1910 



GLEAXIXdS IX liEE CULTl lU': 



tracting the entrance to a small space. I put 

 Hour on the bees at the watering-trough and 

 saw those same bees, marked by flour go 

 vlirectly into the hive having the candied 

 honey ,"^ stay inside from twenty to thirty 

 minutes, then come out and go to their own 

 hives. Later on thev came out. went to the 

 troughs for more water, then back to the 

 hive having the candied honey. The bees 

 kept on working this way until they very 

 nearly cleaned up the combs in several emp- 

 ty hives that I placed for the i)urpose. 

 ' My bees are stationed about 20 rods from 

 a mill-pond. The water in the pond is drawn 

 <lown through the day, leaving the banks 

 wet so the bees can get on them and pump 

 up their supply of water. I found them so 

 thick that it occurred to me that if it was 

 water they wanted I could place it nearer, so 

 the watering-trough was brought about. I 

 am not certain how much they got else- 

 where. 



I believe there are locations where, in dry 

 seasons, near-by watering would be a help. 

 Since using the watering-trough I fancy 

 that I have cut them off the pond by cer- 

 tainly a half. 



Yes, bees certainly use much water and 

 quite a little pollen.' I like to have a corn- 



field nicely tilled out for fall breeding. 

 While they store pollen, 1 think they run 

 short in a dry time. How they lug it in aft- 

 er a rain! I put it down as a fact that bees 

 use water and pollen in their business. 

 Theresa, X'. Y. 



SPRING CLEANING, 



A Handy Device for Holding the Frames While 

 they are Being Scraped. 



BY SIDNEY S. STABLER. 



A SUPPORT FOR KRVMI> THAT ARE BEING SCRAPED. 



P/i'ttiniraplied by Prof. A. R. (raJiini. 



The accompanying photograph shows a 

 device used at the apiary of the Maryland 

 Agricultural College to hold frames in a firm 

 position while scraping. It may be worth 

 while for bee-keepers whiunake it their duty 

 ■to scrape all brood-frames each spring to 

 have one of these little "frame horses." 

 They are just as big a help in scraping 

 frames as the "wood-horse " is in sawing 

 wood, and perhaps more, because the wood 

 does not mind jarring as the bees do. 



The construction is so simple that almost 

 any bee-keei)er can make one in a short- 

 tin'ie. Perhaps the best luml)er to use is 1- 

 Xo-inch jioplar or oak- 

 for the legs and braces.._ 

 and just a thin strip ot 

 pine for the top-ban 



In using it 1 have a^ 

 s!()()l or box to sit on. 

 and a hive-tool in my 

 right hand and the 

 horse in front of me. 

 I sit at the back of the 

 hive and take a comb 

 from the hive and place 

 it on the horse. I hold 

 ihe toi)-bar with the 

 left hand and scrape 

 with the hive-tool in 

 t he right hand. Before 

 1 had this device I used 

 lo sfrai)e over a box, 

 l)ut I like the horse 

 much better. It will l)e 

 noted that there is not 

 much chance for bees 

 to get mashed, as all 

 Ihe edges are purposely 

 made sharp to prevent 

 large ])oints of contact. 

 With it we scraped 

 all the frames from 2i> 

 (•ol( tnies last spring, and 

 intend to do the same 

 ihissi)ring. We do not 

 know how many bee- 

 keepers make a practice 

 of "Spring cleaning" of 

 frames: but we do know 

 that too much of it can 

 not be done, and that it 

 can be much more easi- 

 ly done with some such 

 device as this. 

 College Park. Md. 



