432 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



ported queens right from Italy do not fur- 

 nish, and which would be only accidental 

 and of no moment if they did. If this third 

 horny scale is the greater portion of it yel- 

 low, I think we should be satisfied, even if 

 we have to feed the bee to enable us to get a 

 view of it. I think the ABC makes it all 

 very plain, if read carefully. 



HANDY IMPLEMENTS FOR THE APIARY. 



I have been using a putty knife in my apiary for 

 the last 3 seasons, and could not do without it con- 

 veniently now. I use the broad end to scrape off 

 the bits of comb and propolis, and the other end as a 

 "crowbar" to raise the covers of hives, to pry the 

 all-wood frames loose, and numerous other pur- 

 poses. This is the shape of the edge of my knife. 



B- 



PUTTY KNIFE FOR WORKING AMONG HIVES AND 

 COMBS. 



A and B are the fulcrums when used as a lever. 

 It cost 15c, I think, and I sawed the parts off the 

 wood handle at A and B, and sharpened the end like 

 a cold chissel, taking the corners off somewhat in 

 this shape: 



I have another useful article that I cannot well do 

 without,— a bristle counter brush. It is a wooden 

 paddle with bristles in one side, and cost about 40c. 



BRUSH FOR BRUSHING BEES OFF THE COMBS. 



I use it to brush the bees from a comb when I 

 wish every one of them off and cannot shake them 

 off, and to take swarms from the body of a tree, or 

 from a limb that I do not wish to cut. It is much 

 handier than a bunch of weeds or grass, and is 

 always ready in my tool box. 



Yours in somewhat of a hurry,— 



James A. Nelson. 



Wyandott, Kansas, May 19, 1880. 



Thanks, friend N. I wish you would 

 write us again sometime when you are in a 

 hurry, if you always have such good sug- 

 gestions to make. We have obtained some 

 beautifully finished putty knives which will 

 be found in the counter store, but have not 

 as yet found a brush that pleases us so well 

 as the ones we pictured last month. 



QUEEN CELLS CLOSE TOGETHER AND HOW TO REPAIR 

 THOSE CUT INTO. 



I wish to tell you how I work with queen cells. I 

 cut them out and take them into the honey house, 

 and there separate them, and sometimes I cut into 

 one. I light a candle, and have a small pointed 

 knife that I heat in the blaze of the candle, and take 

 a bit of brown comb, which I squeeze between my 

 thumb and finger, until it is a little larger than the 

 hole in the cell, and the knife being warmed so that 



it will melt the wax, it is spread over the hole, being 

 careful to leave no air hole by which the bees can 

 get at the jelly. If your work is done well, they will 

 respect it, and the queen will hatch just the same as 

 if it had not been disturbed. When cells are scarce 

 you will find it a saving of many cells. 



Joseph Harris. 

 Moundsville, W. Va., Aug. 2, 1880. 



Many thanks, friend II. I have done the 

 same thing, by warming the wax in my lin- 

 gers and in the sun, but the bees would 

 sometimes tear the patch off again. Your 

 plan, without doubt, will make them as good 

 as new. I once took a queen out of her cell, 

 carried her around and showed her as a curi- 

 ous pieceof white wax work, put her back in 

 the cell, and she hatched out in due time, as 

 perfect as if she had never been disturbed. 



INTRODUCING WITH SWEETENED WATER. 



The queen is introduced and laying. She was the 

 first queen I ever introduced, and I tell you I had a 

 mess of it. I caged her on the top of the frames for 

 48 hours according to directions, and then released 

 her. They seemed to be friendly to her, so I closed 

 the hive, and in about 20 minutes I opened the hive, 

 and found her in a ball of bees. I caged her again, 

 and in about 24 hours released her again. No sooner 

 was she out of the cage than they had her again, so 

 I lit in on them with a quart of sweetened water, and 

 gave the queen and bees a good sprinkling, and they 

 haven't bothered her since. Elias Berg. 



Cicero, Ind., July 30, 1880. 



A good feed, if you can manage it without 

 enticing robbers, will often make the bees 

 much better natured and induce them to for- 

 get about balling the queen, but it is not al- 

 ways a success as it was in your case. 



THE CHEIROGRAPH, AND HOW TO USE IT. 



"Your samples of cheirograph work are at hand, and, I must 

 say are 'splendid. ' Tell us how it was made, both the pad and 

 the ink, if you will! Was it after the receipt in Gleanings?" 



The above is what I received, written upon a pos- 

 tal, after sending friend Root some copies of my cir- 

 cular and price list, printed in colors upon the 

 cheirograph. The pad, and the purple, or violet, 

 ink are the ones advertised upon the 75c counter. 

 The red ink, I made myself, from the following re- 

 cipe: Dissolve one ounce of aniline in seven fluid 

 ounces of hot water; on cooling, add one ounce of 

 alcohol with one-fourth ounce glycerine, and a few 

 drops of carbolic acid. 



Now then, I will tell you why my work looks as 

 well as it does; it is printed with a pen, not written. 

 The "up strokes" in writing are light and do not re- 

 ceive much ink ; consequently, after taking a few 

 copies, the "up strokes take light," which gives the 

 writing a dim appearance; while, in printing with a 

 pen, every stroke is a "down stroke," giving a gen- 

 erous supply of ink, which produces a clear, bold 

 copy. Don't say you can't print; if you don't re- 

 member just how all of the letters are made, get a 

 spelling book and look at them, and then try it, and 

 you will be surprised to see how soon you will be 

 turning off quite fair printing. 



After your writing, or printing, is nearly finished, 

 and you have taken a great deal of pains 

 with it, perhaps you make a mistake. Don't 

 try to scratch it out, as you will make a blurred, 

 and bad looking spot in your writing; but just cut 

 out the word in which the mistake occurred, lay a 

 clean sheet of paper under your copy, and then 

 write the word, through the hole in your copy, upon 



