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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



April., 1922 



Beginners are usually surprised to note 

 the dark color of the brood-combs. This is 

 due to their age and the accumulation of 

 portions of the cocoons spun by the young 

 bees while in the pupal stage. These dark 

 combs are just as good as new ones for the 

 brood-chamber, if not better. 



Some of the cells have a greater diameter 

 than others, the smaller ones being about 

 one-fifth inch in diameter and the larger 

 ones about one-fourth inch. These smaller 

 ones are called worker-cells because worker 

 bees are reared in this size, while the larger 

 ones are called drone-cells because drones 

 are reared in them. There should not be 

 more than a few square inches of drone comb 

 in a hive, this usually being in the lower 

 corners of the frame. No drone brood is 

 reared in normal colonies until they become 

 strong in the spring. The large drone larvae 

 can readily be distinguished from worker 

 larvae, and the sealed drone brood has pe- 

 culiar projecting convex cappings quite dif- 

 ferent from sealed Avorker broocL The adult 

 drones, if any have emerged, can easily be 

 distinguished from the workers by their lar- 

 ger size, being thick, heavy-set bees with 

 large, powerful wings. They are not armed 

 with a sting and can be picked up with the 

 fingers with perfect safety. The drones are 

 tlie male bees.' 



Queen-cells are built separately or in clus- 

 ters of two, tliree or four cells. They pro- 

 ject from the comb in a vertical position, 

 resembling a peanut shell in size and ap- 

 pearance. Queen-cells are built only when 

 the colonjr is preparing to swarm or when a 

 young queen is needed to supersede the old 

 one. 



If each comb is carefully examined on 

 both sides the queen can be found. She is 

 the mother of the entire colony, her sole 

 business being that of laying all of the eggs 

 to produce the many thousand workers, the 

 drones and at swarming time the young 

 queens. She can readily be distinguished 

 by her larger size and her long tapering 

 body.- Sometimes she will continue her work 

 of egg-laying while the operator is holding 

 ■ the comb, especially if the bees have not 

 been friglitened by too much smoke or rough 

 liaudling. 



How to Clip the Wings of the Queen. 



It is a good plan to clijj the wings of the 

 queen before swarming time to prevent the 

 swarm going away if it issues when there is 

 no one at home. To do this pick her up by 

 grasping her wings between the thumb and 

 forefinger of the right hand, then transfer 

 her to the left hand where she is held by 

 grasping her feet (several of them) or thorax 

 lightly between the thumb and forefinger. 

 Now with the riglit hand pick up a pair of 

 small scissors and carefully cut ofE about 

 two-thirds of both the wings on one side, 

 then drop the scissors, take hold of the re- 

 maining wings with the right hand and set 

 the queen on her feet back on the comb. 

 This does not injure the queen if it is care- 

 full v done. 



Examination Reveals Condition of Colony. 



An examination of even a few of the 

 brood-combs tells many things about the 

 condition of the colony. By estimating the 

 amount of honey in each comb the operator 

 can tell whether there are enough stores for 

 safety. There should be enough honey to 

 fill completely at least two or three combs 

 constantly on hand as a reserve supply ex- 

 cept during a honey flow when the bees are 

 gathering freely froin the flowers. If there 

 is brood in various stages of development in 

 compact form and uniformly distributed, 

 the colony has a vigorous queen. It is not 

 necessary to see her to know this. If the 

 combs are all nearly filled with brood, honey 

 and polleii, the colony is strong enough for 

 a second story or the supers if in the South. 

 The presence of drone brood in the lower 

 corners of some of the combs indicates that 

 the colony is strong and prosperous. The 

 presence of queen-cells having larvae or 

 pupae in them is an indication either that 

 the colony is preparing to swarm or is rear- 

 ing a young queen to supersede the old one. 

 In tlie spring if the colony is prosperous, the 

 building of queen-cells usually means that 

 a swarm will issue within a week. 



Important Things To Do in April. 



In the northern states colonies that have 

 plenty of stores at this time will need no 

 furtlier attention until about the first of 

 May, excejjt to see that the cover fits down 

 snug and warm and that the entrance is 

 blocked down to an opening about three- 

 eighths by two inches when it is cold. In 

 the southern states, brood-rearing being well 

 under way, the most important things this 

 month are to see that the stores do not run 

 low and that the bees have all the room they 

 need for brood-rearing. If feeding is neces- 

 sary, the feed can be given as described last 

 month. If more room is needed, a second 

 story should be given without the queen- 

 excluder between if extracted honey is to 

 be produced* or even for comb honey if the 

 main honey flow does not come until later. 

 Tliis second story given early usually holds 

 back swarming, at least until the beginning 

 of the main honey flow. 



Those who expect to start colonies from 

 package bees, if in the latitude of Pennsyl- 

 vania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, should ar- 

 range to have the bees arrive soon after the 

 middle of April. For New York, Ontario, 

 Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota it is 

 usually better to have the bees arrive about 

 the first of May. When the bees arrive they 

 should be put into the hive according to di- 

 rections sent with the package. Combs con- 

 taining honey and pollen or even empty 

 combs are much better to hive the package 

 bees on than frames filled with foundation; 

 but, if such combs are not available, frames 

 containing full sheets of foundation can be 

 used, the bees, however, being fed a pint of 

 sugar syrup every day or two until they are 

 able to obtain nectar from the fields. 



