534 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Aug. 16 



Metal-cornered Sections. 



Large quantities of the one-piece sections never 

 see service because they are broken In folding. Of 

 course, if only one corner is broken the whole box 

 is lost. If the wood is steamed or wet before being 

 folded the loss is less; but at the same time the lock 

 corner is likely to swell so that it goes together 

 very tight. Then when the heat of the hive dries 

 the wood this corner shrinks and pops apart, mak- 

 ing the section of honey unsalable. If a sviper of 

 nice honey can be loosened of propolis, and all the 

 sections taken out without a ten-per-cent break- 

 age, it is better than I have ever been able to do. 

 although I have had many years of experience. 



After the cleaning of propolis, hundreds more are 

 broken. I do not know of any thing so irritating 

 as to get a section all clean but the last corner, and 

 then have this corner break. Then when placing 

 the sections in shipping-cases some of them are not 

 entirely square, and in pressing them in they are 

 squared up. If the corners hold the honey is 

 cracked, hence the necessity of no-drip cleats, 

 absorbent paper, etc., in the bottom of the cases. 



At the clean-up of my last apiary of 120 hives I 

 gathered up about two bushels of broken sections 

 that liad never been used on account of tlie break- 

 age, and this was not anywhere near all of them. 



The illustration shows clearly the metal rein- 

 forcement that I am using to prevent the breakage. 

 Separate pieces of sections can be put together 

 witli these corners, and made iust as substantial as 

 an unbroken .section. ()f cour.se, when the metal 

 corner is on, the danger of breakage is avoided. 



.Sections so prepared will cost more, it is true; but 

 they should cost more, for breakage is prevented, 

 and the present weak .section becomes a strong 

 one. The bevels at the corners are drawn solidly 

 together, and held there, regardless of how roughly 

 a .section may be handled when folded, when being 

 put in or taken out of supers, or when l>eing scraped 

 of propolis. This means that more comb honey 

 can be produced. 



Minneapolis. Minn. Geo. W. Maxwell. 



Ridding a Colony of Laying Workers by Remov- 

 ing it from its Stand. 



There are many bee-keepers who are bcjthered 

 with laying workers, and who have no good way of 

 getting rid of them. During this season I have had 

 a good deal of experience along this line, and h.ave 

 had a great deal of trouble in trying to make the 

 bees accept a queen. If laying workers h.ave just 

 started it is no trick to introduce a ciueen at all: 

 but after they have been in the hive for .some time 

 a queen will not be accepted. The only successful 

 plan that I have read of Is to divide the colony— 

 that Is, distribute the comlis of bees around among 

 other colonies; but this plan is not desirable when 

 one wishers to increase his number of colonies. I 

 have hit on a plan that has been a success In every 



case where I have tried it. One of the colonies, 

 which had eggs and drone l)rood in every cell in the 

 former brood area, finally accepted a queen all 

 right. 



Keraove the cover of tlie hive containing laying 

 workers; take out half of the frames and then put 

 on the cover again. Shake or l)rush the bees, from 

 the combs removed. In front of the entrance of the 

 hive, then put these beeless combs in another hive 

 to use later. After ail the shaken baes have gone 

 into the hive, move the colony about 18 inches to 

 one side, and on the old stand place the hive con- 

 taiiiing the combs removed, as mentioned before. 

 All the fielders will leave the original laying-work- 

 er hive, and, returning, will enter the empty hive 

 containing only tlie combs from which the bees 

 were shaken. 



About 24 hours after this moving is done, the col- 

 ony will be ready to accept a queen, which should 

 be introduced in the regular way. After the queen 

 is laying, add a comb from the laying-worker hive 

 every day with the few bees on it, or, preferably, 

 the remaining bees in the original hive can be kill- 

 ed and the rest of the combs given at once. 



I am satisfied that this is the only way of getting 

 rid of laying workers that have been in a hive for 

 some time and saving the colony. Some may have 

 no confidence in this method: hui all I ask is a trial. 



Elmendorf, Texas. Alfred I^. Hartl. 



No Foul Brood in Yakima County, Washington. 



In the summer and fall of 1909 there was a report 

 that foul brood existed in an apiary in the neigh- 

 borhood of North Yakima. In the spring there 

 were additional reports of the same character in the 

 same neighborhood and in other sections. A sam- 

 ple of the so-called foul brood was exhibited at the 

 April meeting of the Washington State Bee-keep- 

 ers' Association. Some of the members pronounced 

 it foul brood: others thought it was not, judging 

 from the apicultural authorities: and in view of 

 the fact that the as.sembled members could not def- 

 initeUv shc>w that it was foul brood, the president of 

 the association requested that two members sub- 

 mit samples from these hives to Dr. E. F. Phillips, 

 at Washington. D. C. One member .sent two sam- 

 ples, and the following leport was made: 



The two samples of brord.No. 1067. whirl) yon sent for ex- 

 amination, show no evidence of disease in eithtr cafe. I cer- 

 tainly hot e that Euminan foul brood does not reach you. 



E. F PliiLLU'S, in Charge of Apiculture. 



The other sample sent showed a light case of 

 pickled brood. Ihis shows conclusively that foul 

 brood does not exist in this part of the county and 

 S'.ate. 



At a meeting of the Washington .State Bee-keep- 

 ers" As.sociation held in .June, the secretary was In- 

 stru<^ted to send this report to the bee-journals of 

 the country, in regard to the absence of foul brood, 

 as the report that foul brood may have gained .some 

 headway, and it w<juld prevent the growth of the 

 industry in the State. .J. B. Kam.\GE, .Sec'y. 



Meeting of Lebanon Bee-keepers' Association. 



The I^ebanon Bee-keepers' Association held their 

 annual summer meeting Thursday, .July 21, at the 

 apiary of .lohn S. .Shope, Annville. I'a. W. S. Kil- 

 heffer spoke on the value of pure stock. Mr. KIl- 

 hefler is a very able speaker, well capable of hold- 

 ing the attention of his audience. E. .S. Hacker 

 spoke on "Fruit-growing and Bee-keeping." A 

 very interesting feature of the meeting was a di.s- 

 cussion of the various honey-plants— such as sweet 

 clover, heartsease, smartweed. aster, etc. The asso- 

 ciation has seventy-five members enrolled, and in 

 spite of the fact that the honey crop here is a short 

 one. members are eagerly devising ways and 

 means to get best results with the least labor ex- 

 panded fn the future. 



Lebanon. Pa. E. L. Brown, Sec. 



A New Way of Selling Candied Honey. 



In a grocery store at Webb City some fine ex- 

 tracted alfalfa honey candied on them, and they 

 were un.able to dispose of any of it as candled hon- 

 ey. Finally they cut the top off the can, put a glass 

 plate over it, tied a big label, ' Hone./ Butter," on 

 the side, and sold It out readily at 15 cts. a pound. 



Carthage, Mo.. June 5. B. C. Auten. 



