1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1113 



"Not just that. But if you can not make 

 a colony or c-olonies this fall without injui"- 

 iug the prospeet of those from whieh you 

 take the tiees, doiiH iiKtke the colonics.'''' 



•'But my bees often breed during the 

 whole of September. ■■ 



••That may make a difference. In locali- 

 ties where bees breed during September, and 

 where a laying queen is given to the made 

 colony when it is made, as I suppose you in- 

 tend to do. one-half the bees, or from three 

 to four pounds, will do fully as well as the 

 six pounds would where no bees ai'e reai'ed 

 after the colony is made.'" 



"And if they shoukl not breed as is desir- 

 ed, this breeding could be brought about 

 by feeding, as ■ you have hinted at, could 

 it not?" 



"Certainly. If the person making such 

 colonies hasthe time, tlisposition, and means 

 to feed moderately during September, three 

 pounds would do well enough: for by thus 

 feeding, brood would be reared during Sep- 

 temter in almost any part of the United 

 States." 



"By the mecois part I suppose you would 

 buy sugar." 



•"•That is what I would do. Where one 

 has the time, and can afford to buy the 

 sugar, there is nothing in the bee business 

 that gives much more real pleasure than 

 building up colonies of bees ready for winter 

 during the fall." 



••How soon will brood-rearing commence 

 after the feeding is begun?" 



"In a day or two: and after they have 

 been fed from five tlays to a week, brood- 

 I'earing will commence in earnest. And if 

 you do not have all the combs you wish for 

 these colonies, they will build combs, or 

 draw out foundation in the most beautiful 

 manner for the one who is willing to work 

 along these lines in the right manner: but a 

 half-hearted slipshod person had better not 

 undertake such matters, for such a one is 

 more liable to make a failure of the things 

 than otherwise." 



Now plan your work so that you will not 

 have a great lot of untiuished sections at the 

 close of the season. If you can not use ex- 

 tracting-combs to finish the season, have the 

 bees fill combs that you can use to feed any 

 that may lie short of stores. If you can not 

 do any lietter, fill the supers you put on aft- 

 er this date only half full of sections, unless 

 the conditions fully warrant you in giving 

 more room. 



WASTE OF WAX SCALES. 



I think there is always more or less waste 

 of wax by a newly hived swarm, but I never 

 knew before of siu-h an extraordinary waste 

 of wax scales as there has Ijeen this season 

 in all swarms, natui'al or ai'tificial. Wax 

 scales covered the bottom of the hive, and 

 drifted out of the enti'ance in many cases un- 

 til the ground in front was liberally sprin- 

 kled. This was doubtless due to the very 

 cool nights we have had, and seems to indi- 

 cate that a better protection of the hive 

 would be profitaljle. 



^ • 



REQUEENING COLONIES. 



Now is the time to requeen your colonies. 

 If you have only one apiary, and do not 

 mind having your bees swai'm, it may lie as 

 well to let the bees supersede their queens 

 themselves: but for the man who is keeping 

 bees in out-apiaries, I think it will pay to 

 supersede all queens after their first season. 

 One of the easiest and cheapest ways, though 

 not the surest, is to put a ripe queen-cell in 

 a cell-protector in each colonj' needing a new 

 queen. The young queen will in very many 

 cases supersede tne old one. If you keep 

 your queens" wings clipped you can tell 

 whether this has been done or not. As you 

 do not have to hunt up the old queens, this 

 plan involves very little labor, expense, or 

 risk. 



BKUSHES. 



I have never bought many brushes for tee-, 

 work, especially of late years. I seldom do 

 much brushing of bees: and when I do I pre- 

 fer a brush made of fresh weeds or grass 

 when I can get it. There ai'e many varieties 

 that make good brushes. Select something 

 that is not too stiff, short, or stubby: do not 

 use too large a bunch, and do not try to 

 l)rush the bees with the end of the brush. 

 Pick out something that is slender and plia- 

 ble, and bi'ush the bees with the side of the 

 bunch, not the end. A brush of this kind, 

 used in this v»'ay, does not irritate the bees 

 nearly as much as many of the brushes in 

 common use. One of the best features of 

 this kind of bi'ush is that you can throw it 

 away and get another whenever it becomes 

 daubed with honey or otherwise unsuited 

 for the best woi-k. 



SOWING SWEET CLOVER IN THE SUMMER. 



July 18th I gathered some yellow-sweet- 

 clover seed, and several days later sowed it, 

 together with some old seed of both the 

 white and yellow varieties. This was on 

 cultivated groand, and it has been kept well 

 irrigated since. The white and yellow were 

 not treated exactly alike, and it is possible 

 the yellow was covered too deeply. Only a 

 few plants of the yellow have put in an ap- 

 pearance, but there is a good stand of the 

 white. The seed of the white was gathered 

 for me by the field mice. Under a hive at 

 an out-apiary I found about a peek of sweet- 

 clover seed, perfectly clean and nicely hull- 

 ed. The nest of the 'mice was occupied l)y a 



