1881 



glea:ni:ngs in bee culture. 



603 



glad of what you say about honey from the 

 oak, because there seems to be something of 

 a mystery surrounding the phenomenon. 



THE WAX question; some of the ABC CLASS 

 NOT SATISFIED. 



Iq October Gleanings, 1881, pngc 495, 1 see "some 

 questions" bj' a j'oung' hand. Now, in my ignor- 

 ance I want to ask you if your answers to the first 

 and second questions are not inc )rrect. I Icnow you 

 agree exactly with all the best authorities in the 

 world, but I want to ask a question, also. If your 

 answers are correct, why is it that, in my section of 

 North Carolina, they can not make it after July 1st? 

 It can not be for the reason given by many, that 

 only !,oung hees produce it, for in my section, 7 years 

 out of 10 they raise young bees every month of the 

 j-ear. We seldom have swarms here in July, but I 

 have had, sometimes, very large ones, and they never 

 make more than 2 to 4 pieces as large as a man's 

 hand. Why is this so? I know they make a little all 

 times of the year, but not enough to store up a sup- 

 port for the colony. And why is it that they never 

 cap over those cells of comb filled with honey in Oc- 

 tober, the comb being made the spring before? In 

 April, May, and June, a large swarm will fill a story 

 of the Simplicity hive in from 9 to 15 days, and it 

 will take the same swarm the remainder of the year 

 to fill one frame of said hive. My own opinion is, 

 that they gather it from around the buds and stems 

 of young leaves of trees. We always see them very 

 busy around them, gathering a peculiar gum that 

 exudes from them, particularly the peach, black 

 gum, sweet gum, and white oak. After the leaves 

 get fully grown and hard, there is but very little of 

 said gum. We seldom see the bees at work on them, 

 and they make little or no comb. 1 think it is pro- 

 polis that he gathers from his body, as he gets pro- 

 polis at all times of the year, and comb he certainly 

 does not. Romeo. 



Triangle. Lincoln Co., N. C, Oct., 1881. 



I am glad to know you are looking into 

 the matter, friend R., but I fear you are 

 very far out of the vray. The fact that we 

 can at any time, when the weather is 

 warm, produce comb to any extent by sugar 

 feeding, covers pretty much the v/hole 

 ground. The reason why your bees do not 

 build comb rapidly in October must be on 

 account of the coolness of the weather. We 

 have comb honey made at any season of the 

 year when honey enough is coming, and so 

 they must build the comb in which to store 

 it. A great many of our friends get founda- 

 tion built out by feeding in the fall, when 

 no honey is being gathered. If you watch 

 the bees, you can see them take off the wax 

 scales and build the comb, yourself; and 

 then you will be fully satisfied it is not pro- 

 polis. 



LAYING WORKERS IN THE SAME HIVE WITH A LAY- 

 ING QUEEN. 



While examining a nucleus in July last, I found a 

 laying worker in the act of laying, and watched her 

 deposit several eggs in worker cells. I then caged 

 her and proceeded to examine the other combs, and 

 found a fine large queen attending to her own du- 

 ties. I released the worker on the same comb, and 

 caused them to meet several times, and they took 

 no more notice of each other than if they had both 

 been workers. I called Mr. Langstrotb'a attentioD 



to the fact, and he said it was something new to 

 him, that a queen and a worker would live together 

 in harmony in the same hive. The queen had been 

 laying for some time. I call them laying workers, 

 because they have never been fertilized, and there- 

 fore they are not fertile, but simply laying workers, 

 as their progeny are all drones. What do you say? 

 Oxford, O., Oct. 18, 1881. D. A. McCORD. 



Friend M., you remind me that Neighbor 

 n. has been telling several times this season, 

 that the Holy-Laud queens will tolerate a 

 fertile worker, for he has once or twice 

 found eggs in the cells after a young queen 

 had been hatched. As a proof, the eggs 

 hatched the usual diminutive drones. Now, 

 in view of this, have you not got a Holy- 

 Land queen in that hive, or at least Holy- 

 Land blood V If so, no wonder both you and 

 our sharp old friend Langstroth were 

 puzzled. By the way, friend x\L, i will tell 

 you how it seems to me you may do a great 

 service to our people. When Mr. L. is able 

 to talk bees, but not to write, suppose you 

 have some of these talks with him on differ- 

 ent subjects, and afterward write them out. 

 I will pay him, and you too, for the service. 

 It wilfbe next best thing to having articles 

 from his own pen ; and with your practical 

 experience with bees, you may both help 

 each other greatly. Friend L. is a great 

 talker, and ic has often seemed to me that 

 many of his talks are too good to be lost. — 

 Since you mention it, it does seem as if the 

 term laying ivorkers were the proper one. 

 Shall we not at once set about an attempt at 

 a reform, in this matter of names ? 



some QUESTIONS BY A "YOUNG HAND" ANSWERED 

 BY ANOTHER " YOUNG HAND." 



Now, I protest, friend R., against the idea that 

 bees ever get lazy. How do they gather the honey- 

 comb? By suction. Where do they get it? From 

 any thing that has honey in it. What time of year 

 do they gather? At anytime they can gather honey. 

 How do they gather and deposit their honey? By 

 sucking it up out of the blossoms into their honey- 

 sack, and when they get a load they deposit it in 

 the cell by placing a particle of honey at the bottom 

 of the cell, and brushing or licking it in all over the 

 bottom of the cell, and the next load he licks the 

 sides of the cell so that the air is all excluded. How 

 do they seal their honey-caps? With wax, and their 

 tongues and mandibles. Do bees get lazy? No. 

 What causes bees to get lazy? Nothing. Do bees 

 ever have any disease? Yes. What remedy is the 

 best? Clean house, pure honey, and plenty of bees 

 in each hive. How far will bees go after honey? 

 I-think they go seven miles. What do bees do with 

 water? It is used as driuk, and to thin thick honey. 



You and Mr. Quinby and Ruber write as if you 

 thought wax grew. Mr. Quinby says it is very much 

 like asking where the cow gets her milk, or the ox 

 his tallow. I have seen them making it by day and 

 by night. Charles R. Ballou. 



Halfmoon Bay, San Mateo Co., Cal., Oct. 20, 1881. 



" EXTRA pure" queens. 



In the spring of 1880 I bought a tested Italian 

 queen from W. P. Henderson, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 

 and introduced her successfully into a strong colo- 

 ny of bees. In two weeks this colony swarmed nat- 

 urally, and with the extra queen-cells I succeeded 



