1879 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



225 



%$ad§ of %vain, 



From Different Fields. 



DIVISION BOARDS. 



fi WISH you would state in Gleanings, whether 

 or not I could manufacture division boards 

 I bound on the edges with cloth, rubber, &c. &c., 



without infringing on any one's patent. If there is 

 really a patent on it, please give us the patentee's 

 name and address. 



I have come to the conclusion that a hire, to 

 be perfect, must have a good division board, one 

 that will fit the hive tightly, preventing any heat 

 escaping from the bees. 1 have a plan for an ad- 

 justable board that will vary itself to tit any varia- 

 tion in the size of the hives. Who will be first to 

 get up a really good adjustable board, smooth on 

 both sides? I know from my experience that such 

 is needed in the fall in preparing bees for winter, 

 giving them only what combs the colony can cover. 

 They are useful in hiving a swarm, to give them 

 only what frames they will build combs in, causing 

 them to build their combs straight and true, and 

 down to the bottom bars. They are very handy after 

 a long, severe, cold winter like the past, to contract 

 the size of hives having weak colonies in them, also 

 to divide one or more combs from the main colony, 

 to get queen cells built, &c, &c. We think them a 

 necessity and will use them in some shape; so give 

 us all the information you can about patents on 

 them. Jos. M. Brooks. 



Columbus, Ind., May 5th, 1879. 



There seems to be a constant stream of 

 inquiries in regard to whether there be a 

 patent on division boards, and I presume it 

 all comes from the absurd claims of Mitchell 

 and his agents. The matter has been so 

 fully discussed, and Mitchell so often shown 

 up, it hardly seems necessary to take further 

 space in regard to it. Mitchell has a patent 

 on some iron lugs applied to division boards, 

 which neither he nor any body else, so far 

 as I know, have ever used. If Mitchell 

 threatens prosecution, tell him to prosecute 

 me, for I have been making and selling cloth 

 lined division boards for years. I heartily 

 agree with you in regard to the value of a 

 good division board, friend 13. 



THE SUGAR AND WATER FEEDER. 



I now feel quite confident that the raw sugar and 

 bottle feeder is a perfect success. The one that I 

 am using is the same size as the one I sent you, and 

 in 5 days of last week they emptied the one box of 

 pure sugar and also used up all the water, and dur- 

 ing the same time, they only used about 1-6 of the 

 mixed sugar and flour. They sometimes work al- 

 most entirely on the pure sugar, and at other times 

 just the reverse. I have been trying to find out the 

 cause or circumstances by which they are governed 

 in making their changes from one to the other, but 

 have been unable to arrive at any positive conclus- 

 ion. I find now, since they are getting honey from 

 the maple and other blossoms, they have abandoned 

 the sugar entirely, but continued to work on the 

 mixture, and keep the top surface quite wet with 

 the water from the bottle. A neighbor, an old bee- 

 keeper, examined the feeder to day, and he at once 

 pronounced it the greatest advancement he had 

 seen for several years, in things pertaining to bee- 

 keeping. It remains yet to determine the exact rel- 

 ative proportions of the boxes and bottle, that they 

 may all be replenished at the same time. I think 

 the one box should be about 5 inches deep for pure 

 sugar, and the other about 1(4 inches deep, and the 

 bottle, I think, ought to hold from 6 to 8 ounces. 



Oxford, O., April 26th, '79, D. A. McCord. 



AN A B C SCHOLAR'S EXPERIENCE. 



In March, 1878, 1 saw your paper at a friend's, and 

 was much interested in the new way of keeping 

 bees, and thought I would try it. I went to work 

 and made hives with movable frames, and in May, I 



transferred 6 swarms. I had good success, and 

 during the summer 1 divided and increased them to 

 13. I sent to friend Nellis, and got an Italian queen, 

 and introduced her, and in the tall I had a strong 

 Italian swarm. I commenced the winter with 13 

 good swarms, but all died during the winter except 

 2 swarms of black bees. 



I have kept bees a great many years, commenc- 

 ing first when a young man in Scotland. I came to 

 America in 1851, and have kept some bees ever 

 since, but never lost as many as I have the past 

 winter. John Turnbull. 



Downsville, N. Y., April 26, '78. 



THREE SWARMS IN THREE CONSECUTIVE DAYS. 



I have recently met with something, to me, un- 

 known before; viz., one hive of bees sending out 3 

 swarms in 3 consecutive days; one on Saturday, one 

 on Sunday, and one to-day, Monday. There is no 

 mistake about it, for I was within 10 ft. of the hive 

 each time, when the swarm came out, and saw it 

 and now have all three in hives at work. These 

 were all good sized swarms, and came from a 2 story 

 Langstroth. 



1 have met with an extraordinary streak of luck 

 in getting swarms this season; I get one-half for 

 hiving one apiary, and half of the new swarms of an 

 other for furnishing box hives. Thus, you see, if I 

 can only hold my good fortune, I will "have a start 

 without much outlay. I have 14 swarms to date, 

 and think I will close with about 20 or 25 swarms, 

 all of which I wish put into good, close, well made, 

 frame hives. Pinneo Hurd. 



Dermott, Ark., April 28, 1979. 



Your case is not very difficult to explain. 

 Perhaps the old queen failed, and a lot of 

 queen cells were raised. If in the swarm- 

 ing season, the new swarms would all 

 have young queens like second swarms, and 

 hence might come off one each day. The 

 hive probably contained a large amount of 

 brood or there would not be bees enough to 

 form 3 swarms in so short a time. Your 

 plan of starting an apiary is certainly a most 

 fortunate one, and you should get rich fast, 

 with snch a chance, especially it' bees would 

 make one rich. Like other riches, they 

 sometimes fly away. 



TRANSFERRING, and how to keep robbers away. 



I lost "nary" stand of bees last winter ; all came 

 through in good fix. I have S5 stands all Italianized 

 but a few. You can transfer bees any thne of the 

 year, honey or no honey. Transfer late in the even- 

 ing, and early next morning move them onto a clean 

 bench, stop all cracks, then wet a rag with coal oil, 

 and rub it on the under edge of the lid, around all 

 cracks, and on the front of bottom board. I trans- 

 ferred this spring and the bees never found it out. 

 Be sure to keep all honey cleaned up. Bees carried 

 in pollen every month last winter, and are swarming 

 now. The excitement on bee-culture is past here. 



K. Davknport. 



Richland Springs, San Saba Co., Tex., Apr. 18, '79. 



Your remarks about keeping all the hon- 

 ey nicely cleaned up, friend I)., I agree with 

 exactly ; and perhaps I may agree with you 

 in regard to using coal oil to drive the rob- 

 bers away, after I have tried it, but I am a 

 little inclined to fear it might induce your 

 transferred colony to desert their hive. 



WHERE TO PLANT THE GRAPE VINES FOR SnADE. 



You tell everyone to plant grape vines on the 

 south side of hive. That won't do for southern 

 latitudes, as the sun rises in the north east, and sets 

 in the north west, and is nearly vertical at meridian. 

 Our shade must be on the west side of the hive to 

 protect it during the long sweltering evenings. The 

 mornings are not uncomfortable. For the same 

 reasons, our hives do better if they face the south. 



I am using Simplicities, and lost 2 out of 16, by 

 pure neglect. My neighbors using boxes lost nearly 

 all. There surely is protection in regular parallel 

 cards of comb. H. A. Moody. 



Longtown, Miss. 



