THE ffiMERICffiM BEE JQURPiaiU. 



25 



and as the honey-board is put together, 

 slide ill a narrow piece of zinc contain- 

 ing one row. of queeu-excluding bee- 

 passages. This device can hardly be 

 called an invention, and was thought 

 of b}' four dift'erent bee-keepers all in- 

 il( pendent of the others. I may nien- 

 liiin W. Z. Hutchinson, of Flint, Mich., 

 (has. E. Boyer, of Anger, O., Dr. G. 

 L. Tinker, of New Philadelphia, O., 

 and myself. This took place some 

 tliree years ago, and quite a little con- 

 troversy arose regarding the priority-. 

 Xo one, perhaps, will ever know who 

 \\ as prior, but Dr. G. L. Tinker was 

 1 he lirst to publish and give his right 

 in the device to the public (see page 

 1'03 of Oleaninrjs for 1886). 



While Father Langstroth was my 

 honored guest, la.st spring, I perfected 

 a new invention for queen-excluding 

 honey-boards, which greatly pleased 

 him. It was tested, and proves to 

 make a very excellent arrangement ; 

 although, perhaps, it is not much bet- 

 ter than the combined wood and zinc 

 board. It consists of an all-metal 

 honej-board containing the same rows 

 of <pieen-exclu'!ing bee-passages, placed 

 tin the break-joint principle, the same 

 as the other honey-board. For my 

 eight frame hive, eight rows of open- 

 ings are made, and in such position 

 that they come directly over the cen- 

 ter of the top-bars of the brood-frames 

 below. The whole honey-board is a 

 quarter of an inch shorter and nar- 

 iiiwer than the wood honey-board. 

 This contraction in the dimensions, 

 l>rcvents all bother from corners of the 

 supers slip])ing down in. Now this is 

 •a complete honey-board, the very best 

 ill the world, for the avoidance of the 

 brace-combs, both owing to its com- 

 position and thinness of surface, but it 

 has the objection of being liable to bag 

 ill the center, or "sag," as some say. 

 in avoid this, two A or V-shaped 

 pieces of heavy tin are soldered to 

 the under side of the board (when in 

 its normal position) ; and although 

 they are so large that tliey come down 

 as much as | of an inch, still they will 

 not touch the tops of the brood-frames, 

 because each stitl'ener (as we will call 

 tliem) points to the center of a space 

 I "'tween the brood-frames, so that the 

 ' is pass all around them freel}". This 

 ikes a complete board. 

 There is no absolute necessitj- for 

 ilicse stift'eners, but the bee-keeper 

 'ds to learn how to manipulate the 

 I -metal honey-board. He should not 

 \'V\- it loose and then lift directly up 

 "11 the corners, but after loosening the 

 jiropolis about the edge, give it a 

 literal twist and it cuts the brace- 

 combs and twists them in two. 



At the recent Michigan Bee-Keep- 

 -' convention held at Jackson, the 

 iistion came up as to whether eight 



rows of qiKMMi-excluding holes were 

 sullicient for the jias-sage of the work- 

 ers of the strongest colonies of bees. I 

 gave not only my experience from the 

 use of over 500 of these hone)"-boarils 

 for several years, but a Mr. Wood, liv- 

 ing near Jackson (who by the ■way has 

 been a large expn-jnienter), gave ad- 

 ditional evidence, which convinced the 

 whole convention that even one-quar- 

 ter of the passage room so aliorded b}- 

 the eight central rows of queen-ex- 

 cluding holes, would be more than 

 ample forthe strongest colonies. Great 

 ami expensive mistakes have been 

 made regarding Ibis point. 



I think I have been pretty nearly 

 over the ground, and having men- 

 tioned the State Convention, I take 

 pleasure in i-eporting an enjoyable 

 meeting, considering that it was quite 

 poorly attended ; but few of the well- 

 known and prominent bee-keepers of 

 the State being present. Prof. Cook 

 was ill, and so we had to do without 

 him, although we much regretted it. 

 R. L. Tajior, of Lapeer, was there, and 

 we were pleased to learn that he re- 

 cently has been elected to the State 

 Senate, while his brother was elected 

 as Representative in the Lower Hou.se. 

 So we see that bee-keepers are not 

 without skill and reputation in other 

 channels of thought. 



Dowagiac, Mich. 



COLORS AND BEES. 



Are Bees Atlrat-ted by Colors or 

 Odors i 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY A. C. TYKEEL. 



Whether or not bees are " attracted 

 by color of flowers," is, no doubt, a 

 matter of supreme indifference to the 

 majority of bee-kei^pers ; and if the 

 question were asked as to the number 

 of a bee's legs, some would say four, 

 others six, or Jch wcis nicht. All are 

 agreed, however, that bees "get there 

 all the .same," whether attracted by 

 scent or color, and that is sullicient for 

 their purpose, when the hives are being 

 rapidly filled with honej-. 



In a scientific point of view, it may 

 be interesting to glean all the facts 

 concerning the habits of the busy little 

 workers, and if it is finally determined 

 by scientific research, that flowers of a 

 particular hue are most ' attractive, 

 those who "plant for honey alone" 

 will be enabled to select the best va- 

 rieties. In this connection alone, as I 

 view the subject matter, can the final 

 determination of the question be of the 

 slightest importance to the fraternity. 



I agree with Prof. Pammel in this, 

 " That odor is important in attracting 



insects." I also coincide with the 

 statements based upon experiments 

 made by Sir John Lubbock and Her- 

 mann Midler, that " bees possess an 

 acute color-sense, readil3' distinguish- 

 ing such colors as blue, green, orange, 

 red, white and yellow." 



As the question is chameleon hued, 

 I can argue both sides, for I believe 

 that bees are attracted bj' " scent," and 

 " color " also. 



During the term of bloom of a cer- 

 tain honej'-plant that I raise, our bees 

 are constantly hovering over them, at> 

 traeted, no doubt, bj' both "scent and 

 color." When I thresh out the seeds 

 in the fall, bees are constantl}' alight- 

 ing on the dry stalks in such numbers 

 as to be annoying at times. 



My usual threshing-floor is on the 

 roof of a hen-house 8 or 10 feet from 

 the ground. As they cannot expect to 

 extract honey from the old, dry stalks, 

 it seems they are attracted b}- the odor, 

 which is very pungent and lasting. I 

 am never interviewed when gathering 

 and threshing " turnip seed." 



It cannot be said that bees are at- 

 tracted to me, by reason of my elegant 

 (?) form, being nearly six feet one 

 way, lean as a fish-pole, and homely 

 as . 



Madison, Nebr. 



MANIPULATION. 



A 'Sew System for «lie manage- 

 ment of Bees. 



Written for the Michigan Convention 



BY DR. G. L. TINKER. 



It ma}- be stated as a rule, that a 

 colony of bees dividing up its forces 

 bj- swarming, will not produce as large 

 a surplus as a colony under the same 

 conditions that does not swarm. In 

 a honey-flow extending over most of 

 the season, the rule may be an excep- 

 tion, but it is a rare thing to occur. In 

 view of these facts, bee-keepers have 

 long sought a means to prevent swarm- 

 ing, or in lieu of that, a non-swai'ming 

 strain of bees. As it has been the in- 

 stinct of bees to swarm through all the 

 ages, and since it is the only natural 

 means of increase, it is plain that we 

 maj- not suppress it ; and especially 

 when producing comb honey. We may 

 create artificial conditions, as in the 

 taking away of queens, or of the stores 

 as fast as brought in, and prevent it 

 for a time, but we shall never be able 

 to prevent swarming where natural 

 conditions exist. 



The best we can do is to deal with 

 the results of swarming. And I maj' 

 here say, that we can do this to advan- 

 tage, and bring about results exceed- 

 ing anj-thing accomplished in times 

 past. 



