1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



593 



if the climate is suitable. You see. tlie point is 

 here: The deeper a close-fitting fi'ame is. the 

 more there is of that tendency to "hitch "in 

 pulling out the frames, as was explained in the 

 case of the bureau-drawer. Thi' only satisfac- 

 tory way to use deep closed-end frames is to 

 have them a hi Hetherington.] E. il. R. 



A REPORT OF TWO QUEENS FROM IMPORTED 

 STOCK. 



EXPERIENCE OF A HEOINNEK. 



Last summer I bought two untested queens 

 of you — one in July and one in August. They 

 both proved to be purely mated, both good: but 

 the one received in A\igust was extra good. 

 I have raised 20 young queens from her. They 

 are all as large or larger than she is. and two of 

 them are the largest, finest-looking queens I 

 have ever seen. Are the largest queens always 

 the best? 



The two received from you came after the 

 honey-How had passed. I had to feed the colo- 

 nies tln^y were inti'oduced to. They came 

 through the wintei' all ligiit. From the 10th of 

 April to the 1.5th of .June I took 7 frames of cap- 

 ped brood from each one of these Italian colo- 

 nies, to reinforce blacks: and although I have 

 drawn so heavily from them they have built 

 ten Simplicity frames of new comb, and filled 

 them full of houey. I think if I had taken no 

 brood fi'om them they would have filled three 

 Simplicity stories — ten frames each — chuck full. 



The first two queens I raised were out before 

 I had any Italian drones, and they are now two 

 magnificent colonies of hybrids. I have never 

 used a veil, and don't often use a smoker; but I 

 think these hybrids will bring me to it. I went 

 one morning to hoe some weefls down in front 

 of one of their hives before the bees got to stir- 

 ring. The hoeing woke them up, and they 

 were getting excited. I was anxious to get the 

 weeds out of the way. I made a big lick to get 

 the last weed (there was a little stick in the 

 way), and the hoe glanced and struck the cor- 

 ner of the hive. Then they poured out. I was 

 bareheaded and baldheaded to boot. One got 

 on top of my pate, one on my ear. and one got 

 his business end in contact with my proboscis 

 (it was big enongli before) ; several got tangled 

 in what little hair I had left; several more in 

 my beard, and I made a very undignified re- 

 treat. If I had lieen in reach of a veil, oat-sack, 

 or one of Miss Emma Wilson's aprons, I would 

 certainly have wrapped my head up. By the 

 way, I owe Miss Wilson a vote of thanks for 

 her plan of putting foundation in frames— 

 Gleanings, page 4156. I owe Dr. MilUa' several 

 votes. I have several good ideas from him; 

 Doolittle and others too. 



The Italian bees are a long way ahead of the 

 blacks. 



PACKING FOR THE SOUTH. 



I like your idea of chaff packing. Friend 

 Jenkins says, in his catalogue, that " chaff 

 hives are not necessary in the South;"' but I 

 think it pays to pack bees up snugly for winter, 

 even here. The strongest colony I had this 

 spring was a swarm hived in a large soap-box 

 last June. The box was turned bottom up on a 

 plank laid on the ground. In October they 

 were packed up like a heap of potatoes, except 

 a little passage for them to come out. They 

 were not fed nor distni-bed till they were trans- 

 ferred in April. They never felt the coo! nights. 

 Most of the others" standing out in the ydrd 

 were weak. They had been fed too. The soap- 

 box was booming without any feed. 



Fayette, Miss., June 20. I. N. Bedford. 



[Largest queens are not necessarily the most 

 IJiolifiic. though they are usually regarded so.] 



THE HOUSE-APIARY, AGAIN. 



THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE BEE-ESCAPE. 



Permit me to say a word from my experience 

 with the Reese bee-escape placed in the bee- 

 iiouse. as you will observe by referring to page 

 9'.)0. 18S9. Aftei' reading E. R."s short experience 

 in this line on page 5(51 (1891) I am not sur- 

 prised at the facts he has given. I have often 

 wondered wliy it was that persons abandoned 

 the house-apiary. Well, since reading E. R.'s 

 article I presume there was good reason; and 

 as I have always used the escape,- and never 

 had any inconvenience? from bees in the house 

 outside of the hive, it ought to be a good reason 

 why I thus pondeied over the problem. 



I have frequently secMi articles coHdemning 

 house-apiaries, and I frequently thought of 

 writing' you for the reason; but, thanks to E. R. 

 for the explanation. I want to say that any 

 one having a house-apiary can, by putting in 

 a two-inch hole, with the cone bee-escape just 

 over each hive, henceforth continue to call 

 blessings down upon the inventor of that most 

 valuable gift, the bee-escape, to the bee-frater- 

 nitv. 



Ill my article on page 990 1 did not say any 

 thing about inside manipulation. I have an 

 abundance of light from a revolving window- 

 in the south end, sufficient to catch a queen, see 

 eggs, or for any work; also blinded when not at 

 work. Of course. I use a spring blind. To be 

 handy, the ventilator, or escape, above, carries 

 the smoke away at the roof; and the cone es- 

 cape—why. it's just grand. Put them on over 

 a three or four inch rim, and the crate on top in 

 the evening, and in the morning no bees, or 

 scarcelv anv. are found in the crate. If any, 

 they are quite young. Yes. the escape works 

 tiptop in the house, and I want to predict the 

 most pleasant manipulation of bees you have 

 ever enjoyed in your life. If you thus arrange 

 your house-apiary, however, you must not forget 

 to have plentv of light while manipulating or 

 looking for queens and eggs. The spring blind 

 is the handiest, and most convenient in work- 

 ing the house-apiary. I use so little smoke one 

 would hardly perceive it, and the ventilator 

 draws it away when you are not using the 

 smoker. One thus working with the house- 

 apiarv does not or can not know what robber 

 bees are to a certainty— at least, that^is my ex- 

 perience. J. A. Golden. 



Reinersville, O.. July 10. 



COMB SOMETIMES PRODUCED WITHOUT LOSS. 



RUNNING OUT-APIARIE.S ALONE. 



Several days ago I noticed a colony hanging 

 out some. It was not a very warm day. and 

 they w(M-e under a tree, so the sun did not 

 strike them except for a short time in the morn- 

 ing. I did not have time to look after them 

 until late in the afternoon. By that time there 

 was a fair-sized swarm hanging in front. I 

 found the upper story full, and no signs of 

 swarming. I took out half of the combs above, 

 and gave empty frames instead. They went in, 

 and by next morning had several good-sized 

 pieces of comb, and they built those frames full 

 in a very short time. Now, I think if I had 

 given them foundation, or extracted the comlxs 

 and returned them, that wax would have been 

 wasted; and that, under such conditions, wax 

 is involuntarily produced. I find, during fair 

 w<'ather or a good honey-flow, by keeping about 



