554 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15 



brood from another very strong colony, and 

 placed it in the same hive, then placed this 

 hive in place of a strong swarm, and remov- 

 ed No. 1 about four feet. It seems thus 

 far to be all right. Both colonies are doing 

 finely. The field bees accepted their new 

 queen all right. H. 0. Swartz. 



Schoolcraft, Mich., April 22. 



A BEE-KEEPER FOR EIGHTY-FOUR YEARS. 



I shall be 87 years old the 16th of May, 

 and have been in the bee business ever since 

 I was four years old. My father kept bees. 

 We lived on the east shore of Lake Cham- 

 plain. At the age of four years I was on 

 the south side of our house, and a swarm of 

 bees came and alighted on a tree near by. I 

 went into the house and told my mother I 

 had found a swarm of bees. My uncle cut 

 the tree down, and my father hived them. 

 I have kept bees during my life to the pres- 

 ent time. I sold in two years' time enough 

 bees and hives to amount to $570. 



Enos Aseltine. 



Swanton, Vt., April 17, 1905. 



controlling swarming, and preventing 

 increase. 



In looking over the article in Gleanings 

 of April 1, p. 353, describing H. G. Sibbald's 

 method of controlling without shaking or 

 allowing natural swarms, I thought I should 

 like to give my plan of handhng swarms 

 without much increase. 



When a natural swarm comes off with a 

 queen I want to keep over, I take the swarm 

 on two combs and some full sheets of foun- 

 dation and starters. Set it on the old stand, 

 and put on the super from the old hive, if 

 any, with a queen- excluder, after turning 

 the old hive around. Then shake all the 

 bees in front of the swarm from the combs 

 of the old hive, and distribute the brood 

 among the weaker colonies. By so doing, 

 before the honey-flow I get my bees in good 

 shape so that I can get my reward. 



John Bailey, Sr. 



Bracebridge, Ont., April 10. 



[The plan that you describe for controlling 

 increase is a standard orthodox one— so good, 

 indeed, that many bee-keepers practice it in 

 preference to all other methods. — Ed.] 



carrying colonies on a stretchep. 



I took 73 colonies from cellar, and placed 

 them on summer stands, on the evening of 

 March 28. Wintered without loss, all in 

 good condition. I carried them 300 feet, and 

 was IJ hours in completing the job, includ- 

 ing the contracting of entrances. I carried 

 them on two stretchers, three hives on each, 

 with two men to a stretcher. 



Syracuse, N. Y., Mar. 29. H. C. Mills. 



[We have tested various methods of car- 

 rying bees out of the cellar— two or three 

 hives on a stretcher— but we prefer to carry 

 one hive at a time, and one man to a hive. 

 When two are carrying a load between 



them they must keep in exact step— some- 

 thing which it is a little difficult to do^over 

 rough ground at times. Then the man at 

 the rear can not see where he is stepping. — 

 Ed.] 



HOW to control increase. 



I have about 25 stands of bees, and I do 

 not feel able to buy the hives to take care 

 of all the swarms. Last season I lost a 

 great many swarms on account of not hav- 

 ing hives. I wish you would please tell how 

 to keep them from swarming. Will the ex- 

 cluders keep them from swarming, and at 

 the same time allow them to work the 

 same? Please give me size of sections that 

 are mostly used. P. D. McNealley. 



Taylorstown, Va., March 20. 



[To control increase we would recommend 

 to you recent articles referring to the Sib- 

 bald non-swarming method in these col- 

 umns. Excluders will not keep bees from 

 swarming. Entrance-guards or Alley traps 

 having perforated metal will keep queens 

 from going off with the swarm, and tnat is 

 all. Sections most commonly in use are 4i: 

 X4J. The 4X5 are, however, rapidly gain- 

 ing favor in many markets.— Ed.] 



putting up honey for local customers, 



IN stone jars. 



Mr. Root:— As you wanted to hear from 

 some others in regard to putting up ex- 

 tracted honey by the E. D. Townsend meth- 

 od, in April 1st Gleanings, I will say that I 

 have customers who come to me in extract- 

 ing time, bringing with them stone jars for 

 me to fill. They tie up those jars in fine 

 shape, and set them away to grain solid. 

 After letting them stand for two or three 

 years they melt the honey as fast as they 

 want to use it. 



I guess there is something in location and 

 variety to think of, in putting up extracted 

 honey. S. F, Miller. 



North Manchester, Ind. 



Will it do to rear queens and have them 

 mated from drones of the same hive ? 

 Harper, Iowa. John Haupert. 



[Yes; and if you desire to develop some 

 desirable trait or quality in the bees you 

 will be compelled to in-breed; then by selec- 

 tion pick out individual queens that will 

 show the desirable traits in the greatest and 

 largest predominance. It is not practicable 

 to in-breed to a great extent with bees un- 

 less there is only one colony in a radius of 

 three or four miles ; and even then the 

 queens and drones might fly further; for the 

 tendency of virgins and drones is to fly away 

 from the home yard in order that the breeds 

 may be crossed, for nature seems to work 

 along these lines. While in-breeding accen- 

 tuates and develops desirable traits as noth- 

 ing else can do, it is liable to develop weak- 

 nesses, such as a lack of vigor in the result- 

 ing stock.— Ed.] 



