January, 1920 



GLEANINGS IN B E K CULTURE 



43 



very gently, then give one small puff of 

 smoke, run the queen in, and then adjust the 

 cover. Again, some introduce young virgins 

 by simply running them in at the top of the 

 hive. In fact, an old queen may sometimes 

 be removed and a young virgin successfully 

 introduced by placing her right on the comb, 

 which is then put back in the hive. 



Question. — I have two one-frame nuclei of Golden 

 Italian bees, which have been troubled with moths. 

 Before settins these one-frame nuclei I lost three 

 full colonies from the same cause, two that I had 

 bought from a near-by beekeeper and one that I had 

 hived from a tree. Of course, the moth trouble is 

 over for this year, but my colonies or nuclei are so 

 weak that I don't know how to winter them. 



Maryland. S. O. Neal. 



Answer. — Poor queens sometimes allow 

 their colonies to dwindle until they become 

 too weak to defend themselves. Also, there 

 are some strains of bees that do not readily 

 resist the wax moths, but where there are 

 good strong colonies of leather-colored Ital- 

 ian bees there should be no trouble from 

 moths. It is not surprising that moths 

 should trouble one-frame nuclei. Even when 

 composed of Italian bees they might have 

 trouble defending themselves. Also, it is 

 rather difficult to winter such small nuclei, 

 altho this might be done in the cellar if the 

 conditions were just right. The best thing 

 to do with small nuclei at this time of the 

 year is to unite them; but, unless you can 

 unite to cover at least five combs, you may 

 still have trouble in saving them. 



Question.^How many queens can I keep in one 

 nucleus and how long? William Heart. 



Illinois. 



Answer. — It sometimes happens that dur- 

 ing the summer the beekeeper has a number 

 of extra queens and no place to keep them. 

 In such a case a few queens may be kept in 

 cages placed immediately over the cluster of 

 bees, where they will be taken care of for a 

 week or 10 days. If such queens are placed 

 over strong colonies, they will be much 

 safer. We haA'e had as many as two dozen 

 thus caged over a colony at one time. 



Question. — I caught a swarm of Italian bees and 

 hived them in a bo.x for about one week. Then I 

 took them out of the box and placed them on founda- 

 tion, but the next day they swarmed again. I put 

 them in another box and left them for a day. Then 

 finding nothing wrong with the h5ve I put them 

 back. But next day they cleared out. A friend of 

 mine who is an experienced beekeeper had the same 

 trouble with the same swarm. He hived them, and 

 the queen laid eggs in the comb; then they left, 

 leaving the eggs which were nearly hatched. Coiild 

 you tell me why they wouldn't stay on the founda- 

 tion? ' " H. V. Albrecht. 



Xpw Zealand. 



Answer. — Colonies of bees often behave 

 in this way when put on foundation. If 

 given drawn comb and a frame containing 

 young larvae a swarm will generally stay 

 contented. When moved from another hi\o 

 on to the foundation a colony is not as like- 

 ly to be contented as is a swarm that has 

 just issued; for. in the latter case, the bees 

 are loaded with honey so they not only have 

 something to eat, but also are able to draw 



tlio foundation a little, thus giving the 

 queen a chance to lay. It is rather unusu- 

 al for a colony to leave after the queen has 

 begun laying eggs; but, if the hive is filled 

 with foundation, this sometimes occurs. 



ANSWER BY .T. H. LOVELL. 



Question. — Under separate cover I send a large 

 bee or fly that I found 5n July near one of my hives, 

 with a honey bee grasped in its mandibles. I am 

 sending it to you for classification. 



Ohio. J. E. Venard. 



Answer. — The insect is not a bee but a 

 lly; if you had observed it more carefully, 

 you would have noticed that it had only one 

 pair of wings, the second pair being replac- 

 ed by a pair of balancers or "halters." 

 This mistake is often made, and I once had 

 a collector of great experience send me a 

 lly for a bumblebee. This fly is one of the 

 robber-flies, or Asilidae. Some of the spe- 

 cies are quite stout resembling bumblebees 

 in form, the resemblance being increased by 

 a dense pubescence of black and yellow hairs. 

 They are extremely predaceous, and such 

 powerful insects as bumblebees and even 

 dragon-flies become their prey. They also 

 feed on larvae. This species, Trupanea api- 

 I'ora, is the bee-killer and captures the hon- 

 eybee on the wing. Riley states that he 

 has known one of them to kill 141 bees in 

 a single day. 



ANSWER BY" E. R. ROOT. 



Question. — I am desirous of moving to California 

 and enga2:ing in bee culture and chicken-raising for 

 profit. Having no experience with bees I will prob- 

 ably have to start on a very small scale with them 

 but hope to get a good location and grow into the 

 business. I would be thankful for any helpful infor- 

 mation you can give me concerning the State. 



Florida. R. E. Mathews. 



Answer. — Beekeeping in California is a 

 flourishing industry from a point 100 miles 

 north of Sacramento to the southern bound- 

 ary of the State. The largest beekeeping 

 operations, however, are from Fresno on 

 down to San Diego with Los Angeles as a 

 center. There is considerable unoccupied 

 territory in the northern portion of the area 

 indicated, and some places farther south. 

 The situation is shifting so much that the 

 writer will be imable to give you exact 

 jilaces. He would, therefore, recommend 

 that you buy a tourist round-trip ticket 

 with the privilege of a stop-off. There are 

 beekeepers at almost every postoffice; and 

 if you will make a little inquiry you may 

 find where they are located, and from them 

 can get your information at first hand. The 

 climate of California differs from that .of 

 southern Florida in that it is a little colder, 

 with more variation between night and day. 

 I'Jxcejjt within 25 miles of San Francisco 

 there is very little change of climate from 

 Sacramento down to San Diego. The nights 

 are colder all over the State than in Florida, 

 and during the middle of the day it is not 

 as hot. Unless you desire a change of cli- 

 mate and wish to go where you can get 

 some real mountain scenery, you had better 

 stay in Florida if you wish to get unoccupied 

 bee territory. 



