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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



How Hot is the Steam-heated Knife ? 



I am thinking of getting one of those steam-heat- 

 ed uncapping-knives, liut am a little doubtful as to 

 whether it is any thing better than what we have 

 been using. Can the steam-heated knife be kept 

 hot enough so that it will be too warm to lay the 

 l)lade on one's hand? Does not the steam-tube get 

 in the way much of the time? 



We had bountiful rains through March and so 

 far this month, and the prospects seem fair for 

 more. I don't know much about my bees, having 

 been in poor health all winter. The few stands I 

 haye here at the house are in good order. 



Hemet. Cal. B. H. Hudson. 



[We have tested steam-heated knives very care- 

 fully and thoroughly at Medina. As to whether 

 this form of knife would be more satisfactory than 

 knives that are constantly dipped in hot water 

 will depend somewhat upon circumstances; but 

 we would say very decidedly that in any case 

 whei?e a knife works better because it is hot, a 

 steam-heated knife will be far better than one that 

 is dipped in hot water every minute or two. A 

 steam-heated knife will remain so hot that you 

 can not bear the back of your hand to the blade at 

 any time. It has the advantage that you can keep 

 right on uncapping, and the cappings will fall ofT 

 without any sticking to the knife itseH. 



The objection to the steam-heated knife is that 

 the tube Interferes a little with the free handwork; 

 but after one liecomes accustomed to working the 

 rubber tubing he does not find it any great incon- 

 venience. Another objection is having the little 

 oil-stove in the same room. Sometimes the room 

 where the uncapping is carried on is very small 

 and quite hot. This little stove has a tendency to 

 heat up the room; but if you have an oil-stove for 

 heating the water for your knives, this objection 

 would not really be against the steam-heated un- 

 capping-knife. In a word, we would say that, 

 where it is an advantage to use a hot knife, you 

 will find the steam method of heating the knife 

 far superior to the method of constantly dipping in 

 hot water. — Ed.] 



No Loss in Alabama Apiary Except Laying-worlier 

 Colony 



In reading the reports from different States in re- 

 gard to winter losses we see no report irom Ala- 

 bama. Our bees came through the winter in good 

 order, and are moving right along rearing brood. 

 We did not have a single loss, with the exception 

 of our laying-worker hive which we treated with 

 sulphur. 



CONSUMPTION OF HONEY AVERAGES 7K POUNDS PER 

 COLONY. 



On p. 153 Mr. Crane refers to Mr. Mollett's saying 

 that it takes from 50 to 75 pounds of honey to win- 

 ter a colony of bees. We don't know what part of 

 the South Mr. Mollett lives in; but it seems to us 

 that that amount of honey is too large an estimate. 



Here are a few figures from our book. We weigh- 

 ed our colonies Nov. 15 and again March 1, and no 

 one celony consumed over 12 pounds, and the ave- 

 rage consumption was 7*3 pounds during that time. 

 Now, we fail to see where such a difference arises. 

 Possibly it is on account of his " locality."' 



Mumford, Ala. J. H. & J. T. Clark. 



Cooling Hives in Extremely Hot Weather by Spray- 

 ing with Water 



I heartily indorse the method of shading hives 

 with boards on hot days. The method was first 

 suggested to me by an old beeman here. On one 

 occasion, early in April, he lost several stands 

 through negligence in using his customary shade- 

 boards. The comb melted and destroyed the bees. 

 Last summer, when it was somewhat dry, I sprin- 

 kled my hi^'«s all over with water. I used an ordi- 

 nary sprinkling-pot holding about a gallon, and 

 added a tablespoonful of salt to each gallon. The 

 evaporation cooled the hives. 



Suffolk, Va., Dec. 30. W. T. Bailey. 



How to Avoid Killing a Large Number of Bees 

 when Putting on Supers 



I have studied the bee Ijusiness lor eight years, 

 but never saw in print one particular trick of the 

 trade: and that is, how to avoid killing a good 

 many bees when putting on supers or other fix- 

 tures. It works well to put one end of the super 



down an inch forward and one inch to the side of 

 the desired position, and to let the other end down 

 slowly, shaking it meanwhile to l€t the bees get 

 out of the way. If the hands are then placed at 

 opposite corners of the hive with the fingers on the 

 lower story and the palms on the super, by lever- 

 ing between the fingers and the palms one can 

 easily slide the super into place. By reducing the 

 contact surface, fewer bees are killed, 

 lakeside, Cal. G. E. Philbrook. 



When and How to Have Foundation Drawn Out 



I shall have a large amount of foundation to 

 draw out this season. Could you tell me the best 

 steps to take to get it drawn out as early as possi- 

 ble, so as not to tamper too much with the clover 

 crop? 



Guelph, Ont., April 13. Frank E. Millbn. 



[The only way you can have foundation drawn 

 out before the general honey-flow is to feed with 

 sugar syrup, half a pint to a pint daily. You may 

 have to use more than this. This will be a very 

 good stunt for you, because you can get the combs 

 drawn out and filled with sugar syrup; and then 

 when the honey-flow actually comes on, every bit 

 of the clover will go right into the sections or su- 

 pers. This is the plan that was advocated by H. R. 

 Boardman a few years ago.— Ed.] 



Death of Jesse W. Thornton 



On April 9, Jesse W. Thornton, ex-president and 

 vice-president of the Washington State Beekeepers' 

 Association, died. He had been ill for some time, 

 but seemed to be feeling better the day he died, and 

 was putting on his coat to go to the city when 

 death overtook him. He was 62 years of age, and 

 leaves a wife, one daughter, and five sons to mourn 

 his loss. He was a minister in the German Baptist 

 Church. He was quite an extensive beekeeper, 

 owning about 200 colonies, and working about as 

 many more until quite recently. He was also a 

 member of the National Beekeepers' Association. 



North Yakima, Wash. J. B. Ramage. 



Controlling the Clustering-place of Swarms with a 

 Kerosene-soaked Mop 



I have read what has been said about carbollzed 

 cloths. As my yard is located at the edge of tim- 

 ber land I have used kerosene successfully when 

 swarms have clustered high. I shake the cluster 

 off and sprinkle kerosene oil with a paint-brush 

 around the spot. I also keep a very long pole in 

 the yard, to the top of which is fastened a mop-rag 

 soaked in kerosene. If a swarm attempts to clus- 

 ter high I raise my pole so that the rag is near 

 them, and usually their next stopping-place is low- 

 er down. 



Swanville, Minn. John S. Lind. 



Cramps from Eating Honey 

 For years I did not eat honey, on account of its 

 doubling me up with cramps, page 226, April 15, yet 

 there was nothing so tempting as hot biscuit, but- 

 ter, and honey for breakfast. After I got bees, and 

 there was plenty of honey around, 1 could not keep 

 from trying it, and now I eat honey when I want 

 It. Many a healthful breakfast I have of honey, 

 biscuit, and butter, with hot-water tea. It is sim- 

 ply getting used to it. 

 Galena. Kan., April 18. J. P. Brumfield. 



Colonies Wintered Successfully on Honey-dew 



A few years ago I made two winter cases after a 

 pattern I saw in Gleanings, to be packed with 

 leaves or sawdust, with a three-inch entrance and 

 tin slide to exclude light. Last summer my bees 

 gathered some honey-dew. Mr. A. C. Miller said 

 they would winter well on honey-dew with plenty 

 of air, so I set them in the empty cases, gave them 

 the width of hive entrance, and the third wrapped 

 in red building paper. Each had a super of dry 

 leaves and 3 lbs. of granulated sugar, but little 

 honey. March 29 they were in fine order. 



Rehoboth, Mass. Robert Elwell. 



Information Wanted in Regard to the Aspinwall 

 Hive 



I should be pleased to hear from those who used 

 the Aspinwall hive the past season. 

 Easton. N. Y.. April 19. E. M. Slocum. 



