188? 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUtlE. 



m 



THE USE OF WIRE IN FOUNDATION. 



THE SLATTED WOOD-ZfNC HONEY-BOAHU. 



fROM the Canadian Bee Journal of June 

 29 we take the following article, with 

 the answer by the editor. Theie is so 

 much of interest and so much of prac- 

 tical value in it that we feel sure our 

 readers in tlie States can not afford to lose 

 the benefits of the suggestions offered by 

 friend Jones : 



I have tried luy extractor, and it does the work all 

 right; but 1 Ciiii not get (he foimdation comb to 

 work. It goes all out of shape as soon as the bees 

 begin to work it out. Do you put it in full size of 

 frames, or do you allow for stretching? I tried 

 three dilferent hives tilled with foundation, but had 

 to take the frames out about the second or third 

 day, and take the greater part of the foundation 

 out. I fastened it only at the top, and allowed the 

 bottom to hang loose. 



HONEY-BOARDS. 



Do you use the metal honey-board on the two- 

 story hive to prevent (lueens getting into the upper 

 halfi* Can it not be taken off after the lower half 

 contains young broodV It is quite a hindrance to 

 the bees getting up and down. Please let me have 

 a little information on the above points. 



KOI'NDATION IN SECTIONS. 



I have also some trouble with foundation in the 

 section bo.xes becoming displaced. Should it be 

 fastened on more than one side or not? 



Howick, P. Q., .June 31, 1887. Wm. Gebbie. 



The following is the answer to the above, 

 by the editor, D. A. Jones : 



Unless foundation is made heavier than is profit- 

 able it will usually sag, and our customers prefer it 

 made the thickness that we send it out. We now 

 use wired frames when we put In full sheets, and 

 we think that if you will use wire once you will be 

 satisfied with the result. We have not used it very 

 much; but where the wire is used, the foundation 

 may be much lighter -say one-third. This reduces 

 the expense of foundation per hive one-third, which 

 is quite an item in a large apiary. Deduct from 

 that the cost of the wire, which is a mere tritlo, and 

 the wiring will yet leave you twenty-five per cent 

 advantage. Thin foundation may be used in frames, 

 however, as we frequently use it in full sheets by 

 placing one frame with foundation between two 

 combs, crowding the combs up close enough so the 

 bees do not cluster on the foundation but hang 

 their whole weight there while drawing it out and 

 attaching it to the frame and leaving only about 

 half an inch space between combs, and foundation 

 on either side. This allows the bees to rest much 

 of their weight on the combs until the foundation 

 is partially drawn out. Foundation placed in strong 

 colonies for, say, one day in the above way, will be 

 drawn out and attached to the frame sufficiently to 

 allow large swarms to be hi\ed without breaking 

 down, even in hot weather. Before we used wire we 

 had some strong colonies draw out enough founda- 

 tion in a week to hive three or four swarms; and as 

 soon as one lot of foundation was drawn out it 

 could be removed and put in empty hives for fu- 

 ture use, and fresh frames filled with foundation 

 could be put in their places. 



We use the perforated metal honey-board, or, 

 rather, the wood-and-metal honey-bf)ard, which is a 

 great improvement on the metal one, inasmuch as 

 the wood holds the metal from sagging, and always 

 keeps the distance of the bee-space the same. It 

 prevents the storing of pollen in sections or combs 

 above, and also prevents drones from passing up, 

 moving over the sections and soiling them; but the 

 most important point is to prevent the queen from 

 ascending to the second story and filling it with 

 brood. We find that it is unnecessary and a great 

 waste of surplus to raise a large <)uantity of brood 

 and bees that will hatch just as the honey season is 

 over; they become consumers rather than produc- 

 ers in the large amount of time and stores consum- 

 ed in feeding larvii'. Then after they are hatched 

 it is usually about ten da>s before they commence 

 gathering honey so that you can see when you 

 know the time your honey-flow ceases about the 

 right time to crowd the (lueea up on fewer combs. 



It should be done from thirty to thirty-five days be- 

 fore the end of the honey-How. These bees hatched 

 just at the end of the honey-season, and are rather 

 too old to go into winter (luarters, but many of them 

 die before they aic set in, or soon aftei'. Those 

 raised later on. that have not worn themselves out 

 in search of stores, are the ones most desirable for 

 wintering; then when they are set out in the spring 

 they are more vigorous, and do not die oft so early, 

 or " spring dwindle," like those that are old when 

 set into winter quarters. This is a very important 

 matter, and should receive attention; and if care- 

 fully managed it will save at least twenty-flv-e 

 pounds of honey per csolony. 



These perforated wood-and-metal queen-exclud- 

 ers do not prevent the bees from storing honey 

 in the upper story, or sections, and should be left 

 on until the upper stories and sections are removed. 

 There is ten times as much room for the bees to en- 

 ter the upper story as at the entrance to the hive. 

 This same perforated metal, made into drone-traps, 

 does not prevent the bees from passing in and out; 

 therefore, when they have ten times as much room 

 as an ordinary entrance, besides many of the bees 

 do not require to enter the second story and remain 

 below, we fail to sec how it can in any way lessen 

 the honey croj). Careful observers are using it 

 more extensively every j ear. We sell thousands of 

 feet of it, and the sale is increasing. 



If your sections are warm and the wax cool, and 

 you press it on firmly, it will not come off. If .vou 

 drop a piece of hot wax on a cold surface it cools so 

 quickly that it will slip oil' by pushing it with your 

 finger-nail, or if you drop cold wax on a hot surface 

 it will incorporate in the wood and can not be re- 

 moved, therefore you will readily see the necessity 

 of having your sections warm, foundation cold, and 

 pressing very firmly. 



We have never had so many good reports about 

 our foundation before. This is the first intimation 

 of any difticulty this season. 



MILLER'S PLAN OF REMOVING SEC- 

 TIONS FROM WIDE FRAMES. 



OUR FRIEND " CHAKME " TEI.T.S HOW TO DO IT. 



fINCE the T super, the Heddon crate, 

 I and other similar surplus receptacles 

 have begun to assert their superior 

 merits, the old eight - section wide 

 frame has been superseded in many 

 cases; but there is a very large number 

 of our readers who, though recognizing 

 some of the superior advantages of the 

 more recent improvements, yet, from lack 

 of means, and for fear they may not like 

 them any better, will still continue to use for 

 some time their double - tier wide frames. 

 One very great objection to these latter is 

 the amount of labor entailed in securing a 

 crop of honey by their use. The chief diffi- 

 culty seems to be in removing the sections, 

 after they are filled, easily, quickly, and 

 without damage to the sections. Dr. Miller 

 invented a plan which we think is equal if 

 not superior to any other method we have 

 seen. On page 80 of " A Year Among the 

 Bees," in discussing the different methods 

 of removing the sections from wide frames, 

 he says : " I adopted a plan which allowed 

 them to be taken out very rapidly. This 

 was Charlie's specialty, and he became so 

 expert at it that I think it would be difficult 

 for any one to take out sections faster, no 

 matter what kind of a surplus case might 

 be used. At his best he can take out 960 

 sections per hour. Moreover I have some 

 doubt if there is any surplus case used from 

 which the sections are more easily and rap- 

 idly taken than from these same wide 

 frames.'' 

 As there are many of our readers, doubt- 



