GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



October, 1922 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



be the consequence of his neglect. The dem- 

 onstrations ever before him of the results 

 of principles of up-breeding put into prac- 

 tice give him ideas which ought to result in 

 a better human race if more boys could be 

 exposed to them. Less theory and more 

 practice in the science courses in our dry 

 educational system ought to bring our civi- 

 lization nearer to the perfection of the col- 

 ony life of the hive. Edith Pettee. 

 Hartford, Conn. 



3o^ca= 



FORM FOR PAPER PACKING 



How to Make One That Prevents the Sides From 

 Bulging 



I tried packing a few colonies by the 

 paper method shown in October Gleanings 

 last j^ear. It is very cheaply and quickly 

 done, but I use a 4-inch frame instead of a 



side can be pressed into the ground to make 

 the form level. The cleats should be nailed 

 on the outside, and the form should be made 

 large enough to go around outside of the case 

 easily. One inch larger than the case frame 

 each way is about right. S. Eouse. 



Hebron, Ky. 



ROBBING BEES TEAR DOWN COMBS 



Peculiar Behavior of Bees in Robbing. Effect ot 

 Feeding Queenless Colony During Dearth 



In the last part of July I put two Mason 

 fruit-jar feeders on a hive of bees that was 

 queenless and had no honey. I had planned 

 to introduce a queen and tried to fill them 

 up. Imagine my surprise when soon after 

 the feeders were on I found that the plat- 

 form entrance to the hive was completely 

 surrounded with pulverized comb. I at once 



Rim ill place at lower edge of hives. Form taken 

 apart at back. 



Slater's felt tarred paper fastened at lower edge 

 by tacking on lath. 



two-inch frame as there described. My bot- 

 tom-boards are 24 inches long. I pack two 

 colonies to the case, and I had trouble with 

 my paper bulging too much in the middle 

 at the expense of the corners, so I tried mak- 

 ing a box out of some empty store boxes I 

 had on hand. They were of %-inch lum- 

 ber. I made the box in two parts, one end 

 and one side in each part. The sides and 

 ends are 24 inches wide, having a 1x2 inch 

 cleat nailed at each corner, the cleat ex- 

 tending 6 inches below the sides. The open 

 corners are held together with hooks and 

 eyes. When the paper is tacked to the 

 frame ready to fill, I set the two halves 

 of this form around the hives and fasten 

 with the hooks. Tliis holds the paper from 

 bulging, and the corners fill out better and 

 the paper will stand more tamping. When 

 filled unhook corners and you have a nice 

 square uniform packed case. By letting the 

 cleats e.vtend beloAv the sides, if the liives 

 are on uneven gromul, the cleat on the high 



opened the hive and found that tlie bees 

 liad torn down the cell Avails of the combs, 

 leaving merely the middle foundation. It 

 is evident that the whole apiary went to 

 robbing this particular colony and one other, 

 with the same results except that there was 

 not so much comb around the entrance but 

 innumerable dead bees. Has any one else 

 had experience with such annihilation start- 

 ed by feeding a queenless colony? The rob- 

 bing of the sweets is easily understood, but 

 what could possibly be the reason for pull- 

 ing the comb all to pieces? I am sure there 

 was not a drop of honey in the hive when 

 I started feeding. Edward F, Bigelow. 



Round Beacli, Conn. 



[It is quite the common thing for robbing 

 bees to gnaw down the combs when robbing 

 out a single colony. It has long been known 

 tliat wlien extracting-supers are placed out 

 in the open to be cleaned up by the bees 

 after the honey has been extracted, if only 

 a few sets of conilis ;ire given the bees Avill 



