1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



403 



its advantages over any other, so far as my ex- 

 perience goes. In doing this I do not wish to be 

 understood as having any new-fangled dish or 

 pan to hold the syrup, more than any open-top 

 vessel. 



The special features of my invention, then, 

 are, first, a brood-frame cover provided with a 

 bee-space over the top of the brood-frames, per- 

 mitting the heat from each cluster to unite, as 

 from one compact cluster, during cold weather; 

 also, bees are not required to travel to the bot- 

 tom or around the extreme ends of combs, to 

 pass from one comb to another to feed; and as 

 this cover is made of thin lumber, it admits of 

 ample ventilation; thus sweat and moldy combs 

 are overcome, which undoubtedly create dis- 

 ease, which so frequently occurs when oilcloth 

 and other substances are placed in contact upon 

 the frames. 



Second, the cover is provided with a recepta- 

 cle or box made permanently open, the cover 

 having a wire- screen cover fastened by two 

 small hinges. Upon the board, near one end, in- 

 side of this box, a slot 3g' x 6 inches is cut. per- 

 mitting the bees to step from the brood-frames 

 right into the receptacle, in which any open-top 

 feeding-utensil is placed, and is always ready to 

 receive feed, either for stimulating brood-rear- 

 ing, cell-building, winter stores, or filling out 

 unfinished sections at the close of the honey- 

 flow, thus doing away with gathering up feed- 

 ers, smoking the bees, lifting lids, pulling off 

 oilcloths, exciting bees, often subjecting the 

 young tender brood to a blast of cold air. the 

 latter being detrimental, as every rational bee- 

 keeper knows, and the tired apiarist is relieved 

 from the arduous work required in the above, 

 besides frequently preventing unwelcome visits 

 from robber-bets. 



I wish to say, before closing, that, when feed- 

 ing extracted honey back to finish sections at 

 the close of the honey-flow, have a bee-entrance 

 at each end of the feed-receptacle box, and 

 place a feed-dish between. Thus the bees will 

 do the work in a shorter time, having ample 



and shorter space to travel; and I also find, by 

 thinning the honey somewhat, the bees can 

 perform the work in a much shorter time ; and 

 after supers have been taken off, the covers are 

 replaced upon the hives, and there remain. 

 Reinersvilie, O. 



DIJONES AND SWARMING. 



Question.— I am told that bees never swarm 

 unless there are drones in the hive. Now, will 

 it keep my bees from swarming if drones and 

 drone comb are kept out of the hive ? 



^?isw'er.— There are a few bee-keepers who 

 argue that, if all drones and drone comb are 

 kept out of the hive it would be, to some extent, 

 a preventive of swarming; but with me I have 

 failed to see that this matter of drones has h^d 

 any thing to do with the matter of swarming 

 whatever; for I have several times had hybrid 

 colonies in my apiary, from which I have taken 

 all drone combs, and not allowed them to rear 

 drones, because I did not want my young 

 queens to meet such drones; yet, so far as I 

 could see, these colonies swarmed as promptly 

 as did those having drones. I said, "from 

 which I have taken all drone comb," and meant 

 just this; but will explain that, to keep all 

 drones out of a hive, means the opening of that 

 hive every 20 days, and decapitating a few 

 hundred drones in their cells; for where all 

 drone comb is removed, drone-cells will be built 

 in all sorts of out-of-the-way places, for I have 

 yet to see the hive containing a populous colo- 

 ny during June and July that had not a few 

 cells of drone comb in it; and I do not believe 

 that these few cells can be kept out; for worker 

 comb will be cut down and drone built in its 

 place if a few cells can not be gotten otherwise. 

 From my experience in the past I would say 

 that it is not practical to try to keep all drone 

 comb out of any hive, but, rather, have just 

 one frame in each and every hive, having from 

 six to twelve square inches of drone comb in it, 

 and have such comb stand in a certain place in 

 each hive, so that the apiarist may know just 

 where it is; then every twenty days open the 

 hives from which it is desired that no drones 

 shall fly, and decapitate them, thus making a 

 sure thing of the matter, and fully satisfying 

 the bees. In this way you will not have a few 

 drone-cells scattered all through the hive, nor 

 will you have to use a drone-trap at the en- 

 trance to catch undesirable drones. If this 

 comb with drone-cells is placed uf^ar the out- 

 side of the hive, and the drone comb is near the 

 top-bar of the frame, you will not have to de- 

 capitate the drones more than three limes dur- 

 ing the season, for the queen will be slow in 



