874 



GLKANINGS IN BEE CUl.TUKE 



moved. These bees previously had been 

 superseding an old queen. I destroyed the 

 cells and no more appeared. 



St. Louis, Mo. J. H. Fisbeck. 



Pollen on Shoulders from Snap-dragon. 



On page 727, Aug. 15, Mr. Lovell mentions 

 a peculiar deposit of yellow pollen which he 

 observed upon the shoulders of his bees, and 

 asks an explanation. During the season of 

 1914 there Avas a great abundance of blos- 

 soms on the plant known to me as snap- 

 dragon, growing on wet, springy ground 

 which had been cleared of birches and 

 willows the autumn before. The blossoms 

 are lemon yellow, a sort of deformed cornu- 

 copia shape, and large enough to admit a 

 bee out of sight unless looked for. The bees 

 enter these blossoms and remain two or 

 three seconds, meanwhile moving more or 

 less. When the bee emerges there is some 

 pollen on its shoulders, and each flower en- 

 tered adds to the deposit. There are no 

 snap-dragon blossoms this season, and no 

 such pollen-marks on the bees. 



Some time ago I visited a beekeeping- 

 friend forty miles away, and he had noticed 

 this yellow mark on some of his bees. I sug- 

 gested snap-dragon, and a short search dis- 

 covered some blossoms and bees working on 

 them, with pollen on their shoulders. 



I take it the dep-osit is entirely incidental. 

 In looking into the hives many bees so 

 marked were seen, but there did not appear 

 to be any attempt by the bee or bees to re- 

 move it. 



Hoboken, N. J. C. D. Cheney. 



Italianizing a Locality by Supplying Queens 

 for 25c. 



I believe a lot of good can come to the 

 beekeeping industrj' if we will all do a little 

 work in trying to bring to those who keep 

 bees some helps on "preparedness." This 

 is what we are doing when we get our neigh- 

 bors to take the bee-journals and join one 

 of the beekeepers' associations. The bee- 

 keeper needs just as much to be prepared as 

 the farmer, the merchant, or any of the 

 trades, if he is to be successful. 



The way I go about getting people inter- 

 ested in bees is very simple. Any one can 

 do it. I made this threefold combination of- 

 fer in getting my names. Gleanings 6 

 months, membership in the State Beekeepers' 

 Association, one tested Golden Italian queen, 

 all for one dollar. Association membership 

 is 50 cents; this leaves me 25 cts. for the 

 queen. Some will say that one cannot possi- 

 bly raise queens for 25 cts. I know this is 

 true; but there is another motive in letting 

 my neighbors have these queens, even tho 

 I might give them away. I am helping to 

 get all the people in my locality to raising 

 Italian bees, and it is thus easier to keep my 

 own bees pure. Every beekeeper in town, 

 and within a radiiTs of three miles, has given 

 me his name and money for this combination 



offer. I expect to raise a few young queens 

 at one of my out-apiaries for my own use in 

 replacing the queens taken from those colo- 

 nies which are preparing to swarm in filling 

 these orders for queens. 



Stockport, la. J. W. Stine. 



Can You Match This? 



Altho I am just a beginner in bee culture 

 I have found that matches are not always 

 handy when I am ready to light up the 

 smoker. On the top of the smoker is a 

 coiled-wire handle for opening the cap. The 



space between the two coils is a trifle less 

 than the diameter of a match. Four or five 

 matches may be held, between the wires, 

 and these are usually enough for a day's 

 work. If more than one match is held, 

 heads should be alternated. 



Medina, Ohio. Wesley Manville. 



Does Sound Pretty Convincing 



I was interested in reading the third item 

 by J. E. Crane, page 714, Aug. 15, referring 

 to the better pollination of fruit trees near- 

 est the bees. 



About 50 feet Avest of my small apiary is 

 a King apple-tree. Last year this tree bore 

 quite heavily on all sides; but it was quite 

 noticeable that the yield was the heaviest 

 on the east side, toward the bees. This year 

 practically all the fruit is on that side of the 

 tree. 



Madison, Conn. F. C. Dowd. 



Can bees be kept in the attic of a house? 



Moline. 111., July 6. B. A. King. 



[Bees can be kept in the garret, providing 

 sufiicient ventilation can be given to prevent 

 combs from melting down. It is usual to 

 put the hives near an opening in the side of 

 the building where the direct sunlight from 

 the windows may not strike them. It would 

 be ad\'isable during the hottest part of the 

 year to haA^e one or more windows open in 

 the garret so that it does not get too hot for 

 the bees. — Ed.l 



