1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



669 



something about the bees — undoubtedly the propo- 

 lis. My eyes swelled almost shut. I went to a phy- 

 sician. He did not give me much encouragement 

 nor any help. I painted mysell with iodine, which 

 killed the ))oison but left the skin very sore. I was 

 poisoned again; went to another physician, who 

 fixed me some salve and gave some carbolic acid, 

 with instructions to use it in a weak wash. I ap- 

 plied these with salt and soda, and killed the poi- 

 son, but my skin was almost raw. I noticed that 

 the carbolic acid had a soothing efifect. Continu- 

 ing to get poisoned I talked with a bee-man about 

 it, who advised the use of red precipitate (very poi- 

 .sonous). I used this and the poison was killed, but 

 that, too, left my skin sore. I began applying the 

 carbolic wash, increasing its strength until I used a 

 teaspoonful of carbolic acid to about a teacupful of 

 water. This wash stopped the burning and itch- 

 ing, killed the poison, and at the same time left the 

 skill in normal condition. I am using the wash 

 exclusively. My hands, wrists, and face have be- 

 come immune to the poison; but other parts of my 

 body are susceptible to it, the poison going through 

 my clothing. C. R. Parker. 



Plateau City, Colorado, July 23, 1910. 



[We have had active editorial charge of this jour- 

 nal for twenty-flve years this coming December. 

 For nearly ten years prior to that time we had been, 

 more or less, in close touch with its jjages. During 

 the whole period of nearly thirty-five years we do 

 not remember reading of any other case where poi- 

 .son of the kind mentioned was traced to propolis. 

 Kven in this case we are inclined to believe that 

 the cause is due to something else. However, let 

 tlie truth come out. If any of our readers have ev- 

 er experienced a like trouble, we should be glad to 

 have them i-eport. In the case mentioned it would 

 be possible for the propolis to be gathered from 

 some poLsonous plant or tree, and just possible, 

 also, that you might be very susceptlb'e to the ac- 

 tion of that poison, whatever It might be. — Ed.J 



split at the nails. This is due to expansion and 

 contraction, as the result of varying conditions of 

 weather.— Ed.J 



c 



Catching Chickens that Roost in the Trees ; Fly- 

 ing-machines, etc. 



Mr. Root: — You spoke of the difficulty of getting 

 chickens out of the trees in Florida. I have used a 

 very convenient device. Mr. McClave uses it a 

 great deal. Take a piece of wire, one or two feet 

 long. Insert it In a cane fish-pole. Bend the wire 

 -y as here shown, and then you 



can catch your chickens 



very easily, even if they do 



roost twenty feet or more 

 above the ground. Try it. 



In speaking of the Wright brothers using spruce 

 timber In their machines, I think that willow is the 

 strongest and lightest wood we have. I have used 

 a good deal of it for things that require very little 

 weight but a good deal of strength. I have used it 

 for ladders ten to fifteen feet long. 



Now one thing more. I have said to my friends 

 that 1 hoped Mr. Root would not risk his neck by 

 going up in one of those machines. This world is 

 not ready to spare him yet. 



We expect to start south this season about Nov. 

 1. We will locate for a time, at least, at St. Peters- 

 burg. 



New London, O., Sept. 23. W. C. Gault. 



A Gable Cover Protected by Paper. 



An important part of a good hive is a cover that 

 will be cool in summer and warm in winter. Of 

 course. If one winters indoors it does not make so 

 much difference. But most of the bee-keepers 

 around here winter outdoors and take but little 

 care of their bees at that, 



I like the flat paper-top cover quite well, and al- 

 ways order It, but prefer a cover made like the one 

 shown herewith. I have used several that I made 



Another Plan for Introducing a Queen to a Lay- 

 ing-worker Colony. 



I am a beginner with bees, and I have been trou- 

 bled with laying workers. I have only one hive, 

 and so I was precluded from getting rid of the lay- 

 ing workers by the method recommended in the 

 A B C, i. e., scattering the bees round in other 

 hives. While in this quandary I saw the plan sug- 

 gested by Mr. Hartl, page 534, August 15. Mr. E. S. 

 Hopkin.s. of Jeflersonville, Ind., who is helping me 

 in getting started with bees, suggested a modifica- 

 tion of that plan, and with the said modification, 

 the plan worked to perfection. We took an empty 

 hive and put in it two frames with comb founda- 

 tion. Between the two we put the queen In the In- 

 troduclng-cage as she came to us through the mall. 

 We put this hive on the stand of the old one which 

 had the bees in it, and then put the old hive on top 

 of the new, the two being separated by a heavy 

 mat and a wire screen. We made an entrance to 

 the old hive in the back, and over 

 it put a bee-escape. We then left 

 the hives alone for five days, 

 when we again opened them. 

 Practically all the bees were down 

 in the new hive. They had accept- 

 ed the new queen, which had 

 started laying. We then trans- 

 ferred the frames of brood from 

 the old hive to the new one. and 

 since then every thing has been 

 going all right. I am feeding the 

 bees now to get them in good con- 

 dition for wintering. I write this 

 to you as a suggestion for .some 

 one else who may be in as bad a fix 

 as I was, and as an endorsement 

 of the plan of the gentleman li-om 

 Texas. Richard P. Diktzman. 

 Louisville, Ky., Sept. 17. 



myself, and like them better than any other cover 

 for a single-walled hive. The inside (flat* part can 

 be made either of two or three pieces. The outside 

 I topi should be of two pieces if the ridge Is narrow, 

 but can be made of four jjieces If the whole top is 

 covered with paper. The outside should project 

 over the ends 2 in., or 1% in. at least, and fastened 

 with several small nails. If the whole top is cover- 

 ed with paper there will never be any trouble from 

 the ends of the boards splitting. 1 have had no 

 trouble from this cause. A strip of sheet metal can 

 be used for the ridgecap, or roofing-paper will do if 

 nailed with tacks. 



Mystic, Ct. Elmer E. Waite. 



[The design of your cover is excellent if it be cov- 

 ered with paper or metal; but such a scheme of 

 making a cover when only plain boards are used 

 will not work, The gable boards will check or 



Common Law as Affecting Swarms Found on the 

 Property of Another. 



We have found a colony of bees In a small tele- 

 graph-pole along our own land. Can you inform 

 me as to my right? 



Mt. Carmel, Ct. Owen Nolan. 



[Under the common law the bees are the proper- 

 ty of the one who discovers them; but such person 

 can not go upon the property of another without 

 the consent of the owner. From a legal point of 

 view you would have to obtain the consent of the 

 telegraph company; but for ordinary purposes we 

 think it would be perfectly proper lor you to climb 

 the pole and take the bees without asking any odds 

 of any one. Surely a great telegraph company 

 would have no objections to your going upon its 

 premises and up on its pole and removing some- 



