1894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



331 



ture arising from the bees condenses in drops 

 on tlui cloth; and when these drops become so 

 large that they fail to hold to the cloth they 

 drop down on the bees, thus keeping them 

 damp, and in a condition not suitable to their 

 wintering in the most perfect order. Enameled 

 cloth for bee-quilts would never have been 

 thought of, in my opinion, were it not for its 

 non-sticl\ing cliaracter — that is, a sheet of 

 enameled cloth will not be glued down by the 

 bees so but that it readily cleaves from the top 

 of the hive by a little lifting by one corner. 

 This makes it desirable where a hive is to be 

 opened often, as in the case of queen rearing or 

 an experimental hive. 



HONEY FROM THE NEW OPIUM TL ANT. 



Mr. Root: — From a recent number of the Oil 



City (Pa.) Derrick I take the following: 



The increased cultivation of the poppy in various 

 parts of Europe bus, it is said, led to a m;irked 

 jcrowtli ill tlie percentagre of opium contained in 

 boney, the properties of wliioli are much influenced 

 1 y tli'e HowtTs from which the bees gather it. 



Now, what I should like to ask is: Do bees 

 work on the poppy ? or is the above simply a 

 newspaper " yarn '"? If the bees do work on 

 the poppy, would the honey therefrom contain 

 enough opium so that a person would notice 

 the effects of it, after eating the honey ? 



Corry, Pa., Mar. 1. L. B. Gilmore. 



[Will some of our foreign readers please give 

 us the desired information? — Ed. J 



TOP-BAR \}y INCHES WIDE. 



One season's use of ten Tinker hives with 

 top-bars W wide, % thick, has satisfied me 

 that I don't want any more narrow top-bars in 

 my apiary, as well as honey- boards (the latter 

 I have never used). Judging from one season's 

 use, I don't think the queen will lay as well in 

 these shallow hives. What a pleasure to lift 

 the honey from above these wide top-bars! no 

 brace or burr combs to any extent, and in many 

 none at all. 



PASTE FOH I.ABELS. 



I use ordinary flour paste, boiled thick, and 

 have no trouble, pioviding the labels are not 

 put on when the pails are cold enough to chill 

 Ihe paste. O. II. Hyatt. 



Shenandoah, la. 



THOSE (ilVEN PItKSSES. 



When you get to making those (Jiven presses, 

 here's an order awaiting you. (^uote me your 

 figures at the earliest day. I have used in my 

 own yards something over 500 lbs. of founda- 

 tion of different makes during the last three 

 years, and I know something of what I need. 



Dadant's is excellent, but the press is just a 

 trille the best, in my opinion. When you get 

 to making press(!s, be sure to get cells right side 

 up for strength. I have had foundation that 

 was wrong side up. There's a right and wrong 

 way, though no doubt you know this. 

 tJlenvvood, Kla., Feb. 12. A. F. Brown. 



[The Given-{)ress problem is a more dil'licult 

 one than we at lirst supposed. We are not sat- 

 isfied with tlie old dies— they are too crude to 

 make a leally nice article of foundation— one 

 that is pleasing to the eye. W(i have made an 

 extra set of new dies, but with no better effects. 

 Thus far our (ixperiraents show that, so far as 

 (ippeorimce is concerned, the roller foundation 

 is far superior. The Given sheets look clumsy, 

 and do not give that nice clear transparenli 

 effect that can be obtained from the rolls. — Ed.] 



THE USE OF VASELINE IN APICULTURE. 



Who has not been annoyed by the bees stick- 

 ing frames together? Who has not been greet- 

 ed with a hailstorm of stings when, on taking 

 a frame from the hive with increasing vigor, it 

 suddenly breaks loose with a snap? It is fortu- 

 nate for every beekeeper who uses movable 

 frames that do not have to be cut to a thirty- 

 second of an inch, and which do not have to be 

 absolutely perfect. Well, Dr. Dubini lias dis- 

 covered a means whereby the propolizing of 

 bars and frames, if not entirely done away 

 with, is so greatly reduced that frames can be 

 put in and taken out in such a way as to spare 

 the bees themselves much annoyance, and also 

 their owners from being stung. This remedy is 

 yellow vaseline, which is applied to the grooves 

 and bars, and different points of contact, with 

 a small brush. It is an extremely cheap sub- 

 stance, and therefore within the reach of all. 

 Dr. Dubini uses it in his hives for the curpose 

 of preventing the top-bars from being fastened 

 to the under side of the cover. Vaseline works 

 to the best advantage when applied to metal 

 strips, or tin rabbets or frame-ends, which es- 

 pecially, when well cleaned, and smeared with 

 vaseline, admit of easy insertion or removal. 



Medina, O., Mar. 29. Karl R. Mathey. 



[We have several times referred to the use of 

 vaseline or greas(! as a preventive, to a large 

 extent, of the deposition of propolis. We are 

 sorry we can not speak from experience; but 

 several have wii,iiin the past few years spoken 

 liighly of it. \\ bether Dr. Dubini is the origi- 

 nal discoverer of its use is doubtful.— Ed.] 



A CASE OF FOUL BROOD IN FRANCE. 



M. Sevalle, editor of the French bee-journal 

 L'Ainrulteur, reports an interesting case of 

 the cure of foul brood. The afflicted colony was 

 found to be queenless, although still having 

 sealed brood in four of its ten frames, the 

 brood being completely diseased. May 2 the 

 combs were taken out. the brood entirely cut 

 out, and the combs replaced. The amount of 

 bees was about 134 lb-. Napthaline was placed 

 on the floor and on the frames. Two weeks 

 later the population was sensibly diminished; 



