870 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 15 



pass around the pump. Around the tub a 

 piece of burlap is folded to keep all robber 

 bees out. I diluted the feed still more, and 

 then went to work pumping a spray of the 

 feed on the covers and into extracting-combs 

 which were laid a few rods from the hives; 

 and to induce all the bees out we burned a 

 little honey. The bees came in waves; and 

 when we had got to the end we soon could 

 commence over again, as the bees would 

 leave the boards when the honey was gone. 

 I noticed hundreds of drones out helping 

 themselves from the boards. It was the 

 first time I ever saw a drone hustle for him- 

 self. 



After a few hours of feeding in this way 

 I could open any hive I wished, and pump 

 directly into an empty comb and have no 

 trouble with robbers. 



Three days after, we visited them again, 

 bringing with us a good frame of last 

 year's honey for each one of the hives. 

 Then we again set the pump to work, and 

 sprayed some combs with thin granulated- 

 sugar syrup, and were able to open each 

 hive and place the honey in the center of 

 the brood-chamber without interruption from 

 robbers; and, to my great delight, at this 

 time I found the combs again filled with 

 eggs and larvee. 



THE SPRAY-PUMP AS A FEEDER. 



The feeding of bees is not new. Outdoor 

 feeding and feeding in the hive have been 

 discussed over and over in the journals, but 

 I have never seen a word about using the 

 spray-pump as a feeder. It can be attach- 

 ed to a lard-tub or something similar, so a 

 five-gallon can of feed can be turned in at 

 once, and can be so fixed that a robber can 

 not get in. It throws a spray that goes di- 

 rect into the extracting-combs without any 

 waste, so a comb will hold from four to five 

 pounds. Turning the little lever on the end 

 of the spray at a right-angle shuts it off so 

 not a drop will leak. 



It is a handy thing to have around to 

 spray shrubs and trees for insect pests, and 

 is handy to clean windows and buggies. I 

 have used it to fill combs in the cellar, 

 taking out a barrel of feed at a load, filling 

 the comb one day and taking them out the 

 next. 



I have not tried the knapsack sprayer, 

 but I am not sure but that it would be 

 handy, as the bee-keeper could have the 

 feed on his back when looking through hives 

 and turning in whenever it is desired. 



Denver, Colo. 



[There are large possibilities in outdoor 

 feeding; and where there are no near-by 

 neighbor's bees, a whole apiary can be fed 

 up far more economically than by the indi- 

 vidual-hive plan. It is surprising how out- 

 door feeding will fix the robber problem. 

 Our correspondents experience on this point 

 is exactly ours. 



So far as I can remember no mention has 

 been made before of the spray-pump for 

 outdoor feeding; but I would question the 

 advisability of fillmg combs direct into thin 



syrup for a winter food. I should be fear- 

 ful that the bees would not ripen the syrup 

 as they should. Is it not a fact that all sac- 

 charine matter passing through the bodies 

 of the bees is changed chemically so that is 

 a more fib food for bees? If so, they should 

 themselves put it into the combs.— Ed.] 



EXPERIENCE WITH THE SIBBALD NON- 

 SWARMING plan; colonies so treated 



NOT as successful AS NATURAL 

 SWARMS. 



As you requested reports on non-swarm- 

 ing methods I will give you my experience 

 in testing the Sibbald plan. 



During May 13, 14, and 15, I had seven 

 swarms come out. I hived them on starters, 

 and four of them I placed on the site where 

 the old hive stood, and moved the old hive to 

 a new site, and three of them I placed be- 

 side the parent hive with the entrance in 

 the same direction, and seven days later I 

 moved the parent hive to a new site and put 

 the new hive over where the old one stood. 



On the 14th of May I found two hives 

 with ripe queen-cells (I think they would 

 have swarmed the 15th). I put supers con- 

 taining partly finished sections containing a 

 little honey on them, and the next day, the 

 15th, about 9 o'clock (I did not wait later 

 lest they might swarm) , I found the supers 

 pretty well filled with bees, and I treated 

 them according to the Sibbald plan for in- 

 crease. 



June 13 I inspected the seven hives that 

 swarmed naturally, and their parent hives. 

 I also inspected the four hives treated ac- 

 cording to the Sibbald plan. I found the 

 seven natural swarms all in good condition, 

 and ready to receive supers. Of the four 

 parent hives that I moved directly to a new 

 site, two were in good condition, nearly full 

 of brood, and a good deal of it capped. They 

 were ready for supers; but one of them was 

 queenless, and one was so weakened that 

 they robbed it the next day after it cast the 

 swarm. I stopped the robbing, but it lost 

 nearly all of its brood, but on June 13 it was 

 half full of brood, some of it capped over. 

 It looked about Uke the Sibbald hives No. 1. 

 The three parent hives that I left on their 

 original stands until the 7th day after cast- 

 ing swarms were all in good condition, with 

 plenty of brood, and ready for supers. 



Of the four hives treated according to the 

 Sibbald plan, none are equal in number of 

 bees and amount of brood to those that 

 swarmed naturally, and none are in condi- 

 tion to receive supers. One of them (a hive 

 No. 2) cast a small swarm June 12, and they 



