1208 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1 



retain the natural heat. These colonies did not 

 contain over a gallon of bees each, and they came 

 through the winter of 1906 in fairly good condi- 

 tion. In April, 1907, after reading Mr. Alexan- 

 der's experience with two or more queens loose 

 in the same hive I examined this colony to see if 

 both queens were alive. I found they were, then 

 I removed the division-board, let them settle it 

 in their own way, and during the summer I often 

 found the two queens on the same side of a comb. 

 I was highly elated over my success; but my 

 spirits fell when Mr. Alexander said he had fail- 

 ed in wintering his queens. We winter our bees 

 on their summer stand with a protection of straw 

 or leaves about six inches thick held in place by 

 18-inch poultry-netting. As soon as the weather 

 would permit this spring, which was the 25th of 

 March, I examined this hive and found the two 

 queens enjoying the joint parentage of as large a 

 colony of bees as there is in Illinois. 



LaHarpe, 111. O. A. Pittam. 



QUEENS KILLED IN MAIL-SACKS. 



I am satisfied in my mind, after making ex- 

 periments, that it is almost certain death to bees 

 and queens hung up in mail-pouches to be caught 

 by trains going 30 miles per hour or more. Could 

 you not, through the proper channels, get the 

 postal authorities to make a ruling that mailing- 

 cages containing bees and queens should not be 

 put in such pouches.? E. E. Lawrence. 



Doniphan, Mo. 



[We know that queens have been injured and 

 killed in this way ; but many have received the 

 treatment without any apparent harm. We doubt 

 if such a ruling as you suggest could be secured. 

 The only thing for one to do who lives at a point 

 where mail is thrown off in this way is to direct 

 the queen-breeder to send the queen to a post- 

 office nearest where mail is delivered when the 

 train is stopped. — Ed.] 



a new way of holding a cheese-cloth 

 strainer. 



Several have spoken of tying cheese-cloth over 

 the can, very tightly, to keep it from slipping 

 down. I made a wire rack of heavy mesh wire 

 cloth, and I hang it on top of the can. Or, if I 

 want the strainer lower in the can, I hang it at 



HAINES METHOD OF HOLDING A CHEESE-CLOTH STRAINER 



Instead of tying the cloth around the top of the can, heavy wire cloth is 

 used to support it. 



the height desired with four wire hooks. Then 

 I lay the cheese-cloth over the can and press it 

 down to the wire rack, and it is always ready to 

 use, and does not need tying. In this way it 

 can be changed any time. G. W. Haines. 



Mayfield, N. Y. 



HOME-MADE HIVES DURABLE; COMB HONEY WITH- 

 OUT SEPARATORS. 



On page 943, A. D. Shepard, in speaking of 

 home-made hives, says his preference is to halve 

 the sides and ends. Now, to halve the sides is 

 worse than useless. Halve the ends only; then 

 nail the rabbet solid. One can nail both ways, 

 and, if it were painted, I believe such a hive is as 

 good as a machine-made dovetailed hive. 



You say on page 952 that honey 

 over hives having foul brood, while 

 not fit for brood or bees to seal, is 

 good enough to sell or eat. Is not 

 surplus honey free from foul brood.'' 

 If it is not, is it fit to eat.? 



I notice a great deal of discussion 

 about using or not using separators. 

 I do not think people make allow- 

 ance enough for difference in bees. 

 Some do finely without separators, 

 while others would do poorly even 

 with them. Albert I. Mills. 



Ignacio, Colo. 



[While honey in supers over a foul- 

 broody colony would not be apt to 

 contain any of the dead brood, yet 

 some of the germs that produce the 

 disease might be found. While such 

 germs have never been injurious to a 

 human being, they would develop 

 under certain conditions if the 

 honey which contained them were 

 fed to the brood. For this reason 

 it is not safe to feed honey from a 

 foul-broody hive to the bees unless 

 it has been thoroughly boiled at least 

 twice. The honey should be cooled 

 very rapidly after the heating. — Ed.] 



[The arrangement for holding up the cheese- 

 cloth we believe to be excellent. The support- 

 ing wire cloth from beneath makes it possible to 

 remove the cheese-cloth for cleaning much more 

 readily than when it is tied. — Ed.] 



A LOUD HUMMING HEARD IN A HIVE. 



The other day, as I was walking around in my 

 little apiary, I heard a hum in one of the hives 

 like that of a bumble-bee in an empty barrel. I 

 could hear it 40 to 50 feet away from the hive. 

 The hum lasted about a minute at each time for 

 the last three or four days. I may be wrong, but 

 I think it*s the queen. M. D. Breon. 



Millheim, Pa., Aug. 24. 



