lOU 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



year? 1 have not the time oi- money to experiment, 

 so please give me your ideas of the matter. 



E. W. OSBUKN. 



North Adams, Mich., Oct. 13, ^SH. 



Transfer those old hives, friend O., and 

 save only the good comb, or that containing 

 brood. If there is brood scattered about in 

 poor unshapely comb, fasten it into frames 

 so as to keep it until the brood hatches out, 

 then throw it away. Most of tlie transfer- 

 ring done now. I l)elieve, is so managed that 

 only the best of tlie old comb should be used, 

 and the hive filled out with the modern 

 kinds of combs built on fdn. placed in wired 

 frames. If I had liglit colonies in October 

 I would endeavor to take them through by 

 feeding : if they are too weak to be fed, 

 doulile them up ; and I do not know how 

 you can manage it without taking some time 

 or money. Uniting can be easily done in 

 the cellar, but you will proba])ly lose one of 

 your queens. " 



FRIEND FOX'S BEE-FEEDER; HOAV TO MAKE IT. 



I take a Langstroth rack to the tinner, and have 

 him make me a tin box the exact size of the rack, 

 with the exception of the depth, which is 6 inches 

 instead-of g^s; put a '2-inch tin thimble in the cen- 

 ter of top-bar, to fill from; insert a cork after fill- 

 ing; put in the bottom, four tin gauze-thimbles, 

 these to be filled with sponge; leave quite a bunch 

 for the bees to cluster on. When filled, raise the 

 cover and insert the feeder in center of cluster, and 

 the bees will empty it in a short time, the outlet 

 being in center of cluster, and there being no dan- 

 ger from robbers, and no daubing of hive, and no 

 escape of heat from the hive. 



Hillsborough, Wis., Jan. 5, 1885. E. Fox. 



The new feature in this feeder seems to 

 be in arranging it so the feed will slowly 

 ooze through bits of sponge, and these piec- 

 es of sponge are held in place by wire-cloth 

 tubes, so that a large number of bees can 

 have access to them. By the time you have 

 fed heavily for a day or two, I am inclined 

 to think the bees would build a comb cover- 

 ing the sponges all up. One trouble I have 

 found with similar arrangements is, that 

 when Ave are filling many hives it is dillicult 

 to see just when your feeder is full, unless 

 you pour very carefully and slowly. 



F. .1. FI.ORy'S SECTIOK-CLAMP. 



(Jet four pieces of stuff, cut the same shape as the 

 hollow-angled sample sent, place 3 of these with 

 hollow side up, put in a Mb. or any sized section 

 near the middle, then put the other 3 pieces on the 

 top of the section, and tack all with your very 

 small wire nails, then you will see that you can 

 slide in other sections the same size till you fill the 

 clamp to whatever length you reciuire. another 

 lot of sections in same shape will fit over these, and 

 you can tier up as high as you like, and have a bee- 

 si)ace between. When the top is filled you can re- 

 verse in a moment, if necessary; and if only some 

 are filled you can slide them out and put in 

 others. The small wire nails can be drawn out with 

 tlu! point of almost any knife. By tiering up in this 

 style there is always a 'i-inch space between tiers, 

 and by cutting your clamps the requried length 

 j'ou can put in your tiers alternately endwise, or 

 across, as you desire. 



I think you, better than 1. can appreciate this 



idea, which I feel sure is vei-y valuable to those 

 producing comb honey. All credit is due to F. J. 

 Fiory, of Lemoore, Tulare Co., Cal., who so unself- 

 ishly presents it to his brother bee-keepers, without 

 taking any patent on it. George Hobler. 



Hanford, Cal., Jan., 188.5. 



The sticks sent us by friend II. are made 

 exactly in the way we make chalf-hive 

 corners, only they are sawed out from a i 

 board. They are sawed so that the thick- 

 ness of the stuff isHnch. This will leave 

 the sections about i inch from each other, 

 and a tier of them can be handled as a sin- 

 gle box. Now, allliough these S bee-spaces 

 have become (piite fashionable, it seems to 

 me they are quite obiectional)le. The lower 

 tier of sections must have a bee-space under 

 them. Why any more bee-space? It is 

 true, it enables us to handle six or eight sec- 

 tions as one box, but how are the ends to be 

 closed? The same thing has been a long 

 time in use, only folded tins were used 

 instead of the wooden troughs. The folded 

 tins would probably cost the same, but they 

 would reduce the bee-space to little or noth- 

 ing. It seems to me I woidd have a little 

 square board at each end, and then these 

 long boxes made up of sections can be sent 

 to market if desired. The idea may find 

 favor with many of the brethren, and we 

 thank friend Flory for suggesting these V- 

 shaped clamps which can be s"o cheaply 

 made. 



TREAT.MENT OF FOUL BROOD ON THE CHESHIRE 

 PLAN. 



We extract the following from a circular 

 just received to-day. 



Treatment of "Bacillus alvci," or Foul Brood, by 

 absolute phenol, according to the "Cheshii-e" 

 method. 



ABSOLUTE PHENOL. 



To obtain it of the desired strength, dissolve 40 

 grammes of absolute phenol in crystals, in 10 

 grammes of water. 



PHENOL IN SOLUTION, FOR TREATING THE DISEASE. 



Put one part by measure of the above mixture in 

 20 parts by measure of water; shake carefully until 

 the oily deposit has disappeared completely, and 

 take great care to use no vessel that is not perfect- 

 ly clean. 



MEDICATED SVRUP. 



Put one part by measure of the above-named so- 

 lution in 30 parts by measure of syrup. 



TRE.\T.MENT. 



The following instructions are of the greatest im- 

 portance, and should be strictly adhered to: 



Reduce the infected colony to the number of 

 frames that the bees can cover, by putting any 

 superHuous frames behind the division - boards, 

 and then commence to feed the medicated syrup, 

 which must lie fed reg\ilarly every evening. If the 

 bees accept the tecil in the ordinary manner, all is 

 well; if not, it must be siiilleil iiito'the eiuiity cells 

 of the brooclchainlier (beside or above the brood), 

 keeping the hive cjuite warm so as to encourage 

 breeding. Do not rcnio\(> the (lueen unless it is 

 suspected that she is sick. If there are enough 

 bees to raise brood, tlie most severe cases will soon 

 yiehl lo this treatment. .Vs fast as the bees need a 

 larger nmnlier of eonil)s, gi\-e them one of the in- 

 feeletl eoMihs placed liehin.l t he division-board. A 

 rsipid raising ot lirood is most important: the quick- 

 er tills is acconiplislied, the (iuiek(>r will be the cure. 

 If at the end of some days the bet's take the feed 

 well, it I'un tlu'U lie given in bottles on top of the 

 frames in the ordinary manner. 



With a \iew to tacilitate a trial of the "Cheshire" 

 cure I have had small vials, prepared which contain 

 40 grammes of alisoiiite phenol in crystals (the purest 

 ol>tainahle), and will mail them anywhere in the 

 Ignited States on receipt of 50 cents by postal note 

 or stamps. 



