•2(iS 



UT.EAXIX(!S IX nKK CULTUllE 



Apk. 1. 



A simple ai)i)liance for insuiin.u heavy 

 frames of honey liaviiig Hat and even sur- 

 faces either side, l^ee-keepers know the 

 time saved in unc'ai)i)in,ii; lioney when tlie 

 combs are built evenly. By using this aj)- 

 pliance the work is performed in half the 

 time, and reduces waste to a minimum, as 

 the cappings may then be shaved off in one 

 complete ])iece. Frames of honey built by 

 the aid of this ingenious ai)pliance present 

 a most attractive and sjilendid appearance 

 for exhibition at shows or shoj) windows. 



PATENT 

 WIRE SECTION-SEPARATOR. 



The great point in favor of this class of 

 separator is that it allows the bees plenty of 

 space to work, and gives free access to the 

 sections. Being non-rusting it will last for 

 years. 



Stone, Htaflfs., England, .Ian. 20. 



[This is certainly a novel way of con- 

 structing wire queen-excluders; but in our 

 opinion the plan is defective in one respect. 

 For instance, in the samjile sent us the 

 wires are held only ai^proximately the same 

 distance apart, the spaces varying from about 

 164 thousandths to more than 175 thou- 

 sandths. A good many queens would cer- 

 tainly get through a space as wide as the 

 last mentioned. Wire excluders as made in 

 this country vary scarcely 2 thousandths of 

 an inch — IGo thousandths being the stand- 

 ard. 



The trouble with this method of making 

 wire excluders will be understood by re- 

 ferring to illustration at the top of the right- 

 hand column on the previous page. The 

 s])urs i)unched out of the solid metal, when 

 folded over the bars of wires, are not folded 

 over alike, making the si)acing unequal. 

 This may be due to dilTerent temper or 

 thickness of the metal, or to defect in the 

 (Ues. In the second i)lace. the wires are al- 

 together too small in gauge. They should 

 be much heavier. The same principle, pat- 

 ented in this coimtry. is much better, be- 

 cause the wires are liiade of thicker gauge, 

 and heUl apart by molten metal poured 

 around them at certain intervals.— Ed.] 



HOW TO FEED ARTIFICIAL POLLEN WITH- 

 OUT EXCITING THE BEES. 



BY JOSEPH GRAY. 



F. Dundas Todd, p. 122, Feb. lo, touches 

 a suljject of intense interest. It involves a 

 far wider question than i)ollen feeding, 

 which, to me. is one of tlie simi)lest matters 

 of ai)iculture. and I was somewhat suri)rised 

 to see his failure in hunting up the matter. 



A close observer will not be long in dis- 

 covering that the bees store their ])ollen in 

 the comb next to the brood, and it is a big 

 mistake to remove such combs in sjjring- 

 time; if, then, our colony is short of i)olk'n 

 this is tlie i)lace to give it; and so simple is 

 the method that I thought it was a well-un- 

 derstood detail of bee-life. What I do is to 

 take out the comb next the brood, dredge it 

 well with meal, not fine Hour, and replace 

 it. Jiy this method the bees are not minec- 

 essarily excited, which is the one thing to 

 avoid in unsuitable weather. 



We all know the brood-nest advances 

 slowly at first, and. if a queen is short of 

 bees, to cover her work she will cross and 

 recross. laying as many as live and six eggs 

 in the same cell rather than go outside the 

 cluster of bees. Old coml)S add to the 

 warmth of the brood-nest, and usually con- 

 tain jjollen store, and are, therefore, of great 

 value in the early spring. 



The real reason so little is said on i)ollen 

 feeding is that a district short of early pol- 

 len is the exception, not the rule. You can 

 not force nature so early: wait till the cro- 

 cus and willow are in bloom; and after the 

 brood-nests are well going you can force on 

 the strongest first, and make them feeders 

 for the weak ones. 



WHY' CAN WE NOT FORCE EARLY? 



Flight in unsuitable weather brings dis- 

 aster to our little aviators; a chilling blast, 

 a broken wing, means death to the busy 

 worker; so the using of i)ollen, which means 

 a larger amount of faeces to void on the wing 

 and the bringing-in of water to prejiare the 

 milk food for the brood progresses only wil h 

 the i)rogress of the outside conditions; as 

 these advance in warmth and sunlight, so 

 the brood-nest advances; and as it advances, 

 then and not till then can we force the pace. 

 It is not ])rofitable before, for the loss in 

 bee life is not compensated for by the 

 amount of brood raised. Never use a meth- 

 od of gi\ ing early pollen l)y which the bees 

 are com])elled to take it, because if they use 

 more jiollen they must Hy more to rid them- 

 selves of the extra f;pces. 



IJrood-nests advance in spring in pro])or- 

 tion to the number of bees com])osing the 

 stock. A weak stock may be headed by an 

 extra fine ([ueen, but not enough V)ees lo 

 cover her work. I have counted in one cast- 

 cell after cell with ten eggs in each cell, and 

 in some cases two larva- in a cell. Keej) 

 such stock until you have built the strong 

 stocks; then on n /!,i/iit(/ clai/ earn/ >i<(il((l 

 brood and nurse hrrs. and strengthen and 

 e<iuali/.e the ai)iary. 



Xever give brood alone to a weak stock; if 

 it could have cared for more brood the queen 

 would have seen to that. Far wiser is it to 

 take one comb of brood and nurse-bees to a 

 weak stock than two combs of brood which 

 are liable to get chille<l instead of strengtli- 

 ening the stock. 



Dumbarton Road, (ilasgow. 



[See answer to D. M. Macdonald on page 

 271.— Ed.] 



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