1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



415 



one questions the fact tliat his bees are good 

 workers. 



SLIDING ox HIVK-COA'ERS. 



On page 303 Mr. E. France objects to " slid- 

 ing" on hive-covers, on the ground that it rolls 

 the bees up in bunches, and kills them. My e.K- 

 perience lias been, that, it' the cover and top 

 side of the honey-board are free of bui'r-corabs, 

 and the cover "be held squarely down on the 

 hive, there need be no bees killed; but if you 

 have to raise the cover a trille to let it pass over 

 a bit of burr-comb, the bees will crawl under 

 the cover on the ends and side of the hive, and 

 then, if the cover be closed down, it can not fail 

 ■of killing bees. Elmer Hutchinson. 



Rogersville, Mich., April :.'0. 



[I did not wish to convey the impression that 

 all four and five banded bees were less hardy 

 than the darker Italians, but that those we had 

 were so. What you say regarding tiie sliding 

 •cover is correct, according to my experience. 

 WIu'U we had burr-combs we scraped the cover 

 ■and frames aftei' the honey harvest, so as not to 

 be bothei'(>d with them the I'est of tlie year.] 



E. R. R. 



CADDICE-FLY LARVS:. 



•• HOOKS IX nrXNIXG BROOKS." 



CLOSED-END FRAMES. 



interciiaxgkable; not stick I.MMOVAHI.V 

 with tropolis. 



Fnif. A. J. CiKjh: — While out on a ramble to- 

 day we sat down by a small creek to rest, and 

 noticed something ci'awling about in the bot- 

 tom of 2 to 4 inches of water, that looked like 

 rotten twigs with the bark peeling oft'. On ex- 

 amination we found larvte in them, and inclose 

 some to you. Please tell us what they are, their 

 habits, and how they live, through Gleanings 

 or by letter, as you wish. Gleanings Typos. 



Medina, O.. April 3<). 



[Prof. Cook replies:] 



In the early springtime— April and May— the 

 rambler, whom love of nature causes to lie 

 prone on some bank of brook or pool, and look 

 at tlie thousand wonders that nature there re- 

 veals, will often see a strange twig-like or grav- 

 el-formed tube which will seem to move along 

 •of its own will. He is likely to conclude that 

 inanimate things may move, unless, forsooth, 

 lie is more curious, when he will find a very an- 

 imate cause of the motion. This is a worm-like 

 iarva, with six strong legs just back of the 

 head, by use of which the insect pulls itself and 

 its strange home along through the water on 

 the bottom of the stream. The tube which 

 surrounds this aquatic traveler, and whicli 

 •doutless preserves it from hungry tish and tad- 

 poles, is made by the larva. These tubes are 

 fashioned by gluing sticks and stones together. 

 They are usually cylindrical, but they may be 

 made of stones, and be more curious, as they are 

 often the form of a snail-shell. Often silken 

 threads help to hold the pebbles in place. Two 

 hook-like legs at the tail end of the body serve 

 to hold the insect in its tube, so it is very dilH- 

 cult for a tish to get the larva unless it is will- 

 ing to take tube, web, and all. These larvte 

 •are nearly transparent, so we can see the heart, 

 along the back, nerve system along the under 

 side, and the air-tubes along the sides. Thus 

 these may be used to study the internal organ- 

 ism of the insect. 



The mature insect of this larva is called the 

 "caddice-fly."' Its wings are thick ami paper- 

 like: and when the insect is at rest tln-y are 

 roof- like. The legs are ratliei" short, and the 

 antenna^ are nearly as long as the body. Some 

 are variegated, and are quite pretty. They are 

 attracted by lights, and so they often come into 

 •our rooms. A. .1. Cook. 



Agricultural College. Mich.. April :.".). 



Till' lii'st lot of bees I bought when 1 came 

 here were in closed-end frames with an outer 

 casing, leaving a two-inch space all around. 

 After using such hives for a year I found there 

 was no trouble with proiiolis, nor in interchang- 

 ing the frames, and that they were almost as 

 easily handled as the swinging frames: though, 

 out of mere habit, I can tiiid a queen a little 

 (luicker, I think, among the swinging fi-ames; 

 but the use of such frames for tifteen years 

 might explain the difference. In the spring the 

 colonies on closed-end frames were the strong- 

 est. The only objection I found was, that the 

 air-space was a harbor for insects, and esiiecial- 

 ly scorpions. As I would rather have bee- 

 stings, ten to one. I discarded the closed-end- 

 frame hive for on(> of my own make, a pet hive. 



snakes, 



Gle.\.xin(;s can not be too "snaky " foi' me. 

 The i)rofessor has certainly given us a very val- 

 uable ailicle on snakeship. The habits of such 

 a dreaded enemy must ue known in order to 

 fight its terrible bile, and save those that would 

 otherwise die eveiy year from its effects. As to 

 a snake swallowing its young at the approach 

 of danger, there can be no doubt of it. The 

 (esophagus has the pt)wer of expanding, afford- 

 ing the means of swallowing an animal much 

 lai'gei- than the body of the snake. A snake 

 will also swallow its young for the night, and. 

 before being killed, in the dying act will give 

 them up. After a protracted rain a i-attler 

 can't emit tlui lattling sound as usual, his rat- 

 tles being too wet. In this section the ground- 

 moccasin is to be the most dreaded, as it gives 

 no warning note, .1. B. LaMontagne. 



Winter Park. Fla.. Apr. -2:?. 



LADIES' G0M¥ERSM18NE. 



THE FLAT cover: " E. R. R. AND E. FR.\NCE 

 ROTH RIGHT. 



We have used tlat covers in our apiaries for 

 six years, and I think "Slv. France and Mr. Er- 

 nest Root are both right about the method of 

 putting them on. As our hives are in the 

 spring, the sliding movement is seldom used. 

 In place of that we rest one end of the cover on 

 the hive, gently play the cover up and down, 

 each time letting it come a little nearer the 

 hive (giving the l)ees time to run out of danger, 

 which they will do very quickly), until the cov- 

 er rests tii'inly in place without killing a bee. 

 Just as soon, "however, as our hauling is done, 

 and our hives are all in their proper places on 

 their summer stands, we will hoe the top-bars 

 of each liive clean. Then our covers can lie put 

 on with a sliding movement as well as when 

 the hives are new. There is no difficulty in 

 sliding the covers on tlie supers, for they are al- 

 ways clean. 



If there are no burr-combs, and every thing 

 clean, you can commence at one side and slide 

 youi' cover clear across, the only difficulty being 

 that, just as the opening is closed, if a bee is in 

 the way it is likely to be cut in two. At that 

 lioint. then, you must go a little carefully and 

 let the liees have a chance to get out of the 

 way. 



Even if we found no difficulty in putting the 

 covers on. I should want the top-bars hoed 

 clean, for I do not believe we have so many burr- 

 combs if the bars are clean to begin with. Two 



