1894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



421 



ANOTHER COMB-LEVELER. 



I inclose a sketch of what I call a comb- 

 leveler for comb in sections. The following is 

 a description. The bar A is a i.<-inch bar of 



iron, square, and .t inches long. B is a piece of 

 steel fastened to the bar A. The operation is 

 as follows: The implement is warmed on a 

 stove, or by other means. It is then handled 

 by the handle C; the steel B, being warm, and 

 placed in the section, cuts oflf the required 

 amount of comb from each side of the section. 

 Cyrus C. Aldrich. 

 Morristown, Minn., March 19. 



[We see no reason why this device should not 

 work. It is simple and cheap, and can be 

 easily tested. Whether the idea itself of level- 

 ing combs down in sections so as to get better 

 section honey belongs to Mr. B. Taylor, we can 

 not say.— Ed!] 



WHAT IS HONEY -DEW? 



In an article in Bieiien-Vater, Jul. Steigel 

 insists on a clear discrimination between plant- 

 louse honey and honey-dew. Not only that, 

 but he insists that there is no such thing as 

 plant-louse honey gathered by the bees. Close 

 observation will show that, where plant-lice 

 are at their w'ork, wasps or other insects may 

 be in attendance, but never bees. Bark lice, or 

 scale lice, are a different thing. The result of 

 their work is an entirely different product. Lo- 

 cated, not on the leaves, but on the twigs and 

 tender bark, the scale lice cause the sap to run, 

 far beyond their ability to consume it, and, 

 once started, it continues to run for weeks. 

 This the bees gather, and there is nothing re- 

 pulsive about it. any more than there is about 

 the sap gathered from maple-trees. At times 

 it is a great benefit to the bees, the main draw- 

 back being that such honey is not good to win- 



ter on. If I remember rightly, I'rof. Cook told 

 us something about the two kinds at onetime, 

 but I don't remember to have ever seen the 

 statement that bees never gather the exuda- 

 tions of the aphis. If Mr. Steigel is correct, it 

 is well to have the fact known. 

 Marengo, 111. C. C. Mim,er. 



[The idea that scale lice do not secrete them- 

 selves, but cause the twigs to secrete, what we 

 sometimes call honey-dew. is a new idea. We 

 hope it is correct; for if so we can stomach the 

 product a little better. Will Prof. Cook please 

 let us hear from him on this point'?— Ed.] 



A plea for shorter apicui.tural terms. 



Friend Root:— Yon " prefer catalog to cata- 

 logue, and program to programme." That is 

 good common sense; so it seems to me, at least. 

 Now why not say "floor" for bottom-board, 

 and "queen-bar " for "queen-excluder." Just 

 try queen-bar one week in your apiary, in the 

 busy season, and I am pretty sure you will not 

 backslide to "excluder." Bar is short, and 

 easier, and expresses exactly what you want to 

 say; and the same remarks will apply to floor 

 instead of bottom-board. S. T. Pettit. 



Belmont, Ont., Can., April 10. 



[Yes. we are with you on the use of all kinds 

 of short cuts; but when it comes to the matter 

 of changing old terms to something better and 

 more accurate, that is another question. We 

 have tried to change names to our sorrow. But 

 we have been partially successful with one; 

 viz.. " bee paralysis" instead of "nameless bee 

 disease;" but even now we notice in some of 

 our exchanges that the old name is still float- 

 ing, and that many of our correspondents, in 

 writing to us, still hang to the old nameless 

 name. Of course, we substitute the new name. 

 —Ed.] 



a proposed non-swarmer. 



The past two seasons I "used a device that has 

 seemed to work well; but as the past season 

 was a very poor one it is hard to judge of its 

 merits; but I should like your opinion of the 

 plan, which is this: 



I bore an inch hole in the front of the hi-ves. 

 just above the entrance (which hole is corked 

 up until the first swarm issues). I then catch 

 and cage the queen (my queens are all clipped), 

 and place the new hive on top of the old one, 

 placing a false front on the old hive, with a 

 strip along the back that closes the entrance to 

 the old hive, and a wire cone bee-escape that 

 goes through into the old hive at the inch hole 

 mentioned. I have a slit 3 inches long and ,?^ 

 wide up through the bottom -board of the new 

 hive. As soon as the swarms commence to re- 

 turn they alight at the old entrance and follow 

 up between the front of the hive and the false 

 front, up into the new hive. I turn the queen 

 in with them, and they are speedily at work in 

 their new home, with all the field-bees joined 

 wiih them; and all the bees that come out of 

 the old hive, so long as the device remains on, 

 are added to the new swarm, while the old hive 

 is so reduced in strength by the time the first 



