18t>4 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Kil 



tween two rows of sections, whicli the bees are 

 inclined to (ill with propolis." If that means at 

 the top, it is obviated, as mentioned in a foot- 

 note, by pieces of separator stuff '4 inch wide. 

 If it means along the full length of the sides of 

 the sections, it is simply an impossibility for 

 the bees to get at that part, and, as a matter of 

 fact, that part of the section comes out just as 

 clean as it went in. Indeed, with these little 

 separators at the top (and I wouldn't think of 

 doing without them) it is the T super and not 

 the section-holder that has the advantage; for, 

 no matter how little the play, there must be 

 some play in the length of the section-holder to 

 allow the sections to be got in, and it will be 

 just play for the bees to fill up that play-space 

 with bee-glue. In the T super, all the play is 

 taken up by wedging in the top separators. 



The ABO says the one-piece sections in T 

 supers are likely to be a little diamond-shaped. 

 I think that must have been written before 

 knowing about putting in the little top separa- 

 tors, for with them the sections are perfectly 

 square. On the other hand, there is more 

 chance for sections to be out of square in the 

 section-holders, for the bottom-bars of the 

 section-holders will sag. That may not throw 

 the sections out of square enough to be serious, 

 but it may be a serious matter in another 

 direction. Nowadays we want to maintain an 

 exact space between the brood-frames and 

 what is over them. These bottom-bars need to 

 sag only an eighth of an inch or less to insure 

 the space being filled with propolis, fastening 

 the bottom-bars of the section-holders to the 

 top bars of the brood-frames. The T tins are 

 entirely free from any sagging. 



The ABC says, '• Bees will always fill the 

 sections directly over the brood — that is, the 

 central ones — before they will the outside rows. 

 In order to make them fill out alike, it is not an 

 easy matter to change places with the central 

 and outside rows," In the T super, but with the 

 section-holders " the outside rows can easily be 

 shifted from outside to center." With me this 

 does not count for an advantage, for, if the 

 shifting could be done twice as easily with the 

 T super as with the section-holder, I would not 

 shift them. From long experience I have found 

 that the bees will not always make as nice 

 work finishing up a section that lias been mov- 

 ed; and in any case I want the work done in a 

 wholesale manner, taking off a super when all 

 but the four corner sections are finished, if. in- 

 deed, any are unlinished. Then the untinished 

 one can be massed in a new super to be finished. 



At present I'm doubtful whether any on(! 

 knows for certain what is the best width for a 

 section. I have changed once, and may change 

 again. The section-holders will take just one 

 width of section, while my T supers will be all 

 right for any possible width. 



My preference for the T super is emphatic, 

 but I'm ready to change for something better. 



I may find it within a year, but I am not trying 

 to invent it. 



Marengo, 111. 



[As you say. Doctor, we don't agree with you. 

 As you have been fair enough to state our ar- 

 guments it will not be necessary for us to re- 

 state them We give our customers the option 

 between the two kinds of supers so they can 

 take their choice. — Ed.] 



FOR WIDER AND TIIICKKR BARS. 



I am with Dr. Miller on brood-frames. I 

 should like them wider than you now make 

 them, and deeper — i. e., % deep at the out edges, 

 or 1 in. would be better yet. Bees are not so 

 liable to build brace-combs when the frames 

 are % or 1 in. deep at the out edges; and when 

 they don't build brace-combs they won't build 

 burr-combs. With proper bee-space above the 

 rrames, the end-bars and bottom-bars are good 

 enough I think. You might narrow the ends 

 of the Hoffman top-bar a little, and then the 

 end-bars would not be so liable to split, and be 

 better to catch hold of, as one suggested some 

 time back— J. A. Scudder, I believe — but he 

 wants a thin top-bar, and I don't. I'll stoutly 

 stand up for 1 in. or Ji at least, clear to the out 

 edges of the frames. A. T. McKibbex. 



Morrill, Minn., Dec. 1.5, 1893. 



PREVENTION OF ROBBING. 



Qi/est'io?i.— Nearly every year I have trouble 

 with the bees robbing in early spring. Either 

 my own bees rob each other, or the bees of my 

 neighbors rob mine, or both. What is the best 

 method to prevent bees from robbing? I have 

 tried smoking them every two or three hours, 

 but it does no good. 



Ansivcr,—m\w first thing to be done byway 

 of preventing robbing is to take every precau- 

 tion against the possibilUu of robbing occur- 

 ring. Here is where the beginner is the most 

 liable to err. Entrances to weak colonies are 

 often left open full width, hives opened in the 

 middle of warm days, or honey left scattered 

 about in such a manner as to entice the bees to 

 rob, rather than to use methods to restrict the 

 natural propensities of bees to rob each other. 

 A man once came to me with the complaint that 

 his neighbors' bees were robbing his, and wish- 

 ed I would go and see that neighbor and see if 

 he would not shut up his bees before they 

 "cleaned his entirely out." I told him I guess- 

 ed I would go home with him and see how 

 things were there before I went to the neighbor. 

 On arriving there I found his one hive set up on 

 half-inch blocks all around from the bottom- 

 board, while in a dish a few feet from the hive 



