1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



95 



Of late there has been a tendency on the 

 part of many honey-producers to go back to 

 the old wire-cloth headgear of father Lang- 

 stroth, such as he described in his "Hive 

 and Honey-bee," published in the early 50*8. 

 Among this number is E. W. Alexander, 

 who has adopted a headgear on the Lang- 

 stroth idea, and the same is shown in Fig. 8. 

 This is made up of special wire cloth of 8 

 meshes to the inch, black in color, and of so 

 tine a wire as to obstruct the vision but very 

 little. It is formed into a cylinder of suit- 

 able size, the top of which is covered with a 

 gathering of muslin, and to the bottom is at- 

 tached a skirt of the same material. 



When I first saw Mr. Alexander and his 

 men using this outlandish headgear I felt 

 sorry to think that a man so progressive 

 would be willing to be seen in such a thing, 

 to say nothing of the inconvenience of using 

 it all day long. I did not, however, express 

 my feelings; but after some little persuasion 

 on the part of my host I submitted to the 

 ordeal of wearing one. At first I did not 

 like it ; but the longer I wore it the more I 

 concluded it was not such an inconvenient 

 thing after all. I continued to wear it, and 

 finally came to the conclusion that it was 

 one of the most serviceable and handy head- 

 gears it had ever been my lot to try. 



The skirts fit loosely over the head and 

 shoulders. The wire-cloth cylinder rests 

 partly on the head and partly on the shoul- 

 ders; and as it is made of stiff strong mate- 

 rial the protector does not in any way touch 

 the face. I soon discovered it was not nec- 

 essary to wear any hat or cap ; indeed, the 

 white muslin top gave all the protection 

 from the sun one would need, without any 

 pressure on top of the head. As work in 

 the bee-yard is usually performed in hot 

 weather, this veil is very cool, because the 

 summer breezes can circulate over the top 

 of the head ; and, what is more, there is no 

 tight-fitting hatband from which the sweat 

 will ooze in great drops. 



While I have not tried these wire-cloth- 

 facing veils extensively, yet I have talked 

 with men who have ; and I am convinced 

 that for heavy work in the bee-yard it is a 

 splendid and serviceable protection. There 

 is no danger of getting it "hooked " on to a 

 limb or twig, and no danger of having it 

 torn, because both the muslin and the wire 

 cloth are sufficiently strong material to stand 

 any ordinary usage without damage. 



But the feature of this veil that will be ap- 

 preciated by many is the ease with which 

 one can reach up under the skirt to get at 

 the face to wipe off the perspiration with a 

 handkerchief or pick off any bees that may 

 be playing tag over one's bald head (my 

 head is not bald). Another thing, it may be 

 jerked off in an instant and laid on the 

 ground, and it can be put on again just as 

 quickly. 



The illustration will show how the veil is 

 made. I find a very good proportion for 

 the veil is as follows: Wire cloth, 11 inches 

 deep by 2 feet 7 inches long. This is rolled 

 up into a cylinder and sewed together at the 



back. The top is made of a piece of muslin 

 10 inches wide by 2 feet 7 inches long. This 

 is drawn together and tucked into the form 

 of a circle, the tucks running toward a com- 

 mon center, at which point there may be a 

 small hole. The skirt consists of a piece of 

 muslin 11| inches wide by the same length 

 as the wire cloth— 2 feet 7. This is sewed to 

 the bottom edge of the wire-cloth cylinder, 

 and hemmed at the bottom. 



There are some others who have recom- 

 mended veils with a glass front, glued to the 

 veiling material Mr. Walter S. Pouder 

 suggested celluloid; but both of these sub- 

 stances gather moisture from the breath, 

 and thus totally defeat the object of their 

 use by smearing up the glass or the celluloid 

 so that it is impossible to see through it. 

 The best material that I have ever tried so 

 far is silk brussels netting or a fine grade of 

 wire cloth. 



For the very timid, a globe bee- veil seems 

 to offer advantages from the fact that the 

 protecting material is kept away from the 

 face and head at all points, and the bottom 

 securely locked around the neck by means 

 of a metal band, the same also supporting 

 the steel hoops that make up the globular 

 shape, and hence the name. As a general 

 rule this veil is not popular with the bee- 

 keeper who is not afraid of stings, because it 

 takes too long to put it on and take it off. 



There are others, like theCoggshall, which 

 combine a waist and bee-veil all in one. I 

 will not give a description of this here, be- 

 cause it was shown in these columns, page 

 1497, Dec. 1, 1907. 



WEBERS ENTRANCE-CONTROLLER. 



How it is Used to Prevent Bees from Fly- 

 ing out on Bright Days, getting 

 Chilled, and Dying. 



BY C. H. W. WEBER. 



When the hot weather is over, say at the 

 end of September or in the beginning of 

 October, supply your hives with the en- 

 trance-controller. Push the controller into 

 the entrance between the bottom- board and 

 brood-chamber, which should leave a space 

 J inch high: leave the metal slide out of the 

 controller; also leave off the attachment. 

 By doing this there will be an entrance 

 through the controller, 4 inches wide and | 

 inch high, formed. 



Toward the end of October, or in the be- 

 ginning of November, when the nights be- 

 come cold, bring the metal slide into play by 

 placing the slide into the slot of the control- 

 ler by moving the same to one side, so that 

 the entrance becomes partly closed, and so 

 that there will be an entrance of one inch 

 formed for the bees to go in and out the hive. 

 At the same time, place the attachment on 

 the controller so that the one-inch entrance 

 made by moving the slide to one side be- 

 comes fully covered, and so that at the same 

 time a one-inch entrance is formed on the 

 opposite end of the attachment. Thereby 



