1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



63 



there had been a warm spell of even one 

 daj', this cluster would probably have mov- 

 ed over far enough to get over on to the 

 honey, and all would have been well. — Ed.] 



WHAT IS THE QSUAL DEATH-RATK OF A COL- 

 ONY IN WINTER? 



I have just begun bee-keeping, and I 

 have five stands in the old ten-frame Sim- 

 plicity hive. There is an oilcloth spread 

 over the brood-frames closely, and about a 

 month ago I made sacks of burlap to fit the 

 hives, filled these with chaff, and pressed 

 them down closely on the oilcloth. The 

 opening into the hives is just the same as 

 it was in the summer. It seeins to me that 

 these bees ought to do well, but they are 

 d^'ing. Pvvcrj' day a dozen or more dead 

 bees are rolled out of each hive. They are 

 not dying for want of food, for there is more 

 than 30 lbs. of honey in each hive. Is this 

 only an ordinary' death rate? If it is not, 

 what is probably the cause? I also want 

 to know which is best for bees — sweet or 

 crimson clover. Do these clovers furnish 

 hay and fertilize land like red clover? 



E. L. Bl.AKE. 



Grand Tower, Illinois, Dec. 10, 1902. 



[The trouble is, your bees have hardly 

 sufficient protection; that is to sajs a cush- 

 ion on top of the frames is not enough, al- 

 though it is good so far as it goes. Your 

 better way would be to put that colony in 

 the cellar, provided you can darken it, and 

 the temperature can be kept somewhere 

 about 45 Fahr. — Ed.] 



THE DANZ. HIVE USED IN MANAGING SHAK- 

 EN SWARMS. 



Bees seldom make any surplus honey here 

 in spring, but consume it all and breed in 

 most prolific manner. I have about 50 col- 

 onies in 8 and 10 frame L. hives. I am go- 

 ing to get Danz. hives and set one in place 

 of populous colony, after removing it, and 

 then shake j'oung bees from it and two oth- 

 ers into the empty Danz. with joun_i,'- queen, 

 and from these 3 L. hives shake out every 

 10 days all yojng bees into said Danz., use 

 my whole 50 L. hives thus, 3 to 1. fed into 

 the Danzies, and I believe I can make a 

 lot of spring hone}' here and surprise the 

 old bee-keepers who saj' it is useless to try 

 till fall. If I fail there will be no loss, as 

 the}' do nothing but breed as it is in L. 

 hives, in the usual way of working; but I 

 feel confident thej' will pile a lot of honey 

 in sections wVien treated that way. That 

 will be "shaking" in earnest, and then 

 following' it up with plenty of re-enforce- 

 ments. I don't need any extracting-supers 

 to get them above when I do that, as I found 

 last fall by driving three box- hive colonies 

 into one Danz. which worked finely, except 

 that the colonies began to run down too 

 quickly, but the young bees continually 

 shaken from 3 L. hives into one Danz. will 

 remed}' that. In fall I want extracting su- 

 pers to start them above; and then if strong 

 colonies, and plenty of honey, no more to do. 



Bees never went into winter better than 

 ours here this time. Brood-chambers are 

 y"«// of finest quality of honey ;ver3' late breed- 

 ing, and hives full of young bees. My bees 

 were bringing in pollen yesterday, and I 

 presume they are breeding some yet. In 

 this locality I disbelieve in any kind of 

 upper-story fixing, but back my judgment 

 with risk of bees, and leave all mine with 

 nothing above brood-chamber but the ven- 

 tilated gable top. I have not opened one of 

 them since Oct. 20, which gives time for 

 thenn to seal up everj' crevice before severe 

 weather. With plenty of honey and young 

 bees, that is all I ask for. In shallow 

 hives it may be different. 



Paducah, Ky., Nov. 2. W. M. Janes. 



RAPID-GROWING TREES FOR SHADE TO BEE- 

 HIVFS. 



Will you kindly tell me what variety of 

 tree to plant or set out that will give a 

 shade to the hives in two years' time— some 

 ([uick-growing kind that you are familiar 

 with? They must grow tall enough to 

 clear a man's head with a globe bee- veil on. 



Vorden, Cal., Dec. 8 Albert Lane. 



[The eucalyptus of your State and the 

 Cottonwood of Arizona are both very rapid- 

 growing trees. If I remember correctly I 

 saw some cottonwoods in California. There 

 is a species of willow there that is also a 

 rapid grower. Almost any nurseryman in 

 your vicinity could give you the desired in- 

 formation. — h.D.] 



A REASON FOR BEES NOT CAPPING OVEK 



HONEY AT times; CLOVERS AS 



HONEY-PLANTS. 



Please tell Dr. Miller the seasons have 

 alread}' changed. Last year was very dry, 

 this season extremely wet, and this was a 

 poor year for the bees. Some of them are 

 short of winter stores. Some of them have 

 the most uncapped honey in combs I ever 

 saw in the fall. I think the cause of this 

 was the long-continued fall flow of nectar 

 in the dift'erent clovers, but not enough to 

 produce wax; consequently the honey stor- 

 ed was left uncapped. Louis Hocket. 



Fairmount, Ind., Nov. 26. 



.\ CARD from prof. 



W. WILEY. 



Mr. Editor. — I appreciate the great fight 

 you have made for the purity of honej'. I 

 am sure that every believer in the principle 

 of pure food feels grateful for the work 

 which you have done in that line. While 

 the evil of honey adulteration is not entire- 

 ly eradicated, it is certainly not so ram- 

 pant as it was before the fight against it 

 was made. I shall not be willing to lay 

 down my arms in this matter until nation- 

 al itnd State pure-food laws together com- 

 pletel}' eradicate the great evil which has 

 so long been a menace to the prosperity of 

 the honey industr3\ H. W.WrLKV, 



Chief of Bureau of Chemistry. 



Washington, D. C, November 24. 



