554 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



July, 1917 



less to treat the European, and some of our 

 best beekeepers, including Dr. C. C. Miller, 

 S. D. House, and many others, feel that the 

 European is easily controlled; and some go 

 even so far as to say it is a blessing in dis- 

 guise, because it wipes out all the box-hive 

 beekeepers and the slovenly, don 't-care class 

 who are continually cutting down prices 

 and demoralizing the industry generally. 



The American works the same way; but as 

 long as there is any American in the local- 

 ity, a healthy yard conducted by an intelli- 

 gent beekeeper is always in danger of infec- 

 tion. That does not necessarily follow in 

 the case of European. 



W. B. C, Missouri. — When bees are loafing out at 

 the front of the entrance, will smoking make thero 

 go to work in the supers? 



A. Clustering out in this way is usually 

 caused by too contracted an entrance or a 

 hive placed out in the hot sun. The remedy 

 is to enlarge the entrance or place a shade- 

 board on top of the hive or both. The shade 

 should be large enough to cover the hive 

 during the hottest hours of the day. The en- 

 trance should not be less than % by the 

 width of the hive; and it may be necessary, 

 in case of strong colonies, to lift the hive off 

 the bottom-board and place four % blocks 

 on each corner and put the hive up on the 

 blocks. This will usually stop all loafing. 

 We would not advise lifting the hive up in 

 this way unless it is at least two-story in 

 size. A % entrance by the width of the hive 

 is usually enough for a one-story colony. 



Ordinarily, smoking the bees back into the 

 hive thru a small or limited entrance is only 

 a temporary expedient. It does little or no 

 good. The real remedy lies in more ventila- 

 tion or shade, or both. 



A. B. C, Corinth, N. Y. — How can one qualify 

 himself for a bee inspector? What are the qualifi- 

 cations necessary ? Does one have to be a college 

 graduate ? 



A. One does not need to be a college 

 graduate in order to be a bee inspector. He 

 should, however, be a good practical bee- 

 keeper and be thoroly familiar with the 

 various forms of bee diseases. If he can go 

 along with a bee inspector on a regular trip 

 he will get a great deal of valuable informa- 

 tion and experience. 



It is important that a bee inspector know 

 the subject of practical beekeeping pretty 

 thoroly, because one of his principal duties 

 will be to instruct beekeepers on how to 

 keep bees as well as how to prevent disease 

 from getting started among tlxe bees. 



G. J. S., Ontario. — We have been trying to keep 

 a few bees on our farm situated on the south shore 

 of Lake Ontario. We have had rather poor results 

 in building up during summer, and also in winter- 

 ing which I lay to weakness. I have been wonder 

 ing if our location so near the lake is detrimental. 



A. Bees do not do quite so well close to 

 a body of water as a few hundred feet back. 

 When they are located next to one of the 

 big lakes the cold wind off the water is apt 

 to prevent the bees from building up as they 

 should. It is not at all surprising that you 



should have trouble in building up your 

 colonies in the spring if you are right on 

 the lake shore. You could, perhaps, improve 

 matters by moving your bees back a few 

 hundred feet, and slightly back of shrubbery 

 OT a clump of woods — anything that will 

 break up the fierce piercing wind right off 

 the lake. We have had other reports of 

 people who had difficulty in building up bees 

 right next to a large body of water, and your 

 experience is not unusual. 



A. L. H., Pennsylvania. — How can I know when 

 it is time to put on extra supers for comb honey ? 



A. The usual rule is when the bees begin 

 to whiten the tops of the combs and to store 

 a little honey in the brood-nest. But some- 

 times this may be too late, and swarming 

 may be induced in the mean time. It is best, 

 therefore, to put on supers at just about the 

 time the honey-flow begins to open up. 



B. C. L., Michigan. — How may I know when to 

 put on siipers for extracting ? 



A. When the main honey-flow begins to 

 open up, and perhaps a little before, a super 

 of extracting-combs should be put on. It is 

 better to be a little too soon than a little too 

 late. Delay may force swarming; and if 

 that once gets started in the yard it will be 

 difficult to hold it in check. Very populous 

 colonies should be given room in any case. 



Question and Answer 



BY GRACE ALLEN 



(To Dr. C. C. Miller, who has answered" such 

 questions so often, so patiently, and so wisely.) 



THE QUESTION 



" You who are full of years, and wise, 

 And see with such understanding eyes, 

 Answer me this : Shall I, who am young. 

 Work where songs of birds are sung. 

 Consort with seasons and winds and trees 

 And murmurous incomprehensible bees, 

 Or match my youth with the task of the town 

 In a game where the players go up and down, 

 Where figures in columns and figures across 

 Spell fortune and failure and increase and loss ? 

 Shall I answer the call of the counting-room 

 Or the call of the bees on the clover bloom ? 

 X Ohl where lies my profit in years to come, 

 In ledgers that balance or bees that hum ?" 



THE ANSWER 



" You who are young, with eyes like flame, 



In love with a song, lured by a game, 



Longing for wealth — your own true heart 



Must tell you at last the better part. 



But I who am older say this to you: 



Do the thing that you love to do. 



Thus work is not drudgery, work is delight. 



With zest thru the daytime and rest thru the night. 



Gold, to me, is not truer wealth 



Than peace and happiness, love and health, 



With wonder and worship and simple ways 



And a sense of God thru all the days. 



But ask your own heart ; this is how it looks 



To a keeper of bees, not a keeper of books." 



