68 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



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With Replies from our best Authorities on Bees. 



All queries sent in for this department should be briefly 

 stated, and free from any possible ambiguity. The question 

 or questions should be written upon a separate slip of paper, 

 and marked, "ForOurQuestion-Box." 



Question 152.— a. I use the flat covers, cleated at 

 both ends, the same as are used oh the Dovetailed and 

 Heddon hives. This cover is spaced five-sixt tenths of 

 ayi inch above the hraod-frames. In the production of 

 comb honey, would it be of any advantage for me to 

 rise enamel cloth under the covers'/ b. Would the same 

 be a convenience for queen-rearing, or under any con- 

 ditions where the brood-frames are to be handled con- 

 siderably'? 



a. I should say no. b. T should say no. 



Ohio. N. W. H. R. BOARDMAN. 



a. I prefer a cap or hood for a cover, b. Yes. 

 New York. C. G. M. Doolittle. 



I have dispensed with all cloths. I think the 

 wood alone better on the whole. 

 Michigan. C. A. J. Cook. 



a. I don't know. b. I have had no experience in 

 that line. 

 Wisconsin. S. W. E. France. 



My experience is too limited with such covers 

 for me to have formed an opinion on these points. 

 Cuba. O. O. Poppleton. 



We prefer enameled cloths covered with straw 

 mats to every thing else; and we have tried a great 

 many other devices. 



Illinois. N. W. Dadant & Son. 



a. With such a cover I don't see the use of enamel 

 cloth, b. In queen-rearing I prefer to use a cloth 

 on the nuclei, when bees are inclined to rob. 



Louisiana, E. C. P. L. Viallon. 



a. No. The use of any thing under the cover 

 would be a positive damage: for where the cloth 

 touched the sections it would be glued fast to them, 

 b. Yes, and I like it the best of anything I've used. 



Ohio. N. W. A. B. Mason. 



b. I consider enameled or painted duck cloth over 

 frames that have to be frequently handled as of 

 much advantage, as it facilitates free access to the 

 combs. 



California. S. W. R. Wilkin. 



a. I think not. b. In queen-rearing in the earlu 

 part of the season it might be of some utility in as- 

 sisting to retain the heat of the colony. 



Illinois. N. W. C. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



a. Not over the supers, but a decided disadvan- 

 tage; for the tops of the sections would have Ave 

 times the bee-glue. b. Yes, it is much easier to pull 

 off a sheet than a board. 



Illinois. N. C. C. Miller. 



a. Yes, lay the enamel cloth directly over the sec- 

 tions, black side down, and then lay on the cover, 

 b. Yes. I have used it for years over my nuclei, 

 with a board cover over the cloth. It is very con- 

 venient to so use it. 



Vermont. N. W. A. E. Manum. 



I should by all means use an enamel cloth when- 

 ever the frames are to be handled to any extent. 

 Size it to the outside of the hive, not to the inside; 

 otherwise the bees will get at the edge somewhere. 



and soon nibble it until it is unserviceable. In 

 queen-rearing I suppose theie is more utility in the 

 enamel than in honey-raising; but enamels are 

 worth their keep in either case. 

 Ohio. N. W. E. E. Hasty. 



a. I want an enamel cloth for every hive, both for 

 comb and extracted honey. We find them very 

 handy in contracting the brood - nest of small 

 swarms in early spring, when the weather is cool. 



Wisconsin. S. W. S. I. Freeborn. 



I consider the enameled cloth of no advantage 

 whatever. The space between my frames of the 

 lower and upper story is % inch, which is also the 

 space between the upper frames and the wooden 

 cover above them. 



Ohio. S. W. C. F. Muth. 



a. After using several styles of covers, we are 

 greatly pleased with the flat covers, and would not 

 use rags or enameled cloth In any form of honey 

 production, b. Enamel cloth might be convenient 

 where queens were raised in compartments in the 

 same hive; otherwise you will be much relieved 

 from extra labor, expense, and vexation, if you 

 relegate the old rags to the waste-heap. 



New York. E. Rambler. 



No, sir; the enameled cloth under the covers 

 would bean objection and an annoyance, either for 

 queen-rearing or any thing else, with either strong 

 or weak colonies. If you don't believe it, just try it. 

 No doubt some of my brothers will answer this 

 question to the contrary; but I am just as sure 

 they are mistaken and behind the times in quickly 

 and profitably manipulating bees, as I am that the 

 sun is now shining, and it shines very brightly here 

 this morning. 



Michigan. S. W. James Heddon. 



In all the answers to the above, no one 

 has mentioned mashing bees when the cov- 

 er is put on. The great reason why I prefer 

 enameled-cloth sheets is, that the hive may 

 be opened and closed without killing bees. 

 The use of the enameled cloth also prevents 

 the bees from getting along the edges of the 

 cover, to wax it down with propolis ; and it 

 is worth a good deal to me to be able to 

 pick up any cover from any hive in the api- 

 ary, without any snapping or prying. By 

 the proper use of the enameled cloth, the 

 covers may be kept so clean that they will 

 lift up as easily as the cover or lid to any 

 chest or box. It takes time, I know, to re- 

 place the enameled cloth in such a manner 

 that not a single bee can get above it. I 

 suppose every one will have to decide for 

 himself whether he cares to take the pains 

 to secure this result or not. When I go 

 into an apiary and find the covers of the 

 hives waxed and glued down with quanti- 

 ties of smashed bees which have accumu- 

 lated from time to time whenever the hive 

 has been opened, I feel very much inclined 

 to be disgusted with the whole industry. I 

 can not be happy, and enjoy my work with 

 any such thing in sight. More than that, 

 the thought of it haunts me and gives me a 

 sort of guilty conscience, even after the 

 hives are closed and I am away off some- 

 where else. It was for this reason I invent- 

 ed the metal corners, and afterward adopt- 

 ed the enameled sheets to keep the bees en- 



