IG 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Jan. 



sections can be put on the hive. Between the su- 

 pers A and C, the cone-case B is placed, with cones 

 pointing toward the brood-nest. The full supers of 

 sections and bees can be put on top of the cone- 

 ca*e, and all is done in a twinkling. In a few hours 

 you may expect to have your full super all clean of 

 bees, and not a cell uncapped. If the cone-case be 

 adjusted in the afternoon or evening, your full su- 

 per will be just as you would desire it next morn- 

 ing. 



I make the wire-cloth cones very rapidly and per- 

 fectly by using two tin cones, the size I want the 

 wire cones, and just mold the wire cloth between 

 the tin ones. F shows the outside cone: C is the 

 square of wire cloth, and H the inside cone, which 

 is fastened on to a wooden stake, the latter stuck 

 into the bench. The central mesh of G, or as near- 

 ly as may be, is placed on the apex of the cone E. 

 The cone F is then driven down, forming the square 

 of wire cloth into a cone. I also make queen-cell 

 protectors on these tin cones, to perfection. 



If you think you see any thing in this bee-extract- 

 or, and do not just exactly understand everything 

 about it, just let me know, and I will send you by 

 express, prepaid, a life-sized model that you can 

 take a good look at, and I know you will see practi- 

 cal sticking out on all sides. 



I think the tin cone-molds are original, and can 

 he made very cheap; and I doubt if any thing else 

 will work so perfectly, provided the cones are made 

 right. J. S. Reese. 



Winchester, Ky., Nov. 23, 1887. 



In response to this, friend R. was request- 

 ed to send us models of his invention, which 

 he did. It seemed so practical that we im- 

 mediately placed it in the hands of our en- 

 gravers, to show how the whole thing oper- 

 ated. In the mean time we received the 

 following from our friend : 



Dear Si/;— You will observe that I have sent one 

 cone-case arranged to fit your T super, as I under- 

 stand it to be 13'/2X 17^4, inside measure. I am in- 

 clined to think one set of the wire cones would an- 

 swer every purpose that the two do, especially if 

 the hole were made larger, say 1^4 or 2 inches. In 

 fact, I used our case with one large hole, one inch 

 instead of two, and it seemed to work quite as well. 

 I have used the cone-case in several ways, with per- 

 fect success. In one instance I had two brood-cases 

 tiered; and when I wanted the top one otf I put the 

 cone-case between them, and all the bees went 

 down to the queen; and at another time I gave it 

 a most severe test by putting it between a T-super 

 feeder full of bees, and the brood-chamber; and in 

 a very short time the feeder was entirely freed of 

 bees— not one remaining. I have also used it as 

 Dr. Miller suggests, on a pile of full supers, with 

 the few bees that could not be smoked out. 



I also send the tin cones that I use to mold the 

 wire-cloth cones, and I want you to give them a 

 test. I think they are worthy of being fully de- 

 scribed and illustrated in Gleanings, as they are 

 simple, and easily made and worked. I have also 

 used the small cones to prevent or stop robbing, by 

 taking a thin strip, about like a piece of lath, and as 

 long as the entrance is wide, and putting one or 

 more one-inch holes in it, and over the holes a 

 small cone. This lath with cones pointing out or 

 from the front, and secured over the entrance, will 

 allow the bees, robbers and all, to come out, and none 



can return until the lath is removed, which would 

 be at night if in a bad case of robbing. 

 Winchester, Ky., Dec. 1, 1887. J. S. Reese. 



Friend R., the use of the cones for the 

 purpose you mention is not altogether new ; 

 but the plan of using them in connection 

 with an emi)t> super is new, so far as T 

 know. .Tid will be likely to prove very valu- 

 able. Your plan of making the cone is also 

 a bright idea, and. so far as I know, an orig- 

 inal one. You make it so plain that almost 

 every bee-keeper can, during the winter 

 time, fix up his own bee-escapes. My im- 

 pression is. that one set of cones is practic- 

 ally safe. 



AN IDEAL LOCATION FOR AN APIARY. 



WINDBREAKS; FRUIT AND SHADE TREES, ETC. 



ERE I to choose an ideal situation for an 

 apiary it would be on a gentle slope to the 

 south or southeast, with buildings or large 

 trees to the north side, and, not far distant 

 to the south, another protecting hill or 

 wood. If in a locality exposed to east or west winds, 

 I should want a windbreak in those directions also. 

 For windbreaks about an apiary, it seems to me 

 there is nothing better than evergreen-trees. We 

 must soon begin to use evergreens and the various 

 hedge shrubs, as they do in England, for fences, 

 and let us begin in the spring by putting one 

 about the apiary. The common spruce or hemlock, 

 properly trimmed, is hardy, and will do good serv- 

 ice. 



A neighbor remarked to me last spring, that, if 

 he had built a tight board fence to the north of his 

 apiary, where the wind came through between two 

 buildings, he would have saved at least one hun- 

 dred dollars. The mortality was much greater op- 

 posite the opening. Another acquaintance has for 

 years wintered bees in box hives out of doors; and 

 during the severe winter of 1886-'7 he lost only one 

 or two, by mice. He is situated in a narrow ra\-ine 

 between two mountains: and although the sun- 

 shine reaches there, no breeze disturbs the quiet 

 of this old-fashioned bee-yard. I visited this 

 friend's bees during a cold day last winter, and I 

 was surprised to see. through a large entrance-hole, 

 part way up the side of the hives, the bees crawling 

 slowly over each other as they were clustered upon 

 the combs within. Bees thus exposed could not 

 have lived in the open country. 



All these things help to convince me that some 

 sort of protection besides the hive is needed to 

 winter with the most perfect safety. As I said be- 

 fore, I would have evergreens on the exposed sides 

 of the apiary, but never among the hives, for shade 

 in winter is apt to induce chill and dampness. To 

 my idea, there is no better tree for shading an 

 apiarj- than the plum. It never grows too high to 

 take a swarm easily, and its shade is not too light 

 or too dense. Next to the plum is the cherry, though 

 its fruit matures earlier, and is apt to interfere with 

 bee-work in the gathering of it. 



If you live in a village, or where your room is 

 limited, and you are compelled to put your bees 

 near the highway where people are passing close 

 by the hives, I am very confident you will not be 

 troubled by persons being stung if you will plant 

 an evergreen hedge next the street, and train it 



