790 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1 



this form of rabbet, we might think seri- 

 ously of adopting it some time in the future. 

 It accomplishes a double purpose, in that 

 it makes an excellent hand-cleat for lifting- 

 the hive, and at the saine time provides a 

 very strong durable rabbet. 



Mr. Atwater is a young bee-keeper, alive 

 and progressive, who left South Dakota for 

 a climate more congenial to his health. I 

 had the pleasure of meeting him at another 

 paradise for bees, Meridian, Idaho, on my 

 recent trip, and shall have occasion later 

 on to introduce him more formally to our 

 readers. — Ec] 



BRICKS FOR HIVE-RKCORDS ; HOW TO MAKE 

 FEEDERS OUT OF TOMATO-CANS. 



I use bricks for weights on mj^ Dovetailed 

 hives. The position of the brick lying on 

 its side, bottom, or end indicates certain 

 conditions of the hives and supers. A glance 

 over the apiarj' shows what is to be done. 

 I use the Alley drone and queen trap for 

 catching the queen when swarming in my 

 home apiary. I prefer it to clipping the 

 queen. 



A good home-made feeder for Dovetailed 

 hives can be made out of 3-lb. peach or to- 

 mato cans. Cut the top off so as to fit a su- 

 per; fit a rim of tin about an inch wide 

 over the can, first placing a piece of cotton 

 cloth over the can. Invert it over the brood- 

 frames after filling, placing an empty su- 

 per and cover on. 



I am getting from 15 to 20 lbs. of water- 

 white honey with snow-white capping to 

 each colony of bees, from a wild plant that 

 is common to the Red River Valley in this 

 country. The honey is equal to the best, 

 and is in good demand in the home market. 



N. P. ASPINWALL. 



Wahpeton, N. D., Aug. 10. 



B. M. H., N, C. — It sometimes happens 

 that comparatively well-marked Italian 

 bees behave and act very much like blacks 

 or even hybrids of a darker color. It is 

 even possible to have three-banded Italians, 

 and yet have them the worst kind of hy- 

 brids in other respects. For example, a 

 five-banded queen mated to a one or two 

 banded hybrid drone might give three- 

 banded Italians, but bees that are fearful- 

 ly cross. This has happened in my own 

 personal knowledge; and that is one trou- 

 ble with four and five banded bees, that it 

 is not always possible to tell whether one 

 has pure Italian stock when he breeds from 

 them. 



You can put combs of honey in the upper 

 story and have the bees empty them out; 

 but when doing this it is advisable to break 

 open the cells with a curry-comb or wire 

 hair-brush. 



/. U\ S., Miss. — A queen balled may live 

 a few seconds or several hours. Sometimes 

 the queen dies of suffocation, and at other 

 times she is stung by some one of the work- 

 ers in the ball. I have known of cases 

 where a queen has been balled probablj^ all 

 day, and was still alive when released; 

 but in that case the ball was usually small. 

 In other cases I have seen queens that were 

 balled and were stung to death inside of a 

 minute. It is always advisable to get the 

 queen out of the ball as soon as possible. 

 The best way is to use a smoker, blowing 

 light whiffs on the ball of bees until the 

 queen is released. Another way is to drop 

 the ball into a pail of water. As soon as 

 the queen is released, take her out of the 

 water and blow the drops off from her. As 

 a general rule I would use the smoker. 



H. 31. D., N'. C. — From what you write, 

 it is evident it would have been better if you 

 had attempted to transfer onlj' one colony at 

 a time. However, the work is now done, 

 and it is now advisable to make the best of 

 things. Before you attempt to introduce a 

 queen into any of the hives, make sure that 

 such hives are queenless. If there are no 

 eggs, larvae, nor a larva in any suspected 

 hive, give a frame of such from one of the 

 other hives, and then wait two days. If 

 thej' build cells on this frame of eggs or 

 larvae, then j^ou maj' be sure they are queen- 

 less, and you can then introduce a queen 

 with safety; but do not attempt it other- 

 wise. Yes, you can introduce queens from 

 now till cold weather sets in; but the sooner 

 the bees get a queen, if they do not already 

 have one, the better. You can leave founda- 

 tion or combs in a hive ; but it must be ab- 

 solutely' bee-proof and moth-proof. Combs 

 will be perfectljr safe if they are shut up 

 tight, either in a room or in a box, or even 

 in a hive. 



D. {J\, Ohio. — As to the best waj^ to pack 

 200 pounds of extracted honey for freight 

 shipment, it does not require any different 

 package for a long distance than a short one. 

 Honey is shipped across the continent, or ex- 

 ported to foreign countries, for the inost part 

 in 5-gallon square cans or barrels. In the 

 case of either package, and for a short or long 

 distance, care should be taken to see that the 

 package is of first-class material, and that it 

 is well put together. We have frequently 

 seen shipments of honey in 5-gal. cans bad- 

 ly damaged because the box was so poorly 

 nailed that it came apart in shipping, or 

 honey lost from the barrels because the hoops 

 were not well driven down. Only last year 

 a barrel which was made of first-class ma- 

 terial came to us without a drop of honey in 

 it, and one head gone, simpl}' because the 

 iron hoops were not driven down as tightly 

 as they should have been. I think there is 

 no choice of packages for ii long or short 

 distance so far as the shipping is concern- 

 ed, there being only a choice with the ship- 

 per and the consignee. I presume, of course, 

 you do not want glass packages, as these 

 are not usually shipjied long- distances. 



