446 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



See answer to No. 55. 



H. K. BOARDMAN. 



I have answered this very important query, on 

 pag-e 394, previous issue. James Hbddon. 



I think a honey-board of any kind, with a bee- 

 space above and below, would be undesirable. 



L. C. Root. 



I have used a plain perforatod-zinc honey-board 

 between the brood-combs and the sections, and I 

 like them. E. France. 



If I were going: to use honey-boards at all, I 

 should be a little shy of metal sheets unless very 

 well made indeed. E. E. Hasty. 



If "properly streng-thened " it mig-ht "answer 

 the purpose;" but I should thinif it would not be as 

 good as the slatted wood-zinc. Dr. A. B. Mason. 



Yes; it will answer the purpose just as well as 

 the other, except it is more liable to get harmed in 

 taking off, by being so much more unsubstantial. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



I can hardly tell, without trying, but I think I 

 would rather have the slats. For ordinary use in 

 working for comb honey, I don't want zinc between 

 the slats. C. C. Miller. 



Such a board would sometimes have bits of comb 

 built between it and the sections. It would not be 

 as rigid as the slat board, and would not keep the 

 bee-spaces as exact. James A. Green. 



I have not tried it. I know the slatted break- 

 joint honey-board, with one zinc space between, 

 is very excellent. I doubt if it can be excelled, 

 either in excellence or economy. A. J. Cook. 



With this question, too, I am surprised to 

 hear so many say, '* I don't know,'' " I think 

 it would," or such like answers, indicating 

 they have not had experience. With the 

 tons of perforated zinc we are selling now, it 

 seems as if the perforated zinc ought to be 

 thoroughly tested by all prominent honey- 

 l)roducers. 



Question 57.— Do ynu think that the additum of 

 Ktrtn{i)it strips of perforated zinc. i<lid ni saic-herfs, so 

 ax tti tiuihi' what is callrd a fjiiefu-f.rchtdinu lioney- 

 hiianl, will in any way att'ert tin iiitautity of comb 

 Itiiuty stand (ditire/ I)i ntlur tco/y/.s, will tins stinr as 

 miwli Jttiiicy (diore a (jKceu-r.rchidiim slattrd honey- 

 hoard as ttwij will alnjveune not quemercludingi 



1. No. 3. Yes. 



See answer to No. 55. 



It makes no difference. 



Dr. a. B. Mason. 



H. R. Boardman. 



Geo. Grimm. 



Yes; but I prefer one queen-excluding. 



P. L. VlALLON. 



I have tried carefully, and could see no ditference. 



A. J. Cook. 

 I don't suppose there is much ditJerence, l)ut I 

 should think the zinc some little hindrance. 



C. C. Miller. 

 After careful watching for a few years past, I can 

 not see that this matter atfects the yield of honey a 

 particle. G. M. Doolittle. 



I do not think they would materially affect the 

 quantity of honey stored by strong colonies, and 

 probably not by weak ones. O. O. Poppleton. 



It will probably affect it a little on the start. All 

 obstructions are more or less objectionable to the 

 bees, and sometimes cause them to hesitate. 



Dadant & Son. 



So far as my experience goes, there is no differ- 

 ence. James A. Green. 



I think it will lessen it to some extent. I think 

 they will not. I want the drones to have access to 

 my surplus arrangement. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



I am sure that the amount of honey stored with a 

 queen-excluding honey-board will be much less 

 than with an abundant passage. I consider them 

 very objectionable. L. C. Root. 



I think they will store as much honey, but I don't 

 know; but I think if we keep the drones down out 

 of the surplus boxes the honey will be nicer. Those 

 men-folks have no work to do up there. I am not 

 sure that they clean their feet before going into the 

 ladies' parlor. E. France. 



The presence of a honey-board noticeably keeps the 

 surplus honey-combs clean, and no kind of honey- 

 board, that I have ever used, queen-excluding or 

 otherwise, tends to lessen the amount of surplus 

 stored, in the least; and I have had hundreds of 

 queen-excluding boards in use during the last few 

 seasons. James Heddon. 



I think that depends largely on the strain of bees 

 kept; some seeming very reluctant to work up- 

 stairs, and others so indifferent about that matter 

 that they will skip over empty sections and work in 

 a second tier. If your bees are of the former sort 

 they will say that your queen-excluder is all the ex- 

 cuse they want for keeping below and getting 

 ready to swarm. E. E. Hasty. 



Honey-boards of any kind are none of my favor- 

 ite arrangements. Bees should havean unimpeded 

 access from the brood -chamber to the supers. 

 Every impediment is at the expense of the honey- 

 crop. If the queen is found in the section boxes, it 

 is, generally, the fiiult of the bee-keeper who pro- 

 vided her majesty with too small a brood-chamber, 

 or permitted the same to be crowded with honey or 

 bee-bread, or both. Chas. F. Muth. 



Now, friends, here we come to a question 

 of very great moment — does the use of 

 sheets of perforated zinc lessen our crop of 

 honey? The majority of those wlio have 

 tested the matter seem to think it makes no 

 difference, and I am free to confess that 1 

 am a little surprised at this. L. C. Root, 

 however, says he is sure the amount of hon- 

 ey stored will be less. I should think so 

 too, to apply common-sense reasoning, with- 

 out making any practical experiments. Mr. 

 E. France thinks they will store as much 

 honey, but does not know. I am afraid a 

 great many simply guess at it, without hav- 

 ing made a test. Prof. Cook has tested 

 them carefully— says he sees no difference. 

 J. A. Green says the same ; also Doolittle. 

 The Dadants think it might affect them at 

 the start ; and my experience is, tliat almost 

 every thing of the kind is a little hindrance 

 until the bees get well going. Hasty sagely 

 suggests that the result may depend largely 

 on uie strain of bees. Muth does not like 

 honey-boards at all ; and I thought, until a 

 few years ago, that I didn't ; but I would 

 use them to keep the bees from waxing the 

 sections, if for nothing else ; and I think I 

 should hold fast to them, even if it took 

 some of the honey - crop. Of course, 1 

 should not want to sacrifice very much. 



