1883 



GLEA2^INGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



609 



are a necessity, they should have a queen 

 till just before winter sets in. — Thanks for 

 your report in regard to skunks eating bees. 

 VVe have had several similar reports in times 

 pasr. 



QUEENS THAT WERE NOT ALLOWED TO LAY. 



Oq tlie 8th of Aug-ust I introduced (for a neighbor) 

 several queens; and three days later, upon exami- 

 nation, I found in the colonies no indication of a 

 queen (eggs), but queen-cells instead, and I came at 

 once to the conclusion that they had killed their 

 new sovereigns. I very carefully cut out all of the 

 cells, with the intention of trying once more as soon 

 as queens could be had. Tou can imagine my sur- 

 prise, when, ten days later, they swarmed; and still 

 more was I surprised to find in each swarm the 

 queen I had introduced and was mourning over as 

 lost. They began laying at once as soon located in 

 their new home, but not an egs; could be found in 

 the old colony. Why those queens should go 13 days 

 la the old stock and not lay an egg, and should com- 

 mence at once after getting in the new hive, is more 

 than I can see through. It would seem as though a 

 part of the bees mourned the loss of their "nimbus;"' 

 that they were aware of the fact, that " all is not 

 gold that glitters," and so interfered with the opera- 

 tions of the new layer. The rest were undoubtedly 

 reconciled to the chansre, and, after spending 13 days 

 in debating the question, concluded to move out — 

 to go west, and grow up with the country. 



FERTILE WORKERS. 



It is generally supposed that fertile workers will 

 neither accept a queen of any kind nor a queen-cell, 

 and the only sure cure is to unite with some strong 

 colony. It is said, there areexceptious to all rules, 

 and in this rule there seems to be one surely, for I 

 have had this season a nucleus infested with fertile 

 workers that twice in succession reared a queen. 

 They seemed to accept a queea-cejl as readily as any 

 colony would. 



We have had a poor season here. Through white 

 clover It was cold and rainy, and the fall yield prom- 

 ises to be a complete failure. 



HOLDING SWARMS BY BROOD. 



I have been considerably interested in what D )o- 

 little and others have had to say in regard to the ef- 

 ficacy of brood in detaining runaway swarms. My 

 experience goes to prove that brood will hold a 

 swarm when queen!ess, but if they have once made 

 up their minds on an old hollow-tree, nothing but a 

 good fountain pump well used will stop them. 



Roger's Park, 111. J. V. Woodruff. 



Eriend W., your case is a rather uncom- 

 mon one, but still I have seen behavior 

 somewhat similar. As a rule, the building 

 of queen-cells indicates queenlessness, but 

 not always; and whefl we find them build- 

 ing cells in spite of having a laying queen in 

 the hive, it is a pretty sure indication that 

 there is mutiny in the ranks, and sooner or 

 later thev swarm out or ball the queen. It 

 seems a little singular that you had two col- 

 onies that behaved in exactly the .same way. 

 I know that we often decide a queen is lost, 

 and afterward find her, or, rather, find by 

 the eggs present that she is still in the hive. 

 — A colony infested with fertile workers will 

 often accept a queen-cell and sometimes a 

 laying queen, without any caging whatever. 

 — I am well aware that brood will always 

 keep bees from deserting a queenless and 



broodless hive, and a frame of young larvre 

 will almost invariably induce a colony to de- 

 fend their stores where they would not oth- 

 erwise. 



MOVING BEES NORTH TO KEEP UP WITH THE BASS- 

 WOOD FLOW. 



I read in your last issues of Gleanings and Juve- 

 nile of moving bees northward to keep pace with 

 the receding bloom. Bass wood is our last bloom 

 here, and commences to bloom here from the l;Jth 

 to the 15th of June; this year on the 14th of June. 

 It lasts from three weeks to one month; this year, 

 33 days exactly. The rest of the year, bees will not 

 make a living, always, and frequently 100 lbs. of 

 honoy will not carry a swarm through till the fol- 

 lowing spring. There is but one successful plan 

 here, and I have practiced it with satisfactory re- 

 sults. Colonies must be depopulated after the bass- 

 wood dries up. A small colony here gathers enough 

 to breed upon, while, if left to themselves, they con- 

 sume all their stores in brood-rearing. 



Now, friend Root, if I can not make arrangements 

 with Northern men to take these surplus bees the 

 10th of each July in each year, they will have to be 

 subjected to the brimstone pit to the amount of 7 or 

 8 lbs. to each hive, as a matter of necessity. They 

 raise an abundance of brood after this for winter 

 here. If I could make arrangements with you to 

 take from 5 to 8 lbs. of bees from each of my hives 

 the 10th of each July, T would put them up and 

 guarantee safe arrival to you, for 50 cts. per pound; 

 and if a queen is required with each, will furnish 

 them for 60 cts. each. A. W. Cheney. 



Kenawha Falls, W. Va., Sept. 20, 1883. 



Friend C, I am much obliged to you for 

 vour liberal offer, but with the amount of 

 business I have on hand now, I would not 

 dare to promise to take your bees, though 

 there are doubtless some among our readers 

 who would be glad of them at the price you 

 mention. 



CAN WE PREVENT THE BEES FROM BUILDING ON 

 THE TOP-BARS? 



In regard to the bees sticking up the frames and 

 building little pieces of comb around the edges and 

 tops of the frames, can't we melt the wax, and fla- 

 vor it with something, and coat the frames with it, 

 so as to keep them from working where we do not 

 want them? I am u^ingsome of the metal c">rners, 

 and I like them much. G. D. Adair. 



Talbotton, Ga. 



Friend A., your plan of covering frames 

 with melted wax containing something dis- 

 tasteful to the bees would be a great deal of 

 trouble. If you want the top-bars clean, 

 plane them smooth and paint them. As a 

 rule, I believe bee-men do not want tops un- 

 attached, for we want the attachment you 

 speak of to induce the bees to go up into the 

 sections above. If you had clean top-bars 

 they would be much less liable to do so. 



KING-BIRDS EATING BEES. 



Do what we call king-birds catch worker-bees? I 

 saw them catchinsr my bees; and, going to a neigh- 

 bor's orchard, I followed and found two nests — one 

 with eggs, and the other with three nearly full- 

 grown birds, which I decapitated, and proceeded to 

 hold a post-mortem, which resulted as follows: I 

 found several drones intact, also 3 or 4 large green 

 bugs, larger than potato-beetles, with a mass of par- 



