496 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



Keeney's plan was presented to me, and I 

 at once thought it was so superior that I 

 would abandon my plan and give Keeney's 

 instead. Superioi- in what point? Because 

 the tension is on the four corners of the 

 frame, and not in the end-bars, as in mine, 

 or, rather, yours. As Keeney's takes no more 

 wire it does not require to be pierced, and 

 only four bent nails, together with the fact 

 of tension being produced at the strongest 

 points, decided me as to its superiority. I 

 am glad to know you have used it some 

 vears with success, for it helps to prove that 

 Keeney's plan must likewise be a success. 



MELTING OLD COMBS WITH OLD POLLEN IN THEM, 

 AND HOW TO DO IT. 



Being an old subscriber, I take the liberty of ask- 

 ing a few questions. In cutting out old brood- 

 combs for wax, is it best to save those half-full of 

 pollen? Will the bees ever use the old pollen? 



Williamson, N. Y. Frank Adams. 



Yes, bees will, in the spring, use up the 

 old pollen in the combs. You can melt up 

 the old combs with pollen in them. We rec- 

 ommend, in the A B C of Bee Culture, put- 

 ting old combs in a cheese-cloth bag, and then 

 weighting the whole down under hot water. 

 The clear wax will come to the surface of 

 the water, and the refuse will remain in the 

 bag. A very nice, easy way, is to put all 

 such in the solar wax-extractor, and just let 

 old Sol give you a nice clear cake of yellow 

 wax, without " any bother " too. 



ANOTHER POINT IN FAVOR OF HORIZONTAL 

 WIRING. 



You omitted one good point in the wiring of that 

 frame mentioned on page 371. In cleaning top-bars 

 of burr-combs this spring I got more than 10 lbs. of 

 wax; but the trouble is, I have to work so slow or 

 break wires. If for this and nothing more it would 

 have been worth dollars to me to have known it 

 before I wired 10,000 frames this spring. 



Carrollton, O. C. V. Kintner. 



Yes, we did omit to make that point. 

 There has been so much trouble from cut- 

 ting the wires on the perpendicular plan that 

 some of the friends in ordering have asked 

 to have the top-bar grooved to let the wires 

 in. The horizontal wires, or the plan of 

 wiring mentioned on page 371, would obvi- 

 ate this trouble. 



FROM AUSTRALIA. 



I am a bee-keeper— that is, if you count a man 

 one who has 160 colonies. Between two and three 

 years ago I started with two nucleus hives of 

 Italians, and shortly after my brother bought four 

 more, and these we joined; bought 20 hives of 

 brown bees, and Italianized them, and God blessed 

 us in our undertaking. To-day we have a nice api- 

 ary, and things look promising. We got one of 

 your ten-inch machines, and it works splendidly. 

 This season so far has been a splendid one; and as 

 we have about three months more to run before 

 the season is over, we expect to get a good store. 



Brisbane, Australia, Feb. 10. A. A. Miles. 



The next spring they built comb to the bottom of 

 each frame. For a small apiary, I can find nothing 

 as handy as old phosphate-sacks for smoker fuel. 

 I make them in rolls about 14 inches long, and 2 

 thick. I use them in the Clark smoker, first taking 

 out the grate. When I am done using it I dip the 

 fire end in water, then the rest is saved for anoth- 

 er go. I wish you would thank Dr. Miller for advo- 

 cating the Clark starter fastener. It is as far ahead 

 of the Parker as the movable comb is ahead of the 

 old box. W. W. KuLP. 



Pottstown, Pa., May 22. 



SHADE FOR HIVES OUT OF OLD SUGAR-BARRELS. 



For a shade for my hives I get a sugar-barrel; and 

 after nailing through the end and middle hoops 

 with a small wire nail, so as to fasten all of the 

 staves, I knock the head out, then saw the hoop in 

 two. making two half-barrels; and after clinching 

 the nails they are ready for use. The covers are 

 light, easy to handle, and give good ventilation be- 

 tween cover and top of hive, and they do not blow 

 off as easily as a flat cover. If they are properly 

 nailed and clinched they will last a long time, and 

 are not expensive. 



A SIMPLE WAY TO WATER BEES. 



I take a tub (I suppose any thing else would do), 

 tie a piece of burlap over it, put in a piece of brick 

 or stone that will keep it down in the center; and 

 then fill in with water until it comes up about one- 

 third of the way on the burlap, which leaves a 

 large surface for the bees to alight on. It is only 

 occasionally that a bee gets drowned. One ad- 

 vantage of the tub is, it does not need looking after, 

 except occasionally. Try it, and be convinced. 



Dow City, la., May 17. M. G. Wiggins. 



Friend W., you have given us two bright 

 ideas. Thank you. 



TWO INCHES UNDER THE BROOD-FRAMES A 

 FAILURE. 



Two ye&rs ago I hived a swarm on 8 Simplicity 

 frames, raised two inches from the bottom. They 

 did not build any comb below the frames that year. 



BEBB WINTERED WELL, BUT " 8PRINOED " BADLV. 



Bees wintered out of doors well, but springed 

 badly; but they are in good condition now; but, 

 alas! very little basswood will bloom, and we all 

 know what that means — no white honey from Cen- 

 tral New York this year. We are in hopes to make 

 it up in buckwheat. We should be pleased to see 

 you about August 15th, and show you how W. L. C. 

 takes care of 600 colonies with one assistant, in 7 

 different places. W. L. Coggshall. 



West Groton, N. Y., June 8. 



We should be glad to know, friend Cogg- 

 shall, how you, with one assistant, manage 

 600 colonies in 7 out-apiaries. What kind 

 of a hive do you use ? Are your frames sus- 

 pended, closed-end, fixed, or not fixed with 

 spacers ? 



NECTAR going TO WASTE ; A GOOD FLOW OF 

 HORSEMINT. 



Never before did I see such a flow of nectar from 

 horsemint; in fact, my bees are gathering honey 

 faster than they can build comb to receive it. I 

 have 160 colonies. I run about 36 for extracted 

 honey, the rest for comb honey in one-pound sec- 

 tions. Some of my extracting two-story Simplicity 

 hives have a case of sections above the extracting 

 story that I put on a few days ago, and are about 

 full of as beautiful honey. Oh I I wish you were 

 here to visit our mint-fields, and just see the quanti- 

 ty of it. I know you would say, " I wish my bees 

 were here to gather some of this flow that is going 

 to waste." There is acre after acre" resembling 



