AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



585 



The " Slialce-Oiit " Fiiiictioii of 



hives as practiced by the native bee-keepers 

 of Carniola is described thus by Mr. Frank 

 Benton in an article published in Gleanings 

 for April 1st : 



The hive which, for several centuries, has 

 been most commonly used in Carniola is 

 about 6 inches deep (inside measurement) , 

 36 inches from front to rear, and 12 inches 

 ■wide, no frames being used. These hives 

 are placed in bee-houses, each tier of hives 

 resting on separate stringers of its own so 

 as to be removable, by sliding out at front 

 or rear, without interfering with the others. 

 There are generally 6 or 8 tiers — often 50 

 hives in each tier. The rear end of each 

 hive (occasionally the front end instead) is 

 removable for the purpose of feeding, intro- 

 ducing queens, etc.. while to get at queen- 

 cells, the bottom is taken off — the latter 

 being commonly fastened by hand-made, 

 wedged-shaped nails that are easily pulled. 

 Frame hives are not popular, the few bee- 

 keepers who have tried them, not having, 

 except in rare instances, understood their 

 advantages. But frames, when used, are 

 mostly shallow — from 6 to 8 inches only in 

 depth, and are placed crosswise of the hives, 

 being removable from the rear end. 



There is in Carniola, on the whole, very 

 little manipulation of combs or interference 

 with the interior of the hives' beyond the 

 cleaning of the bottom-boards, feeding 

 (which is diligently practiced) , and the sup- 

 plying occasionally of a queen or a queen- 

 cell to a hive that has through accident be- 

 come queenless. 



The native bee-keepers do not often have 

 occasion to hunt out queens ; but when they 

 do (most of the hives, as already stated, 

 being without frames) , they can only re- 

 move the bottom-board and shake out the 

 bees. They do this by main strength, tak- 

 ing hold of the box in the middle, and giv- 

 ing it several violent jerks downward. But 

 as the main cluster of bees (especially in 

 the fall, or in weak colonies, after-swarms, 

 etc., or in such as have stored the rear end 

 of the hive full of honey) is generally in 

 the front end of the hive, I was able to 

 adopt, and to show the native bee-keepers 

 in many places, much to their delight, a 

 far easier way ; namely, the plan of holding 

 the back part of the hive between my knees, 

 while I grasped the sides about six inches 

 from the front end and gave two or three 

 quick downward jerks, each followed by a 

 quicker upward motion, thus landing about 

 all — oftentimes all — of the bees on the 

 ground. In this way I often captured from 

 these box-hives, and caged in mailing- 

 cages, 30 to 40 queens in two or three hours. 



In an editorial under " Shallow brood- 

 chambers and the shake-out function cen- 

 turies old," Bro. Root comments on the 

 above, written by Mr. Frank Benton, and 

 says: 



All of this is exceedingly interesting — the 

 more so as Mr. Heddon has claimed, if we 

 mistake not, that these ideas were entirely 



new and original with himself. We have 

 seen references to both of these things be- 

 fore, but were not aware that they were 

 ideas that were older than almost anything 

 else use in apiculture. The fact that the 

 shake-out function is, and has been, prac- 

 ticed successfully by the Carniolan bee- 

 keepers, and was also employed by Mr. 

 Benton in making successful catches of 

 queens, goes a long way toward establish- 

 ing its practicability. By the way, is it not 

 a fact that Carniolans are better adapted to 

 shaking out of a hive than Italians are ? 

 The latter don't " shake worth a cent." 



^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^xxx^ 



ntsxian 



In this department will be answered those 

 questions needing immediate attention, and 

 such as are not of sufficient special interest to 

 require replies from the 25 or more apiarists 

 who help to make " Queries and Replies " so 

 interesting on another page. In the main, it 

 will contain questions and answers upon mat- 

 ters that particularly interest beginners.— Ed. 



Frames Having- Pollen in Them. 



Where frames have pollen in them, 

 what is the best use they can be put to 

 in the apiary ? Fred F. Rockwell. 



Leonard, Tex. 



Answer. — Generally, nothing better 

 can be done than to let the bees keep 

 them. Sometimes a comb filled with 

 pollen is as valuable as one filled with 

 honey. 



Frames of Honey for New Swarms. 



Bees are swarming and doing well. I 

 give to each of my new swarms a frame 

 of honey, and I think it is a good plan. 

 What do you think of it ? 



F. J. R. Davenport. 



Nash, Tex., April 12, 1893. 



Answer. — Generally a good plan. If 

 a few days of very bad weather should 

 prevent gathering, such a supply would 

 be of great value to a swarm. 



Will the Nucleus Swarm ? 



If I confine a queen on 3 Langstroth 

 frames (like Mrs. Atchley mentioned 

 some time ago), will they swarm, or will 

 they not ? Or, if I confine her with 

 queen-excluder zinc, will the bees super- 

 sede her when she cannot follow, in case 

 they do swarm ? I would like to know 

 how (every detail) it is done. I have a 

 fine queen, and would like to keep her 



