1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



347 



the sections to raise up the cloths if cloths are laid 

 over them. Last summer and summer before, as 

 we had a g'reat many division-hoards cleated on one 

 side, we used them on top of the surplus case, lay- 

 ing- a thin quilt above to cover the sides, as the 

 board was not wide enough. I mention this as 

 there are a g'reat many poor people who are keep- 

 ing- bees who feel they can not afford to buy all the 

 new improvements until fully indorsed by others. 



Roseville, 111. Mrs. L. C. Axtell. 



Tliauks, Mrs. A. Your arranj^ement for 

 mending tinware is much the same as the 

 one we describe in the ABC book. 



A CHEAP WAGON-BED. 



HOW TO MAKE ONE FOR HAULING BEES, AND AT 

 SMAI.T. COST. 



i'p S this is the time of year when some wish to 

 ^ move their bees to different locations, and 

 vJ get them ready for the season's work, I will 

 ■• give you a description of a cheap arrange- 

 ment of my own that is the compietest thing 

 for its cost that 1 know of. 



Now, a spring-wagon, made expressly for hauling 

 bees, must be strong, and, of course, it will cost 

 more tban a great many will care to pay; so. instead 

 of it, I made a bed 20 feet long and 4.5 inches wide, 

 inside measurement. Under this are three heavy 

 springs, so arranged that the bed can be put on any 

 ordinary lumber wagon, and will carry all a team 

 can draw. In the first place, I used two pine scant- 

 ling, 2x8 inches, 20 feet long. These are the sides of 

 the bed, and give it its firmness. Under these 

 scantling, in front, is an oak plank, t foot wide and 

 49 inches long, placed crosswise, and securely bolt- 

 ed with 10-inch bolts to them. Under this plank the 

 front spring is fastened with clips, and under the 

 spring is a short false bolster, 2 feet long, clipped 

 to it, and a king-bolt in the bolster, stationary. In 

 putting the bed on the front axle, the bolster be- 

 longing to the wagon is taken off, and the false 

 bolster, with its king-bolt, is used instead. Over 

 the hind bolster, the same size of plank is used, and 

 two springs are set crosswise, just inside the bol- 

 ster-stakes. Two holes are made in the plank for 

 the stakes to play through, as the bed springs up 

 and down. The hind springs are set right on the 

 bolster, and fastened to it with clips that can be 

 put on or taken off at pleasure. For clii)s, 'i,-inch 

 bolts are used with small yokes, 8 bolts to a spring; 

 and for the clips around the hind bolster I put 4 

 bolts through small blocks of wood. 



Now as to the springs: The front one isC-leafed, 

 1% inches wide. The two hind ones are 5-leafed, and 

 same width. They are 13 feet apart. The hind ones 

 are five feet from one end of the bed, and front one 

 two feet. A reach must be used with the wagon, of 

 the right length, and it must be very firm. 



As to the bottom of the bed, it is readily seen that 

 the planks to which the springs are fastened will be 

 a part of the support; and for the rest, place strips 

 3x2. and 49 inches long, crosswise, 2 feet apart, more 

 or less, under the scantling, and fasten them with 

 wood screws 6 or 7 inches long. We now have a 

 frame for the bottom, and the bottom can be put 

 on either movable or stationary. The rest of the 

 bed can be finished according to any one's own in- 

 clinations. To summarize, we have the scantling 

 for sides; planks and strips with boards on them 



for bottom. It can be easily made; and, if made 

 right, it will carry all the springs will bear, either 

 30 or 3.5 hives of bees, or a small picnic party, and it 

 will cost about $12.00 or $1.5.00. 



Roland Shekburne. 

 Lone Tree, Iowa, Apr. 6, 1887. 



DOES THE QUEEN HAVE ANY THING 



TO DO WITH RULING THE 



COLONY? 



PROF. COOK REPLIES TO FRIEND DADANT IN RE- 

 GAUD TO THE MATTER. 



T^DITOR GLEANINGS:— In the April Apicultu- 

 fil) "^'' ^ write as follows: "Of course, we 

 |)^r might speculate as one of our leading Ameri- 

 '*^ can bee-keepers has lately done in a leading 

 beepaper, in reference to the queen's com- 

 pelling the workers to make drone comb; but in 

 these days of scientific accuracy, speculation or 

 mere theorizing goes for naught." A kind letter 

 from our friend Dadant, who was the writer re- 

 ferred to (see article in current volume of Glean- 

 ings, p. 129), refers to this as i-idicule, and asks me 

 to explain why I see fit to condemn the theory. He 

 rightly says, that theories have often done great 

 good and have led to the greatest discoveries. He 

 asks me to send my reasons for doubting his theo- 

 ry, to Gleanings. 



First, I wish to disclaim all thought of ridicule. I 

 look on Mr. Dadant and his son as among our 

 ablest bee-keepers and best writers;and Ineverskip 

 their articles when hurrying through our numer- 

 ous bee-papers— so numerous that one has to pass 

 some of them, or else pass much in all, if he does 

 any thing else. Again, 1 consider Mr. Dadant as 

 one of the broadest and most far-seeing of our 

 American apiarists, and so one of our safest advis- 

 ers. I feel to reverence such men who have grown 

 venerable in a pursuit, and have left valuable 

 finger-marks on every page. So hearty was my re- 

 spect and admiration, that, when Mr. Langsftroth 

 asked me whom I would recommend to revise his 

 great work, I at once suggested Chas. Dadant and 

 son. I hardly need say, then, that I had no in- 

 tent to ridicule. 



I must say, however, that I was surprised at this 

 article. The farts are certainly well established; 

 but the reasoning and theory to account for them 

 are not, to my mind, either sustained or probable. 

 It was an idea in the olden time, that the queen 

 exercised "sovereign authority." 1 commenced 

 bee-keeping about twenty years ago, with this 

 view. I soon became convinced that it was an 

 error, and I have-never seen any reason to return 

 to the old views. It is true, as we all know, that, 

 so long as the queen keeps the empty cells filled in 

 the bi-ood-nest, so long will only worker comb be 

 built. Messrs. Dadant, Doolittle, and Hutchinson 

 have given us excellent observations in this realm; 

 and so long as they confine themselves to these 

 facts, and the practical suggestions like that with 

 which Mr. Dadant closes his excellent article, we 

 are all profited; but the theorizing we had better 

 leave, as did the great Charles Darwin, till we get 

 such a wealth of fact and example that the theory 

 may hardly be called mere hypothesis. 



Mr. Dadant urges that the queen rules the work- 

 ers in this matter. I have never seen a single indi- 

 cation that the queen rules the workers in any 



