430 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Sept. 



of earl3--clovcr honey, even to the exclusion of half 

 the brood; when fall came they would fill up the 

 rest with honey very easily, without mTich pollen, 

 even in a poor fall; and I have had the good fortune 

 to see that these colonies were the ones that win- 

 tered best in nine cases in ten, even when exposed 

 out of doors. Now, neighbor Fish has a bee-house. 

 At this time of year he feeds back his extracted 

 honey to get the bees to finish capping-, as there is 

 very little to gather here from July 30 to Aug. 15, on 

 an average. Of course, this is supplying them with 

 early honey to the condition of the light swarm spo- 

 ken of, more or less, and he always winters success- 

 fully, while neighbor Newman, of Norwalk, does 

 not do this as much, and has in his localily a poorer 

 fall, generally, than we have, and his bees came 

 very near ha\iug the dysentery last winter. 



Here is the plan: Put 2 combs in with the sections, 

 and as soon as capped, put in 2 more, taking out the 

 first 2, and putting them away till you have enough 

 clear clover honey for winter, and then as the pas- 

 turage becomes scarce, put one of these combs be- 

 low, raising up a brood comb till the bees have nat- 

 urally ceased brood-rearing; but do not crowd them 

 to do so, and they can not get pollen into their win- 

 ter's supplies. I am of the opinion, that the warmth 

 of the repository giving the bees the preference of 

 food is where the secret is with them, mainly. 



G. H. Mackey. 



Milan, Eric Co., Ohio, Aug. 4, 1881. 



QUESTIONS FROltl A ITOINO BEE- 

 KEEPER. 



ONU WHO "WANTS TO KNOW, YOU KNOW." 



S I am a young reader of your joiu-nal, there are 

 several questions I should like to ask, if they 

 are proper. 



How many pounds of bees should there be in a hive 

 that is about two years old, or a young swarm just 

 hived? I mean, the average number of bees in each 

 box or hive, without honey-comb or box, or what 

 tare is allowed per box. 



Can't well be answered definitely. Any- 

 where from 3 to 10 lbs. The combs, honey, 

 and pollen, may weigh anywhere from 1 lb. 

 up. 



How many days after a queen is hatched out be- 

 fore she is impregnated, and does the one act of fer- 

 tilization with the drone do, if the queen should live 

 five years, or is she a "Mormon"? If not, what is 

 the use of keeping so many drones, if one answers 

 for that purpose? 



The queen is fertilized only once, and the 

 large number of drones often kept in the 

 hive are only nature's method of securing 

 that once. I'hey also make it more certain 

 that any queen shall meet a drone from some 

 other hive than her own. Queens are fertil- 

 ized at from 6 to 10 days old, and begin to 

 lay in two days more. 



Do the bees sleep or rest on the buslies at night, or 

 do they crowd into the hives these hot nights? 



A single bee may occasionally stay out on 

 the bushes over night, when the nights are 

 very warm ; but as a rule, every Ijee is at 

 home before it is perfectly dark. 



Can they see in their dark hive, or do they prefer 

 light? How far do they go after food, or do they 

 prefer having it at home? 



Bees may see to some extent in the dark, 

 but it is my impression that comb-building, 

 nursing, and the rest of their work, is done 

 principally by the sense of touch, with their 

 antenna'. " (Queens lay their eggs by this 

 means, as you will notice they always put 

 their heads clear down into the cell before 

 depositing an egg. Who ever heard of a 

 queen tipping her head to one side, to squint 

 down to the bottom of a cell, to see if it con- 

 tained an egg ? I think that bees very like- 

 ly see the bees from a distance. — They often 

 fiy two miles or more ; seem to work more 

 profitably one mile or less. 



If 50 hives were put into a room in the fall, with 

 plenty of windows for light, and a stove to keep up 

 the heat to about 40 or 50°, will they breed all win- 

 ter? or how would you ventilate a cellar fastened up 

 to keep out cold and frost, with 100 hives in it, sup- 

 posing each hi\e had, say, :i0,000 bees all in good 

 order put away in the fall, kept there for 4 months, 

 and how many bees would be in the same box when 

 taken out, if they did not breed in that time? 



I think it is said, the life of a worker is three 

 months ; should the same care be taken of bees 

 that there is of cows and chickens? 



By answering these questions jou will confer a 

 favor on a subscriber. Wm. Ingkam. 



Telford, Bucks Co., Pa., Aug. (i, 1881. 



Your last question, friend I., has taken 

 away my breath completely. Bees will fly 

 on a window every time, as soon as the room 

 is warm enough for them to fly. The life of 

 a working bee, during the icorking season, is 

 not as much as 40 days ; but during the win- 

 ter they may live a great deal longer than 

 that. At some seasons the bees require 

 fully as much care as cows and chickens ; 

 but there are several months during the fall, 

 winter, and spring, when they are better off 

 without care, if "they have been properly 

 cared for before starting into these cold 

 months. For ventilation of cellars, see Geo. 

 Grimm's articles on the subject. A hive of 

 young bees may be kept four months almost 

 without loss, if they raise no brood ; Ijut we 

 do not often reach that perfection in winter- 

 ing- ^ 



■ — » ♦ — • 



IMPORTANCE OF GETTING THE BEES 



Alil. FIXED FOB ^VINTER BEFOBE 



FBOSTY AVEATHER. 



AL8I) SOMETHING ABOUT GETTING OUT OF BLASTED 

 HOPES INTO THE SMILERY. 



HAVE just received the Aug. No. of Gleanings, 

 and was so struck with the truth of a statement 

 made by W. D. Hinds, of Townsend, Mass., on 

 page 385, that I could not resist the temptation to 

 confirm the statement, and also contribute what lit- 

 tle information I may have from this section of 

 Iowa. 



Bees weic almost uui\ersally handled too late last 

 fall. People had no idea winter would commence 

 for a reality, in its severest form, the middle of Oc- 

 tober. It was unlooked for, —-an unusual occur- 

 rence, as our falls are, with very few exceptions, 

 simplj' beautiful, mild, pleasant weather, until 

 Christmas; have considerable wind, and but little 

 snow. People here are unaccustomed to sleighing, 

 consequently they have no sleds; but during the 

 winter, every man, woman, or child, who could afford 



