562 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 1. 



there may be in the building, to escape after 

 the room is darkened and closed up. Yon see, 

 there are about a dozen entrances that have 

 Reese bee-escapes on. After the room is dark- 

 ened there are a dozen holes that shine dimly. 

 The few bees that may be inside fly to these 

 holes and pass out. Years ago, when we nsed 

 to work in the house-apiary we were troubled 

 by bees that collected on the floor making their 

 way toward the door when it was opened, as 

 there was no means of their escaping; and, fur- 

 thei'more, as we did not then know of the win- 

 dow bee-escapes, we had to work in a hot, sul- 

 try room, poorly lighted, and, more often than 

 not, filled with smoke. The bees that crawled 

 on the floor, somehow managed to crawl up 

 our trousers legs, and get mashed under foot; 

 and this, with the heat and smoke of the room, 

 was unendurable. All these things forced us 

 to abandon the house-apiary. When we go to 

 work noiv, we close the door behind us, open up 

 the darkened windows, and let the breezes of 

 summer pass through. The smoke passes out 

 of the windows so as to make no serious incon- 

 venience. Still further to obviate the ditticulty, 

 I have in my mind's eye a ventilating shaft to 

 connect with the peak of the building, under 

 which to set the smoker when not in use. From 

 present indications this can not be necessary; 

 but should it be required it can be put in at 

 very little expense. I have not yet tried the 

 bee-escape for taking off comb honey inside. 

 It is, however, too late to make this experiment: 

 but if the bee-escape works outdoors, I know it 

 will inside: therefore the house-apiary is not 

 such a terrible place in which to handle bees, 

 after all. judging from the present outlook. 

 Subsequent develoijments may cause me to be 

 disgusted with it, however. 



Oh, yes! I forgot to say that each colony or 

 nucleus in the house-apiary should be thorough- 

 ly fastened in by itself. Each compartment 

 should be made as tight as any indoor hive. 

 They are not yet quite bee-tight, but this fall 

 I propose to have them fixed so they will be, if 

 I continue to like it as a place for working with 

 bees as I do now. 



There is another thing that I did not men- 

 tion: and that is, that there is no grass to mow 

 — no long wet grass and weeds to wade through ; 

 no burning sun and no running indoors when 

 it rains. 



Do not imagine that I have gone so crazy on 

 the house-apiary that I am going to recom- 

 mend it in preference to hives outdoor!^ — not at 

 all. Hut there are a good many who, years ago. 

 at considerable expense, built house-apiaries, 

 and now they have them in disuse. I simply 

 wish those who have them to see how they can 

 be made available again. There are others 

 located in cities, perhaps, where land is expen- 

 sive, and a room or house-apiary on top of a 

 building could be used very nicely.' 



SOLAR WAX-EXTKACTOHS. 



We have just had one of those large Hoard- 

 man solar wax-extractors made. It is (i feet 

 long, 3 feet 4 inches wid(\ and 7 inches deep. 

 The bottom is made in the shape of an inverted 

 flat gable i-oof. the ridge-pole, as it were, run- 

 ning down lengthwise through the center. It 

 it is then lined with tin on the inside. The 

 length and width are just right so that stan- 

 dard grei-nhouse sash will just cover it. To 

 keep the latter from 1)1(»\\ ing off it is held down 

 by a pail' of Van Deusen hive-clamps. Into 

 this we can put some 2;") or 30 combs at a time — 

 old ci'ooked combs that we got in buying up 

 bees. As fast as they melt, the wax runs 

 through the center of tiie extractor, and then 

 runs down and finally communicates with a 

 honey-gate in the end.' from which the hot wax 



can be drawn off into a pan or any other recep- 

 tacle. 



It has not so far worked up to my expecta- 

 tions. The combs being so old and tough. I 

 suspect, is the reason. 



THE KEENEY METHOD OF WIRING. 



Last year we followed Mr. Hatch's sugges- 

 tion on the Keeney method as to the use of 

 one wire, and accordingly our frames were 

 wired with the horizontal wire running along 

 near the top-bar, as in the cut. We put a lot of 

 those into' use last summer. Somewhat to my 

 chagrin I noticed that the foundation, after be- 

 ing slightly drawn out by the bees, bulged be- 

 low the horizontal wire. Quite accidentally I 

 ran across some others that had been wired the 

 other side up; and such nice beautiful combs 

 as they were this summer! All this is easy to 

 explain. The cut above shows the frame, wired 

 as Mr. Hatch recommended. Point 5 is secure- 

 ly braced, and there can be no sagging. The 

 wire from 1 to 2. not being supported, may sag a 

 little; and as it has with us sagged in every 

 case, there will be a bulge in the foundation be- 

 tween the points 1. 2, 5, 1. Now ttirn this page 

 upside down, and imagine the frame wired the 

 other way — that is, the top-bar in place of thc^ 

 bottom-bar. A strip of foundation in between 

 the points 3, .5. 4. being pressed against the 

 comb-guide, will be held secure. The founda- 

 tion in between the points 1. 5. 3 ishekl by the 

 diagonal wires 1. n, and 5. 2. If the foundation 

 stretches any, which it surely will, the horizon- 

 tal wire sags accordingly: and if the founda- 

 tion is cut a little scant in depth, it prevents 

 bulging. All such combs — and we have tried 

 about a hundred of them this spring and sum- 

 mer in Hoffman frames — are as nice and true as 

 boards. I am very sorry that I did not discover 

 this before; and I am sure that friend Hatch 

 will see the point himself. If you use heavy 

 brood foundation there will be no trouble either 

 way in wiring, and it is possible that is what 

 he used. Hut heavy brood foundation is rathei' 

 expensive, and so we use light brood. 



HOFFMAN FRAMES IN THE SHANE YARD. 



We have now about seventy colonies on Hoff- 

 man frames in the Shane yard, and I am still 

 delighted with them; and for certain manipu- 

 lations I am sure that I can handle double the 

 number of colonies on them that I could on 

 loose fi'ames. Two weeks ago I had a good 

 chance for a comparative test, as about half 

 the colonies were then on loose frames. I di- 

 vided and manipulated two colonies on the 

 Hoffman fram(^s. where I handled one on the 

 loose. There are other operations whi>re there 

 will be no particular gain in speed; but to come 

 right out frank, the Hoffman frames kill bees 

 worse than I wish they did; but the more I 

 manipulate them, the less I see the need of 

 killing them. Don't forget, just before crowd- 

 ing the frames all together, to blow smoke be- 

 tween the end -bars, so as to drive the bees, 

 away; and then you will catch scarcely a bee. 



INTRODUCING FIFTY' IMPORTED QUEENS. 



On the 13th of June we received an importa- 

 tion of 52 queens from Charles Bianconcini, 

 Bologna, Italy. Only two were dead in the. 



