1086 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1 



On page b87 an article on wax-rendering at- 

 tracted my attention, and I wish to agree with 

 Mr. Byer in regard to the unhealed and heated 

 wax-presses. His conclusion recommending the 

 use of the unhealed press is in line with my ideas. 

 The footnote of editor is also entirely correct. 



Syracuse, N. Y. F. A. Salisbury. 



combined by running a cord through the center 

 of the square cleats, and tied at the corner of the 

 hive. The cleats should be one or two inches 

 shorter than the length of the sides of the hives; 

 that is, if the hive is 20 X 14, the pieces or cleats 

 should be 18 and 12 inches respectively. 



Oswego, N. Y. F. H. Cyrenius. 



[Last spring we made up some 

 entrance-stops like those shown in the 

 drawing; but our apiarist, Mr. Bain, 

 was not sure they were a real bene- 

 fit. The bees acted confused. This 

 may have been, and probably was, 

 due to the fact that the stops were 

 put on after the bees had had several 

 flights, and to a certain extent had 

 become accustomed to the entrance 

 as it was all winter. The putting on 

 of these new appliances may have 

 confused them to their hurt. Possi- 

 VESTiBULED AND PROTECTED ENTRANCES. ^jy jf ^^^^ ^ad been put on the November pre- 



This is a very important branch of our pursuit, vious the results might have been more positive, 

 especially during the cold spring days. The Here is another sample of an entrance-stop or 



chaff and double-walled hive with wide-open en- windbreak on the same plan as yours, except that 

 trance is to me like building a warm house but 



leaving the door open. Bees need some ventila- bottom view 



tion; but very little is necessary in cold days. I 

 am wintering some with an entrance the size of a 

 lead pencil. 



I send you one of my windbreak entrances. 

 The bees, to go in or out, must pass up and down 

 over. As you will see, this prevents the wind 

 from blowing right into the hive. In connection 

 you will also find an automatic closing entrance 

 in the form of a button which may be swung up 

 back out of the way in warm weather. The bees 

 must learn to crowd their way through it, which 

 they will do if the threads are not made too 

 thick. 



FASTENING PAPER AROUND THE HIVE. ..... n i , i- , , 



It lies horizontally, thus enabling the bees to 

 In the N©v. 15th issue of Gleanings, p. 1436, carry out their dead more easily. In the type 

 ffe find directions for fastening the paper around you show, this would be rendered more difficult, 

 the hive with a cord. It is not possible that the Ed.] 



THE CYRENIUS METHOD OF FASTENING PAPER 

 AROUND THE HIVE. 



cord can hold the paper as close to the sides of a 

 hive as a cleat would, but the nailing of the cleats 

 would be objectionable. The two plans may be 



: CHICKENS EAT DRONES. 



I have been reading on p. 1505, of the Dec. 1st 

 number concerning drone bees and chickens. 



For a number of years I kept Black Minorca 

 fowls. The bees used to sting them badly — so 

 much so that when the fowls wished to cross the 

 yard they did it by running; but the past two 

 years I have kept Rose Comb White Leghorns. 

 1 made the change, as the Minorcas suffered so 

 by having their combs frozen in winter. That 

 stopped the egg production. I am pleased that 

 I made the change; but what amused me in 1906 

 was that the young fowls were very fond of 

 drones; and to catch them (the drones) on the 

 fly, leaving or returning to the hives, the chicks 

 would approach at the side of the hive and snap 

 up the drones so quickly that it was quite amus- 

 ing. The young fowls of 1907 have the same 

 trick. I have seen them snap up 10 or 12 in a 

 few minutes. I think the difference in color be- 

 tween black and white is the cause of the bees 

 acting so differently with these fowls. 



Woodstock, Ont. J. B. Hall. 



