440 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



SKri'. 



ki<:eping the queen oit of the 



SURPliUS-HONEY DEPARTMEINT. 



ARE WE GOING TO NEEB JONES'S PERFORATED ZINC? 



iILL you bo so kind as to give me some in- 

 formation as to what is the best method of 

 obtaining fall honey sealed in body of hive? 

 The season here is short, the bees will not work in 

 the upper story, and it is difficult to prevent tjjem 

 from filling the brood-nest with honey. It does not 

 seem to do any good to extract; they put more in 

 as fast as I take it out. Fall before last I tacked 

 wire cloth over a frame, made holes in it largo 

 enough for workers, but not for queen to gothrough, 

 and hung It in the hive, but it did not do much good, 

 as most of the bees worked in the brood-nest. I 

 think now perhaps I made a mistiike in putting it in 

 the wrong- place. The frames in my hives extend 

 across the hive from side to side, and not from front 

 to rear, as I suppose those do in the hive you use. 1 

 put the frames that 1 desired for honey in the back 

 part of the hive, then the separator and the brood- 

 nest in front. "Would it not have been bettor to have 

 reversed the thing and putthe empty comb in front? 

 I did not know then that any one else had ever tried 

 any thing of the kind, but have seen since that per- 

 forated tin separators are much used. What do you 

 think of the wire cloth? Mine was painted green. 

 Is thei-e any danger of poison from that? 1 suppose 

 another reason why mine did not work well was be- 

 cause I had the holes too far apart. 



My brother takes the Rural New-Yorher, and the 

 editors promised, some months since, to give Mr. 

 Jones's plan, which has proved so successful, but it 

 has not appeared yet, so I thought I would write to 

 you. There is generally a failure of honey here 

 from the middle of this mouth till the first of Sept. 

 Ought the bees to be fed during that time? What 

 causes bees to cluster on the outside of the hive? 

 One of my swarms was at that nearly all of last 

 month, but did not swarm, though the hive was 

 crowded with bees. I divided them, but that did 

 not break up the habit with the new swarm. My 

 hives have a broad board that lies Hat on the top of 

 the hive, and is used as a cover for the upper story; 

 also when it is on, should there also be a cap to 

 protect from sun? The bees glue the board tight to 

 the hive, and it makes them very mad for me to try 

 to get it off. You must have patience with my in- 

 quisitiveness. 1 think I am about lifty years behind 

 the times in bee culture. Maky B. Crockett. 



Wytheville, Wythe Co., Va., July 12, 1882. 



It seems to me, my friend, you suggest the 

 remedy in tlie former part of your letter : 

 use the extractor. If tliey lill the combs 

 witli honey just as fast as yon throw it out, 

 what more can be desired V The bees will 

 lill a comb with honey quickest when it is 

 put next to the brood. 1 have no doubt but 

 that your wire-cloth sheet would answer, if 

 there were great numbers of holes made ; 

 but as this would be rather difficidt and la- 

 borious to make, the perforated sheet zinc 

 that we advertise will be much cheaper and 

 better. I believe the purpose of these metal 

 division-boards is to keep the queen from 

 the combs or sections, where we have surplus 

 honey only. Very likely we can keep out 

 the brood Avithout any trouble, but I feel 

 pretty sure that combs next to a brood comb 

 would contain some pollen. Although we 



have sold quite a quantity of this sheet zinc, 

 we liave as yet had no reports of it for get- 

 ting comb honey in the brood-nest, that I 

 know of. Will tlie friends who have tried it 

 please report ? By all means, feed the bees 

 at any time during warm weather when they 

 can get no stores. Clustering out is a sort 

 of habit bees get into when strong; i.e., if they 

 cluster out when they have plenty of room 

 in the hive, and honey is to be had in the 

 fields. If the other means fail, recently giv- 

 en, divide the colony. If as you say, divide 

 again the part that persists in clustering out. 

 When they have only bees enough to cover a 

 couple of frames of brood, they will be pret- 

 ty sure to stay inside and go to work. To be 

 sure, it makes bees very mad to pry off the 

 honey-board, and this is one reason why 

 honey-boards have been abandoned in favor 

 of the enameled sheets. Never mind if you 

 are behind, my friend ; we are all behind, 

 more or less. Inquisitiveness is what we 

 want, if it is followed up by making a good 

 use of all we learn. 



STKAA%' - HIVE AND BEE - SHED MEN 

 AHEAD. 



IS IT CHAFF HIVES, OR CELLARS? 



f DISLIKE to acknowledge it, but the truth should 

 be told, if It is not very pleasant ; so, here it is: 

 — ' We who advocate cellar wintering and outdoor 

 summering of our bees, are this season coming out 

 second, third, or fourth best. That may not be the 

 ease In all parts of the country, but it is so hero in 

 Northern New York. Our bees all wintered well; 

 and when we brought them out of the cellars last 

 April, our prospects for a good honey crop were 

 never brighter. But, April was cold, and May was 

 colder, and June ^fas — not quite so cold as May, 

 but yet too cold for the bees to do well. I united 

 swarms the 24th of June that did not have a single 

 ounce of honey in their cells, and now in July, with 

 white and red clover, and locust-trees in full bloom, 

 I am feeding them to prevent their starving. I do 

 not thiak that there Is a hive in my yard as heavy as 

 it was when I brought it out three months ago to- 

 day. Among all of my acquaintances who winter in 

 cellars, and let the hives stand In the open air the 

 rest of the year, there has not been, so far as 1 have 

 heard, a single new swarm hived, and we all let our 

 bees swarm if they will. 



Now for the other side: The one bee-keeper of 

 this town who keeps his bees in straw hives, and 

 both winters and summers them in an open shed 

 fronting the east or south-east, began to get new 

 swarms the M of June, and has had them every day 

 or two since that date. The others who also keep their 

 bees In sheds fronting the south or east, have had 

 some swarms, though perhaps not quite so many as 

 usual. Now, I may be wrong; but I believe that our 

 bees were at least as well off In our cellars as they 

 would have been in sheds through the winter; but I 

 think that, in such a season as this, our hives need 

 protection from the cold all through the spring, If 

 not all summer. And the question now arises. What 

 shall we do about It? Is It best to split up our nice 

 Simplicity hives for kindling-wood, as you advise us 

 to do with patent hives of all kinds, and go back to 

 the old round-top straw hive, without frames, or 



