614 



found a couple of dead bees stuck in the 

 opening of the food-compartment of the 

 cage. Most of the rest of the bees had 

 starved except the queen and a few bees 

 whose lives I saved by feeding honey at 

 once. 



There seemed to be only one thing to do 

 — to introduce the queen at once, even at 

 the risk of having her killed. I put a queen- 

 trap over the entrance, took all the frames 

 out, shook them on the ground so that the 

 bees would have to sift thru the trap in 

 going back into the hive, and, as I expected, 

 found no queen. On one of the combs from 

 which I had shaken the bees I put the half- 

 dead queen. Several times the few remain- 

 ing bees on that comb made a rush for her; 

 but I blew a little tobacco smoke on them 

 to keep thein away and held the comb in my 

 hands about ten minutes, then placed the 

 comb with the queen in the hive and finished 

 shaking the rest of the frames. 



Four days later I opened the hive and 

 there found the queen in good condition. 



Brooklyn, N. Y. F. Duesterwald. 



Well-soaked Ground in the Fall Insures 

 Clover Honey Crop. 



Following a long wet cold spell, with but 

 now and then a working day for the bees, 

 warmer days have set in; and with oceans of 

 white clover on every hand our honey-mak- 

 ers are reveling in nectar. It was predicted 

 by a writer in Gleanings that the setting-in 

 of winter with well-soaked soil would insure 

 a crop of white clover, and more — that it 

 would yield plenty of honey. The beekeep- 

 ers of central Wisconsin may well rejoice, 

 for that prophecy is being fulfilled; and, 

 altho the weather is not as yet ideally warm, 

 the bees are gathering honey fast and furi- 

 ously. 



The prospect now is that, with the warmer 

 weather we have reason to expect, and an 

 occasional rain to keep the white clover 

 flourishing, another bumper crop of honey 

 appears very likely. 



Manawa, Wis., June 25. E. E. Colien. 



Held up and Killed. 



My apiary contains 120 colonies of bees in 

 two rows six feet apart, and hives 16 inches 

 between, all resting on 2 x 12 planks set 

 edgewise. At one end is my bee-supply and 

 work-house, which I sleep in during the busy 

 season. 



I had just put on my first supers, and some 

 were partly filled, when one morning, just 

 before daylight, I was awakened by what I 

 thought was a mouse trying to eat its way 

 into my shop. I got up, but the gnawing 

 still continued. I opened the door, and not 

 over eight feet away I saw a skunk with 

 both front feet on the alighting-board, his 

 head turned to one side, and nose close to 

 the entrance; and as I watched him he would 

 raise his head and one foot, and scratch on 

 the hive a few moments, just as a mouse 

 sounds when gnawing. The skunk then 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



would stick his nose at the hive entrance, 

 and, I suppose, eat all bees which answered 

 his ear)}' call. I drove him away into the 

 sage brush and returned and got my gun and 

 loaded it, as it is an old muzzle-loader. I 

 openeil the door, and not over twelve feet 

 away was my morning caller. I set my lamp 

 on the floor so as to get a good clear sight 

 and fired. It took off his head; it was done 

 so quick that he left no apologies. In the 

 morning I found he had visited eight hives. 

 I then set a coyote-trap and in a couple of 

 nights caught another. I then put around 

 my apiary a five-foot chicken-wire, and yet 

 the skunks would get in by digging under, 

 so I had to fasten the wire net down with 

 spikes, since which I have not been both- 

 ered. 



Hudson, Wyo. Geo. E. B. 



"Sweet but Pow'ful Sticky." 



I note the reply of P. C. Chadwick, page 

 184, to A. F. Bonney, defending the mail 

 clerks in their handling of honey in the 

 mails. Mr. Chadwick is right — emphatically 

 so. All honey, especially comb honey, ship- 

 ped by parcel post, should be plainly labeled 

 to show contents, and marked ' ' outside 

 mail." It will then be handled outside of 

 the sacks, and, if properly packed, will ar- 

 rive at its destination in good order. Dur- 

 ing the past winter I have handled two 

 packages of comb honey that were in ex- 

 tremely bad order. Not only were the honey- 

 packages in bad order, but everything else 

 in the sacks was covered with honey — a 

 sweet mess, but "pow'ful" sticky. One of 

 the packages was about a dozen sections in 

 a pasteboard box, nothing to show on the 

 wrapper what the contents were, nor even 

 that they were fragile. The other was a 

 few combs in a tin cracker-box along with 

 some dry goods — dry at one time, but not 

 when I saw them — nothing to show on this 

 wrapper either. 



Such cases as these are what bring the 

 parcel post into disrepute, and may cause 

 the shipping of honey by parcel post to be 

 forbidden by the Postoffice Department be- 

 fore, we have had a fair chance to try it out. 



When shipping honey by parcel post, pack 

 it in a container that will be honey-tight 

 under ordinary circumstances. Label it 

 "Honey," and endorse on the wrapper, "To 

 be handled outside of sack," or say "Hon- 

 ey, Outside Mail. ' ' The boys will know 

 what to do with it, and 99 times out of 100 

 it will go thru all right. If in doubt as to 

 whether it is properly packed, ask your 

 postmaster about it. 



I have put in ten years "on the rails," 

 and am still at it on the Lincoln & Billings 

 W. D., but find time to handle about 40 colo- 

 nies during my lay-off periods. 



Huntley, Mont. Frank E. Clift. 



How would it be if we had a label contest? 

 I think it would be interesting to see the 

 ideas of the beekeepers about honey-labels. 



Chico, Cal. R. Deinier. 



