776 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 15 



should be countersunk, as they project so 

 as to interfere with the sections. 



F. X. Spangle. 



Coalport, Pa., Sept. 7. 



[Mr. Danzenbaker, who is with us just 

 now, replies:] 



Your kind report of success, and sugges- 

 tions for the betterment of my hive, are 

 alike encouraging and gratefully appreci- 

 ated. 



Bees instinctively seal with pitch-like 

 propolis all cracks and corners to retain 

 bee heat and exclude young wax-worms; 

 otherwise they could not exist. Better for 

 all concerned to help them reduce the need 

 of it to the lowest limit. 



The A. I. Root Co. is now using special 

 machines, cutting both ends of stock at 

 once, securing absolute accuracy in fix- 

 tures that will fit together like minted 

 coins, so that closed-end frames properly 

 nailed and keyed up will have no spaces to 

 be glued, and the inconvenience of handling 

 will be as nothing compared with their es- 

 tablished advantages over open-end or loose 

 frames, which I never use. 



The rivet-heads are now made thinner, so 

 Ihat they are easily driven even with the 

 surface, clear of the sections, by placing 

 the end-bars on the end of a hard-wood 

 block or heavy piece of iron with a hole for 

 the rivet to pass through. — F. D. 



article. The frame is made of wood, and 

 joined as above, and then strung with 

 chalk-line. To transfer from a Hoffman to 



THE EFFECT OF THE DROUTH IN TEXAS; 



THE AVAILABLE BEE LOCATIONS IN THE 



STATE. 



I visited Wharton, Beeville, Floresville, 

 Hnd Uvalde. I found the bees in good con- 

 dition, and the bee-keepers doing well at 

 all these places except at Uvalde. At the 

 latter jilace they are suffering from a very 

 severe drouth — so severe, in fact, that the 

 present year's honey crop was practically 

 A failure. At the present time many of the 

 bees in that locality are dead, with a good 

 chance for many more to die if rains do not 

 come. There is no doubt that, in average 

 seasons, that is a good honey country — the 

 best, perhaps, that can be found in this 

 country. However, there are plenty of 

 other places in this State that are just as 

 good, only they are not yet developed, and 

 therefore are not known to the bee-keepers 

 at large. That reminds me that, in case 

 any one inquires of you regarding the honey 

 resources of this State, with a view to lo- 

 cating here in the bee business, I shall be 

 glad to correspond with them. By doing 

 so I can prevent them from going into lo- 

 calities that are likely to be overstocked, 

 and can, on the other hand, send them to 

 fine localities that are as yet entirely un- 

 occupied. WiLMON Newell, 

 Assistant Entomologist at the Agricultural 



and Mechanical College. 



College Station, Texas. 



A COUPLE OF LITTLE KINKS. 



To those who have very much transfer- 

 ring to do, the following is a very handy 



a Danzenbaker frame, place the former 

 with comb on the frame, and then use an 

 empty Danzenbaker frame as a model to 

 cut by. The drip passes down between 

 the cords, which is generally a great nui- 

 sance. 



BLOCK3 



The next affair, which I consider a great 

 improvement over the old way, is merely 

 two blocks of wood a trifle thicker than a 

 bee-escape board, to be placed in front of 

 and between the super and brood-chamber, 

 when the escape-board can be slid in from 

 the rear without raising the super 45°, as 

 is the rule, thereby decreasing the danger 

 from bee-stings, also the uncapping of the 

 honey. Chas. E. Selchow. 



Port Chester, N. Y. 



[Your method of inserting the bee-escape 

 board involves considerable work. The 

 lifting-up of one end of the super, inserting 

 the blocks, then lifting up the other end, 

 all takes time. The general plan is to lift 

 the super up at one end, tilting it so it will 

 stand at an angle of 45 degrees to the 

 brood-chamber, when the bee-escape can be 

 set in place, the super let down on the bee- 

 escape, and the whole aligned into position. 

 It is not necessary to lift the whole super, 

 as you will see, by this plan. — Ed.] 



what to do with BITTER HONEY IN SEC- 

 TIONS. 



I have twenty supers filled with the Ideal 

 sections, and they are all sealed over full 

 with the bitterweed honej-, which is of no 



