334 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



for the bees to glue them fast at any point. 

 The frames are always free to handle: and. 

 when the follower is in, not a frame can leave 

 its correct position in the hive. I want nothing 

 heavier than % inch thick for top-bar.<. The 

 staples are no hindrance in using the uncap- 

 piug-knife, as I know we can and have extract- 



ed 1800 lbs. of honey from the hive in less than 

 three hours, with two of us, one to take them 

 from the bees and one to run the extractor. 



F. BOOMHOWER. 



Gallupville, N. W, Jan. 25. 



[This is the hive and frame I promised (page 

 128) to show, although, as I have already point- 

 ed out. some of the principles are over 20 years 

 old. The new e?u7-spaced Hoffman, I think, 

 would generally be preferred to frame as above 

 shown; still, others may think differently. — Ed.] 



NATUBAL COMBS IN WIRED FRAMES. 



In perusing your March 1st issue I was some- 

 what surprised to find a great discovery had 

 just been made and commented upon as some- 

 thing new in bee-keeping, and the great possi- 

 bilities for bee-keepers to produce natural 

 combs by having them built directly in wired 

 frames, straight and true, without the aid of 

 foundation. I must say that I could not refrain 

 from a broad smile at our friend, the discover- 

 er of this new (?) process. 



To me this process of getting fine straight 

 combs built in wired frames is quite old, as I 

 have been practicing it successfully for more 

 than ten years, and have had many hundred if 

 not thousands of true and straight combs built 

 in my apiaries. 



Two or three conditions are requisite for the 

 best results, and must be strictly observed in 

 getting these combs built true in wired frames, 

 and true on the wires. The frames should 

 have a V starter or its equivalent, and the hive 

 must stand level from side to side, and be el- 

 evated one or more inches higher at the back 

 than front. 



If brood-combs are desired, a foundation 

 starter can be used about one inch wide, to in- 

 duce the bees to build more worker comb; and 

 if drone combs are wanted, place your wired 

 frames with or without foundation starters, in 



or near the center of a populous colony that is 

 gathering, and well stocked with honey and 

 brood; or wired frames placed above the brood 

 in the second story of the hive will generally be 

 filled with drone or store combs for extracting. 



Yes, the progressive bee keeper can get fine 

 natural combs, built without the aid of founda- 

 tion, by observing the above suggestions, and 

 compete with the closest competition, if the 

 present methods of adulteration are not taken 

 into account. J. W. Winder. 



New Orleans, La. 



CAGES FOR SENDING QUEENS LONG DISTANCES. 



I am much pleased to inform you that the last 

 two queens you sent me arrived in good order. I 

 am glad that you have adopted my suggestion 

 and made the cage deeper, and also veutilated 

 one end only, and left the other snug and warm. 

 The cage as now made is nearer perfection than 

 ever. There are no small passages, as in the 

 Manum, for the dead bees to close up, and the 

 bees can now adapt themselves to the tempera- 

 ture through which they may be passing, by 

 moving from one end to the other. I have now 

 been corresponding with you for several years 

 in regard to the construction of these cages; 

 and while you have maintained all along that 

 the food had much more to do with the success- 

 ful conveyance of the queens than the cage, I 

 have insisted that the construction of the cage 

 is equally important, and I think so yet. I am 

 not yet convinced that honey as a part of their 

 rations conduces any thing to success, and I'll 

 tell you why: By the mail before last I received 

 8 queens from you, of which4 were dead; and in 

 one of the cages with the live queen the honey 

 had not been touched. The candy, if properly 

 made, will never run and daub the bees, and it 

 contains all the essentials necessary to sustain 

 the bee to the end of its natural life, and honey 

 can't do more. When the time arrives I intend 

 to send you 4 queens by the same mail, put up 

 in cages similar to your latest, but in two of 

 them I will fill the " honey " compartment with 

 candy, and you can carefully note the condition 

 of those cages containing a part ration of honey 

 and those with none. 



In regard to those two queens that I received 

 last, in one cage the queen was the only inmate 

 alive, but she was so lively that she was amus- 

 ing herself by flying around the cage. The 

 other cage, however, made my heart jump, for 

 it contained 33 clean, lively workers, and only 

 17 dead ones. By the same boat I received two 

 queens from Jennie Atchley, put up in a parti- 

 tioned box similar to those sent out from Italy, 

 with oae small frame of honey ouly for food, 

 and about 100 escort bees. In one compartment 

 the queen and all the bees, with the exception 

 of a solitary worker, were dead, while the other 

 compartment contained two live workers and 

 the queen. 



