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GLEANINGS IN B K !•: C L^ I. T U R E 



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GLEANED 



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.r. G. H;iriii;in. 



QU 1'. S T ION. 

 -I,- t h .. 

 g e r 111 ol 

 European 

 foul brood is in 

 the hone y. like 

 American f o ii 1 

 brood, what good 

 will it do to re- 

 queen colonies hav- 

 ing this disease ex- 

 cept to have good (lucen 



California. 



Answer. — Kequeeniug in tlio treat iiieiit of 

 Kuroiiean foul brood has a double purpose: 

 that of ehauging the stock to a strain that 

 does a better joli of cleaning out the dead 

 larvae, and al.^o providing an interval of no 

 egg-laying between the time the old queen 

 is killed and the young queen begins to lay. 

 During this interval the bees have an op- 

 portunity to eatch up on housecleaning. The 

 interval necessary for this purpose depeiuls 

 upon the strain of bees, the strength of the 

 colony, and the presence or absence of an 

 early honey flow. 



BEES KILLING DKONES IN MAV. 



Question. — "Why are strong colonies killing their 

 drones at this season (May 27) ? My colonies are 

 extra strong and are beginning to store quite a bit 

 of honey in the supers. Does this mean that they 

 are not likely to swarm ? C. E. Thompson. 



West Virginia. 



Answer. — Yes, this means that the bees 

 are not expecting to swarm soon. They be- 

 gan brood-rearing so early this spring that 

 they were in a condition to swarm a month 

 or more before the normal time for swarm- 

 ing. Cooler weather and a dearth' of nectai' 

 came on in the eastern part of the country 

 at about the time the bees were in condi- 

 tion to swarm. During this period of cool 

 weather brood-rearing was reduced, and 

 many colonies began killing the drones as 

 tho the season had closed. This occurred es- 

 pecially in those colonies not well supplied 

 with stores. They wall probably not pre- 

 pare to swarm until several weeks after 

 they killed their drones, if at all during 

 this season, for it will be three or four 

 weeks before young bees begin to emerge 

 again in great numbers if brood-rearing has 

 been. greatly reduced. While your colonies 

 are now strong enough to swarm most of 

 the workers are old enough to go to the 

 fields, leaving but few bees in the brood- 

 chamber during the day if nectar is avail- 

 able. This is not favorable to swarming if 

 ample room is given in the supers. 



SWARJt LOSES ITS QUEEN. 



Question. — AVhen a swarm loses its queen (she 

 having her wings clipped) and returns to the 

 hive, what is the proper thing to do with the col- 

 ony? • D. E. Scott. 



Tennessee. 



Answer. — Any time within five or six 

 days or before any of the young queens 

 emerge, all but one of the queen-cells should 

 be destroyed, the finest-looking one being 

 left to requeen the colony. Usually when 

 the operator is careful to find every qiUM'u- 



BY ASKING 



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439 



cell, there will 

 lie no further at- 

 tempt to swarm 

 during the sea- 

 son when this is 

 done. It some- 

 times happens, 

 however, t h a t 

 the be.es will 

 s w a r m again 

 stion after this one young queen emerges 

 tiom her cell, this young cpieen going out 

 with the suarm anil leaving the colony hoi)e- 

 lessly queenless, since at this time there are 

 110 young lai'vae left in the hive from which 

 another queen could be reared. To prevent 

 this some beekeepers prefer to destroy all 

 of the (|uei'n-cells about five days after the 

 swarm issued, and again five days later; 

 then introducing a young laying queen taken 

 fioni a nucleus prepared in advance for this 

 ptirpose. 



CO.MBS lUILT CROSSWISE IX BROOD-FEAMES. 



Question. -^ — When the combs are built across 

 from one frame to another in the brood-chamber, 

 wliat would you do with them? A. J. Hul.se. 



Indiana. 



Answer. — The combs can be cut from the 

 frame, and each one then fastened within 

 its OW'U frame by tying them with cord as 

 in transferring, or they may be left as they 

 are until next spring; then, early in May. 

 a second story filled with old dark brood- 

 combs should be given. If the colony is 

 strong the queen will soon go above and be- 

 gin to lay in the second story. After she 

 does this, jtlace a queen-excluder between 

 the two stories to keep her from going dow^n 

 again; then wait three weeks for all the 

 brood in the lower story to emerge, after 

 Avhich it can be removed and the crookc 1 

 combs melted for wax. 



EGGS IN VARIOUS POSITIONS IN CELLS. 



Question. — I have a young queen that lays her 

 eggs on the side of the cells, placing them in various 

 positions. She is large and fine-looking. What is 

 wrong with her? Harry R. Weiss. 



Ohio. 



Answer. — Sometimes when a young queen 

 first begins to lay she does not place her 

 eggs in regular positions; but, if she is a 

 normal queen, she should not do this verv 

 long. You can soon tell whether she is im- 

 proving or not. If her eggs produce work- 

 ers, she may be all right; but, if her eggs 

 do not hatch or if they produce drones, she 

 should be replaced by a good queen. 



TIME EEQl'IREn FOR RIPEXING NECTAR AND SYRUP. 



Question. — How long does it take the bees to 

 ripen and seal honey made from sugar, and how^ 

 long from nectar? R. F. Scott. 



Indiana. 



Answer. — 'You probably do not mean hon- 

 ey made from sugar. When sugar syrup is 

 fed to bees it does not become honey thru 

 the process of ripening. Altho it may be 

 changed slightly by the bees, it is easily de- 

 tected as sugar syrup. It is not honey in 

 the eyes of the law and could not legally 

 be sold as such. The length of time re- 



