GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



hoard and make it one hive. If both queens 

 mated and T\cnt to laying, shove the hive 15 

 inches to the south and give entrance at the 

 northwest corner. Put another hive at the 

 north side and lift out the frames in the 

 north side of the old hive, placing the same 

 in the new, and giving an entrance at the 

 southeast corner. If this plan is good, would 

 not a screen be better than a wood division- 

 board on account of the heat passing thru 

 better? 



Would it not be better, when one wishes 

 to give a queen in a nucleus more room, to 

 give a frame of hatching brood instead of 

 empty comb? 



3. Has any one ever practiced changing 

 queens in strong colonies to prevent them 

 from becoming exhausted — say switch the 

 queens back and forth between a strong 

 colony and a nucleus? 



4. Could one take a strong colony of two 

 stories and constantly rob it of sealed brood 

 and give empty combs in the center of the 

 lower story to take the place of the frames 

 of brood? Would there be any advantage 

 in this? Would it induce the queen to lay 

 more? 



Moline, 111. Louis O. Stone. 



[The average person ought to get a. fair 

 knowledge of beekeeping inside of two or 

 three years. This does not mean that he 

 will know all that can be known, or that he 

 will be competent to run a thousand colo- 

 nies; but two or three years' experience 

 ought to qualify him to operate a single 

 yard or a few colonies in the back yard. 

 Some people would need a hundred years to 

 learn the business, and then they would get 

 it only imperfectly. Ten years ought to 

 qualify any person to get the business thoro- 

 ly, so that if he has it in him he can operate 

 a series of outyards comprising a total num- 

 ber of colonies of 500 or 1000. 



1. This may be a case of European foul 

 brood or sac brood. If it does not spread, or 

 if it disappears of itself, it is probably noth- 

 ing worse than sac brood. Yes, larvte often 

 die of natural causes. Sometimes they are 

 chilled or overheated. Sometimes they are 

 starved because of a lack of sufficient "nurse 

 bees. 



2. The general plan here outlined would 

 work, altho we would recommend a solid 

 division-board of thin wood. However, the 

 wire screen will answer very well. 



The possibilities are that, if the queen on 

 one side of the hive dies, the bees of this 

 one side will desert and go over to the other 

 side. We find this to be true in the case of 

 baby nuclei that are on the same principle. 

 For this reason alone we would advise the 

 use of solid division-boards. 



One can give a frame of hatching brood 

 providing the weather is not too cool. This 

 will be preferable to giving an empty comb; 

 in fact, there is no better way of strength- 

 eninsj a nucleus than to give it a comb of 

 hatcliing brood. 



3. We are not sure th;it aiiv one has tried 



this plan; but we see no reason why it would 

 not work. The one drawback is that some 

 queens would be lost in introducing from 

 one colony to another. A better way would 

 be to leave the queens in their hives and 

 have other young queens take their place 

 when they wear out. A queen that lays 

 continuously during the entire season will 

 not do good work if she is shipped south and 

 then put at the job of egg-laying again. 

 SeemingJy she has to have a rest of at least 

 six months before she will do good work 

 the next season. 



4. The plan could be carried into effect, 

 but we hardly see what advantage would be 

 gained. Sometimes it would stimulate the 

 queen to laying more eggs; but a two-story 

 colony would give a queen, if she is worth 

 anything, all she could do. — Ed.] 



Whose Bees Are They? 



Has a m.an a right to hive bees on another 

 man's premises without the owner's consent 

 even tho he claim them as swarms from his 

 own apiary? Can he defy the owner with 

 impunity? 



Quakertown, Pa. A. H. Shank. 



[When a swarm of bees leaves the prem- 

 ises of a beekeeper, that swarm is his prop- 

 erty so long as he can keep his eyes on them 

 and follow them to a point where they clus- 

 ter again ; but under the common law he can 

 not invade another man's premises to re- 

 cover the bees unless he obtains his consent. 



In your case if the other party claims the 

 bees as his, it is up to you to prove that you 

 did not lose sight of them at any time, from 

 the time they left your hive until they ar- 

 rived at liis premises. If you can not prove 

 this to the satisfaction of the court, and if 

 the other party refuses to let you come upon 

 his premises, you can not very well recover 

 your property which is morally yours. No, 

 you can not enter upon the other man 's 

 premises without rendering yourself liable 

 for trespass. — Ed.] 



How to Mark the Net Weight. 



I think I have noticed boxes of honey 

 stamped something like this: "This box 

 contains approximately 1 lb. of honey. 

 Will you inform me whether there is now 

 any legal requirement making it necessary 

 to stamp boxes in any way? 



Lyons, N. Y. W. S. Gavitt. 



[The wording, "This box contains ap- 

 proximately 1 lb. of honey," is not in ac- 

 cordance with the national pure-food law, 

 nor any state law with which we are ac- 

 quainted. If the federal inspectors were to 

 get hold of a package of this sort they 

 would probably seize it and hold the pack- 

 er responsible. The net-weight law requires 

 that the exact net weight exclusive of the 

 package shall be marked somewhere upon 

 the label or container. This weight under 

 a pound should be stated in ounces; if more 

 than a pound, in pounds and ounces. 



