GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Heads of Grain from Different Fields 



A Bottom-board that Does Away with Sulking 

 Bees 



I can not remember now whether it was Dr. 

 Miller or Mr. Doolittle who advocated putting 

 blocks under the hive in summer to give bottom 

 ventilation. I am quite sure that it is Dr. Miller 

 who uses the bottom-board with the deep space un- 

 der the frames, with the idea of giving more ven- 

 tilation than can be secured by means of the ordi- 

 nary bottom-board. That two such successful bee- 

 keepers find it necessary to have more ventilation is 

 pretty sure evidence that there is something lacking 

 in the standard make of bottom-boards. In my own 

 experience as a beekeeper I have found that, when 

 using the regular make of bottom-boards, it is almost 

 impossible to crowd the bees sufficiently to get results 

 in comb honey without their sulking and hanging 

 out on the front of the hive. Abundant bottom ven- 

 tilation has always been in accordance with my idea, 

 but 1 do not like the plan of the blocks very well for 

 more reasons than one. The chief reason was that, 

 when the hive was set on these blocks, it gave the 

 bees an entrance from every side of the hive, and I 

 can't say that I enjoy opening a hive when the bees 

 in about every third hive are going to pile out and 

 sting a row all around my ankles. 



1^ 



This bottom-board is made just like the ordinary 

 reversible bottom-board, e.xcept that, instead of the 

 deep entrance being only % or one inch deep, mine 

 is two inches deep. Then an opening is made on 

 each side and at the back, one inch deep, extending 

 each way to within three inches of the corner. This 

 opening is covered with wire cloth, which compels 

 the bees to go to the regrular entrance, and keeps 

 them away from my feet and legs. At the same time 

 they have a free ventilation from all sides; and after 

 using this bottom two years (last year on fifty colo- 

 nies) I have yet to see a single colony hanging out 

 over one of them. This certainly must have a de- 

 cided influence on the swarming problem. 



These bottoms are ideal for moving bees, for all 

 you have to do is nail up the entrance tight, and the 

 wire-cloth-covered holes will give abundant ventila- 

 tion. Then, again, when -wantering in the cellar the 

 bottoms can be left on, and still there will be almost 

 as free a ventilation as if there were no bottom at 

 all. When the weather is too cool for the wide en- 

 trance the reverse side is just the same as the shal- 

 low entrance on the regular bottom-boards. The 

 drawings will illustrate the construction. 



Barryton, Mich. Leon C. Wheeler. 



A Modification of the Alexander Method of In- 

 crease 



Will you be kind enough to state objections to the 

 following modified plan of Alexander for increase 

 and prevention of swarming? Select a strong colo- 

 ny with a quantity of brood in all stages of devel- 

 opment, before the clover flow starts, or, preferably, 

 about one month before the clover flow. Look 

 through the colony carefully, and remove every 

 queen-cell. Have a new hive ready with frames of 

 foundation, but with one place left for a frame of 

 brood. Place the new hive on a stand near the first, 

 and then remove a nice frame of brood from the old 



liive and place it in the center of the new hive. 

 Find the queen, and introduce her into the new 

 hive (if possible, select the frame on which the 

 queen is found). Now remove the old hive to a new 

 stand some distance away, and place the new hive 

 on the old stand. A queen may now be introduced 

 into the old hive ; or would it be better to leave one 

 queen-cell if one is present? Would the delay of 16 

 days, caused by raising a queen, be a serious handi- 

 cap to the colony for handling the honeyflow ? 

 Decatur, Ga. H. B. Aebuckle. 



[As many of our readers have, perhaps, forgotten 

 the original Alexander plan, we are giving it her^. 

 — Ed.] 



When your colonies are nearly full enough to 

 swarm naturally, and you wish to divide them so 

 as to make two from one, go to the colony you wish 

 to divide; lift it from its stand and put in its place 

 a hive containing frames of comb or foundation, the 

 same as you would put the swarm in, providing it 

 had just swarmed. Now remove the center comb 

 from this new hive, and put in its place a frame of 

 brood from the old hive, and be sure to find the 

 queen and put her on this frame of brood in the 

 new hive ; also look it over very carefully to see that 

 it contains no eggs nor larvfe in any queen-cells. If 

 it does, destroy them. Now put a queen-excluding 

 honey-board on top of this new hive that contains 

 the queen and frame of brood with their empty 

 combs, then set the full queenless colony over the ex- 

 cluder ; next put in the empty comb or frame of 

 foundation taken from the new hive, and close the 

 upper hive except the entrance they have through 

 the excluder into the hive below. Leave them in this 

 way about five days, then look over the combs care- 

 fully, and destroy any larvee you may find in the 

 queen-cells unless they are of a good strain of bees 

 that you care to breed from, for they frequently 

 start the rearing of queens above the excluder very 

 soon after their queen was placed below the ex- 

 cluder. If so, you had better separate them at once ; 

 but if they have not started any queen-cells above, 

 then leave them together ten or eleven days, during 

 which time the queen will get a fine lot of brood 

 started in the lower hive, and every egg and particle 

 of larva that was in the old hive on top will have 

 matured, so it will be capped over and saved; then 

 separate them, putting the old hive on a new stand. 

 It will then be full of young bees mostly, and capped 

 brood, and in about twenty-four hours they will ac- 

 cept a ripe cell, a virgin, or laying queen, as they 

 will then realize that they are hopelessly queenless. 

 I would advise you to give them a laying queen, as 

 I never like to keep my full colonies for even a day 

 longer without a laying queen than I can help. 



In this way you secure two strong colonies from 

 one, without losing a particle of brood or checking 

 the laying of this queen; and with me it almost 

 wholly prevents swarming. This is the way we have 

 made our increase for several years, and we like it 

 much better than any other method we ever tried. 

 In doing so we keep all our colonies strong during 

 the whole summer, and it is the strong colonies that 

 count in giving us our surplus. 



The mere fact of having a large number of colo- 

 nies does not amount to much unless they are strong 

 in bees and are well cared for at all times. This is 

 a fact that many have sadly overlooked; and when 

 the season comes to a close, giving them a small 

 surplus, they, feel disappointed and lay the fault on 

 many things that have had but little to do with their 

 failure. 



[Your modification of the Alexander method of 

 increase is not as good as the original Alexander 

 plan, for this reason: You remove the old hive to 

 the new stand at the time you make the division of 

 the colonv, while Mr. Alexander puts the old hive 



