18S6 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



551 



The cut will, I think, make tlic principle plain. 

 To reverse, the corner is slipped ofif, and is then re- 

 volved to the other corner, where it is slipped iiito 

 place. 



I must say, from my experience I am grreatly 

 pleased with the reversing: principle. We hav'c se- 

 cured by it some as line combs as I ever saw, the 

 frames beins" tilled out solid from bottom-bar to 

 tojvbar. Even with wired frames the bees will 

 scarcely ever build the comb plump against the 

 bottom-bar. Near the lower end of the comb the 

 bees are apt to g-naw around the wires. Frames 

 of this description have been reversed, and the 

 combs then completely flilcd out in a day or so. If 

 we continue to like thi.:i reversing' principle, we 

 shall use it entirely in the apiary. We already have 

 quite a number in use. From the experience I have 

 had 1 do not think I should like to reverse the 

 whole hive; i. e., all the frames at once. On exam- 

 ining- into a number of hives, 1 saw some combs 

 which needed reversing-, when, to reverse others in 

 the same hive, would only result in harm— at least, 

 so it seems to me. To reverse the frames singly is 

 not a very long operation. 



I should still advise the friends who have had no 

 experience with them not to put too many revers- 

 ing frames in the apiary at once. Although many 

 like them at present, we niay all decide adversely 

 to them in time. 



C.VI!NIf)L,ANS STILL LAGGING. 



These bees are not doing much better. Although 

 by all odds the strongest colony in the apiary, 

 they have no more honey in their hive than ordina- 

 ry Italian nuclei. Two of the frames of foundation 

 which I told you about last issue have not yet been 

 pulled out. Such a strong colony, in the space of 

 two weeks, during the honey-How, ought to have 

 had the fdn. drawn out long before this. I will 

 say to Dr. Morrison, that the bees in question ai"e 

 from a Carniolan queen which Benton called " very 

 line." There aro only a few Italians among them. 

 As wc have been expecting them to swarm, we have 

 attached to the entrance one of the Alley traps, 

 both to catch the queen in case the swarm issues, 

 and to catch all the drones, as wc do not wish to 

 have any of their blood in our apiary. 



This morning the apiarist found a young- virgin 

 queen trying to pass the trap attached to the Carni- 

 olan swarm. She made rei)eated attempts U) get 

 through, but without success. The apiarist then 

 took her away after the bees had balled her. This 

 shows that even young (jueens can not pass the zinc, 

 so that there is no doubt, when the Carniolan queen 

 comes forth with the swarm, she will find that she 

 is "left." 



HUUUAH fOIl THK At, LEV TllAP. 



I/re(c(-.— This afterncjon, at a quarter before four, 

 while in the apiary I saw a big swarm in the air. Go- 

 ing directly to the Carniolan swarm I found the 

 bees pouring out of this hi\'e through the trap. 

 Yes, sure enough, there was the queen in the upper 

 apartment, where she had passed through the cone 

 when she found her.-telf unable to pass the perforat- 

 ed metal. The bees circled around in the air for 

 about five minutes, when, finding their queen ab- 

 sent, they poured back into the liivc through the trap 

 amazingly (jiiick. I l.ad nothing to do but to watch 

 them. It works about the same as clipping the 

 queen's wings, with the e.vception that you do not 

 have to hujit for Ilie <|uceu. The trap is automatic, 

 and i,i, no doubt, a great saying of labor. If J had 



wished to imt the swarm in another hive, all I 

 shou Id have had to do would have been to detach the 

 trap iTom the hive and suspend it in the air. The 

 bees would soon have clustered around their caged 

 queen, and I could have put them wherever I 

 pleased. 



I would say, that we do not ordinarily allow 

 swarming; Init I had made the conditions favora- 

 ble for the issue of this swarm for the express pur- 

 pose of testing the trap. This invention of Mr. 

 Alley's will prove a great boon to those who have 

 apiaries located in different places, and where they 

 have to hire expensive help to take care of the 

 swarming. Ernest. 



Gleanincs in Bee Culture, 



Published Scuii-^foiitli I;/. 



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MH. THOMAS HOUN AND IIlS BUSINESS. 



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Sherburne, N Y., June 29, ISSIi. 



SECRET SOCIETIES. 



Without in-esuming to dictate, I feel it never- 

 theless my duty to say that, when my advice is 

 asked, I do not hesitate to reply that I can not see 

 any need at present of secret socioticf of atiy kind. 

 Especially docs it seem to me that one who profess- 

 es to bo a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ has no 

 need of secrecy in this way. Jesus taught openly. 

 I am well aware that many profjesoi-s of religion 

 aro members of secret societies of different kinds. 

 I know, also, that our young i)eople, many of them, 

 arc members of secret societies that claim to have 

 as their end and aim the furthering of the kingdom 

 of God ; but for all that, I feel a little sad and a little 

 afraid whc'i I hear that any young friend of mine 

 has become a member of any of these Our prayer- 

 meetings aro not ojily open and free to all, but every 

 tru(j Christian is always glad to welcome the pres- 



