1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



3(i7 



on an inclined plane, all the drip is 

 run back into the can again. In this 

 way all syrup is used up without 

 waste, and if careful no dauliing of 

 anything except the utensils necessary 

 to be used need occur. By the above 

 plan no expensive feeders need be 

 bought or made, no room in an al- 

 ready crowded shop has to be taken 

 to store such feeders, and the best of 

 it all is the feed is placed in the 

 combs just where you and the bees 

 desire it. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



Bee Notes. 



BY S. M. KEELER. 



Dr, Miller in a " Straw" in Glean- 

 ings, page 655, refers to my getting 

 combs built down to the wire bottom 

 bars, and the Editor comments as fol- 

 lows ; " They will do more, they 

 will build clear past them on the next 

 set of frames below." I do not doubt 

 it. And he might have added that 

 with frames having f in. wood bottom 

 bars, used in the brood nest, the bees 

 would not have built down within § 

 in. of the bottom bar ; also that with 

 the bottom bars wide or narruw, or 

 none at all, the bees would build clear 

 down on to the next set of frames be- 

 low (no queen excluder between) as 

 above given. I used to have trouble 

 in that way, but not so now. I al- 

 ways want queen excluders over the 

 brood nest, where brood frames or 

 extracting frames ure used in the up- 

 per story. With bueen excluder be- 

 tween, the bees show the same regard 

 for the bottom bars and bee spaces 

 above that they do in the brood nest. 

 Well, now all of this has no bearing 

 whatever against having combs built 

 down to the wire bottom bars of the 



brood frames. This building clear 

 down has been accomplished. And 

 that I have been successful, I not 

 only believe but know it. 



In this poor season for bee exper- 

 imental o|)erations, I had only one 

 prime swarm. It was hived on empty 

 frames, with starters, having the wire 

 bottom bars. They built the combs 

 down slowly, as there was not a flood 

 of honey coming in, but built them 

 down to (and not below i the wires, 

 and attached them to the wires, not 

 partially but perfectly the whole 

 length of the wire. And they will 

 do it for anybody, anywhere, when 

 the conditions are right for the bees 

 to build combs, with honey coming in. 



Frames can be filled with full 

 sheets of foundation just wide enough 

 to cover the wire bottom bar. Fasten 

 to the wood part in the usual way, 

 then move a hot iron along the bottom 

 edge of foundation and the wire will 

 fasten that. Then there will be no 

 bulging of the bottom edge of found- 

 ation as when hanging loose. And 

 the bees will not cut out a bee space 

 above the wire as they do above the 

 wood bar. For to them, with the wire, 

 there really is no bottom bar. 



Chenango Bridge, Broome Co., N. Y. 

 Sept. 17, 1895. 



Five Banded Bees, 



BY IHAS. H. THIKS. 



As SO n)uch has been said lately 

 about the five banded bees I can't 

 hold back my say. I have thought it 

 best not to say anything on this sub- 

 ject simply because it might be 

 thought, if not said, that I had an axe 

 to grind. On the other hand \i those 

 of us who iiave had five or six years 



