iasl 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUliE. 



599 



could be done; for by the time 1 got tliere 

 tlie bees of the neighboring- liives hud begun 

 to appreliend the danger before them, and, 

 in consequence, were lighting their invaders 

 with as much vim as tiie latter liad attaclvcd 

 tiiem at the onset. I told Mr. Smith not to 

 examine any more hives for the time being, 

 but in the mean time to mow grass ai'ound 

 the hives. While doing this, however, he 

 was to watch the actions of the robbers. 



For two days after it was well nigh out 

 of the (|U('stion to work with the bees at all, 

 even with the aid of the tent. While the 

 latter prevented the robbers from entering 

 the hive for the time being, yet when it was 

 removed they would pounce upon the en- 

 trance of the stock just examined, in the 

 manner I have described. On the third day 

 after the robbers had gotten their sip of the 

 new bass wood honey, by working carefully 

 with the tent the work with the hives was 

 resumed as before. 



As is stated in the heading, this incident 

 is not related for the benefit of veterans, but 

 for beginners. To these latter (who prob- 

 ably form the major part of my readers) 1 

 reiterate : Do not, under any considera- 

 tion, let robbers at this season' of the year 

 get a sip of new^ honey. If you find a few 

 robbers hovering around just as you get 

 your hive open, close it up immediately. 

 Before opening it again, use your bee-tent. 

 If you have no such c(mvenience, do the 

 necessary work with the bees at twilight or 

 by lantern light at night. While old veter- 

 ans might l)andle bees during the middle 

 hours of the day at this time of the year, 

 you certainly had best not try it. 



Again, be sure that your honey, as fast as 

 taken off, is put where no bees can get at it. 

 If your lumey is stored in a honey-house 

 or honey-room, it is always safer to have it 

 in such shape that, even should you or some 

 one else leave the door open, tlie bees will 

 be unable to gain access to the h(mey. If 

 your honey is exposed in the room, ancl ac- 

 cessible to bees, some careless individual 

 (most likely yourself) will forget and leave 

 the door open. What follows, I need not 

 describe in detail. Your tirst intimation of 

 trouble is, that the bees are roaring in the 

 air. The liigh key-note arouses your sus- 

 picions. Not greatly surprised, you step in- 

 to the honey-house. In an open can of ex- 

 tracted honey you tind about a peck of bees 

 squirming in the honey. In one corner of 

 the room is your section honey, uncapped, the 

 honey which you had but yesterday admired 

 and thought so nice. We have been in 

 just these circumstances; and you, my dear 

 beginners, are liable to get there too if you 

 are not careful. 



CLEAN SECTIONS. 



We used both wide frames and T supers in 

 our apiaries. While the Oiled sections fiom 

 tlie supers needed little if any scraping, those 

 from the wide frames had pretty heavy rings 

 of propolis around tlie edges, and would re- 

 quire considerable scraping to get them in 

 marketable shape. It is in just the crevice 

 between the wide fiame and the section 

 that the bees seem particularly fond of de- 

 positing propolis. As Nature abhors a vacu- 



um, so the bee abhors a crack. This, his in- 

 stinct has taught him, must be lilled up 

 with his glue. The construction of the T 

 super is such that the number of cracks and 

 crevices is com))aratively few. Wlien sec- 

 tions from the T surplus arrangement and 

 the Ileddon crate come out so cieaii, it is a 

 mystery to me why so many bee-keepers 

 have to go and invent blanks in their sec- 

 tion-crates, to (H)ver the tops and bottoms of 

 the sections. These blanks will form, when 

 in contact with the sections, the nicest place 

 for propolis to be secreted, and consequent- 

 ly thwart the object for which they were in- 

 tended. 



THE ALLEY TKAP AS A SWARM - CATCIIEU. 



A correspondent Avishes me to report my 

 experiments with the Alley trap, as I prom- 

 ised last year I would do. In response to 

 this request I will say that, just before the 

 swarming season opened, I attached Alley 

 traps to the entrances of a dozen or so of the 

 strongest colonies in the Hyde apiary, of 

 wiiich I have made frequent mention. On 

 all hives, whether portico or Simplicity, I 

 found it necessary to secure the traps to the 

 front of tlie hives, " toe-nail '' fashion. I 

 then directed the lady who was to watch for 

 swarms, that, when one came forth, she was 

 to fasten the trap (if the queen entered it) 

 among the Hying bees, on a rake. After be- 

 ing clustered, the bees were to be hived in 

 the ordinary way. Some two weeks after, 

 when I went down I saw that about half the 

 traps, under the influence of the sun and 

 rain, and tiie consequent shrinkage and 

 swelling, had become partially detached 

 from the hive — enough so to allow the bees 

 to pass in and out, back of the traps. As 

 queen-catchers, these, of course, were use- 

 less. Upon inquiry, Mrs. Hyde told me she 

 had caught two swarms by placing the ti-ap 

 among the flying bees, and that the Alley 

 trap, with tliese two, was a success. The 

 other sw^arms, in consequence of the loosen- 

 ing of the trap, had to be hived in the good 

 old-fashioned way. 



FOUL BROOD TREATED BY CARBOLIC ACID. 



In the treatment of fonl brood recently 

 we have been (|uite successful ; and present 

 indications seem to show that we are mas- 

 ter of the situation. Our mode of treat- 

 ment, as we now' practice it, is as follows : 



With a coarse comb — or, better, a wire 

 brush — rake open all the brood-cells, wheth- 

 er diseased or not, in the affected colony. 

 The bees will recap about half of it. With 

 a weak solution of carbolic acid, spray 

 thoroughly tlie bees, brood-frames, mats, 

 and the inside of the liive. To make this 

 solution, go to the drugstore and get some 

 pure crystals of carbolic acid. Dilute this 

 about three hundred times with hot water. 

 When cold it is ready to use. In two days 

 after the first uncapping and spiaying, 

 spray again, but do not uncap. In three (U- 

 four days more, give them another dose, and 

 so on till the l)ees have cleaned the '-nasty 

 stuff "out of the cells. Don't burn any 

 more colonies until you hear from me again. 

 I am exiJcrimenting, and do not wish to re- 

 poit the experiments in detail until next 

 issue. 



