GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



December, 1918 



^l, 



HEADS OF GRAINl I?pa^[i rmFFERENT FIELDS 



just writes an interesting letter in regard 

 to it, but it is too long for publication. He 

 thinks some genius of the present day ought 

 to be able to make an instrument that would 

 produce the proper sound to call a swarm of 

 bees from running away. I suppose our 

 readers are well aware, at least the older 

 ones, that in days gone by we used to have 

 a turkey call that would call wild turkeys 

 from quite a distance away, and birds and 

 animals of different kinds have been called 

 by expert woodsmen by imitating the pe- 

 culiar noises they make. Can any one give 

 us information in regard to this interest- 

 ing matter? A. I. Eoot. 

 Medina, O. 



Uses Water in I want to tell you how 



Cleaning Frames. I manage to get my 



extracting frames 

 cleaned as fast as I extract them. I put 

 them back onto the hives, but before doing 

 so I saturate the comb well with water. 

 Sometimes some of the cells are half. filled 

 with water. At this time of the year bees 

 are gathering lots of water and this puts it 

 righl! into the hive just when they want it 

 and saves them taking in just so much 

 water. If you put the frames back onto the 

 hives at night, the next day you will find 

 your combs all cleaned, and the honey that 

 was sticking to the combs nicely stored in 

 the bottom of the cells. Wm. Craig. 



Aitkin, Minn. 



Is Not Troubled I read much about bees 



by Drifting. drifting when packed 



in multiple winter 

 cases. For the past two years I have been 

 packing some bees in two-colony cases, and 

 have not experienced any trouble from drift- 

 ing. But I have always fastened a six-inch 

 board vertically in the middle of the front 

 of the winter case between the two en- 

 trances. As bees seem to invariably know 

 right from left, this plan, I believe, prevents 

 drifting. This season I have taken a fur- 

 ther precaution and have painted the one 

 side of the front a different color from the 

 rest of the case. R. D. Hiatt, 



Deputy State Inspector. 

 Columbus, O. 



Simple As many small bee- 



Wax-Rendering keepers have more or 



Outfit. less old combs and 



cappings to render oc- 

 casionally but not sufficient to warrant pur- 

 chasing a wax press and other accessories, I 

 would like to suggest a very efficient and 

 cheap way of doing this work. The only 

 utensils necessary are a pail or wash-boiler, 

 a dipper, and a butter-tub, having a hole 

 bored in it near the bottom, with a plug, or, 



better, a faucet to draw off the excess 

 water. Tie the combs in a bag and put in 

 the boiler with plenty of water to boil. Have 

 a dasher such as is used in the old-fashioned 

 stone churn, and when the water boils keep 

 pressing on the bag of combs, squeezing out 

 the water and melted wax. When the wax 

 accumulates at the top dip it into the tub. 

 By drawing oft' the excess water from the 

 tub and returning it to the boiler, little heat 

 is lost; and by continuing the pressing on the 

 bag of combs and skimming the wax off the 

 top, in a surprisingly short time there will 

 be little wax left to come to the top. As 

 thoro a job may be done in this way as with 

 a press, and, if the tub is well covered when 

 finished and left in a warm room to cool, a 

 nice cake of yellow wax will result. 

 Eochester, N. Y. A. G. Dye. 



Keeping Bees and 

 Bee Keeping — 



Below are two pictures 



— one shows the three 



box - hive homes of 



some bees, and the other shows the modern 



movable-frame homes of the same bees. The 



Equipment of a man who " kept bees.' 



Equipment of men who are Ijoekeepers. 



three liox hives were bought by us from a 

 first-class mechanic. Take a look at those 

 frames! Wasn't that a fine job for a me- 



