252 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apk. 1. 



recommended so many times in tiie past. If the 

 nucleus becomes stronger than is profitable on 

 the two frames, move out the division-board 

 and give them an empty frame with astai'ter of 

 comb foundation, and see how quick they will 

 fill it with beautiful worker comb; if too weak 

 for the two combs, take away one and draw up 

 the division-board, thus always working to the 

 best advantage, and making every thing done 

 by all count on the right side of the ledger page. 

 As this article is already long enough, I will 

 tell some other time how I keep the nuclei in a 

 hive, how I double them for winter, etc. 



G. M. DOOIJTTI.E. 



Borodino, N.Y., March 17. 



[We experimented somewhat with small 

 frames for queen -rearing, and, after taking ev- 

 ery thing into consideration, we came to the 

 conclusion that the advantages are by a long 

 way emphatically in favor of the regulation 

 frame used in the apiary. Of all the nuisances 

 in the yard ii, is to have two or moi'e sizes of 

 frames. Doolittle's points are all well taken, 

 and if there is any subject upon which he can 

 speak with assurance it is this one.] 



ITEMS AND QUERIES. 



H()FFMAN FI'.AMES; SHALLOW HIVES, ETC. 



Bees are wintering badly, and suffering from 

 disease, mainly, I think, on account of the cold 

 unfavorable autumn, which confined them too 

 closely to their hives. 



I may not understand the new Crane smoker 

 from the description in Gleanings; but if I do, 

 it seems to me you might remedy the difficulty 

 of swelling valves by immersing them, or, if 

 need be, all tlie woodwork, for a minute or two, 

 in boiling or nearly boiling linseed oil, thus 

 making them moisture-proof; or shellac them 

 well. 



I am also informed that one of the greatest 

 difficulties connected with the regular Hoffman 

 frame results from the swelling of the close 

 ends of the frame-tops, and the closed upper 

 ends of the uprights during damp weather, and 

 from moisture absorbed in wintering. Now, 

 could not that difficulty also be remedied by 

 dipping the frame-tops, or upper corners of the 

 frames, for a few moments in this hot linseed 

 oil? 



Mr. Uoolittle tells us of losses from wintering 

 bees under the snow. I once tried that, and 

 lost every colony of bees I possessed; and if any 

 one wishes to get rid of an apiary " with neat- 

 ness and dispatch." I can recommend this plan 

 for doing it. And I once lost my whole apiary 

 by wintering them in a cellar which proved too 

 cold. 



I wish to ask a question, to which, in all my 

 .30 years' apiarian experience, I have never yet 

 received a satisfactory answer. It is this: In 

 the spring I find colony No. 1 very weak. No. 

 10 is very strong, and could spare some bees to 

 aid No. 1. Now, the question is, how to give 

 No. 1 a share of the bees (old bec^s and no brood), 

 from No. 10, without reversing hives and with- 

 out removing No. 1 from the home. 



For two years I have been experimenting 

 with a few hives, with L. frame but 7 inches 

 deep and 10 frames to the hive. I am pleased 

 with the hive, both for summer and winter; 

 but my experiments are not conclusive, owing 

 to the fact that both years were very unfavora- 

 ble honey years. 



I am rather surprised to learn to what extent. 

 and for how long a time, shallow hives have 

 been in use. I was not ignorant of the fact of 

 their use to some extent, for 30 years ago I had 



in my apiary a specimen hive made of fencing 

 boards 6 inches wide; and the hives, or sections 

 of the hive. 12 inches square. It was as truly a 

 divisible hive as the Heddon; but it had only 

 top-bars instead of frames. The modus oper- 

 andi was to raise up the hive and add these 

 sections from below as required, and in the au- 

 tumn remove sections full of surplus honey from 

 the top. The top of this little hive was covered 

 with a pane of glass 12 inches square, with a 

 board about 16 in. square laid over the glass, and 

 through this pane of glass I first saw a queen. 



Feeling much intcested in Carniolan bees, 

 although I have never tried them, I was deeply 

 interested in Mr. F. Benton's paper read before 

 the National Association at Washington; and 

 wishing to know more about them, and about 

 their natural habitat, Carniola, that I might 

 the better jndge of their hardiness, I took the 

 liberty of writing to Mr. Benton for some infor- 

 mation upon these subjects, endeavoring to 

 couch my queries in such language as would 

 admit of brief replies. But instead of taking 

 advantage of this fact, Mr. Benton very kindly 

 wrote a reply so generous in length, so interest- 

 ing and instructive, that I feel sure you will 

 agree with me that it is much too good to be 

 limited to an audience of one. Hence I inclose 

 it herewith; and should you not find room for 

 both, then please consign this to the waste- 

 basket and give us Mr. Benton's. 



Excelsior, Minn. J. W. Mukkay. 



[We have already arranged the automatic 

 check-valve of the Crane smoker so that it will 

 give no trouble from dampness. With regard 

 to the Hoffman frames, there need be no difti- 

 cultv from wedging up tight, providing the 

 wedge itself is inserted midway between the 

 two ends of the division-board or follower. As 

 the latter forms a sort of spring pressure 

 against the sides of the Hoffman frames, no 

 trouble will result from swelling. As to how to 

 get the bees from a strong colony into the 

 weaker one and make them stay, we would sug- 

 gest that, if you place a large portion from the 

 former into the latter, a large enough share 

 will stay, although, of course, some of them 

 will go back. If this is done before the bees 

 have much of a chance for flight in the spring, 

 the percentage that will stay in new quarters 

 will be still larger. 



We were particularly interested in the shal- 

 low brood-chambers, referred to by Mr. Benton 

 in his address at Washington; and it was our 

 purpose to get further facts from him. But, 

 fortunately, you have secured just the informa- 

 tion desired, and we are sure that it ought not 

 to be confined to a single individual, when, in 

 fact, the whole bee-keeping fraternity w ill be 

 interested. We take pleasure in presenting it 

 just as it came from Mr. Benton. 1 



BEE KEEPING IN CARNIOLA. 



FULI- PAKTICULARS IN KEGAKD TO HOW THE 



SHALLOW BROOD-CHAMHERS ARE AND HAVE 



BEEN USED FOR CENTURIES IN THAT 



PROVINCE. 



Uiiital States Drpaitniod of Auriculturc, 

 Diclsiitu of Kutoiilolofiij. 



Mr. J. W. Murray: — Youi'S of the 23d has 

 just been received. 1 take pleasure in furnish- 

 ing the information asked for, and also in add- 

 ing some other particulars that may be of use 

 and interest to you. 



The hive which, for several centuries, has 

 been most commonly used in Carniola is about 

 6 inches deep (in-ide measurement), 36 inches 

 from front to rear, and 12 inches wide, no 



