1!I07 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



839 



ony will be considerably encouraged in draw- 

 ing them out. I believe one of the helps to 

 cause swarming is a brood-chamber full of 

 old combs, and the presence of many drones 

 another inducement. 



ANOTHER METHOD OF SHAKING BEES OFF THE COMBS. 



A strong hold on each edge of the frame is taken; it is then 

 given a quick jerk downward and upward. If done right, it will 

 dislodge all the bees. 



For 100 colonies it would require 200 new 

 frames, and for 200 colonies 400 new frames. 

 It is best to keep these extra frames on hand, 

 and prepare the foundation and frames for 

 use at odd spells and rainy days and even- 

 ings when there is nothing else that can be 

 agreeably worked with; and the job will not 

 be so large but that it can be done without 

 hiring help, as would be the case if it is put 

 off until the arrival of the actual work in the 

 apiary. When the season starts in, there is 

 always enough to keep us more than busy 

 in attending to swarms and arranging the 

 receptacles for honey. If this work is brought 

 into the kitchen, in small amounts at a time, 

 the children can assist in some parts, and 

 will soon learn to take an interest in it, and 

 learn to notice just how each part must be 

 done, in a certain invariable way. 



The time of a farmer can usually be had 

 at $1.50 to $2.50 at some seasons of the 

 year; but at seeding time or thrashing ■ it is 

 worth $10 to $20. So in the honey harvest 

 the bee-keeper needs all of his time and 

 thought to care for the crop properly. A 

 mistake may seem trivial at certain times; 

 but if it has to be corrected in the rush of 

 the season it becomes expensive. 



One bee-keeper put in 500U frames with 

 inch starters, and without wire or holes for 

 wires. Time will tell when he begins his 

 career of tribulations. They think a day or 

 two of cutting oft' the heads of drones will 

 suttice. In an apiary of 300 or 400 colonies 

 this work would almost keep one man busy. 



As soon as the heads are clipped once, the 

 queen proceeds directly to replace them: and 

 she will go into the upper story as soon as 

 anywhere, to lay her drone eggs. I use ex- 

 cluders to keep the queen down, up to the 

 time the honey-tiow begins, when 

 they can be taken off and there 

 will be no further trouble. The 

 h<mey seems to crowd the brood 

 out. 



As to excluders being used on 

 the hives all the time, I would not. 

 Still, I never could see but that 

 the colonies having excluders on 

 all the season got their supers 

 filled as quickly as where the ex- 

 cluders were removed. Of course, 

 it certainly is easier for the bees 

 not to have the excluders on. 

 There is about one queen in 25 

 which seems to prefer the upper 

 story all the time. If a third story 

 is put on she goes directly into 

 that. If we let such queens have 

 their own notions we should not 

 get much honey from that colony; 

 but if the queen is confined to the 

 lower story we shall find the su- 

 per filled just as compactly and 

 neatly as any others. In such a 

 case an excluder will save several 

 dollars' worth of honey. 



I have 150 excluders of the wood- 

 zinc kind, and wish I had 150 more. 

 We lose money, and that rapidly, 

 to undertake to do without the 

 necessary appliances. The next thing is to 

 see their necessity. But a necessity is not 

 always necessary all the time; and because 

 it is not necessary all the time, many fool 

 themselves by thinking they can be dis- 

 pensed with all the time. 

 Chatsworth, Cal., March 25. 



DANDELIONS FOR BEES. 



A Land Flowing with Milk and Honey; 

 Dandelions for Cows, etc. 



BY A. I. ROOT. 



I have just had one of my happy sui'prises. 

 For a year past or more the children (and 

 grandchildi'en) have been petitioning for a 

 cow; but I said it would cost more to get a 

 cow and care for her properly than to buy 

 milk of the milkman, and so the matter was 

 put off. Finally our teamster bargained for a 

 half Holstein-Jersey cow during my absence. 

 I said, "All right, boys, go ahead; but if you 

 do not find your cow a white elephant in a 

 few weeks 1 shall be much mistaken." 



Of course, we expected to turn the cow 

 out to pasture when the grass was up; but 

 we do not have a fence on the ranch, so the 

 matter was delayed while discussing the fence 

 problem. Now let me digi-ess to tell you 

 that our orchard was for many years used 

 for market gardening, and, as a consecjuence, 

 it is well tile-drained and heavily manured 

 with manure from the livery stables. The 



