GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



November, 1920 



honey, for care must be taken not to allow 

 the bees to mix with it a poorer grade from 

 some otlier source. 



DANGER OF DRIFTING. 



Question. — If I set 10 hives one against the 

 oilier in a bee shed and pack fronts and backs 

 with foul- inches of shavings, what will be the 

 effect when they come for a flight? Will drifting 

 be too injurious? 



Pennsylvania. W. H. Hattwick. 



Answer." — There is always a chance that 

 bees may drift when the colonies are placed 

 closely beside each other; but,- if they are 

 left in this position thruout the year, of 

 course, there would be less danger of drift- 

 ing. As you probably know, when colonies 

 are moved a short distance many ef the old 

 bees are apt to return to the old location 

 and be lost; so, if you place them in the 

 shed as you are planning, it would be 

 necessary to wait until they have stopped 

 flying in the fall, and then move them at 

 some time when it seems likely that they 

 will not be able to fly for several weeks. 

 If you do not wish to wait as long as 

 this, it would be possible to move th»^ bees 

 to some place a few miles away and leave 

 them for a few weeks until they have 

 forgotten their old location, and then move 

 them into the shed. 



WINTERING IN THE BARN. 



(^ue.slion. — I have 20 colonies of bees, and would 

 like to know if I could winter them in the up- 

 stairs of my barn. It is 20 x 24 feet, formerly a 

 hayloft, with board floor. It has two windows in 

 the gables. 



New York. A. W. Cerfort. 



Answer. — 'It would be jjossible to winter 

 tlie colonies in the barn if each colony is 

 ])rovided with a separate outside entrance; 

 but, of course, you would still want some 

 packing for the hive, and the hives should 

 not face towards the prevailing winds. 



WHY MOTH.S ENTERED SUPERS. 



Question. — T think in a late Gleanings you have 

 been discussina: gas for killing moths in combs. 

 Moths were very bad here last year and the year 

 before. I put out some combs three days for the 

 bees to clean, and a iew days later they were full 

 of worms. I put them over an empty super and 

 burned sulphur under thet'm. That fix^d tli<3 



smallest and the greatest fo*' all time. 



Iowa. H. L. Kerber. 



Answer. — Yes, we have also used sulphur 

 ^\■\t\\ success. Your mistake in getting the 

 combs cleaned was in leaving them out- 

 doors so long. If they were put out in the 

 morning the l)ees would have them cleaned 

 by night, at which time they should be 

 tnkeii in and piled carefully in piles so 

 tliat no moths can get in. You see if 

 such combs are left out in the evening 

 they are just about certain to be infested 

 with moths, for the moths fly in the even- 

 ing and readily detec'ting the odor of the 

 honey enter the supers and there lay their 

 • 'ggs in the combs. Such combs shoul'i 

 never be left out except during the day. 



NKW FOUL BROOD TREATMENT. 

 Question. — On page 5^3, September Gleaning.s 

 yiv. -lones says, in s'ving his nyw American foul 



brood treatmeint, "Leave the top and sides open 

 and the bees will go across." Now, what meaning 

 is intended to be conveyed in those words? Does 

 it mean top and .sides of the old or new hive, or 

 does it mean both ? Or, doeis it mean both of the 

 liives must be knocked to ijieces, the sides left out 

 as well as the top, or fops, and that only the ends 

 and bottoms of the liives are left to hold the 

 frames? This "top and sides open" expression is 

 ]n\/.7.Ving. How does he ".slide the cover forward" 

 a little if the top is left open ? 



California. A. Norton. 



Answer. — We quite agree with you that 

 the statement is not very clear. Mr. Jones 

 evidently meant that the space between the 

 two hives is not to be screened in, but that 

 the bees would simply walk across from one 

 hive to the other without very many of 

 them taking wing. The hives themselves 

 are to be left covered, except that the old 

 hive has the cover slipped forward about 

 an inch. 



STRONG C0L()NIK,S. gUKEN SEEN LAYING IN QUEEN ■ 

 CELL. STRANGE LOSS OF QUEENS. 



Questions. — (1) What is considered the most im- 

 portant thing one must work for in honey pro- 

 duction ? AVhat should be the aim of a beekeep>er 

 who runs a few colonies as a side line and expects 

 to make increase as he advances in his work? (2) 

 In answer to question on page 486 of Gleanings 

 yon say you have never seen a queen deposit an 

 eg? in a queen-cell, and you do not know of any- 

 one who has. I have seen a queen deposit eggs 

 in queen-cells. It happened during the June flow- 

 that one of my colonies was getting lazy, so I de- 

 cided to look in the hive. I found the workers 

 busy constructing queen-cells. I found the queen 

 walking on the comb. Then she came to a queen- 

 cell in the end of the comb. She took a look in 

 and turned to go. There was such a mass of 

 workers around her she could not get out. She 

 tried to push her w-ay out, but each time the w»rk 

 ers seemed to be urging her back. Then she took 

 another look into the queen-cell and backed in and 

 deposited an egg. Then the workers backed out 

 of her way. She came to another cell, and the 

 same act took place. After she left this cell 1 

 noticed that there were two eggs deposited in it. 

 I closed tlie hive until the next noon. Then I 

 found an egg in every queen-cell. They had a 

 good many cells constructed. From this I believe 

 when eggs are found in queen-cells that they are 

 placed there by the queen. I, however, think that 

 the workers have a strong influence on the queen, 

 that has a good deal to do with her behavior. 

 (.3) When making increase I found that many queens 

 that had emerged from ripe sells given in cell-pro- 

 tectors to colonies at the time they were made queen- 

 less, had later disappeared after being mated and lay- 

 ing a week or more. These queens were reared 

 during the June flow in a strong colony and under 

 favorable conditions. I cannot understand this. 

 Have you any information on this matter? 

 Illinois. Ernest W. Peterson. 



Answers. — (1) It is rather difficult to 

 name any one thing more important than 

 all other factors, and, yet, keeping the 

 colony always strong is perhaps as im- 

 portant as any. For one who is expecting 

 to make continual increase our best advice 

 would l)e to become as well jiosted as 

 l>(issible on bee behavior under dift'creut 

 conditions. He should, if possible, visit 

 iM'ig]il»oring b('ekee])ers and work side by side 

 with tlicm in the apiary, and also should read 



