510 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



combs examined. All queen-cells were removed, and 

 the frames, bees, and brood placed in the bottomless 

 brmid-chamber. The old hive was furnished with 

 empty frames ; and the bottomless chamber, contain- 

 ing the frames and bees, was placed on top of the 

 old chamber. The colony was then returned to old 

 quarters — the old stand. 



An entrance had been previously cut in the new 

 bottomless brood-chamber, giving two entrances. I 

 have already taken two supers of twenty-four sec- 

 tions each from many hives, and from all appear- 

 ances at present I shall be able to get one or two 

 more in a short time, leaving plenty of honey in the 

 brood-frames for the colony. 



I don't expect to come anywhere near my old 

 friend Dr. C. C. Miller in number of sections from 

 one colony ; but for appearance and quality I'd like 

 to e.xhibit with him. 



Tampa, Fla. William P. Henderson. 



A Novel Hive-record 



I find a record-sheet a great help in keeping track 

 of the condition of my different colonies. The sheets 

 may be filed away as a record, or copied in a 

 record-book. 



I find it much easier to scratch off this slip as 

 the conditions are noted than to write each item 

 down. It is much more accurate than to attempt 

 to remember what one has seen after the work is 

 done. 



S-L'i'^ 



NO. Z Xj 



QUEEN 



Did Not See 



REMOVED 



MISSING 



SUPCD'ED 



KEG \i^^n-'^^ 



CLIPPED 



NOT-CL'PD 



GRUB-%<=^^ 



EGG 



r 



■,iM. 



SEALED r"--^ 



Introduced 



LAYI?^^ 



NO 0-C 



CROSS 



GENTLE 



BROOD 

 1 2^3 4^ 5 

 6 7 8 9 10 



HONEY 



+ ^2 3 4 5 

 6 7 8 9 10 



DRONE 

 12 3 4 5 

 6 7 8 9 10 



Supers-Given 

 SECTIONS^ 

 SWARMED 

 STUNG 



When the first frame is removed and found to be 

 full of honey I draw a line through figure one, 

 under " Honey." Frame two has some honey in, 

 and a cross is put before figure two ; frame three has 

 some brood in; and figure three under " Brood" has 

 a cross in front of it. Frame four is full of brood, 

 and so figure four has a line drawn through. The 

 queen is seen on frame four, and " Saw " is crossed 

 off; and as there are eggs in the cells, "laying" is 

 crossed off. If this colony is cross, " Cross " is 

 marked off; and if I get a sting or two while work- 

 ing this colony, " stung" is marked; and if she has 

 many records so marked when the time of year comes 

 for superseding, her head is pinched. 



The slips cost me about a dollar a thousand, and 

 are put up in pads of a hundred each for conven- 

 ience, and may be torn off as used. 



Princeton, 111., Feb. 6. G. R. Richardson. 



Bee Gums in the Mountains 



Bees wintered exceedingly well in this section of 

 West Virginia — scarcely any loss at all. There has 

 been a good early bloom, and bees have stored a 

 little honey. Prospects are fine for a good honey 

 year. How would some of you bee experts like to 

 tackle a job of 150 colonies of bees in the old-fash- 

 ioned round gum ? 



I just returned from a trip up the Williams River, 

 trout-fishing. We stayed with a man who had about 

 150 stands, and every one was the round hive. I 

 asked if they would not be better to handle in the 

 modern hive. He said he didn't think they would, 

 as he had never seen a patent hive. I explained the 

 use of the modern hive to him, and he has a notion 

 to try two or three when he gets time. On making 

 inquiries about how they wintered he said he had lost 

 only ten or fifteen this season, but last year he lost 

 fifty colonies. He is situated among the mountains 

 where the poplar and basswood are untouched. What 

 could an experienced beeman do if he had his bees 

 located where this man is? Don't you envy him? 



Bolaii', W. Va., May 17. L. W. Starcheb. 



Heavy Minnesota Loss 



Bees in this vicinity are almost a total loss. I 

 have saved perhaps more than any one else, but 

 have only 50 colonies left out of 130 placed in the 

 cellar. Many of those are very weak. Our largest 

 beekeepers who had from 100 to 125 colonies each 

 last fall have lost all or nearly all, while most of 

 the small owners are cleaned out completely. Num- 

 bers of colonies died with honey in coml>s. 



April was warm ; but it turned cold and rainy as 

 soon as fruit-bloom came on, and the same condition 

 still continues. 



On May 18 everything was buried in snow, and 

 a hard freeze was on. 



Excelsior, Minn. Mrs. W. S. Wingate. 



Calk Feeder with ParaflSne 



Mr. W. A. Sillifant writes on page 338, April 15, 

 describing a method of making metai division-board 

 feeders. If he will pour melted paraffine wax in the 

 wood feeders, and, while hot, tilt the feeders so 

 that it will run or flow into each joint of the feeder, 

 he will have no trouble. What does not stick in 

 the joints of the feeder should be turned back into 

 the melting-pot. The wood can be made or bought 

 cheaper than metal, and is not as cold as metal, 

 even when coated with cork or sawdust both inside 

 and outside. 



Wabash, Ind. F. J. Reddig. 



Low Prices in Fresno, Cal. 



The honey crop of the mountain districts along the 

 Coast Range will not be large this year on account of 

 very little rain. We will hope for better prices 

 than 3 % cts., which is being offered at this time. 

 We have a fine quality of honey — always light amber 

 ■ — and it never granulates. It seems a shame that 

 more of it is not used in the United States, and 

 that we have to depend on Germany for our output. 



Coalinga, Cal. Mrs. H. T. Chrisman. 



Bees in Orchards 



There is a kind of bee craze here now. All the 

 orchard men are inviting the beemen to come on, and 

 are buying hives to put in their orchards. Some 

 time ago they wanted to declare bees a nuisance. 

 " Every dog has his day." 



New Almadin, Cal. Pat Kkating. 



