80 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE 



thought of trying to get you to change to the present 

 form, but 1 didn't want to be called a chronic kicker. 

 There is only one thing worse than the old index, 

 and that is no index at all. 



I have been shining as a kicker against our Cana- 

 dian Horticulturist and Beekeeper, as the publishers 

 refuse to print an index. It certainly reduces the 

 value of any journal to be without an index. I 

 know in my case I have many times wanted to look 

 up information on a certain point, and have taken 

 down 15 or 20 journals (I bind all mine), and it is 

 wonderful the amount of information a person can 

 get by just looking at an index. 



Forest, Ont. I. Lanqsteoth. 



Decoy Hives in Rhode Island 



I was very much interested in the article relative 

 to decoy hives by our good friend Dr. A. F. Bonney, 

 published in the American Bee Journal some months 

 ago, so I decided to try the plan. I procured at a 

 local grocery a dozen wooden boxes about the size of 

 a hive. I tacked in some slats to act as frames, 

 and to one I tied a piece of comb. 



I made an entrance at one end about one inch by 

 eight, and made a door that would close down over 

 the entrance, as indicated by the doctor's drawing 

 in the article. To keep out rain and dampness I 

 tacked a piece of cheap enamel cloth on top of each 

 box, and tied on the cover with strings. 



As there is a great risk that each box may not 

 catch a swarm, or may even be stolen, one has to 

 try every way to make the expense as light as 

 possible. 



Several of these boxes were placed in the crotches 

 of apple-trees. One was placed on top of a ledge of 

 rock; another in what was once a window in the 

 rwins of an old stone mill; a third in a pine tree; 

 and, the last of all, on a partly tumbled-down chim- 

 ney where a farmhouse once stood. In fact, all of 

 these boxes were set in the country, and mostly on 

 deserted farms. 



Bee-hunters are quite plentiful through the coun- 

 try districts of Rhode Island, hence setting bee-boxes 

 is a little risky. Even though the owner's name may 

 be on the box, it is not always respected, because a 

 colony of bees that costs nothing is usually very 

 acceptable to almost any one. 



Of the twelve boxes that I put out, the one placed 

 on the tumbled-down chimney did the trick and 

 captured my only swarm. Last spring bees did not 

 swarm very much in the country districts of Rhode 

 Island. One man whom I know has eleven colonies 

 of bees in the old-fashioned box hives, and had only 

 three swarms before the first of July, while the 

 others swarmed later on. One of the best bee- 

 hunters in the State informed me that he and his 

 companion have located only four this year, while 

 they located ten last year. In fact, I am of the 

 belief that here in New England wild or escaped 

 bees are growing scarce. 



Prom my experience in setting bee-boxes, I do not 

 think it pays here. I also believe that a box, to 

 have any chance of catching a swarm, must be set 

 in a very conspicuous place. Then in such a place 

 others may appropriate the good luck before the 

 owner does. 



Providence, R. I. Gardener B. Willis. 



Bees Plug the Horizontal Openings in the 

 Top-bars with Wax 



The letter on page 1000, suggesting horizontal 

 openings through the top-bars for winter passages 

 for the bees, reminds me of some experiments that 

 my father, the late S. T. Pettit, tried many years 

 ago. I can still remember seeing combs in the 

 brood-chambers with these holes through the top-bars 

 securely and liermelically sealed by the bees with 

 wax. When friend Bordon tries out his idea he 



will find that the bees will wax up the openings, and 

 I imagine he will decide that other ways to provide 

 the winter passage are better. 



Another method that S. T. Pettit had in making 

 winter passages was to bore through all the combs of 

 the brood-chamber in one operation by means of an 

 iron rod heated in a kettle of boiling water. One of 

 my earliest recollections is having to sit beside the 

 hive, holding a form while he bored through with 

 this instrument. Holes were placed in the sides of 

 the hive and kept plugged except when the combs 

 were to be bored out the last thing before the bees 

 went into winter quarters. 



I do not think that any thing will take the place 

 of the Hill device or some similar arrangement which 

 gives a passage across the top-bars. 



Guelph, Canada, Dec. 28. Moeley Pettit. 



Plan for Fastening Foundation 



I notice in Gleanings, 1913, page 799, H. H. 

 Root's plan for fastening foundation in frames, 

 which is surely good; but I do not understand why 

 he wants the lower wire to curve upward. Here in 

 Texas we use two wires where four holes are al- 

 ready punched. We put one wire in the second hole 

 from the top and the other in the fourth hole, as 



shown in the diagram, and then with short pieces 

 of wire wrap one end two or three times around a 

 tack and drive it about the middle of the top-bar. 

 We pull the horizontal wire tight in the middle and 

 wrap the wire around. Next we tighten the second 

 wire and wrap the end of the short wire around it. 

 It surely will not sag nor buckle. Instead of a tack 

 we sometimes ^\-i'ap the wire around the top-bar. 

 Angelita, Texas. J. S. White. 



Who Should Worry over the Net-weight Law? 



I have just read with considerable interest the 

 editorial, page 921, Dec. 1, on the net-weight law as 

 applied to comb honey. My inference is that it 

 would make no difference whether the section was 

 weighed in or out. A practical beekeeper or honey 

 jobber isn't going to mark the exact weight on each 

 comb, is he ? Is it necessary to mark the maximum 

 weight on each section of honey ? Why not grade 

 the honey as formerly, and, when cased, stamp each 

 section alike with the minimum weight, say 10 or 

 12 or 14 oz. ? Suppose there was not a section in 

 the 10-oz. case that weighed less than 14 ounces. 

 Whose business would it be if we gave the customer 

 4 ounces more honey ? 



I spent three weeks recently selling extracted 

 lioncy to dealers in eastern North Dakota and western 

 Minnesota. I had the opportunity of seeing several 

 hundred cases of comb honey in the hands of deal- 

 ers there, and I gave it some attention. One pro- 

 ducer marked with a pencil; some more had "not 

 less than 12 oz;" but the concern that supplied most 

 of the comb honey in this section had each comb 

 stamped the same, " Not less than 10 oz." . 



If this fills the letter of the law, why worry over 

 llie weight? This was all nice honey, and probably 

 weighed 14 or more ounces, with a few exceptions. 

 Now and then a case had some thin combs, probably 

 1 1 oz. Under our standard grading we would 

 •iiiido this out ; but under this plan of weighing we 

 would not need to. This net-weight law is supposed 



