1 ')08 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



829 



cut the foundation in strips if it had been stayed 

 in the usual manner with wires. Years ago, 

 when we used wire and a folded tin bar (the lat- 

 ter about the size of a wood splint) the bees would 

 sometimes gnaw away the wax around the bar 

 when they would not out away the foundation 

 around the wires used in the same frame. But 

 this gnawing around the bar occurred only when 

 honey was not coming in, and hence we deduce 

 the causeof your trouble. If Dr. Miller can add 

 any light on the difficulty we shall be pleased to 

 have him do so. — Ed.] 



A GOOD PLAN FOR WATERING BEES. 



I have tried a great many different plans, and 

 I believe I have finally found one that overcomes 

 all loss of bees, and at the same time protects 

 them from the wind, as many bees are blown 

 into the water, and so chilled that they are un- 

 able to crawl out, and finally perish. Try it 

 for summer or winter. It's all right for cold 

 spring or winter. 



Dig a hole in the ground any size you may 

 think you will need. The one I use is about 

 2X3 feet and about 10 inches deep, and the 

 shape of an old-fashioned wooden butter-bowl. 

 Make the side at or near the top very sloping; 

 pound the bottom and sides as solid as you can; 

 cement this all over the bottom and sides so it 

 will be water-tight, then fill to a little above the 

 level of the ground with brickbats, after which 

 put in the water. At any time you wish to clean 

 the basin out, just take a bucket of water and 

 souse it into the basin, and all dirt or leaves 

 will float out as the water overflows. I have 

 one end of the basin about an inch lower than 

 the other; the bees go down in among the bats, 

 and are entirely protected, and suck the water 

 from the porous brick without the loss of a sin- 

 gle bee. C. B. Palmer. 



Bradshaw, Neb., June 8. 



HONEY-DEW ON BOX-ELDER AND PEACH LEAVES. 



I should like to ask you a question regarding 

 the honey-dew. My bees have been working on 

 the box-elder and peach leaves. They seem to 

 work almost any place on the box-elder leaves. 

 There are little sparkling drops on the leaves, 

 but on the peach leaves they seem to work in 

 the cups of the leaf right next to the stem. They 

 work on them from sunrise till ten o'clock, then 

 from four till dark. I don't know whether it is 

 a honev-dew or not. C. W. Barr. 



Florence, Kan., April 22. 



[This appears to be a pure plant exudation, 

 and not a secretion from insects. Most hone> - 

 dews, so called, are of the latter kind. But there 

 are a few which are the product of the leaves or 

 leaf-stems — sometimes saccharine and sometimes 

 of a gummy nature. — Ed.] 



COMPELLED TO ABANDON SECTION-HOLDERS FOR 

 T SUPERS ON ACCOUNT OF BEE-GLUE. 



I suppose you think it strange for an old bee- 

 keeper to change from section-holders to T tins; 

 but here the bees glue every thing so tight that I 

 ha.e had a great deal of trouble to remove the sec- 

 tions from section-holders and separators; and as I 



have only 35 colonies at present, and sell all my 

 honey at my door (yes, and more), I have conclud- 

 ed to run this season without section-holders and 

 separators, so you see the need of 4>^X4>2Xl ,"j 

 sections to use in the 4^4 super with T tins; and by 

 trial I find the T tins to be by far the best; for 

 here, as the glue is so very tenacious and so plen- 

 tiful, our honey is, as a general thing, not fine, 

 but sells readily at 12^2 cts., either chunk section 

 or extracted. S. D. Rutherford. 



Hot Springs, Va. , May 6. 



IS the grading OF queens inconsistent.' 

 Why can a queen-breeder have such a variety 

 of queens, rated with a graduating price list.'' Is. 

 not the whole matter of grading queens very in-- 

 consistent.' Ralph P. Fisher. 



Great Meadows, N. J. 



[We see no reason why there should not be a va-- 

 riety of different grades of queens. Starting with 

 the untested we have the select and the ordinary 

 run of them. This is multiplied by the different- 

 races. In addition to the tested we have "extra 

 select," "select," and "plain tested," the latter 

 grade comprising the common run. A queen 

 may be actually select tested, but not yet a breed- 

 er; that is, she may not be able to reproduce her- 

 self in queens, either in color or characteristics. 

 This involves a couple more grades — ordinary 

 breeder, select breeder, and extra-select breeder. 

 A large honey-producer could well afford to pay 

 for a select breeder. The c]ueen-breeder will, of 

 course, want the very best that money will buy. 

 The small producer might be content with an or- 

 dinary breeder; then another class does not care 

 for a breeding queen, but wants something extra 

 select for color, gentleness, and honey-gathering 

 qualities. She may be a good breeder, but it 

 would probably take a year before that fact could 

 be fully shown. If, therefore, he would want 

 his queen-breeder to furnish him a tested breeder, 

 that breeder would have to have extra monev, of 

 course. — Ed.] 



sweet clover WHAT THE ILLINOIS E.X'PERI- 



MENT STATION SAYS OF IT, ETC. 



1 send herewith circular No. 116, Illinois Ex- 

 periment Station, which refers to sweet clover as 

 one of the most useful legumes for green manur- 

 ing. 



I have six acres of sweet clover which was 

 sown in 1907 with oats. It stands knee high 

 now, and the growth would be about all a plow 

 would want to turn under. On a portion of the 

 piece I cut a ton per acre off from it last fall, and 

 put it up for hay. Henry Stewart. 



Prophetstown, 111. 



VV.iVTLR PAINT NOT WEATHER-PROOF. 



In the April 1st issue of Gleanings, p. 425, 

 F. Greiner asks for experience as to painting 

 hives with water paint. Some seven or eight 

 years ago I painted perhaps 100 or more hives 

 and supers with it. Results were altogether bad. 

 In a few months it began to chalk and powder 

 off, and soil my hands and clothes every time I 

 handled them. The paint may do for inside 

 work, but it doesn't stand the weather. 



Utica, 111., April 20. A. Mott.az. 



