1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1137 



USING A ROOFING PAPER FOR A QUILT. 



After reading the article on page 936, Aug. 1, 

 on hive cloth, I concluded to tell your readers of 

 a cheap and sul^stantial cl 'th or cover. I have 

 always used a cloth, the main reason for doing 

 so being that it is a protection against robbing, 

 for it makes an additional cover, and a good 

 thing where the top cover is warped. 



I have used the glazed oilcloth, and have used 

 floor-cloth; but in removing them the paint 

 would peel off, and the bees soon gnaw holes in 

 them. i>ast spring, having a roofing-paper call- 

 ed "Buckskin rubber roofing," which contained 

 no tar, I concluded to try it. I find it does well. 

 The bees won't touch it. It can be removed 

 easily, and it will last for years. 



The Buckskin rubber roofing comes in three 

 grades. I use the two-ply, which costs $1.80 

 per roll in St. Louis. It is 32 inches wide, and 

 will make 48 covers for ten-frame hives, making 

 the cost 4 cts. each. A Reader. 



to be united, and put the screen on. Over this I 

 put a sui>er, and then transfer the bees from the 

 other hive into this super. In two days I draw 

 out the screen. T. Archibald. 



Los Angeles, Cal. 



HOW TO PUT ON BEE-ESCAPES. 



Mr. F. G. Marbach's suggestion, p. 929, Aug. 

 1, is good; but why saw off the honey-board.? 

 Justuse a stick % inch by the thickness of the 

 honey-board under one end of the hive. It does 

 not matter if the escape-board sticks out Yz inch, 

 as it is not on the hive very long. 



Andrew C. Brovald. 



Babcock, Wis. , Aug. 11. 



[Yes; and by prying up the rear end of the 

 hive after the escape-board is in place, the stick 

 could be removed, to be used at the next hive. — 

 Ed.] 



MOVING BEES; USING AN EMPTY SMOKER TO IN- 

 CREASE THE CIRCULATION; UNITING COLONIES. 



When moving bees 1 use a wire screen in 

 place of the cover. I make the frame for these 

 of IX 1-inch material, 14 inches wide, and 20 

 long, for eight-frame L hives. On this I tack 

 the wire screen. Four six-penny nails hold it to 

 the hive. I never drive them to the head, but 

 leave room for the claw of the hammer. 



For the entrance I use a piece of pine, HX2, 

 and 14 long. In one edge I cut a notch K X 3, 

 over which I tack a strip of wire cloth, one side 

 having the selvage. This is readily adjusted to 

 the hive, and held by a small nail in each end. 



In loading I leave room for the hand, at least 

 between the entrances of every two hives, although 

 enough room for the smoker would be better. 

 When my hives are loaded on the vehicle I clean 

 out the smoker — even the dust; for on the road I 

 use it without fire to give the bees pure air. 

 When a hive begins to get hot I blow out the 

 heated air. A little water sprinkled on them with 

 a brush is good; but very little of it should be 

 used. With all of this precaution, and even if 

 the bees do not warm up, some combs will break 

 down. New combs full of brood are difficult to 

 handle. If you put on a super you may save the 

 bees, even if the combs break below. When 

 uniting colonies I take this wire screen and turn 

 it bottom upward. I cut a notch for an entrance, 

 under which I tack on something for an alight- 

 ing-board. I take the cover off one of the hives 



BEES BALL A QUEEN RETURNING FROM MATING- 

 FLIGHT. 



On a frame of my own make I placed a lot of 

 cells dipped on the Doolittle plan, and grafted 

 them with larvae from my best queen. I then 

 gave the frame to a colony that was building 

 swarm-cells, after cutting out all these swarming- 

 cells found in the hive. The bees finished 18 

 good cells out of the lot. Ten days after I graft- 

 ed the cells I formed nuclei by taking a frame of 

 brood with adhering bees. I placed the queen- 

 cells in cell-protectors and stuck one protector on 

 each comb of brood. Then I put each frame in 

 a hive and kept the hive closed for two days. 

 From every cell a nice large queen hatched, which 

 mated all right, and all are now at the head of 

 fast-increasing families. I watched the queens 

 very closely from the fourth to the seventh day 

 after the cells hatched, especially for about two 

 hours right after dinner. In two cases the bees 

 balled the queen as soon as she i-ame back in the 

 hive after mating. They tore the front leg from 

 one queen before I got her away. I put the ball 

 of bees in a tub of water, and fished the queen 

 out after they had separated, put her in an intro- 

 ducing-cage, and let the bees eat her out. Both 

 queens have turned out well. 



I wonder if trouble of this kind is not one of 

 the principal reasons why a good many queens 

 are lost in mating. P. W. Hamilton. 



Meadville, Pa. 



[Yes, sometimes. — Ed.] 



CUSTOMERS demand THE SMALLEST AMOUNT OF 

 FOUNDATION. 



On page 934, Aug. 1, we notice the communi- 

 cation from Mr. Hand in which he states that it 

 is " ihe appearance that makes quick sales." We 

 wish we had his customers to deal with. We 

 have to use as little foundation as possible. 



H. G. Allen. 



San Andreas, Cal., Aug. 22. 



VESTIBULED BOTTOM-BOARDS. 



On page 98, Jan. 15, Mr. Rose describes his 

 double-bottom-board arrangement, and you ask 

 your readers to test it ar.d report. I would say 

 that I have tested the principle on about 20 col- 

 onies, both summer and winter, for we used 

 chaff hives. 



I had about fifty ten-frame Quinby chaff 

 hives that I wanted to change to La"gstroth 

 dimensions. The Quinby frame is ^ inch 

 longer than the I angstroth, so a ^^-inch board 

 was nailed across the hack end of the hive, short- 

 ening it to the right length for the L. frames. 

 But the hive was still about two inches too deep; 

 and to overcome this, two ^-inrh-square sticks 

 were nailed lengthwise of the hive on the bot- 

 tom, and on each side. Across these, commenc- 

 ing at the front, were nailed %-inch boards which 

 covered the bottom of the hive except at the back 

 end, where enough was left open to provide an 



