1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1139 



swarm comes off destroy the queen and al- 

 low the swarm to return. 



When that colony casts another swarm it 

 will, of course, have a virgin queen, which 

 will settle on a limb low down, if they do as 

 well-bred bees should. Now open the hive 

 and cut out all queen-cells and return the 

 swarm to the parent colony, and the job is 

 done. It answers equally well when work- 

 ing for comb or extracted honey. 



Why I like the plan is, first, I have all 

 young queens, which I think quite an ad- 

 vantage, both for summer and winter; sec- 

 ond, the bees are no longer queenless than 

 they would have been had they swarmed 

 naturally without manipulation; third, they 

 will not swarm again that season— at least, 

 not in my locality. This I say advisedly 

 after a four- years' test. 



Perhaps you don't want to destroy all your 

 clipped queens. If not, here is your oppor- 

 tut'ity. Cage your clipped queen and fasten 

 the cage with the queen on the end of a 

 stick about a yard long and hold it near the 

 entrance when the swarm is returning, till 

 you get what bees you want, when they are 

 taken to your nucleus. Every bee will stay 

 where they are put, as they have swarmed 

 naturally and have their queen with them. 

 J. M. Cruickshank. 



Aylmer West, Ont., Can., March 11. 



[There are a few bee-keepers who advo- 

 cate requeening every year; but the major- 

 ity think that every other year is often 

 enough. There is a possibility, however, 

 that year-old queens might be enough bet- 

 ter to warrant the change, if not for the 

 reasons urged in your letter. — Ed.] 



AN OUTDOOR ATMOSPHERIC FEEDER. 



I notice that you want to find a perfect 

 outdoor feeder, so I will give you a descrip- 

 tion of one that is in general use here, and 

 which I think is the best feeder that I ever 

 saw. I have been using it about eight or 

 ten years, both to stimulate to have bees 

 strong at the beginning of a honey-flow, and 

 also to feed for winter stores. I put one 

 part honey to six or eight parts water to 

 start with, and gradually increase until I 

 have equal parts of each, which I think is 



about right for winter stores, but I think 

 less is better when you are feeding to stim- 

 ulate. To make the feeder, take two 

 twelve-inch boards about five feet long; 

 three pieces 2X4, two feet long, set up edge- 

 wise, on which nail these plank which are to 



be the bottom of the feeder; then nail a 

 piece about an inch thick and 1 J inches wide 

 on all four sides of this bottom, which is to 

 form a trough, in which put strips about 

 half an inch thick and one inch wide cross- 

 wise of the feeder and about two inches 

 apart, and within one inch of the sides of 

 the feeder. This space between the strips 

 and the sides of the feeder is to allow the 

 feed to ran down to the other end of the 

 feeder from the can. Of course, there 

 could be some grooves cut out on the under 

 side of these strips, which would answer the 

 same purpose and would probably be better. 

 Over these strips tack wire gauze, which is 

 to keep the bees from getting into the feed. 

 I generally use a little wax in the cracks to 

 keep the feeder from leaking. Now just 

 t\ke a sixty-pound honey-can, filled with 

 water and honey mixed, and invert it on this 

 feeder; put the can in one corner of the 

 feeder, and have two sticks half an inch 

 thick to put under the edges of the can that 

 extend over in the feeder, so as to keep 

 the bees from getting under the can, as they 

 will crowd under there so thick that a lot of 

 them will get drowned. 

 Uvalde, Tex. W. D. Bunting. 



[Your feeder would work very nicely; and 

 the only objection 1 could mention would be 

 that it lets the bees feed too fast; and, 

 moreover, they would struggle against each 

 other un the wire cloth until they would 

 wear each other out. — Ed.] 



BEES hunting A SUITABLE PLACE BEFORE 

 SWARMING. 



I saw an account of bees going out and 

 hunting a place to occupy before they 

 swarm. I have seen two cases where it 

 looked very much as if they had located or 

 found their new home before swarming. 

 One went into an old building. For two or 

 three days they seemed to be cleaning house, 

 as they threw out particles of plaster before 

 the swarm came. The second instance was 

 of a swarm in a granary. The bees flew 

 from the granary to a hive, back and forth, 

 and finally located in the hive. They went 

 to the hive very much as if they were work- 

 ing. What is your idea? Did they find 

 these places before, or is it a usual thing? 



Shannon, Kan. R. L. Van Horn,. 



[There can be no question that bees very 

 often select a new home before swarming. 

 There have been a good many cases on rec- 

 ord like the ones you describe. — Ed.] 



FEEDING AND WINTERING BEES. 



I commenced bee-keeping last spring with 

 25 colonies. I now have about 50, after los- 

 ing several swarms at swarming time. I 

 should like to get some pointers, as I am a 

 beginner. 



1. How soon should I commence feeding 

 late and weak colonies? 



2. I have a dry cellar dug in loamy soil in 

 a valley. Steam heat for dwelling above 

 comes in through the cellar at one end; is 24 



