290 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 1 



other; or the cluster was in the center with 

 honey on each side. 



Then I began to wonder why the bees 

 should ever cluster on the three or four out- 

 side combs when the honey was out of their 

 reach. It could not have been the warm 

 side of the hive, for some of the clusters had 

 been on the east and some on the west side 

 of the hive. But I soon saw that they had 

 invariably clustered on the old transferred 

 combs, no matter where they were, if they 

 were all massed tog-ether ; and I did not 

 find a single dead colony in which the old 

 combs had been scattered through the hive. 

 The bees had simply preferred to cluster 

 on the old combs, and seemed to consider 

 the honey as of secondary importance. 



Now, it seems to me that this could not 

 have been simply chance. I am certain 

 that there are few or none of the living col- 

 onies having part old combs and part new; 

 while those that died during this cold spell 

 were almost invariably in that condition. I 

 do not mean to say that this explains all 

 winter losses, bj' any means. But I think 

 it would be well for us to give the colonies 

 combs of the same age, or when transfer- 

 ring, as in this case, to scatter the old 

 combs through the hive. C. F. Bend?:r. 



Newman, Ills. 



[We winter every year outdoors at least 

 a large part of our bees; and while bees 

 seem to prefer the old combs, I could never 

 see but they wintered as well on one set as 

 the other. Some seven or eight years ago, 

 when we had foul brood so badly among 

 rur bees, we had to shake a gopd many af- 

 fected colonies on to foundation. There 

 were some 75 such colonies (or, rather, nu- 

 clei) that had all new combs to winter on, 

 and it was that year when we wintered with- 

 out the loss of one coloTiy. The new-comb 

 nuclei, for that was what they were, appar- 

 ently wintered as well as those that were 

 oi old combs, and were stronger. — Ed.] 



A COLONY IN THE GARRET, THAT HAS NEV- 

 ER SWARMED. 



In 1863 a party of soldiers plundered and 

 destroyed the apiary of Simp. Bain, at 

 Meltonsville, eight miles from this place. 

 They split open the gums and took all the 

 honey. Mr. Bain got the remnants of sev- 

 eral colonies out of the wreck into a large 

 box, and put them in the garret "to save 

 peed." That hive of bees is there yet. 

 They have been " robbed " every- year since 

 by cutting out the surplus honeys and have 

 never been known to swarm. These 40- 

 year-old combs still produce vigorous bees, 

 and I suppose Dr. Miller can have his bees 

 with " no desire to swarm " if he will put 

 them in like condition. 



THE SHAKEN SWARMS BEAT ALL THE REST. 



I began ' ' shaking ' ' swarms several years 

 ago to keep my valuable queens from run- 

 ning off, and to Italianize. The shaken 

 swarms beat all the rest, and at first gave 

 the superior stock more credit than was 



due. I give one frame of brood, and have 

 never had any to swarm out. 



To get rid of a fertile worker I give a 

 frame of brood and eggs, and exchange 

 places with a strong colonj' while the bees 

 are flying. They raise a good queen fur 

 me every time. I suppose they destroy the 

 fertile worker at once. 



WHICH QUEEN IS KILLED? 



If I run a swarm into an old colony that 

 has a queen, which queen is usually killed? 

 I have twice had clipped queens with a por- 

 tion of the swarm enter a near hive, and on 

 opening the hive I found the reigning queen 

 balled, and the intruder in peaceable pos- 

 session. B. COMAN. 



Guntersville, Ala., Feb. 26. 



[It is a well-known fact that a large col- 

 ony of bees in a garret will rarely if ever 

 swarm. This matter is mentioned in our 

 A B C of Bee Culture. I have often won- 

 dered, though, why bee-keepers have not 

 taken advantage of having large colonies in 

 extraordinarily large hives. Here, for ex- 

 ample, is a professional or business man 

 who is away from home all day. Suppose 

 he had some extra large hives on the garret 

 principle, full of bees, storing honey year 

 after year, and never requiring so much as 

 a moment's attention. It may be the time 

 will come when we shall cater more to the 

 needs of the professional and business man 

 who would like, say, half a dozen hives at 

 his suburban residence, from which he may 

 take at his convenience some of the most de- 

 licious sweet in the world. 



Your method of getting rid of fertile 

 workers is a very good one. I have tried it 

 myself with uniformly good results. 



I do not know which queen, referring to 

 your last question, is usually killed; but I 

 do know that sometimes our very best breed- 

 ers have been supplanted by a worthless 

 inferior virgin which, through mistake, got 

 into the hive instead of her own. I do not 

 believe we can lay down any rule. If one 

 or two bees should happen to attack the in- 

 truder, the old queen-mother would be left 

 untouched; but if she should happen to be 

 favorably received it might be a question of 

 the survival of the fittest— a war between a 

 young, vigorous, strong-legged queen, and 

 one which, perhaps, has done a year of ser- 

 vice, and may be somewhat weak in the 

 legs. In the scrimmage the bees will prob- 

 ably take a hand and destroy the weaker 

 of the two. — Ed.] 



THE APIARY AND THE PRODUCT OV A BEE- 

 KEEPER 65 YEARS OLD. 



I herewith send you two pictures, one cf 

 my apiary, and one of honey cased for 

 market, as taken by myself, an old man of 

 65 years. They are not the best, as I have 

 not had many months' experience with the 

 camera. The apiary was taken last spring 

 as the trees were leafing out. The hives 

 you see were all from your company. 



Wahoo, Neb. Jerome Barnell. 



