336 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



kin extending very close to the entrance. 

 The reason why I make use of the napkin 

 is that often the light nectar is thrown out 

 ^y the sudden jerk and falls on the napkin. 

 The quilt is then saved from being soiled, 

 ^s it can not be washed as easily as the 

 napkin ; and when the very young bees re- 

 main in heaps on the napkin I tilt it and 

 -shake then toward the entrance. In this 

 way I help them to go into their hive very 

 "easily, so it takes only a few minutes to 

 'inake all of the bees enter the hive. I shake 

 Uhe bees in the same manner as explained 

 and illustrated on pages 19-21 in " A Year's 

 Work in an Out-apiary," by Mr. G. M. Doo- 

 little. 



PROTECTING BEES FROM BEING CRUSHED BE- 

 TWEEN THE WALL OF THE HIVE AND THE 

 SIDE-BARS OP FRAMES. 



The shape of my frames resembles that 

 of the Hoffman, but they are only eight 

 inches deep. For end spacing I make use 

 of a small headless wire nail on the under 

 side of the top-bar in place of the end-spac- 

 ing staple used on the Hoffman frame. 



To prevent the bees from being crushed 

 or hurt between the side-bars and the wall 

 of the hive I drive a small wire nail at the 

 outside of the lower extremities of the side- 

 bars of the frames. This nail furnishes a 

 bee-space when lifting upward the first one 

 or two frames from the hive. Of course, 

 when one or two frames are removed the 

 others are taken out by moving laterally. 

 In tlus way no bees get hurt or killed, and 

 so my pets do not hate me. 



ATTRACTING NATURAL SWARMS BY THE 

 SMELL OF ORANGE LEAVES. 



When I see that the bees are swarming 1 

 cut from an orange or a lemon tree a small 

 branch with a few leaves. I bruise some of 

 these leaves so as gi'eatly to diffuse the smell. 

 The bees are very fond of this refreshing 

 odor, and they go and cluster on the branch. 

 Sometimes when the bees are not flying high 

 in the air I put the lemon or orange leaves 

 in an open hive in which I intend to keep 

 them; and when I move the hive near, the 

 swarm descends and takes possession. 



Nicosia, Island of Cyprus. 



DECIMAL SYSTEM OF HIVE NUMBERING 



BY THOS. BOLTON 



In your July and Aug-ust issues of last 

 year, different writers point out the mistake 

 ■of numbering hives, and say that the stand 

 or position is what should be numbered. 

 This is a correct conclusion, and step No. 1 

 in advance. But they still seem to adhere 

 to some affixing of numbers to the stand; 



and this has so many drawbacks, and in- 

 vohes so much extra walking about to view 

 the numbers, as well as a " fixing " of some 

 kind to each position, that if we can devise 

 a means to do away with these evils we shall 

 have taken step No. 2 toward an ideal sys- 

 tem and a big step, too, for the ofttimes 

 hurried apiary workfer. 



There is a simple plan whereby we may 

 accomplish this, and upon which I have 

 worked my home and out apiaries for the 

 past 20 years or more. It begins with the 

 arranging of the apiary in rows of ten 

 stands, preferably at regular intervals, or it 

 may be of ten groups of stands. We then 

 IDlace at the beginning of each row, after 

 the first, a numbered board about 9x7 

 inches, painted white, with figiares in black, 

 and as large as convenient. These head- 

 numbers, as we call them, are nailed to 

 stakes about 42 or 48 inches high, and it 

 is sufficient, we find, to place one at the head 

 of every alternate row instead of one to 

 each row. The first board will be (as stated) 

 at the head or beginning of the second row, 

 and fourth and sixth rows, and so on. As 

 there are ten stands in the first (and every) 

 row, it will be seen that the first stand in 

 row 2 will be 11 ; in row 3 it will be 21 ; in 

 row 4 it will be 31, and so on, each ten in 

 advance of the preceding row. In actual 

 practice we omit the unit 1, and so the head 

 numbers above read 1, 2, 3, the operator 

 mentally adding the requisite figure as he 

 makes his record or gives his instructions to 

 an assistant, indicating any particular colo- 

 ny. Tliis required figure will be known by 

 a simple glance along the row. 



Let us sui^pose he is at the sixth stand 

 in any row. A glance, as he straightens 

 himself preparatory to moving on, shows 

 that the head number is 1; consequently 

 the hive is 16; or if the head number were 

 5, say, or 12, or 20, you simply place 6 

 beside it, and your hive is known, without 

 any loss of time, as 56, 126, or 206, as the 

 case may be. There is, therefore, no need 

 of numbering every stand — no need to walk 

 about to sight a figure possibly on the end 

 of a hive that is furthest from you; and 

 the veriest novice can be sent with certainty 

 to any luve. Then, again, if one is at, say, 

 stand 75, on either side are stands in neigh- 

 boring rows that perforce are 65 or 85 — no 

 count needed. Compare the plan of alpha- 

 betical letters or other schemes with this 

 decimal system of hive-numbering, and they 

 are as a farm wagon to a motor car. 



Lambenk, Victoria, Australia. 



[This is very similar to the plan suggest- 

 ed bv Arthur C. Miller, p. 665, Oct. 15, 

 1912!— Ed.] 



