April 18, 1907 



American liee Journal 



have used these separators, but I suspect not, 

 for unless the perforations are narrower you 

 will be pretty sure to have sections with 

 ridgy surfaces. I do not believe you could 

 secure a patent, for the same thin;; has been 

 in use before. Wood separators are sold for 

 much loss than you mention, but I think they 

 are sliced, and not sawed. 



I do not quite understand why you say, 

 *' As I use the T-super I can not use slat sep- 

 arators with beeway sections." I do not un- 

 derstand why any separator can not be used 

 in a T-super, nor any section. Of course a 

 fence separator will not work the very best 

 with bee-way sections, but the two will work 

 together just as well in a T-super as any- 

 where else. I have used in a T-super fences 

 and separators of different kinds, also plain 

 sections and bee-way sections of different 

 sires, and if you will explain a little more 

 fully what you mean, perhaps I can show you 

 the way out. 



Two Queens In a Colony 



At one of the bee-exhibitions held at 

 Vienna, a discovery was made which perhaps 

 will change the opinion held on queens living 

 together. Before this it was thought an in- 

 contestable fact that every bee-family obeys 

 one queen, and that it was never possible that 

 the mastery could be divided. This opinion 

 can not be maintained after Prof. Gatter von 

 Simmering exhibited a bee-hive whose popu- 

 lation was governed by 2 queens, and which 

 seemed to enjoy the innovation. And what 

 is more remarkable, the 2 sovereigns lived to- 

 gether quite peaceably, and without ever get- 

 ting hostile. There was never a sign of 

 grudge, jealousy, or any attempts to get rid 

 of a disagreeable rival; but, on the contrary, 

 the 2 queens seemed to feel a really reciprocal 

 inclination. They came together from time 

 to time caressing, and separated tranquil and 

 peaceable, followed by their devoted subjects. 

 — Translated by HcGO Barth, of Washington. 



Answer. — While in general only one queen 

 is to be found in a hive, it is not at all an un- 

 common thing, at the time when an old queen 

 is superseded, to find at least for a short time 

 mother and daughter living peaceably to- 

 gether. Indeed, this may be the rule rather 

 than the exception ; only hives do not happen 

 to be opened a great deal at the usual time of 

 superseding, which is at or near the close of 

 the harvest. If the case in question was that 

 of mother and daughter, it is only what may 

 be found in the fall in almost any apiary. If 

 the 2 queens were not mother and daughter, 

 then tne case is rare. In my own experience 

 I never had but one such case. 



Wiring Frames and Fastening Comb 

 Foundation 



1. I engaged in bee-keeping 2 years ago, 

 and now have 25 colonies wintering in the 

 cellar. I hope to double this number the 

 coming summer, and have contracted for the 

 IV^-story dovetailed hives for new swarms. I 

 shall work for extracted honey from these 

 hives exclusively, and have thought to use 

 full sheets of comb foundation in both brood- 

 chamber and supers. Not knowing the depth 

 of the brood-frames in the ordinary dovetailed 

 hives, I wish to know if I can procure comb 

 foundation eufflciently wide to fill the frames 

 above mentioned. Also, is it best to wire 

 said frames? If so, how many wires would 

 be necessary i 



3. Describe briefly how the wires are put on 

 the frames and fastened. 



3. How close to the bottom-bar should the 

 foundation come? and is it necessary to fasten 

 the foundation to the end-bars of the frame? 

 What instrument is best for the purpose? 



Iowa. 



Answers. — 1. Yes, comb foundation of 

 that size is kept regularly in stock, and by 

 ordering in advance you can have foundation 

 cut any special size. 



Yes, unless the foundation is heavier 



than is prolltabll^ It should be supported 

 either by wires or foundation splints. For 

 the deep frames 4 horizontal wires are used ; 

 and 2 for shallow frames. 



2. You will probably find the end-bars of 

 the frames pierced for wiring when you pur- 

 chase them. Kind out how long a wire will 

 be necessary for each frame, and then figure 

 on having your wire cut a little longer than 

 necessary. Suppose you want to cut the wire 



7 feet long. Cut it board half that length, 3,',, 

 feet, and wind the wire upon it. Then with 

 wire or string tie around the wires every (> or 



8 inches, to keep it from snarling; and at the 

 same time tie around the board so that the lot 

 of wire will stay upon the board till all used 

 up. Now cut the wires at one end of the 

 board, and you can take hold of each wire at 

 the other end and draw it out as wanted. 

 Now run one end of a wire from the outside 

 through the hole next to a top hole in one 

 end-bar, then straight through the corres- 

 ponding hole in the other end-bar, then back 

 through the top hole of this last end-bar, 

 then through the top hole of the other end- 

 bar, and fasten the end by giving it a turn or 

 two about a small nail driven partly in, and 

 then drive the nail fully in. You will now 

 see your way clearly to working downward 

 with the other end, and fastening it in the 

 same manner. Make a board that will just St 

 inside the frame, put cleats on the edges so 

 the frame will be supported with the wires 

 just resting on the board, lay the foundation 



• on the board and the wires on top of it, push- 

 ing the foundation into the saw-kerf of the 

 top bar as you lay down the frame; run the 

 wire-imbedder over the wires with sufficient 

 pressure to imbed them, then lift off the 

 frame and crowd the wedge into the top-bar 

 good and deep. 



3. Leave .^4 inch between foundation and 

 bottom-bar. With foundation splints the 

 foundation comes clear down, but as you 

 have not Miller frames, you can not well use 

 them. There is perhaps no better tool for 

 imbedding than the spur wire-imbedder. 



T-Supers and Cleaning Sections 



I have been very much interested in those 

 discussions In the American Bee Journal 

 about cleaning sections. I have been keep- 

 ing bees in modern hives 7 years, and have 

 now run my apiary up to nearly 100 colonies, 

 and run mostly for comb honey. I have your 

 " Forty Yearg Among the Bees." and read 

 and studied it quite carefully in connection 

 with a number of others, and all the bee- 

 papers. I am using the Danzenbaker, Lang- 

 stroth and Ideal super, and 10-frame hives. I 

 adopted the plain section on account of the 

 style and the close packing for market, and 

 because they take less wood and are simpler 

 and easier to make if 1 take a notion to make 

 them, and a little cheaper when I buy theiu. 

 But it is a hard proposition to decide whether 

 I like the Danzenbaker better than the Ideal. 



I have also been very much interested in 

 your T-super, and I think I shall try it next 

 summer, to see how I can make it work with 

 my kind of section. 



I noticed in one of your discussions, in re- 

 plying to ''Colorado," regarding the pio- 

 digious speed in which you get your sections 

 scraped and cleaned, you seemed to place 

 great stress on the T-super for a short cut. I 

 fail to see the point. If I understand your 

 " Forty Years," your sections are all out of 

 the super before any attempt is made to clean 

 them. Then how can the super have any- 

 thing to do with the speed at cleaning? Of 

 course, I note that you say you take your 

 sections out in bulk, but my sections will also 

 come out in bulk from the Langstroth and 

 Ideal supers, and I imagine the slats would be 

 about as easily lifted oil as theT-tins; and I 

 can not see why the fences won't come out as 

 easily as your plain sawed separators, though 

 I must confess it generally takes a good, stout 

 knife all the way through to disengage the 

 pieces, as they are so everlastingly glued to- 

 gether with propolis. I very seldom take 

 them out in bulk, bat one row at a time, and 



it is geuerally done right oat In the yard and 

 among the bees. I juettlpup a Lanfitroth 

 super on one side, or an Ideal super on one 

 end, as the case may be, right on the hive 

 where It was tilled, with bees and all In It, 

 and with my right hand on the bottom of a 

 slat, and my left hand on the top of an ad- 

 joining section and super-body, I work my 

 lingers among the bees until I get good bear- 

 ings, and begin pushing until one row of sec- 

 tions comes out. I then shake off the bees 

 and set that row on top of a near-by hive, 

 and with a knife I loosen another row and 

 take it out, and so on until I get a load to 

 carry in the house. I have found this the 

 most practical way I have ever tried for the 

 bulk of my crop. Sometimes, when bees are 

 cross, or robber-bees are bad, I have to smoke 

 the bees down and run inside fortifications 

 with the super to do the work, but these ars 

 exceptional cases. 



But to get back to the point: You say 

 your honey comes out of the super in bulk. 

 Well, I suppose all bee-keepers bulk their 

 honey when it is taken out, anyway. What I 

 want to know is, how the T-super makes any 

 short cut at cleaning. My honey (what I 

 have left of it) is now bulked on a long bench 

 made by laying some 16-foot barn-boards on 

 hive-bodies, and I can pick up 8, 10 or 15 at a 

 time by simply griping two outside sections 

 in a row and pressing the others between like 

 a printer does a form of type. I could set « 

 number of them on a cleaning board in a 

 jifly, and throw a clamp around them and 

 wedge them up as you say " Philo " does, but 

 I can't see where the T-super part comes in 

 to help me out in the matter. 



My sections are protected on the bottom 

 and sides, and the top is nearly always the 

 hard part to clean. Now, I can not see how 

 it will better the case to give the bees a 

 chance to gob up the bottom. Nevertlielees, 

 I think what you say must have something in 

 it, and I desire to test the matter the best I 

 can, and I want all the light I can get before- 

 hand. And now we go for the questions: 



1. In what particular way does the T-super 

 assist at cleaning sections ! 



2. Do you think your methods of manipu- 

 lating T-supers would work as nicely with 

 plain sections and fences as with bee-way sec- 

 tions and sawed separators? 



3. Did you ever try the all-metal separators 

 made of woven wire? If so, what was your 

 experience with them? 



4. Do you think it would be easier to push 

 the super full of sections out of a T-super 

 than it would a Langstroth super, or an Ideal 

 super with slats? 



5. Do you think it much easier to lift out 

 the T-tins than it would be to lift off the 

 slats? 



6. Do you think it easier to lift out the 

 sawed separators then the fences? 



7. Do you not think plain sections would 

 scrape much nicer in a clamp than the bee- 

 way section, there being no chance for propo- 

 lis to drop down between the sections? 



8. How do you keep bits of propolis from 

 flying against the faces of sections and stick- 

 ing there, anyway while cleaning 2000 a day 

 in that dexterous fashion? 



9. How do you keep your scraper clean? 

 I have always practised cleaning one section 

 at a. time with a knife; the latest is a butcher- 

 knife, and I find a very few strokes clog it 

 up so the edge is of no service, and so I de- 

 vised a damp cloth to wipe it on. Sometimes 

 it has to be wiped several times while clean- 

 ing a section, and the cloth fills up with 

 propolis. I used to wipe it on my apron, 

 which consisted of an old cotton wheat-sack 

 ripped up and arm-holes cut in it, until I got 

 a good portion of it well veneered with bee- 

 glue, and I got tired of that. The knife clogs 

 especially quick when a little honey has run 

 out and stands on the wood with the propolis. 



10. When cleaning sections, how do you 

 manage the parts that are gummed with 

 honey as well as with bee-glue? 



11. Well, you can supply this question, as 

 I think I have gone far enough; but I will 

 add that I think I am getting a little above 

 the average with the butcher-knife. I can 

 beat "Colorado." I can clean 200 a day all 



