320 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



May 15 



ton there are hundreds of models and drawings of 

 machines of this nature, and the machines are in 

 many cases capable of doing the work for which 

 they are intended, and fulfill the inventors' ex- 

 pectations; but the trouble is, the task which they 

 perform is one where a machine is not necessary. 



And now perhaps it would be well to examine 

 the subject of uncapping honey, and see if it be- 

 longs to the above class. It will not be necessary 

 to bring in the question as to whether a machine 

 could be invented that would adapt itself to all 

 the styles of frames and kinds of combs — one that 

 could uncap combs that are thin, fat, uneven, or 

 damaged — but take it for granted that it will do 

 all of this. In examining the proposition we 

 find, first, that there will have to be a man to 

 take care of the machine, for it is plain that the 

 machine would be unable to pick frames out of 

 the super, uncap them, and deliver them into the 

 baskets of the extractor, so that the only advan- 

 tage in it would be that it would cut thecappings; 

 and as the average person can, with a little prac- 

 tice, learn to uncap combs as fast as an extractor 

 will handle them, what would be gained by hav- 

 ing the machine.? Leslie Burr. 



Valparaiso, Ind. 



BULK COMB HONEV MORE PROFITABLE THAN SEC- 

 TION HONEY; A REPORT ON THE NEW 

 WIRE QUEEN-EXCLUDERS. 



I have learned how to produce a crop of honey 

 and get a surplus of 100 lbs. per colony as easily 

 as I formerly got 20. Last year my best colony 

 made about 175 lbs. in a ten-frame dovetailed 

 hive. This hive, in my estimation, is better than 

 either the eight-frame dovetailed or the Danzen- 

 baker. I produce chunk honey in shallow Dan- 

 zenbaker frames, as these frames are warmer than 

 the shallow Hoffman frames, and this is quite an 

 advantage, especially where the supers are put on 

 early. I also produce some comb honey in Dan- 

 zenbaker sections, but there is about as much de- 

 mand for the chunk honey as for the comb honey 

 in sections, and, besides, this chunk honey (bulk 

 comb honey) can be produced with much less 

 swarming, and I think I can get more honey too. 



I use a good many of the wood-wire honey- 

 boards, and I think they are excellent. I no 

 longer use the zinc excluders, and never did use 

 them to any great exten:; but as soon as I saw 

 the wire excluders I thought they would be just 

 what I wanted. I do not see how they could in- 

 jure the wings of bees, and yet only the under- 

 sized queens can get through them. 



Mt. Sterling, Ky. J. Smith Hurt. 



CHILLED BEFS RtVIVE ON FIRST WARM DAY; 

 ST0RM-D00I»S an OBSTRUCTION. 



My bees, o".e colony only, as I started in last 

 summer, were wintered on the summer stand. 

 The hive is protected with a home-made case of 

 inch rough boards, and packed tight with hay. 

 The entrance is protected with the A. J. Halter 

 " storm-door. " Saturday, March 27, was a warm 

 day, with little wind but bright sunshine, and 

 the bees were enjoying a flight. Some 50 that 

 had dropped down on some ice near the hive, and 

 were apparently lifeless, I picked up one by one 

 and put on top of the case. All but three of 

 these revived, carefully groomed themselves and 

 each ot-'er, and returned to the hive. 



I noticed that soma of the bees, as they attempt- 

 ed to go in through the storm-door, where the 

 openings were crowded, dropped down into the 

 grass and apparently died. 



Sunday was a cool day, with snow and rain 

 until 2 P.M., and no sun until 5 p.m. Monday 

 was bright and sunny, with a cold strong wind. 

 The bees which dropped on Saturday were re- 

 viving, and all had come to life, and gone in, 

 with the exception of a dozen or two. 



I think the storm door was a hindrance to the 

 bees getting in and out; and at this time of year, 

 by breaking up the air currents it may make the 

 hives damp. The dead bees, which I raked out 

 during the cold weather, showed no signs of 

 dampness, but^those I raked out about a week 

 ago were not only damp but in some cases moldy. 

 P. W. Richards. 



Mast Yard, N. H., March 29. 



SPLINTS BADLY GNAWED; FOUNDATION PRESS 

 MADE OF ARTIFICIAL STONE NOT A SUCCESS. 



In a previous number you ask for reports on 

 splints. I used about 2000 last summer during 

 the best white-clover flow I ever had, and they 

 were an entire failure I did not use them with 

 split bottom-bars, as Dr. Miller does, but I drill- 

 ed six holes in the bottom-bar and stuck them 

 through clear up to the top-bar while hot from 

 the wax, so they imbedded nicely. The founda- 

 tion came within an inch of the bottom-bar. Al- 

 most every splint, half up from the bottom-bar, 

 was chewed up and removed, so no more splints 

 for me. Wires are perfectly satisfactory. 



Two years ago there was advertised in the bee 

 journals a foundation-press made of artificial 

 stone. Having foul brood around here I thought 

 it would be a fine thing to have, so I sent for one 

 a year ago. Each face of the press had a seam 

 running lengthwise, very rough, and I worked 

 hard a week, but never managed to remove a 

 whole sheet. It would stick on one of the seams, 

 and tear. At the corners of each side where the 

 hinges were, the foundation had to be 's inch 

 thick if it got the imprint from the faces of the 

 press. 



Well, I managed to piece together enough for 

 20 frames in a week's work, and hived a couple 

 of swarms en them; and, imagine my surprise, 

 when inspected a month later, the nicest slabs of 

 drone comb imaginable, and 1 had to cut out 

 half of the combs. Swan Avdersov. 



Chesterton, Ind. 



[We have written to our advertiser to ascer- 

 tain the cause of the failure of his press made of 

 artificial stone or cement. Presses were made 

 years ago of plaster of Paris. One or two claim- 

 ed to work them successfully; but in the hands 

 of the average person they were a failure. — Ed ] 



STORM-DOORS TRIED AND DISCARDED. 



I have tried the so-called storm-doors for en- 

 trances. 1 watched the bees when they were out, 

 and never saw one go in again; so I took away the 

 boards, closed the entrance to a small space, and 

 left the boards in front of the rest to shed the 

 lain, as it always comes from the south here. 



laurel, Oie. Mrs Samah Parr. 



