1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



447 



ordinary weather it indicates a temperature 

 of 42 to 48 degrees. There are two thick- 

 nesses of glass and a dead-air space of half 

 an inch between the cluster and thermometer. 



I should Use to ask Mr. Doolittle how he 

 reconciles these facts with the statement he 

 has made, that "the heat of a cluster is con- 

 fined within the cluster or crust of bees," 

 and does not warm the space outside of the 

 cluster. O. S. Rexfoed. 



Winsted, Ct. 



[Many reports as well as repeated observa- 

 tions year after year convince us that, early 

 in the winter, the cluster of bees will be 

 found up in front of the hive. As the winter 

 advances and the stores are consumed, the 

 cluster works backward. If you repeat your 

 experiences for a year or more yet, we think 

 you will find what we say is true. We agi"ee 

 exactly with you as to the size of the en- 

 trance. — Ed.] 



THE VALUE OF A TWO-INCH SPACE UNDER 

 THE FRAMES. 



Twenty-five years ago 1 worked my bees 

 with an entrance two inches deep, full width 

 of the hive, having special deep rims for all 

 hives having two supers, according to the 

 plan explained by Dr. Miller, p 290, Mar. 1. 

 After all these years of following the crowd 

 with a half-way compromise that has cost 

 me hundreds of dollars I am going back to 

 the deeper space beneath the frames for 

 strong colonies at all seasons, only contract- 

 ing the entrance to exclude mice in winter. 

 Dr. Miller should put nothing in to prevent 

 the bees building comb down. For every 

 ounce built below the bottom-bars the bees 

 will store 5 lbs. more surplus in the supers. 

 They will store pollen at the bottom, and go 

 higher up with the honey, owing to their 

 fore-sense of robbery. 



While the bees are building any bits of 

 comb beneath they will bring their combs 

 above tight down to the bottom-bars, if only 

 iX3x4-inch bars are used. They will not 

 build so much burr-comb with a surplus of 

 wax if the extra space is allowed. The ex- 

 tra wax pays for itself if saved, as thousands 

 of colonies in Cuba are run for wax alone, as 

 they pay better to produce wax than an in- 

 ferior grade of extracted honey. They are 

 not likely to get the swarming fever, as they 

 do with the pent-up space beneath oi"dinary 

 hives. More air beneath enables them to 

 stay in a second super in the heat of the day; 

 and the deeper cluster gives more uniform 

 heat for the brood and super above it at all 

 times. F. Danzenbaker. 



Norfolk, Va. 



DUCKS IN THE APIARY. 



On p. 42, Jan. 1, I see your remarks about 

 ducks in an apiary. You say you never ex- 

 perienced any trouble from them. Just sow 

 a patch of white clover in or near your bee- 

 yard, and then let your ducks in and see 

 how they "do" the bees. I had but one 

 stand leit over last winter. ""^ The .'rest were 

 winter-killed. The one that came through 



had a queen which you sent me the year be- 

 fore, but it had only a handful of bees in 

 the spring It increased fast in the spring, 

 and made preparations for swarming. Just 

 then my young ducks took to the clover and 

 after the bees so that all of them died. They 

 ate the bees so fast that they had to run for 

 water. G. Kunke. 



Panoka, Canada, Jan. 20, 1908. 



HONEY paste FOR STICKING SMALL LABELS 

 TO TIN. 



We have been putting up honey in tin cans 

 and buckets, and have tried all kinds of paste 

 for sticking labels to tin (including flour 

 paste as recommended by Mr. W. H. Laws). 

 We had but poor success until we tried mix- 

 ing a small quantity of honey with our dex- 

 trine and vinegar paste, which ended our 

 trouble in that line. 



We have been putting up and selling some 

 six to ten tons of extracted honey per year 

 these last few years. We also tried rubbing 

 the buckets with a rag wet with vinegar, as 

 recommended by N. E France; but while it 

 helped somewhat, many of the labels would 

 drop off as soon as dry. 



These other pastes might do if a label is 

 used that will go clear around the bucket 

 and even lap over a little; but they will not 

 hold a small label. 



Mix dextrine and vinegar to the consisten- 

 cy to suit, then add about 2 oz. of honey to 

 the pint of paste. Don't make the mistake 

 of putting too much honey in or the labels 

 will have a greasy appearance and will not 

 dry right. It requires more honey in a dry 

 atmosphere than in a wet one. Such paste 

 will keep in either a warm or cold climate. 



Ebensburg, Pa. F. J. Strittmatter. 



TROUBLE IN MAKING INCREASE: 



I have just read an article by Mr. E. W. 

 Alexander, on page 896, on the right way to 

 increase. This matter of increase has been 

 and still is a hard problem for me to solve, 

 I started in to increase 100 colonies, but 

 have lost nearly half the season by their 

 building up so slowly, I had a great many 

 poor and unfertile queens. I am now start- 

 ing a few nuclei and also the two-queen sys 

 tem with queen-excluders between the hive 

 and cap. I have had a good many years' ex- 

 perience, but have had more trouble with 

 increase this year than ever before. There 

 has been no scarcity of honey at any time, 

 but the qvieens seem to be slow about lay- 

 ing. My method is exactly the same as Al- 

 exander's. Has anybody anything better to 

 offer? R. E. 2;immermann. 



Fresno, Cal., Aug. 3, 1907. 



[The trouble in your case, we should say, 

 was poor queens. Better queen ^ or two 

 ordinary queens to the colony, sepai'ated by 

 excluders, would obviate your difficulty to a 

 great extent. As you are trying the two- 

 queen plan we shall be glad to have you re- 

 port. — Ed.] 



