1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



613 



CARBON BISULPHIDE. 



In reply to an article by C. T. Cole, pag-e 

 568, I would say I have used carbon bisul- 

 phide for seven or eight years to kill chick- 

 en lice. I find it is the only sure cure. I 

 hang- it in an open bottle under the roosts. 

 In all that time I have never had an acci- 

 dent. I have poured it from the can into 

 bottles in a room where there was a fire. I 

 have inhaled the fumes many a time, and 

 even spilled it on my hands. To me it has 

 a very sickening- odor. It is sure death to 

 any thing- without lungs. But I had one 

 sad experience with it. My coops are very 

 old, and it takes eternal vigilance to keep 

 the lice down. One year they did not both- 

 er during the winter, and I neglected to get 

 any of the drug in the spring. It was not 

 long before every thing was overrun with 

 lice. I had over 100 turkey eggs under 

 hens, besides hens' eggs. I thought it 

 would be a good idea to put a few drops in 

 the nest, as that would kill the lice on the 

 sitting hens. It did, and also the eggs. 

 Very few of the eggs hatched, and some 

 were near through incubation; so I know by 

 experience that it will kill eggs. I used it 

 several years before I knew it was at all 

 dangerous. I will use nothing else in my 

 hen-house. But I use insect-powder in the 

 nests now. I have no fear in using it, and 

 I would advise all who wish to get rid of 

 hen lice, ants (pour it into the hole and 

 cover it up; if in a crack, lay a heavy cloth 

 over), and all little pests without lungs, to 

 use it without fear; but that doesn't mean 

 be careless. Mrs. Ida M. Pike. 



Cedar Run, Mich. 



IN LIEU OF THE HILL DEVICE. 



On page 524 is an article, "Burlap and 

 the Hill Device," by W. S. Pouder. I in- 

 dorse every word he says on this point. 

 Years ago I discarded both as a nuisance. 

 I use the eight-frame Dovetailed hive. I 

 have empty supers, and prepare them thus : 

 I take ^-inch boards, cut them to fit snug 

 inside of super, to rest on the tins ; then an- 

 other to fit on top in the rabbet. They will 

 be an inch longer than the lower boards. 

 Thus prepared your super is ready for 

 winter use. You can, if you like, fill in 

 chaft" or what you like ; clean ofi" the top- 

 bars with a scraper nicely, and set on your 

 super and cover. Do this a little early in 

 the fall, so the bees can glue up all sides 

 tight. I believe this is as good as any way 

 to prepare bees for winter. It has been a 

 success so far with me. You can prepare 

 j'our boards, and keep them from year to 

 year ; and I suggest to the Root Co. that 

 these boards be cut, and furnished as a 

 part of the hive outfit — at least to those who 

 ask for them. J. W. C. Gray. 



Atwood, 111., June 23. 



[Your arrangement would work; but it 

 seems to me it involves considerable labor 

 and expense. We simply use a super-cover 

 that sits squarely on top of the hive. Be- 



tween this and the thick-top brood-frames 

 below, there will be a >4^-inch bee-space, so 

 that the bees can pass back and forth. On 

 top of this super-cover, made of a pine 

 board f^ inch thick, and bound at the ends 

 with tins to prevent warping, we put a 

 chafi^ cushion or a tray having a burlap bot- 

 tom filled with chafl^, planer-shavings, or any 

 porous material. The telescope cover sits 

 down over the whole. We have discarded 

 the Hill device in wintering, and now pre- 

 fer the sealed cover rather than a burlap 

 cover that lets the moisture or " sweat," as 

 some call it, ascend into the packing mate- 

 rial, and make it damp for the bees. — Ed.] 



HOW TO GET THE LITTLE WOOD ANTS OUT 

 OF HIVES AND SUPERS. 



I have read some good recipes in Glean- 

 ings concerning the little wood ants caus- 

 ing a lot of trouble at times by getting into 

 the supers, and trying to hold possession of 

 the colony of bees. I had much trouble 

 from the little pests till I tried this remedy. 

 Take a piece of gum camphor, about the 

 size of a common bean, and tie it up in a 

 thin piece of brown cotton or calico rag. 

 Open the hive to where the ants are. Lay 

 the rag with camphor in right in their nest, 

 then close the hive, and in two hours open 

 it and see where the ants are. If they 

 have moved to another hive, give them an- 

 other lump of camphor. Let the first one 

 sta}- where you put it. They will not stay 

 where camphor is. I have run them out 

 from between the sections by laying the rag 

 of camphor on top of the sections over the 

 ants. The camphor will not hinder the 

 bees in their labor, or at least it never has 

 for me; but it makes the ants " get a move 

 on 'em." J. D. Howard. 



Dunkinsville, O., June 23. 



[Your suggestion is a valuable one; and 

 those of our readers who are troubled with 

 little ants will do well to carry into effect 

 your "cure." — Ed.] 



GEORGE W. YORK FOR GENERAL MANAGER. 



I consider Mr. George W. York, editor 

 and owner of the Amer. Bee Journal, as 

 the logical candidate for General Manager 

 of the National Bee-keepers' Association at 

 the election to be held in December, 1902. 

 It is common knowledge that Mr. York 

 stands in the foremost rank of bee-men in 

 America, and that he has always had the 

 interest of the National and of bee-keepers 

 in general at heart. Mr. York is an ex- 

 president of the National, and right in the 

 line for promotion. 



It is probably not generally known that 

 Mr. York received the next highest number 

 of votes for General Manager after Mr. 

 Secor at the last election. Mr. York has 

 declared repeatedly that he is not a candi- 

 date for any office, but I believe he would 

 obey a unanimous call, and sacrifice his 

 personal feelings to the good of the greatest 



