1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



■49 



thus: "That hone3' in the bottle will cost me 

 about four cents a pound more than that 

 lovely candied honey, and the candied hon- 

 ey will look so nice cut up and served in 

 little square blocks." 



Of course, some package other than the 

 old-t'me tin cans will be resorted to anoth- 

 er vear. 



R. F. Holtermann had sold it by the bar- 

 rel thatwaj'in Brantford. He simply placed 

 it in a large window, stripped the barrel 

 off, and went ahead. S. T. Petitt. 



Avlmer, Ont., Can. 



[This method of selling- candied honey is 

 excellent. I have known of the plan of 

 stripping a barrel off from the candied 

 mass; but so far I do not think an}' one has 

 suggested the plan of stripping a tin can 

 ofT from the candied honey and selling it in 

 the stores in squares and slices. It is a 

 good sclieme, and perhaps some of our bee- 

 keeping friends would do well to paste this 

 in their hats until the time of selling can- 

 died honej' comes around next winter. — 

 Ed.] 



starters, swarming, whv drone comb 

 is built from starters. 



I notice in the May 15th issue of Glean- 

 ings a good deal written bj^ different ones 

 on the subject of starters and full founda- 

 tion sheets for swarms — some favoring one 

 and some the other. I have had several years 

 experience in bee-keeping in southwest Tex- 

 as, in Uvalde and Dimmit Counties. I 

 have had some experience with swarming — 

 more this j'ear than any previous. When 

 we have a real swarming season here in 

 Texas the bees swarm, as Rambler would 

 express it, "just any old way." They 

 transcend all the rules laid down in the 

 books, and the most earnest wishes of their 

 manager. The rule to give them plenty- of 

 drawn combs won't work here — at least 

 with- all of the colonies. I have had colonies 

 this year in double-storj' hives, with twenty 

 old combs, swarm when thej^ had filled on- 

 ly a little over half the combs in one box, 

 leaving the rest practically untouched with 

 the exception, perhaps, of a little hone}' in 

 a few of them. I would destroj^ the queen- 

 cells and put them back; but just as soon 

 as they could build new ones and had time 

 to seal them, out thej' would come again; 

 and then the old queen seemed determined 

 to get even with me for such peremptory 

 measures, by laying just as little as pos- 

 sible between the times of the first and sec- 

 ond swarming. This season I have had as 

 many as ten or fifteen swarms come at once 

 —at least they came so close together that 

 I hadn't time to dispose of them singly, and 

 there would be a general mix-up. In this 

 case nearly all of the queens would be kill- 

 ed. I would have to hive them on queen- 

 cells or open brood. 



In these mix-ups I generally put from ten 

 to twelve swarms in three or four hives. I 

 find, if there is a good honey -flow on at the 

 time of hiving, these large swarms will put 



ill a fice lot of honey; but if the honey-flow 

 is lingering or slow I would rather have an 

 average swarm with laying queen, for good 

 result. 



I see some recommending covering the 

 hive with a blanket to prevent more than 

 one swarm issuing at once. I have kept 

 back some by stopping up the entire en- 

 trance with a board. I am introducing in- 

 to my apiary the Danzenbaker reversible 

 bottom-board; and as I keep the deep space 

 up during the swarming season, I think I 

 shall make stops of wire cloth to close the 

 entrance of hives that show signs of swarm- 

 ing while another swarm is in the air. 

 This can be done without injury to the bees, 

 as the wire cloth will give plenty of air. 



Now as to the new swarm building drone 

 comb from starters. I think the season has 

 a good deal to do with this. If there is a 

 rushing honey-flow at the time the swarm 

 issue, or shortly thereafter, the bees will 

 build a great deal more drone comb than 

 they will when the honey is coming in more 

 slowly, because the queen is not able to 

 keep up with them, and they build for hon- 

 ey instead of for brood. This at least has 

 been my experience. Two years ago we 

 had a fine honey- flow at the time most of 

 my swarms issued; and almost half of the 

 combs built were drone. I used half-sheets 

 of foundation cut diagonally, and in a 

 great number of the hives the open space in 

 the frame was filled in with drone comb. 

 This season I cut the sheets of foundation 

 straight across, as I believe this is best 

 for the brood- chamber. The honey- flow 

 was more gradual, and I find that, in most 

 of the hives, very little drone-comb was 

 built. The bees for the most part have 

 built nice smart worker combs. I find it 

 impracticable to put in full sheets of foun- 

 dation unless they are wired in, as a heavy 

 swarm will tear most of it down. I have 

 never practiced wiring. When my bees are 

 ready for a top story, I am running them 

 entirely for chunk comb honey. 



W. E. Rector. 



Carrizo Springs. Texas. 



[The age of the queen also has something 

 to do with the building of drone comb. — Ed. i 



GETTING BEES AND HONEY OUT OF TREES 



OR BUILDINGS WITHOUT CUTTING OR 



DISFIGURING. 



I would go one step further than Mr. 

 Fouch, page 155. When accessible, place a 

 hive containing one or two frames of brood 

 and adhering bees, with caged queen and six 

 frames of foundation, so the bees will work 

 from the colony to be removed, through a bee- 

 escape, as described by Mr. Fouch, letting it 

 remain until the old colony has been de- 

 stro3'ed b}' loss of its working force. Some 

 arrangement should be made to get a sup- 

 ply of water into the old colony so as to 

 supply the brood, else it would die. As 

 fast as the young bees become old enough to 

 fly they are added to the new colon3^ thus 

 gradually reducing the old one until the old 



