1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



801 



the end tiers. I should like those who have not al- 

 ready done so to give tliem a trial, and I think they 

 would be convinced that the open-sided sections 

 are the sections for large returns. I have taken 

 about 500 sections of honey this season at present 

 writing, and have not had a dozen bulged combs. 

 Give them a trial. W. M. Ali.en. 



Trempeleau, Wis., Sept. 36, 1888. 



I believe it is a fact that bees build truer 

 combs, and fasten them better to sections 

 where there are openings on all four sides. 

 Tlie matter was pretty thoroughly discussed 

 at Columbus, and Dr. Tinker and others 

 took the ground you have taken. A lot of 

 comb honey was examined at the centenni- 

 al exhibit, part of it stored in open-side sec- 

 tions, and part of it where only tlie tops and 

 bottoms were open. Owing to the poorness 

 of the season, neither kind was filled very 

 nicely ; but I thought there was a difference 

 in favor of the open sides. 



SHALL THE TOP BOXES BE LEFT ON DURING WIN- 

 TER IN THE SOUTH?— GALLON OR POUND, 

 WHICH? 



Is it best or not to leave the top boxes on hives 

 all winter in the South? I think best to leave them 

 on. I see that liquid honey is quoted by the dealers 

 by the pound and not by the gallon. Ten pounds is 

 a gallon, as I understand it. Is it sold in that way? 

 Dealers in the South want it by measure, and pro- 

 ducers will please answer. J. W. Park. 



Columbia, Te.v., Aug. 37, 1888. 



Friend P., a great number of reports some 

 years ago indicated i)retty conclusively that 

 leaving the honey - receptacles over the 

 brood-chamber undisturbed is a pretty good 

 way of fixing bees for winter. It seems to 

 allow abundant upward ventilation ; but re- 

 ports seem to say not too much. I do not 

 remember now whether or not these reports 

 came from extreme northern localities, but 

 my impression is that they did. See the 

 next item after this one. If your honey 

 weighs only 10 lbs. to the gallon, I should 

 say it is not thoroughly ripened. Good 

 honey or maple syrup should weigh fully 11 

 lbs.; and I think we have had some honey 

 that, in cold weather, would run nearly if 

 not quite 12 lbs. to the gallon. 



LEAVING THE SECTIONS ON DURING WINTER. 



I noticed in Gleanings for Apr. 1, 1881, page 171, 

 that a few bees had been known to winter exceed- 

 ingly well where the sections had been left on all 

 winter. There were iiii colonies, about two miles 

 east of my place, put into winter quarters last win- 

 ter with their entire gatherings for the season. 

 Tliey wintered with the least per cent of loss, and 

 have more bees and more business to the square 

 inch to-day tlian any otiier apiary in the county. 



Isaac T. Gould. 

 Corunna, Mich., June 11, 1888. 



FRIEND WALKER REPLIES IN REGARD TO THE .AD- 

 .lUSTABLB SIDE-OPENING CASE. 



I wish to say, witii regard to your criticism on my 

 super and clamping arrangement for sections, that 

 the objection you mention, arising from the shrink- 

 age of the sections in width, is a purely imaginary 

 (me where the timber is properly seasoned, as I 

 have proved to my entire satisfaction during sever- 

 al very dry seasons. The sections can be removed 



more quickly and handily from my super than they 

 can from iiny super requiring the aid of a follower 

 for the purpose; and when removed they are right 

 side up, and the edges of but few sections require 

 scraping on account of propolis. 



Capac, Mich. Bvron Walker. 



Friend W., we can't quite agree that our 

 objection wns "purely imaginary " when we 

 had the proof of the actual shrinkage of sec- 

 tions right before us— sections from planks 

 that had been well seasoned. But perhaps 

 practically this ditficulty does not make so 

 much difference with the open-side cases. 

 Perhaps you can remove sections faster 

 from your arrangement tlian from the T 

 super. But the sections from the latter, 

 even if the follower be used, always come 

 outright side up, and not upside down, as 

 you seem to infer. 



THE CHAFF DIVISION-BOARD AND THE SIMPLICITY 

 BEVEL. 



How are the chaff or wood division-boards made 

 to tit the bevel at the bottom of a Simplicity hive, 

 so that no bee can go around the corner of the 

 divi»-ion-board? In rcqueening a hive after a swarm 

 issues, must the queen be caged, and must queen- 

 ceils be destroied? and if not caged, must tlioy be 

 destroyed? Which is best— a chaff or a wood divi- 

 sion-board for contracting the brood-chamber to 

 secure comb honey? Would the Simplicity hive, 

 used as the inside of a chaff hive, be as good as an 

 inside made of thinner lumber? 



East Sidney, N. Y. Lester Judson. 



The chaff and plain division-boards are 

 not made to fit the bevel inside the Simplic- 

 ily hive-body. Indeed, it is not nectssary. 

 If the bees do go on the other side it will do 

 no harm, and many think it is a great ad- 

 vantage, on account of feeding in the out- 

 side of the division -board, for the bees can 

 readily pass around these corners to their 

 feed. — In contracting we use and recom- 

 mend an ordinary chaff division-board. Put 

 one of these on each side of the brood-nest, 

 and it will usually be sufficient.— To "re- 

 queen " a hive after removing the old one, 

 it is best to cage the new one according to 

 the Peet plan. All queen-cells in either 

 case should be destroyed. The Simplicity 

 hive, used as the inside of a chaff hive, 

 would work satisfactorily. Our reason for 

 using f lumber is because it is a great deal 

 cheaper. 



INTRODUCING FERTILE QUEENS INTO A FERTILE- 

 WORKER COLONY NOT ADVISABLE. 



Will a colony of bees having a fertile worker rear 

 a ()ueen from eggs furnished them? If they rear a 

 queen, will the bees kill the fertile worker? Is 

 there any practicable way to prevent a colony from 

 rearing sucli a useless force of drones? Is it nec- 

 essary to cut out the drone comb and fit worker 

 comb in place of it? Emma E. Cole. 



Delta, Colorado, Aug. 30, 1888. 



Tlie introduction of a queen into a hive 

 containing fertile workers will probably re- 

 sult in the loss of the queen. A colony so 

 affected had better be scattered through 

 other strong colonies. It is a difficult mat- 

 ter to get such a one to accept a queen or 

 queen-cell. You speak in your letter as 

 though there were only one fertile worker. 



