1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



671 



may increase his colonies by artificial swarming 

 or dividing in connection wiiii feeding, 300 or 

 400 per cent; but practical bee-keepers do not 

 care so much for increase as for l<eeping strong 

 what colonies they have. li. We would advise 

 you to transfer after the huney season. This 

 will give the bees plcniy of time to get thor- 

 oughly settled in their new quarters. 



THK TOKONTO CONVENTION, SEPT. 4, 5, (5. 



Theue will be representatives there, of 

 coui>e, lioin the Home of the Honey-beos. 



This issue numbers 15,000. We shall be 

 sending out a large number of extra copies 

 again during the fall, and our advertisers 

 should not fail to take advantage of these big 

 editions. No more will be charged for adver- 

 tising rates. 



The fine engraving of crimson clover, on 

 page 058, is a decided improvement in the way 

 of linish over the original; and yet our engrav- 

 ers have followed the details exactly. So far as 

 I can discover, from live specimens we have, 

 the picture is a true representation of the 

 plant. I anticipate that, by another season, 

 there will be hundreds and perhaps thousands 

 of bee-keepers who will be growing it. 



THE RAGE FOE GOLDEN BEES STILL ON. 



TuEKE is still, I understand, a large demand 

 for five-banded queens, or, rather, queens that 

 are supposed to produce bees having five bauds. 

 Why this is so, in view of their generally re- 

 ported bad behavior, I can not say, unless it is 

 because bee- keepers are so blind that the only 

 desirable point they can see in a queen is 

 her ability to produce golden bees. Take them 

 as they run, the average beo-keeper will be far 

 better off without them. I certainly have no 

 antipathy toward them, and certainly none 

 toward those who breed them; but I feel sure 

 they (the yellow bees) will soon go the way of 

 the Cyprian and Holy-Lands that for a time, 

 as our older readers know, had just as great a 

 rage in their favor as the five-banders; and 

 yet for the last few years no one has advertised 

 the Eastern bees, nor does any one know of any 

 breeder who has them for sale. 



With the escape-board right handy, lift up 

 with one hand one end of the super, and tilt it 

 to an angle of 45 degrees. Now slip the escape- 

 board under as far as you can; let the super 

 down on to the board, and then with two hands 

 crowd the board itself squarely over the hive, 

 and tinally, in like manner, the super squarely 

 over the escape. This is far easier than lifting 

 the whole super off bodily, setting it on the 

 ground if you can find a place, putting on the 

 escape-board, again lifting the super otf the 

 ground and setting it very gently and squarely 

 over the escape-board — if you can. I tell you, 

 it is not easy to hold a hive-super, weighing 

 perhaps 100 lbs., suspended in mid-air, and let 

 it down easily and squarely over the board. 

 The plan 1 gave first is, oh so much easier! 

 Try it, if you have not yet learned the knack 

 of it. 



DIAGNOSING BKOOD-NESTS WITHOUT HAN- 

 DLING FKAMES. 



Hy the way, ii you will not handle frames, 

 did you ever notice that you can judge of the 

 amount of brood a colony may have, by looking 

 at the wJicZer side of the brood-nest, far better 

 than at the lop? The line of honey along the 

 top edge, when bulging out, will often obscure 

 any brood there may be beneath; but not so in 

 the case of the bottom. There are fewer bees 

 there; and the brood, if built down at all, will 

 usually extend down close to the bottom-bars. 

 •"But," you vvill say, "1 do not like the fun 

 of lifting hives up to see." Very well, don't do 

 it. Do not stop to pull off the cover, but just 

 pry the hive loose from its bottom-board, and 

 lift up one end and peek under. It can be done 

 very quickly, and oftentimes a very satisfac- 

 tory examination can be made. But when I 

 want to make sii-^'e 1 lift oft' the cover and pull 

 out the center frame, then 1 have virtually 

 seen the whole hive. But perhaps the other 

 plan may commend itself to some. 



HOW TO PUT ON BEE-ESCAPES WITHOUT DO- 

 ING HEAVY LIFTING 



is, perhaps, a kink not yet discovered by some. 

 It is easy when you know how. With a screw- 

 driver or strong putty-knife pry loose one end 

 of the super from the brood-chamber. Lift it 

 up just a little way and blow in a little smoke. 



A GOOD SUGGESTION— REDUCTION OF MEMBER- 

 SHIP FEES TO THE UNION. 



I LIKE the suggestion of J. W. Rouse, in the 

 American Bee Journal for August 15th, on the 

 subject of the Bee-keepers' Union. After com- 

 menting on the proposed reduction of member- 

 ship fees, he says: 



I liave anotlier plan to offer, which is, to reduce 

 the membersliip aud annual dues to 25 cts., empow- 

 ering tbe secretary to draw on each member for 35 

 cts. more per year if found necessary. It seems to 

 me this proposition should secure thousands for 

 membership. Now, while, if this plan should be 

 adopted, in making- a call for the second 35 cts. 

 some mig-ht not respond, the by-laws could be the 

 same as now— where one failed to respond, the ben- 

 efits to be derived from the Union to cease in his 

 behalf after so long- a time after payment of dues 

 should cease, or have failed to be paid. 



It seems to me that this is entirely feasible 

 and practicable ; and whether the Union be 



