182 



GI.EANIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 



DOOLITTIiE'S KEVIE\r AND COMITIENTS 

 ON THE ABC BOOK. 



Continued from last month. 



NUCLEUS. 



A good swarm of bees in the Gallup frame will 

 touch the bottom and top of the hive, and also each 

 end where only 9 frames are used, but not the sides; 

 while with the L. frames they touch the bottom and 

 top only. 



How is it that you have only seven frames in this 

 hive, when you say you use ten .In the chapter on 

 hives? 



"We iisually use but 6 or 7 brood frames; 

 in winter, cliatt' division-boards take the 

 place of tlie other three, and in summer, a 

 frame of sections on each, outside. 



POLLEN. 



BASSWOOD YIELDS NO POLLEN. 



If I am correct, basswood yields no pollen at all. 



BEES ON CULTIVATED-GRAPE BLOSSOMS. 



Did you ever see a bee on a tame-grape blossom? 

 Although they get pollen freely from the wild, or 

 frost grape, yet I never saw one on a tame variety. 



Yes, sir! they work on our Concords nearly 

 every season. 



DO BEES SEE OR SMELL HONEY? 



Above, you give that the bees find honey by see- 

 ing the blossoms, etc.; but did they go into the hon- 

 ey-house by seeing- the bowls and boxes of honey 

 there? I think not, and guess you have got off the 

 track. It can be easily proven, that bees are drawn 

 toward honey by the perfume, for you can place it 

 where they can see It all day, and yet yield no per- 

 fume, and not a bee will notice it. 



DO BEES OR PLANTS CHANGE THEIR HABITS. UNDER 

 DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES OR SURROUNDINGS.'' 



Is not this figurative language? The touch-me- 

 not is probably just as it was when it was first created ; 

 if not, God did not know the neoessitios of flowers 

 when he created them. That a flower has " learn- 

 ed" how and where to place certain organs to accom- 

 plish desired ends is a little strange talk, is it not? 



POLLEN AND BROOD IN THE SURPLUS BOXES. 



I find it right the opposite. I never had any brood 

 in the side boxes but once in my experience, that I 

 know of, but often have it in top boxes. 

 PROPOLIS. 



PROPOLIS FROM BALM OF GILEAD AND POPLAR. 



I have repeatedly seen bees getting propolis from 

 balm-of-Gilead and poplar buds, and a few at work 

 on the horse-chestnut; but this is so sticky they do 

 not like it so well, 



QUEENS. 



DOES THE QUEEN OR WORKERS DESTROY RIVAL 

 QUEEN-CELLS? 



As far as my experience goes on this point, the 

 workers do this destroying of the cells. I know 

 queens do tear open cells, but believe the workers do 

 most of it when the idea of swarming is not enter- 

 tained. 



PIPING OF QUEENS. 



I guess no piping is ever heard in a hive till one 

 queen has hatched; at least, I never could hear any, 

 and I have experimented quite thoroughly on this 

 point. 



WHAT DO BEES FEED THE QUEEN TO MAKE HER LAY? 



What is this food that the bees feed the queen? I 

 claim it is the same as that fed to the young larvae. 

 When the queen takes honey, she helps herself to it. 



AT WHAT AGE DO QUEENS COMMENCE TO LAY? 



I once had a queen laying in just ten days from 

 the time the cell was sealed over, or three days after 

 the queen had hatched, and at another time I had 

 one that did not lay till 26 days from the sealing of 

 the cell. 



QUEEN-BEARING. 



INSERTING QUEEN-CELLS AT THE TIME THE NUCLEUS 

 IS MADE. 



I have tried this plan till I know that my bees des- 

 troy at least nine-tenths of all cells so given, and do 

 not understand why yours do not. With my experi- 

 ence, I should not put such a plan in a book, if I 

 were to write one, but would say, wait 24 hours. 



KEEPING THE BEES OF THE NUCLEUS FROM GOING 

 BACK HOME. 



I should say that this one would get half the bees 

 that were in the old hive; at least, when I make 

 nuclei in that way the bees seem bent on going back 

 to the old stand; so I generally confine them for the 

 first day, letting them out toward sunset by the 

 second day. 



INSERTING A CELL IN PLACE OF ONE THE BEES 

 HAVE BUILT. 



That is correct; and I say, wait till they commence 

 to build cells, and you are safe. 



ROBBING. 



WHAT TO DO WHEN A COLONY CEASES TO DEFEND 

 ITSELF. 



I cover the hive all up with a large sheet, and then 

 there is no chance of smothering; and, also, the 

 robbers are not confined to the hive. 



A ROBBED COLONY GOING HOME WITH THE ROBBERS. 



Did anybodj' ever know the bees from a robbed 

 hive to go home with the robbers? I never knew 

 such a thing to happen, and doubt its ever occurring. 



I have had a few cases of the kind, and 

 several have been reported. Perhaps, friend 

 D., you do not have the experience(?) in rob- 

 bing we do. 



DO BEES DISLIKE SNAKES? 



I had plenty of snakes live under my hives tho 

 past summer, and the idea that bees dislike snakes 

 is all bosh. 



SMOKERS. 



SMOKE FOR YELLOW-JACKETS. 



Smoke will drive yellow-jackets and bumble-bees 

 much quicker than it will bees, so they will leave 

 their nests entirolj' — the yellow-jackets rarely re- 

 turning, but the bumble-bees will return. 



STINGS. 



HOW DOOLITTLE MANAGES IN REGARD TO STINGS. 



This is the way I always remove them; and if you 

 learn by instinct, as it were, to strike your hand 

 against your clothing at the moment you feel the 

 strike to sting, you wiU, in nearly all cases, remove 

 the whole sting, and suffer scarcely any pain. I 

 always wear a veil, as I don't want them in my face 

 if they did not sting at all. 



VISITORS STANDING IN FRONT OF THE HIVES. 



This is the worst trial I have, and I sometimes feel 

 like telling such persons that it seems as if they 

 should "know something;" but instead, I request 

 them to come back where I am, only to repeat it 

 when I open the next hive, and so on. 



KILLING BEES IN HANDLING HIVES. 



I think you make more of killing bees than is call- 

 ed for. When a bee's life is worth more to me than 

 my time is, I take much pains to prevent killing one ; 



