234 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15 



hives of bees, half of them are strong, and 

 the other half fair; but I have been feeding 

 for about six weeks to keep them in good 

 condition should the weather break. I tind 

 the articles written by E. W. Alexander, Doo- 

 little, and pr. Miller very interesting — in 

 fact, some of the kinks we get from the pens 

 of these men are worth dollars to us, which 

 we may never find out in a lifetime by our 

 own experience. F. C. Golder. 



Pittsworth, Queensland. 



such a block better, only it costs more if the 

 lumber has to be bought. 

 Blairstown, N. J. W. E. Conklin. 



A DURABLE HIVE-STAND. 



The hive-stand for me is a bench made of 

 slabs from a saw-mill, cut long enough for 

 two hives. Bore two holes in each end for 

 the legs. If for a hill-side, make the front 

 legs longer to even up the grade. I use lo- 



HIVE-STAND MADE FROM A SAW-MILL SLAB 



cust or red cedar for legs, and they last a 

 long time. Few men will ever live to use 

 the second set. Such a stand is cheap, and 

 handy to move, and better than cement to 

 save the hive- bottom. 



For contracting the entrance to the hive, 

 make a letter L of two strips one inch square. 

 One of these should be three inches long, the 

 other two inches. By reversing we have a 



TOP AND BOTTOM STARTERS; A REASON WHY 

 COMBS ARE SOMETIMES IRREGULAR; HOW 

 TO CORRECT THE OCCASIONAL DEFORMI- 

 TIES. 



I have just read W. A. Pryal's trouble with 

 bottom starters in sections, and Dr. Miller's 

 ideas in regard to his failure. I have had 

 the same deformed comb as shown in Glean- 

 ings, but not more than one in two or three 

 hundred when I used full sheets of founda- 

 tion. 



I use the Hubbard section-press and Daisy 

 foundation-fastener, and the tall Ideal plain 

 section. I cut the starters as wide as they 

 will work well between the walls 

 of the section. My explanation of 

 the cause of the deformity, or not 

 connecting of top and bottom start- 

 ers, is this: Occasionally a section 

 will not stay square as it leaves 

 the press. When the foundation 

 starter is put in the top, the reen- 

 tering side of the section crowds 

 the foundation to the obtuse angle, 

 and, later, when it is placed in 

 the super and squared up, the side 

 of the section next to the obtuse 

 angle strikes the foundation and 

 presses it out of plumb at the op- 

 posite lower corner so far that the 

 bees fail to connect it with the 

 bottom starter, but fasten it to the 

 fence, even when I have carefully 

 leveled the hive-stand with a spirit-level. 

 Sometimes the starter is broken loose from 

 the top entirely. 



For these reasons I cut sheets of founda- 

 tion in two, and used only half-sheets for the 

 top and about a ^-inch piece at the bottom. 

 This practically overcame the trouble. I 

 have seen the two combs meet half way, but 

 I never saw the lower one tip over to one 

 side. The only combs fastened to the fence 

 was where the upper starter fell down. 



After following this plan for several years, 

 getting straight combs, with only the fault 

 that there might be creep-holes on the sides 

 in case of a light honey-flow, I tried again 

 with full sheets at the top of the section, and 

 the lower starter not as wide as usual. I 

 watched those sections that were not square, 

 and corrected their shape till 1 saw them 

 properly placed in the super. In this way I 

 have reduced the number of deformed ones 

 to a minimum, and believe it pays to use 

 full sheets of foundation in sections, with a 

 bottom starter. A. D. Hopps. 



LaMoille, 111. 



small or medium entrance, said letter L to 

 lie on the alighting-board. A corner may 

 be sawed from a board as shown, and I like 



increasing THE CAPACITY OF THE ALEX- 

 ANDER FEEDER BY THE ATMOSPHERIC 

 PRINCIPLE. 



Ever since the Alexander feeder has been 

 on the market I have been watching for 

 somebody to say something about a Board- 



