550 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



0a^ 0WN ^nnm. 



DOOLITTLE'S PLAN OF FORMING NUCLEI, AS TRIED 

 AT OUR APIARY. 



■T^VER since Mr. Doolittle gave his plan of form- 

 "Pl ing' nuclei (p. ;?()4, last yeai-, and p. 401, cui-- 

 IP] * rent volume), I have had a great curiosity to 

 ■^" know whether it would work successfully 

 here. As our apiarists have been practicing 

 artiflcial swarming-, I told one of the boys to try 

 Doolittle's i)lan, and I determined to put it severe- 

 ly to the test. I accordingly instructed him to take 

 six different frames, with adhering bees, from as 

 many different colonies, being careful that the 

 queen was not on any of said frames. These in ro- 

 tation, as fast as taken from the hives, were shaken 

 over the tunnel, precipitating the bees into one of 

 our I'/i-lb. shipping Avire-cloth cages. Au effort was 

 made to shako all the ragged-winged old bees into 

 the cage, taking advantage of the fact that young 

 bees adhere more closely to the combs. When the 

 cage was filled it contained about a quarter of a 

 pound of bees from six different colonies, making, 

 by actual weight, a pound and a half of bees, a 

 large part of which were old ragged-winged fellows. 

 Among these were dropped a queen from a seventh 

 colony, so that we had seven colonies represented 

 in this cage of bees. Wo would naturally expect 

 that these bees would be apt to quarrel— at any 

 rate, kill the queen. According to directions, the 

 bees wei'c jumbled up considerably, and then 

 placed in a cool dark place over night, to become 

 acquainted with each other. Next morning they 

 were put in a hive where pi-eviously had been put 

 a frame of unsealed larvae and a frame of honey, 

 and two or three empty combs. I watched the bees 

 narrowly, to see whether any would return to their 

 old stands. At noon of the same day, on examining 

 the hive 1 concluded that most of the bees were 

 still there; but I failed to see many of the old rag- 

 ged-winged bees. I then coucluded that they had 

 gone to their old locations. 



At T P.M., on looking into said colony, I was grati- 

 fied and surprised to find that those same old rag- 

 ged-winged bees were all there, they having evi- 

 dently at noon been out foraging, and at night were 

 at home. Yes, those ragged-winged old fellows 

 were scattered all through the hive, and the queen 

 was in the center of a ring of bees,«unharmed. 



Now, if, by the ordinary way, those six frames of 

 bees had been put directly together in some one hive, 

 the old ragged wings would all have returned to 

 their old locations. Isn't that so, friend D.? Besides, 

 if the queen had been dropped right among them, 

 as she was in the cage, she probably would have 

 been killed. T don't know whether or not friend 

 Doolittlo has tried forming an artiflcial swarm from 

 so many different colonies, but I felt sure that if it 

 would stand this test, his plan ought to work suc- 

 cessfully, as ordinarily practiced by him. I am 

 aware that it involves considerable labor; but the 

 point is, if I understand correctly, to make all the 

 bees stay at their new location, and perform, as 

 nearly as possible, the functions of a natural 

 Bwarm. 



Of course, I would not say that, because this one 

 instance has proved successful, therefore the plan 

 will always work. We shall try it again, and will 

 report later. Well, suppose it will work success- 

 fully every time, will the consequent labor involved 



pay you for youi' trouble ? This you will have to 

 settle for yourselves. Mr. Doolittle has practiced it 

 for a couple of years back, and I believe he still 

 considers it the most economical way of forming 

 nuclei or strengthening weak colonies. Mr. Fowls, 

 of Oberlin, O., said he had met with good success by 

 it, and thought it one of the valuable "kinks" to 

 the trade. 



WHAT FUEL IS BEST FOR SMOKERS ? THE FUEL 



THAT WE NOW PREFER AT THE HOME 



OF THE HONEY-BEES. 



Among some of the practical ideas in Mr. Hed- 

 don's "Success in Ree Culture" we find planer 

 shavings mentioned by " my friend," and recom- 

 mended by Mr. Heddon as being the best fuel for 

 smokers. The boys tried this fuel, prepared in the 

 way described; but while they met with fair suc- 

 cess, the shavings burned out too quickly, and 

 sometimes went out altogether. No doubt, with the 

 Bingham smoker, this fuel will do all that is claimed 

 by Mr. Heddon; but with the Clark, the modus oper- 

 andi, by reason of the difference in draft, has to be 

 varied somewhat. 



HOW TO MAKE THE CLARK SMOKER RUN FROM 

 FOUR TO SEVEN HOURS IN THE API- 

 ARY WITHOUT REFILLING. 



One of the boys then substituted, in place of the 

 shavings, fine basswood sawdust; and, strange as it 

 may seem, it gave excellent satisfaction, burning 

 for a great length of time, and sending out a vol- 

 ume of smoke. The manner of filling is simply to 

 put a few live coals over the grate (holding the noz- 

 zle downward), and then filling the fire-box level 

 full with the fine basswood sawdust, such as comes 

 from sawing sections. The smoker, as thus loaded, 

 will last from four to seven hours, depending upon 

 the amount of wind blowing. If the air is still, and 

 the smoker is filled just right, it may be expected to 

 run for aSlong time without refilling. We much 

 prefer basswood sawdust to pine, as the latter is too 

 apt to fill up the tube with tar. I suppose any hard- 

 wood sawdust will answer as well as the basswood. 



The secret of the sawdust lasting so long rests in 

 the fact that sawdust will smoulder for a great 

 length of time, without going out. When our hon- 

 ey-house caught fire, something over a dozen yeai'S 

 ago, we discovered that the fire originated from the 

 sawdust packing holding fire for a whole day and 

 night, and I believe other flres have been traceable 

 to the same cause. 



THE SIMPLICITY REVERSIBLE FRAMES. 



We have tried a number of these frames, with 

 excellent satisfaction. They reverse surprisingly 

 easy, even when covered with propolis; and for gen- 

 eral handling, the boys like them much better than 

 the knife-edge metal corners. To hold a frame filled 

 with honey by these metal corners, is sometimes a 

 little uncomfortable toUhe fingers. These reversi- 

 ble wire corners are easy on the fingers, and at the 

 same time possess all the good features of the old 

 metal corners. For the benefit of our readers who 

 may wish to see it, I here reproduce it. 



THE SIMPLICITY REVERSIBLE FRAME. 



