1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTrRE. 



325 



of the boys went back for the bees, but he found 

 his possession disputed by a large grizzly bear. He 

 did not dispute long, however, evidently thinking 

 discretion the better part of valor. He strolled 

 back, hat in band, making the best time on record. 

 Some of the boys said you might have used his eyes 

 to hang your hat on when he arrived. We returned 

 next morning, but found that Bruin had recklessly 

 strewn things in every direction, having evidently 

 taken some of the remedy so highly recommended 

 for rheumatism. E. M. Whiting. 



Springville, Utah Co., Utah, Mar. :!. 



Thanks for your facts in regard to the al- 

 falfa in Utah. If the bees do so well in 

 trees, I would by all means start an apiary ; 

 but I want to tell you that, if you expect to 

 prosper as a bee keeper, you will have to 

 ■come to some sort of understanding with 

 that grizzly bear. If he has had a good din- 

 ner of honey once, he will not forget it, you 

 may be sure. 



BOTTOM STARTERS IN SECTIONS FOR 

 SAFE SHIPPING. 



DK. MILLER CALLS OUR ATTENTION TO AN EX- 

 CEEDINGLY IMPORTANT MATTER. 



The more completely a section of honey is filled 

 out at top, sides, and bottom, the better it looks; 

 and for shipping, it is quite essential that the at- 

 tachments at tbe sides, and especially at the bot- 

 tom, be good. For several years I have secured 

 this by putting in a starter at both top and bottom 

 of the section. When the comb of honey is fasten- 

 ed just as securely on the bottom-bar of the sec- 

 tion as on the top, you have about all you can get, 

 so far as the section is concerned, to secure you 

 against breakage in transportation. When a single 

 starter is put in a section, and fastened only at the 

 top, the beo3 often make no fastening at the bot- 

 tom, and very little at the side. To make such sec- 

 tions carry more safely, some have made a prac- 

 tice of separating them in the shipping-cage by 

 pieces of heavy manilla paper, much in the same 

 way as sections are separated in a super, only the 

 manilla paper extends from top to bottom of the 

 section. The idea is, that if one section breaks out 

 it topples over against its neighbor, and, like a row 

 of bricks, the row of sections clear across the ship- 

 ping-case is broken out. The manilla paper pre- 

 vents this, so that one section breaking out does 

 not affect its neighbor. 



Another device has been, to invert the section 

 when about half finished, when the bees make sure 

 to secure both top and bottom— a good plan, but too 

 much work to invert each section singly, and not 

 satisfactory otherwise. 



Still another way is advocated; that is, to use 

 open-sided sections, so as to induce the bees to 

 fasten the combs better. D.tferent advantages 

 have been claimed at different times for these open- 

 sided sections, and I am a little skeptical whether 

 any one of the advantages claimed has ever held 

 good. When I first heard of open-sided sections— I 

 am not sure whether any thing was said about 

 them in print then— I had a good deal of faith in 

 them, and whittled out the sides of a hundred, with 

 a jack-knife. The chief advantage then claimed, 

 was, that with such sections separators were not 

 needed. I was disappointed in this; and, indeed, in 

 my limited trial I did not succeed in finding that 



they had any advantage. I have seen specimens of 

 open-sided sections in which the honey was beauti- 

 fully filled out clear down to the bottom at both 

 sides; but I have seen it just as beautifully filled 

 out in common sections, and with a single starter 

 at that. But even if the bees should do better 

 work at filling out a certain kind of section, I still 

 think I should want a bottom starter in each sec- 

 tion, to make snrr that the comb is built out and 

 fastened just as well at the bottom as at the top. 



I have experimented considerably to find out the 

 best width for a bottom starter. If too large a 

 starter is used it topples over; and if too small, the 

 bees are prelty sure to gnaw it down. I succeeded, 

 however, in using bottom starters an inch wide or 

 deep, and contemplated trying them larger. But 

 later I found some of these had fallen over, and I 

 settled down on ^S, of an inch as large enough. 

 This, with aS^ii-inch starter at top, fills the section 

 except a small space between the two, which the 

 bees have no difficulty in filling up. I have been 

 asked whether a bad-looking section is not made if 

 the top and bottom starters do not meet pretty 

 nearly in the same plane. Not at all. I have seen 

 the top starter swing to one side, and the bottom 

 starter bend over to the other side, so that there 

 lacked half or three-quarters of an inch of being 

 a perpendicular line from one to the other, and the 

 bees seemed to finish them promptly; and when 

 finished, you could not see the slightest imperfec- 

 tion. It takes no more foundation to fill a section 

 with two starters than with one, the only difference 

 being the time taken to put in the extra starter, 

 making an extra expense of one or two cents on a 

 hundred pounds, and sometimes saving a good 

 many cents in shipping. C. C. Miller. 



Marengo, 111., Mar. 13. 



Friend JSI., our experience in buying hon- 

 ey shipped in to us during the past two 

 years has prepared us to indorse most em- 

 phatically the point you make. We are 

 glad, also, to have your testimony in regard 

 to the open-side sections, even if it does not 

 favor them. One thing is certain: Our or- 

 ders for sections made with open sides are 

 getting to be few and far between. 



REARING AND SHIPPING QUEENS. 



READ AT THE VERMONT STATE BEE KEEPERS' CON- 

 VENTION, BY A. E. MAN0M. 



The queenbee, whose beauty and capability we 

 can scarcely comprehend, is the most important 

 member in a colony of bees; and as she is the moth- 

 er of every bee in the colony, upon her depends the 

 prosperity of the colony and the success of the 

 apiarist. The attempt to give every detail incident- 

 al to queen rearing, in a single essay, meets with 

 an obstacle. lOither we must abridge until the 

 charm is lost entirely, or, if we would specify and 

 portray, many essays would be necessary ere the 

 subject is exhausted. 



For a number of years I have reared queens for 

 sale— not that the business has proved very remu- 

 nerative, but because I love it. There is no part of 

 bee culture that is so fascinating to me as that of 

 queen-rearing. There is a charm about it that 

 stimulates my enthusiasm from the beginning to 

 the end of the season. 



The careful breeder commences in early spring 



