446 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



the hives facing each other any nearer than six 

 feet; indeed, she objects to their being- as near as 

 six feet, in case of swarming. Another thing comes 

 to me that I had not thought of at first. Friend 

 Hatch hc.s less trouble with flying bees in his alleys; 

 but how is it when he is working at a hive? If he 

 sits at the middle of the hive he is just 7 feet in 

 front of a hive, nearly in its line of flight. With 

 my plan, and the game number of hives on the 

 ground, I am IG feet away from any hive which is 

 facing me. As I spend more time at the hives than 

 I do in the alleys, I believe I like my plan best. 

 Marengo, 111., May 30. C. C. Miller. 



I am somewhat surprised, friend M., ttiat 

 the deep space tmder the frames has already 

 proven a failure with you. Our good friend 

 Baldridge and one or two others claim them 

 to be a success. Our friend Danzenbaker 

 gives I inch under his brood-frames, and 

 has, in connection thereto, an entrance i 

 deep, or wide. Mr. D. says that he not only 

 finds nothing is built under the bottom-bars, 

 but that this extra space with a wide en- 

 trance forces the bees to enter the supers a 

 little earlier. lie argued that bees are anx- 

 ious to get their stores as far away as possi- 

 ble from the cold and robbers; and if the 

 bottom of the hive were open, or exposed by 

 a wide large entrance, the bees will actually 

 carry their stores where it is close and pro- 

 tected. But if I understand you, your ex- 

 perience doesn't corroborate this, for you 

 have a large entrance. 



Now, doctor, 1 have just been waiting for 

 a good chance to quarrel again with you on 

 your manner of cleating covers. You know 

 I argued, a while ago, that the covers 

 should be let into grooves of the cleat, and 

 nailed. You thought that a cleat simply 

 nailed on to the ends of the cover, without 

 grooving, would be just as strong, and bet- 

 ter. And now you say your covers are not 

 always true. I have never yet seen one 

 cover of the Dovetailed hive that warped 

 any, and if the Dovetailed hive is nailed 

 true, the hive can not get out of true, 

 on account of the great strength of the 

 corners. Practical tests in the apiary prove 

 this. I feel quite sure, doctor, that a cover- 

 board let into a groove in a cleat is much less 

 liable to warp than one dependent on nails 

 alone. In this connection, perhaps I should 

 say that flat covers covered with tin are lia- 

 ble to warp or wind. I notice that quite a 

 number of our customers are ordering these 

 covers with the tin. They will regret it, I 

 feel sure, and for this reason : The upper 

 surface of the board, immediately under the 

 tin, is kept dry ; the under surface, next to 

 the bees, is subject to more or less mois- 

 ture from the cluster. A cover-board not 

 protected by tin receives the moisture from 

 the dew and the rains on its upper sur- 

 face, and this counterbalances the moisture 

 on its under side. I should be glad to have 

 any one try the experiment with the tinned 

 and untinned flat covers, and report. I do 

 not know, doctor, whether you cover with 

 tin or not, but I presume you do not. — I 

 think I can indorse all you say in regard to 

 the sagging of top-bars. I have seen them 

 bend down fully half an inch from a straight 

 line.— 1 am glad you can not find any fault 



with Keeney's plan of wiring. I hope you 

 will try It tins season, and report to us a 

 little later.— In regard to the arrangement 

 of hives, the lay of the land certainly has 

 very much to do with it. Trees, stumps, 

 and uneven places, very materially modify 

 any nicely proposed plan that we may have. 

 When we located our basswood apiary we 

 arranged a plan. The ground was a little 

 swampy and uneven in places, and we found 

 ourselves obliged to put the hives just where 

 they will stand level, irrespective of any 

 well-defined plan. Ernest. 



In addition to the above, friend M., I 

 wish to suggest that a Simplicity cover is 

 made exactly to keep the cold spring air 

 out ; and yet you are all going to throw it 

 away, without even a thought of its advan- 

 tages. Yes, and you coolly ask if there is 

 no remedy for your fiat tops and covers ; and 

 then, after I gave you the diagonal wires 

 and tin bars that make an absolutely sure 

 thing against sagging, you forgot all about 

 that. 



BRACE-COMBS AND BURR-COMBS. 



HOW TO PREVENT THEM ; ALL IN SPACING, AND 

 NOT IN WIDTH OB THICKNESS OF BEES. 



The following is a private note received 

 from one of our Canadian friends, which 

 will explain itself : 



Friend Boot:— 



Inclosed please find a paper written and read by 

 request of the Oxford Bee-keepers' Association, at 

 Woodstock, on the 2lst inst. I think the paper will 

 be helpful by directing attention, especially to the 

 importance of proper bee-spaces. It is the space 

 that must be right, regardless of either width or 

 depth of top-bar. A top-bar }i in. thick only, is, in 

 my opinion, just as safe against burr-combs and 

 brace-combs, provided the spaces be right, as one 

 an inch thicker. A few years ago this same sub- 

 ject was up. I said to my wife that 1 had a mind to 

 propose to Mr. Root that he visit me; and that if he 

 did not fully agree that the remedy was all in the 

 spacicg, after looking over my hives, I would pay 

 all expenses of the trip; but after thinking awhile, 

 she replied, "Oh! well, you know people see things 

 so differently that all might not be satisfactory." 

 So I dropped the matter. 1 shall not feel hurt if you 

 think the paper of no use, and drop it in the waste- 

 basket. S. T. Pettit. 



Belmont, Ont., Can., May 27. 



The following is the paper : 



In all improperly constructed, occupied hives, 

 may be found, in addition to the orthodox brood 

 and drone combs, two other kinds; viz., brace- 

 combs and burr-combs. Now, in order to get rid of, 

 or, more properly, to prevent, the building of the 

 troublesome brace and burr combs, it would be 

 well to inquire into the cause of their construction, 

 or into the conditions most favorable to their con- 

 struction; or, in other words, why they are built. 

 The brace-comb (if it may be called a comb) is in- 

 tended for a very different purpose from that of 

 the burr-comb. The former is constructed in posi- 

 tion for just what its name implies— a brace; and 

 the latter ultimately for store combs. If during a 

 good honey- flow some sealed honey be placed close 



