c 



May, 1920 



QUESTIONS. 

 — (1) Sev- 

 eral times T 

 have f o u II (1 

 what I think arc 

 dead bee larvne on 

 the alisihting board 

 of the hive. They 

 are wliite and have 

 the shape of a bee 

 without wings. I.s 

 my brood diseased, or have I killed some brood in 

 examining the hive? Conld it possibly be enemy 

 insects? (2) I am cuttina: out queen-cells to pre- 

 vent swarming. When the day that I should cut 

 the cells is a rainy day, what is the best thing to 

 do? Is there any danger of a swarm on a rainy 

 day ? If not. what happoms when the new queen 

 hatches and the wesither is rainy? (3) Is it neces- 

 sary to shake all the bees off from the combs in look- 

 ing for queen-cells? I can think of no other way 

 to be sure there are no cells, and still this method 

 seems to l>ei a great disturbance to the bees for a 

 weekly program. Stokely Wilson. 



California. 



Answers. — (1) Brood is sometimes carried 

 out at the entrance because the colony is 

 short of stores, because the brood becomes 

 chilled, or else from the fact that wax 

 moths have been at work ramifying the 

 combs and injuring the young larvae. In 

 this case, we rather think the brood was 

 chilled. (2) If the day on which you plan 

 to cut out queen-cells proves to be a rainy 

 day, it is best to put off this work until 

 favorable weather. Should it continue rainy 

 so long that a new queen hatches, there will, 

 of course, be danger that, on the first sun- 

 shiny day, a swarm will issue. (3) If queen- 

 cells are removed during pleasant warm 

 weather, so many of the bees will be out of 

 the hives that you will probably have little 

 trouble in finding queen-cells; but, if for 

 any reason, the hive is well crowded with 

 bees, we suggest that you give the frames 

 a slight shake, just enough to dislodge a 

 few of the bees. You will soon accustom 

 yourself to catching sight of the queen when 

 there arc quite a number of bees left on the 

 frames. It is really too much of a dis- 

 turbance to shake all the bees from all of 

 the frames weekly. 



Question. — I have 20 stands and some of them 

 have quite a number of drone combs and conse- 

 quently many drones. I note where someone speaks 

 of cutting off the heads of the hatching drones, but 

 will thi.s prevent drone-rearing when the cells still 

 remain? How can the drone-cells be gotten rid of? 



Oklahoma. Wm. Meyer. 



Answer. — You are quite right. Cutting 

 off the heads of the hatching drones is only 

 a temporary expedient and does not do away 

 with the real trouble — excessive drone-cells. 

 It is altogether too wasteful to raise a large 

 number of drones and then kill them. It 

 is far better to cut out the large patches 

 of drone-cells and replace with worker cells. 

 An excellent time for doing such work is 

 during warm spring days when a little nectar 

 is coming in. After removing the bees 

 from the comb, take a sharp knife and cut 

 out the patches of drone comb. Then using 

 this frame of cut comb as a pattern, place 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



GLEANED BY ASKING 



lona Fowls 



1 



comb. Then 

 and insert in 



cut 

 the 



it over the 

 w^orker c o m 1) 

 that is to be us- 

 ed for patches, 

 and with the 

 point of the 

 knife mark out 

 the shape of the 

 holes on the 

 lower worker 

 out the marked patches 

 holes which thev fit. If 



they do not fit tight, it will be necessary to 

 tie them in with string wrapped around' the 

 frame. As this M'ork is done at a time when 

 nectar is coming in, the bees will soon at- 

 tach such pieces of comb and gnaw awav 

 the string. 



Question. — Kindly give 

 situation shovm in the cut 



your opinion 



the 



The condition of the hives is stated for Mar. 2.3 

 The years indicate the age of the queen. Nos. 4 

 and 5 being strong, I intend to place Nos. 1 and 2 

 on top of them (Alexander method). I will leave 

 them till May 15 an(J then replace 1 and 2 on their 

 own stands. After replacing 1 and 2, I intend to 

 place 7 on 4, 8 on 5, 6 on 1, and 3 on 2 and 

 leave till June 15. Is there any chance that these 

 will balance up .so as to give reasonable prospects 

 for a crop? I do not wish to lo.se any more colo- 

 nies than nece.ssary. S. Manchester. 



Ontario. 



Answer. — If those colonies belonged to us, 

 we would consider that we had five colonies, 

 not eight. Colony 1 we would probablv 

 unite with 6, killing the queen of 6. Colo- 

 nies 7 and 2, if really very weak we would 

 probably not even attempt to save, certain- 

 ly not, if affected with dysentery, for in 

 that case instead of being a help they would 

 be a detriment to whatever colony they were 

 united with. In case we had but few colo- 

 nies, however, and had them near enough 

 home so that we could give them more at- 

 tention, we would probably use the Alex- 

 ander plan of building up, as you intend do- 

 ing, only we would combine in a somewhat 

 different way. That is, the weak and verv 

 weak Should be given attention immediate- 

 ly. If any are left as they are from th<' 

 first of April until May 15, they mav be 

 worthless by that time. In one hive bodv 

 we would place 2 and 7, separating the two 

 bv means of a tight-fitting divi.sion-board. 

 This body we would place over 5 and colo- 

 ny 1 we would place over colony 4. All of 

 the colonies we would keep supplied witii 

 an abundance of stores thruout the spring. 

 Colonies 6, 8, and .3 will soon be strong, and 

 colonies 2 and 7 will build up to such 

 strength thnt it will be necessary to sepa- 

 rate them into different hive bodies, one 

 being left on 4 and the other placed on 

 whichever one of the colonies 6, 8, or T', 

 seems to be the strongest at that' time. 



