1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



641 



four years, and I am satisfied we are at the 

 real cause of the dark hue. I shall hence- 

 forth extract all honey in the hives just prior 

 to the opening of the orange flow, and feel 

 sure no more dark honey will dull the beau- 

 tiful hue of the real orange-blossom honey. 

 I shall be glad to hear from others on this 

 whole matter, as it opens up many problems 

 of interest to all bee-keepers who may have 

 similar difficulties to contend with in their 

 local floia. 



I have repeatedly seen the nectar shining 

 in the petals of the orange-blossom. 



Deland, Florida. 



IRRIGATION IN WYOMING. 



BY W. \V. TURNER. 



I am sending two pictures, one showing an 

 end of my bee-yard, and also the shop and 

 house, and the other the interior of the shop. 

 I am located near the Cal-Cody Ditch, and 

 the government ditch is just beyond the big 

 alfalfa hayfield. This ditch is fed from the 

 big dam, which is the highest in the world. 

 This dam is only half an hour's drive from 

 our place. Cody City is half a mile distant. 

 Five vears ago there was nothing here but 

 bare land. 



I make all of my hives and supers, as well 

 as every thing else shown in the interior 

 view. Under the bear skin is the door lead- 

 ing to my extracting-room. 



I had a nice crop of honey, and received 17 

 to 20 cts. for three thousand 4 x .5 sections 

 here at home. 



Cody, Wyoming. 



CARPENTRY FOR BEE-KEEPING. 



Bottom-boards, Hive-stands, and Feeders. 



BY F. DUNDAS TODD. 



In the matter of bottom-boards 1 am fol- 

 lowing Dr. Miller, and am starting out with 

 a space of IV inches under the hive. One 

 of my reasons for adopting this depth v/as 

 the apparent facility with which necessary 

 feeding could be given in the spring; but I 

 surely guessed wrong, for my bees emphati- 

 cally needed feeding from the end of Janu- 

 ary; but they as decidedly refused to take 

 one drop from below, even when served to 

 them at a temperature of 95°. I was driven 

 to give them plain candy until the atmos- 

 phere reached 48°, at which temperature 

 they would take syrup from above— one more 

 instance where man proposed, but the bees 

 said no. 



My first bottom-boards were made two 

 feet long, giving an alighting-board 4 inches; 

 but this proved too short when a feeder was 

 used in the bottom-board and the hive moved 

 forward to facilitate filling the pan; so I now 

 make the bottoms 26 inches long and find 

 them more sat siactory. Since these boards 

 must carry quite a weight I am of tlie opin- 

 ion that th- y should be of ^-inch lumber. 

 In this region of big trees it is possible to 



get lumber wide enough to make the floor of 

 one piece. So the specifications read: 



One piece, ^4: X 13)^x26. 



One piece, ii'Xlf/ Xl2!s. 



Two pieces, V X 1 h X 26. 

 Where such wide lumber can not be had, 

 and this, probably, is almost everywhere 

 nowadays, the floor must be made of narrow 

 strips nailed crosswise, and the length of the 

 bottom-board can be modified to suit the 

 standard widths of lumber available. 



When I have a number of bottom-boards 

 to nail up I place the side- pieces on the 

 bench; and at each end insert an end-piece 

 (of course only one is nailed on ultimately), 

 and outside of them I nail four cleats to the 

 bench. Then it is easy to nail the floor to 

 the sides. 



HIVE-STANDS. 



Since hives in this part of the world pass 

 the winter on their summer stands I decided 

 that the hive-stands I happened on in Illi- 

 nois, because I chanced to have the material 

 handy, would he the very thing. The usual 

 support here is a flat board nailed to a cou- 



Ele of pieces of lumber, or a frame 1x3 made 

 ox fashion. I certainly did not like the 

 flat board, as it means too much surface con- 

 tact, which must be conducive to rot in the 

 wet season. In my opinion the smaller the 

 area of contact surface the better. At pres- 

 ent my hives rest on three dowel-rods % 

 inch in thickness, and so far I am satisiied 

 with the results. These rods pass through 

 suitable holes bored in 2x4 rough lumber; 

 and as I prefer to have two hives on each 

 stand, each will, therefore, consist of three 

 cross-pieces. The specifications are: 3 pieces 

 J^X42 inches, dowel-rod; 3 pieces 2x4x24 

 rough lumber, with ^-inch holes bored at 

 4, 12, and 20 inches, centers 2 inches from 

 one side. 



The construction is simple. Push the 

 rods in place and fasten with nails. Cost 

 about 20 cts. 



ENTRANCE-BLOCKS. 



With such a deep entrance as is given by 

 so. deep a bottom-board, an entrance block 

 must be used almost all the year. It is made 

 of 34 -inch lumber, 12 inches long and at least 

 2^2 wide. On one edge is cut a notch fs by 

 3 inches; on the other, H by 8 inches; so we 

 have considerable choice in the size of en- 

 trance. When in place it is wedged by a 

 slip of wood (usually a bit of a section) be- 

 ing forced in between its end and the side 

 of the bottom-board. At any time a small 

 block of wood may be dropped on the alight- 

 ing-board in front of the entrance so as to 

 contract the latter or close it entirely. 



FEEDING-TRAYS. 

 I have already mentioned incidentally that 

 I got fooled on my little notion about spring 

 feeding; but the bottom feeders I am about 

 to describe work first rate in the summer 

 and fall months: in fact, they are of the 

 style recommended by Mr. Hand for comb- 

 honey production; but they are rather ex- 

 pensive. From a tinner 1 get trays 1 1 'xr2xi8 

 at a cost of 60 cts. each in half-dozen lots. 

 In each is placed a rack made of 2 cross- 



