1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



351 



premiums will be paid from the State appro- 

 priation, but awards will be made by diploma. 

 I trust that yon will make application for 

 space at an early date, when more explicit 

 directions will be sent you. Address me at 

 Indiana State Building, Jackson Park, Chicago. 

 111., giving me positive answer as to whether 

 you will furnish an exhibit or not. I will send 

 you full shipping directions upon notification 

 that you will furnish an exhibit. 



B. F. Havens. 

 Executive Coinrnissioner. 



THE DOVETArLEI) HIVE, WITH THE HOFFMAN 

 FKAME, 



is certainly the hive. As soon as the cover is 

 improved I shall adopt it in my own yard. I 

 would suggest that the cover be made as it is 

 now. only that you use 3.<-inch lumber instead 

 of K, and have it in three pieces, matched. 

 This will prevent warping and that chronic 

 wind. Now. if it had another cover of ^^ stuff, 

 projecting 1,^-2 inches on all sides, and this cov- 

 ered with tin, I think it would be just the thing. 

 This would leave an air-space which would 

 turn the heat, and may be this same cover 

 could be used for the winter case. As soon as 

 this cover business is perfected we shall be 

 obliged to lay aside our pet hives, even if it 

 does go against the grain. 



Indianapolis, Ind. Walter S. Pouder. 



[Our gable cover would answer- your require- 

 ments.] 



WHY BEES sometimes CAKBY EACH OTHEK OFF. 



In one of the back numbers of Gleanings I 

 saw something about bees carrying one another 

 off. That is not a rare thing in this section. 

 It happens just at the close of chestnut bloom. 

 The tag of the chestnut is covered with fuzz. 

 As it turns brown it becomes sticky with wax. 

 The bees will work on them late in the after- 

 noon, and the fine fuzz will stick to their feet. 

 It can be seen with the naked eye by watching 

 when you have a chance. Look in front of the 

 entrance in the morning, and see if it is filled 

 up, and then examine it. Geo. Sw^eeting. 



North Manlius, N. Y. 



B. TAYLOR S EARLY ADVOCACY OF THE SHAL- 

 LOW brood-chamber; HOUSE-APIARY 

 COME TO STAY. 



I have stood 30 years alone, most of the time, 

 in advocacy of shallow double-hives, and see 

 them at last winning recognition: and now I 

 want to be put on record this early, as saying 

 that house-apiaries have come to stay. When 

 constructed and used aright, they offer advan- 

 tages that will never be thrown away, when 

 once understood. I have just completed a new 

 one, 8x16 feet, in which I can work 46 colonies. 

 Good colonies, in my imperfect house, wintered 

 perfectly this unfavorable year. 



Forestville, Minn., Apr. 6. B. Taylor. 



OILY WASTE FOR FUEL, ETC. 



I keep only a few bees for our own honey, and 

 let the neighbors sample it too. I have 11 colo- 

 nies; all wintered well so far. Have you ever 

 tried oily waste for fuel in a smoker? I think 

 it " takes the cake.'" I save it, and use nothing 

 else. Do not stop your "Home talks" just 

 because some can not enjoy them. 



Bradford. Pa., March 25. W. H. Pratt. 



DR. miller's management OF THE CAGED 

 QUEEN AFTER THE ISSUE OF THE SWARM. 



In " A Year Among the Bees," on pag(^ (W, 

 Dr. Miller, in speaking of the management of 

 swarming colonies, says, " After the queen is in 

 the cage, the block is pushed in an inch or so. 



and the cage put where the bees can care for 

 .it, usually in the vacant part of the brood- 

 chamber. Now, what I wish to know is. how 

 long does he allow the queen to be caged? My 

 experience last season was, when the queeti 

 was released she would come out of the hive 

 and be found strolling across the yard with a 

 few bees following her, sometimes trying to 

 enter another hive, and in some instances the 

 queens were killed. My queens were clipped. 



Wyanet, 111, April 8. Jas. C. Hall. 



[Dr. Miller replies:] 



In reply to the question of friend Hall, I think 

 he will find all clear sailing if he will take the 

 part he mentions as preliminary, and connected 

 with all that follows on the rest of the page— in 

 fact, with the next two or three pages. That 

 is, the queen is caged and left in the hive for 

 the bees to care for till I am ready to treat the 

 colony, whichever mode of treatment is follow- 

 ed. If, for instance, the Doolittle plan is fol- 

 lowed, as given on p. 69, then the queen is left 

 caged ten days. If that plan is varied by put- 

 ting the queen into a nucleus, then she was not 

 caged longer than was necessary for mv conven- 

 ience. That might be three or four days, or I 

 might be ready to put her into a nucleus right 

 away, in which case it was not necessary for 

 her to remain caged at all. Or if I " put up the 

 queen," as given on page 70, then there was no 

 need for her to remain caged, except long 

 enough for me to be ready to take care of her. 

 which might be right aw^ay or in three or four 

 days. The point is here: If the queen were re- 

 leased in her old hive any time before all the 

 cells were gone, then she would be very likely 

 to come out again with a swarm. So if she 

 were left caged in the old hive she would not 

 be freed for ten days. If freed before that time, 

 there still being queen -cells in the hive, I should 

 expect her to act just as friend Hall describes; 

 but if put into a nucleus, there would be no 

 need of confining her at all, for all swarming 

 would be given up. C. C. Miller. 



Marengo, 111. 



FASTENING STARTERS IN BROOD-FRAMES WITH 

 GROOVES. 



Mr. Editor:— The brood-frames which you 

 made a few years ago had a groove cut on the 

 under side, in which to put a thin strip of wood 

 for a comb-guide. A lot of these frames was 

 once received, and in some manner the comb- 

 guides did not come with them. We wished to 

 fasten inch strips of foundation in them for 

 starters, but were puzzled how to do so. We 

 had before used the usual method of mashing 

 the foundation on with a chisel -shaped instru- 

 ment. We could not put starters in these 

 frames in this way without getting them to one 

 side of the center of the top-bar, because the 

 groove was in the center. So we pushed the 

 edge of the starter down into the groove entire- 

 ly, and fastened it there by crushing the edges 

 of the groove. That did tolerably well until a 

 better way was found out. The idea occurred 

 to us that the groove would be just the thing 

 in which to fasten the starters with flour paste. 

 It proved quite satisfactory. We proceeded as 

 follows: 



Provide a receptacle a little longer than the 

 franu's. fit to hold the starch paste. The paste 

 should be quite thick. The proper consistency 

 can soon be found by trial. The starters should 

 not be less than an inch or more in width, un- 

 less of heavy brood foundation. When narrow 

 strips of thin foundation were used, the bees, 

 in neaily every instance, cut it down to the 

 wood. A starter long enough for an L. frame 

 is taken up, and one edge dipped into the starch 

 paste. This edge is pressed down in the groove, 



