360 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



MORE ABOUT BLACK HATS AND GETTING STINGS. 



In order to prove that bees have no aversion to 

 black hats, and that persons are no more liable to be 

 stung 1 while wearing hats of this color than they 

 would be if a light color were worn, Mr. Mitchell 

 cites cases where bees, while swarming, were induced 

 to cluster on a black hat. Now, this does not prove 

 that bees are particularly fond of this color. While 

 bees are in the act of swarming, they are in a differ- 

 ent state of mind, and have altogether a different 

 object in view, from what they have when persist- 

 ently trying to defend their home and drive away 

 intruders. The mind and object of the bee attemp- 

 ting to defend its stores will prompt it to dart 

 angrily at and sting the very same object it would 

 peacefully cluster upon, were it in the act of swarm- 

 ing. Possibly, bees would sting a person wearing a 

 white fur hat, quite as readily as they would were 

 the color black. The brim of a black hat throws a 

 dark shade over the upper part of the face, and I 

 have always noticed that bees strike with more cer- 

 taints r in that case, than they do if a straw hat of 

 light color is worn which does not cast much shade 

 on the face. On two occasions, I have seen broods 

 of young chicks attacked by angry bees, and the 

 dark colored chicks appeared to be selected and 

 stung much worse than the white chicks. I have no 

 doubt that hundreds of bee keepers have noticed 

 this disposition of bees to attack black or brown 

 more than they do light colors. 



Holliday's Cove, W. Va. J. A. Buchanan. 



HOW TO FASTEN FDN. IN A FRAME, AND HOW TO 

 MAKE A BRUSH FOR MELTED WAX. 



Remove the comb guide from the frame; cut a 

 board (]/ 2 the thickness of the frame) so that it will 

 tit loosely in the frame, and put cleats on the under 

 side of it to hold it just right; when in position, lay 

 a sheet of fdn. on the board, then raise the lower 

 side of the frame, board and all; see that the edge 

 of the fdn. is in such position that a slight jar will 

 pass it into the groove made to hold the comb guide; 

 when adjusted, with a small brush, apply some melt- 

 ed wax; to make it doubly sure, have two such 

 boards as described, and, alter putting the wax on 

 one side, lay in the other board and turn all over, 

 then remove the tirst board and, in the same way, 

 apply wax to the other side ; by having a number of 

 boards the frames may be stacked up until the wax 

 is cold when there will be but little danger of the 

 foundation's coming loose. I tried the rubbing plan, 

 as recommended by you, and only spoiled fdn. To 

 make a brush, take a small piece of ground-hog or 

 other skin, with the fur or hair on, and wrap and 

 fasten around the end of a pen holder, and you will 

 have one as good, for the purpose, as any you can 

 buy. A. W. Kaye. 



Pewer Valley, Ky., July 30, 1879. 



I send, to-day, for your inspection, one of my un- 

 patentable sections. Isn't it nicer 1 and it only costs 

 75 cts. per thousand, in the flat, and a girl like— well 

 say like Miss Maudie, can nail 6 or 8 hundred in a 

 day. A friend of mine and myself got a spur made, 

 and now we can take it to the basket factory, and in 

 a few minutes we have all the sections we want. 



Bees are doing finely here. I have had to work 

 almost night and day to keep them supplied. 



Benton Harbor, Mich., July 18, '79. W. L. King. 



Your section box is substantially the same 

 that Prof. Cook describes in his "Manual," 

 and if you can get the stuff ready to nail for 

 75c. per M., it is certainly very low. Miss 

 Maudie and other girls of 1-1 can put up 6 or 

 8 hundred in a day, and they may do it for a 

 day or two ; but girls of that age, with our 

 sections, gradually taper down to 100 in a 

 day, and linally they don't work at all. I 

 have tried a great many of them, and almost 

 always decide on employing older people, 

 even though I have to pay them a great deal 

 more wages. After your sections are nailed 

 up, you must cut the bottom bars narrower 

 to let the bees in, and as this is a slow, hard 

 job, you will find they are little, if any, cheap- 

 er than the other kind, and not nearly as 

 substantial. I am very, glad to hear that 

 somebody has had a good honey season. 



HOW MUCH FOOD DO BEES NEED ON A JOURNEY. 



On the 11th inst,, I sent V 2 lb. of bees, and a queen 

 to Mr. Ed. Craig, Tiffin, Iowa. By mistake of express 

 Co., Mr. Craig did not get his bees until the 23d. 1 he 

 queen and a few of the bees were alive. They were 

 provided with Hs lb. of fresh candy, and 3 oz. of wa- 

 ter. E. M. Hayhurst. 



Kansas City, Mo., July 20, 1879. 



On page 211, June No., I estimated that a 

 lb. of bees on a journey would need a lb. of 

 honey and I lb of water every 5 days. The 

 report given above makes it appear that the 

 amount of sugar and water mentioned would 

 last them nearly 10 days, which I think is 

 nearer right. We have demonstrated pretty 

 well, that a given weight of sugar and water 

 will last considerably longer than the same 

 weight of honey. In very hot weather, per- 

 haps it would be well to give more water; 

 say a pint of water for every lb. of sugar. 

 Do you not see we are making some prog- 

 ress in estimating what it costs to u board 

 bees?" 



I have a swarm of black bees, and they are build- 

 ing comb crosswise of the frames. Some of the 

 cards are straight. What can I do to make them 

 build it straight, without comb fdn.? Will it answer 

 to take the combs out and cut out pieces where 

 they run across, and leave the rest? 



A. D. Eastman. 



East Trumbull, O., July 4, 1879. 



Since the advent of fdn., we have almost 

 forgotten the subject of straight combs. To 

 be sure you are to cut out the crooked ones, 

 and makerthem build them straight. If you 

 have all your combs built between two or 

 three old ones, there will seldom be any 

 trouble ; but I hardly see how any one can 

 afford to dispense with fdn. nowadays. 



WHY DON'T THE BEES WORK, GETTING LOWER COMBS 

 OUT OF CHAFF HIVE, ETC. 



"O dear, what can the matter be?" I don't know 

 what's up. For some time, our bees have been 

 quiet, and appear to have nothing to do. The lower 

 part of the hive is full of honey and brood, and bees 

 are abundant. All are strong colonies, so far as we 

 can judge, but they don't go above to work, or 

 swarm. Our black bees are doing better than the 

 Italians. Why? We have too much work to select 

 brood frames from the chaff hive. Why not have 

 the small boxes fitted into a crate like that in the 

 one and one half story hive? It would be so handy, 

 and the lower part of the hive could be looked 

 through in a fourth of the time, which would be bet- 

 ter for bees as well as operator. Can a chaff hive be 

 made like the Simplicity, to set off the entire upper 

 part when only the lower part is to be examined? 

 will it be cold or add much to expense? Tell us how 

 to keep fdn. not used this year and in frames from 

 injury by moths. Jesse Miller. 



Alliance, O., Aug. 1st, 1879. 



I presume your bees have ceased work be- 

 cause the supply of honey is stopped. I 

 think, by looking into the hives, you will 

 find the Italians are doing the best, even 

 though the black bees are making the most 

 stir. Sometimes, blacks are busier on the 

 buckwheat, which is just now coming into 

 bloom, than are the Italians. You can use 

 the i story crate on the chaff hive if you 

 choose, but 1 think you would find such 

 cases more trouble to handle with a strong 

 colony than are the broad frames. Hang 

 your surplus combs in a tight room, or tight 

 box, and, if put away during warm weather, 

 you will have to look at themi frequently to 

 see that no worms are on them. See "Moth 

 Miller" in the ABC. Also, page 212, June 

 No., in regard to one story chaff hives. 



