1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



849 



ison with the sting-. Now, bear in mind 

 that the stinj^ is tubular, and has back of 

 it powerful pumps for forcing- the poison 

 into the wound. When you remove the 

 sting, how are you going- to force the anti- 

 dote into the wound, where the opening- 

 closes instantly, or in a few seconds of 

 time, and which, before the bottle can be 

 reached, will be as tight and impervious as 

 any other portion of the skin? If the aqua 

 ammonia could strike through the skin 

 anywhere, clear into the llesh, which I be- 

 lieve it does not do, then undoubtedly it 

 would neutralize the poison. In that case 

 there would never be any swelling, and the 

 pain would cease the instant the alkali was 

 applied. — Ed.] 



INSURING BF.ES IN MUTUAL COMPANIES. 



On page 688 j'ou and your correspondent 

 ask for information about insuring bees. 

 In Wisconsin the local or town mutual fire- 

 insurance companies do insure bees on the 

 same terms and rates as other farm proper- 

 ty. I have kept mj' bees, bee-hives, bee- 

 keeping implements, and supplies insured 

 for the past twenty years. Honey also 

 may be insured if desired. I see no good 

 reason why the}' ma}' not be insured in all 

 States where the local mutuals do business 

 insuring farm property. Of course, the 

 bees in cities would not be insured b}' these 

 companies. The joint-stock companies can 

 insure them if thej' wish; but as they are 

 not insuring much farm property in this 

 State they can not afford to g-o among the 

 farmers to insure bees. F. Wilcox. 



Mauston, Wis., Aug. 8. 



CAGING TO PREVENT SWARMING. 



What are the disadvantages of caging a 

 queen to prevent swarming? 1. As prac- 

 ticed by Elwood and Hetherington, does it 

 ever result in producing- laying workers 

 (practically)? 2. Is it necessary to put 

 workers into the cage also ? 3. Will the 

 bees of the colony feed her? 4. Is there 

 ever any loss from reintroducing? 5. About 

 how long is it safe to keep her thus caged 

 from the bees? I have searched the latest 

 edition of the ABC, but can not find any 

 reference to this subject. J. H. Burns. 



St. Mary's, Ont., Can., Sept. 2. 



[The chief disadvantage seems to be in 

 hunting for queen-cells every eight or nine 

 days, making it necessary to scan every 

 inch of comb throughout the entire yard. 

 Again, in my experience a colony with a 

 caged queen does not seem to have quite 

 the energy of one that has a queen with 

 full liberty of the combs. But despite this 

 there are a good man}' prominent bee-keep- 

 ers who have been practicing the plan with 

 considerable sati5.faction and success. 



Whether or not the practice will produce 

 a laying worker will depend largely on 

 the strain of bees used. But I should not 

 expect very much trouble from that source. 

 With Eastern races, particularly the Holy 

 Land, fertile workers would develop with 



almost no provocation whatever. If Ital- 

 ans or hybrids be used, there will be but 

 very little trouble from that source. 



You may or may not put workers in the 

 cage. 



Yes, the bees will feed their queen; but I 

 would always advise having Good candy 

 where she can get at it. The losses by in- 

 troducing are comparatively small. We 

 have kept queens caged, in one case some 

 two months, and in the mean time the bees 

 had managed to rear a queen of their own; 

 but still they were taking care of the one 

 that was cag-ed. 



You will find this subject mentioned un- 

 der the head of Swarming, subhead Swarm- 

 ing Controlled, in our ABC book. — Ed.] 



hershiser's filled-section plan. 



I should be glad if you would send me 

 the two back numbers containing Mr. Her- 

 shiser's articles on the subject of comb- 

 honey production. I find his teaching is 

 far better than to place an empty section- 

 case between the brood-nest and the two- 

 thirds filled super above. I have tried six 

 supers filled with 24 and 28 sections, ac- 

 cording to Mr. Hershiser's directions, and 

 every one was filled full. J. L. Nance. 



Dry wood, Kan., Aug. 17. 



LAW relating to BEE-TREES. 



I have found several bee- trees, and should 

 like to know the law regarding the find- 

 ing and cutting of bee- trees in Michigan. 

 G. Frank Pease. 



Eckford, Mich., Aug. 10. 



[Under the common law, bees found in a 

 tree become the property of the one who dis- 

 covers them; but the said person has no 

 right to cut the tree without the consent of 

 the owner thereof, nor any right to take 

 them out of the tree without cutting, with- 

 out such consent. There is no State law 

 that I know of that would bear on this 

 question. — Ed.] 



syrup-feeding. 



1. Is there any objection to giving the 

 fairly strong as well as the weak colonies 

 half a pint of syrup every night to promote 

 brood-rearing from the middle of August 

 until the middle of September, and then 

 feeding more heavily to fill the combs with 

 stores? 



2. Is there any objection, other than ex- 

 pense, to feeding the bees all the syrup 

 thev will store away in the brood-combs up 

 to about Oct. 1? 



3. Providing brood appears in all the 

 frames of brood, should any frames con- 

 taining brood be removed to contract the 

 hive in the fall? A. y. DouD. 



Bristol, N. H., Aug. 27. 



1. No objection, only it would be a lot of 

 work; and unless you wished to stimulate 

 brood-rearing and strengthen the weak 

 colonies it would hardly pay you. 



