188(3 



Gleanings in bee cultuiie. 



689 



I would not have you think that 1 write thus sim- 

 ply for argument's sake; but I believe in this: "If 

 you don't talk you won't sny any thinj?;" and 1 

 would say, " If you don't read or write in bee-jour- 

 nals you won't learn much about any thing-"— at 

 least, in this line. Ciias. H. Smith. 



Pittsfleld, Mass., Aug-., IS.'^fi. 



Friend S., your sus.irpstion. tli.it tlie bees 

 consume lioney while in the fields, for stor- 

 ing wax, is an important one. I do not now 

 remember that I ever saw wax scales on a 

 bee while at work in the lields ; but perhaps 

 it is because I was never on the watch for 

 them. I confess I do not see how we can 

 get at the matter with much accuracy while 

 the bees are allowed to lly ; and it niay also 

 be true that we can not get much accuracy 

 where they are nol allowed to lly. If so. how 

 shall we decide on this important questionV 



SALT FOR BEES. 



FOSTER'S OPEN-SIDE SECTION. 



fN page 503 are two references to my arti cle on 

 salt for bees, as given on page 178. In reply 

 to the first I will say that I have heard that 

 stock that graze near tide-water do not need 

 salt as do those that graze further inland; 

 and if so, it may be the same with bees. 



In regard to the second, I can say that, while I 

 have not seen bees " shoulder a lump of salt," I 

 have seen them suckins' the damp earth just be- 

 low a deposit of salt on the points and edges of 

 earth, as refen-ed to in my article on page ViS. This, 

 I think, proves nlmost concUisively that it is a strong 

 solution of salt they are after. 



SECTIONS OPEN ON ALL SIDES. 



I was very much interested in the Book Review, 

 wherein was mentioned Foster's open-side sections 

 (see page 483). Ever since I became acquainted 

 with the open-end section I have felt that it was 

 " the thing;" but in practice I met with diflicultics. 

 It seemed to be intended to be used without separa- 

 tors, and, in consequence, with sections both wide 

 and narrow, I had bulged coral>, so I have attempt- 

 ed to devise a separator that could be used with 

 open-end sections, and here it is. 



I I I 



TIN SEPAHATOK, EXPRESSLY FOR USE IN SECTIONS 

 WITH OPENINGS ALL HOUND. 



The slots are intended to match with the edges of 

 the sections, and will enable tho bees to have the 

 same free communication that they would have 

 without them. I think the slots in the separators 

 should be about ^i inch wide, and in the sections 

 somewhat narrower than you make them. Further, 

 I would not fasten the separators to the wide 

 frames, l)Ut hang them from the top-bai-; (hen, by 

 detaching them, the liees can he lirushed from V>oth 

 Bides of the sections instantly. W. H. Chker. 



Paris, Tenn., July lit, 1880. 



The separator ligure above lias been many 

 times suggested, and the same, or some- 

 thing quite similar, is in use by different 

 parties. The principal objection is the ex- 

 pense of manufacturing such a separator. 



DESTRUCTION" OF QUEEN- CELLS BY 

 INVERTING THE BROOD-COMBS. 



FRIEND SHUCK GIVES US SOME ADDITIONAL FACTS 

 IN REGARD TO THE MATTER. 



§0 far as I know, my statement of the fact as to 

 the destruction of queen-cells from their in- 

 version was the first made. I Have found, ill 

 not less than 150 trials, that the cell, if so far 

 built as to turn downward, will be torn down 

 and destroyed by thf' l)ces, if inverted at that time. 

 Also, it will be thus destroyed if inverted at any 

 time from the turning downward of the cell to the 

 final sealing of the same. If inverted after sealing, 

 to within two or three days that the queen is due, 

 the cell shrivels up, sinks into itself, as it were, and 

 is treated precisely as a cell from which the queen 

 has failed to emerge; tliat is, sometimes it is torn 

 down and sometimes is allowed to remain. In this 

 latter case the young queen seems to have been de- 

 stroyed by inversion: in tlie former oases it would 

 seem that the cells and larviv ai-e destroyed by the 

 bees liecause they have been inverted. I have 

 found no practical use for the discovery. 



It has been suggested, that, when a colony 

 swarms, the parent hive might be inverted, and a 

 new queen run in. This plan would succeed in a 

 majority of cases; but should queen-cells be de- 

 stroyed in this wholesale way? I think not. Hatli- 

 er sa^'e the queen-cells in some suitable way, and 

 then inti-oduce the queen". 



Mr. Kretchmer's statement (see p. 051) as to " hor- 

 izontal " queen-cells is hardly to the point. Sudi a 

 cell can be inverted only by turning the comb upon 

 its side. None of us are yet reckless enough to try 

 this experiment. Our friend speaks truly when he 

 says, that " many other profitable manipulations 

 can be accomplished without inverting, and that is 

 alternatiml." So can they with invertitile frames; 

 but the consumption of time is against tlie two lat- 

 ter, and in favor of the former. A hive can be in- 

 verted in less time tlian two chambers can be alter- 

 nated, or the frames handled separately. 



Mr. Pond pays his respects to inversion, but 

 doesn't tell ((// the truth. Inversion does place the 

 brood above the stored honey in the brood-nest, 

 and the honey there stored will be carried into the 

 sections (if they are in place); but this is not all. 

 The space thus cleared will be occupied by the 

 queen, and more laborers for the harvest are thus 

 secured; and tho Iiiiliit of carrying the honey to the 

 sections is thus establii-hed; and if the Jiitliit is not 

 interfered with by suarming or (lueenlessness, it 

 will bo likely to continue till frost stops the work. 



SHAVING THE COMBS TO .'s IN. TO MAKE UEES 

 STORE HONEY ABOVE, A T-A POND. 



The thin combs so justly praised by Mr. Pond 

 (page 5^!i) are not infallible; and whatever of value 

 attaches to them is perfectly adapted to the inver- 

 tible system. In fact, I use nine fi-amos during tho 

 white-honey harvest in an eight-frame hive, but I 

 remove one frame for the fall harvest so that the 

 combs nuiy bo bulged to repletion for winter stores. 



The invortible hive and all its appurtenances ai-e 

 as cheap as any non-invertible hive of tho same 

 class of material and workmanship, and the time 

 re quired to manipulate the invortible for the pro- 

 duction of honey is not one-fourtii the time re- 

 quired for a non-invertible hive. There is the gage, 

 come who may. .!• M. Shuck. 



Des Moines, Iowa, Aug., 18S6. 



