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GLEANINGS IN BKE CULTUEE. 



July 



With Replies from our best Authorities on Bees. 



All queries sent In for this dopartment should be briefly 

 stated, and free from any possible ambigruity. The question 

 or questions should be written upon a separate slip or paper, 

 and marked, " For Oui Question-Box." 



Question No. 61.— What is the hest tool for remov- 

 ing p7-opolis from the sections of filled honey just from 

 the hive — a common case-knife, a fmtty-knife, or wluttf 



I don't know. 



See answer to 59. 



A commoD case-knife. 



A stiff knife suits us best. 



E. Prance. 



O. O. PoppijEton. 



C. C. Miller. 



Dadant & Son. 



I don't know; but I like a case-knife. 



Dr. a. B. Mason. 



A dull pocket-knife with lai-g-e blade. 



Geo. Grimm. 



A putty-knife, or a commou pocket-knife, is my 

 handiest tool. Chas. F. Muth. 



Either one will do. T use an old Novice honey- 

 knife. Paul L. Viallon. 



A common case-knife, and a wide chisel, not too 

 sharp. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



I have used a tool, really a wide short-handled 

 chisel, which worked well. I had it made. 



A. J. Cook. 



Any good light knife. More depends upon the 

 skill with which the knife is used than upon the 

 kind of knife. L. C. Root. 



I have a nice elastic putty-knife; hut somehow 

 an old case-knife, two-thirds worn out, seems to get 

 most of the .iobs. E. E. Hasty. 



With us, a mowing-machine section of good size. 

 I should judge a stiff putty-knife, with sharpened 

 edges, good for the purpose. P. H. Elwood. 



This is a matter of opinion at best. Even skilled 

 mechanics will not agree as to what is the best tool 

 for a given purpose. 1 use a thick knife, ground 

 sharp, but thick or blunt. H. R. Board ji an. 



One thing is sure, a pocket-knife is better than 

 any thing you mention. Take hold of the blade 

 near the point, so you can scrape rapidly, and yet 

 never touch the cappiugs, your finger and thumb 

 forming a gauge. James Heddon. 



Propolis comes off' the sections much better after 

 they have been off' the hives for a month or so. A 

 putty-knife, cut off about half-way, and ground 

 square on the end, is what I use. The square cor- 

 ner on the knife takes the propolis oft' nicely. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



A knife with a round handle large enough to al- 

 low a firm grasp; blade about three inches long, 

 with the l)ack straight the whole length; edge par- 

 allel with the back to near the end, then rounded 

 off to a point at the back. The edge should be 

 rather thin, but not too sharp. A shoemaker's 

 knife, ground as described, makes a good tool for 

 the purpose. James A. Green. 



I think the above answers indicate that, 

 although a special tool may be very conven- 

 ient, and quite a saving, it is a difficult mat- 

 ter to have it always at hand, as the bee- 

 keeper has usually a pocket-knife always at 

 hand. Tf. however, we are cleaning propo- 



lis from the sections, I think I would have 

 a putty-knife, or something similar, fixed up 

 against the wall, right opposite the place 

 where you wish to sit when you do such 

 work. A piece of wire cloth can also be 

 tacked over an opening in the bench, a 

 drawer right under this opening being ar- 

 ranged so as to catch the propolis, etc., as 

 it drops. This idea of working over a sheet 

 of coarse-niesh wire cloth has recently been 

 alluded to as having been brought out at the 

 convention in Albany a year ago last winter. 



Question No. 63.-/8 it possible or pi-acticahle to 

 breed out entirely the disposition of bees to propolize 

 sections, hives, hearinqs, etc. 1 



No. 



No. 



No. 



No. 



T think not. 



I guess not. 



T don't believe it is. 



L. C. Root. 



H. R. Boardman. 



Geo. Grimm. 



O. O. Poppleton. 



B. Wilkin. 



James Heddon. 



C. C. Miller. 



It is, very likely, impossible. Chas. F. Muth. 

 Neither possible nor desirable. 



Mrs. L. Harrison. 

 Possible, perhaps, liut scarcely practicable. 



James A. Green. 

 I don't think it is with our present races of bees. 



E. France. 

 No; they pi'opolize mainly when they have noth- 

 ing else to do. Dadant & Son. 



I don't know, but am readj- to invest in such 

 bees as won't i)ropolize as above. 



Dr. a. B. Mason. 

 No more than it would be to breed off any of their 

 wings and legs, or breed a bee without a sting. 



G. M. Doolittle. 

 No more than a non-swarming race. There are 

 instincts in bees that no breeding will ever eradi- 

 cate. Paul L. Viallon. 



I suppose so. Bees that are dead do not propo- 

 lize; and from the average bi-eeder's standpoint 

 this will be the first result obtained. 



P. H. Elwood. 



It is dangerous to say that any thing is not possi- 

 ble. Look at our Poland-China pigs. I have heard 

 that the old primary hogs from which our improv- 

 ed ones were developed were so prominent of nose 

 and so sharp of back that the feeder, to know 

 whether they were in condition to kill, would sim- 

 ply raise them by the ears; and if the posterior 

 end went down they were ready for the knife. 



A. J. Cook. 



Without attempting to be positive, I will just 

 give my views on this. If possible, it would be 

 be ruinous wherever ants are plentiful. Trees se- 

 crete propolis mainly to keep ants from eating 

 buds and other tender organs. The bees have 

 " caught on " to the idea, and bring it to their 

 hives for a similar purpose— to make their premises 

 odious and unendurable to their most unwelcome 

 guests. If it be true, that Carniolan bees carry 

 little propolis, I should expect to find that there are 

 few ants in Carniola. If any one wishes to try this 

 scheme, the leading points would be, 1. Get the 

 stock from a land where ants are lacking or scarce; 

 2. Keep them on a platfocm, the posts of which stand 



