200 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[For the American Bee Journal. ] 



Corrections and Explanations. 



In my description of the honey-emptying ma- 

 chine, on page 144, are some small errors which 

 I wish to correct. 



In "bill of stock," No. 3, should be four 

 pieces instead of three pieces. No. 11, should 

 be 7^ x 1| x f . 



In the ninth paragraph, last sentence, insert 

 "have a'' between should and hole. 



In the last sentence of paragraph 16, read 

 ears instead of ends. These are made of strips 

 of tin one inch wide, with double edges, looped 

 and soldered to the outside aud inside of the 

 can. They project § of an inch above the top 

 of the piece 10, and small wooden pins extend- 

 ing through these hold this immovably. 



In the diagram substitute 6 in place of 5, just 

 above the smaller screen. 



I have found no difficulty in making the 

 combs stay in place ; but, if necessary, a small 

 wooden pin would be found amply sufficient. 

 It could be inserted in one of the posts. 



J. L. Hubbard. 



Walpole, N. H. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Use of Camphor to Stop Robbing. 



On account of the great number of stocks I 

 kept in one cellar, I was compelled, on winter- 

 ing them out, to remove only a portion of them 

 in one day, to prevent the bees from mixing up 

 too much. Those taken out first were conse- 

 quently prepared to go to work when those last 

 removed were brought out, and they attempted to 

 rob the latter. When this was discovered, they 

 had already got a good start on some of the 

 stocks; aud I was puzzled how to arrest the 

 robbery. At this time I had purchased a small 

 parcel of camphor for some other purpose, and 

 it struck me that I might stir up the sluggish 

 and inactive stocks which suffered themselves to 

 be robbed without resistance, by inserting a 

 small piece of camphor in the entrance of their 

 hives. I immediately did so, and was not a lit- 

 tle pleased to find that the effect was to frighten 

 the robbers, and to arouse the inmates of the 

 hive to vigorous resistance till they drove off 

 every strange bee. 



A week later, when I wintered out the bees 

 of my northern apiary, (all of which were 

 taken out in one day), one weak colony was 

 violently attacked by robbers. I pushed a piece 

 of camphor through the entrance, and had the 

 pleasure of seeing the same result. Attempts at 

 robbery had entirely ceased next day, although 

 this colony proved to be queenless on examina- 

 tion about three weeks later. 



I trust this hint may be of service to some of 

 the readers of the Bee Journal. 



A. Grimm. 



Jefferson, Wis. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Ventilating the Langstroth Hive. 



The movable comb hives which I got up after 

 the Langstroth model, have no ventilating ap- 

 paratus in the rear ; but I ventilate those hives 

 more effectually than they could be by the Lang- 

 stroth ventilator. 



The caps or cover boxes of my hives are half 

 an inch longer than would be necessary to cover 

 the hives ; and consequently allow the honey- 

 board to be moved towards the front sufficiently 

 to open the hind end of the hive | inch. Taking 

 away the entrance blocks, the air passes between 

 every frame from the bottom to the top and out 

 at the rear end. • Tjbe cover box is then lifted 

 up one inch at the back end, and an entrance 

 block put between it and the hive. 



Should the cover boxes not allow a forward 

 movement of the honey-board, two | inch thick 

 sticks put between it and the hive, would have 

 the same effect. Bees in hives so ventilated did 

 not lay out in the hottest weather last summer. 



Jefferson, Wis. A. Grimm. 



[For the American Bee Journal.]. 



Singular Case. 



About the beginning of the month of July 

 last, I caged a queen bee for the purpose of 

 raising another. In the hurry of business this 

 queen was overlooked for nearly a month. After 

 basswood blossoms were over I happened to ex- 

 amine that hive again, and found the queen 

 alive, but both her wings were missing, and a 

 young queen at liberty, which had just com- 

 menced laying. I concluded to divide the stock 

 for an experiment. When this was done, I set 

 the caged queen free in the queenless part. 

 About ten days afterwards I examined both 

 stocks again, and in the hive in which I had 

 placed the wingless queen, I found a young queen 

 just hatched, and several queen cells torn open, 

 together with a large amount of brood of nearly 

 all ages. Not finding the wingless qJaeten, I 

 concluded that she had been superseded by the 

 workers. About a week later I re-examined the 

 hive, and found the young queen very slender 

 and apparently unimpregnaied, but the combs 

 contained eggs, larvre, and sealed brood in 

 plenty. After a careful search, I discovered my 

 wingless queen on a brood comb, and immedi- 

 ately removed her. Two days later the young 

 queen had commenced laying. All this, how- 

 ever, would not have presented anything strik- 

 ingly curious to me. About nine days later, I 

 happened to think of this stock of bees, and con- 

 cluded to take another look inside. I found the 

 latter queen laying, with a large amount oi' 

 larvae and sealed brood, and a number of sealed 

 queen cells. I removed the queen and gave 

 her to a queenless colony ; but she was proba- 

 bly killed, as I found no trace of her after- 

 wards. 



Can any one explain the singular behavior of 

 this stock of bees V Were there two parties o* 

 bees in the hive, and did each maintain its in- 

 dependency ? Or was the last taken queen im- 

 perfect too, though not showing it in her appear- 

 ance. A. Grimm. 



Jefferson, Wis. 



