638 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



pick up your zinc, shake it in tVonl of the hive, 

 the box the same. All can be done inside of 

 two minutes. It is quick, easy, and robber- 

 bees have no time to find what you are at be- 

 fore the thing is done. We have caught 16 in 

 two-story hives, in 38 minutes. Try one; and 

 if you do not laugh, charge it to me. 



Fulton, N. Y.. Aug. 13. Oscar Dines. 



Friend D., the use of sieves with a bottom of 

 perforated zinc is very old. Quinby described 

 it, if T am not mistaken, in one of the first edi- 

 tions of his book. Your arrangement, however, 

 seems to be a veiy convenient one. We have 

 used such devices to some extent; but as ive 

 ordinarily find our queens in less than a minute, 

 it would hardly pay us in our business. Our 

 colonies, for the purpose we use them, and with 

 the meUil corners, are very easily looked over. 



AVHAT WOULD HV, PKOPEl! KENT FOR 500 COI.- 

 ONIKS? 



If I should own an apiary of .5(K) or 1000 colo- 

 nies, and should not desire the care of it. for 

 what could I rent it in cash, the renter to have 

 honey yield and none of the increase? Would 

 it be best to have so many colonies of bees to- 

 gether, or would it be best to separate into 

 apiaries of .^(X) each, several miles apart? My 

 Hpiai'ies would be in Colorado. 



Miss Lida Winsi.ow. 



Carthage. Ind., June 38. 



My friend. I do not know how we can answer 

 your question. In the first place. I do not be- 

 lieve in renting bees. Sell them outright at 

 some price, and have it done with. If, however, 

 nobody around you is willing to buy, but is 

 willing to rent, I would put it like this: For 

 instance, the renter is to take .500 colonies of 

 bees, and turn them over to you in one year, 

 in as good condition as he found them. Let 

 him pay you as rent the ordinary rate of inter- 

 est on the value of the b(>es. as nearly as you 

 can give on a fair valuation. Then let him 

 have every thing he can get out of it — honey, 

 increase, wax, and every thing else. If you 

 undertake to put in a lot of conditions you will 

 complicate the matter and open the way to no 

 <'nd of dissatisfaction and com])iaint. perhaps 

 on both sides. 



SEM,IN(i llONKY IIY TIIK SECTION : WIRING 

 FRAMES, ETC. 



The grocers in Middletown, this county, so 

 far as I know, buy honey in sections by the 

 pound, but many of them sell by the section, 

 and not by weight. I have ti'ied to convince 

 some of them it was not a fair way of selling, 

 but it is less trouble, and that suits them. 



I have a nephew in business in Honesdale, 

 Pa. I was there last winter. He was selling 

 sections at 1.5 cts. each; paid 13 cts. per pound 

 for them. They did not aveiage near one pound 

 ill weight. As far as my observation goes, fully 

 as many sell by the piece as by weight. 



In using tin bars in wired frames I set the 

 edge of the bar against the foundation and not 

 the flat side. It takes up little room, and is not 

 in the way. for the bees build up to it and cover 

 it all over. I use 7 instead of 6 upright wires, 

 liaving one in the center, the tin bar on one 

 side of the sheet, and the wire on the other. 

 Your old way of wiring fi'ames can't be bet- 

 tered. 



Will some one who can do it. please tell in 



Gi.EANiNGS how to get the bees to carry the 

 honey from partly filled sections to the body of 

 the hive when they need it for winter stores? 



I have a fair crop of honey this year. I have 

 been in the business here for 11 or 13 years, and 

 in that time have always got some surplus, and, 

 with the exception of " two seasons, have had 

 good crops. E. D. Howem.. 



New Hampton, N. Y.. Aug. 8. 



Friend H.. I fear I shall have to give up that 

 honey is sold by the section a good deal. Not- 

 withstanding, I think it is a wrong way of do- 

 ing business. But it seems to me that the dis- 

 honesty lies on the grocer and not on the 

 bee-keeper. We can not well make our sections 

 to average a pound, very closely, or any thing 

 verv near it. 



]\[0¥Eg W^ QaE^IE?. 



DIBBERN. BEE-ESCAPE— A GOOD REPORT FROM. 



I would say I have us(^d the Dibbern bee- 

 escape, and it gives good satisfaction by putting 

 it on in the evening. The bees were all out of 

 the T super excepting about ^i dozen the next 

 morning. D. BeckmannJ 



Wheatland, Iowa, Aug. 7. 



HANDLING BEES AVITHOUT SMOKE. 



You speak of handling bees part of tlie time 

 without smoke. I believe that with a little; 

 practice, any person could get along without 

 smoke. I can handle hive after hive without it. 



Lewiston. Mo.. June 30. H. MANSPp:R<iER. 



[You can get along without smoke at times, 

 but it takes more time. A little whiff over tlie 

 tops of the frames will so mollify the bees that 

 you can work faster ordinarily.] 



qrEEN-CAGES FOR LONG DISTANCES. 



What kind of cage or device do you consider 

 the best for shipping queens long distances (say 

 18 days' journey)? Is it absolutely necessary to 

 supjjlV queens with' water for such long jour- 

 neys? Wm. Styan & Son. 



San Mateo. Cal. 



[We prefer the Benton cage for long dis- 

 tances. We formerly put small tin bottles of 

 water in the cages: but within the last few 

 years we have not found it necessary.] 



CONTI5ARY TO NATURE: A NtTT FOR I)OOI>ITTLP: 

 TO CRACK. 



Not long since a pioneer bee-keeper was pass- 

 ing through my apiary; and observing a large 

 bee (it was a drone) he said they were the she 

 bees. He said he did not believe in killing such 

 bees, as it was " against nature." Shades of 

 Doolittle! Somebody is certainly behind the 

 times. Doolittle says he cuts their heads off in 

 the combs. Leading lights sometimes disagree. 



Shiloh, O.. July 19. T. F. Kimee. 



[Friend K.. I have- got to be a little suspicious 

 of anybody when he goes to preaching " against 

 nature;" that is. when somebody complainSi- 

 that you are against nature because you use the 

 intelligence that God has given you.] 



NAILS AS SPACERS FOR FIXED FRAMES. 



I have watched the discussion on fixed 

 frames, to see the different methods of spacing. 

 I take some of those wire nails, drive in the 

 top-bar about an inch from each end, just far 

 enough to space the frames. I have a gauge, 

 and lay it beside the nail and drive until it is 



