OCTOBER 1, 1914 



775 



Headg of Gram frdDm Differeett Fields 



THE BACKLOT BUZZER. 



Speakin' of robber"!, if the amateur picture mart, 

 who spilled the honey this morning when he was 

 takin' a kodak view of the bees, was here now, he'd 

 have to use a movin' -picture machine. 



Failure in Rearing Queens in Upper Stories. 



In " Fifty Years Among the Bees," page 237, 

 you describe a method of queen-rearing by isolating 

 a comb of brood several stories above the hive. This 

 appears to me a very simple and practical method of 

 increasing a small apiary, such as mine, to which, 

 on account of other employment, I am unable to de- 

 vote much of my time. 



I am a little in doubt as to how to proceed after 

 the young queen in the top story has started to lay. 

 How long should she be allowed to remain with the 

 parent colony before giving the hive body in which 

 she and her brood are located a new stand? and, 

 after removal to the new stand, will your plan of 

 blocking the entrance with leaves for a number of 

 hours, etc., succeed in keeping the bees from going 

 back to the old stand? 



Dr. Miller says : 



I am sorry to throw any cold water upon your 

 project, but the truth is that I have not been able to 

 succeed when I have designedly undertaken to rear 

 queens in upper stories. Last summer I tried ten 

 cases, and each one was a failure. But in two other 

 cases — I'm not sure whether it was two or three — 

 in which there was no design to rear a queen, but 

 where, for some reason, there was brood above, I 

 was surprised to find a queen laying and the old 

 queen below all right. So it looks as if the thing 



can be done, only I haven't the right combination. 

 That leaves it hopeful that you may succeed. I may 

 further .say that I also failed in previous years in 

 the very few cases I tried, but at least in one case 

 the bees succeeded of their own accord. In fact, I 

 think that was the first case ever reported in which 

 a queen was thus reared in an upper story. 



The "young queen mav be removed just as soon 

 as she begins to lay, but of course success will be 

 letter if she is left till there is brood in 3 or 4 

 combs. Stuffing the entrance with grass or leaves 

 will work all right, but it isn't necessary if there are 

 as many as 3 or 4 frames with brood. I have 

 found that, the larger the body of bees removed, the 

 less likelihood there is of a stampede. Besides, the 

 liees in the upper story are all young bees, and so 

 they are not inclined to return to their old home as 

 are field bees. Last year I merely set on a new 

 stand the story with all its contents, and it made a 

 good colony all right. C. C. Millee. 



Wintering in "Clamps" Not Generally Sat- 

 isfactory; Making Exhibits at Fairs. 



I am taking the liberty of asking you a few ques- 

 tions in regard to wintering bees in clamps. How 

 does it compare with cellar wintering? I should 

 like some information on the best method of putting 

 them in — that is, width and depth of pit, number 

 of colonies to put in one pit, time to put them in 

 and take them out, and any thing else pertaining 

 to that method of wintering. The soil is loose sand 

 near the south end of Lake Michigan. I have moved 

 all my bees to the marshes for the fall flow. I see 

 by Aug. 15th GLEANINGS you are doing the same 

 stunt. 



The management of our county fair have asked me 

 to make an exhibit of bees and honey. If I do so I 

 will have my exhibit in a tent and my demonstrat- 

 ing-cage near by in the open air. As the premiums 

 are small I shall have to make my compensation by 

 selling honey on the grounds. Any pointers or sug- 

 gestions you could give me would be thankfully re- 

 ceived. 



Valparaiso, Ind., Aug. 24. John C. Bull. 



[Wintering bees in clamps^that is, if you mean 

 underground, or bui'ied, as described in Mr. Hutch- 

 inson's book — has not been very satisfactory outside 

 of northern Michigan. In order to make this method 

 of wintering work well it requires a knoll in sandy 

 soil so there will be proper drainage of water. It 

 will not work in a clay soil that is damp and heavy. 

 For particulars on how to construct, see Hutchinson's 

 book, " Advanced Bee Culture." You would get very 

 much better results in an ordinary cellar ; but you 

 must make sure to have plenty of ventilation. It is 

 now considered necessary to have air come freely into 

 the cellar, hut never enough to bring the temperature 

 down below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. 



The only information we could give you on the 

 subject of bees at fairs wotuld be the article in our 

 A B C and X Y Z of Bee Culture, entitled " Honey 

 Exhibits." In the old editions the article is under 

 the head of " Fairs." 



In the way of "pointers" we may briefly suggest 

 the importance of having a good display of comb 

 and extracted honey put up in an attractive form 

 in glass bottles of various sizes; comb honey in 

 individual sections, in shipping-cases; and the larg- 

 er the exhibit, the better impression it will make. 

 It is also important to have hives, bee-supplies, a 

 colony of bees on the ground, and every now and 

 then give a live-bee demonstration. This work should 

 be done in a wire-cloth cage so that the crowd on 

 the outside can easily see what is being done. — Ed.] 



