2() 



(JLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



.Tax. 1. 



thus until the bees have built the combs down, 

 and then restore to its normal position. With 

 the Dovetailed hive this can be done very nice- 

 ly. We put in a follower or division-board be- 

 cause, when removed, it gives more room for 

 handling frames. ]Many times all that is nec- 

 essaiy is to pull out the follower, shove the 

 frames apart in the center, look down between 

 the combs, and close up without removing a 

 frame. Then for any thing less than eight 

 frames the division-board is a necessity. This 

 often occurs when preparing for winter, or in 

 queen -rearing.] 



THE NEW top-bar; THE MOLDED C'OMB-(irlDE 

 NOT NEW. 



In the last issue you say, " It seems almost a 

 wonder that somebody did not think of this be- 

 fore." Somebody did' think of this. The tri- 

 angular top-bar comes pretty near it. only the 

 little buzz-saws would pei'sist in making the 

 bevel a plane instead of a concave surface. 

 About fifteen years ago a sash and blind factory 

 in Vermont made some top-bars in just this 

 form by lunning them thi'ough the " sticker." 

 which was provided with knives ground in the 

 form of two intei'secting arcs of a circle. The 

 frames were made to ordei' for a neighbor of 

 mine. I believe they were quite satisfactory, 

 yet we did not recognize any gain in making 

 them concave. 



An advantage in making the bottom- bar nar- 

 row would be found when we attempt to lift a 

 frame from between two others, the imrrow 

 bottom being less likely to ci'ush bees oi' scrape 

 the adjoining combs. A disadvantage is. that 

 this form is no better adapted to winter use 

 than the loose one. 



In your experiments in wintering, why not 

 ti"y a few colonies in single-walled hives out- 

 doois? It would act as a check upon hasty con- 

 clusions, and help to determine how much of 

 your success is due to the hive and packings, 

 and how much to thorough preparation before- 

 hand. W. H. Upton. 



Morning Sun, Iowa, Dec. 2\. 



[The top-bar you describe is not exactly like 

 our own. Our cut. as we explained, did not 

 quite do justice to the comb-guide. This latter 

 projects down about \ inch below the two in- 

 tersected arcs, forming a bead, and an excellent 

 plaQe for the fastening of foundation, as we 

 shall shortly explain. In your top-bai' you dis- 

 covered no gain beeau'^e there was practically 

 no comb-guide. Our top-bar has the comb- 

 guide part and parcel of it. 



We (lid not claim that there was any advan- 

 tage in such a bottom-bar for wintering. It 

 riiulilii't make any difference. 



In rcg;ird to wiutci'ing in single-walled hives 

 outdiiors hrside tii()s(> in double-walled hives — 

 that is just what we have been doing. Bees in 

 single-walled hives have died for us before the 

 first of .Januai y. We have had most disastrous 

 results in trying to winter outdoors in hives 

 not piotected. We don"t think, hut we know, 

 hives must be protected with cases.] 



I also put it the same way in the upper cham- 

 ber, where it works as well. I do not think it 

 pays to use full sheets of foundation. 



Now about a queen you sent me last year, a 

 select and tested one. Last spring I wanted to 

 raise some early drones if I could, so I fed well 

 and put drone comb into the brood-nest, but 1 

 could not get a drone. I tried all summer to 

 get her to fill a frame of drone comb, but could 

 not get her to lay a drone egg. She filled the 

 brood-nest froiu a foiu'-frame nucleus to a 

 twelve-frame colony, with eggs. Besides that. 

 I got 42 lbs. of extracted honey: and if there is- 

 a non-swaiming race of bees I think her bees 

 belong to it, as there was not a swarm cast 

 from that colony. I received her a year ago 

 the ;.'lst of last September. 



Dr. C. H. Peabody. 



Providence. R. I., Nov. 3L 



[You can use starters, and the bees will build 

 them out into combs over wires; but you are 

 liable to get drone-cells instead of worker-cells. 

 For this reason the majority of bee-keepers de- 

 cide that they must have full sheets of founda- 

 tion in the brood-nest. The rearing of many 

 drones is pretty apt to be prognostic of swarm- 

 ing. Inversely, the rearing of ?io drones means 

 little or no swarming. It has been noticed, also, 

 during the past summer, that drone-traps at 

 the entrance curtail swarming because they 

 kill the drones. Therefore one reason why the 

 progeny of your select tested queen did not 

 swarm was because no drones were reared.] 



ISIMi STARTERS FOR WIRED FRAMES: A QUEEX 



WHOSE PROGENY WOI'LDN'T RAISE 



DRONES, OR SWARM. 



J see articles in every Gleanings about wir- 

 ing frames. Now. I let the bees do most of 

 theii- own wiring. I do it in this way: I wire 

 the frames as you recommend in A B C: put in 

 a st artel' about '.".J in. deep; put the frann- be- 

 tween two full fi'aines of comb and brood. The 

 result is. that I get the comb l>uilt clear to the 

 bottom-bar. and no sagging, as straight and 

 sTuootii as a planed board. iVs a rule, by the 

 time the comb is built down it is full of lirood. 



HOW TO MAKE A DAMP CELLAR DRY FOR BEES; 

 INFORMATION WANTED. 



Can some one tell me how a bee-cellar can be 

 remedied to prevent it from being too damp 

 during the time the bees are confined thenMn? 

 The cellar was dug eight feet deep with good 

 thick walls from the bottom to the top. and the 

 floor made of cement. The laud lies perfectly 

 level for quite a distance around, and a race of 

 water runs on the west side about 8 rods from 

 the cellar. The soil is what would be called 

 clay for the depth of (i feet, then comes sand. 

 The cellai' was so damp last winter that it 

 molded the combs considerably: and as the old 

 bees crawled out and died. they. too. would be- 

 come moldy very soon thereafter. There was 

 an abundance of good ventilation in the cellar. 

 This cellar has cost the owner now not far 

 from ^100. as it now is, and he does not like the 

 idea of casting it aside and building something 

 else, so he asks if there is not some way the 

 evil may be remedied without going to the ex- 

 pense of making another. A. 



[If your soil is porous, with a race of water S(^ 

 near as you say. it would be difficult to make 

 the cellar dry. A grout cement bottom is sup- 

 posed to remedy the evil if any thing will.] 



HOW TO RENDER OUT OI-D COMBS. 



I wish to ask what is the best method of ex- 

 tracting the wax from old combs. Do the ex- 

 tractors accom|)lisli that object better than any 

 other way of separating the wax from old 

 combs; i. e.. can you get more wax than by 

 boiling and straining and using a squeezer? I 

 should like to know thi' experience of your con- 

 tributors. It is certainly a rather unpleasant 

 job when done in the old-fashioned way of boil- 

 ing and straining. A. P. Fletcher. 



Ludlow. Vt.. Dec. 1">. 



[The Dadants say. Wait till cold weather, 

 and then nuish "em all up fine, after which ren- 

 der them by any of the well-known methods. 

 There is no betti-r method for getting out all 

 the wax than by biiiling. straining, and squeez- 



