1901 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



they come in contact with the perfor- 

 ated zinc whicii bars their exit, natur- 

 ally crawl immediately upwards upon 

 the zinc, through ample openings 

 directly into the chamber from which a 

 return is rendered impossible. Tliezinc 

 which comes in contact with the bottom 

 board of the hive leads directly into this 

 chamber, or apartment, so that they 

 are "trapped" while crawling upwards 

 upon the zinc excluder, in their efforts 

 to escape. Incoming, as well as out- 

 going drones are caught by the same 

 delusive passage, and enter the same 

 "death chamber" without leaving the 

 zinc bar whicli prevents them' from 

 entering the hive. 



The drone catclier is designed for the 

 sole purpose of catching drones, and 

 while it is improbable that one queen in 

 fifty would escape through it, the possi- 

 bility that she might do so, renders its 

 use as a queen trap unadvisable. It is 

 a drone-catcher, and we confidently be- 

 lieve that no device heretofore placed 

 before the bee-keeping public can 

 approach its drone-catching capacity. 

 The chief aim in its construction has 

 been to overcome the objectionable 

 feature of clogging, which is so con- 

 spicuous in all other drone traps of our 

 acquaintaince. From the entrance of 

 the liive drones are conducted through 

 a spacious opening, several inches in 

 lengtli, into an apartment from which it 

 is almost as difficult to escape as from 

 any of the traps heretofore made; but 

 this step simply places them above and 

 away from the entrance, where they 

 can not interfere witli the free passage 

 of the working force to and from the 

 hive; and upon the perforated zinc 

 which forms the front of the catclier, 

 they freely ascend to the trap proper, 

 without leaving the zinc. From this 

 apartment a return is impossible so 

 long as the law of gravitation endures. 



In both the queen and drone trap and 

 the drone catclier, the complete capture 

 is effected by means of very delicate 

 aluminum stops which, upon upward 



pressure, yield to a breath, but are 

 rigidly supported from below. As with 

 the queen trap, whether drones attempt 

 to leave or enter the hive they are 

 promptly arrested and placed by the 

 device where they will not obstruct the 

 perforations in use by the workers. 



These devices liave been thoroughly 

 tested in our own yards, and their 

 practical utility establislied beyond 

 question. 



BEE-KEEPING IN WEST FLORIDA. 



A Letter From a Land Flowing With 

 Malaria and Honey. 



BY M. W. SHEPHERD. 



THE territory traversed by the 

 Apalachicola River seems to be 

 more peculiarly adapted to the 

 production of honey than any section of 

 the south that I have visited; and in 

 fact, I might trutlifuUy say, it is fully 

 equal to any place in the states, unless 

 it may be in some of tlie irrigated 

 Alfalfa regions of Colorado. Practically, 

 the country along the river is one vast 

 swamp, covered with water the greater 

 part of the year and covered with a 

 heavy growtli of the famous tupelo gum 

 which produces a honey very light in 

 color, weighing fully twelve pounds per 

 gallon and possessing the property of 

 never granulating. Adjacent to the 

 swamp lands, the ti-ti grows abundantly 

 furnishing a honey but little inferior to 

 the tupelo; yet, on the market, it will 

 not class with the latter. More bees 

 can be kept here in one apiary than any 

 place I ever saw — as many as 600 

 colonies in one place, and the yield per 

 colony has been fully as good as in yards 

 where a less number is kept. It is said 

 a complete failure in the honey crop is 

 unknown, yet bad weather or the weak 

 condition of the bees may result in a 

 smaller amount being stored some sea- 

 sons than in others. 



There is a great difference in the 

 opinion of bee-men here in regard to 

 size of hives, the L frame is the stand- 



