752 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1 



be formed by the plans given, which will 

 care for the brood, and if desired they can 

 be wintered over to take the place of any 

 that may die during the winter. Then if 

 none die they can be united with others, so 

 that the number may be kept at the 30, 50, 

 or 75, decided upon when the yard was laid 

 out. 



WHY AN EMPTY SUPER OF SECTIONS SHOULD 



BE PUT ON TOP OF RATHER THAN under 



SECTIONS PARTLY FILLED. 



It is now nearly noon, with the sun shin- 

 ing brightly, and the air becoming warm 

 and balmy. To see the army of bees rush- 

 ing in and out of the hives containing the 

 "shook " colonies is a sight to gladden the 

 heart of any bee-keeper; and those return- 

 ing from the fields seem quite heavily load- 

 ed, though the nectar is very thin on ac- 

 count of so much rain. I tried to count those 

 coming in loaded during one minute, but 

 they dropped down so fast in almost bunch- 

 es of threes, fives, and sometimes ten or 

 more, that it was impossible to do it. I 

 counted two hundred, and estimated that 

 fully twice that number went in without 

 counting. Such colonies as these will do 

 something at securing nectar, even if it does 

 rain the larger part of the time. 



I now take a little time to look at the su- 

 pers of sections, and a glance at them shows 

 the honey being sealed in the bait sections, 

 with the most of the other sections in the 

 lower super, having the foundation fully 

 drawn out, and the honey sparkling in every 

 cell, nearly ready for sealing. With all but 

 two colonies the bees are well at work in the 

 upper super also, drawing out the founda- 

 tion, with now and then a section having 

 quite a little honey in it. Those that are as 

 far advanced as this have their supers ex- 

 changed—that is, the upper super is set di- 

 rectly on top of the brood- chamber; and the 

 lower one. having the baits, now nearing 

 completion, is placed on top, after which a 

 super of sections, filled with the extra- light 

 fou'idation, is placed on top of the whole, 

 so that in no case shall any colony lack for 

 room. 



In all of my working with the bees I have 

 not found that the placing of an empty su- 

 per over one in which the bees are at work 

 is any detriment, as the bees seem capable 

 of clustering in the openings at the tops of 

 the sections they are at work in, thereby 

 forming a crust of bees that holds the heat 

 in the super they are at work in, to such an 

 extent that the work goes right along. 



This is done on the same principle that a 

 colony in early spring is able to maintain a 

 temperature of 93 to 98 degrees inside of the 

 brood-nest (which is the proper temperature 

 for brood-rearing) , when the temperature of 

 the hive all around the crust bees does not 

 rise above 45 to 50, when we have a spell of 

 freezing weather. A colony of bees seems 

 to be capable of holding almost any degree 

 of temperature it desires, simply through a 

 crust of bees which often does not at any 

 point touch the hive. How this is done I do 



not know. But 1 do know that a handful 

 of bees, less than 1000 by count, kept the 

 temperature where their brood was, between 

 two combs, at 93 degrees, when the mercury 

 outside stood at from only 18 to 26 degrees 

 above zero during a cold spell in April. And 

 I have known (many times when experi- 

 menting) of good work being done in the 

 sections, fixed as above, when it was so cool 

 that not a bee would be seen anywhere from 

 or in the upper super, except the crust be- 

 tween the tops of the sections in the super 

 below. 



Since these experiments I have always 

 kept these reserve supers on top, ready to 

 catch any overflow of bees or honey. But 

 the placing of such a super under one in 

 which the bees are at work often proves a 

 great damage, especially in a poor season. 

 Therefore, as a rule, during late years I 

 never raise a partly full super up from the 

 brood-chamber unless I can place one under- 

 neath it, in which the bees have commenced 

 to work more or less. 



Those colonies which have not yet com- 

 menced work in the upper super, or have 

 only just begun, are left as they are, as 

 such have all the room they will need until 

 the next visit. In changing these supers I 

 can not resist the temptation to look into 

 the brood-chambers of two or three of the 

 colonies, and in doing so I find the comb 

 given them as a " starter," which was from 

 one-eighth to one- fourth full of brood when 

 placed in the center of the hive at time of 

 *' shook swarming," ten days ago, is literal- 

 ly filled with brood, two-thirds of which is 

 sealed over, while six of the remaining nine 

 frames, which were nearly full of honey at 

 that time, have three-fourths of the honey 

 removed from them, while the emptied cells 

 are teeming with brood from the egg to 

 larva in all stages of growth. This shows 

 that the colonies are in a very prosperous 

 condition; and should favorable weather 

 come, a good harvest of white honey may 

 yet be obtained. After a careful looking- 

 over to see that all things are in good shape 

 for leaving I say good by to the pets at the 

 close of this my fifth visit to the out -apiary; 

 and in the above the reader has a record of 

 what was done at this visit. 



AN ERROR CORRECTED. 



Mr. Root:— In your issue for April 15, p. 

 509, you will note that your writer speaks of 

 stamens and anthers as different organs, 

 whereas they are the same. The stamen 

 comprises the anther with its supporting 

 filament; the pollen granules are shed from 

 the anther, which is fecundating dust. The 

 pollen is carried by the insect to the stigma 

 and supporting pistil, which connects with 

 the ovary of the flower, and in which are 

 the ovules to be ripened. J. P. LoUGH. 



New York, N. Y. 



