1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



89 



Heads of Grain 



From Different Fields 



SUPER BELOW BROOD TO DISCOURAGE SWARMING; 

 A LARGE ENTRANCE MEANS BROOD IN SUPERS. 



On page 1384, Nov. 15, Joseph Tinsley tells of 

 putting a super under the main hive to prevent 

 swarming. While I believe this would be a pre- 

 ventive, would it not tend to a decrease in the 

 working force above the hive-body and thus re- 

 sult in unfinished sections.? and would it not in- 

 crease the danger of a queen laying in an upper 

 super to have a very large entrance to hive? In 

 regard to this last question I have tried almost all 

 sizes of entrances, and always found that, when I 

 got above a medium, there would be brood in 

 the super. Perhaps my case is an exception. 



Enid, Pa., Dec. 14. John R. Lockard. 



[This was referred to Dr. Miller, who replies:] 



It is the Simmins plan, giving room below the 

 brood-nest for the bees to build in, and, as fast 

 as they get well started, putting above the brood- 

 nest what they have started, and giving fresh 

 room below. The claim is that bees will not 

 swarm so long as they have room for fresh build- 

 ing below the brood-nest. For some reason the 

 plan has never taken much hold in this country. 



It hardly seems that it should interfere with 

 work above the brood-chamber as you fear. A 

 common practice is to put an empty super under 

 the first as soon as the first is about half filled. 

 Instead of this, if the empty super be put under 

 the brood-chamber it ought not to interfere with 

 work in the other supers more than if the empty 

 super were put directly under the other supers — 

 possibly not so much. 



You seem to imply that putting an empty su- 

 per under the brood-chamber would enlarge the 

 entrance. Why should it make awy difference in 

 the size of the entrance.'' I'm not sure what you 

 call a large or medium entrance; but I use what 

 I think would generally be called a large entrance 

 — two inches by the width of the hive — and I 

 never discovered that it had any tendency toward 

 brood in supers. 



THICK UNCAPPING-KNIVES PREFERRED; CONDI- 

 TIONS IN WASHINGTON. 



On page 1250, Oct. 15, Louis Scholl advises a 

 common long butcher-knife, well sharpened and 

 kept free from the gumming of honey by fre- 

 quentlv washing in cold water. When I was in 

 California in 1897 I worked in Mr. W. T. Rich- 

 ardson's apiaries of 900 colonies as foreman, and 

 we had six honey-knives, all made with straight 

 handles, but with guards like a bowie knife. The 

 blades were 13 inches long, sharp on both edges, 

 and beveled on both sides the same as the Bing- 

 ham is on the lower side, but were made of 

 thicker metal than a common corn-knife. Like 

 Mr. Scholl we always uncapped with a downward 

 stroke, but kept our knives in hot water, each 

 person using two knives, one in the hand and one 

 in the water, changing as occasion required. Mr. 

 Richardson used hives 14X20, 12 inches deep, 

 and supers the same, with the frames put in the 

 short way in two of his apiaries; the other was 



the old Langstroth portico pattern. I like the 

 straight knife with the downward stroke. 



I took 45 gallons of as fine clover honey this 

 year as I ever saw, from eight stands, spring 

 count, and had only one swarm; but after the 

 honey-flow was over I increased to 17, and have 

 all in winter quarters. 



While Northwestern Washington is not much 

 of a bee country, yet if one takes proper care 

 of the bees they will pay their board and make 

 the keeper something besides. It does not get 

 very cold here, but it rains from November till 

 May. It is raining now almost continuously. 



I use both deep and shallow frame supers, and 

 like both. J. C. Balch. 



Ferndale, Wash., Nov. 18. 



[This question of the size and shape of the un- 

 capping-knife is getting to be interesting. We 

 should like to hear from others who have used the 

 straight knife. Then is there an advantage ii> 

 having the blade heavier in order to hold the heat 

 longer.? Let us hear from others. — Ed.] 



A THIN UNCAPPING-KNIFE OF GOOD STEEL PRE- 

 FERRED. 



1 have seen the controversy about uncapping- 

 knives, whether they should be used hot or cold, 

 etc. I should like to give my opinion on this 

 subject. If the Bingham knife were made about 

 half its present thickness, and as good material 

 put into them as there is or ^was in the Novice 

 knife, it would help matters considerably. A 

 thick knife will tear combs that a thin knife will 

 cut easily. 



About grinding or keeping the knife sharp, the 

 frame used is a great factor. Use a frame per- 

 fectly free from nails, wires, staples, tin offsets, 

 etc., and you solve the problem to a great extent. 

 The next frames I order will be made so the nails 

 can be countersunk out of the way. 



C. F. HOCHSTEIN. 



Mangas, Pinar del Rio, Cuba. 



PREVENTING THE ENTRANCES FROM CLOGGING. 



During severe weather in winter I have noticed 

 little pools of water gather in the entrances of the 

 hives, which sometimes runs out, but just as often 

 it freezes when it strikes the cold air, thereby 

 clogging the entrance. Last winter I placed a 

 hive with the back end about an inch lower than 

 the front end, and at no time during the winter 

 did I find a particle of ice or any dead bees clog- 

 ging the entrance, although it was only 4 X fs. 

 This colony was the strongest one in the yard 

 last spring. By placing the back end of the 

 hive lowest, the moisture from the cluster of bees 

 runs to the back end of the bottom-board and 

 freezes so far from the entrance, leaving it open 

 all winter. I am using an entrance 3X^'s this 

 winter, and believe this is the best way to keep 

 them from being clogged. A storm-door should 

 be placed over the front of the hive to prevent 

 the snow from falling on these entrances. Of 

 course, when spring comes, or the rainy season 

 commences, the hives should be tilted back until 

 the front end is the lower. Bert Smith. 



Marathon, Iowa. 



[We have our hive-bottoms slanting toward 

 the front, and we seldom or never have any ice 

 accumulate and clog the entrance. We believe 



