100 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 



WHY THE QUEEN DON'T LAY IN SOME COMBS. 



Sach has been the case with us, and that is we thinli 

 l!u! reason that, we hear so many complain that 

 i;iicens will not use the I'dn.; i'i cells to the inch is 

 neither worker nor drone comb, and if the queen 

 would use it we would not want it, as it would take 

 just as many bees to keep it warm as it would one 

 with 5 cells; hence, a waste in hatching bees. If 

 (!has. Hastings & Son will cite us to persons that have 

 made such reports as has J. E. Ilcthcrington, J. r. 

 Moore, A. Grimm, Harbison and others, witli box or 

 l)ar hives for seasons in succession, then we will give 

 lip our division boards and fixtures. I tell you, gen- 

 tlemen, it has not been done, neither ran it be. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Borodino, X. Y., Mar. Sth, 1877. 

 We are considerably inclined to think the 

 trouble that some have had in getting the 

 queen to accept the fdn., has been in conse- 

 <iuence of the size of the cells. The reports 

 from friend Kellogg and Cramer, of the queens' 

 using them so readily, were from fdu. made 5 

 cells to the iucli. Will our friends in ordering, 

 please state whether they wish 4'.,, or 5 cells 

 to the inch. The latter is probably just what 

 is wanted for brood combs and will answer 

 for surplus also, but if the queen really has an 

 antipathy to the 41.3 for brood, it will be all 

 the better for the^ comb honey, and it may 

 have been the reason why we have never as 

 yet seen a cell of brood in our sections. We 

 do not know that we ever found any worker 

 cells measurluii less than 5 to the inch, but we 

 viid think a piece oi worker comb sent us by 

 friend I)., was smaller than any our bees ever 

 make. Come to think of it, we really do be- 

 lieve he has crowded his bees into sncii small 

 • luarters with his 9 frame Galhip hives, that 

 they have gone and made s:naller comb, just 

 tor lack ot space. 



STOCM.S, HOW TO SEI.ECT. 



now TO STAKT, Wir.\T TO PURCHASE, AND WlfAT 

 TO PAY. 



for sale in box hives, as a rule, arc not those that read 

 Bee .Journals, so they do not know the difl'erence be- 

 tween a good stock- hive and a poor one, and will 

 make no distinction in price, as all are alike to them. 

 Now ;tbout the price. Five dollars is about the price 

 usually asked for bees in such hives during the month 

 of April, but we have seen swarms sold for S3 and Sir, 

 that were worth but little more than the honey tliat 

 was in the hive; and we have seen stocks sold for $3, 

 that Vv'ero belter worth §20 than others would be as a, 

 gift. Tlie same holds good in regard to frame hives. 

 A person had better pay SlO for a hive that has the 

 frames filled witii strong worker combs, well stocked 

 with bee?, than have a liivc with comb built crosswise 

 of the frames, with two-iliirds of that drone comb, 

 and an old, poor queen, but plenty of honey, given to 

 him lor nothing. If you send to parties at a distance 

 for bees, whatever tlie price may be, require of them 

 a warrantee that the stocks sent shall be in the condi- 

 tion given above"lbr a good swarm. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Borodino, N. Y., Mar. le, 1877. 



P. S.— A letter of enquiry enclosing a stamp or pos- 

 tal, will be cheerfully answered at any time. 



We fear our friends sometimes do forget 

 that it is a severe tax on the time and patience 

 of a hard working bee-keeper to answer all the 

 questions sent him on postals, to say nothing 

 of the expense out. With us it is different, for 

 it is our business, and those who ask many 

 questions are usually subscribers, or custom- 

 ers, so we can afford to buy postal cards by 

 the "bushel," and keep one or two clerks to 

 answer your questions. Perhaps it will be 

 well to send your inquiries to us, and we will 

 ask friend D. to answer through Gleanings, 

 that all mav have the benefit. 



TESTED, "iVAKKANTKB, ANSJ »OLil>AR 

 <tUEE.\S. 



f 



M S MANY of the readers will doubtless purchase 

 'Cm s'-°^'^s '^^ bees the coming spi ing, periiajjs a lew 



' words in regard to selecting. Mill not be amii^s. 



A majority of jiersons, especially beginners, are apt j 

 to think that if a hive is heavy with honey and there i 

 arc live bees in it, tuch are the ones to purchase, j 

 vi'ithout any regard to wiiat kind of comb there is in 

 the frame, or the siz.e of the colony. This is a very 

 mistaken idea. We will give our idea? of a good 

 stock, and just sucli a one as we would select if wc 

 v>'erc purchasing ourselves. 



As there are those, at present date, that jiersist in 

 keeping bees in box hives, and as bees in such liives 

 can be purchased for leas money than they can in 

 frame hives— besides, the frame hive might not be to 

 your liking— we would select box hives, and then 

 transfer to such hives as suited us. The stocks may 

 be selected any cold day this month, by turning the 

 hive over crircfully, so as not to arouse the bees. Ex- 

 :tmine the combs carefully and eoc that tbey aie all 

 straight and nearly all worker comb, and there should 

 be bees in at least 5 spaces, or in other words, the bees 

 should enclose t combs, and C or 8 spaces filled with 

 bees would be aU ihe better, with from 10 to 15 lbs. of 

 honey. If possible select such stocks ar^ caat a swarm 

 inc previous season, or a .second swar-n, as such will 

 !i:\ve a young, prolific queen. Persons having bees 



iifr- WOULD like to Italianize next stimmcr. Please 

 IbJI define the difl'erence between "tested," "warrant - 

 ^^ ed" and "d.llar" <iuoeiis. J. II. P. 



Franklin, N. Y. 



A warranted (lueen is simply a dollar queen 

 with a guarantee, that if the workers, when 

 they hatch, do not show three yellow bands, she 

 is to bo replaced witii a tested queen. A tested 

 queen is one whose workers have been exam- 

 ined, and found to show these marks of purity. 

 Theadvautage of having warranted queens, ks 

 that they can be sent out as soon as they begin 

 to lay, while every tested (lueen must be kept 

 at least 3 weeks. It is a safe operation to buy 

 warranted queens, because you will have a 

 tested ([ueen any way after a little more delay, 

 and if the first is impure, you will have a hy- 

 brid free of cost ; in fact, you get soiuething 

 for taking her, for you get her and a tested 

 queen for less than the price of the latter 

 alone. Why not always buy warranted queens 

 then? Simply because you cannot commence 

 rearing queens as soon as received, as you 

 could with one that was tested by some reliable 

 person. Dollar <iueens are defined umler the 

 standing advertisement of them. When we 

 get a locality entirely free from black bees, the 

 ^iiree kinds will almost amount to the same 

 thing, and a dollar (jueen will be all anybody 

 will want, unless we can get an extra i)rico 

 for tliose that arc extra prolific, or that pro- 

 duce extra honevgathering v.'orkers. 



