1879 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



275 



$eH§ and (tueri(ts. 



fJHE a queens yon sent me last fall were received 

 J indue time, all alive. I. introduced them im- 

 i mediately, and, although I did not follow your 



directions in every particular, I made a success of 



it. When 1 released them, 1 watched their motions 

 until it was evident that they were kindly received. 



MOTHS. 



In regard to the bee moth, you tell us each month, 

 "The bee moth need hardly be mentioned now, un- 

 less it is to advise you to drive them out with Ital- 

 ians, for, whenever I hey come into a neighborhood, 

 the moths get out without any farther trouble or 

 bother." Now, isn't that putting it rather strongly? 

 Is it true, that the moths will tiee before the Italians 

 like a routed army ? I have never found any moths 

 upon the comb, but have found them upon the bot- 

 tom boards, and upon the under side of the frames, 

 and. I believe, in one or two instances, upon the top. 



Parsons, Kan., May 28, 1879. II. M. TAYLOR. 



[[do mean just what I say about moths, for even 

 if you do find a worm or two on the bottom board, 

 or on the tops of the frames, the Italians will take 

 care that they do not get into the combs where they 

 can do harm, as they do wiih the bl.tck bees.] 



ANOTHER CLAIMANT TO THE INVENTION OF THE 

 COLD BLAST SMOKER. 



Last year I wrote you a letter describing a modifi- 

 cation of your Simplicity smoker, that would give 

 you a cold' blast anil a better draught : but you wrote 

 me that you tried it, and it would not work. Now, 

 judge my surprise to see that your "cold blast" 

 smoker is identically the same thing in principle. 

 The only difference I see, is that you lengthened the 

 nozzle a little, which, of course, ought to be suggest- 

 ed on the first trial. I wondered why it did not 

 work with you, for 1 knew the principle was correct, 

 it being that of the "injector" used on engines. 

 Now, sir, 1 think it but fair that I should have due 

 credit for my invention. What say you ? 



S. C. Dodge. 



Chattanooga, Tenn., May 19, 1879. 



[I have been waiting to hear from you, friend D. 

 I knew somebody sent me such a letter, and, in the 

 March No., I had in type a paragraph inquiring who 

 it was. The paragraph was taken out to make room 

 for something else, and was afterward distributed 

 and forgotten. You are right; the tube only (and 

 the draft holes) was lacking to make it a success, but 

 I had not the sense to add it, as you did not suggest 

 it, and so, like many other inventions, it was drop- 

 ped. If I am correct, the credit of an invention 

 belongs to him who first makes it practicdRy a suc- 

 cess. This, neither you nor 1 can claim. I studied 

 on the same thing aiso, last winter, but could not 

 make it work until friend Corey sent us a complete 

 smoker. 1 cannot find the first letter, but I think 

 there was no mention of "cold blast."] 



SAGGING OF FRAMES, ENAMELED CLOTH VERSUS 

 MATS, ETC. 



My brood frames are filled with brood ani\ sealed 

 honey, until the bottoms of the frames rest'onthe 

 bottom board. The tops of frames arc warped or 

 bent on account of great weight. What shall I do ? 

 The Story and a half hive of yours and "fdn." are 

 the greatest improvements 1 have yet seen in my 

 experience. The enameled cloth beats slats for 

 frame covers; don't you think so ? 



It. C. Taylor. 



Wilmington, X. C, June 7, 1879. 



[You will find a complete remedy for the sagging 

 of top baison another page. I rather prefer the 

 mats, but it may take some time to decide fully in 

 the matter.] 



nONEY FLYING OVEK THE TOP OF THE EXTRACTOR. 



I received smoker top and extractor rim, and am 

 well satisfied. They work all right. I can hardly 

 make the smoker go rut at all now. unless I put a 

 plug in the top. I thank you very much. 



Levi Whitmoyer. 



Noblesville, Hamilton Co., Ind., June "0, '79. 



L< Mice in a great while, we have a complaint that 

 the honey flies over the top of the extractor. I do 

 not know how this can happen, if the dimensions id' 

 the frame to be used are given us accurately; but 



where one has such troubles the easiest way to fix it 

 is to have a rim, say il inches wide, with a wire in 

 the top edge, made to slip just inside of the top of 

 the can. Loosen the screws to the gearing, and it 

 can be put in place very easily. We will furnish 

 such a rim without charge, where it is needed on 

 our extractors.] 



POLLEN IN THE SECTIONS, STARTERS FALLING DOWN, 

 FASTENING ON SEPARATORS. 



Some of our colonies are filling the boxes in the 

 honey crates with pollen. Can they be induced in 

 any way to use it out ? Did you abandon the melt- 

 ed wax plan of putting in starters because it was 

 insecure? The bees seem to dislike building over 

 the Hue of rosin and wax, and begin to build out the 

 fdn. just below, and as soon as honey is deposited in 

 it, it tears off. Every evening I have to take out 

 what have fallen during the day, and try again. I 

 think you said you did not know whether a queen 

 would feed herself or not. To-day one hatched out 

 in my hand, and ate some honey I offered her. The 

 "blessed bees"(?) also fasten the sections to the tins 

 occasionally. M. Simons. 



Brocton, N. Y., June 2:s, 1870. 



(I have never seen many of our sized sections con- 

 taining pollen, but if I should find such, I think I 

 would save them to send queens in. " I have never 

 heard of starters falling off from the reason you 

 mention. We use the wax and rosin, but a very 

 small quantity is used in fastening the starters. 

 To be sure, queens feed themselves; at least, ours 

 do. Once in a great while, we find the comb of a 

 section attached to the separator, but we always 

 take such directly to the dining table, and have no 

 farther trouble with them.] 



FEEDING AND BUILDING UP COLONIES THAT ARE TO 

 BE BRIMSTONED. 



People about here have the fashion of killing 

 their bees, in order to get the honey. Will it pay 

 me to take such bees, giving the owners all tUehoneyt 

 and can I fill them up well for the winter, by giving 

 feed and fdn. ? If so, would it be best to unite ? 

 and can I unite safely, during transferring, at that 

 season (October) ? Anna L. Gray. 



Bloomtield, Conn., June 18, 1879. 



[Feed and fdn., with plenty of bees, might answer, 

 if you commenced your work in Sept.; but I have 

 little hope that you would make a success of it, so 

 late as Oct. There are those among us who, I think, 

 would be so thorough and careful, as to make it 

 work even in Oct.; but the average ABC scholar 

 would be almost sure to end in Blasted Hopes.] 



BEES DESERTING THEIR HIVE WHEN DEPRIVED OF 

 BOTH BROOD AND QUEEN. 



What became of our bees ? I took the queen 

 from a hybrid colony, and also the brood, leaving 

 only the combs with honey, intending to put in pure 

 brood to raise cells; but when I got so far, I became 

 very tired, and thought that a few hours waiting 

 would do no harm. In the evening, when I took the 

 brood to them, 3 i of the bees had left. Is it usual 

 tor bees thus to leave when both queen and brood 

 are taken away? and where did they go? I could 

 see no dead bees in front of any hive, that I thought 

 came from that hive. 



WOODEN SLATES. 



Thin, clean boards, such as are used for section 

 boxes, answer for us instead of slates. Thread a 

 darning needle and sew loops to hang them up by, 

 drive in a carpet tack to hang them on, and write 

 with a pencil. M ns. S. J. W. Axtell. 



K( 'Seville, 111., June 15, 1879. 



[I should not dare leave bees a great while with- 

 out brood or queen; I think your hybrids must have 

 gone into adjoining hives where they were well re- 

 ceived. I suppose your wooden slates, after they 

 are all written over, are thrown away, are they not? 

 and new ones hung on the tack.] 



FOUNTAIN PUMPS AND HOW THEY ANSWER. 



I used my fountain pump in about two hours after 



it came, on a swarm of bees which seemed deter- 

 mined to go to the woods; but, when 1 brought it to 

 bear on them, it was astonishing to see how soon they 

 changed their mind. It is the nicest thing I ever 

 saw for calling down the little pets; I could not get 

 along without it. H. L. RICHMOND. 



St. Johns, Mich., June 16, 1879. 



