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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1 



tom-board as though they were dead; but they 

 accepted the queen after that. 



William C. Peterson. 

 Canaveral, Fla. , Sept. 9. 



[Entrance introducing can be practiced during 

 •warm weather. There is no merit in the plan 

 except convenience. The fact that you lost 

 queens when you introduced in the center of the 

 cluster was due to some other cause than to the 

 position in the hive. It is a waste of time and 

 money to attempt to introduce to a colony that 

 has killed two queens in succession. Make sure 

 it is queenless and has no laying workers by 

 giving a frame of unsealed brood; then give it a 

 ripe cell. 



In the case cited where you lost five queens, 

 the bees must have had something that they rec- 

 ognized as a queen. When you smoked them 

 nearly to death you probably killed that freak 

 queen, and, .of course, after that you succeeded 

 in introducing a good queen. — Ed.] 



VESTIBULED ENTRANCES FOR WINTER. 



I notice the vestibuled entrance described by 

 Mr. Mclntyre, page 97, Jan. 15. The drawing 

 gives an idea of the kind of bridge I use for this 

 purpose. It is set in, without nailing, between 

 the hive and the case, with the high or open side 

 next to the case, and the low side to the hive. 

 There is an opening four or five inches deep, and 

 the width of the entrance, in the case, and the 

 front of the bridge is made a little deeper than 

 this. The opening at the back of the bridge. 



which is placed against the hive-entrance, is made 

 an inch deep — a little more if desired. This ar- 

 rangement allows the packing to come down close 

 to the entrance, and leaves room to work from 

 the outside. 



To protect the entrance a board with the lower 

 edge cut away, or rabbeted, is hung over it with 

 the rabbeted side next to the case, and just high 

 enough to leave about f^-inch passageway. Mice 

 can not turn this corner — can not even chew at it 

 — and it allows air and bees to go through, and 

 shuts out drafts and light. When snow comes, a 

 board is leaned up against the front of the hive. 



I might mention that Mr. Storer, of Lindsay, 

 Ont. , makes a hole % inch or one inch in diame- 



ter in the center of the front of all his hives, and 

 a corresponding hole in the case, with a connect- 

 ing tube or some other arrangement to prevent 

 the packing blocking the aperture. This is in 

 addition to the regular entrance. It looks like a 

 lot of entrance, but he claims he has not lost 

 nearly as many colonies in winter since adopting 

 the plan. It certainly does away with danger 

 arising from entrances clogging. 



Richards Landing, Can. J. R. Hand. 



[The arrangement you show we consider to be 

 very good, especially as it allows the live bees to 

 get rid of the dead ones very easily. But this 

 kind of storm-door should be put on very early 

 in the fall so as not to confuse the bees on the 

 first warm balmy day when they take a flight ei- 

 ther in the fall or spring. To put it on after 

 cold weather sets in would cause trouble. — Ed.] 



HOW TO CLOSE HIVES FOR MOVING; GETTING RID 

 OF ANTS. 



Wishing to move some of my bees, I have 

 been puzzling how to make the bottoms secure 

 with as little trouble as possible. A very simple 

 solution of the difficulty finally occurred to me. 

 My hives are fitted with the metal-roofed cover 

 and super cover. Having already tacked screen 

 wire over the tops of the hives, I removed the 

 bottom-boards and substituted the super-covers. 

 That made the hives as tight as a box. Then, 

 turning the metal-roofed covers upside down, I 

 set the closed hives in them, and dropped in 

 blocks to keep the hives from slipping on the su- 

 per cover. They were then perifectly secure for 

 the whole trip. To qhade them from the sun and 

 to give ventilation I laid sticks across, and on 

 them old window-shutters. 



When I opened the first hive at the destination 

 I learned that the bees were sufltering for water — 

 a contingency I had overlooked. I sprinkled 

 the other hives before opening, thus both giving 

 the bees a drink and cooling them off somewhat. 

 The next time I move bees I will take along a 

 jar of water and a rag, and give them a chance 

 to drink along the road. All that will be neces- 

 sary will be to soak the rag in water and lay it 

 on the screen wire that covers the tops of the 

 hives. 



When ants get to bothering a hive 1 mix some 

 powdered borax in strongly flavored honey in a 

 saucer. Cover the saucer with coarse wire net- 

 ting so as to exclude the bees, and set it under 

 the front-board of the hive. That settles the 

 ants in short order. B. C. Auten. 



- Carthage, Mo., July 28, 1908. 



[It is always advisable to carry water on hot 

 days when moving bees. Where the bees clus- 

 ter very closely over the wire cloth so as to shut 

 off ventilation from the others, sprinkle them. 

 This will drive them back, cool them, and pre- 

 vent suffocation. A wet cloth laid on is not as 

 good as a spray thrown on. — Ed.] 



PAPER-COVERED HIVES. 



I have been using paper the past two seasons, 

 and find it good for this locality, though -we 

 have not had much zero weather here for the 

 past two winters. J. L. Van Buren. 



Madison, Ind. 



