232 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Heads of Grain from Different Fields 



Making Labels Stick on Tin; Beeiiive Scales for Re- 

 cording tlie Honey-flow; Entrance-controllers; 

 Bees vs. Cane Sugar for Bees 



1. I have trouble in making the labels stick on 

 the honey-pails. They always come oflf as soon as 

 dry. Is there any preparation made that will make 

 them stay ? 



2. Are the ten-frame hives made wider now so 

 that we can use a division-board? With the ten- 

 frame hives I now have it is almost impossible, es- 

 pecially in the fall, to get out the first frame. 



3. I notice in my Swiss journal a scale made on 

 purpose for beekeepers, and also entrance control- 

 lers. These platform scales would surely be much 

 handier than the scales we have. The entrance-con- 

 trollers made out of steel screwed on the hives and 

 left on the year round would be much better than 

 wooden blocks. 



4. How much do you consider a colony of bees 

 worth in a well-painted ten-frame hive in the early 

 spring, having ^nred worker combs? 



5. The past season I had a very unusual case 

 with a young queen. While putting back the last 

 frame I noticed the queen hanging on to a frame 

 apparently dead. I picked her up, held her in my 

 hands for about five minutes, when she commenced 

 to show a little life; then in about five minutes 

 more she commenced to take short breaths. Then I 

 put her on top of a frame. The bees started to feed 

 her, and in about ten minutes more she seemed to be 

 all right. It certainly looked as if she had actually 

 fainted. I am absolutely certain I did not hurt her 

 while manipulating the frames. What do you think 

 could have been the reason of her acting so strange? 

 The bees were somewhat cross, and I had to smoke 

 them considerably. Could it be that the young queen 

 was so frightened by the smoke that she seemed just 

 like dead ? In my twenty years of beekeeping I have 

 never seen any thing like it. 



6. Recently I read in a farm paper that sugar 

 syrup made from beet sugar, and fed to the bees, 

 will kill them during the winter. Is there any truth 

 in the above statement? 



7. Do you consider the metal-spaced Hoffman 

 frame superior to the regular Hoffman frame? 



8. What reasons does Dr. Miller give for not 

 painting his hives? 



G. A. Barbisch. 

 La Crescent, Minn., Jan. 21. 



[1. It is very difficult to make labels stick upon 

 tin unless the labels go clear around the tin pack- 

 age itself. You can purchase a dextrine that an- 

 swers a very good purpose, 3 oz. for 5 cts. ; Vz lb., 

 10 cts. Some have recommended using a little honey 

 in connection with the dextrine. 



2. The ten-frame hives are now made wider so as 

 to take in the division-board the same as the old 

 eight-frame hive used to do, and does yet, for that 

 matter. We do not regard it as practicable to have 

 contractible entrance-closers, as we believe that all 

 such devices of that kind are a useless expense. An 

 ordinary block with an opening on one side is very 

 much cheaper than and quite as effective as con- 

 trivances that cost many times more. 



3. Most of the spring-scale concerns in this coun- 

 try furnish good scales for platform work and for 

 weighing hives of bees while the bees are gathering 

 honey. You can secure such scales from your deal- 

 er in bee supplies. 



4. The price of a colony of bees in a ten-frame 

 hive will vary according to the season. In the early 

 part of the year, in the spring, they are worth a 

 great deal more than they are later on after the 

 honey-flow is over. You can buy common bees, hy- 

 ) rids or common blacks, of the farmers, in box 

 hives, for a very small sum of money. The bees 



must be transferred and put into modern hives. 

 After that they should be Italianized in order to 

 bring them up to the standard of the bees sold by 

 supply-dealers. Taking it all in all, cheap black bees 

 are not very cheap in the end. Such colonfes as you 

 describe, if of good strength, should be worth about 

 $5.00. If nice Italians, $10.00 to $12.00. 



5. Prom your general description here it is 

 evident that the queen had what is called the 

 " cramps." Very often a queen, if she has been 

 handled or injured, or struck by a frame in remov- 

 ing it from the hive, will appear as if she were 

 dead, and it will be some minutes before she recov- 

 ers. The bees will hover around her, feed her some, 

 and in the course of a few minutes she will be as 

 lively as ever. We do not know just what is the 

 difficulty; but we have always called it the cramps. 



6. Our experience is that beet sugar is practically 

 as good as cane sugar for feeding bees. We never 

 make any distinction. We buy this sugar just as it 

 is on the market, and we suppose a good percentage 

 of it is beet sugar. No chemist is able to detect 

 any difference, and we doubt if there is any. 



7. Yes, we consider the metal-spaced Hoffman 

 frames as very much superior to the ordinary wood- 

 en Hoffman frames. They are easier to handle, and 

 are stronger. 



8. Dr. Miller's main reason for not painting his 

 hives is on the ground of economy. He said the 

 hives will last as long as he can ever use them with- 

 out the paint, and he doesn't see any reason why 

 he should go to the extra expense of painting; but 

 most beekeepers do not agree with him in this. — 

 Ed.I 



A One-inch Hole Punched in the Upper Part of 



the Foundation to Give a Passageway to 



all the Combs 



When I put brood foundation in wired frames I 

 punch a hole one inch in diameter under the top 

 wire. This gives the bees access to all the combs. 

 Otherwise they would be compelled to go over the 

 top-bar, under the frames, or around the sides of the 

 frames, for their stores. It also gives the queen the 

 same opportunity in brood-rearing. I have lost many 

 colonies in years past when there was an abundance 

 of honey in their hives, and J. find the above plan 

 is all right. 



Conesus, N. Y., Jan. 8. D. W. Trescott. 



[Holes left this way in the combs would be filled 

 up with drone-cells and honey after a good honey- 

 flow. Years ago it was the practice on the part of a 

 few beekeepers to insert a tin tube about % inch in 

 diameter in the center and near the top of the combs. 

 The tube would not be as likely to be filled with 

 comb as a similar hole without the tube. 



It was thought at one time to be a good practice 

 to cut holes in brood combs at the approach of win- 

 ter ; but it has been abandoned by almost all bee- 

 keepers, so far as we know, and in its stead has 

 come the Hill device, or a space over the top of the 

 brood combs, enabling the bees to pass back and 

 forth over the top instead of through the combs. 

 For the Langstroth frame, space on top is preferable 

 to unsightly holes that do little or no good to the 

 combs. — Ed.] 



Can the t)oolittle System of Producing Comb Hon- 

 ey be Used in a Locality where there is 

 no Late Flow? 



I received a copy of " A Year's Work in an Out- 

 apiary," by Doolittle. The plan looks good to me, 

 as I am a farmer beekeeper with about 20 colonies 

 and the minimum time to give them; but I do not 

 have the extra frames of combs he uses at fruit 



