1174 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15 



Of 160 COLONIES run for comb honey that 

 were fair subjects for comparison, 13| percent 

 went through the season without ever offer- 

 ing to start queen-cells; 12J percent started 

 cells one or more times, but gave it up when 

 their cells were destroyed; and 73| per cent 

 seemed so bent on swarming that they were 

 treated by being kept queenless 10 or 15 

 days. The colonies that were left with their 

 queens all the time averaged 36^ per cent 

 more sections than those that were treated. 

 But that's better than they would have done 

 if left queenless for 21 days, which would 

 be the case practically if swarms were 

 shaken. [My! oh my, doctor! Why didn't 

 you get your percentages closer— get them 

 down to the hundredths of one per cent? 

 AU'e same'e, it would be far better if we 

 could draw our conclusions from exact fig- 

 ures than from mere estimates or poor 

 guesses.— Ed.] 



W. K. Morrison, p. 1130, says his expe- 

 rience is opposed to the statement that shal- 

 lower frames cause more pollen in sections, 

 but doesn't give us particulars. Friend 

 Morrison, the experience of myself and oth- 

 ers has been that with Langstroth and shal- 

 lower frames, side by side, there was ten 

 times as much pollen in sections over the 

 shallower frames. Did you have more pol- 

 len over the deeper frames when the two 

 were side by side? The "shallow frame in 

 England" is cited. That probably refers to 

 the " Standard frame " in general use there. 

 It is Si in. deep, outside, § shallower than 

 the Langstroth; but the thicker bars of my 

 Langstroth frames make the inside, or comb- 

 room, the same in each, 8 inches. [But 

 look here, doctor. If I am correct, your 

 conclusions in this matter are based on the 

 use of less than half a dozen shallow hives 

 that I sent you, one and possibly two sea- 

 sons. Thousands of shallow hives are used 

 with very little complaint of pollen in the 

 sections. Try fifty colonies for several sea- 

 sons in shallow hives, and fifty in the stan- 

 dard Langstroth. I think you would find the 

 difference not so great as you now think. — 

 Ed.] 



J. A. Green says, p. 1121, that if sections 

 are kept in the supers they are piled up close- 

 ly together. Not by any means; blocks are 

 put under the corners to give ventilation; 

 that's the way I do, and also others. And I 

 don't understand, friend Green, what advan- 

 tage there is in having another set of recep- 

 tacles to hold the sections. [I have been in 

 the honey-houses of many bee-keepers; and 

 so far as I can remember the filled supers 

 of comb honey after removal from the hives 

 are generally piled one on top of another in 

 close contact. Surmounting the piles is the 

 cover. The assigned reason for shutting 

 up these combs bee-tight is to keep out rob- 

 bers that might accidentally get into the 

 room should the honey- house door be left 

 open. Even if the building be well screened, 

 and the screen door itself have self-closing 

 hinges, there is always danger that robbers 

 may get into the building. To this extent I 

 believe Mr. Green is correct. If it is an ad- 



vantage to have the sections exposed to dry 

 hot air (and I thoroughly believe it is) after 

 they are removed from the hive, then let us 

 publish the fact far and wide. This is a 

 good subject for discussion, and we should 

 be glad to hear from our subscribers on the 

 point. — Ed.] 



C. P. Dadant says in American Bee Jour- 

 nal that 8 or 10 pounds is a fair estimate of 

 the honey consumed by a colony wintering 

 in cellar, and nearly double that by a colony 

 on summer stand in a cold winter. Accord- 

 ing to that, for the labor of carrying in and 

 out one would get about 8 pounds of honey 

 for each colony. Good pay. At the same 

 time, I'd be glad to feel sure that the cel- 

 lared colony is just as well off in all re- 

 spects. [I believe our priend Dadant is not 

 far from the correct estimate; but it has 

 never been proven yet that the extra stores 

 consumed outdoors have been wasted. There 

 are quite a number of bee-keepers, on the 

 other hand, who winter outdoors, who be- 

 lieve that the out colonies are more vigorous, 

 have more brood, and are able to get into 

 the supers sooner than those from the cel- 

 lar. We have been making observations on 

 this point for several years. Some seasons 

 we feel that the outdoor-wintered bees are 

 ahead, and others we can see no difference. 

 My own conclusion at the present time is 

 this: That, in case of strong colonies at 

 least, if they be kept outdoors as late as 

 possible, and set out as early as possible, 

 and, when set out, protected, such bees will 

 be ahead of those put into the cellar early 

 and taken out late. With a good dry cellar, 

 and a temperature under reasonable control, 

 I feel satisfied that we could earn a bigger 

 dividend in the saving of stores by puttmg 

 our bees into such a cellar than by leaving 

 them outdoors all winter in double-walled 

 hives. But here, again, locality plays a 

 very important part. Where the winters 

 are more or less open — that is, permit of 

 flying days in December, January, and Feb- 

 ruary, then the outdoor method should by 

 all means be used. There will be too many 

 bees lost in the cellar in such a locality, be- 

 cause the cellar will be a good deal too 

 warm at times. — Ed.] 



The man who reads carefully that article 

 of G. M. Doolittle, page 1137, is likely to do 

 some thinking; and if he's as ignorant as I 

 am he'll get more or less tangled up about 

 race, species, variety, purity, etc. "The gist 

 of the whole article lies in that last para- 

 graph; and insistence upon having queen- 

 breeders send out only the best can not be 

 commended too highly. But I wish Brother 

 Doolittle had been just a shade more defi- 

 nite. He says, " We can not be certain of 

 this best bee only through its markings;" 

 but what are the markings? To be sure, he 

 says, "The further off toward the black we 

 get from the three bands, the poorer the 

 bees average for honey," and that might be 

 understood to mean that three bands were 

 to be considered the standard. But there's 

 that "toward the black," leaving it possibly 

 to be read between the lines that getting 



