860 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1. 



fered very much from the cause you mention. 

 There was some apprehension about Paris green 

 when it was first used ; but. so far as we liave been 

 able to learn, lack of attention has very much 

 more to do with it than any injury resulting 

 from poisons used to kill insect enemies. Of 

 course, we don't know how it may be in your 

 neighborhood; but if you look into the matter 

 carefully, we think it will be as we state. 



now TO MAKE A WATERING-PLACE FOR BEES. 



I use a ten-gallon keg: bore a hole near the 

 bottom, put in a faucet, then take a soft pine 

 board about 3 ft. long, and with .a hatchet I 

 hack it all over on one side to make it as rough 

 as possible. Set the keg on a block (a box will 

 do) about 18 inches high. Now place one end of 

 the board just beneath the faucet, and the other 

 end in a very small trough. Fill up the keg: 

 cover it well, so that no bees may fall in; turn 

 the faucet so that it will drip just to suit. With 

 this arrangement near they do not ti-ouble me 

 much in the watering-trough, except on a very 

 hot day, when a little coal oil I'ubbed in the 

 trough' just above the water will keep them 

 away. They will not go into a trough that is 

 painted with coal tar inside. 



Ouriionev season is over, with an average of 

 about 30 His. p<'r colony. Bees did fairly well, 

 considering the dry season. Ed. E. Smith. 



Carpenter, 111., Nov. 7. 



Thank you. friend S., for your excellent sug- 

 gestion in regard to a watei-ing-place. 



AN OUTSIDE CASE FOR WINTERING. 



I see several inquiries in reference to outside 

 winter cases for the Simplicity and Dovetailed 

 hives. For this winter T have packed all my 

 single-walled hives by making a case, out of 

 rough inch hemlock lumber, the top of which 

 is first covered with hoai'ds from old glass- 

 boxes; then a covering of heavy manilla paper, 

 well tacked, and coated with two or three coats 

 of good thick paint. TIk^ case is made large 

 enough to allow putting old newsijapers or 

 heavy paper over the hive wlien it is dropped 

 down over. As the hives are 10 inches deep, I 

 made a cover of ten-inch stuff. This made a 

 good winter double-walled hive, and I think it 

 will be as good to winter in as chaff hives. I 

 have packed 30 colonies so this fall, and will 

 report success. For the first time in years 1 had 

 to feed ten or twelve colonies; but with a modi- 

 fied Miller feeder it was little trouble, as I could 

 ■feed from 10 to 15 lbs. in ;34 hours. 



T. (4. ASHMEAD. 



Williamson, N. Y., Nov. 10, 1890. 



of virus, they have acquiried immunity against 

 its effect, .they will be free from riieimiatic at- 

 tacks as long as this immunity la.sts. 



A. J. Elankinsiiip. 

 Eldorado, Ills.. Nov. 16, 



TWO division-boards. 



I notice what Mr. H. L. Jeffrey (pp. 771, 773) 

 has to say regarding two division-boards. I 

 deem the subject of very great importance to us 

 l)ee-i<eepers. I have used two division-boards 

 and ])aiier i)acking, for many years, with the 

 very best results. For beginners, your advice 

 in the A E C, if I remember well, must be fol- 

 lowed. Get your bees in good trim for winter 

 in time — in this jjart of the country, say the 

 middle of October. The bees need time'to fix 

 up for winter. Gluing, patching, etc., must be 

 done: and for all this, give your bees plenty of 

 time in fall. The less you handle your bees in 

 fall, the better for them. 



The Dovetailed hive, with closed-end frames, 

 is just the very thing many of us looked for. 



HOW BEES MAY BE INDUCED TO WORK IN 

 SECTIONS. 



During a good honey-flow, remove the queen 

 from one of your best colonies. Also remove or 

 destroy all queen-cells. In a day or two, give 

 to this queenless colony a hive with nothing 

 but section frames, save one, which will be a 

 brood-frame with (jueen-cells just started. The 

 other brood -frani(>s from the parent hive may 

 be given to any populous colony for a few days. 

 Then with the hatched young bees, strengthen 

 the queenless colony as much as possible; and 

 before a young queen appears, sections are filled. 



I must thank you once more for the tine select 

 tested (|ueen you kindly furnished me last July. 

 If one mail owns a ?100 queen in our country, I 

 say fifty dollars can not buy my Aurea — thus I 

 named her, on account of all rare qualities com- 

 bined and possessed by her. 



Rev. p. Stephp^n Stenger. 



St, Meiurad, Ind,, Nov. 10. 



bee-stings for rheumatism; a physician s 

 statr:ment before the french 

 entomoeogicae society. 

 Dr, Al. Laboutbene, at the meeting of the 

 French Entomological Societv, held on March 

 13. 1889. gave a short abstract of a paper pub- 

 lished in 1888 by an Austrian physician. Dr. 

 Tr-rc, who seeras'to have made extended experi- 

 ments for a number of years. Dr. Terc asserts 

 that a person stung by bec^s acquires thereby a 

 relative immunity from tlu^ consequences of 

 subsequent srings: in other words, that the 

 virus of the bee-sting acts like a vaccinal in- 

 oculation against its own poison. The immu- 

 nity lasts about six months, sometimes less, 

 probably according to the iiuiiiber of stings in- 

 flicted oh a person. Persons suffei'ing from acute 

 rheumatism require a larger number of bee- 

 stings to feel the usual effect of the poison: but 

 a,s soon as. by inoculation of a sufficient amount 



THICK top-frames A SUCCESS. 



Last fall I had 33 stands of bees in the thin 

 L. frames: and wishing to have the best for pre- 

 venting brace-combs I studied all that was said 

 in Gleanings respecting them, and came to 

 the conclusion I would make my frame top- 

 bars 1 inch wide and K deep. So I made 4.5 

 hives, dovetail pattern all but the dovetail, and 

 slatted honey -boards, and made them enough 

 deeper to suit the heavy frames. As it was a 

 poor season I did not need many surplus cases 

 on: but what I put on. on the new heavy frames, 

 did not,Iiaveaiiy brace-combs above the frames: 

 but wliere tliey were spaced a little wide there 

 were some odd bits of comb from one to the 

 other, but none above the top corner of the 

 frames. Then, again, where some were spaced 

 rather closer there were no braces anywhere. 

 Again, by changing hives and swarming arti- 

 ficially two or three, and raising a few queens 

 from my best stocks, I managed toget the thick 

 and thin top-bars in the same hives, (^ne in 

 particular was like this: Two of the heavy 

 thick frames, then one metal-cornered fi'ame; 

 then two more tiiick ones, then another metal- 

 cornered one; and, last, two more of the heavy 

 frames, and now tiiere is not a particle of brace- 

 comb on tim thick top-bars, except where they 

 come next to the metal -cornered ones, and then 

 the thick ones are braced fast to the metal- 

 cornered ones, and are also built right up and 

 fast to tlie slatted iioncy-board. You see those 

 were tins only places wh<>re brace-combs were 

 built right from tlie two metal -cornered ones. 

 John Hammond, 



Buena Vista, O., Oct, 34, 1890, 



