tion. The brood hatching in the old hive will keep 

 it sufficiently strong. Is my theory all right? 



T. H. Mettler 



East Millstone, N. J., March 30. 



[Your plan for swarm control, and at the t;uue 

 time making increase, is very good, excepting that 

 we think you would have better results by leaving 

 out the queen-excluder, and allowing your old queen 

 simply to go down into the frames of foundation in 

 the lower story and start a brood-nest. Then when 

 you remove the upper story to a new stand you will 

 have brood already there for your new start; and 

 when the division is made you can supply the queen 

 less colony with a queen. — Ed.] 



getting the bees covered with it. They work it as 

 readily and as greedily as they would natural pollen 

 or even honey; and I never use honey or any thing 

 to get them started; but when natural pollen is ob 

 tninable, and weather such that they can gather it, 

 they desert the artificial. 



A number of years ago, when living in the village 

 of Hillsboro. there was a handle factory only about 

 ■10 rods from my home yard, where they used noth 

 ing but green hard-maple timber. All handles were 

 run through a sandpapering machine, and the dust 

 from this was as fine as flour, and was blown with 

 sawdust into a heap outside. In early spring that 

 dust pile would be alive with bees, gathering it the 

 same as pollen, and carrying great loads of it into 

 their hives day after day. Of course it was slightly 

 sweet, and they utilized it in same manner as they 

 do pollen. They brought in lots of it ; but when 

 natural pollen opened up they quit the sawdust. 



Union Center, Wis., March 5. Elias Pox 



Sawdust as a Food for Bees 



.Vfter reading the articles and editorial comments 

 with reference to bees working on sawdust, pages 

 154 and 233, the writer feels that some further 

 evidence might convince the editor that perhaps there 

 may be some nutriment (for bees) in sawdust. I 

 will, therefore, make bold to offer a few facts rela- 

 tive thereto. 



In connection with our planing-mill we have been 

 operating a small log sawmill, on occasional days, 

 since 1905, so that there is some sawdust lying 

 around at all times. Every spring — yes, upon sue 

 cessive warm days any time after New Year, the 

 lees appear in great numbers. We cannot operate 

 this mill on warm days during the months of Feb 

 ruary and March, or until natural pollen comes in. 

 without killing thousands of them. 



From the sawdust of some kinds of timber, notably 

 hickory and maple, the bees carry large loads in 

 their pollen-baskets, and regardless as to whether or 

 not they have pollen in their hives. 



We know that bees may not for a long time work 

 (in rye chop set out in the open, and perhaps not at 

 all, unless there is some sweet added to get them 

 started; but they will readily find a pile of freshly 

 cut sawdust. However, once started, they will take 

 r,\ e meal in preference. 



Littlestown, Pa., March 28. C. F. Bucher. 



Fresh Sawdust from Green IVIaple for Pollen 



Replying to an article relative to artificial pollen. 

 Feb. 15, 1 will say I have fed flour for 25 years 

 with apparently good results, though I would never 

 put it in the hives. I place it in the yard in shallow 

 boxes — rye, graham, shorts, and bran thoroughly 

 mixed. The coarser particles prevent snjothering or 



Sawdust as a Substitute for Pollen 



On page 154, Feb. 15, I notice an item regarding 

 the use of sawdust by the bees as a substitute for 

 pollen. My bees have obtained their first pollen 

 from a nearby sawdust pile for a number of years 

 The sawdust is freshly sawed, and they seem to seek 

 the fine particles. If a substitute is provided, such 

 as rye flonr, they soon leave the sawdust. 



In looking over my bees yesterday I found one 

 colony which was afflicted with paralysis. Having 

 used sulphur before in similar cases I used it 

 this time, sprinkling it over the bees and at the 

 entrance. In a short time bees were seen loading 

 their pollen-baskets with the sulphur, and entering 

 a hive near by. They did the same to-day. I think 

 they will find themselves " stung " when they try 

 converting sulphur into bees. 



Barkhamsted, Ct., March 17. Delo-s O. Hart 



[This is an interesting report, in that it shows 

 that bees may be deceived. Now, then, if bees were 

 deceived by the sulphur may they not be deceived in 

 like manner and carry in a good deal of trash? One 

 beekeeper wrote us that his bees liked ginger! They 

 were carrying in great loads of ground ginger-roof 

 that happened to be exposed. — Ed.] 



