Mav, 19 J7 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



387 



HEADS OF GRAI>n DpQiiQQrT) IF FE RENT Tm 



ounces per day to each swarm, tlio there were 

 some swarms not brooding, and probably, 

 therefore, having very litt.e water brouglit 

 to the liive. 



Holland, Mieh., July 1(1. David Ilubcr. 



The Difference in In California natural 

 Conditions as to swarming does not 



Natural Swarming pav (Chadwick, page 

 124, February). The 

 bees are worked for honey, I suppose, and 

 near the close of the season the colonies are 

 divided to make increase. 



In New York the bees are divided to pre- 

 vent increase — this at the beginning of the 

 season. This may be done by actual divid- 

 ing, by shaking, or by gi'adual withdrawin"; 

 of brood - combs and starting nuclei with 

 them. We have not yet discovered any jilan 

 that will prevent swarming when producing 

 comb honey without meddling more or less 

 with the brood-chamber. If we succeed in 

 coming thru the honey season without swarm- 

 ing we surely would not make increase at 

 that time. 



Naples, N. Y. F. Greiner. 



■^by Did the The weather all thru 



Bees Build Marc h has been 



Queen-cells? stormy, cold, back- 



ward, and with but 

 few days when bees could fly. The 24th 

 was fairly warm, and in the afternoon bees 

 were flying fine. This was a good time for 

 a spring examination, and in looking thru we 

 found as follows: 



Hive 27, 10 frames, 5 containing eggs and 

 brood in all stages; many young bees al- 

 ready hatched, stores none too heavy. We 

 found a queen-cell nearly sealed, also two 

 other cells with larvae about three days old; 

 no drones in sight, queen a dandy. We re- 

 fer this to vou and other experts. 



Portland", Ore. E. J. Ladd. 



[The queen you refer to, altho apparently 

 a "dandy," and having a sufficient amount 

 of brood for the time of the year and the 

 number of bees she had, is probably failing. 

 Very often a queen will fail this way when 

 there is no outward evidence that she is 

 going to play out. We do not know how to 

 explain it in any other way unless we offer 

 the suggestion that sometimes bees will 

 break all rules and for no apparent reason. 

 If the queen herself is really a dandy, as 

 you say, and all right in every respect, then 

 there is no reason at the time named why the 

 bees should start raising cells; and even 

 if they did so. a good queen ought to tear 

 them down. The fact that this queen failed 

 to do so, probably points to the fact that she 

 is failing. We suggest that you let the colo- 



ny go on, and watch developments. In all 

 probability a young queen will hatch from 

 one of the cells, and then mother and daugh- 

 ter will both lay along side by side. After 

 a while the old queen will disappear, leaving 

 the voung one in complete possession of the 

 hive.— Ed. I 



Sic 



Bees Necessary I have read articles 



Also in an in Gleanings at dif- 



Almond Grove ferent times in re- 



gard to bees helping 

 to produce big fruit crops. Here is my ex- 

 perience in that line. 



I live in the best almond belt in California. 

 Last February and March, during the bloom- 

 ing season, we had some very rainy weather. 

 I had eight colonies of bees in a five-acre or- 

 chard; and every time the rain let up the 

 orchard sounded like it too. As a result, 

 we harvested about 9500 lbs. almonds on 

 the five acres — nearly a ton per acre, while 

 the other orchards in the district averaged 

 only about 300 lbs. per acre, and some not 

 oven that much. The result of the bees' 

 work also showed up in parts of adjoining 

 orchards nearest to us. A good many or- 

 chardmen were so strongly convinced of the 

 good work of the bees that I could have 

 placed 200 or more colonies in orchards at 

 my own figure. I was sorry that I eouldn 't 

 make that increase, but was glad to increase 

 them to 24 colonies. 



Dunham, Cal. Otto Eeinier. 



A Plan for Some say that placing 



Swarm Control the queen below an 



^^xcluder on drawn 

 combs or foundation and the brood above it, 

 will prevent swarming to some extent and 

 that queen-cells built above do not alter the 

 result. 



Can better results be obtained by putting 

 a sujier of empty combs between the two 

 bodies above the excluder? 



If queen-cells are not removed in either 

 case, will it induce swarming? 



Hurley, S. D. Menholt Christensen. 



A. The plan proposed in second paragraph, 

 of putting drawn combs or foundation with 

 queen below an excluder and brood above, 

 will discourage swarming, but not necessari- 

 ly stop it. In some cases it may prove to be 

 an utter failure, dejiending somewhat upon 

 the character of the honey-flow and the bees. 

 It would help some to put a super of emptj' 

 comb ^between the two bodies above; but it 

 might be too much of a good thing. To be 

 on. the safer side it would be wise to keep 

 the queen-cells cut out every eighth day, 

 altho those in the second story will have less 

 effect upon the swarming than those in the 

 lower story where the queen is. 



