JUNE 15, 1914 



475 



Heads of Graimi frcDEim Differeell Fie 



THE BACKLOT BUZZER 



The size of the army, when rolling is going on, 

 and the way the little sisters show a disposition to 

 defend their homes on a rainy day, kind o' makes 

 a fellow feel skeptical about this universal-peace and 



eqval sv.ifia(/e prollem. 



Good Wintering Not the Case Around Lysander, 

 N. Y. 



In the issue for April 15, I note that bees, taken 

 the country over, wintered verj- well. I can't under- 

 stand this, for it was not so around here. We had 

 about as hard a winter as I ever saw here for bees. 

 At one yard of 50 colonies, well packed in sheds, in 

 the southeast side of a big swamp, where northwest 

 winds get at them, I lost nearly half of them. The 

 rest are weak, with the exception of 12 colonies. 

 Nearly all of those that died appeared to have done 

 so with plenty of honey in the hives. In some cases 

 there was honey all around the cluster. I never lost 

 bees like this before. My man who has charge of 

 this yard when I am in Florida says it was 20 below 

 zero twice, with snow on the ground around the 

 hives and the wind blowing a gale some of the time, 

 so this might account for it. 



My bees here at home, outdoors and in the cellar, 

 did not winter quite as well as they usually do. I 

 lost only a few, and those were mostly nuclei in the 

 cellar. Two-thirds of my colonies were out of doors 

 the past winter — the most I ever had out. I think 

 a cellar is the best place for bees in this locality, take 



it one winter with anotnc. It rarely goes as low 

 as 20 below zero, and we seldom have one week of 

 zero weather at one time ; but we do have severe 

 fierce winds and sudden changes, lots of snow usu- 

 ally, but did not have as much as usual the past 

 winter. Edw. A. Reddout 



Lysander, N. Y., May 1. 



Queens that Lay 6000 Eggs in a Day ; the Sagging 



of Comb Foundation and Securing Perfect 



Combs 



In the ABC and X Y Z of Bee Culture I note 

 that A. C. Miller speaks of queens that will lay 6000 

 eggs per day. Has any one any such queens for 

 sale? and what do they cost? 



For several years I have been much interested in 

 the securing of perfect combs in the brood-nest. I 

 used a lot of the Danzenbaker hives, and tried all 

 the methods recommended by Mr. Danzenbaker ; but 

 the bees refuse to obey his instructions. 



Now, when I put a sheet of foundation into a 

 wired frame it seems to me that, if I am to get a 

 perfect comb, the sheet should entirely fill the frame, 

 and then it would be attached at all four sides. In 

 regard 1o the foundation sagging, does it sag more 

 en the wires, or do the wires stretch ? 



Why is it that the foundation on the market is cut 

 so much smaller than the frames? I think that, if 

 it comes nearer to the bottom-bar, there would be a 

 tetter chance to get perfect combs. 



Lkwi.s p. Farwell. 



North Charle.stown, N. H., April 30. 



[About queens laying 6000 eggs a day, we would 

 say that Mr. Miller merely stated the ma.ximum num- 

 Ler that a queen could lay in a day. The average 

 queen probably does not lay more than 300 or 400 

 in a day; and in the height of the season not much 

 over 1000 eggs as a regiilar day's job; but if she is 

 given an empty comb, cells all cleaned out, she may 

 lay 3000 or even 6000 eggs in a day. 



You will not have very much difficulty in getting 

 perfect combs with the Danzenbaker hives. All that 

 is necessary is to reverse the combs when some honey 

 is coming in, and by that means some combs will bf 

 filled down to the bottom-bar. It is not practicable 

 to put in sheets of foundation large enough to reach 

 clear down to the bottom-bar unless vertical wiring 

 is used or wooden splints. Some do not succeed 

 with the latter, and the former is not practicable 

 with thick-top frames. When the bees draw out a 

 sheet of foundation it is inclined to stretch down- 

 ward; therefore it is necessary to have the sheets 

 cut of such a size that they will be about Vi inch, 

 when in.sertea, less in width than the inside depth 

 of the frame. — Ed.] 



Not Bee Paralysis but Starvation 



I .iU'St had my first case of bee paralysis, and, of 

 course, I was a very good doctor and quickly diag- 

 no.sed the case as paralysis. I was going to try the 

 Poppleton cure, as it was on one of my largest colo- 

 nies of bees, and I wanted to do something very 

 quickly. They were coming out of the entrance of 

 the hive at about the rate of ten to fifteen per min- 

 ute, and it seemed that they were increasing. They 

 began to show symptoms about 4 o'clock in the after- 

 noon, and by next morning I had something like one- 

 half to a gallon of bees dead in my hive. I decided 

 to isolate this hive immediately, so I took it up and 

 moved it about a mile from the other apiary and 

 opened it up, and it looked to be about a good-sized 

 swarm of bees on the bottom-board, and, lo and be- 



