.55h 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



To use it without the honey-board would be 

 simply intolerable, and my experiments with 

 the plain zinc honey-boards, with which 

 there is no provision for a bee space, con- 

 vinces me that this latter is about as bad as 

 no honey-board.* To get clean sections with 

 the T super, we must have a honey-board 

 with some sort of provision for bee-spaces 

 above and below the sections. If Mr. Iled- 

 don first called the attention of bee-keepers 

 to the advantages of a slatted honey-board 

 with a bee-space provided for above and be- 

 low, he deserves a vote of thanks, so tliere! 



GETTING BEES INTO SECTIONS, AND WHAT 

 SOMETIMES PREVENTS THEIR GOING UP. 



Here at the Home of the Honey-Bees the 

 locality is greatly overstocked, there being 

 something over oOO good colonies in this 

 vicinity. Each colony can not, as a conse- 

 quence, secure more than its proportional 

 amount of nectar, and tliis amount is not 

 large. When in most localities the l)ees 

 would pass up readily and without trouble 

 into the sections, in our locality we must do 

 a considerable amount of coaxing; and, as 

 a means to this end, try those conditions 

 which ai'e the most favorable forgetting the 

 bees up into the sections. 



On some colonies we placed T supers 

 without contracting the brood-nest ; but 

 never a bee thought it his duty to make 

 even an inspection tour above. 



In other colonies the brood-nest was con- 

 tracted from two to six brood-frames, de- 

 pending upon the strength of the colonies. 

 Where contraction was carried to extremes, 

 the bees did not fail to go above and com- 

 mence work. Colonies whose brood-cham- 

 bers were reduced to not less than six frames 

 sometimes did, but as a general rule did not, 

 go above. Those that did make some sort 

 of demonstration above had sections on top 

 with full sheets of foundation, and with no 

 tin scijaralors. In every case the presence of 

 full sheets of foundation, or the absence of 

 I'm separators, made a very appreciable dif- 

 ference in the readiness with wliich the bees 

 entered the sections. I had long known 

 that full sheets were considered a material 

 advantage. I knew, also, that Dr. Miller 

 prefered wood separators, stating that the 

 latter seemed to be preferred by the bees; 

 but I did not know that bees showed their 

 aversion to the metal so plainh/. During a 

 heavy flow of honey in a locality not over- 

 stocked, it is possible they would indicate 

 no decided preference in favor of either wood 

 or tin separators. How is this, friends V 

 J jet us hear from you. 



T-SUPER COVERS NECESSARY. 



When we put on the supers at the Hyde 

 ai>iary, nt the beginning of the honey-flow, 

 we had forgotton to bring along T-super 

 covers. We did not think them so very im- 

 portant then, and so matters went for a week 

 oi- ten days. .Vt last we went down, taking 

 with us the T-super covers and more supers. 

 On our arrival, Mrs. Hyde informed us that 

 the l)ees liad not gone into the sections yet. 

 I was a little surprised, but did not then 

 suspect the cause. At any rate, the T-su- 



* 1 should have said here, that if the plain zinc boards are 

 l)eesi)ai'ed on both sides with the quarter-inch strips thev 

 will answer perfectly well. 



per covers were placed on all tlie supers. 

 At our next visit, shortly after, Mrs. H. 

 tcld us that the bees quite promptly enter- 

 ed the sections after the super covers were 

 placed on. The trouble was, with the whole 

 capacity of the upper story of the hive, the 

 bees could not generate sufHcient heat for 

 wax-working in the sections, and for the 

 proper evaporation of honey. .]iist so soon, 

 however, as the super was closed with the 

 cover, the bees improved the opportunity. 



OUGHT THE T-.SUPEll TO I'.E ADAPTED TO 

 AN EIGHT OK TEN FRAME HIVE V 



When a ten-frame hive is contracted to 

 six frames, and then covered with a super 

 18* in. wide (equal to the whole width of the 

 hive) the bees are very much indisposed to 

 have any thing to do with the two outside 

 rows of sections— those rows which iiroject 

 over and away from the brood. It is a mis- 

 take to carry contraction too far, and yet 

 with a T super wide enough to cover ten L. 

 frames, contraction can not lie carried to six 

 frames without removing the brood entirely 

 away from the two outside rows of sections. 

 If our supers were made 12i in. wide, con- 

 traction could be extended to (> frames, it 

 seems to me, to far better advantage. How 

 is this, friends ? 



THE SOLAR W AX-EXTRACITOR. 



When honey from bass wood began to come 

 in briskly, as a natural consequence burr- 

 combs commenced to crowd up on top of 

 the frames. We liave lieretofore taken 

 these bits of comb and honey after tliey have 

 been scraped off, ate what we could, aiid the 

 rest were dumped into an old pan in the 

 honey-house, to lie around and bait robbers. 

 One day while T was walking through the 

 apiary I noticed the boys wadding up the 

 wax into a ball, and stutting it down at one 

 side of the hive. The bees, after extracting 

 the adhering honey, would fasten the balls 

 securely to the side of the hive, and it would 

 be quite difficult to remove them afterward. 

 1 told the boys to bring out the solar wax- 

 extractor and set it in position, which they 

 did. Thereafter the chunks of wax and 

 honey were dumped into the extractor. In 

 a few minutes the comb would melt and run 

 down through the perforated metal. In the 

 course of ten days we found that we had se- 

 cured, just from these little pieces of wax, 

 IH lbs. of nice yellow wax — as nice as any 

 one ever saw, and nearly .") lbs. of basswood 

 honey. The color of the latter was a little 

 dark, but its flavor, it seemed to me, was 

 quite as good as that which we take in the 

 ordinary way with the honey-extractor. 



The solar wax-extractor, as you are aware, 

 is automatic. It can be located in the 

 sun, right where you want to work, and you 

 do not have to run away down to the honey- 

 house to put away a ciiunk of honey that 

 your poor stomach has long ago refused to 

 take care of. In three or four days your 

 wax and honey accumulations will probably 

 have jiretty nearly filled the pan. At night, 

 after the siin has gone down, tlie wax will 

 harden into a nice yellow cake, and the 

 honey can be drawn oft' at the honey-gate 

 near the lower part of the pan. You thus 

 keep your apiary neat and tidy ; and not 



