1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



56i) 



care to use extra-tliin fouudation again. I some- 

 what (luestion whether bee-men themselves are not 

 about the only ones who raise any objection to 

 comb honey containing' what is ordinarily classed 

 as thin foundation, say 10 or 11 feet to the pound. 

 Klat bottomed loundution suffered more than that 

 with natural base; but as they were not used in the 

 same super, no positive conclusion could be reach- 

 ed. The e.viieriment as described on pafj'e 517, by 

 Mr. Koot, seems perl'ectly fair and conclusive, ex- 

 cept as to one particular. Were the two kinds of 

 foundation used, cxiictly alike as to the number of 

 feet per poundV and was the base of the same 

 thickness in each caseV 



SIZE OF SUPEHS. 



On i)!ige ■5.")ti, in Our Own Apiary, a dejjartment, 

 by the waj', which is always intensely interesting-, 

 the question is ra sed, whether the T super should 

 be adapted to an eight or ten frame hive. I am in- 

 clined to think 1 should answer "No." The lib. 

 section having become so generally used, settles the 

 length of the supei-. The width must be settled by 

 the number of sections to be used; and for con- 

 venience in handling-, and other reasons, I would 

 not think of any thing mi»r thau 12'r inches inside; 

 and it is possibly worth considering- whether there 

 might not be some advantage in having it less. So 

 I should settle upon the size of the super somewhat 

 independently of the size of the hive, and, if neces- 

 sary, make the honey-board, or something else, act 

 as an " adapter " between the two. My hives are 

 ten-frame, although they rarely have ten frames in 

 them. They are IT'4 inches wide outside, and 30!2 

 inches long (not the best size), and the supers are 

 31 inches narrower, and Ig inches shorter than the 

 hives. To make one fit the other, a stick U inches 

 square, and the same length as the top-bar of a 

 brood-frame, is placed in the hive at the right place, 

 to support one side of the super, or honey-board, 

 rather; then a little stick laid across the back end 

 covers partly or wholly the space left by the differ- 

 ence in length. When a super is init on, there may 

 be anywhere from i to H frames in the hive; and if 

 less than 8 there are not enough frames to be un- 

 der the whole of the super. The best way is to flU 

 out with dummies each side of the super, a close 

 division-board shutting in a hive at the open side. 

 Si)\ou sec I consider the size of the hive and the 

 size of the super as two almost independent things. 



PIPING OV (^UKENS. 



I d n't want to get mixed up with Doolittle and 

 the other D's in a discussion, for I don't want to gpt 

 worsted; but I can at least ask a few questions. 

 Do we do well to throw away the old word 

 "quahk"':* Doolittle uses the word "pipe," or 

 " peep," indiscriminately, as applying to the noise 

 made by a queen, whether in or out of the cell. I 

 wiiih 1 had a hive with young queens right by me, 

 that I could describe accui-ately the noises made; 

 but I will tell as nearly as I can what comes up 

 from memory, and Doolittle can bring me up with a 

 sharj) turn it I get it wrong. If 1 am not mistaken, 

 the old-fashioned way was to say the free queen 

 was "piping," and that those in the cells were 

 " quahking." In piping, the queen emits several 

 sharp tones, the first one ()Uite prolonged, followed 

 by shorter ones; then the queen or queens in the 

 cells (juahk (pronounced the same as "quack," only 

 giving n the broad sound as in fall), and this quahk 

 is not merely a muffled peep, as the quahk consists 

 of several tones of equal duration, quite short, as 



compared with the piping, and of lower or coarser 

 pitch. So if we admit this distinction in terms, 

 would not the truth be somewhat like this: A sin- 

 gle queen is heard piping, and is replied to, general- 

 ly, before she has finished piping, by several 

 queens quahking in their cells';" 



REMOVING SE(^T10NS. 



Friend Aaron Brogler (page .510), when sections 

 are well glued in supers, gently bearing down upon 

 them with a small light lever will have no immedi- 

 ate effect; it would take a pressurt; of perhaps 50 to 

 250 potinds' weight to immediately start them, if 

 applied over the whole surface. Striking at one 

 corner readily starts it at that point, and then it is 

 easy to follow up your vantage ground. If you are 

 willing to take time enough, the gentle pressure 

 may answer; for a superful of sections that will 

 resist a weight of .500 pounds may yield to a weight 

 of ten pounds if continued Umy enough, always 

 supposing that the propolis is warm enough. 



Thanks, friend Muth-Rasmussen, for your sug- 

 gestion, page .5+4, as to getting the last section in 

 the super. If the block of wood is too much in the 

 way, as I think it might be, then I would have two 

 separate pieces of tin, each bent something like 

 this: 



Emma sometimes uses two case-knives, but I 

 think this might be better. 



I agree with you, friend Root, as to the "too 

 much machinery; " and in general nothing is need- 

 ed but a little care and patience to get in the last 

 section; but now and then you come to a refractory 

 one that just won't go in, and for such cases you'd 

 be glad to have some " machinery " ready to lay 

 your hands upon. C. C. Miller. 



Marengo, 111., July 33, 1887. 



In answer to your questions, friend Miller, 

 I will say that our flat-bottom thin founda- 

 tion ruiis from 12 to 15 feet to the pound, 

 and our natural base about 10 feet to tlie 

 pound. The base in the latter is not quite 

 so thin. However, the difference in weight 

 of the two makes is almost wholly made up 

 in side wall. With these facts in view, per- 

 haps my experiments, as related on p. -517, 

 would be less positive. At any rate, I think 

 we can be sure of this much : The bees al- 

 ways remodel the flat-bottom base before 

 they make any use of it. Necessarily, I in- 

 fer, they must expend more labor. That the 

 bees (lid manifest an aversion to the one and 

 a preference for the other in the same super, 

 was clearly evident ; though, as before re- 

 marked, the difference in weight per foot, as 

 well as the peculiarity of the honey-flow, 

 might have affected the result. We should 

 be glad to hear from others who have tested 

 the flat-bottomed foundation.— You say you 

 would not have the inside widtli of a super 

 more than 12i inch. As we have made them 

 this season, our super is 13^ inches, inside 

 width. We can alter it to 12i inches, inside 



