1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



35 



IMPRISONING THE ROBBERS. 



Last summer, while working with my bees, 

 I had occasion to pass by No. 44, a colony 

 that I had just overhauled, and found that 

 it was being robbed. No. 49 was doing the 

 robbing, and, being a little vexed, I gave 

 them a good smoking and then went to din- 

 ner. On returning I found that No. 49 was 

 being robbed by No. 44, and, being afraid 

 others would take a hand in it, I spread a 

 piece of mosquito-bar over each one of them 

 and went on about my work. In about two 

 houi's I removed the mosquito-bar and they 

 went on about their legitimate business. I 

 prefer putting the robbers behind the bars 

 (where all thieves ought to be) instead of 

 confining the innocent parties in order to 

 protect them. It causes the robbers to mind 

 their own business, and gives the robbed 

 colony a chance to recover. This, of course, 

 is where there are but two colonies concern- 

 ed. 



A sure way to tell when a colony is being 

 robbed is to examine the bees' honey-sacs as 

 they come out; if they contain ripe honey, it 

 is a case of robbing. In order to find what 

 colony is doing the robbing, examine the 

 honey-sacs of the bees as they rush into 

 their own hives. If their honey-sacs con- 

 tain ripe honey you have caught the thieves. 

 F. W. Morton. 



El Dorado Springs, Mo. 



ACREAGE of ALFALFA NECESSARY TO TAKE 

 CARE OF 50 COLONIES. 



The question is asked in Gleanings, ' ' How 

 many acres of honey-plant are necessary to 

 take care of 100 colonies of bees?" This be- 

 ing an alfalfa district I thought it would per- 

 haps interest my fellow bee-keepers to state 

 my experience this summer, as the above 

 question has often put me to thinking re- 

 garding pasturage. 



In partnership with my brother we had 79 

 colonies, spring count. The season was at 

 least three or four weeks late, having cold 

 nights accompanied with drizzling rains at 

 intervals throughout May until the middle 

 of June. By this time the alfalfa was start- 

 ing to bloom, "scattering." There were 

 very few stores in the hives, no brood-rear- 

 ing to speak of, as we have no blossoms to 

 mention until alfalfa comes on. On the 26th 

 of June we had two swarms come out which 

 we had to feed for a few days on account of 

 a cold rain. After then we had fine weath- 

 er, and the bees went to work with a will on 

 the thousands of acres of alfalfa surround- 

 ing us, which had a purple cast by this time. 

 By the middle of July all the alfalfa was cut 

 except a little around ditches, etc., our own 

 fields included, and every thing seemed to be 

 at a standstill in the apiary. Up to this 

 time we had hived 48 swarms, making a to- 

 tal of 128 colonies. There being very little 

 sweet clover in bloom we decided that the 

 only surplus honey we should get would be 

 gathered on our own farm; and having 30 

 acres or more of alfalfa we knew we could 

 control that amount of pasture, as other 



fields are generally cut when coming in bloom, 

 making better hay. When the first cutting 

 of alfalfa was all done we had only 19 colo- 

 nies working in the supers. On the 5th of 

 August we were putting on another round 

 of supers, honey coming in galore. That 30- 

 acre field was a sight to behold. From morn- 

 ing till night it was a constant uproar. We 

 stood there many times and listened to the 

 buzz overhead as they passed to and fro, it 

 doing us more good to know that they had at 

 last struck a land of plenty, and we the sat- 

 isfaction of knowing that we can control to 

 a certain extent our own pasture. That 

 alone amounts to us to more than the loss in 

 hay. 



Though only a novice of a few years' ex- 

 perience in bee-keeping, my idea of success, 

 in that line, " to be master of the situation, ' ' 

 is to control as much as possible our own 

 pasture, and not depend on our neighbors be- 

 ing delayed in cutting their fields of bloom. 

 We are not so fortunate as some bee-keep- 

 ers where nature provides with plenty of 

 moisture and a constant honey-flow through- 

 out the season. A scarcity of water for ir- 

 rigation means a scant honey crop; there- 

 fore, profiting by this year's experience with 

 alfalfa we will try next year to regulate the- 

 bloom so as to have a paradise for the bees 

 throughout the season. 



I am satisfied that 1000 acres of honey- 

 plant, as stated in Gleanings, isn't neces- 

 sary to take care of 100 colonies of bees. 

 We had 50 colonies that made from three to 

 six supers, while the others fell below three 

 supers. Geo. J. Smith. 



Fort Lupton, Colorado, Nov. 30. 



[These are the kind of facts we are look- 

 ing for. We should be pleased to hear from 

 others.— Ed.] 



THE success of an a B C SCHOLAR IN CUBA. 



A year and a half ago I bought some na- 

 tive bees in the hollow log hives. I knew 

 little about them except how to transfer and 

 how to extract honey, so I got the A B C of 

 Bee Culture and Gleanings, and studied 

 them hard. I realized at once I should have 

 to get the bees out of the log hives, so I 

 bought some Dovetailed hives and transfer- 

 red them. They seemed so gentle that I 

 thought I would try them and not get Ital- 

 ians; but I got very little honey from them 

 that fall, and they let the moth get in the 

 hive and play the mischief. So I bought 

 twelve untested Italian queens from The A. 

 I. Root Co. Nine of them lived, and I had! 

 only ten hives to start with last April. By- 

 September I got them up to over thirty. 

 Now I have almost one hundred. I lost one 

 or two swarms, and one of my best colonies, 

 got smothered in moving it. Then I have 

 been badly handicapped all along by not be- 

 ing able to get supplies, etc. , in time. But 

 I shall get some honey this year. I have al- 

 ready extracted 800 lbs. There is that much, 

 and more, in the hives now, and the season 

 is not nearly over yet. Do you think this is. 

 doing well? R. M. McMuRDO. 



Cauto, Cuba, Oct 21. 



