1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



755 



sundown, and have a regular playspell back 

 of the barn, or around near the poultry- 

 house, where grain is nearly always avail- 

 able. At such times we have seen groups of 

 four or five get out and play like kittens. 

 When they get together in a close bunch we 

 fire into them. We have killed in this way 

 three rats and wounded two or three more. 

 Now, a wounded rat will strike terror among 

 the whole rat tribe. It seems cruel to think 

 of it; but as he goes hobbling along among 

 his fellows he is a constant warning of the 

 fate that awaits the others if they remain. 

 At one time when we were overrun with 

 rats we employed a young man, our watch- 

 man in the factory buildings, to shoot them. 

 After he had killed about a dozen, as they 

 ran between the building in the courts, the 

 whole rat tribe disappeared, and were gone 

 for nearly a year. 



We also found that we were able to cap- 

 ture quite a number of other rats by means 

 of the old-fashioned box rabbit-trap with a 

 set trigger. Almost every farmer's boy 

 knows how to make it. A handful or so of 

 grain is thrown into the bottom of the trap. 

 The long wire trigger, without bait, should 

 be made to reach clear down just over the 

 pile of grain. As Mr. Rat comes in, his tail 

 will brush the trigger and down will go the 

 sliding door. The strange thing about it is 

 that a trap of this sort will catch old ones as 

 well as the young ones. We have caught in 

 this way as many as three at a time. The 

 trap is then put into a tub of water and the 

 rats drowned. 



There is ho reason in the world why one 

 should be pestered with this nuisance year 

 after year. If the farmer or the bee-keeper 

 will just make up his mind to get rid of them 

 he can do so by using the rabbit- trap or shot- 

 gun. We have killed and wounded a good 

 many with a little flobert rifle. One can 



Eurchase 22 .^nd 32 shot cartridges that can 

 e used in little rifles of this sort. From a 

 humane point of view it is better to use the 

 larger bore. Better still, use a 44-caliber 

 smooth-bore shot-gun, and cartridges with 

 No. 8 shot. These little shot-guns are made 

 especially for taxidermists. The price is 

 abou' $10.00. Should your local hardware 

 man not be able to procure one of them, 

 write to the W. Bingnam Company, Cleve- 

 land, Ohio. 



We are informed that the 44-caliber taxi- 

 dermist shot-gun is the most effective shot- 

 gun made. It makes comparatively little 

 noise; and if the rodent is shot in a barn the 

 charge does not tear up the floor. The or- 

 dinary 10 and 12 gauge shot-guns do awful 

 execution at close range, andit is not prac- 

 ticable to use them inside of a building, while 

 a 32 lobert for a 44-caliber taxidermist shot- 

 gun does very good work. The flobert is 

 rather light, and sometimes will not do much 

 more than to wound the rat. While it ac- 

 complishes its object to a great extent, it is 

 better to give Mr. Rat a killing load if possi- 

 ble. There will be enough wounded with 

 the better guns to bring about all the scare 

 that is needed. 



Stray Straws 



By Dr. C. C. Miller 



Wood ashes are said to drive ants away. 

 —B. Voter, 275. 



Is SWEET CLOVER in general hardier than 

 alfalfa? Here it was still green after alfalfa 

 foliage was frozen dead. 



Don't free imprisoned nuclei at a time 

 when other bees are playing, else the call 

 will attract them to other hives. — Schweiz. 

 Bztg., 335. 



The queen is put into the cage after the 

 bees, page 671. We put the queen in first. 

 Which is better? [It is a matter of individ- 

 ual taste. — Ed.] 



If you use a jar or pail turned upside down 

 over a shallow dish as a feeder, be sure that 

 there is not room for a bee to crawl under 

 the lower edge of the jar or pail. In that 

 case I've seen bees carried up by the bubble 

 of air and drowned. 



The Chicago convention, Dec. 1, 2, was, 

 as usual, fine, only it did not seem quite 

 right without a single Root there. [We were 

 very sorry not to be in the city, but another 

 appointment made it practically impossible. 

 The holidays are usually busy times with us 

 at Medina.— Ed.] 



If I UNDERSTAND page 701 correctly, a good 

 outdoor winter entrance is y$. inch deep and 

 1 inch in width for every comb that is cover- 

 ed with bees. [We had not thought of it be- 

 fore in that light, but that is about right, ac- 

 cording to our experience at Medina. Pos- 

 sibly the ratios would have to be changed 

 for different localities. — Ed.] 



Quoting from Gleanings, 575, Bienen- Va- 

 ter, 295, says that a queen born June 19 be- 

 gan laying the 20th. The readers of Bienen- 

 Vater, upon reading that, will say, "A queen 

 laying when one day old! What liars those 

 Americans are." No doubt it is an error of 

 the German compositor. Gleanings said 

 she began laying the 30th. 



I'VE known for a long time that a very 

 young virgin will be kindly received in any 

 colony — queenless or queenright — and have 

 been anxious to know how long her youth- 

 ful innocence continues. D. M. Macdonald 

 says, Irish B. J., 68, "The period of safety 

 may be said to pass with the third day of her 

 life after leaving her natal cradle." 



C. W. Dayton, you practically say, p. 708, 

 that bees are not inclined to gather honey 

 when they are not in immediate need of it. 

 Out upon such naughty talk! According to 

 that, the Dadants, who leave all honey on 

 until the close of the season, ought to have 

 very poor crops. As a rule, my colonies that 

 have the most honey, and so "are not in im- 

 mediate need of it," are the very ones that 

 hustle the hardest to get more. 



Uncle Sam gets something more than 

 $200,000,000 out of the liquor business. Ac- 

 cording to the report of the Committee of 

 Social Betterment of Roosevelt's Home Com- 

 missions, the estimated annual cost of crime 



