1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



•299 



same. For example, nectar from the onion-plant, 

 when ■■ inverted " by the bees into honey, will still 

 have the onion flavor. Honey-dew, when inverted 

 into honey-dew honey, will still have the flavor It 

 had In the first place, although the flavor in both 

 cases has been modified — that is. mellowed. An 

 excretion is. to a great extent, a waste product. It 

 has served its purpose of nourishment in Its pass- 

 age through the alimentary canal, and, through 

 the proce.ss. has lost to a very great degree its pow- 

 er to sustain life; but honey-dew. while an excre- 

 tion of a plant-louse, is a food for other insects, 

 ants, and bee.s. As it is rich in hydro-carbon (su- 

 gar), the amount of waste, relatively speaking, for 

 the bee is probably very small. Honey-dew. even 

 though it be an excretion, can not. therefore, be re- 

 garded as an ordinary excretum. The alimentary 

 canal of the plant-louse is probably as clean as the 

 honey-stomach of the bee. There is no reason why 

 a honey-dew of good flavor should not be as clean 

 and wholesome as most honeys. We should not 

 class hone.v-dew honey alongside of ordinary excre- 

 ta.— Ed.] 



SLATTED CLU.STEKING-SPACE UNDER THE BEOOD- 

 CHAMBER TO PREVENT SWARMING. 



Working along the lines as practiced by Dr. Mil- 

 ler in giving ventilation for swarm control I made 

 a "contraption" that worked very successfully 

 when placed under the brood-chamber of my worst 

 colony of last year: in fact, it was the only colony 

 this year that did not swarm. 



I made a box of the same dimensions as a super, 

 and same depth. The front I cut away half way up, 

 making a large entrance. In the back I bored a 

 number of half-inch holes extending across the box, 

 and over these I tacked wire screen on the inside. 



trance i.s made very large — much larger than the 

 average full-sized hive-entrance, and it .seems a.s 

 though this might be a desirable feature. — V.c] 



I filled this box or frame with partitions a bee- 

 space apart. The partitions were made from old 

 store boxes of about K-inch stufT. but would have 

 given more room and ventilation if something like 

 thin fences had been used. 



This contrivance gives plenty of clustering-space 

 below the frames, a good current of air from the 

 large entrance in front to the half-inch holes in the 

 back. The objection I find to the blocks at the cor- 

 ners is that the manipulator is in the way of the 

 flying bees if they can enter from all sides. 



Nazareth, Pa., Aug. 23. (iEO. H. Bedford. 



[It will be seen that Mr. Bedford has gone a step 

 further than Mr. .Tunee. p. 29.5, in that his outer en- 



A FRAME TO PROVIDE EXTRA BOTTOM VENTILATION. 



I have noticed the method of ventilating hive.s by 

 placing inch blocks below the brood-chamber .so .as 

 to have a space all around: but robbers or even mice 

 could get in so large a space. To overcome this dif- 

 ficulty I propose the scheme as illustrated. After a 



frame is made according to this drawing it will raise 

 the hive-body one inch above the bottom-board 

 with only a half-inch space. To stop the robbing 

 we use a piece of wire cloth one inch wide, and long 

 enough to go around the two sides and back of the 

 frame, tacked on the outside. If four or five supers 

 were tiered up it might be advisable to use one of 

 these between supers. (Jf course, this must be tried 

 before it can be recommended. 

 Washington. I>. ('.. F. W. H. Weishacpt. 



ALLEY TRAPS IN OUT-APIARIE.S. 



1 should like to see reports on the use of Alley 

 queen and drone traps in out-apiaries that are run 

 for comb honey. Are they a success or failure in 

 holding .swarms until the arrival of the apiarist in, 

 say. two or three days? Do these traps permit of 

 sufficient ventilation during the .swarming sea.son? 



When bees are allowed to swarm naturally and 

 are then shaken, I find that much better results are 

 secui-ed. I had several cases of swarms issuing 

 naturally; but as the queen could not fly. the bees 

 returned to the parent hive. I then proceeded as 

 in the shaken-swarm plan, and had splendid re- 

 sults. I have 200 colonies in outyards. and find 

 that in some years all plans fail except natural 

 swarmmg. 



Xew Milford, Pa. F. W. Dean. 



[The Alley trap will hold swarms for two or three 

 days; but as a rule it is far better to take care of a 

 swarm within a few hours alter it has issued. But 

 the question may be asked. " How can we know 

 that a swarm has gone forth? " Look carefully over 

 the traps: and if a bunch of bees is found u))stairs 

 in any of theni the presumption is that there is a 

 queen there. The colony should be immeil lately 

 shaken, and treated as a shook swarm. 



When practicing shaking, care should be taken 

 to do the work just before the colony is riiout to 

 .swarm. The presence of swarming-cells and the 

 disposition on the part of the colony to loaf, will 

 show that it ought to be shaken. There is no earth- 

 ly use in shaking the colony if it shows no swarm- 

 ing indications. In your ca.se you can s:ive a little 

 trouble if you shake just before the swarm issues 

 instead of doing it afterward. — KD.] 



THE POSITION OF BAIT SECTIONS. 



My experience with bait sections has been that 

 the bait should always be in the back end of the su- 

 per, and on the side where the sun shines most dur- 

 ing the day. as that is always where my r^ees start 

 to work first when no baits are given, as the weath- 

 er is cool in early summer. Bees work where it is 

 warmer so they can make wax more easily. 



Canon City. Col., Oct. 22. V. P. Cutler. 



