592 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1. 



required heat, and so all were voted no good. A 

 motive power for extracting was canvassed. 

 Rambler suggested a weight with sprocket- 

 chain, to draw up and let it run down while the 

 operator was uncapping. My suggestion was 

 the wheel and treadle of a sewing-machine, 

 placed under the uncapping-table: from this, and 

 to one side of the operator, a belt running to the 

 extractor, back of and to one side of the uncap- 

 ping-table, thus making it possible to uncap 

 and extract all at the same time, and keep a 

 perpetual motion, as it were. 



WOOD-BASE FOUNDATION. 



DO BEES GNAW IT DURING A DEARTH OF HON- 

 EY ? COMBS BREAKING DOWN, AND THE 

 REMEDY. 



SMILING BETSY. 



About a year ago I designed a hive holding 12 

 Hoffman frames, each Ql:, inches deep. This. 

 Rambler thought, would work finely in this 

 section. I showed him sections that had been 

 filled to the last cell with brood ; but this was 

 an old experience with him, while old with me. 

 It is not desirable, as I lost all of my first crop 

 of honey and close on to 100 stands of bees by 

 the queens laying eggs in all the supers, and 

 some of the hives had three and four cases. 

 Nevertheless, I had about 2}^ tons from eighty 

 stands, spring count. While Rambler was here 

 a postal from S. L. VVatkins, of Grizzly Fiats, 

 El Dorado Co., ai'rived, stating he would soon 

 be here, and that his best swarms had given 

 close on to 500 lbs. of honey, and were still at it 

 on the day he wrote, Nov. 13th, so that, while 

 Rambler and Wilder have found it necessary to 

 drive all over the State to work off their blues 

 over the total failure of the honey crop in their 

 section, we in this neck of the woods not only 

 do not have to feed, but are fed in this off year 

 by our bees. 



From here the migratory bee-keepers, Wilder 

 and Rambler, drove directly home, a distance of 

 500 miles, which is counted a small ramble by 

 these old perambulators. That their next ram- 

 ble may bring them this way is my wish. 



Murphys, Cal., Nov. 19. 



By J. B. Locken. 



What time has not been devoted to gospel 

 work I have spent with my bees, making many 

 various experiments with the Schmidt it Thiele 

 brood foundation, hoping by personal experi- 

 ence to ascertain its value. 



As soon as it came to my notice I secured 

 several pounds; and while I was stimulating 

 my bees by feeding, preparing them for early 

 artificial swarming. I gave some colonies full 

 sheets of wood-base foundation, placing it in 

 the middle of the brood -chamber. The bees 

 drew it out very nicely, and it was soon filled 

 with solid brood. But one difficulty that I 

 soon discovered in the use of full sheets was 

 that it warped at the bottom. I think the 

 reason for that is. the bottoms of the frames are 

 exposed to the damp air and the moisture of 

 the bottom-board, after the rain, and also be- 

 cause it is near the ground. To remedy this 

 evil I tried half-sheets with better result; but 

 still this did not work to perfection. There 

 was yet room for improvement. 



The first of June I formed a number of two- 

 frame nuclei. They now cover about six 

 frames. In these nuclei I have used half-sheets 

 and a third part of a sheet, the latter with most 

 excellent results. I have carefully examined 

 every frame in which I used veneer foundation, 

 and can find only one frame where the bees 

 have gnawed the wood base. 



If the white clover would give us a yield for 

 the bees to store honey, I do not anticipate that 

 they would stop to gnaw the "wood base," but 

 would soon have it covered out of sight. But 

 the prospect of a white-clover crop is not en- 

 couraging. The clover is abundant and in its 

 height of bloom, but it does not seem to secrete 

 any nectar. 



My bees have stored some honey from the 

 small-fruit blossoms, and during that time my 

 nuclei built up and drew out these combs. 

 Dl do not yet know what notions the bees may 

 take during the cold and damp seasons of the 

 year, as early spring and late fall, when they 

 have nothing to do but gather propolis, and fill 

 up every crack and crevice. I have seen them 

 gnaw large holes in the combs, at these seasons 

 of the year, when I couldn't see any reason for 

 it, except that they didn't want to be idle, for 

 the honey-bee is the very model of industry. 

 Should I run my bees for extracted honey, or 

 expect to move my bees about from one location 

 to another to obtain the benefit of various 

 honey-plants in their season, to prevent the 

 breaking-down of combs I would use veneer 

 foundation. 



Several years ago I worked in an apiary of 

 300 colonies, divided in two yards. From the 



