1 68 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



[August. 



can and are i^ and i% inches, and 

 then a narrow strip cut part way off 

 one side. Then bent in the fingers 

 into the proper shape. 



We never could give the bees enough 

 ventilation through any ordinary en- 

 trance, and I saw that something must 

 be done. Besides, we often want a 

 large amount of ventilation when rob 

 bers are around and we must keep 

 them contracted. 



Then also the auger hole, or holes 

 are bored in the center of the front 

 end of the hive, and to give the bees 

 a sure foothold the hive is given a 

 heavy coat of paint and then as much 

 fine gravel sprinkled on the paint 

 while it is fresh, as the paint can well 

 hold. 



You see I can carry enough of these 

 entrance fixings in one pocket to fix 

 up a whole apiary. 



Chatsworth, California. 



♦-♦-♦ ' 



WIRED FOUNDATION VERSUS 



WIRED FRAMES. 



F. H. CYRENIUS. 



IN AS MUCH as your correspon- 

 dent, Allen Latham, in June num- 

 'ber of your journal condemns 

 wired foundation permit me to say 

 a few words in its favor. 



I use the Given press, which ex- 

 cels all else for individual use in the 

 foundation line. 



I wire my frames both vertically 

 and horizontally; the wires, No. 38, 

 about two inches apart. The sheets 

 of wax are placed one on either side 

 of the wired frames and all pressed to- 

 gether and it is a perfect fixture in 

 the frame. 



The pressure crimps the wire in 

 shape of base of the cells. 



Now if I were to buy foundation I 

 should use the Van Deuzen vertical 

 wired heavy brood foundation. Then 

 I would wire my frames horizontally, 

 and imbed the wire same as any style. 



This cross wiring is far superior to 

 single wires as can be easily under- 

 stood by giving it a trial. 



I use double top-bar; the lower top- 

 bar, bottom-bar and end-bars have 

 saw kerfs from edge to center in 

 place of holes which very much facil- 

 itates the wiring. 



After the frame is wired the top- 

 bar is nailed on, which also forms the 

 projecting ends. 



I think if Mr. Latham will try the 

 cross wiring plan with vertical wires 

 in foundation and horizontal wires in 

 frames he will see a great improve- 

 ment over his described experience. 



Oswego, N. Y. 



SHAKEN SWARMS. 



F. GREINER. 



IT IS SOMETIMES said that 

 Gravenhorst of Germany was the 

 first man that advocated shaken 

 swarms, perhaps twenty-five or thirty 

 years ago. 



The same method originated with 

 American apiarists, Doolittle and 

 others, and it can be said that not 

 till late years has this method entered 

 into the regular routine of our api- 

 cultural work. Shaking swarms is 

 practically the same thing as driving 

 swarms, which was known several 

 years before Gravenhorst's time. 



I am not very well posted on all 

 the minor details of apicultural work 

 of former times, and I would not be 

 surprised if Solon on his trip to Egypt 

 had found the Egyptians drive bees 

 nearly 2,500 years ago. When log- 

 gums and straw-skeps were all the 

 fashion, driving bees was the method 

 used for artificial increase. It is a 

 deplorable fact that the originator did 

 not take out a patent, and as much 

 as I regret it, his name has been lost. 



Shaking swarms, as applied now, is 

 really a new invention and the methods 

 employed by dififerent bee-masters vary 

 slightly; some place the bees on full 

 combs, others on foundation, and some 

 on frames with only narrow starters. 

 Some bee-keepers brush all bees from 

 the brood combs and place the bee- 

 less combs on top of other colonies; 

 some leave bees enough on the combs 

 to take care of the brood, and thus 

 form a new colony giving the mother- 

 less family either a queen or a ripe 

 cell; which latter answers just as well. 

 Some contract the hive for occupancy 

 of the brushed bees; others do not. 

 Our old friend Stachelhausen, of 

 Texas (and a good authority he is), 

 gives the full hive at first, but con- 

 tracts after a few days. He is using 

 the Heddon hive of two shallow brood 

 chambers. He gives two chambers at 

 the time of making the swarm, and 

 later it is an easy matter to contract, 

 for all he has to do is to remove the 

 lower brood chamber. There may have 



