700 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Nov. 1 



ommended that the report of the National 

 conventiou be put in more condensed form, 

 boiled down, and reduced in size. It was 

 urged that the directors recommend a 

 change of constitution wherever it may be 

 necessary to carry out the president's rec- 

 ommendations. 



The Resolution Committee thanked the 

 council chamber and the sexton, as well as 

 ISIr. M. D. Wright. There was a resolution 

 ofs\mpathyin case of the sickness of W. 

 Z. Hutchinson and d. ^L Doolittle. It was 

 recommended that the (leneral Manager's 

 salary be increased. It was resolved to urge 

 Congress to forbid the increase of freight 

 rates on honey. Another resolvition recom- 

 mended changing eight pounds of honey to 

 the gallon to twehe pounds, which is the 

 national standard. 



Mr. F. II. Cyrenius, in a paper, "When 

 and How to Requeen with a Fall Honey- 

 flow," suggested several ways of getting 

 better queens. 



In the ]iaper by Wesley I'osler, on the 

 subject, "Jslethods of Retailing Honey," it 

 was claimed that individual families could 

 use 120 lbs. of honey per year, and a house- 

 to-house canvass was suggested, orders be- 

 ing taken through the grocers. Demonstra- 

 tions in stores with a good window display 

 were also recommended. 



A paper from .1. .1. Wilder, on "Southern 

 Honey Production,'" was read. In this was 

 mentioned saw-])almetto, mangrove, and 

 several other of the chief sources of South- 

 ern honey. Mr. Wilder thought that bee- 

 keeping in the South was growing. He also 

 stated that in the South most of the honey 

 miglit be sold right on the ground. 



Mr. .1. E. Crane spoke of feeding bees be- 

 tween fruit-bloom and clover. In 1910 he 

 said he fed 1000 lbs. of sugar and 500 lbs. of 

 honey, and feels sure that in feeding this 

 aniount he realized from 15,000 to 20,000 lbs. 

 of honey. 



Invitations for the ne.\t meeting were re- 

 ceived from Ontario, New York, and Min- 

 nesota. 



A STAND THAT WILL KEEP ANTS OUT OF 

 HIVES. 



BY J. M. CAIiDW'ELL. 



To the numerous inquiries as to how to 

 keep ants out of hives, why not take Josh 

 Billings' advice as to bedbugs — "just kill 

 'em all"? The best way to kill ants is with 

 tlie ofl-repeated remedy, i. e., bisulphide of 

 carbon. However, there are places which, 

 for one reason or another, it is almost im- 

 practicable to kill off the ants; and then the 

 apiarist needs a hive-stand that will exclude 

 them. 



The engraving shows one of my hive- 

 stands complete and ready to have the hive 

 jilaced upon it. It is nothing but a table 

 turned upside down, and an empty tomato- 

 can, with the top melted off, inverted over 

 each table-leg. The ants can crawl up the 

 table-leg and all around on the inside of the 



can, but they can not make the turn around 

 the lower edge of the cans, and come up on 

 the outside of cans and thus reach the hive. 

 The space between the table-legs and in- 

 side of cans must be at least half an inch; 

 but the cans rest on the ends of the legs. 



HOW TO MAKE IT. 



['' .lust take an old super or box. Cut four 

 pieces 2x2>: 12, and nail one in each corner. 

 Round off the projecting edges, then melt 

 the tops off from four tomato or peach cans 

 (3-lb. cans are best) ; then invert a can over 

 each leg and nail cross-pieces on top to brace 

 the legs with, and for the hive to rest on; 

 but be very careful not to allow any holes 

 in the sides of the cans that the ants can 

 crawl through. This works on the same 

 l)rincii)le as the tin pans used on posts un- 

 der corncribs to keep out mice — no patent 

 on it either. 



Putting the legs of the stand in basins of 

 water or oil will drown the bees when the 

 wind blows, and they miss the alighting- 

 board and fall down at the corners. At one 

 time I had fifty hives on stands with the 

 stand-legs in water. I also tried oil. 



Here is something which I have never 

 seen in print. Ants carry out the queen, 

 bees, and eggs from the cells. A few years 

 ago the question was being discussed in 

 Gleanings, "Do bees transfer eggs from 

 one cell to another?" That gave me an 

 idea, as I was having trouble with the ants 

 in the hives, bees cross and not doing well; 

 and I thought if bees could transfer eggs 

 may be the ants could too. So I went to 

 watching them, and, sure enough, they 

 were carrying away eggs as well as honey. 

 No wonder the bees were cross! 



Yzabel, Mexico. 



How to Keep Ants Out of Hives, 



You are asked, now and then, how to keep ants 

 out of hives. This is my way: I keep a bucket of 

 Beaumont oil in the bee-yard, with a paint-brush 

 in it. When I find ants bothering a hive I brush 

 the oil at the lower edge of the hive and on the 

 bottom-board. The ants crawling around on the 

 hive I dab with the brush: and the oil which ad- 

 heres to the bristles will kill them. This makes a 

 white-painted hive look a little bad: but it is better 

 to have the hive-body look bad than to lose the 

 bees. Oil is cheap, and the work is done quickly. 



Fort McKavett, Texas, July 30. J. A. Ruff. 



