648 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



have a few good grapevines, and when they are 

 blooming the bees work on them for several days, 

 and in good numbers too. Some of the vines are not 

 more than ten yards from the hives; but the bees 

 never touch the fruit. Last season, when I had to 

 feed my bees to keep them alive, the grapes were not 

 touched, but when some of the grapes burst, through 

 being overripe, I could not find more than half a 

 dozen bees sucking them. I have often met people 

 who believe that bees puncture grapes ; but it has 

 not been hard to convince them that the bees can not 

 do so. Douglas D. Beearley. 



Subiaco, W. Australia, March 21. 



The Net-weight Law 



Having read your articles on the weight the new 

 law requires us to mark on comb lioney, I would say 

 we are producers of comb honey only, and gener- 

 ally sell in Washington, D. C. We beg to ask you if 

 this law requires us to stamp all of our sections in- 

 dividually, or can we mark them as we always did, 

 gross weight, case weight, long weight, etc., and tell 

 us if we still have to stamp them. 



Chas. and Warner Miller. 



Washington, Va., July 25. 



[It is our understanding that every section must 

 be marked. The law does not specify that the net 

 weight shall show on the shipping-case. But all 

 dealers and buyers will require it, so that you will 

 have to do both. To get at the net weight of the 

 honey in a shipping-case, weigh up all the sections 

 and then deduct as many ounces as there are sec- 

 tions in the shipping-case. It will no more be per- 

 missible to weigh in the wood with the section in 

 getting at the net weight in the case. — Ed.] 



Net-weight Law Does Not Apply to Honey Sold 

 Locally 



I see that the net-weight law applies to interstate 

 commerce. Does this mean honey shipped from one 

 State to another, or does it apply to honey produced 

 and sold within the State? I wish to know whether 

 it is necessary to brand honey that one sells in his 

 home market that does not go out of his own State. 



Mt. Carmel, 111. Robert Watt. 



[The net-weight law does not apply to honey that 

 is sold within the State; but some one else to whom 

 you sell may ship it into another State, in which 

 case you, the original producer, would be liable. If 

 you can make sure that your honey is not going out- 

 side of your State, and will be consumed locally, you 

 can sell it as you did before, providing there is no 

 State law to the contrary. — Ed.] 



A Good Plan for Stopping Robbing and Disposing 

 of Robbers 



I have a plan to stop robbing which I should like 

 you to try if you have not already. When you find 

 the bees robbing, close the entrance, leaving just 

 room enough to insert a Porter bee-escape to let them 

 in, but so they cannot get out, and leave it 48 hours, 

 then open the entrance, and the robbers and the 

 robbed will work in harmony together. It may not 

 work with you, but it does with me. I had a colony 

 of black bees that was well started robbing out a 

 mating-hive of Italians. I tried this plan and the 

 robbers did not return to the old hive. I have also 

 tried it on larger colonies with the same success. 

 You would have to provide shade and ventilation in 

 hot weather. 



Winchester, N. H., July 20. A. J. Plummer. 



[We believe the plan here outlined is all right. 

 We have tested out something very similar, and find 

 that it is quite possible to trap the robbers and con- 

 fine them, and then make them adopt their new 

 home. The scheme catches all the robbers, and thus 

 entirely stops the pilfering at other hives. Closing 



the entrance to a robbed hive does not by any means 

 stop the nuisance ; for the robbers will then pounce 

 on every other hive in the vicinity ; and the trouble, 

 instead of being mitigated, is only made worse. The 

 Plummer plan puts all the robbers out of business, 

 and we feel sure it is worth trying. 



The plan that we tested out was similar in princi- 

 ple. We placed a wire-cloth cage of suitable dimen- 

 sions over a hive that was being robbed. In a short 

 time there were hundreds and hundreds of robbers 

 buzzing around the cage. We lifted this up momen- 

 tarily, letting in all the robbers. They rushed into 

 the hive, and then we set it down again. In the 

 mean time the confined robbers hovered near the top 

 of the cage. This operation was repeated at inter- 

 vals of about ten minutes for two or three times. 

 In the course of half an hour we had all the robbers 

 in the top of the cage. Toward night they were 

 clustered in one corner. We left them there until 

 the next night, just about dusk. Then we bumped 

 the whole bunch of bees in front of the entrance 

 where they had been robbing. They went right in, 

 and the hive that formerly did not have force enough 

 to protect itself was now a good colony ready to 

 resist any kind of onslaught. We tried this on sev- 

 eral colonies, or, rather, nuclei, that had been rob- 

 bed. In each case they were njade over into colonies. 



As the principles involved in this case are exactly 

 the same as those used by our correspondent, we 

 believe it will work, and, what is more, is simpler 

 and cheaper ; but in every case in hot weather we 

 would advise at the tiiie of putting the bee-escape 

 on the entrance to place a wire screen on top of the 

 hive to prevent suffocation. A big force of robbers 

 confined in a hive, with no other ventilation than 

 that through a bee-escape of the Porter type, if the 

 weather is sufficiently warm, especially if the bees 

 are out in the sun, would be quite likely to smother. 

 —Ed.] 



No IVIosquito-Hawks 



There are no mosquito-hawks in this locality to 

 bother the bees. As I have kept bees in North Car- 

 olina and South Carolina for 12 years I certainly 

 know what they are. This is no honey country, but 

 there has been enough honey for fair queen-rearing 

 since the last of January. 



Mcintosh, Fla., June 24. James Ammons. 



HOW LONG? 



BY GRACE ALLEN 



I wonder how long the bees have been humming ; 



I wonder what lies at the heart of their song. 

 Is it worship, I wonder, as, going and coming. 



They've glimpses of glory that's splendid and 

 strong ? 



In the far-away, long-ago days half forgotten. 

 When men were as children (what are they 



to-day?) 

 When things were what thundering prophets called 



" rotten," 

 And men turned from God and went cursing away, 



The bees in the vineyards were coming and going, 

 Were flying from fig-tree to thistle and thyme. 



Contentedly humming, while warm winds were 

 blowing 

 Their eager refrain into rhythm and rhyme. 



I wonder how long the bees have been humming; 



I wonder what lies at the heart of their song. 

 I wonder if men, in their going and coming. 



Will ever be singing so steady and strong. 



