804 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



On July 23 was held a bee picnic at Gayville, S. D. It was well attended, and some of the vital ques- 

 tions pertaining to apiculture were discussed, such as "Bee Diseases," by L. A. Syverud, of Canton, bee 

 inspector for the eastern part of South Dakota; "Relation of Bees to Plant Life," by R. A. Morgan; "The 

 Production of Comb Honey," by J. J. Duffack, of Yankton; "Preparing Honey for Market," by W. P. 

 Southworth, of Sioux City, Iowa. 



The tliircl wire should be about straight. The 

 fourth, or lower wire, should have all the 

 slack taken up by a decided curve toward 

 the top-bar. Fig. 6. The upper wires pre- 

 vent stretching of the upper part of the 

 foundation, thus reducing the tendency on 

 the part of the bees to build drone-cells near 

 the top-bars; and what little sag there is 

 .will not cause the lower half of the founda- 

 tion to buckle, since the lower wires can 

 move down with it to some extent. 



The wires can be more rapidly imbedded 

 if they are left straight; but with a little 

 practice it does not take much longer to 

 imbed them when they are curved, as above 

 mentioned. To facilitate the work, cut a 

 j.iece of tin three-quarters of an inch wide 

 and about eight inches long. With a pair 

 of shears taper one end down to about an 

 eighth of an inch in width. With a pair of 

 Iiliers make a sharp right-angle bend one- 

 si xteentb of an inch from the end of the 

 tin, thus making a very small hook. Hold- 

 ing this tin hook in the left hand (Fig. 7), 

 pull the upper wire down toward the bot- 

 tom-bar, letting the tin lie flat on the wax. 

 The ijnbedding-tool will pass over it without 

 the least difficulty. Hold the tin for an in- 

 stant after the wire is bedded until the wax 

 sets, then go to the next wire as in Fig. 8 ; 

 but it is not necessary to pull this one down 

 quite as far. The third wire (Fig. 9) may 



be imbedded just as it lies in a straight line. 

 The fourth wire, that is, the lower one, 

 should be pulled up toward the top-bar, as 

 in Fig. 10. In case the foundation is not 

 given to the bees at once, the wires shoitld 

 not be drawn out of line quite as far, owing 

 to the fact that the two upper wires might 

 then draw it up too much, thus causing a 

 wrinkle. 



The imbedding-tool will remain hot for 

 {<11 four wires. It should then be placed 

 over the lamp to keep up the right amount 

 of heat for the next frame. If too much 

 wax accumulates on the imbedding-tool 

 shake off the surplus occasionally on to a 

 piece of paper. The surplus wax, however, 

 does no real harm unless it accumulates to 

 such an extent as to drop down the lamp 

 chimney and cause it to smoke. 



SMOKE 



METHOD IN DIRECT INTRODUCING 

 FURTHER INDORSED 



BY J. E. MARCHANT 



Nov. 1, p. 768, Mr. J. C. Mosgrove says 

 he is not in favor of using smoke when run- 

 ning in queens. Mr. Mosgrove, did you ever 

 give it a trial? Don't condemn this method 

 until you have given it a fair test. Your 

 reason is, if it is at a time when there is a 

 dearth of honey the colony will be demor- 



