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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1 



SHAKING SWARMS, OK DIVIDING. 



You might call our way of shaking 

 swarms dividing. We look the bees over, 

 and all that are strong enough we mark 

 "to be divided," and we send south for as 

 many queens as we want, to have them get 

 here about May 20. We put 7 frames. of 

 drawn comb into a hive; and after finding 

 the queen we place a frame of unsealed 

 brood in the middle of the new hive. Then 

 we shake most of the bees from the old hive 

 in front of the new one, leaving the old 

 queen on the old stand. The old bees that 

 return give us a good colony that will not 

 swarm, and with 7 frames will give us lots 

 of honey if there is any. We put the new 

 queen into the new hive. This will fill 

 three or four supers, and not swarm. Later 

 in the season, when it is warmer, we often 

 shake two lots together on to combs of foun- 

 dation, giving them one of the queens. 



We have never had good luck shaking 

 swarms on to starters, as they will fill the 

 bottom with drone comb, and make very lit- 

 tle honey. I think the location must have 

 something to do with this, as other people 

 have good luck using starters with natural 

 swarms. 



I clip all of the queens in the spring. As 

 Mr. Bacon is a very busy man I have to 

 manage the swarms if there are any. 



Mrs. J. W. Bacon. 



Waterloo, N. Y., Sept. 1, 



[If you read over the symposium in our 

 issue for Oct. 15 on this subject you will 

 find considerable stress laid on the fact 

 that queens must be young or in their prime 

 1o keep down rearing drone comb. It isn't 

 so much a matter of locality as it is the age 

 of the queen. — Ed.] 



BRUSHED OR SHOOK SWARMS. 



Mr. Root: — In Gleanings for Sept. 1 5'ou 

 ask for what we know about "brushed" or 

 " shook " swarms. I have been practicing 

 the method for about twelve 3'ears, and 

 have two very strong reasons for so doing, 

 and more especially since I have establish- 

 ed one and sometimes two out^-apiaries, and 

 work them alone. This is a long story, and 

 I hardly know what part of the practice 

 you would like us to talk about. I clip my 

 queens, and work exclusively for extracted 

 honey, for I should have to go out of the 

 business if I had to depend on comb honey 

 for a living in this county. I now practice 

 brushed swarms to keep down increase and 

 to keep bees from leaving for parts un- 

 known (and storing m}^ profits in a hollow 

 tree) by brushing the bees ofl^ the brood 

 and distributing it in the nucleus rows, for 

 here is where the after-swarm problem has 

 been solved ; for by this method I have no 

 after-swarms. In this way we have a very 

 strong colony or swarm on the old stand; 

 and as I take only the brood, there is often 

 a good start made in honey by leaving it in 

 the brood-chamber or lifting it up into the 

 extracting-super. I use the queen-exclud- 

 ing honey-board. I am preparing 200 colo- 



nies for winter. These are in two yards, 

 and have been run by the partially de- 

 scribed method, or brushed swarms. You 

 will excuse me for mentioning some of the 

 whys and wherefores that so many people 

 know; but I should like to have you take a 

 snap shot at what I call my common-sense 

 uncapping-can some time when you can 

 stop long enough. W. Harmer. 



Manistee, Mich. 



THE miter-box PLAN OF CUTTING FOUN- 

 DATION. 



I have just been looking over your new 

 catalog, and see there still the old system 

 of cutting foundation with the knife or with 

 a roller steel disk advocated. Now, this 

 might do for a one to five hive apiary; but 

 I have seen a plan mentioned in Gleanings 

 that beats this all hollow. Make a miter- 

 box, such as carpenters use, with cuts 

 across, the size you wish to cut your sheets' 

 into. Now take one of those scalloped pat- 

 ent bread-knives; put your sheets — 10 or 12, 

 or as many as your box will hold — into the 

 box and use the knife, drawing the knife 

 toward you, using some pressure, and with- 

 out using heat or hot water, as the knife 

 will not stick. In this way you can cut 1000 

 or more pieces in a very short time. Try 

 it. It is astonishing how many good things 

 are published in Gleanings, and how few 

 bee-keepers will ever try them. 



M. R. Kuehne. 



Pomona, Cal., Sept. 18. 



[You are correct. Our catalog ought to 

 be revised in the matter of cutting up foun- 

 dation, and it will be. But we have for 

 several years sent out the Danzenbaker 

 booklet wherein the method of cutting up 

 foundation which you so much admire is 

 fully described, illustrated, and recommend- 

 ed. —Ed.] 



THE EUCALYPTUS OF CALIFORNIA; A FEW 

 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE DIF- 

 FERENT VARIETIES. 



Having had several inquiries in regard 

 to the eucalyptus, I will, with your permis- 

 sion, make a general repl3\ 



There are about 120 different varieties of 

 this tree, over 40 already introduced in this 

 State. The most common in Central Cali- 

 fornia are E. vituinalis, E. robiista, E. ru- 

 dtis, E. glolnilus, and E. rostrata. The il- 

 lustration on p. 601, July 15, shows the E. 

 vi}ninalis, or "manna gum," the popular 

 name having been given by botanists on 

 account of the exudation from the bark at 

 certain times, resembling manna. 



From close observation and no little study 

 during the past 17 years I find the E. vini- 

 inalis, or " manna gum," the most valuable 

 for general purposes. This variety grows 

 rapidly, splits more easily than other vari- 

 eties (though none splits easily), and its 

 fuel value at the age of ten years is about 

 85 per cent of that of oak. It should not be 

 used for fuel much younger. It has a fine 

 grain, and takes a high polish without any 



