402 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15. 



sired, it doesn't go, and I doubt if it would 

 were we to say It was "just as good." — Ed.] 



oo-rJM 



COMBINATION QUEEN-AND-DRONE TRAP 

 AND SWARM-CATCHER. 



By Henry Alley. 



There is a demand by a large number of bee- 

 keepers for a simple, practical, and cheap de- 

 vice for either hiving or catching a swarm of 

 bees when it issues. A practical self-hiving 

 arrangement has not as yet been devised, as 

 experiments the past few years have demon- 

 strated. I think the device here described, for 

 catching a swarm of bees, will prove not only 

 practical, but will prove satisfactory to all who 

 try them. The arrangement is simple in con- 

 struction, inexpensive, and, though not a self- 

 hiver — that is, the bees are not hived in the 



hive they are to occupy as a permanent home — 

 yet the swarm is caught and hived till they can 

 be placed in a hive or otherwise disposed of as 

 the apiarist desires. 



The swarm-catcher is used in connection 

 with the Alley queen-and-drone trap, and can 

 be used on almost any style of hive, and fasten- 

 ed thereto with little or no trouble. wSome of 

 the advantages of this device are, that the 

 apiarist can go from home one or more days at 

 a time, and rest assured that, should his bees 

 swarm during his absence, they can not decamp, 

 and they surely would be found in the catcher — 

 a fact one can know by a mere glance at the 

 catcher and without an extended examination 



either. In case a swarm is found in the catch- 

 er, it will require not over one minute's time to 

 transfer the bees to a hive. 



Although the catcher is used in connection 

 with the queen-trap, the trap will not have to 

 be altered in the least to connect it with the 

 catcher. When the catcher is not needed for 

 catching swarms it can be removed, while the 

 trap can remain in position to trap drones or a 

 queen as the case may be. 



This arrangement in no way interferes with 

 the bees while they are at work, and would 

 hardly be noticed by them, even when first put 

 on the hive. 



This arrangement can be used as a self-hiver 

 if any one so desires. All that is needed is to 

 place a hive of combs over the catcher, as seen 

 in the cut, or frames having starters in them, 

 connecting the catcher and hive by an opening 

 direct up through the top of the catcher and 

 bottom of hive. In my opinion this arrange- 

 ment would come nearer a practical hiver than 

 any device yet described in the various bee- 

 publications. 



And now, friend Root, one word about the 

 improved queen-and-drone trap. Those who 

 have not used the improved trap know but 

 little about what a perfect queen-trap is. Un- 

 like the old-style trap, the new one has metal 

 in the back side as well as on the front. The 

 bees while at work can pass in or out through 

 any part of the trap. There is no such thing 

 as killing bees by being caught in the trap. 

 Unless care was taken in placing the old-style 

 trap on the hive, a colony of bees would be 

 smothered. Not so with the new style, as there 

 is no way the entrance to the hive can be closed 

 by the trap, and the bees can pass up the back 

 side of the trap, and pass out or in. The trap 

 as now arranged does not prevent free ventila- 

 tion of the hive during the hottest weather. 

 But in some cases where there were very large 

 colonies the old-style trap did not admit of suf- 

 ficient ventilation. 



Wenham, Mass. 



[Perhaps the readers will understand the 

 swarm-caieher a little better when I say that 

 the device is simply an ordinary Alley trap, the 

 upper compartment of which has been enlarged 

 to take a large swarm, and hold it for a day or 

 two till the apiarist can give it his special at- 

 tention. The hive on top. with the Alley trap, 

 as shown in the cut, is not necessary when the 

 device below is used simply as a swarm-catcher, 

 but only when used as a self-hwcr. I have no 

 doubt the arrangement will work as Mr. Alley 

 says.— Ed.] 



50LDEN'S BEE-FEEDER. 



By J. A. Oolden. 



Mr. iJoot:— Having shipped you one of my 

 combined hive-covers and bee-feeding arrange- 

 ments, specially named bee-feeder, permit me 

 to give you a short description of the device and 



