400 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Aug, 



HOW MUCH SPACE TO ALLOW FOR BROOD-FRAMES. 



On the old style of cover for Gleanings you say, 

 "The space iisually allowed for brood-frames is 1 

 V-lfi in. from center to center, but they can be work- 

 ed as close as 1% in., or as far apart as 15i in." The 

 regular Simplicity hive with ton frames brings them 

 iustl?8 in. from center to center. I use only nine 

 frames in each, and that brings them iVa in. apart. 



A NEW WAY TO EXTRACT WAX. 



I have tried several different plans that have been 

 recommended in Gleaninos, for extracting wax, 

 and none of them have succeoled nearly so well as 

 the following: Place the pieces of comb in a pan on 

 the stove, and pour considerable water on them ; do 

 not stir; as soon as it is melted, set it where it will 

 cool slowly; this allows the dirt to settle. When it 

 is cool, scrape off the dirt. Now put it on and melt 

 again without any water, and strain through a thin 

 cloth. I bent a piece of stiff wire into the form of a 

 hoop (four inches in diameter), with a handle, and 

 pin the straining cloth in this; as soon as it is done 

 dripping, I pull the pins out and put the cloth and 

 dirt both in the fire. Both the wax and cloth should 

 be as hot as possible, so it will not harden on. I 

 keep a pan and some teacups to mold the wax in 

 just for this purpose, so there is nothing to wash 

 when I finish, except my hands. By this method 1 

 always get nice yellow wax from the blackest combs, 

 even when filled with pollen. G. H. Pond. 



Bloomington, Minn., June 1.5, 188;J. 



Much depends on what the combs are, I 

 thhik, friend P. If they are built on wired 

 fdn.. we can use ten in a hive without 

 trouble ; but if they are old, crooked, and 

 bulged with honey, we may find nine, or 

 even eight, as many as will go into the hive 

 handily.— I should call your plan of render- 

 ing wax, the old tcay rather than a new one. 

 It does very well for combs not very old, I 

 believe, but has not been generally liked for 

 those that are old and tough, and liave been 

 long used as brood-combs. 



NEW HONEY BEING CANDIED; ANOTHER REPORT. 



We have rather strange phenomena in the prog- 

 ress of bee culture. All the honey gathered for the 

 last six weeks is completely granulated; the cups, 

 in many combs, are well filled with sugar, which, 

 when taken out of the cell, retains the shape of it. 

 Now, from what does it come? is it the peculiar fla- 

 vor, or is it attributable to the honey season during 

 the time of the gathering of this honey? The bees 

 died out until about half of each colony was gone, 

 but now they appear to be healthy again. Can you 

 account for it? What will the result be? Will the 

 honey answer for food in winter? will it be health- 

 ful for the bees to live on? Can they eat it? What 

 was the cause of the mortality? 



W.J. Reeves, M. D. 



Calhoun, Gordon Co., Ga., June 24, 1883. 



I can not tell why your honey all candies 

 in this queer way, friend II., but I am in- 

 clined to think it is on account of the source 

 from which it comes, and not from any pe- 

 culiarity of the season. I have never before 

 heard of its being injurious to the bees, more 

 than to harden in tlie cells in winter so they 

 were unable to use it. I would try to have 

 them use it up in brood-rearing, and gather 

 their stores from some other source for win- 

 ter, which they will be very likely to do ; 

 but if not, I would give them sugar syrup 



instead. If it has really been injurious to 

 them in warm weather, it Avill most assured- 

 ly be unsafe for winter. I think some one 

 has suggested, that it is the honey from the 

 persimmon that candies so quickly. 



DARk DOLLAR QUEENS. 



The queen you sent me is probably a black one, 

 fertilized by a pure drone, or else she is a hybrid. 

 Her young are hybrids; as a layer, however, she is 

 not to be excelled, and she is evidently a good discip- 

 linarian, for her workers are workers in every 

 sense of the word. From an unfavorable beginning 

 she has made my artificial swarm a strong one. 

 Write me on a postal, if you think there is a proba- 

 bility of her sending out a swarm this season. From 

 three colonies in the spring I now have twelve in all, 

 and more expected. G. A. Leavitt. 



Houston, Texas Co., Mo., June 1.5, 1883. 



Friend Leavitt, we do not send out black 

 queens for a dollar. No doubt she looks 

 dark, and may be as dark as a black queen, 

 for this is the" case witli many of the daugh- 

 ters of imported qCieens ; but notwithstand- 

 ing the dark color of the mother, the work- 

 ers all seem to have exactly the qualities 

 you have described. Is not this of far more 

 value than the single item of color of the 

 mother V I should think it quite probable 

 she would send out a swarm. 



MAKING NEW SWARMS STAY IN THE HIVES. 



My boss, Mr. E. E. Shattuck, uses a frame of un- 

 sealed brood, and perhaps a frame of honey, in the 

 hive before shaking the swarm into it. I have put 

 up several hundred swarms in that way during the 

 last six years, and do not think that 1 have had as 

 many as three swarms desert their hive. 1 have 

 charge of two hundred swarms here. They are do- 

 ing well at present, and storing considerable honey, 

 but I fear it will not last long, on account of there 

 having been so light a rainfall during the last win- 

 ter. Geo. W. Kowley, 



Jglesia Canon, Cal., June 2-t, 1883. 



Your plan is exactly what we have been 

 discussing along back, friend E., and my 

 experience agrees exactly with yours, only I 

 would not put in the frame of honey at a 

 time when honey is plentiful in the fields. 



ANTS BOTHERING QUEEN-CELLS IN THE " HATCHER." 



In last year's Gleanings I find it recommended 

 to hatch queen-cells over brood-chamber in chaff 

 hives. I have attempted to do so, and find that 

 small ants will destroy the cells, and even kill the 

 young queen. Can you give a remedy? 



Charles H. Grote. 



Mauston, Wis., June 14, 1883. 



Set your chaff hive on legs, and stand each 

 leg in a dish of water, and you can put yotir 

 thumb against the side of your nose while 

 you look at the ants and laugh at their dis- 

 comfiture. Neighbor II. again uses, this 

 year, the arrangement you mention, and it 

 still works nicely, and he thinks it much 

 less care and trouble than a lamp nursery. 

 He calls it a "hatcher," and any sort of a 

 cage tliat will cage the cells right over a 

 powerful colony, Avill answer the same pur- 

 pose. A chaft' cushion is put over the cages, 

 to keep the heat uniform during cool weath- 

 er. 



