THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



27 



clean wax ones and then get rid of ex- 

 cluders, which belong to queen rear- 

 ing not to producing. 



In a recent number of Glecmings 

 there were nine correspondents who 

 preferred hybrid bees in their apiaries 

 against twelve who preferred pure 

 stocks. Will wager with either of the 

 nine men who now prefer hybrids that 

 the pure stock party will swell in num- 

 ber while the hybrid party will go 

 down, down. In the same issue there 

 was a vote on color, with eight in 

 favor of the light and thirteen in favor 

 of the dark races and strain. -None 

 were in favor of the very light in-bred 

 Italians. 



Proper preparation of nuclei colonies 

 for shipment is a point that needs pol- 

 ishing" up considerable. Is it ever nec- 

 essary to cage the queen inside a nu- 

 cleus hive? Is she not safer on the 

 comb? I am inclined to think too 

 much ventilation is often given as with 

 queen cages. The most practical me- 

 thods of introducing to full colonies 

 have the following points worth re- 

 membering : a few hours to attain the 

 scent ; perfect quiet on the issue of 

 queen. In these two points, I believe, 

 is the secret of successful introduction. 

 The conditions under which virgins 

 are accepted are not present until af- 

 ter tlie desire to construct cells has 

 been satisfied. 



Too much ventilation during the warm months 

 cannot be given queen cages or boxes in whioh 

 a nucleus colony is being shipped.— No experi- 

 enced beekeeper will cage the queen sent iu a 

 nucleus colony.— Ed.] 



Siftings in Bee (Eulturc. 



CONDUCTED BY M. A. KELLEY. 



Periodicals for review, exchanges and corre- 

 spondence intended for this department should 

 be addressed to 



M. A. Kelley, 



Milton, \V. Va. 



Wood-zinc queen-excluding honey- 

 board. What a name ! What a waste 

 of time, of space and words ! The 

 simple name excluder is enough un- 



less it be in a description of the dif- 

 ferent forms of the said much named 

 thing. 



The last two numbers of the Revieio 

 have been devoted mainly to discuss- 

 ing " Specialty versus mixed beekeep- 

 ing." The result is yet somewhat 

 " mixed," but many important facts 

 have been set forth. The Review is 

 full of real, solid horse sense. 



Mr. J. S. Rease and Mr. C. H. Dib- 

 bern are giving much time and thought 

 to bee-escapes. They deserve the 

 gratitude of the fraternity. The im- 

 proved horizontal escape seems to be 

 well nigh perfect. It is made with flat, 

 saucer-like pieces of wire cloth insert- 

 ed in spaces cut in boards to fit them, 

 said boards being of the proper size to 

 fit the hive in use. 



Mr. H. R. Boardman, in Gleanings, 

 deplores the destruction of basswood 

 timber in supplying one-piece sections. 

 He says it should be stopped and that 

 lie will buy no more supplies that are 

 made of basswood. Mr. Root says 

 that more of it is used for other pur- 

 poses and that the proper remedy is 

 not to stop using it but to plant the 

 trees and protect them in their growth. 



Mr. E. France, in Gleanings^ after 

 telling us how to kill skunks, puts in 

 an able plea for their lives. Thanks, 

 Brother F., for those kind words in be- 

 half of our poor dumb neighbors. 

 Skunks do undoubtedly eat bees and 

 have eaten bushels of mine, yet I try 

 to give them as little pain in death as 

 I possibl}^ can. Men have no right to 

 give pain, save in self-defence, and 

 even then only enough for self protec- 

 tion. 



A smoking-board 

 is described by Mr. J. W. Bayard in 

 American Bee Journal. It is a board 

 as wide as the super in use and two 

 inches longer, with |- X b strips on 

 the sides and one end to hold the 



