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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1. 



The trouble was, that the workers would feed 

 only the young queens they had selected for 

 mating, and the rest would not fly out to mate 

 at all; so, out of 30 virgins I got only three or 

 four laying queens. 



Again, for many years I have every year had 

 queens above and below my queen-excluders 

 in every colony, and the excluder proves to be 

 a perfect barrier to all queens reared in a proper 

 manner. The conclusion, therefore, Is, that, 

 in the few instances where queens pass the ex- 

 cluder zinc, the fault lies not in the zinc but in 

 the method by which the queens were reared. 

 Hence it is important, first of all, that queen- 

 excluder zinc should be of such size that the 

 workers can readily pass, and that it shall in 

 no way prove an obstruction to them. 



I send you herewith three samples of queen- 

 excluder zinc. The two-rowed strip has per- 

 forations exactly the right size. The perfora- 

 tions may be just a little larger, and work all 

 right, but no smaller. The larger sample with 

 opposite perforations will let many queens that 

 are fairly developed pass it, so that the perfora- 

 tions are too large. The sample one- rowed 

 strip has perforations too small, and yet it is 

 probable that the perforations are only smaller 

 than those in the two-rowed strip by 5j^n of an 

 inch. Well, now, the question will arise, "How 

 do yon know there is such a small ditt'erence?" 

 It is simply by testing it by the steel gauge, 

 and by observing the bees in passing it. The 

 size is not quite large enough to let the bee's 

 head through without a liability of being 

 caught by the top of the head and the tip of the 

 mandibles right in the zinc. I have seen bee 

 after bee caught in this manner, and often it is 

 a minute or two before they can get loose. At 

 first I supposed these queerly acting bees to be 

 trying to gnaw a larger opening; but after a 

 little I observed that they were really fast in 

 the zinc. I then discovered how they got fast 

 thus. It seems that a bee, before trying to pass 

 a narrow crevice, tries first its head by bobbing 

 back and forth. If it passes freely it then goes 

 through at once, otherwise there is sure to be 

 considerable delay, although it can just squeeze 

 through. It appears, then, that the bee's head 

 is longer than the diameter of its thorax, al- 

 though I have never measured it. Your new 

 zinc, from which Dr. Miller's sample was made, 

 is so small that the worker- bee's thorax can 

 just pass it easily, simply brushing down the 

 hair on its back in passing, but too narrow to 

 let the bee's head pass freely. It is probable 

 that the bees get used to it, and each time in 

 passing thrust forward the mandibles, or turn 

 the head sidewise. However, if the bee is load- 

 ed it is very difficult for it to get through, and 

 on this account I believe the perforations 

 should be as large as I m.ake them, and espe- 

 cially so since my zinc has proved so reliable as 

 a queen-excluder. 



1 also include a sample of my drone-excluder 

 zinc, to show how large the perforations must 

 be to let the largest queens pass freely. I got 

 this size also by careful tests, and it is pro- 

 nounced perfect by Mrs. Atchley. Mr. Trego, 

 and others who have used it largely, and have 

 got the art of mating queens to select drones to 

 perfection. There seems no longer any need of 

 mating queens in confinement. 



New Philadelphia, O. Dk. G. L. Tinker. 



[In the light of the above, and in the light of 

 •our own experience and that of Dr. Miller's, it 

 becomes evident that it is impossible to make a 

 perforated zinc that will exclude all queens. As 

 Dr. Tinker well says, if the queen gets through 

 a zinc it is not the fault of the ?neta?, but be- 

 cause such a queen is not normally developed. 

 If these small queens are little if any larger 



than worker bees, so far as the thorax is con- 

 cerned, and are below the normally prolific 

 point, their heads had better be pinched. That 

 being true, it may be laid down as a rule that, 

 if zinc not exceeding ^^ inch wide does not ex- 

 clude, it is because the queen is not all that she 

 should be. 



We have carefully measured the samples of 

 zinc Dr. Tinker sent, and find that the two- 

 rowed strip referred to by him as being just ex- 

 actly the right size measures in the width of 

 the perforation tVjWff- The larger sample to 

 which he refers, having opposite perforations, 

 and which he says will let many qneens that 

 are fairly developed pass through it, has perfo- 

 rations ^'(^%. This, he says, is too large, and 

 tallies perfectly with our experience. The sam- 

 ple of one-rowed strip that he mentions as hav- 

 ing perforations too small, measures ^%^ ; and 

 as between this and those first mentioned, the 

 reader will see, by comparison of fractions, that 

 there is, in fact, by actual measurement, a dif- 

 ference of T^snn — confirming exactly what Dr. 

 Tinker said would be the actual dift'erence. 



The next and last size mentioned — that is, the 

 one that will let through normal queens and 

 exclude drones — measures only -^oV^- We know 

 that thei'e are some queens that have actually 

 gone through metal that measures only t't^i^, 

 and this would leave a dift'erence between the 

 smallest queens and those normally developed, 

 so far as the thorax is concerned, of rSMd- As 

 this figure is a little hard to understand, we 

 would say it would approximate very nearly 

 ^2 of an inch. Now. perhaps in all this you may 

 think we are splitting hairs pretty fine; but as 

 we happen to possess a very delicate micrometer 

 we might as well speak exactly as to approxi- 

 mate: for approximate figures would not show 

 the dljference between sizes of zinc that are so 

 nearly alike. 



Referring to the exactly right size of the per- 

 forated zinc, we would say we have experiment- 

 ed also upon this considerably; and we find that 

 zinc j^o'lfrT or lulAi is too small ; and that, while it 

 will admit workers fairly, without loads, it will 

 exclude them when filled with honey, or, at 

 least, it is a very difficult thing for them to pass 

 through. In our experience we have found no 

 difficulty with zinc as small as t'n'tHT- foi' ^'1 Pur- 

 poses in the apiary. Loaded and unloaded 

 workers seem to pass through it quite freely. 

 Now, in view of the fact that there are some 

 small queens, and if it is a fact that ilie jV^ 

 does not hinder loaded workers, would not this 

 size be nearer the '"exactly right size"? Dr. 

 Tinker is one of the "' doctors " on the subject of 

 zinc, and we should like to hear from him fur- 

 ther in reference to this last point. 



It might be well to suggest, however, that his 

 bees are possibly a little larger than the normal 

 Italians, for he has been making a specialty of 

 the yyrio-albinos; and we belii-ve he has had 

 some Carniolans. We know it to be a fact that 

 this latter race is a trifle larger than Italians — 

 just how much larger we do not know. In the 

 mean time we wisli to express our thanks lo the 

 doctor for his very able article on a subject that 

 has been more or less perplexing in regard to the 

 reason why queens will sometimes get through 

 zinc. 



Now. Dr. Miller, it will be in order for you to 

 give a history of that queen which got through 

 perforations only -^{^^^ inch wide.] 



^ I — ^ 



HOFFMAN FRAMES. 



A SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENT. 



Herewith I send you a corner of one of the 

 frames you made me last spring, which, so far 

 as my experience goes, is a complete answer to 

 your note following Dr. Miller's article on page 



