824 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



made, by allowing the grass to "block" 

 some hives for this purpose I find that, 

 where badly tangled, the colonies in such 

 hives will not store more than two- thirds as 

 much honey during a good basswood yield as 

 will those having a free flightway. 



I am led to speak of this for the reason 

 that I have found in many apiaries which I 

 have visited during basswood bloom the bees 

 crawling or hopping from spear to spear of 

 grass or weeds, for from one to three feet 

 from their entrance, before they could ar- 

 rive at home with their loads. Heavy-load- 

 ed bees " tangle " much worse than those 

 with no loads, and it seems cruel to make 

 the little fellows struggle so to reach home, 

 to say nothing about the apiarist's loss in 

 honey. The looking after all of these things 

 is often what makes the difference between 

 success and a partial or entire failure. By 

 this time the bees in the supers above the 

 escape-boards will have nearly all run out of 

 them, and the few remaining will go out 

 during my wheeling them to the wagon, 

 loading and getting started. The load and 

 the mud make slow driving the order this 

 time, and it is about 1:30 p.m. when I arrive 

 at home. 



In the above the reader has an account of 

 what was done at the sixth visit. To be 

 sure, there is considerable sermonizing mixed 

 in, but this seems necessary for a full un- 

 derstanding of the matter. 



THE J. E. CHAMBERS NON- SWARMING PLAN; 

 WHY WAS IT NOT A SUCCESS? 



I have read with the deeoest interest Mr. 

 J. E. Chambers' article in the May 1st issue. 

 When his non-swarming plan with the at- 

 tachments came out in the Nov. 15th Glean- 

 ings I was s 1 impressed wiih it, and it look- 

 ed so feasible, that I made up 50 sets of the 

 attachments and had them ready this spring 

 when the swarming season came on. 



Last spring I found myself with only 19 

 colonies out of some 70, because of the pre- 

 vious dry year, and I bent all my efforts to 

 increase, with the result that I had 120 colo- 

 nies by fall— about two-thirds of them made 

 with a nucleus box between the middle of 

 June and the last of October. This year I 

 wanted all the honey I could get; and, to get 

 the most, I wanted to prevent all the swarm- 

 ing I could ; and because it looked so feasible 

 and Mr. C.'s assertion of its almost certain- 

 ty to prtvent swarming, I prepared myself 

 as above. But when I put it in practice I 

 was roost woefully disappointed. I think I 

 must have operated upon thirty or perhaps 



more colonies. At first, when they had 

 queen-cells started, and eggs or larvae in, 

 and later when every indication pointed in 

 that direction, but had not made the move 

 yet, and in every instance, it was an utter 

 failure— always swarming out from below 

 as soon as the young queen was ready, and 

 sometimes attempting it from above. Three 

 or four cases, before the young queen swarm- 

 ed, I removed the old queen with a frame of 

 brood and honey and adhering bees, and put 

 them on a new stand. After the usual time 

 the young queen took up sway in the old 

 hive; but the whole operation was as bad a 

 setback as if the swarm had gone off, which 

 they did in many cases, as 1 could not be 

 there to watch them. Knowing this would 

 be the case, I was the more eager to try 

 some plan that would give me control. I 

 think I followed to the letter the drawings, 

 specifications, and manipulations given in the 

 Nov. 15th Gleanings, except the few cases 

 indicated above. In this last issue the chute 

 differs from the other one in that it has a wire 

 screen which brings the exit at the top of 

 the chute while the other is at the zinc be- 

 low. The last one operates in his queen- 

 rearing hive described in an issue between 

 these two. 



Now. I can not see where I failed, and yet 

 I failed utterly. Toward the last of July, 

 and through August and into September, I 

 have tarweed honey, and I can not help it. 

 Upon this I am planning to make my increase. 



A. J. Burns. 



Lusardi, Cal., May 10. 



feeding colonies by setting the hives 

 on bottom roards whi'h con- 

 tain pans of syrup. 

 In nearly every bee- journal I take up the 

 question is asked, ' ' What is the best way to 

 feed bees?" Now, there are many ways. 

 My way I have never seen in print; and as 

 it may help others I send my directions. I 

 can feed an eight-quart pan of syrup in one 



night, and no robber be any the wiser. In 

 the first place, my bottom-boards are inde- 



Eendent of or separate from the hives. I 

 ave a few bottom-boards made expressly 

 for feeders. I go to the tin- shop and have 

 the tinsmith make a few eight- quart pans 



