AlTGUST, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Great Lakes. However, the honey of Ten- 

 nessee we consider of very good quality ; 

 hut according to the rule it sliould not be 

 (luite as bright as that of Ontario, Canada. 

 If this rule applies at all it would affect 

 sweet clover as well as alfalfa. It is well 

 known that northern alfalfa is lighter 

 i;i color than southern alfalfa in the irri- 

 gated regions. In fact, along the southern 

 tier of states next to Mexico the alfalfa is 

 on the amber order, w'hile along further 

 north it is what we call a light or while 

 honey. It is possible that sweet clover is 

 affected the same way, especially since it is 

 a near relative. — Ed.] 



English authorities are still batiied in 

 their search for tlie cause of the Isle of 

 Wight disease. Sufficient evidence has not 

 been found to convict Nosema apis as the 

 culprit, and the latest pronouncement is 

 that, " altho probably an infectious disease, 

 it is one Avhicli requires the coincidence of 

 other and presently unknown external fac- 

 tors (besides a specific organism) before 

 the disease develops. The disease is not 

 necessarily convej'ed by mere contact with 

 contaminated liives or combs, or by feeding 

 on contaminated stores." — British Bee Jour- 

 nal, p. 1G9. [Dr. E. F. Phillips, of the 

 Bureau of Entomology, has practically 

 come to the same conclusion with regard to 

 a disease in this country that is somewhat 

 similar, and which may be the same thing, 

 but which among our Italians, and in our 

 climate, is bj^ no means as serious as it is in 

 Great Britain. — Ed.] 



Crediting to each colony the number of 

 sections taken from it is easy, but not so 

 easy to credit extracted honey. Weigh in a 

 separate lot the extracting - combs taken 

 from each colony, then weigh the empty 

 combs after extracting, and you have a sure 

 thing of it. But that's a lot of trouble, and 

 hardly to be thought of. If you weigh an 

 average comb that is filled and sealed, both 

 before and after extracting, you will have a 

 fair idea of the weight of honey a filled 

 comb should contain. Weigh several and 

 take the average. Then with a little prac- 

 tice you should be able to estimate and put 

 in your book befoi"e leaving the hive the 

 amount taken from each colony. Do you 

 know any better way? 



" After white clover has been yielding 

 for a week or ten days. . . the queen 

 should be confined to the lower story. In 

 this lower brood-chamber eight combs are 

 selected . . . that contain the most 

 eggs or the youngest brood," p. 519. Why? 

 If the object be to prevent swarming by 

 giving the queen full swing, as in the 

 Demaree plan, then the nearer we come to 



having no brood the better. And if all 

 the brood in the comb will hatch out in a 

 day or two, then we have much the same 

 as empty comb. If all the cells are filled 

 with eggs, then the queen will have nowhere 

 to lay for the next 18 days. So I have 

 always favored the ripest brood, if any, in 

 tiie lower story. Yet Mr. Horner may have 

 some reason for his procedure. 



Just when you think you know some- 

 thing for sure, some one knocks it all over. 

 I said " every laying queen ends her career 

 by being supei'seded by the bees." I thought 

 I had said something pretty good. Along 

 comes that man Chadwick, p. 547, suggest- 

 ing that there's no supersedure Avhen they 

 die in winter. I wonder if that statement 

 might be tinkered up after this fashion: 

 " Every laying queen, provided her colony 

 continues, ends up by being superseded." 

 Now, P. C, do your worst. 



" If a virgin or a queen-cell is given, the 

 chances are nine to one that when the queen 

 goes out to mate the bees will swarm out 

 with her," p. 517. I'm not going to dispute 

 that; I don't know. But I'd like to know. 

 Instead of it being the rule, I had supposed 

 it the exception for bees to accompany the 

 queen on her wedding-trip. But tha'bees 

 going with the queen doesn't matter, if they 

 only return. The really important question 

 is this: In what proportion of cases do 

 the bees go out with the queen and stay out 

 with her? 



" He thinks the odor left on the tree 

 by one swarm attracts another, and that the 

 swarm odor in the yard excites bees from 

 other colonies to swarm," says " Mai-y," p. 

 441. Likely enough he's right about the 

 odor on the tree attracting a swarm; but 

 isn't it more likely that the noise rather 

 than the odor of a swarm excites swarming 

 in other colonies? 



J. Ford Sempers stops the desire to 

 swarm by giving a spoonful of honey one 

 to thi-ee times. If I had known that 40 

 years ago, it would have been worth a thou- 

 sand dollars to me — if it would work. But 

 I'm just a bit afraid that if any one else 

 tries it, it will prove a dead failure. 



"During the autumn of 1916, Mr. 

 Stewart's 500 colonies were fed about two 

 tons of honey," p. 528. That seems to show 

 that so good a beekeeper as Charles E. 

 Stewart thinks he can better afford to feed 

 honey than sugar. 



Prof. Baldwin, many thanks for saying 

 you were not successful in clipping a queen 

 that was in full chase running over the comb, 

 p. 546. I didn't want to think that I was 

 the onlv one that couldn't do the trick. 



