1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



729 



TWO QUEENS GOING OUT WITH ONE SWARM. 



May 22 I had a fine prime swarm issue; 

 and when I shook them in front of the hive 

 I saw two fine large queens enter — in fact, 

 I guided them in with my hand. Now, if it 

 is the old queen that goes out with the first 

 swarm, where did the two come from? Do 

 not say that two swarms went together, for 

 I was near them almost the entire time, and 

 would have seen another had one come out. 

 Besides, this one came from a colony some- 

 what remote from the main apiary. The 

 next morning one queen was outside on the 

 hive-stand dead. My first swarm came in 

 April, and since May 1 they have been 

 swarming almost daily. 



Farmington, W. Va. John A. Bock. 



[It sometimes happens, in the case of a 

 supersedure, that the old queen will be al- 

 lowed to continue right along with the young 

 one. So far as the bees are concerned, they 

 do not care; but it is a question of whether 

 mother and daughter can get along peacea- 

 bly in the same house. But there are many 

 recorded cases where they do. If the colo- 

 ny has such a pair, the swarm probably will 

 have two queens. 



Or it is possible or even probable that the 

 colony was preparing to swarm — that there 

 were ripe cells, one of them having hatched. 

 When the swarm went forth, the old mother 

 and the virgin went with it. This not infre- 

 quently happens. 



Or it is possible that the prime swarm had 

 gone forth already, without your knowledge. 

 The second swarm might contain several 

 virgins; in fact, we have had numerous re- 

 ports from beginners who wondered why it 

 could be there were so many queens in one 

 swarm, when, as a matter of fact, a second 

 swarm will probably have more than one 

 virgin. — Ed.] 



MELTING UP foul-brood COMBS IN A GER- 

 MAN WAX-EXTRACTOR. 



Please tell me how to treat a Root-Ger- 

 man steam wax-press so as to kill all foul- 

 brood spores, etc., so that honey pressed 

 from it (which has not been contaminated) 

 will be safe to feed for winter stores. In 

 rendering foul-broody combs into wax with 

 this press, will the wax need any further 

 heating before it will be safe to ship to the 

 foundation-makers? I have about 350 frames 

 of foul-broody combs which contain consid- 

 erable honey. Ernest W. Reid. 



Lennon, Mich. 



[If these combs contain honey it probably 

 would be best to squeeze it out by putting 

 the combs in cloth bags and then running 

 the plunger down on them. If the honey is 

 squeezed out in this way you can use it for 

 feeding, and extract the wax in the squeezed 

 combs later. Before using foul-broody hon- 

 ey for feeding, however, you should boil it 

 thoroughly, say for half an hour, and next 

 day do the same. As an added precaution 

 it would be well, also, to boil the honey 

 again in two or three days, so that any 



spores of the disease which were not killed 

 at the first boiling would develop and be 

 killed later. You can then steam up the 

 press and render the wax from the combs, 

 as described in our directions. The wax will 

 probablv need no further treatment before 

 sending it to the foundation-manufacturers, 

 for the heat during the pressing will proba- 

 bly be sufficient to remove all traces of the 

 disease. 



During this whole process you must be ex- 

 ceedingly careful. All cans or pails which 

 come in contact with the honey or wax from 

 these foul-brood combs must be thoroughly 

 disinfected by boiling, and all the work 

 should be done at such a time or in such a 

 place that no bees will come around trying 

 to rob, thus carrying the disease. After 

 you have finished the work, be sure to boil 

 every dish and tool that you have used; and 

 it would be well, also, to allow the press to 

 steam for perhaps two or three hours, and 

 then, as before, it would be well to steam 

 again in a few days. In this way the germs 

 will be killed and the machine will be free 

 from disease. —Ed.] 



ONE swarm settling IN FIVE OR SIX 

 CLUSTERS. 



May 20 I had a swarm about 10 A.\m. It 

 settled on the limbs of trees in five or six 

 places, about as large as a goose ege;. On 

 looking at the old hive I noticed a ball, and, 

 sure enough, they had balled the queen and 

 killed her before 1 could stop it. What 

 should have been done? Geo. W. Sabin. 



Wilmington, 0. 



[When there are several little clusters like 

 this, shake them all into one box or basket, 

 and hive in the regular way. Possibly there 

 was an old queen and a virgin, and one or 

 the other was one too many. —Ed.] 



a SHORT EASY WAY TO CONTROL SWARM- 

 ING AND MAKE INCREASE. 



Having read with much interest the vari- 

 ous plans given in Gleanings for controlling 

 increase and swarming I will give one which, 

 if not new, is good, as I have practiced it 

 for some time with uniform success. 



We usually have a light but long-continued 

 flow, and swarming begins early. Now, as 

 I want only moderate increase I proceed 

 thus: 



Having found queen-cells started in No. 1 

 I go to another strong colony (No. 2) and 

 move it to a new stand; then I place No. 1 

 on the stand of No. 2, and an empty hive on 

 the stand of No. 1. Next I take the queen 

 and one or two frames of brood and bees 

 from No. 1 and put them into the empty 

 hive and fill up with frames containing 

 starters, giving the now queenless colony a 

 ripe cell if convenient. 



It is not essential that there be queen- 

 cells started in No. 2 when the shift is made, 

 if the colony is strong in blood and bees. 



In a few days I have three good colonies 

 instead of two, all ready for the flow, and 

 with no thought of swarming. 



Franklin, Tenn. J. M. Buchanan. 



