GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



the bees are frequently watered, would be destroyed, 

 *s they will take up any moisture in the combs in 

 lieu of water. We give quite full particulars on 

 shipping bees in our June 15th issue, page 422. — 

 Ed.] 



A Device for Stopping Robbing Immediately 



No device or method that will stop active robbing 

 instantly and satisfactorily has been introduced to 

 the beekeeping world. The spread of foul brood in- 

 creases the danger of robbing, multiplies its hazard, 

 and makes the need of a good combatant or anti- 

 robber device more urgent than ever. 



Years ago I gave this matter attention. Time, 

 with occasional experiences, has gradually unfolded 

 to me a simple and effective remedy. 



The device stops warring colonies immediately, 

 and prevents the usual killing of bees. It nei- 

 ther encumbers the combatants by contracting the 

 entrance nor by sprinkling with nauseous or poi- 

 sonous liquid. Lender such excitement bees need 

 plenty of fresh air. 



The entrance is to be placed against the entrance 

 of the hive, and the other open end projects over 

 and outside of the bottom-board. I fasten mine in 

 cj.se of robbing with screws or nails to the hive ; 

 but of course this method could be im'^roved. 



In a case where many bees rob a colony, and can 

 not get in because of the device, they will soon go 

 underneath at the end of the bottom-board, and with 

 persistent efforts will press up and bulge in the wire 

 gauze from beneath ; and if not securely fastened, 

 the whole thing will be lifted up and give them ac- 

 cess to the inside. But no matter how many bees 

 are robbing inside, they will and must all pass 

 through the device in order to go outside, and they 

 will do it — in a hurry too. Then in three or fi ur 

 minutes the rightful inmates will be masters of the 

 field, and will again guard the entrance. As soon as 

 peace and order are established, the device is, of 

 course, removed, and the entrance may be contract- 

 ed if necessary ; for, although bees never leave iheir 

 home while the battle is going on, they soon resume 

 their flying afterward, and then the device would 

 prevent their return. 



Eseondido, Cal. L. F. Leonard. 



A Stampede for the Pollen of Wild Carrots 



Of our common roadside plants the wild carrot is 

 only occasionally visited by bees. I do not remem- 

 ber ever having found a bee searching for nectar 

 over the broad white umbels, and usually the yield 

 of pollen is rather scant. Its apicultural value is, 

 therefore, slight in this part of the country. It is 

 not to this which I wish to call attention, but rath- 

 er to that well-known trait of the bee, the habit of 

 confining its labors to some one particular species, 

 to the exclusion of every thing else for the time be- 

 ing, though there may be other plants in bloom at 

 the same time, apparently just as attractive. An 

 illustration of this came under my observation the 

 past season. 



About August 20 I found that my bees had run 

 a line to the north of the yard; "and, being too 

 early for buckwheat, I was uncertain as to what the 

 attraction could be. I found the line headed for a 

 good-sized field covered with a dense mass of white 

 bloom. Getting closer the blossoms proved to be 

 those of wild carrots. The plants had all come up 

 after having been mowed previously in the haying. 

 Each cut-off stem had sent out a number of branches 

 all about the same height from the ground; and 



these in turn had each borne a small cluster of 

 blooms. 



It was a field of carrots to the exclusion of every 

 thing else. The bees were there by the thousand. 

 They were apparently getting pollen only. In doing 

 this they scampered in a lively way among the flo- 

 rets, flitting from one cluster to another until the 

 greenish-white pellets were completed and the start 

 for home was made. 



Scattered along the roadsides and in old fields 

 elsewhere, innumerable wild carrots were grooving, 

 the flower clusters on which were uniformly much 

 larger than those to be found in this field of perhaps 

 ten acres. It rarely happened that a bee would be 

 found on one of the plants outside of the field in 

 question. There were no aphides in sight, and 

 nothing to indicate the presence of honey dew. Ap- 

 parently the ease with which the pollen could be 

 gathered, from the close massing of so many blos- 

 soms, would naturally seem to be the best explana- 

 tion for the general behavior of the bees. 



At the time of the preference for the carrots, the 

 bees had been visiting five species of mints besides 

 climbing hempweed, jewelweed, and two species 

 of Eupatorium — plants all regularly vi.sited. These, 

 however, were all abandoned in the stampede for 

 the wild carrots. 



Aiken, Md. J. Ford Sempers. 



Can Bees Recognize Playing-cards ? 



It may not be known generally that a deck of 

 playing-cards would play an important part in mat- 

 ing young queens, so here goes the kink. I take 

 any card in the deck, except the pictures, and tack 

 it close above the contracted entrance of a nucleus 

 for a sign-board ; and when the queen takes her 

 wedding trip she notes that particular sign, and 

 never fails to return to the right hive. 



Monterey, Cal. \Vm. A. Sedding. 



[While bees undoubtedly do recognize colors to 

 some extent, we doubt very much whether they 

 would be able to recognize one playing-card from 

 another. They might distinguish a card that L»d 

 all red on it from one all black ; but as to whether 

 they would be able to count the spots or to distin- 

 guish diamonds from hearts — well, we have our 

 doubts. Bees are pretty smart creatures ; but we 

 can't believe they are able to distinguish cards. — 

 Ed.] 



How to Locate Quickly the End-spacing Staples 



Perhaps some may be interested in my short cut 

 for putting the end-spacing staples in place. I took 

 the hard-wood block supplied with the frames, and 

 cut one of the saw-kerfs 1 % inches long ; then with 

 a chip of section box, whittled thin, I stopped up all 

 but 5-16 inch of the slit, leaving a hole for the 

 staple. Then on the under side of the block I 

 nailed, with %-inch nails, a piece of bottom-bar, 

 coming within % inch of the gauge hole. 



yOLD GUAGl BiDCK 



I place a pile of end-bars on the table right in front 

 of me, a saucer of staples, and a two-ounce hammer 

 at my right ; then I am ready for business. With 

 the left hand I lay an end-bar in front of me, top 

 to the right, bevel next to me, and lay the gauge on 

 it with the stop piece, cut from a bottom-bar, in the 

 notch. It fits loosely. The thumb and middle finger 

 hold the end-bar steady, and the middle finger slides 

 the stop into the notch and holds it there. With the 

 right hand I pick up a staple, slip it into the gauge 

 hole, hit it twice with the hammer, lift off the block, 

 and throw the finished end-bar into a receptacle 

 large enough to hold the whole season's supply. 



It works like shelling peas. I soon wearied of 

 handling both ends of a frame and maneuvering in 

 an awkward corner ; and, without thinking of the 

 convenience of the bees, I saw that the staple would 

 do better a little lower. 



Florence, Ala. H. A. Moody. 



