50 



GLEAM>sGS IN liEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 



driven. The wire cloth is tacked on top of tliis, 

 leaving- a space between it and the frames. For 

 the salie of safety, a thin strip is taclied on top all 

 around, binding the wire cloth securely. It should 

 be so that, when the cover is laid on top, the hive is 

 closed as perfectly as if the wire-cloth screen were 

 not there, and no straggling bees can collect on 

 the wire cloth. If you have many bees to move, 

 you can prepare them a day or more beforehand, 

 without inconveniencing the bees, leaving only the 

 entrances to be closed, the last thing. 



For closing the entrances, if wire cloth is used 

 above there is nothing better than a plain square 

 stick of wood, nailed or clamped over the entrance. 

 In cooler weather, ventilation at the entrance is 

 suflBcient. To make a block for closing the en- 

 trance, take a stick of wood Ji square, and as long 

 as the hive is wide. Recess one side % of an inch 

 in depth, to within an inch of the ends. Now fold 

 a strip of wire cloth in the middle, and tack it on 

 the stick so that the folded edge is even with the 

 projections at the ends. Nail this against the en- 

 trance. I have used screw clamps to fasten them 

 on the hive, and like them very much, as, with 

 them, there are no nails, tacks, or screws to be driv- 

 en or drawn in fastening bees in or releasing them. 

 The principal objection is the expense— five cents 

 each, though they could probably be bought cheap- 

 er in quaMity. They ought to be among your 

 counter goods. 



If you have but little hauling of bees to do, you 

 may not care to have nails driven in all your covers 

 and bottom-boards. In this case, take strips 1 x 2, 

 and as long us your hive is wide, and drive the 

 nails into the ends. Put one of these under the 

 hive, and one over, apd fasten as before. 



DR. miller's reversible BOTTOM-BOARD. 



I have been greatly interested in the discussion 

 of Dr. Miller's reversible bottom-board. I can see 

 many advantages in its use, and would certainly 

 adopt it but for these objections. 1. Cost; 2. A 

 hive on ii is not so readily picked up and handled 

 as on the ordinary bottom-board. This objection 

 could be partially removed by cutting hand-holes 

 in the side pieces, which would add slightly to the 

 cost. 3. A stand, to keep it off the ground five or 

 six inches, and at the same time keep bees from 

 getting under it, will not hold it as securely, nor 

 can it be removed therefrom as readily, as the or- 

 dinary style. 



If my objections are not well founded, I hope 

 their fallacy may be pointed out, as I should very 

 much like to secure all their advantages. 



Dayton, 111., Feb. 22. J. A. Green. 



I am greatly interested in any thing that 

 pertains to a cheap, simple, and reliable 

 method of hauling bees ; and, as a matter of 

 course, I have just read your article with 

 considerable interest. Certainly you will 

 be pardoned for thinking that your way is 

 the best ; and, on the same grounds, I may 

 be pardoned for thinking that my way is still 

 better; for a description of which, see the 

 department of Our Own Apiary, elsewhere. 

 Briefly, my objections to your method of 

 hauling bees are these : First, for conven- 

 ience you drive four nails into the cover and 

 bottom -board, and, of course, they will be 

 sticking out during the summer, to catcli 

 somebody's unfortunate pants. Second, 

 while it is cheap it is not as cheap as the 



loops I have described elsewhere. Third, 

 the whole tension of the wires is on two 

 nails ; and while said nails may be able to 

 hold all the necessary strain, there are times 

 when I think they would not, although I 

 must confess you have put them to a pretty 

 severe test if your wagon was turned bot- 

 tom upward. 1 should not want to have 

 such a catastrophe with a Iractious colt. If 

 you had had movable frames, as most bee- 

 keepers use, oh my ! what a muss you would 

 have had after arriving at your destination ! 

 Yes, sir, I think we want frames that will 

 stay where we put them when we move 

 bees, and not " behave like a rattlebox," as 

 R. L. Taylor very aptly put it at the Colum- 

 bus International Convention. 



I believe I agree with you in what you 

 say in regard to Dr. Miller's bottom-board. 

 Without doubt, it has several good features ; 

 but in my estimation they are overbalanced 

 by some of its objections. Ernest. 



THE DUAL DOVETAILED HIVE. 



w'hat led to the adoption of the dovetail- 

 ed, OR LOCK JOINT, CORNERS. 



Whether I am the originator of the lock-corner 

 beehive or not, I am unable to say, as I so often 

 find others doing the same thing that I am, all un- 

 conscious of each other; but this I know: That I 

 made the first one that I ever saw. It illustrates 

 the common saying, " Where there is a will, there 

 is a way." In my case it was a want with the will 

 that made a way. Some men prefer horses, politics, 

 or dogs. I have a fancy for bees. When a good 

 friend of mine goes to Florida to look after his or- 

 ange groves he takes a favorite dog for hunting. 

 When I first went to Florida, in 1876, to be gone 

 from my family several months, I went by steamer 

 from Philadelphia via Savannah, that I might take 

 with me a choice colony of Italian bees, unwilling 

 to risk them in the care of any one. I kept them in 

 my stateroom; but in spite of all that I could do to 

 quiet them they kept up such a roaring as to be 

 heard above the noise of the sea and the ship's ma- 

 chinery, so as to alarm the passengers in the state- 

 rooms on either side of me, who, happily, came to 

 me to learn what was going on in my room. I ex- 

 plained to them I was too deathly sick to hold my 

 head up, without doing any thing. 



" What have you got in here, making such a hiss- 

 ing noise? Are they snakes that we hear In our 

 rooms?" 



I told them they were Italian bees. 



" Won't they get out and sting you to death, and 

 drive us all into the sea? They must be real mad. 

 Who ever heard bees make such a noise?" 



I had to explain that Italian bees never sting 

 when properly used, and showed them that the 

 hive was covered over with wire screen, so that 

 they could get air, and water from a wet sponge. 

 I begged of them to make no complaint to the cap- 

 tain, and they graciously assented to let them re- 

 main, as many people tolerate dogs in street-cars, 

 who have no particular liking for them. In spite 

 of all, three-fourths of the bees dk d on the trip (of 

 a week); but what I saved cheered many a lonely 

 hour. 



By Apr. 1 1 had built them up to two good colonies 

 that I sold for $18.00. In my subsequent trips to 



