1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



387 



parent the day before they mate. Drones 

 from the old queen that were of even coloring, 

 maturity, and size, a good many of them, were 

 caught and put into the hives the nuclei were 

 put in. Each comb in every nucleus was close- 

 ly looked over by three or four of us. The 

 combs were wedged firmlj' to one side of a 9- 

 frame hive, leaving a half-inch space between 

 them ; fi inch from the combs was keyed a 

 division-board just one inch shallower than 

 the combs. A board cover was put on with 

 wire cloth, covered with thin muslin that cov- 

 ered the open space of the hive. Thus the 8 

 nuclei were left to quiet down over night. 

 Between 7 and 8 o'clock the next morning 

 these nuclei were all carefully examined to 

 see that every thing was all right. Then the 

 entrance closing blocks were screwed on, also 

 the covers. The 8 hives were then loaded 

 endwise into the body of a platform spring 

 wagon. All were then pushed into the shade 



suit, the same thing resulted. Hive after hive, 

 the whole eight had mated and clipped queens. 

 Each hive and queen was very carefully and 

 cautiously examined in the morning before 

 starting, and the drones were as carefully se- 

 lected. That was a successful confinement 

 mating. 



Woodbury, Ct., March 21, 



BLEACHING COMB HONEY. 



How it is Done on a Large Scale in California. 



BY D. A. HIGGINS. 



I make a house expressly for bleaching the 

 honey. I first build a floor upon legs, as you 

 see by the drawing, each leg having a tin can 

 at the bottom, and a tin plate at the top. 

 These legs are placed between two plates of 



Bleach/ng /-/ou^e. 



D. A. HIGGINS' COMB-HONEY BLEACHING-HOUSE. 



to wait till other things were made ready. 

 Every thing else ready, we (two besides my- 

 self) all drove to a selected place that, with 

 diligent search, gave us sole possession of the 

 locality, so far as bees were concerned. The 

 load was left in the cool shade, then other 

 preparations were made. Between 4 and 5 

 p. M., the bees having become quiet, the hive- 

 stands all ready, and various other work all 

 done, we proceeded to take the hives of bees 

 from the wagon, place them on their stands, 

 and carefully examine them one at a time. 



Hive No. 1 being set on the stand, I took a 

 screwdriver to take off the entrance-block, 

 then the top board. The two assistants, one 

 on each side, in a squatting position, in dead 

 silence, watched. A dead and mutilated drone 

 in the open space of the hive, also several 

 others with protruding genitals, greeted our 

 eyes ; and on looking up the queen she was 

 plainly ticketed as evidence. It took but an 

 instant to take off her wings. Then hive No. 

 2 was brought forth ; and with a little more 

 caution, and more concern for a hoped-for re- 



redwood, 2x4 inches, and 14 ft. long. At ev- 

 ery 2 ft. I have a sleeper so as to make the 

 floor strong. These sleepers are placed on 

 these plates so that the legs are one. I have 

 no underpinning under the center of the 

 house. This is to keep out all mice or ants, 

 which are very troublesome in this country, 

 and they are especially troublesome in comb 

 honey. The little tins at the bottom of the 

 legs are filled with crude oil to keep out the 

 ants, and the tin plate at the top keeps out the 

 mice. 



This house is covered with cloth, the top 

 being heavy goods. Now we have the bleach- 

 ing-house complete. On a platform in front 

 of this house I build my surplus-box, 2 ft. 

 wide and 6 ft. long. I next take one joint of 

 stovepipe and cut a hole in one end of a square 

 60-lb. tin can, large enough for the pipe. One 

 end of the pipe I insert in the can, and an el- 

 bow on the other end, and communicating 

 with the sulphur-box. I now cover the pipe 

 with earth about 6 inches deep. I next cut a 

 hole in the side of the can, to put in sulphur. 



