GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Headg of Gram frcomi Differeet Fields 



THE BACK-LOT BUZZER 



There's one good thing about this system of gov- 

 ernment going on in any colony; th' police force is 

 never just around the corner takin' a nap. When a 

 great big good-natured bumblebee blunders into a 

 hive, believe me, he comes out a changed bee. 



Alfalfa in Kansas 



When Mr. Root was in Kansa,s and saw alfalfa 

 growing only on the bottoms, I am inclined to be- 

 lieve that he did not stop in the best part of Kansas. 

 If he had come to the northeast and central part he 

 would have seen alfalfa on the uplands, and almost 

 none at all on the bottoms. The bottoms are given 

 to corn here almost entirely, and the alfalfa grows 

 and does finely on the highest lands. There are no 

 streams larger than a spring branch nearer to me 

 than 14 miles, and there are more than 100 acres of 

 alfalfa within reach of my bees ; but the trouble is, 

 bees work on it but seldom. Many times I have seen 

 fields purple with bloom, with hardly a bee to be 

 seen. Occasionally I have seen a few bees working 

 on it. 



CATCHING STRAY SWARMS. 



I should like to add a little to what I have read in 

 Gleanings about catching bees. Last spring I set 

 in the timber 20 old hives from which I had trans- 

 ferred bees. I had put in two full sheets of founda- 

 tion with the rest of the frames fitted with incli 

 starters. I put them in little patches of timber, and 

 some in orchards where I had permission. I just put 

 them on the ground or a rock or stump, with a good 



lag .stone on them. I put them out late in April and 

 early in May, and by July I had 15 colonies. 



I have a Ford car that I have had remodeled, 

 taking off the back seat, and have a temporary rack 

 behind so I can carry six or seven hives. I expect 

 to catch more bees next summer, and have a whole 

 lot of fun. I also got seven supers of honey from 

 the 15 colonies caught. 



Sabetha, Kan. Prank Hill. 



An Easy Way to Catch the Queen 



As my system of swarm prevention calls for find- 

 ing the queen at a time when bees are somewhat 

 numerous, we must have a quick and certain method 

 for doing it if many colonies per day are to be treat- 

 ed. The queen at this time is restricted to the low- 

 est brood-body, above which is a queen-excluder that 

 will stay her majesty when we smoke in at the en- 

 trance and tap the back with a hive-tool. In about 

 a minute remove supers and cloth en masse on to an 

 empty super directly in the rear. This is practical 

 for us by June 20 to 26, as supers are not as yet 

 very heavy. The bees will continue to pour above 

 the queen-excluder, and settle thereon: and while 

 they are so doing, raise up the brood-body and place 

 an extra excluder between it and the bottom-board. 

 Now quickly take off the top excluder and examine 

 ihe under side for the queen. We find half of them 

 lierc. If she is not there, place an excluder before 

 the entrance to hinder the flight of bees coming in. 

 Then examine the combs, which will be nearly clear 

 of bees ; and we can count for certain that we shall 

 see her on the lower excluder, especially if metal 

 only, as bees will slip through to the under side. It 

 can be done quicker than said. 



Cayuga, Ont. M. A. Lishman. 



Ventilation in the Bottom-board 



I should like to say a word about the ventilation 

 of hives. I have come to believe that this is a very 

 important matter, and one that has a great deal to 

 do with the vigor and health of a colony. The en- 

 ti-ance ought to be quite open, with wire cloth tacked 

 along to make a small passage for the bees. Besides 

 this a ventilating-hole in the bottom-board is a dis- 

 tinct advantage. It should be about three inches 

 square, cut well toward the back, with wire cloth 

 tacked over, and a wooden shutter made underneath. 



The opening, which gives splendid ventilation, 

 ought to remain open for seven or eight months of 

 the year; and, furthermore, it helps the bees to keep 

 the hive-bottom clean, for they drag the rubbish to 

 the hole and push it through the wire cloth. One 

 beekeeper, in 1912, told me that the only hives that 

 kept free from foul brood in his apiary were those 

 with extra-wide entrances and bottom ventilators, 

 and he thinks this one of the chief factors in pre- 

 venting swarms when running for comb honey. 



Cheltenham, England. A. H. Bowman. 



Horizontal Queen-cell Production 



I read with considerable interest Mr. Isaac Hop- 

 kins' contribution on p. 697, Nov. 1, 1912, on the 

 subject of horizontal queen-cell production. I did 

 not like the original method as described in the Aug. 

 1st i.ssue of the same year, as it seemed to me too 

 -wasteful. I select a three-story hive, leave the queen 

 and four or five frames of brood in the bottom (the 

 hive having ten frames of brood), and put the rest 

 of the brood in the second story over an excluder. 

 In seven days I move the bottom box to a new stand ; 

 drop the second box with the brood on to a bottom- 

 board, and put the comb on that in its rim, and put 



