802 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15. 



as a stopper w hilc putting in tlu' boes and 

 queen. When all are in, the wire cloth is fold- 

 ed back and tacked. It is a little awkward at 

 first, but is very easily done after a few trials. 

 Please tell us who the parties are that made 

 the mistake, and we will send them a marked 

 copy of this.] 



SECTION box; size of nuci.eus hives and 



FRAMES. 



During the eai'ly part of the season I started 

 a nucleus stock by means of sections instead of 

 using frames, and I was surprised to find how 

 well this method worked. In a few weeks the 

 empty comb that I used was one mass of brood 

 all ovei'; and on placing a second tier of sections 

 on these they were worked as quickly as those 

 below. I took this idea of using sections from 

 Rambler, but I have since used a frame of such 

 dimensions that two will just fit inside a Sim- 

 plicity frame. Having put foundation starters 

 into these small frames I place them in the 

 brood-nest of a strong colony, and. on their be- 

 coming full of capped brood, I take the small 

 frames out of the large one, with plenty of bees 

 with them, and put them into a Simplicity hive, 

 between division-boards. I pi-efer placing four 

 of these small frames of brood side by side. 14 

 from center to center, and support them onT 

 strips placed crosswise, covering the frames 

 with a quilt or board, leaving space between 

 the frames and the board. In course of time I 

 add a second tier of frames; and when these 

 are fully capped ovei- 1 return the whole set of 

 frames to Simplicity frames, adding full-sized 

 frames of brood to bring the colony up to full 

 strength. 



We are not well situated for bringing forward 

 nuclei, on account of the cold nights, and the 

 fact that we are 400 feet above sea-level: but 

 still I have noticed the same difficulty in regard 

 lousing full-sized frames in other "places. A 

 two-frame nucleus seldom does well by itself. 

 No doubt a cubical chamber of the same ca- 

 pacity as the two-frame space would give the 

 best results: but from actual experiment I find 

 that the contracted frame, as described above, 

 increases the working capacity of the swarm in 

 a marked degree. .]. T. Siiujee. 



Nashville, Or., Aug. lit. 



tkansfekring; fuel vs. narroav sheets of 

 foundation for wired frames; 

 questions by a beo inner. 



I have, after reading Gleanings, decided to 

 transfei- my bees, which are in frames 9K x 11. 

 to the L. frame. Having them wired, as I un- 

 derstand that the combs in L. frames require 

 wiring to prevent them fi'ora sagging, I should 

 be glad to have you instruct me how to trans- 

 fei' them to the wii'ed fi'amc^s. 



Can I use half or third sheets of comb founda- 

 tion on wired frames? Will bees build combs 

 down when whole sheets are not used? 



Chelsea, Mich.. Oct. 3i B. Parker. 



[To transfer, use any of the methods recom- 

 menaed in the standard bee-books; in a word, 

 cut the comb out from your old fiames, and 

 size one or more pieces so they will (it in an L. 

 frame. Set the latter over until the wires lie 

 on the comb: with a knife di'aw a gash along 

 the • line of each wire. *o the septum of the 

 comb. Press the frame down, and crowd the 

 wires into the gashes made in the coinb. Wind 

 a string around a couple of times; tie. and hang 

 the frame in the hive. If you do not get around 

 to take the strings off. the bees will. They will 

 very quickly heal up, as it were, the gashes 

 made along the line of the wire, though they 

 do in some cases, particulaily when they have 

 nothing el.se to do. eat around the wire. You 



can use nari'ow sheets, but we would recom- 

 mend wide full sheets of foundation. The bees 

 will make full combs off from narrow starters 

 of foundation, but there may be some of it drone 

 comb.] 



SMALL BEE-SPACE AND THICK TOP-FRAMES AS 

 A PREVENTIVE OF BUKK-COMBS. 



There has been much discussion of late in 

 reference to burr-combs. Some very good sug- 

 gestions have been made, and numerous theo- 

 ries advanced, explaining the cause of their be- 

 ing built, as well as offering a means whereby 

 we may overcome them, or at least reduce them 

 to a minimum. Our expei'ience has proved 

 clearly to our minds, that, by using a top-bar % 

 inch thick, and allowing not more than ^4 inch 

 between the top of brood -frames and the bot- 

 tom of super, we have not been bothered much 

 with burr-combs. We come to this conclusion 

 from actual observation, where we had >?« inch 

 between the fiames and super; we had a good 

 supply of burr-combs, and by reducing the 

 space we found that burr-combs had become al- 

 most a thing of the i)ast. 



Another feather in regard to burr-combs, 

 which is of very great importance, is. never 

 place a brood-frame in the hive without being 

 sure that the top is perfectly clean. This will 

 tend, to a great extent, to lessen their forma- 

 tion.— 77ie Bee Journal, Winona, Wis. 



THAT FIRST BEE-ESCAPE. 



As there is some controversy of late as to who- 

 is the inventor of the ■'bee-escape," I hope 

 none of these claimants will get too hot if I put 

 in my say, always recollecting the best stories 

 are told last. I am not going to claim the pre- 

 mium myself, but — not long since an old Ger- 

 man came into our office, and, on seeing a Por- 

 ter bee- escape, when told its use he said: 

 "Mine uncle in der fadder land, more as forty 

 yeai' ago. nuike him bee-escape mit stick like 

 elder und hog-hrusscis. Hi- fdke stick so long" 

 (about three inches as he measured oft), "clean 

 him middle out. then make him pointed like 

 pencil, then tie him round mit hog-brussel. then 

 stick other end in hole in hive. De bees come 

 out between de hairs and could no go back 

 again." 



In explanation of its use he said that some 

 people killed their bees to get th(> honey; but 

 by using this they could nearly all be gotten 

 out into a box or other hive; then by care to 

 get the " king " bee he could still have a hive 

 of bees. 



Here, gentlemen, is, I think, a claim prior to 

 any of yours, patented in the " sixties." and you 

 may be compelled to yield the honor to " Der 

 fadder land." — Nebraska Bee-keeper. 



HOW SOLDIERS WERE POISONED BY EATING 

 HONEY TWENTY-THREE CENTURIES AGO. 



I append here a little account of an occurrence 

 that happened Feb. 3— 6, 400 B.C., in Asia Minor, 

 some 20 miles south of Trebizond, on the Black 

 Sea. While the translation may not be exactly 

 as scholarly as some might prefer, yet it is for 

 the story I send it. It is from Xenophon's Anab- 

 asis. Book IV.. Chap. VIII., U)— 31. 



Atlantic, Iowa, Nov. 3. W. C. Frazier. 



" Having passed the summit, the Greeks en- 

 camped in a number of villages containing an 

 abundance of provisi(m. As to other things 

 here, there was nothing at which they wore 

 surprised; but the number of bee-hives was ex- 

 traordinary, and all the soldiers that ate of the 

 combs lost their reason, vomited, and were 

 much purged, and none of them were able to 

 stand perpendicular. Such as had eaten a little 

 were like men greatly intoxicated, and such as 



