1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEt: CULTUUE. 



oH? 



and start each corner. I usually go around in this 

 order: 



1 



This keeps the tops of the sections a triHe ahead 

 of the bottom. Possibly it is habit or prejudice, 

 hut it doesn't seem as if the sections bind iiuite so 

 niiicli so, !is tlie.\' do if the J)ottom is ahead. 



As soon as you liave started two or three pretty 

 solid corners yon will realize the advantage of the 

 shoulder on the push-stick to Ijeep it from slipping- 

 and gouo-iiifr the section. Change enils with your 

 stick, and pusli ear(>fully around in the same order 

 as before, e.vcept that you push in the middle of the 

 frame .just under the top-bar, above and in the mid- 

 dle just over the bottom-bar below. Keep going: 

 around till you g-et the sections clear from the 

 frame. I usually g'o around about three or four 

 times. If you push one corner too far ahead it 

 racks the section, causing- a leak. 



Take the empty frame off the machine, and hang 

 it back in one side of your super. In taking- the 

 sections otf the machine I take two in each hand, 

 catching- the corners of two between my thumb and 

 foreflng-er; and in putting- them down I take care 

 to pile them nicely. You need have no fear of 

 making too larg-e a pile on account of mashing- 

 down the bottom sections, as I have seen between 

 twenty-five and thirty thousand in a pile, with noth- 

 ing at all between the tiers; the only thing about it 

 ditferent from the ordinary way was, that one layer 

 faced one way, and the next layer the other way, 

 and so on up, instead of having them all run one 

 way and overlap one another, as is generally done. 



('. C. MlF,LKH,.Tl{. 



Upon readiiiy' ('. C. Millei', Jr.'s. part of 

 tlie programme, we are convinced that he is 

 a veritable " son of his father.'' I thin]<; it 

 is not too miH'li to say of C'. V. ]SIiIler, Sr., 

 that lie lias a very f-iraple and clear way of 

 expressing his ideas; and if we can judge 

 any thing from the article received froin the 

 son, we should say that ('. ('. Miller. ,lr., 

 will follow closely in his father's footsteps. 

 We think om* readers will lind the two arti- 

 cles will throw considerable light on just 

 how to remove sections from wide frames. 



IS DOOIiITTLE'S THEORY OF SWARM- 

 ING CORRECT? 



gUEKNS RE.MAININf! IN THEIU CEI.r-S, AND BEING 

 FED. 



0N page 4;M, ,Iune 1, Mr. Doolittle gives us some 

 interesting reading about swarming, etc. 

 His article is e.vcellent. Enough is said in a 

 nutshell to convnice any intelligent reader 

 of its truthfulness and solid fuels. .lune 1.5, 

 page 4t!2, we see Mr. Dewey disagrees a little. Head- 

 raits Doolittle as good authoritj% but the man to 

 contradict him must be well posted. Of course, it 

 takes an old veteran of thirty years' service to 

 command the fiooi- and make Doolittle take his 

 seat among his junior brethren. Several queens 

 must be heard piping, and be hatched and liberated 

 in the hive before swarming takes place. I will 

 here admit, that Mr. Dewey is right in what he has 

 seen and heard, but is wrong in disputing Doolittle; 

 for Doolittle is also correct in what he has seen and 



written at)out in his article. Both these facts, and 

 many others, occur within the bee-hive and with 

 bees. Only last year I was pleased to see, where 

 only one (jueen hatched in a hive, three Were pip- 

 ing. I searched diligt-ntly (for I wanted to capture 

 them) for the other two, and flnaliy discovered 

 them in their cells, ])okiiig out their tongues 

 through a small hole, and being fed by the bees, 

 but also guarded, whicli confinement caused them 

 to pipe. 1 smoked the bees off the comb and cut 

 out the queen-cells, when they immediately cut 

 themselves out of their little prisons. The piping 

 of the queen in tliis hive ceased at once while T -was 

 working with the bees. 



I had a (jucen several years ago that kept up 

 piping- for about a week while being caged, lean 

 remember another that acted strangely. A cell 

 was introduced into a populous colony, with cells 

 of their own. In a few days she hatched and was 

 heard piping, when my father and I agreed to stop 

 swarming by tearing out all the cells. No use. 

 She kept up her music a few days longer, when out 

 with a swarm she went, leaving the parent stock 

 without queen, cell, or eggs. I mention these in- 

 cidents to show how strangley bees will act some- 

 times. In laying down my pen I want to say to Mr. 

 Dewey, continue experimenting- and gathering 

 knowledge as do Mr. Doolittle and many others. 



Worden, 111., .lune 2:t, 1887. H. R. Dow. 



VARIOUS MATTERS, FROM CHALON 

 FOWLS. 



WHAT TO DO WITH SURPLUS COMBS AFTEH CON- 

 TKACTINO. 



T WlLl^ explain to our readers, that, dur- 

 M ing my college days in Oberlin, friend 

 W Fowls would frequently give his famil- 

 ■^ iar knock on the door while I was wres- 

 tling with an idiom in the dead lan- 

 guages, or tugging over a problem in mathe- 

 matics. His visits were always welcome; 

 and as he is an enthusiast on the subject of 

 bees, and full of ucav experiments, J used to 

 enjoy an hour or so chat with him. a\s I 

 had "not heard from my former visitor for 

 some time, I wrote him ashoi't time ago, ask- 

 ing him in regard to some of the things which 

 he had under experiment— whether he still 

 held the snme opinitm about some things 

 that he did a few years ago while I 

 was at Oberlin. The reader will readily di- 

 vine the questions which J asked, from the 

 replies which friend F. makes. Ilis letter 

 is as follows : 



CARNIOLAN BEES. 



Friend Ernest:— Yours was received some time 

 ago, but I did not answer at once, as I wanted to 

 take time enough to answer your questions. Bees 

 wintered well, but came through short of stores. 

 They have been on short rations all the sjn-ing. As 

 a consequence, they have not bred uj) as well as usu- 

 al. Bees will breed better, I find, with sealed honey 

 along- the top of the frame. I have one swarm of 

 Carniolan bees with imported queen, and they did 

 winter splendidly, and, having plenty of honey, bred 

 up early and swarmed in May. 



If I remember rightly, you once reported the Car- 

 niolan bees would not i-epel robbers very well. Ours 

 do, equal to the best Italians. I have not tested 

 their honey-gathering qualities much yet. They 



