1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



247 



value. There is no trouble about sending- 

 bees by freig^ht, and that is the o?ily way to 

 ship them in any quantity. — Ed.] 



HOW BU rxiCKFLIES INDIRKCTLY DO DAMAGE 

 TO ALFALFA. 



On pages 11 and 148 mention is made of 

 butterflies damaging- the alfalfa-blossoms. 

 While the butterflies themselves probably 

 do a great deal of damage by suckiniif the 

 nectar from the blossoms, thus depriving- 

 the bees of large quantities of honey, the 

 worst damage is done hy the worms which 

 hatch from the eggs laid b}- the butterflies. 

 They are something- like the web-worm, 

 and are very destructive here some seasons, 

 not only eating: practically all the blossoms, 

 and so destroying- all chances of a seed 

 crop, but thej' also do much damage to the 

 haj- crop by eating a large proportion of 

 the leaves. E. S. Webster. 



Hutchinson, Kan., Feb. 27. 



[I was sure I was not misinformed when 

 I stated that the butterflies did damage to 

 the alfalfa. Our correspondent explains 

 just in what way they work havoc among 

 the alfalfa-blossoms. — Ed.] 



DYSENTERY NOT CAUSED BY CONFINEMENT; 



FORCED swarms; WHAT TO DO WITH 



THEM. 



I notice on page 106 a case of bee dysen- 

 tery which was not caused by confinement, 

 by Mr. Henrj'B. Jones. Our bees were af- 

 fected in the same way last spring. 



Would the shake-swarm method be a 

 good thing in this locality for increase? 

 Do you put the " shook " swarm on the old 

 stand, or move it away and leave the moth- 

 er hive there? Would it be better to let the 

 young bees raise their own queen or give 

 them one? J. G. Kylf:. 



Velasco, Tex. 



[The forced swarm is put on the old 

 stand, while the old colony may be put a 

 few inches to one side or on an entirely' new 

 location. It would not be practicable to 

 put the forced swarm in a new location, as 

 too many of the bees would return to the 

 parent hive. As a rule, the new swarm 

 has the queen, and the parent colony raises 

 a queen from the cell given. But the pro- 

 cedure may be varied by introducing a lay- 

 ing queen, but no great advantage would 

 be secured. — Ed.] 



FORCED SWARMING ; BEES IN PARKS, ETC. 



1. In forced swarms will the parent hive 

 as well as the forced swarm give surpluses 

 the same season? 



2. Which of the two will most likely do 

 the better work? 



3.' Which should have the old queen for 

 best results? 



4. Will an inch-mesh wire-netting fence 

 six feet from the hive-entrances, standing 

 four feet high, interfere greatly with the 

 convenience of the bees? 



5. Would bees do well in Gordon and 

 Wade Parks, Cleveland, where th^re is 

 much shrubbery and many perennial 

 plants? 



6. Is the country east of the State Hospi- 

 tal for the insane, in Newburg, a good hon- 

 ey district? 



7. If I wire my frames horizontallj', and 

 put in 3'or 4 perpendicular inch strips, im- 

 bedding them in the wires, will the bees 

 build the rest of the comb with the midrib 

 to the wires? and will they build all work- 

 er comb if the strips are worker founda- 

 tion? Chas. R. Neillie. 



Miles, O., Feb. 2. 



[1. No. Surplus would be expected ordi- 

 naril}', from the forced swarm only. 



2. The forced swarm, if put on the loca- 

 tion of the old hive, would gather altogether 

 the most honey. As a rule very little honey 

 would be secured from the parent hive, and 

 none at all if manipulated according to the 

 directions ordinarily given, by which all 

 the remaining bees at a second drive are 

 given to the swarm. 



3. The swarm should have the queen. 



4. No. 



5. I see no reason why this should not be 

 an ideal location. 



6. This ought to be as good a location as 

 any other portion of Ohio. Not knowing 

 the locality I could not give you any defi- 

 nite information. 



7. You can work this plan, providing it 

 is not the season of the year when the bees 

 are building store or drone combs. The 

 bees would unite the several strips into one 

 comb. But such a plan is very objection- 

 able, from the fact that the bees would have 

 to join on several strips of comb ; and even 

 if they were disposed to build all worker, 

 the line of demarcation would result in 

 irregular cells, many of them drone size. 

 Better by far use horizontal starters, fasten- 

 ing to the top-bar. — Ed.] 



A SIMPLE method FOR WIRING F^RAMES. 



Having bought a lot of frames, and wire 

 to wire them, I was lost to know just how 

 to do it. I will give you the way I did it, 

 which works verj^ niceljs and the wiring- 

 board costs nothing. 



Drive ten 8- penny nails into a plank from 

 the bottom as shown; one to hold the spool, 

 five for the tension, and four to hold the 

 frame. Drive two small tacks in the flat 

 edge of the end-bar at A and B. Put the 

 wire through the holes I, I, and draw 

 through till as shown in the cut; then 

 thread and tie the wire to tack B, and 



