566 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 1 



ing- it into water or else touching^ the dip- 

 ping^-sticks to it e\evy time they are taken 

 from the water; then dip them about half 

 waj' up and set them on the board as be- 

 fore, to be repeated until the base is nearly 

 as heavy as desired, and the goblet shape 

 formed. At this stage the cups should be 

 dipped full depth again and set on the 

 board, first shaking- the drops of wax off 

 if the bases are larg-e enoug-h, or failing to 

 shake them off if the size of base is to be 

 increased, and repeat until the cups are as 

 heavy as desired. The main bod}' of the 

 cups should be made heavj' enough at first 

 to prevent the water that can not be shaken 

 from the sticks from bursting through and 

 causing water-bubbles, or knots, on them, 

 by the contraction of the wax in cooling; 

 then increase the weight of the base, as 

 that part has to remain longer in the wax, 

 and is inclined to melt off, although the 

 dipping should be done quickl}', while the 

 last dip or dips should be nearly full depth 

 to make the cups smooth outside, and also 

 to warm the cups up so that they will slip 

 off the pegs easil}\ The cooling of the 

 main body, while the base is being formed, 

 stretches the cups somewhat ; and then 

 when again warmed up the expansion 

 makes them fit more loosely than if kept 

 warm continually. When completed, touch 

 the bases to the water used to wet the dip- 

 ping-sticks, but not deeper than the necks. 

 This is done to harden the bases so as to 

 be able to remove the cups from the sticks 

 while the main body is j^et warm. If al- 

 lowed to contract much they fit the pegs too 

 tightly for eas}' removal, and for this rea- 

 son the dipping should be done during warm 

 weather, or in a warm room. 



A little hone}' or syrup added to the wa- 

 ter in which the forming sticks or pegs are 

 dipped after the removal of each batch of 

 cups assists very much in their easy re- 

 moval. 



After the sticks are used until thej' be- 

 come somewhat glazed, and the water is in- 

 clined to stand on them in drops, the points 

 should be dipped for a few minutes into 

 boiling water, or cleaned with potash. Ce- 

 dar is the best wood to make the sticks of, 

 as it is less inclined to swell when wet, 

 and, consequentl}', forms the cups of a uni- 

 form size. 



SHIPPING BEES WITH HORSES AND HOUSE- 

 HOLD GOODS IN A CAR. 



As I have got to move about 100 colonies 

 of bees 300 miles by rail, and never had any 

 experience in moving bees in a car, I should 

 like to have you give what information j'ou 

 can. I wish to put household goods and 

 horses in the car. Can it be made safe if 



one is very careful and keeps watch of 

 them all the time? How much room should 

 the bees have, to move with the least loss? 

 How high may the hives be tiered up, and 

 ride safely? When would it be best to 

 move them — in the fall or spring? How 

 should the hives be fastened in place? If 

 the bees are partitioned off in one end of 

 the car, will the end door give ventilation 

 enough? Will the Van Deusen hive-clamp 

 hold the bottom-boards securely? How much 

 stores are they likely to use up? 



A. T. DOCKHAM. 



Bricelyn, Minn., June 2. 



[I should say it would be a little riskj' 

 moving bees in the same car with horses. 

 However, it can be done safely enough if 

 there are not too many colonies, and rea- 

 sonable intelligent care is used. The hives 

 should be loaded upon four or five inches of 

 straw, and straw should be packed down 

 between for the purpose of forming a cush- 

 ion to break the shock when the cars bump 

 together. 



The frames should all be made fast, of 

 course. If the}' are the Langstroth un- 

 spaced frames, strips of wood about half an 

 inch thick should be shoved between them, 

 and the last frames (or those next to the 

 hive side) should be wedged firmly against 

 the others. If the frames are the Hoffman 

 self-spacing, no such fastening will be nec- 

 essary. 



The whole top of the hive should be cov- 

 ered with wire cloth, which should be rais- 

 ed about two inches above the frames by 

 means of a rim of the same width and 

 length as the hive. 



I would not depend on the Van Deusen 

 hive-fasteners. I would use wire nails. 

 As an additional precaution I would nail 

 strips of wood from the rim that supports 

 the wire cloth down to the bottom-board, 

 four such strips should be nailed at each 

 corner, and the whole should be put togeth- 

 er so it will be impossible for the bees to 

 escape. 



It may be advisable to put sponges of wa- 

 ter on the wire-cloth covers to give the bees 

 a drink. — Ed.] 



MARKINGS OF DRONES NOT A CRITERION ON 

 WHICH TO BASE PURITY OF STOCK. 



Why is it that half the drones of an Italian 

 queen (from The Root Co.) are black, while 

 1 have some other queens, not pure Italians, 

 as many if not more of whose drones are 

 yellow. Is the first-named queen not pure? 

 She was untested. Mrs. E. Priestin. 



Davisville, Cal. 



[The drones from pure Italian queens 

 vary greatly in their markings ; and espe- 

 cially is this true of those from leather- 

 colored or imported stock. Some drones 

 from some of our very best imported queens, 

 having perfectly marked bees, would be 

 almost jet black ; and yet I have seen 

 drones from dark hybrids, a cross between 

 blacks and Italians, very bright-colored, 

 with beautiful yellow bands. It should be 



