588 



GLEANINGS IN BE^ CULTURE. 



Dec. 



were put on, which in due time were all filled. Only 

 29 out of the 48 were built rpgularly enough so that 

 they could be put in a crate, and part of these were 

 somewhat bulged. Of the 19 worst ones, 11 were so 

 bad that the honey had to be cut out of the sections 

 altogether. I find record of only three other colo- 

 nies that worked in supers where no separators were 

 used. From two of them the sections were taken 

 off, and sections with separators put on, before the 

 close of the season. And this is the way the record 

 foots up: Sections finished at time of removal, TO; 

 number that would barely do, 36; badly bulged, 34. 

 Almost half the honey spoiled for want of a fe»v 

 strips of tin! All those had regular 4J4 by 4J4 sec- 

 tions. Larger ones would be worse, of coui'se. 

 There is a marked difference in colonies (and per- 

 haps in whole apiaries also); one of the three in- 

 cluded above, spuiled 21 sections while making but 

 11 tolerable ones. 



Now, I do not deny that some succeed without the 

 separators; let them hold fast whatever plan proves 

 good with them ; but assuredly,— 



' 'Arts which thrive at numbor five, 

 Don't take at iiuinber one.' ' 



I would like to see them a little more modest about 

 advising "everybody and the rest of mankind" to 

 throw away their separators. I think the difference 

 in experiences is mainly owing to the amount of 

 honey that comes in in one day. If five pounds and 

 upward per day comes in, many sections side by side 

 are being finished out at once; and if the workers 

 on one should undertake to bulge it out far, the 

 workers on the next section would say with em pha- 

 sls, " Shinny on your own side." Cut if only one or 

 two pounds per day is coming in, the chances are 

 that the section adjoining the one that is being fin- 

 ished out is not even begun yet. In this case, the 

 bees lengthen the cells on the uni-estricted side until 

 they are two inches deep or more, because they are 

 loath to disband and reorganize for a new comb. If 

 this is correct, two sorts of men can get along with- 

 out separators; the man whose honey nearly all 

 comes in heavy runs, and the man who is such a 

 dullard that he never gets any surplus unless there 

 does come a heavy run. I never yet had a five- 

 pound run of honey, and only a few that have 

 reached three pounds. To advise dispensing with 

 separators in such a locality is utter and mischiev- 

 ous nonsense. This year the runs of honey have 

 been unusually moderate, even for this locality; 

 and yet I have secured over a ton and a half of sur- 

 plus, nearly all comb; and the percentage of sec- 

 tions left incomplete is very small. In one respect 

 it is a sad disadvantage to a bee-keeper to have a 

 •'roaring good" locality; he can make moderate 

 blunders, and go on without finding it out. 



REPORT. 



Colonies in spring, 08; highest number of colonies, 

 149; colonies noAv, 130. Section honey, 2800 lbs.; ex- 

 tracted honey, 320 lbs.; total, 3120, or 46 lbs. per col- 

 ony, spring count. Wa,\ not all rendered yet, but 

 somewhere about 24 lbs. 



In reply to last month's question, I would say that 

 the half-bushel basket is preferable for taking down 

 swarms. Get a good solid lot of the clustered bees 

 Into the basket In any convenient way; then as 

 quickly as possible, either by shaking or brushing, 

 make all the rest fly. Keep them Irom returning to 

 the old spot, and directly thej^ are all in the basket. 



Richards, O., Nov. 20. 1882. E. E. Hastv. 



Friend II., I have followed you all through 



almost breathlessly, to see if you wouldn't 

 report on sections lilled full "of fdn. used 

 without separators. Is it possible you over- 

 looked tliis plan of getting rid of separators, 

 after all that has been said about it? I am 

 sorry, too, you didn't report on those made 

 of very thin wood, but I presume you didn't 

 have any handy, and couldn't take the time 

 to have any made. We are much obliged 

 for the important points you have brought 

 out, especially the oue in regard to the bees 

 bulging one section into an adjoining one 

 that is empty, and has no bees at w'ork in it. 

 It was this that decided me to say I never 

 w'anted any more sections built without sepa- 

 rators. 



SOME IDEAS ABOUT FEEDERS. 



PROBABLY SUGGESTED BY D. A. JONES'S PLAN OF 

 FEEDING ON THE BOTTOM OF THE HIVE. 



EF I wanted to feed all of my bees their winter 

 stores in a short time, I would make a dripping- 

 pan feeder just the size of the insideof the hive, 

 about three inches deep. Set it in the hive; and the 

 frames going down into it will be just what the bees 

 want to get on, to kcpp from drowning. It would 

 hold 20 lbs. or more, so a swarm could be fed in one 

 night, provided they would take it all. If so large a 

 one were not wanted, I would make it bread-pan 

 style, just as long as the frames, then it would take 

 two or three frames, which would be perfect as re* 

 gards prevent ing their drowni ng. If I wanted a small 

 one, like the Simplicity, I would make it the length 

 of frames, about two inches deep; slip the bottom 

 of the frame into it; tack it fast to each end of the 

 end-piece of the frame, and keep it on there all the 

 time. When you want to feed, pour the feed on the 

 side of the comb, and it will run down into the feed- 

 er. This one can be made to come up to the top-bar 

 of the frame, if you wish. 



I wcnild make the bread-pan feeder another way: 

 Make it three inches wide, the length of the hive in- 

 side, and Yi inch deep, and lack it in the middle of 

 hive, even with the bottom of the hive, it being so 

 shallow it would scarcely be noticed in handling the 

 frames. In feeding I would spread the frames at 

 the top, and pour the feed between them. That size 

 would hold enough for stimulating. The feeder for 

 one frame can, of course, be made any depth, and 

 can be tacked on the side of hive, if preferred. In 

 feeding, push top of frame away from hive, and 

 pour feed in between the hive and comb. 



Now we will go back to our dripping-pan, which is 

 the same width as the hive, and we want to make a 

 feeder for the Simplicity hive with a loose bottom- 

 board that will work the same as D. A. Jones's tight- 

 bottom hive. We cut off the end of our dripping- 

 pans 6 or 8 inches from the end, and tack the piece 

 cut off Into the back end of the hive, the bottom 

 even with the bottom of the hive; the feeder so 

 made would not interfere with the working of the 

 frames, or be in the way of the bees. When want- 

 ing to feed, 5 ou tip back you hives and pour in the 

 feed. 



FEED FOR QUEEN-BEE CAGE. 



I suggest that you put a sponge with honey into a 

 bottle about twice the size you used to put into the 

 cages for water. 



I suggest to Mr. Heddon to use a piece of floor oil- 



