210 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



April, 1918 



THE ELIMINATION OF DRONES 



How They May be Excluded by Wir- 

 ing; by the Location of the Entrance: 

 and by Using a Bottom Starter 



By W. P. Southworth and E. R. Root 



THE average 

 beekeeper 

 can increase 

 hia production of 

 honey by giving 

 more attention to 

 the combs in his 

 hives. To give the 

 bees only starters 

 in the frames is 

 but little better than the old box-hive meth- 

 ods. Combs built from starters will contain 

 an excess of drone comb, and an over-abun- 

 dance of drone brood in the hive in the 

 spring, when workers should be hatching, is 

 a decided disadvantage. It costs the bees 

 more in time and feed to rear drones than it 

 does to rear workers, and, if many of them 

 are reared, when the honey flow comes there 

 is likely to be a lack of workers. 



To use full sheets of foundation without 

 supporting wires is a waste of time and ma- 

 terial, as the foundation will usually sag 

 with the weight and heat of the bees, so 

 that but few cells will be suitable for worker 

 brood. With the use of wire, properly put 

 in, the foundation will be supported so that 

 nearly every cell in a comb of the standard 

 Lang'stroth "^ frame will be perfect for the 

 worker brood. 



I have tried a variety of methods of wir- 

 ing, and for a number of years have used one 

 that has given satisfactory results, and I 

 believe it will be a help to others. I use 

 the standard Langstroth frame of the all- 

 wood pattern, with the %-in. top-bar, and 

 do not have any sagging of top-bars, because 

 a portion of the weight is supported on the 

 end-bars of the frames by my method of 

 wiring. The plain, old-style Langstroth 

 frames are more easily manipulated in all 

 jiai'ts of the work, especially in extracting. 

 But this method of wiring can be used with 

 any pattern of frame that has four holes 

 pierced in the end bar. 



The first step in wiring is to drive in a 

 %-in. tack half its length in each end-bar, 

 near the top hole. The frame is placed in a 



THE SOUTHWORTH METHOD OF WIRING. 



Two strands of wires are used. The first starts 

 at the lower right hand corner, and follows the ar- 

 rows. The second strand starts at the hole above 

 the first start, and follows the arrows. 



holder that keeps it rigid and square, with 

 the top-bar up. The spool of wire is placed 

 at a convenient distance to the right of the 

 frame holder. (A brake, or drag, should be 

 adjusted to the spool to prevent the wire 

 from unwinding too freely.) Pass the wire 



thru the right- 

 hand, lower hole, 

 as the frame 

 stands before 

 you; from there, 

 diagonally across 

 the frame to the 

 left-hand, upper 

 hole; down to the 

 left-hand, second 

 hole; across to the right-hand, second hole; 

 up thru the right-hand upperhole; acrossthru 

 left hand upper hole; wind around the tack; 

 and secure by driving the tack home; first 

 tightening the wire so that it is not slack. 

 Measure off a length of wire that will reach 

 from the right-hand, lower hole, across the 

 frame and diagonally back to the hight-hand, 

 upper hole. (It is best to cut the wire off a 

 few inches too long until you are accustomed 

 to estimating the correct length required.) 

 Thread the end thru the second right-hand 

 hole from the bottom; pass across thru the 

 second left-hand hole, down to the lower 

 left-hand hole, and diagonally thru the upper 

 right-hand hole; tighten all of the wires so 

 that none of them are slack; wind the end 

 around the tack, and secure as before; cut 

 off the short piece of wire that is left over. 



When finished, you have three wires run- 

 ning parallel with the top-bar, and two run- 

 ning diagonally, thus forming an X in the 

 frame. This arrangement of wires gives the 

 support to the new comb where it is most 

 needed — that is, at the top and at the ends 

 where the greatest weight of honey is stored 

 the first season, as a rule. 



To get the best results, all foundation 

 should be drawn out in the brood-nest be- 

 tween even combs. If this is not possible, 

 good results can be obtained between drawn 

 combs in the surplus chambers. It is well 

 to avoid hiving heavy swarms on foundation 

 in warm weather, as the foundation is liable 

 to sag from the bees' weight and heat, even 

 with the method of wiring here describ- 

 ed. Good combs are the best property 

 a beekeeper has, and are worth all the care 

 he can give to make them perfect. 



Sioux City, la. W. P. Southworth. 



[When we were in Sioux City last summer, 

 Mr. Southworth 's associate, Mr. Brown, 

 showed us this method of wiring, which they 

 were using in their apiary. They liked it 

 very much and found that it dispensed with 

 the' stretching of the foundation. The plan 

 is very similar to the Keeney method of 

 wiring that was exploited in Gleanings in 

 Bee Culture in 1890, 1891 and 1892. At first, 

 we were very enthusiastic about it, believ- 

 ing it would solve our trouble of stretching 

 of the foundation. It was all right when 

 used in connection with "heavy" brood and 

 "medium" brood foundation, both of which 

 weights have nearly disappeared from the 

 market, on account of the expense; but when 

 the ordinary "light" brood, which is now 

 being used almost universally, was employed, 

 we found there was a tendency of the foun- 



