ISSl 



GLEAJ^OGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



535 



sheer necessity I kept one outside frame in each ex- 

 tracted, not disturbing the other frames, la this 

 way I increased the 1~ colonies to 81, and obtained 

 over 1200 lbs. of honey. 



The amount of honey stated may not be exactly 

 correct, but I think it will bo over rather than under 

 the estimate. I can tell better after it is all weighed. 

 Of the extracted, part was actually weighed; the re- 

 mainder in stone crocks was estimated at 10 lbs. to 

 the gallon. The comb h<mey was in 1-lb. sections, 

 and estimated at 1 lb. to the section. I have already 

 weighed 1366 sections, and they overran weight some 

 20 lbs. In ordinary seasons, with separators, they 

 will not average quite a pound, but in a flush season 

 they are filled fuller. C. C. Miller. 



Marengo, 111., Oct. 11,1881. 



If I am correct, friend Miller, you not only- 

 got all your queen-cells from your large 

 home apiary, but a frame of brood with each 

 queen-cell':' If you used from your large api- 

 ary o!J frames of brood, each containing a 

 queen-cell, I do not know but that I could 

 do it myself, with a steady flow of honey. 

 In any case, my friends, I tell you it is a 

 wonderful way to make money, at the prices 

 bees have brought this past season, even if 

 you have to feed all the time. You will 

 note the plan of working is just about the 

 same as that given in the A B C, except hav- 

 ing two apiaries two or three miles apart. 

 I am inclined to think we can so manage as 

 to avoid the necessity of so much traveling 

 back and forth; stUl. friend ]SI. may be 

 right. ' 



NO BROOD OR EGGS IN OCTOBER. 



AfiE THEY QUEEXLESS? 



SHAVE been fixing my bees for winter to-day. I 

 have 3 stands; the best one is a nucleus that I 

 — ' bought of S. D. McLean & Son, of Tennessee, 

 last spring. It is very strong. As I was handling 

 them over I noticed several drones among them. I 

 saw no brood except some that was just hatching. 

 Would you consider that an evidence that there is 

 no queen? S. A. D.VNLEr. 



Friendsville, Susq. Co., Pa., Oct. 11, 1881. 



Friend L)., your letter reminds me that I 

 should have mentioned, last month, not to 

 decide a colony queenless just because no 

 brood could be found in the months of Oct. 

 and Xov. Almost every fall, more or less 

 of our readers will order queens, saying they 

 - found a queenless colony just as they Avere 

 fixing them up for winter. Old colonies al- 

 most invariably stop breeding at the ap- 

 proach of cold weather, and young ones oft- 

 en do the same, unless the colony is fed. 

 The presence of drones in a stroiig colony 

 need not disturb you, either. A tew days 

 ago, John reported that our Ilayhurst Cyp- 

 rian queen had stopped laying, and that 

 even feeding did not start her up. I replied 

 th»t I thought it was all right, and looked 

 into quite a number of other stocks and 

 found them without brood or eggs also. I 

 then looked into Neighbor 11. 's little apiary, 

 and nearly all his stocks were broodless. al- 

 though they had been fed heavilv. To my 

 surprise, his albino stock was in' the same 

 condition, and the queen was so small one 



w-ould say she was not fertilized, by her 

 looks. 



•• Neighbor II.. liave you got any hives 

 down in your River Apiary, full of brood V " 



'• Yes, sir. "ee I I have just that." 



'• Well, next lime you go down, I want to 

 go just on purpose to see a hive full of 

 brood. There isn't any in our apiary." 



'• I know there is in my live hives." 



•' You'd better look." ' 



He looked, and was astonished. 



'• Have you been feeding that albino stock 

 right along ':'"' 



•• Why, yes. I fed them a whole big pan- 

 ful only day before yesterday." 



We went down to the River Apiary. He 

 opened hives that contained brood the day 

 before, but, although they had plenty of 

 brood and eggs the day before, there wasn't 

 a •' brood or egg " in the hive, to be found. 



'• Why, the little rascals have taken it all 

 out to make room for tlie syrup I gave them 

 last night. Who ever heard of such a thing 

 before 'r*" 



•' I have heard of it, but I never saw it be- 

 fore. Langstroth says, in his book, that the 

 passion for stores is greater than that for 

 brood, and that they will, if crowded, re- 

 move both brood aiid larva', to make room 

 for more honey."' 



The next day, II. came to me with the as- 

 tounding statement that those hives had got 

 their eggs, and brood ton, back again. They 

 only covered it up with syrup to get that 

 panful all into the combs, and after it was 

 all safe, then they took the syrup off the 

 brood and eggs, and went on with their 

 household duties. If you think this is too 

 much like a " varn," just pitch into Neigh- 

 bor II. 



Moral. — Be careful how you decide a hive 

 to be queenless just because you can't Hnd 

 eggs or brood. 



\* INTERING AND VEXTIL.ATIOIV. 



^^-OW can we most successfully winter our bees 

 J'[^^|l on their summer stands? This question has 

 ' been variously answered in days past by dif- 

 ferent writers, each endeavoring to bolster up some 

 pet theory, and, generally, after a single season's ex- 

 perience. Ventilation and non-ventilation have had 

 and still have their champions, and various plans 

 have been tried, with more or less success for the 

 time being, to carry colonies safely through cold 

 weather. The experience of the last winter, as 

 shown by reports given from various sections, goes, 

 however, to show that all means as yet suggested 

 have failed in many instances, while many colonies, 

 wholly unprotected, have safely passed the rubicon. 

 From all this we might conclude that there is no 

 need of any protection at all; but careful apicultur- 

 ists will continue their experiments until at last the 

 best (if not always successful) plan will be devised. 

 The matter of ventilation as yet is no better under- 

 stood in regard to the hive, than to our dwelling- 

 houses; but the majority of those who have given 

 attention to the matter, conclude that the hive 

 should be ventilated in miich the same way as we 

 ventilate our dwellings; that is, by arranging them 

 so that warmth may be retained, and all bad air and 

 superfluous moisture be allowed to pass off without 



