GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



late we have not done so because of the 

 trouble caused by the juices from the grass 

 gumming things up so. Possibly after this 

 experience we may go back to the old prac- 

 tice. While the fire had the effect of mak- 

 ing me doubly careful during the rest of 

 the season in handling the smoker, it also 

 had the disagreeable effect of causing me to 

 worry when leaving an outyard after doing 

 work there. No matter what pains I had 

 taken, when leaving the thought would come 

 to my mind, " What if a fire should start 

 here where there is no one near the place?" 

 Tf it did I guess they would simply have to 

 burn; for after seeing how fire goes so 

 rapidly tliru hives, I am convinced that if a 

 fire was started and let go it would clean 

 out an entire apiary, even if hives were 

 quite a long way apart. The only thing to 

 do, no doubt, is to take all due precautions ; 

 and, in the absence of any system of insur- 

 ance for bees that I know of, just trust to 

 luck and stop worrying. 



DON^T PUT YOUR NOSE INTO OTHER PEOPLE'S 



BUSINESS. 



The apiary at Altona is situated in an 

 orchard, a rail fence separating the yard 

 from the rest of the ground, occupied by 

 apple-trees. The bees at this place are 

 wintered in rough cases, some two in a case 

 and others singly. When packing them 

 early in November I left one colony at one 

 side of the yard, calculating to carry it 

 about 20 feet to another place to go in with 

 a colony alone on a stand that had a two- 

 hive case. About the latter end of tlie month 

 I went out to the yard to do tliis work after 

 being away from there for two Aveeks or 

 more. I might say that the farmer on whose 

 place the bees are is very careful ; but being- 

 busy he had not been in the beeyard for 

 some time. Arriving there and going into 

 the yard my first thought was that there 

 had been an earthquake in the vicinity. 

 About half a dozen of the cases for two 

 hives were shoved off the stands, and three 

 of the single-hive cases were actually turned 

 upside down. The single hive left to be 

 moved was the worst sufferer. It had a 

 loose bottom and loose frames, and it was 

 turned upside down, and the combs jammed 

 together more or less, the bottom being off 

 the hive and the bees exposed to the weath- 

 er, which was below freezing at the time, 

 and had been so for three or four days. 

 First of all I righted the cases that were 

 turned upside down, and then went for the 

 smoker to do the best I could with the 

 wreck of the colony in the single hive. The 

 ease was all ready, and I turned the hive 

 aright, hastily arranging the combs as best 

 I could, dnring which operation the bees 



flew out more or less. I noticed that many 

 were crushed. The hive was then placed in 

 the packing-case with the expectation that 

 they would die anyway; but I thought I 

 would give them a chance to end up in a 

 half-decent way. Jan. 25 I was at the yard 

 and they appeared all right, much to my 

 surprise; but I thought the queen might 

 have been killed. The packed cases when 

 righted appeared to be little the worse, in so 

 far as the bees were concerned. The clus- 

 ters were quiet, and the combs had not been 

 loosened at all — score one for narrow top- 

 bars in a locality where propolis is abun- 

 dant. 



Now as to the cause of all this trouble. 

 Investigation showed that a long-snouted 

 old sow had broken a rail and got into the 

 apiary. The pigs had free access to the 

 other half of the orchard to pick up fallen 

 apples after picking had been done. Some 

 apples had rolled under the patking-cases; 

 and in order to get at them she had put her 

 nose under and given the hives a hoist. 

 That explains the damage but does not help 

 matters very much. In this case, again, it 

 was just another thing that might have been 

 avoided, but under ordinary circumstances 

 is likely to happen once in a while in run- 

 ning out-apiaries. 



" THEY " SAID so — AND THEY WERE RIGHT. 



Years ago I read that boiled honey would 

 kill bees if given them for winter stores. 

 Repeatedly I have told others this same 

 thing because some one had told me; but I 

 never had any actual experience in the 

 matter. Last September when starting to 

 feed bees at home yard I came across about 

 40 pounds of honey I had taken from cap- 

 pings the winter before. In the spring I 

 had diluted soxue of this with water and 

 boiled it as a precaution before feeding a 

 few needy colonies in May. I never fed 

 stuff that was better for brood-rearing than 

 this boiled honey, no doubt with a lot of 

 pollen in it. Examining the colonies so as 

 to find the amount of feeding to do, I came 

 across a Danzenbaker colony that had been 

 ran for extracted honey; and when supers 

 were off the colony was almost destitute of 

 honey. Now, here was a good chance surely 

 to find out for sure whether boiled honey 

 would kill bees if given them to winter on. 

 In a foolhardy moment I placed a large 

 Miller feeder on this hive and gave the bees 

 all they would take of this boiled mixture. 

 About Christmas I was in the yard and 

 noticed about a pint of dead bees dragged 

 out in front of this hive while not another 

 colony of the 80 was in a like condition. I 

 raked them away and listened, and there 

 were live bees in the hive yet; but I was 



