466 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



July 15 



over the hive aiul grass. 1 tried it on several hives, 

 but all tlie uncapped lioney was wasted. Tlie plan 

 will not do in niid-suninier, when there is more or 

 less thin honey in the hives. I think it might get 

 t lie bees off combs, sinee all cells would lie sealed; 

 but bee-escapes are cheaper and handler. Finally 

 1 toolv the apparatus down, adding one thing more 

 to the junk-pile, but not until a lot of wind had 

 been blown out of my head. 

 Mayfleld, X. Y.. April 24. G. W. IIaine-S. 



Twentieth-century Methods. 



We know you are always on the lookout for new 

 things, ide.as, and methods in bcedom. I have found 

 something to-day that may please you, as his de- 

 scription is certainly compute. 



Prairieville, Ala., Feb. li). W. D. Null. 



FAlitor Rumlist: — The following suggestions may 

 be of some help to your readers. Tlie best way to 

 make a bee-gum is to have it 28 inches high and 10 

 by 12 inches inside, and make a partition 18 inches 

 from the bottom, say 10 by 10, and leave a crack an 

 inch wide so that the bees can pass through. Saw 

 the back plank in two at the partition, and do not 

 nail the head of it, for you want to keep tliat place 

 in which to rob. Do not take off the head: and it 

 the gum is not rich, tack the piece back, and do not 

 break the honey, for that bothers the bees. When 

 you rob. be sure not to break the comb loose below 

 and let it fall. You can rob better at the side, and 

 do not drive the bees. Just take off the bottom 

 piece and rob below the partition, and they will 

 stay, as they have honey above. 



Hiving bees is an easy matter. Make a brush 

 broom. Have it so the bees will not fall through, 

 and rake off from the bottom until the bees begin 

 to settle on the brush, and then shake or smoke 

 them off the place they have settled on. Take them 

 to the gum and place them on top: rake off a few in- 

 to the gmn. putting on the head, and then rake 

 some off at the mouth of the gum, and they will 

 soon go in without any raking off at all. All you 

 will have to do is to shake them off the brush. 



To take bees out of a tree, cut a pole long enoiigh 

 to reach up to them: tie a rojie to the middle of the 

 pole, and put it over a limb, fastening it so that you 

 can press down on the end till the brush reaches 

 the bees, and then take them off as I have mention- 

 ed, lowering the bees with a rope slowly. IHve a 

 little more slowly, as they may want to go back. 

 Always use fresh brush. 



If a gum does not work, the queen is dead, and f 

 put a new swarm in. They fight, but that does not 

 make any difference; and when I put two .small 

 hives together they do better. 



I have got as high as 60 ll>s. of honey in one year 

 from one gum. I rob till September, but I always 

 leave part of the honey, and I rob any time they get 

 rich. 



Bees always come back when they get starved 

 out, and they swarm here till September some- 

 times. 



I have had bees twenty-one years, and I had the 

 first ones to swarm and go in again this ye.ar. and 

 this fall they came back and -settled together, till 

 there was half a gum full. I hived the 6th of Octo- 

 ber, and they are living yet. 



Penn, M iss. A. W. Shaw. 



[Yes, this is indeed .a complete description of — a 

 degenerated form of even l)ox-hive methods. If our 

 friend manages in this way after 21 years of experi- 

 ence we wonder what he did when he was a begin- 

 ner.— ED.] 



What Time of the Day is the Best to Form Nu- 

 clei? 



At what time of day would you divide your bees — 

 at noon, or when they are all in the hive late in the 

 afternoon? Would some cloudy day be iireferred ? 

 It seems to me that, in doing the work of dividing 

 bees (that Is, artificial swarming), (hiring the sun- 

 shine the bees are out too much to Insure success. 

 How far advanced should the tiueen-cell be before 

 attempting it? How long before it is uncapped? or 

 at what stages of development of the queen-cell ? I 

 do not find these in any of your literature. 



Mrs. Susan F>. Allen. 



Wheelerville. Pa., .June 7. 



[It is usually a good time to form nuclei along 

 during the middle hours of the day when the old 

 bees are out of the hive. The bees that are then 

 carried to another stand will be mainly young ones 



that will stay where tliey are placed. At other 

 times, or when bees are not Hying briskly, take 

 more bees over to tlie other stand than will be 

 needed there, because some of them will return to 

 the old hive. 



In forming nuclei it does not make much differ- 

 ence what the stage of growth of the queen-cells is. 

 -KD.] 



Division-boards Made of Tin to Prevent the Bees 

 from Propolizing Them Fast. 



Very often, after the honey-How. it is dilticult. if 

 not impossible, to remove ordinary wooden divi- 

 sion-boards with followers from tlie hives. How- 

 ever, 1 have overcome the trouble, for I make mine 

 of tin, and they have proved so .satisfactory that I 

 have made more and more of them in this way un- 

 til I have eciuipped jjraclically all of ni.v hives. 



I find one sheet of tin costing 15 cts. will make 

 three division-boards. ( 'ut the pieces as long as the 

 length of the top-bar, and as wide as the frame Is 

 deeji. Then fold the top of the tin down flat about 

 y» inch from tlie edge. Then griji the fold about -Iv. 

 inch from the top, and fold again. This m.akes a 

 rigid top-bar. Now cut in under the top-bar at each 

 end, and fold the metal back far enough to make 

 the follower the same length as those made of wood. 

 These will last a lifetime, and be a constant source 

 of satisfaction, 



HOW TO PRKVENT AFTER-SWARMING. 



After-swarming is a nuisance; but it may be pre- 

 vented and some honey secured at the same time. 

 Hive the first swarm on the old stand, either in a 

 new hive, removing the old one, or in the old hive 

 after I'emoving the old brood-frames, with the excep- 

 tion of one containing some young brood and honey. 

 Cut out all queen-cells, if any. and take the rest of 

 the brood-frames, just removed, to a hive on a new 

 stand, after shaking off all the old bees. Close the 

 entrance tight, so no bees can get in or out for 24 

 hours, then open it just wide enough .so one bee can 

 pass through. Keep enlarging the entrance a little 

 each day until the colony becomes strong enough 

 ,so that it may have the whole width of the hive, 

 which will take, as a rule, from one to two weeks. 



In this way there will be no after-swarming, and 

 the whole force of workers can be left at .the old 

 stand. 



Cedar Springs. Mich. S. Farrinrton. 



[A metal division-board in .cool or cold weather 

 would be a good conductor of heat, and, therefore, 

 during some parts of the year, would be too cold to 

 put next to a cluster of bees. — ICd.] 



How to Get Rid of Laying Workers. 



Referring to the article by Allen Latham, page 

 345. .June 1. I will say that, whenever I find drones 

 In worker-cells. I call it the work of laying workers, 

 or of a small virgin, the result being the same The 

 main question is. what is the best way to get the 

 colony in a normal condition ? 



When I find a colony having drones in worker- 

 cells 1 carry the hive about a hundred yards from 

 the apiary and dump every bee out on the grass. 

 I take care to get every bee off the combs and from 

 the inside of the hive, and then carry the hive 

 back to its place again. An inferior (lueen or lay- 

 ing-workers will, in this way, get lost, not being 

 used to going out of the hive; therefore there Is no 

 need of making a search. 



Arroyo Grande. Cal. M. r». Price. 



[This plan of treatment has been mentioned be- 

 fore: b>it is it not po.ssible that a laying worker 

 might lly back?— Ed. ] 



A New Advantage of the Flat Wrappers of Bee- 

 Journals. 



Ever since the present style of wrapper has been 

 coming on GLEANiNf.s I have been jilcased with it. 

 When my coi)y comes I always write the date on 

 the wrapper before removing it; then when I find 

 an article that 1 might wish to refer to I write it on 

 the wrapper. I keep all the wrappers: and when 

 GLKANiNfis is read through, as I always do, I slip It 

 back in its nice cover with the important articles 

 recoi-ded in index style so I can pick it up and look 

 it over without taking It out of the cover to hunt 

 up the pages. 



Falrmount, Ind. Lewis Hockett. 



