1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



561 



fore the egg-shell breaks. In that case the 

 worker bees have entire control of the mat- 

 ter of sex. You know there was quite a 

 stir made a few years ago because some one 

 suggested that the bees have the power of 

 making eggs laid in the worker comb pro- 

 duce drones when it becomes desirable to 

 do so. For instance, if you take a frame of 

 worker comb containing eggs in worker- 

 cells and nothing else, and put it in a queen- 

 less hive, more or less drones will be found 

 emerging- from worker-cells ; whereas, had 

 the frame been left in the hive where the 

 eggs were laid, there would have been no 

 drones at all. Some of the " big lights " sat 

 down on us rather heavily because we in- 

 sisted that such was the case. Now, doctor, 

 if you never tried the experiment, suppose 

 you do so. If the worker bees can make a 

 worker egg produce drones when it seems 

 desirable, it will have quite a bearing on the 

 point you have started. 



KEVIEW OF DR. MILLER'S ARTICLE, 

 PAGE 445. 



DEEP SPACE UNDER FRAMES. 



I HAVE only failure to record with any thing over 

 Vi Inch under frames. Comb is either built down 

 to the bottom-board, or knobs and pinnacles of 

 comb are put on the bottom-board to bridge the 

 distance. I do not thiDlc the doctor will And any 

 help from wide or thick bottom-bars. I have in use 

 bottom-bars 1 inch, "s, and ;« wide, and )4, -^i, and i4 

 inch thick, and I much prefer a bottom-bar M or ?» 

 wide by li inch thick, to any other, as it is so much 

 easier to put such a frame into a hive and take it 

 out without crowding- or killing bees; and I am not 

 sure, but I think comb Is built down to it closer 

 than one wider. All we need of a bottom-bar any 

 way is to keep the two end-bars in place, and serve 

 as a check to the bees in building comb downward. 



COVERS. 



I have used flat covers for years, but 1 can not 

 say I am pleased with them, for just the reasons 

 mentioned by the doctor; 

 i. e., the twisting and warp- 

 ing 80 as to let cold wind 

 blow in when we want 

 every thing snug and 

 close, if it were not for 

 the weight and awkward- 

 ness of the old Langstroth 

 cap, I would adopt it at 

 once; but it is awkward, 

 clumsy, and expensive, and also must have a cleat 

 all around the hive to support it, which adds to the 

 cost and takes up so much room in the cellar dur- 

 ing winter; also fills a wagon to no purpose if you 

 wish to haul hives or bees. I have used a modified 

 style of this cover, or, rather, a modified Simplicity, 

 a few for several years, and have TO of them now. 

 They give so good satisfaction that I am willing to 

 call it the best cover yet. The top should be made 

 of two pieces, and covered with tin well painted. 

 The rim is 3 inches deep, and rabbets X inch by '« 

 inch. It should not fit too close, so as to allow for 

 the swelling and shrinking of the hive. No shade- 

 board is needed with this cover, but the frames 

 must be covered with a cloth or enamel cloth (I 

 prefer the latter) to keep the bees out of the I'A- 



H.^TCH'S HIVE-COVER. 



inch space above the frames. With" a [flat cover 

 such as the Dovetailed hive has, I haveinot been 

 able to dispense with a shade-board, and really 

 that coverlis the only^fault I have with] the Dove- 

 tailed hive, and my home yard is provided with 

 them now, 10 frames to the hive, however. No 

 more 8-f rame hives for me. 



keeney's plan op wiring. 

 LWiring frames has never been a hobby of mine; 

 but nevertheless when 

 this plan was given in 

 Gleanings its merits 

 were so clear I adopted 

 it at once, with a limit- 

 ed experiment on some 

 two or three frames. I 

 HATCH'S improvement ON have concluded that 

 keeney's plan of one of the diagonal 

 WIRING. wires may be left out, 



and yet tlie foundation is held in place all right. 

 This allows all the wiring to be done with one piece 

 of wire, which saves all of the time of splicing and 

 fastening, which comes so awkward to clumsy 

 men's fingers. The inclosed diagram will show 

 how I mean. At first I thought the other diagonal 

 wire was the one, if any, to leave off; but experi- 

 ment proved I was wrong. 



ARRANGEMENT OF HIVES. 



The plan of the doctor's, of setting four hives in 

 a cluster, is all right for compactness. I tried it at 

 first and found it was all right as far as the bees' 

 interest was concerned ; but there is no quiet alley 

 for your wheelbarrow and tool-box to stand in; and 

 the hive that stands just in the rear of the one you 

 are at work with is almost sure to get stirred up and 

 to put in a pointed protest, while the one at the 

 side of the one you are at work with, facing the 

 same way, 1 mean, if it does show irritation can be 

 very quickly quieted by a whiff of smoke at the en- 

 trance, for you are in just the position to see them 

 and throw in that aforesaid quieter. See, doctor? 

 As to bees from the other row annoying, T feet 

 away will be found ample room for them to get 

 over the doctor's head, even if he has one of his 

 three-sided stools to sit on, and is at the top notch 

 of it. C. A. Hatch. 



Ithaca, Wis., June 20. 



Thanks, friend Hatch. You have given 

 us just the facts we have wanted to know 

 more about. The fact tliat the bee-space 

 under the frames is a failure in one or two 

 instaLces is worth scores of others proving 

 that the bees did not till this space with 

 burr-combs. Dr. Miller, a short time ago, 

 you remember, reported that they were a 

 failure with him almost the tirst thing in 

 the season.— 1 do not know but your point 

 about narrow hottom-hsirs is well taken ; 

 and it would be, perhaps, worth our while 

 to consider it. Who else can give us some 

 facts from experience on this point?— Now, 

 friend II., I do not like your cover. We 

 have used virtually such a one for a good 

 many years in the shape of the old Simplic- 

 ity. I can not see any use in having this 

 inch or U-inch space above the frames. It 

 necessitates the use of enamel cloth, or 

 some sort of covering. The more we tise 

 the Hat cover, the more we like it. So far, 

 in a year and a half or two years, we have 

 had no covers that wind, that were properly 

 made. We paint our covers on both sides ; 



