828 



GLEANINGS C: BEE CULTURE. 



July 1 



Heads of Grain 



From Different Fields 



COMBS BUILT CROSSWISE IN SECTIONS, EVEN WHERE 

 STARTERS WERE USED. 



What causes my bees to build crosswise of the 

 sections, and every way, with one inch of foun- 

 dation in the bottom and three inches in the top, 

 and fastened at the bottom and top only f 



Would it do to put in full sheets and fasten at 

 the top only, and let it hang down loose ? 



Hastings, Pa., June 9. V. A. H. 



[If you put in foundation starters at top and 

 bottom we are at a loss to understand why the 

 bees built the combs crosswise unless the fasten- 

 ing of the starters was so poorly done that they 

 fell down and lay crosswise, with the result that 

 the combs were built from them. Your bottom 

 starters should not be more than half an inch 

 high. This may be where a part of your trouble 

 is. 



You do not say any thing about using separa- 

 tors; but most producers consider it an advantage 

 to use them — not because they prevent the build- 

 ing of combs crosswise, but because they pre- 

 vent bulging beyond the edge of the sections. 

 Putting in full sheets of foundation, as suggest- 

 ed, might help the matter somewhat. 



If any of our readers have experienced similar 

 difficulty, or if any one else knows what is the 

 cause of our correspondent's trouble, we should 

 be glad to have him report. — Ed.] 



AN ABSCONDING SWARM FROM A COLONY WITH 

 A CLIPPED QUEEN. 



I had a peculiar experience with a swarm of 

 bees to-day. They came off with a clipped 

 queen. I caught and caged the queen, and the 

 bees left without settling. I looked through the 

 parent hive and failed to find any cell Irom which 

 a young queen had hatched which might have 

 left with them. E. H. Vincent. 



Feyil, Okla., May 9. 



[We have had reports before of a swarm ab- 

 sconding when it had a clipped queen in the hive; 

 but all cases of this kind can be accounted for by 

 a stray virgin which by mistake went into the 

 hive of the clipped queen, or which may have 

 hatched from some obscure cell. We do not 

 ourselves hold the theory that bees will abscond 

 without any thing in the nature of a queen. A 

 swarm from a clipped-queen hive will cluster; 

 and on breaking the cluster, and taking wing, 

 may unite with another swarm having a virgin. 

 If they were disposed to go for parts unknown 

 they would leave, giving their owner the impres- 

 sion that thev went off without anv thing. — Ed.] 



CAPPING-MELTERS used YEARS AGO. 



After reading J. Y. Peterson's article on melt- 

 ing cappings, page 559, May 1, I will say that I 

 had some experience in that line years ago. I 

 think it was in 1886 or '7 when we had a Swiss or 

 Cierster wax-extractor. We filled the water- 

 chamber underneath with water, and the top part 

 with wax or cappings, and the wax and honev all 

 ran out together. It was made to rest on top of 



the stove. We simply arranged the thing to 

 stand on a two-burner oil-stove, and rigged up a 

 lard-can as a sort of funnel so the cappings dropped 

 right through into the extractor. It worked all 

 right, only sometimes the snout would get clog- 

 ged with cold wax so that we had to let it all 

 cool together. At such times I thought it spoil- 

 ed the flavor of the honey. I don't see why one 

 of them could not be made to work all right, and 

 no odds to anybody in regard to royalties. There 

 were plenty of them used years ago. Some of 

 the boys did not like the heat in the extracting- 

 room. Eugene Manning. 



Trumansburg, N. Y., May 8. 



[There is no reason in the world why the old- 

 fashioned Swiss wax-extractor could not have 

 been used in the manner described; but it would 

 have the objection that hot steam would be en- 

 veloping the one doing the uncapping. We are 

 under the impression that the German wax-press 

 has been used in the same way. If any one has 

 so used it, let him report. 



This press, according to directions, is supposed 

 to be used for holding the cappings until the bas- 

 ket is full. Heat is then applitd to the bottom 

 without rehandling the cappings, when the honey 

 and the wax run out into the one receptacle. On 

 cooling, the cake of wax may be lifted off the 

 honey. 



It would not require a great stretch of inven- 

 tive genius to melt the cappings as fast as they fall 

 into the basket; but our opinion is, without ha\- 

 ing tried it, that the work would be very unpleas- 

 ant, owing to the aforesaid hot steam. — Ed.] 



the dr. miller splints not satisfactory. 



About two weeks ago I filled up a Danzenba- 

 ker hive with full sheets of foundation, putting 

 Miller splints on them. I put tl;is hive under 

 my best swarm of bees, and to-day 1 looked them 

 over. I foimd the bees had begun on the south * 

 side of the hive and cut out all <.\\e splints, leav- 

 ing the foundation hanging in long strips. They 

 had only begun on the tenth or north-side frame; 

 but their first work was to cut out the splints, 

 starting at the top. I wanted to send you a pho- 

 tograph of one frame so you could see how it 

 looked, but I had no fiini in my camera. I ha\e 

 had a lot of trouble with the full sheets of fovm- 

 dation in having it hang flat; and when I read 

 Dr. Miller's article on splints it struck me as a 

 good thing, and 1 nad great expectations when I 

 put the frames in the hive-body, as the foundation 

 looked like so many boards. If Dr. M. can tell 

 me wherein the trouble lies I wish he v\ould do 

 so. I am a novice with two colonies; and when 

 I said abo\e I had a lot of trouble, it was in only 

 a comparative sense. I see Mr. Pouder, on page 

 699, tells how he gets frames filled without wire 

 or splints; but it would take me a long time to 

 get ten frames filled. I am going to try his way 

 as soon as I open a hi\e. Hervey B. Jones. 

 Summit, N. J. 



[If there were no honey coining in at the time 

 you put in the foundation, or if the wood splints 

 were too large, the bees probably would do just 

 what they did do — reject the artificial stays givei# 

 them. It is our opinion, without ha.ing made a 

 comparative test, that the bees would not have 



