1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



349 



THE BEST WAY TO BUILD UP A WEAK GOLDEN 

 COLONY. 



I have what I think is a valuable queen (Gold- 

 en) purchased of E. L. Pratt last summer. I got 

 her safely introduced, and she built up a poner- 

 ful colony by fall, and went into winter quarters 

 in excellent condition, but came out this spring 

 with not more than a pint of bees. Now, as I 

 am practically only a beginner I should like to 

 know the best plan for me to take to build this 

 colony up again. Would you please advise me? 

 White clover is coming on by leaps and bounds, 

 and plenty of it too. 



THE PLAN OF CLOSING HIVES IN WINTER WITH 

 WIRE CLOTH A FAILURE. 



Perhaps you would like to hear of some of our 

 experiments with the wire-cloth vestibules. My 

 neighbor had 19 colonies of bees last fall, and, 

 against my advice, he closed these colonies up 

 with wire vestibules. He doesn't take Glean- 

 ings, and, as a result, his bee-sheds look lonely 

 and deserted, 14 out of 19 colonies having died. 

 I might have made the same mistake had I not 

 read up on this subject in Gleanings. See the 

 difference.' Edward Harden. 



Hyndman, Pa., April 26. 



[If there are other colonies of good strength 

 in the yard, pick out a frame of "hatching brood 

 from one of the strongest and give it to this weak 

 colony. ]n four or five days more give another 

 frame from another hive. A very strong colony 

 can often spare a little brood like this without 

 very much detriment to itself; but be sure not to 

 give the weakling too many frames of hatching 

 brood in too short a space of time. 



If the weak colony is the only one in the yard, 

 contract it down to the smallest space the bees 

 can occupy. If it be short of stores, feed a little 

 syrup two or three times a week at night, and at 

 the same time contract the entrance down to the 

 space one or two bees can pass at a time. — Ed.] 



WIRE-CLOTH SEPARATORS; THE ADVANTAGE OF 

 DRONE COMBS FOR EXTRACTING. 



I used five supers with wire-cloth separators 

 last year, and secured some of the finest honey I 

 ever had. One colony on which I used them 

 finished a super of thirty-two 4X5 sections, fas- 

 tening only one section to separators, and in this 

 one the foundation broke down and swung 

 against the separator. This was when the hon- 

 ey-flow was at its height. I put a super on when 

 the honey-flow began to wane, and they built 

 comb on each side of the separators, besides draw- 

 ing foundation out also. 



Aside from this I had no trouble with combs 

 being attached to separators. The sections were 

 well .'illed, cases of 20 sections weighing 19 to 

 19^^ lbs. net. I have used drone comb for ex- 

 tracting, and like it very much. The honey 

 leaves the combs much more easily than from 

 worker comb. Chas B. Allen. 



Central Square, N. Y. 



[All the reports we have thus far received, 

 where wire-cloth separators have been tested, have 

 shown exceedingly gratifying results. The one 

 serious drawback, namely, expense, in many cases 

 has been more than met by the extra <iu:;lity of 

 the honey secured; for if one can, by an added 



outlay in the cost of separators, shove his comb 

 honey up one or two notches in the grading No. 

 1 and fancy, he is thereby enabled to make any- 

 where from one to two cents more on each sec- 

 tion. If the one separator will accommodate 

 four sections, this will make a gain of from four 

 to eight cents in one season. 



Like every thing else of this kind that promises 

 much, one should try them out on only a small 

 scale; and then if preliminary tests are satisfac- 

 tory he can make a larger outlay. 



The statement regarding the advantage of 

 drone comb for extracting, to the effect that such 

 combs will extract more easily by reason of the 

 larger cells, is one on which we should like to get 

 the opinion of some of our extensive liquid-hon- 

 ey producers. The objection to drone comb, of 

 course, is the danger of rearing a lot of drone 

 brood and drones, under some conditions, at 

 least, unless one keeps a very close tab on every 

 inch of surface of comb in the extracting-supers, 

 and this is impracticable in the height of the sea- 

 son. To rear drones in any quantity, except for 

 the purpose of rearing queens, is exceedingly 

 wasteful, because it effects a material reduction 

 in the output of the colony, to say nothing about 

 the wear and tear and loss of time on the part of 

 the bees that ought to be otherwise engaged. — 

 Ed.] 



an extractor with removable comb-pockets. 



Several years ago I had a Cowan hpney-ex- 

 tractor made for me with the comb-pockets so 

 made that I could take them out for the purpose 

 of cleaning. They were hung something like 

 the old-fashioned barn-doors. There was a 

 square hole in the lower hinge, which fitted over 

 a square lug on the sprockets, so that all the 

 pockets could turn or be reversed at the same 

 time. The hole in the upper hinge was round, 

 so that the pocket would swing easily from side 

 to side. 



When I wished to remove a pocket I simply 

 lifted it up off the square lug on the sprocket, 

 and then let it down until the upper hinge was 

 disengaged, when I could lift it right out and 

 clean it. Three years ago I sold all of my bees, 

 but this extractor was in good order at that time, 

 and always gave good satisfaction. 



Los Angeles, Cal. John Nippert. 



[To make an extractor with removable pockets 

 increases the expense and complication some- 

 what and at the same time decreases the strength 

 of the moving parts. While such an extractor 

 stood up well for you, it probably would not do 

 as well for others. — Ed.] 



LOSS OF BEES DUE TO TANGLE-FOOT HONEY. 



There has been a great loss of bees all around 

 me. They dwindle and die with plenty of hon- 

 ey in the hive There is no brood, and the 

 combs are clean and nice. The honey seems to 

 be made from what we call bee-weed, or tangle 

 foot. It is granulated. I have been feeding my 

 bees on sugar syrup, although they have plenty 

 of honey. W. S. Bean. 



Falkville, Ala., Dec. 28. 



[We should like to inquire whether any one 

 else in Alabama or elsewhere has had the same 

 experience. — Ed. ] 



