1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



481 



time, than if shipped in the comb. But choice white 

 comb in good condition will alwaj-s tind a I'eady 

 market at this place, and bring a I'air price. The 

 3-lb. sections will be the favorite by about 'i major- 

 ity; 1-lb. will follow closely at about 1 cent advance 

 over the price of ;Mbs., and a few \i-\h. sections may 

 be sold at still 1 or 3 cents advance. The H-lbs. need 

 not be g-lassed to carry safely. Larger sections than 

 2-lb. should never be sent to the market. 



Jerome Twicheli,. 



Kansas City, Mo., July, 1884. 



Eriend T., you do not mention onc-plecc 

 sections, but I presume you would include 

 them under your remarks in regard to dove- 

 tailed sections. 1 presume one-piece y*«(7c(Z 

 sections might answer a better purpose ; but 

 if I understand yon, you would have the 

 wood a little heavier than we ordinarily 

 make it. It seems to me good strong crates, 

 such as we furnish, ought to be sutlicient to 

 keep one-piece sections in good onh'r ; but I 

 notice it makes (luite a ditference when the 

 honey is fastened to the wood clear around. 

 We liave luid some brought in this season 

 where the cake of honey swung from the 

 top-bar almost like a pendulum, and of 

 course such would not be fit to ship. The 

 combined crate and shipping-case seems to 

 answer well, for the honey is sent off in these 

 just as it is lifted from the hives, witliout 

 breaking the attachments the bees make, or 

 lifting out a single section until it is removed 

 from the crate by the retailer. I believe tliese 

 have shipped well almost invariably. Who 

 can tell us more about it, for it is a matter of 

 most vital importance V 



WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH THE 

 ANTS ? 



PYRETHRUM FOUND TO BE A SUCCESS. 



SEE in last issue of Gleanings that some of the 

 friends are having trouble with the ants, as 

 well as bees. Two years ago we had the ants 

 make a run on our bank of honey. We found 

 a train of those half-sized red ants leading from 

 the foot of the stairs to the top, through a room, 

 over carpet, and across another room to the honey- 

 shelves, at least fifty abreast. I tried to get them 

 to eat " rough on rats," but they would not bite, to 

 do any good. So I happened to have a tin box of 

 Persian insect powder (I suppose it is made of 

 pyrethrum). The lid of the box was punched full 

 of small holes, so as to form a dredger, and I 

 sprinkled them with this powder from one end of 

 the train to the other, and also on the shelves, and 

 in less than an hour there wasn't an ant to be seen 

 on the track in hunt of honey. 



I have since used it in our pantry for the same 

 purpose, with the same success. You can tell your 

 readers that it is the only thing that will success- 

 fully dispose of them, and on short notice, and no 

 danger. 



Bees are doing only moderately, not so well as 

 last year. Very few fire-flies. Jos. C. Deem. 



Knightstown, Ind., July 7, 1884. 



another remedy. 

 In July Gleanings, page 456, E. I). Howells makes 

 the very pertinent remark, " How t» drive the small 

 black ant from the honey-room, and keep them out." 

 We have in our village an ancient bee-keeper, far 

 f}-om bping practical under the newdispenpation of 



apiculture, nevertheless possessed of an occasional 

 characteristic idea. His modus operandi is as fol- 

 lows: Purchase a very large sponge; fill the same 

 with diluted honej- or sweetened water; put the 

 same in the honey-room or in the immediate vicin- 

 ity of the colony annoyed by ants (I should fear 

 i-obbing would result), and as soon as the sponge is 

 filled with said nuisances (ancient declares they will 

 readily occupy every available part of the sponge), 

 submerge the sponge for a brief time in boiling 

 water; remove it, .iar outthe ants, and repeat when 

 necessary. I have no personal knowledge of its 

 practicability X 



Springville, N. V., July 7, 1881. 



VENTILATION" IN HOT WEATHER. 



ITS RELATION TO HONEY-GATHERING, ETC. 



HILE your advanced classes are busy with 

 'l\f\i'' the important problems of reversible 

 frames, artificial fei-tilization of queens, 

 keeping queens out of the upper chamber, 

 etc., I am away back at first principles. 

 The hot weather has brought up anew the subject 

 of ventilation. My entrances were all eight inches 

 by three-eighths; but as too many bees lounged on 

 the alighting-boards, I concluded that more air was 

 needed, and raised the front end of the hives one- 

 fourth inch. The weather growing hotter, there 

 was an increasing number of bees on the alighting- 

 boards, and I therefore propped the hives still 

 higher— half an inch. This not seeming to be effect- 

 ual, I took out the props from the back ends, thus 

 giving a clear sweep of half an inch for the admis- 

 sion of air, -the whole width of the hive in front and 

 rear. I even doubt now if there is free enough ven- 

 tilation, as, in the middle of the day, too many bees 

 are on the alighting-board, and there is too big a 

 roaring, caused by the fanning of the bees. How 

 are we to know when the ventilation is free enough? 

 If we adopt as a principle, that no bee has any busi- 

 ness on the alighting-board, except the sentinels, 

 my ventilation is still insufficient. It is to be borne 

 in mind, that I am careful to place planks against 

 each hive to keep off the dii-ect rays of the sun. The 

 grapevine .«hade, which you recommend in A B C, 

 to be of any service in our latitude, would have to 

 be about 30 feet high— our sun in summer being so 

 nearly vertical. Our vines and trellis would have 

 to range north and south ; so arranged, they would be 

 an excellent protection, except in the middle of the 

 day, say for two hours. Do you know any objection 

 to having hives open at rear as well as front? Of 

 course, there is greater danger of bees .bumping 

 against one as he walks among them, but I mean 

 any other objection. I have thought seriously of 

 propping up the whole hive by a block at each cor- 

 ner. Would it be unwise to do so? Beginner. 

 Tuscaloosa, Ala. 



Eriend B., it is a fact, that we can many 

 times get the bees tojgo in and go to work, 

 by simply giving more air through the hives; 

 and whe're the colony is very strong, and 

 thev persist in lying out, 1 should try to do 

 I it. ' If, however^ they simply cluster over 

 1 the outside of the hive dining an unusually 

 sultrv afternoon, it would hardly be worth 

 while to go over a large apiary and change 

 the ventilation. Within 2t bonis tlie weather 

 may be so cool tiiat this extra draft of air 

 woidd nearly stop cond'-l>'dlding, and pe}% 



