1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



199 



This stand looks very much like the Wil- 

 liams stand as shown in the A B C of Bee 

 Culture, under Extracted Honey. — Ed.] 



WILL THERE BE FIGHTING AT THE SECOND 



DRIVE IN FORCED SWARMING? TINNED 



WIRE FOR BINDING GLEANINGS. 



In brushing- swarms, when the second 

 drive is made after all the brood is hatched 

 will the bees of the first drive not kill the 

 bees that are being- run in the second time? 

 I should like to know how to manag-e that 

 part of it, as I don't want anj' increase. 



Did 3'ou ever hear of sewing the back 

 numbers of a book with tinned wire? It is 

 a better binding than wire nails, as they 

 are too stiff. C. Blake. 



Wilbur, Ont., Feb. 10. 



[As a rule there will be no fighting- at a 

 second drive, and especially so if both lots 

 of bees be smoked before the union takes 

 place. One should be careful, of course, 

 that the second lot of bees should not have 

 a virgin queen or something thej' recognize 

 as such. If thej' have one, and there is no 

 choice between the old and the one furnish- 

 ed bj' the second drive, brush them together, 

 for the bees will take one of the queens, 

 disposing of the other. 



Your scheme of binding with tinned wire 

 is excellent, I believe. — Ed.] 



HOW TO MOVE BEES A SHORT DISTANCE; 

 ARTIFICIAL BEE-PASTURAGE. 



1. I wish to move and change my bees in 

 the apiarj'to which the}' belong. Thej' are 

 too close together, and face the east. I 

 want to change them into rows facing south. 

 When and how is the best way to do it? 



2. What is the matter with motherwort 

 for a honej'-plant? I see you don't give it 

 in the A B C of Bee Culture. 



3. In the spring, when bees are getting 

 some pollen and little hone}' when feeding, 

 ought it to be done at night, so as not to 

 bother them from working? Does feeding 

 make them lazy about working on plants. 



Jamesport, Mo. J. W. Baldwin. 



[1. If the bees have been confineti in hives 

 outdoors for two months at a time, or, bet- 

 ter still, if the\' have been in a cellar all 

 winter, the}' can be set on their summer 

 stands next spring anywhere without any 

 trouble; but if thej' have a flight everj' 

 week or so, sothatlheir locations are fairlj' 

 well fixed, it would not be advisable to 

 make a slight shift of the hives. 



2. Motherwort is a fairlj' good honey- 

 plant if there could be enough of it found 

 growing wild on waste land. It ver}- sel- 

 dom cuts any figure in the hives, because 

 ther is so little of it. We once had quite a 

 patch of it on our hone3'-farm; and, while 

 the bees were verj' busy on it, we found it 

 would be too expensive to furnish artificial 

 pasturage of this kind to take care of an 

 apiary. The land could be more profitably 

 used in growing something that would fur- 



nish hay, fodder, or seed, as well as nec- 

 tar. It is an established rule that it does 

 not pay to plant any thing for honey unless 

 the crop, aside from the honey, will pay 

 the expense of cultivation. In this list we 

 can include alfalfa, buckwheat, rape, and 

 white, red, and crimson clover. Where 

 there is a great deal of waste land that is 

 growing up to weeds, one can, to some little 

 advantage, scatter sweet-clover seed, and 

 perhaps catnip; but he will have to do a 

 tremendous lot of scattering before he be- 

 gins to discover any effect in the hive. Dr. 

 J. L. Gandy. of Humboldt. Neb., has probably 

 done as much as any one in this line; but 

 it is to be doubted whether he has been 

 able to increase his honej' crop materia 11}' 

 by scattering seeds of good hone}'- plants. 



3. Yes, it might be advisable to feed at 

 night; but in case the bees are not disposed 

 to forage as much as they should, a little 

 stimulative feeding during the day will 

 make them rush into the field to discover 

 the source of this new supply. Ordinarily 

 bees need no stimulating of this kind. — Ed.] 



YELLOW BUTTERFLIES NOT ENEMIES OF THE 

 ALFALFA PLANT. 



J/r. Root: — The yellow butterflies (spe- 

 cies of colios) never injure clover of any 

 kind, nor any plants. They sip nectar 

 from flowers, and may and do aid some in 

 pollination. The caterpillars do at times 

 eat from the clovers; but, so far as I have 

 ever observed, they are never abundant 

 enough to do any considerable harm. I 

 know of only two serious enemies of alfalfa 

 — fjophers and goldthread, or dodder. 



Claremont, Cal. A. J. Cook. 



[It was probably a mistake in supposing 

 that the yellow butterflies had any blight- 

 ing eft'ect on the blossoms of the alfalfa. 

 The fact that they swarmed over the fields 

 of it in countless thousands, so that the air 

 was yellow with them over the fields, shows 

 that they were after the nectar as well as 

 the bees, and to the extent that they robbed 

 the bees of just so much honey, to that ex- 

 tent they were an enemv' to the bee-keeper. 

 We are obliged to Prof. Cook and others 

 for the correction. — Ed.] 



THE OUICKESr METHOD OF INCREASING. 



1. What is the best way of increasing the 

 number of hives in a small yard to the larg- 

 est number possible, in as short a time as 

 possible? 



2. By the method that you will likely 

 mention, what number could you reach in 

 one season, providing you started with 20 

 fair colonies and the season is favorable? 



Addison, Ont., Feb. 13. A. G. Lke. 



1 Almost any standard method of forming 

 nuclei will give you good results. These 

 have been given so often in our columns that 

 it would be unnecessary to repeat them 

 here. 



2. I do not know what could be done; but 

 I once took 12 colonies, and without any 



