493 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



JriNE 



commission men, and what is sold upon the 

 market below its actual market value by 

 the producers not being posted as to its true 

 conditions. 



I am sure that there is much in it for us 

 — too much to allow to pass by and not put 

 the machinery in motion. A million dol- 

 lars each year is good money for the other 

 fellow to make from us, and to be placed to 

 his bank account when it is the result of our 

 own labors, and should be retained by us. 

 What do you say? E. R. Root seems to 

 think the people are hardly ready for the 

 million dollars; but it is to be hoped that 

 they will soon reach out and take it. 



Hanford, Cal. F. E. Brown. 



[I see no defect in your general plan. 

 The scheme is all right; but getting it into 

 practical effect — there's the rub. I still be- 

 lieve that the best way to get at this prob- 

 lem is to make hard pulls for State organi- 

 zations; then when we get several of them 

 effectively working, start one that shall be 

 national in character. To use a homely 

 phrase, there is such a thing as biting off 

 more than we can chew. It is practicable 

 to organize local and State associations or 

 exchanges; but I think it would not be fea- 

 sible just yet to launch forth a national or- 

 ganization. Your general plan shows, how- 

 ever, how much might be saved by a nation- 

 al organization; and Gleanings will be 

 glad to lend its columns for a general dis- 

 cussion of this kind. I may be mistaken; 

 but I believe we should start from the lesser 

 and work toward the greater. If I am 

 wrong, I should be glad to co-operate with 

 any reasonable effort for getting a national 

 organization launched forth at once. — Ed.] 



FROZEN BEES REVIVED, AGAIN. 



In Gleanings for April 15th, page 341, I 

 find an assertion made that "bees chilled 

 to death came to life again." The bees in 

 question were only apparently dead, but 

 not really so. Nothing can be raised to life 

 again by natural means when life is once 

 gone. More than 20 years ago I had the 

 same experience during a very cold winter, 

 with bees that were like dead, and "came 

 to life " again. After a severe cold spell a 

 colony was placed in the sun. A few bees 

 came forth, and, flying about, they soon fell 

 on the icy snow and remained there for 

 about six hours. They seemed to be frozen 

 to death. When I gathered them in a small 

 pasteboard box and brought them into a 

 warm room I could scarcely believe that 

 life was yet in them; but after two hours 

 the bees began to hum within the box. In 

 many other instances, where bees were in 

 nearly the same condition for a longer time 

 they never came to life again. Considering 

 this I am apt to judge that severe cold 

 weather will not kill bees if they have 

 plenty of honey just where the cluster of 

 bees is sitting, provided cold spells do not 

 last too long without interruption. That 

 bees can ever be brought into a state in 



which they hibei-nate, as some other inst 

 do, without food, is yet to be proved. 1 

 perience shows the contrary, so far as 

 knowledge reaches. 



St. Meinrad, Ind. Alphonse Veith 



[It was Prof. Cook, or possibly some o 

 else, years ago, who conducted a series 

 experiments to determine how long be 

 would stand a hard freeze without actually 

 dying. The results secured by him are 

 practically the same as those you arrived 

 at. 



No, I do not believe that any intelligent 

 person ever believed for a moment that bees 

 when actually dead could be brought to life 

 again. Such a proposition is too silly to be 

 debated for one minute. — Ed.] 



dents in queens; how to remove. 



We notice in your issue for May 1, some- 

 thing about dents in queens, the editor 

 thinking that dents sometimes do no harm. 

 They certainly do no good, but why allow 

 a dent to remain, when ten seconds will 

 remove it ? We have never come across a 

 dented queen but that we could remove the 

 dent; but the longer the dent remains, the 

 more skill it takes to do it. Roll a sheet 

 of paper an inch in diameter, then dent it. 

 Now with thumb and finger press on each 

 side of the dent, and it will snap out. 

 Practice on that paper, and then try a 

 queen. It is rather tedious work to take 

 the dent out of some queens, j'et it can be 

 done. 



In your issue for April 15 you ask for 

 the names of those who are willing to help 

 support a State organization of bee-keep- 

 ers for Ohio. You may put our name on 

 the list. We will try to be with you this 

 coming winter; but in case we can not, our 

 dollar will be. H. G. QuiRiN. 



Parkertown, Ohio. 



[Hadn't thought of your plan before, of 

 pressing out the dent — perfectly simple and 

 feasible. By the wa}', I now see that on 

 page 900, 1901, you described this operation, 

 but I had forgotten it. — Ed.] 



HOW THE BEES WINTERED IN THAT CELLAR 

 BLASTED FROM THE SOLID ROCK. 



I have just removed the bees from that 

 cellar blasted from the solid rock. I put 

 in 58 stands Nov. 16; took out 58 March 23, 

 which is ten days or two weeks earlier than 

 we usually set bees out in this section. 

 Soft maples have been in bloom since the 

 17th. This is the third winter my bees 

 have come through without loss when win- 

 tered in that cave. C. H. Pierce. 



Kilbourn, Wis., Mar. 23. 



WHAT TO DO WITH COMBS BUILT CROSS- 

 WISE; WILL SHALLOW BROOD-CHAM- 

 BERS PREVENT SWARMING? 



I bought a number of colonies in the reg- 

 ular Langstroth hives, but the bees have 



