1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1143 



you have a very easy time hiving them. I 

 have done this way ever since I found it out. 

 But remember you must lieep the reflection 

 of sun from the glass in a slow but constant 

 motion on the swarm, and gradually bring to 

 the ground, hive, bushes, or any thing. The 

 large glass will do when your swarm has the 

 start of you. It will reach further, and, be- 

 ing a larger glass, it will bring the bees 

 closer together. The only reason I see for 

 this means of settling is that the bees think 

 it a storm coming. Try it and be convinced. 

 Joplin, Mo. Ed. H. Suppe. 



[I have always supposed that the use of a 

 looking-glass for hiving swarms was almost 

 as useless as tanging on tin pans; but as 

 you describe the use of this familiar house- 

 hold article, there may be some "science" 

 about it after all. I know this, that I can 

 drive a swarm of bees with a spray of 

 water as I would drive a flock of sheep with 

 a good whip; and I can induce a swarm to 

 alight on almost any selected spot. If this 

 same thing can be done with a looking-glass, 

 it will have the advantage over a spray- 

 pump, as it would be instantly available and 

 very easily applied. I have never doused 

 the bees without being doused myself more 

 or less. I must confess it is something of 

 a surprise that a looking-glass has any effect 

 at all. I should be glad to hear from any of 

 our subscribers who may have tried it. —Ed.] 



FREEZING QUEENS TO MAKE DRONE-LAYERS 



OF them; WHEN DOCTORS DISAGREE, 



WHO SHALL DECIDE? ETC. 



In the report of the Chicago Northwestern 

 bee-keepers' convention in the American 

 Bee Journal for July 13, I see your experi- 

 ment of freezing queens'. Wouldn't it have 

 been better to try some old queen along with 

 the young ones? I see in June 15th Glean- 

 ings G M. Doolittle does not make it a 

 practice to supersede his old queens, while 

 E. W. Alexander, in July 1st Gleanings, 

 thinks otherwise. When such men as Doo- 

 little and Alexander do not agree, how will 

 anybody who does not know very much about 

 bees know what to do? 



I should like to ask a few questions. 



What time in the fall or winter do queens 

 quit laying? 



Do old queens quit laying any sooner than 

 young ones? 



If old queens quit laying sooner in the fall 

 than young queens, would a colony with old 

 queen and bees stand as good a chance for 

 winter as a colony with a young queen and 

 plenty of young bees? 



At what age is a queen, at her best in lay- 

 ing? N. R. White. 



Nelson, Mo., Aug. 1. 



[In the experiment of freezing queens re- 

 ferred to, we tried both young and old, 

 without being able to make drone-layers of 

 either. 



As between Mr. Doolittle and Mr. Alex- 

 ander, if I were called on to decide I should 

 say that the latter is probably more nearly 



right for most conditions aff'ecting a honey- 

 producing yard. Why? Bec;4Ut-e the major- 

 ity of the large honey-producers have either 

 declared in favor of or are practicing re- 

 queening every two years, and some as often 

 as every year. Mr. Doolittle is a honey- 

 producer as well as a queen- breeder, while 

 Mr. Alexander is almost exclusively a honey- 

 producer. It can not be denied that there 

 are some queens whose usefulness would ex- 

 tend beyond the two-year limit, especially 

 if they should be reserved for breeders. 



The time when queens quit laying varies 

 according to the locality. In most places it 

 will be some time in September. If there 

 is a late fall flow, egg-laying will be stimu- 

 lated, of course; but where there is no fall 

 flow there will not be much brood-rearing 

 after Sept. 1. 



Yes, old queens will quit laying sooner 

 than young ones; and a colony with a young 

 queen will for that reason stand a better 

 chance of wintering than will an old one. 

 This is one reason why it pays to requeen at 

 least once in two years, and in some locali- 

 ties every year, because there will be more 

 brood with a young queen, as a rule, than 

 with an old one. More brood means morj 

 bees. In proportion as one colony is strong- 

 er than another, in that proportion its 

 chances of wintering well are better. —Ed.] 



controlling the increase by the use 



OF A porter bee-escape. 



What objection, if any, to the following? 

 Have you ever tried it? 



I have some bees working in top sections, 

 and I do not want them to swarm; but they 

 do swarm. This old hive we will call No. 1. 

 I hive the swarm in the usual way and place 

 the new hive. No. 2, by the side of No. 1, 

 both facing the same way. When all are 

 settled I put on a Porter bee-escape at the 

 entrance of hive No. 2; and as they pass out 

 to secure their honey, and return, they find 

 the door of their new home for ever closed, 

 and will immediately return to the old en- 

 trance and re-enter their old home. In hive 

 No. 2 you will find the queen and a few bees, 

 but you have accomplished your object, and 

 have all the bees in No. 1. But burely a 

 method so simple as this has been used by 

 you, and I simply ask for the objections. 

 C. B. Palmer. 



Bradshaw, Neb., Aug. 10. 



[It is possible that the plan you describe 

 has been mentioned in these columns, but I 

 do not distinctly remember it; at all events, 

 I do not see why it would not work under 

 some conditions. Perhaps some of our sub- 

 scribers who have tried the plan will be able 

 to give us a report of it. If it has been 

 described before, please point out the refer- 

 ence. In all the maze of methods that have 

 been mentioned within the last twenty years 

 it is difficult for your editor to discriminate 

 in every case between the new and old; and 

 he will, therefore, be free to call on his sub- 

 scribers at times to help him out. — Ed] 



