1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



iSl 



JIOW TO GET HID OF A FEHTII.E WORKER: 

 AN EASY WAY. 



I for one like to have Gleanings sent aftei' 

 the time paid for expires. I noticed in Glean- 

 ings for Dec. 1.5. one writer (C. C. Miller, I 

 think) tells how to get rid of fertile workers. I 

 read of a way in the Afd., I think, which I tried 

 last summer. No doubt you "old fellows" 

 know all about it. but it is an easy way for a 

 beginner. Set the hive with the fertile worker 

 on top of one of the strongest colonies you have. 

 My strong colony had a case of sections on, 

 which I took off and put on top of the now two- 

 story hive. I left them there about four weeks. 

 I had a good deal of troubhi in handling tiiis 

 double colony, not because the bees were cross, 

 but because there were so many of them. They 

 just hailed over whenever the hive was opened. 

 When I sepai'ated them the queen was with the 

 top hive. The lower hive started 14 queen-cells. 

 I cut out all but t\\'o. and in a few days one of 

 these, and I soon had a laying queen. Both col- 

 onies were in good condition for wintering with 

 a, little surplus. Joseph F. Barton. 



Chicago, Jan. L 



CLOSED-END FRAMES HANGING FROM THE 

 CENTER. 



I use a closed -end frame that hangs fi'om the 

 •center, on tin rabbets on the ends of the hive. 

 This frame is cheap to make, and I think it is 

 perhaps easier to handle than some. It is real- 

 ly a hanging frame, and is also a very simple 

 reversible one as it rests (or hangs) from the 

 •center. Hanging, as it does, from the center, on 

 tin rabbets, out of the way of the bees, they do 

 not stick them down much if any. so yon can 

 slide a body of these frames apart and ascertain 

 the condition of the center of your colony with- 

 out distui'bing them much. I have used this 

 style of frame two seasons. At first I thought 

 they might be more objected to in handling 

 than a swinging or loose frame; but now I find 

 I can get at what I want to ascertain at the 

 center of a colony, in much less time than with 

 any other frame I have ever used. I think 

 there isn't any gain in handling a bi'ood-cham- 

 ber over too often; and for many advantages, I 

 think the closed-end frames will be of common 

 use. W. H. Norton. 



Skowhegan, Me. 



ANOTHER SWARM THAT LIVED AND PROSPERED 

 IN THE OPEN AIR. 



Did you ever know or hear of a swarm of bees 

 building their comb in the oi)en air, in the limbs 

 of a tree, in this country? I believe th(>y do in 

 tropical countries. In going through my pear 

 ■orchard in November, after the leaves had fall- 

 <'n, I saw what I took to be a hornet's nest; but 

 on examination I found it was a large bunch of 

 comb, built by a swarm of bees. I got a ladder, 

 and took it down. It is quite a cuiiosity. and I 

 think it ought to be preserved. If you would 

 like to have it to show to your visiting friends, I 

 will send it to you. ' W. W. Young. 



VVorthington, Ky.. Dec. 18. 



[Bees don't very often build combs in the open 

 air, but we get reports of it from time to time, 

 but more particularly from California. The 

 comb might be a curiosity for the World's Co- 

 lumbian Fair. Dr. Mason, can't you use it? If 

 so, give our fri(Mid instructions how and whei'c 

 to send it.J 



IS IT CHEAPER TO RAISE 15EES RY THE I'OINI) 

 THAN TO HUY THEM? 



What will it cost to raise, say, 100 lbs. of bees 

 by feeding sugar to the reqtiired number of 

 hives, supposing the weather warm, plenty of 

 pollen to be gathered within a shoi't distance. 



but no honey, or too little of it to be consider- 

 ed ? Or is it cheapei' to buy than to raise them 

 by the pound ? 

 Knoxville, Tenn. Adrian Getaz. 



[It is cheaper to raise the bees by feeding, 

 usually, than tobuy: just how much, we can not 

 tell. A good deal depends upon locality as to 

 the price of bees. In a good many places, bees 

 that are blacks and hybrids can be bought for 

 a mere song after a poor' honey season.] 



QUESTIONS REGARDING FIXED FRAMES. 



1. In adopting the fixed distance with closed- 

 end-bar frame, will it interfere with the inter- 

 changing of frames thi-oughout the apiary? 2. 

 Is it possible to get combs built so true and 

 straight that they may be used anyivhere and 

 in anil hive, without i)inching bees, or uice versa 

 — widening the fixed distance between combs? 

 3. Will it be practicable at all times to clamp 

 the fi'ames tight together with follower and 

 wedge? I should like vei'y much to hear the 

 opinion of the Solons. E. S. Brooks. 



Silverton. Or., Jan. 21. 



[1. There is no trouble about interchanging 

 frames for fixed distances; at least, bee-keepers 

 who own colonies by the 500 seem to experience 

 no trouble. 



3. Yes, sir. That is just the way to get combs 

 straight and true, by having fixed distances. 



3. There will be no trouble if your hive is 

 made right. If the Solons of fixed distances 

 disagree with the answers made above, will 

 they please correct?] 



SAWDUST IN PLACE OF CHAFF. ETC. 



1. Is sawdust good packing for chaff' hives? 

 2. Is the Gallup hive as good or better than the 

 Langstroth ? 3. I have a larg<' underground 

 basement under the barn. Would it be a good 

 place to winter bees in one end, and have stock 

 in the other, by taking up the floor where the 

 bees are? It is a stone- wall basement, well 

 ventilated. It hardly ever freezes in it. 



Lewis Leit. 



Mayville, Tuscola Co., Mich. 



[1. \''es. nearly as good, only it makes hives too 

 heavy. Wheat chaff is the lightest of pack- 

 ings unless we except dried leaves. 2. There is 

 no difference — at least, reports show none. It is 

 not so much the frame as the bee-keeper, and 

 the protection, he gives the bees. 3. We should 

 think so.] ■ 



MANUM's WINTERING. 



My be(is had their first fly this season March 

 11. I opened them up in two apiaries, and 

 found them in good condition. They appear to 

 have wintered well. We Vermonters are very 

 hopeful that the coming season will be a good 

 one — at h^ast, the prospects ai'e good. 



Bristol, Vt., March ]7. A. E. Manum. 



A CAUTION IN THE USE OF SULPHURIC ACID. 



Wiiydid you not caution th(! friendsabout the 

 danger of putting svilphuric acid into hot water 

 when commenting on F. A. Salisbury's article, 

 on page Til ? I call youi- attention to this, lest 

 some one should lose an eye, or be badly in- 

 jured otherwise. J. S. Hughes. 



Mt. Zion, III., Feb. 1<). 



[There have been a great many accidents 

 with sulphuric acid ; but, used as given in 

 <Jle.\nings, we think nothing serious will 

 follow.] 



HOFFMAN FRAMES Ql'EEN-EXCLUDING. 



Friend Root: — I am making an improved 

 Hoffman brood-frame. I am cutting out on 



