1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



807 



actly what does take place. In some cases 

 the old queen simpl}' ffives out, and the 

 next thins;- we know she is missing-. Wheth- 

 er she dies or the bees make wa3' with her, 

 it would be hard to say in every case. — Ed.] 



A DEAD MOUSE IN A HIVE. 



In 1900 I got a Si. 00 select untested queen 

 of the Root Co. She beg-an laying- bj' fill- 

 ing a frame, Hoffman, of drone, then some 

 worker, but ne%'er had more than three 

 frames of brood at once. She laid so little 

 that other brood had to be used to keep up 

 strength. Thinking- that the long- trip by 

 mail might have injured her laying- powers, 

 without injury to her stock, some of her 

 brood was put into strongly built-up queen- 

 less colonies, and youug^ queens raised 

 which have since given good satisfaction. 



While I can not report such a wonderful 

 success as Bro. Doolittle, page 621, I still 

 think the 51.00 was well spent. My Root 

 queen died the next spring-, being too feeble 

 to start building-up; and the old hive was 

 emptied, the few survivors being united 

 with another colony, 



I have been much interested in the queen 

 discussion b\' Allejs Gallup, and Doolittle; 

 and while man}' good things were said by 

 them, I think the fact of most importance, 

 both to breeders and to purchasers of 

 queens, is to be found in Doolittle's expe- 

 rience; viz., a queen that has been in the 

 mails, not able to keep up the strength of 

 the colonj' for honey-gathering, may yet be 

 of great value from which to raise choice 

 queens. 



This spring we found a dead mouse be- 

 tween the combs in the lower part of the 

 hive, where it had apparently gone for hon- 

 ey, and met bees instead. It was dried up, 

 and not mummified — i. e. ,uo wax or propo- 

 lis on it. The colony was in normal condi- 

 tion, but did not cover more than half Of the 

 combs at that time, p. 638. 



Clakk S. Fuge. 



Oregon Citj', Ore., July 25. 



ANOTHER CASE WHERE BEES EMBALMED A 

 DEAD MOUSE. 



The question is asked on page 638 if bees 

 would hermetically seal a dead mouse found 

 in their hive. Yes, they will. Some years 

 ago I put a strong swarm of bees in a hive 

 with an entrance large enough to admit a 

 mouse. Some da3-s after, while working 

 opposite this hive, I espied a mouse inside 

 and near the entrance. As it remained 

 quiet, of course I supposed it to be dead, 

 and thought I would remove it at once; but 

 some business of a pressing nature claimed 

 my attention, and I forgot about the mouse. 

 Some days after, while passing through 

 the bee-yard. I thought of the little rodent. 

 The bees seemed to be working- all right. I 

 looked in at the entrance, and saw a small 

 mound. I made an examination, and found 

 that they had furnished him a casket, or 

 hermeticall}' sealed him up. I removed the 

 bees to another hive, and took the board 



containing the casket and kept it a long 

 time as a curiosity. Finally I broke it open. 

 The composition was in color a bluish gray. 

 The outside was rough, but the inside was 

 nicely polished, and no part of it touched 

 the mouse. His hair was smooth; and his 

 tail, folded closely by his side, looked as 

 though he was enjoying a pleasant sleep. 

 Not the least offensive smell could be de- 

 tected. F. C. Ross. 

 Onawa, Iowa, July 23, 1903. 



BEES AS EMBALMERS; BRINGING SWARMS 

 HOME IN A GUNNY SACK. 



In your answer to C. L. Sniffen, on page 

 638, you say it is doubtful whether the bees 

 would cover up with wax or propolis any 

 thing as large as a dead mouse. A few 

 days before reading your answer I was 

 talking with an old bee-keeper here, Mr. 

 M. B. Robinson, and he told me about once 

 finding a dead mouse in a hive. It was a 

 box hive with two sticks crossed in it. The 

 mouse had lodged on the sticks where they 

 crossed, and the bees had covered it with 

 wax and propolis so that it was completely 

 embalmed. He also told me about seeing 

 some one exhibit an embalmed lizard which 

 had been taken out of a bee-tree, at a bee- 

 keepers' convention at Boonville, Mo., sev- 

 eral years ago. 



We have a fine crop of white clover here, 

 and the bees are doing well. I have taken 

 700 lbs. of white honey, mostly extracted, 

 from six colonies, spring count, and in- 

 creased to nine colonies. The bees are 

 still getting honey from white clover, and 

 the prospect is good for the fall honey- flow. 

 In my twelve years' experience in bee- 

 keeping I have never seen white clover hold 

 on so long-. 



I astonished the natives one day last week 

 b}' going out into the country about half a 

 mile on my bicycle, and bringing in a 

 swarm of bees in a gunny sack. 



Jas. T. Shackelford. 



Napton, Mo., July 27. 



[We have had other reports showing that 

 bees are competent to embalm dead animals 

 that prove to be in their way. These re- 

 ports go to show further that bees are very 

 cleanly in their general habits. If I see a 

 dead bee or two in honey, no feeling of nau- 

 sea comes to me; but not so in the case of a 

 fly or other insect. — Ed.] 



sweet clover preferred to alfalfa 



BY A horse; a QUEEN OCCUPYING 

 EMPTY COMBS INSTEAD OF FOUN- 

 DATION. 



I cut a crop of sweet clover this year, 

 thrashing it for seed, and giving some of 

 the straw to the horse. I found it would 

 pick out the old harsh sweet-clover straw 

 in preference to good alfalfa hay. Of course, 

 the leaves were all thrashed off", leaving 

 just the stems; but the horse was very ea- 

 ger for it, while cows would not touch it. 



