416 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1. 



wire, etc.; but this is simply a door-bell, and I 

 don't know whether it is the right outfit or not. 



There is a gang of wild boys here who take 

 delight in robbing bees— not only mine, but all 

 over the neighborhood. They took about $3.00 

 worth of nice white comb honey from one hive 

 last year, and held a grand pow-wow on the 

 corners. I saw honey and wads of wax there 

 the next morning: found out who was there, 

 got the sheriff on track of them, but they de- 

 nied having any honey or any knowledge of it. 

 I could not prove it in court, or, at least, the 

 prosecuting attorney thought so. No arrests 

 were made, but the sheriff told me he knew I 

 was on the right track, for they all showed 

 guilt when questioned. I have lost honey ev- 

 ery year. Sometimes they destroy the whole 

 hive, and I am getting sick of it. I always give 

 them all they want to eat, but there is no " fun " 

 about it then. They like the fun of " cooning " 

 it. I can't work hard all day and watch every 

 night, so I wish to try some kind of alarm to 

 wake me. H. L. Hutchinson. 



Mayville, Mich. 



[The battery described in Gleanings, page 

 206, current volume, would hardly be suitable 

 for an electric alarm; that is, it would be too 

 strong and too expensive. The one that you 

 mention, which you can get of Montgomery 

 Ward & Co., including battery, door-bell, and 

 insulated wire, is just about the thing, and the 

 price is very reasonable. The bell should be 

 stationed in your bedroom, and the two wires 

 should attach the bell to a point outside the 

 house. The bell and battery may be in the 

 same room. Directions which go with the out- 

 fit would show you how to arrange the bell and 

 battery, so there will be no trouble along that 

 score. But very little wire will be needed. The 

 spool of linen thread, mentioned on page 266, 

 1895, should be long enough to go clear around 

 the apiary, or the space of ground that you 

 wish to protect from depredations of thieves. 

 As there explained, the thread should pass 

 through eyelets fastened to trees or posts, and 

 should be low enough, say about two feet from 

 the ground, so as not to be seen by those who 

 go into the apiary. As there explained, one 

 end of the thread is made fast, and the other 

 end fastened to a wooden plug tbat separates 

 the two brass springs forming the two poles of 

 the battery, as explained in our journal, 1895. 

 By following directions there given, together 

 with the directions that go with the battery 

 outfit from Montgomery Ward & Co., I think 

 you will be able to make the thing work all 

 right.— Ed.] 



QUEEN-BEKS IN THE MAILS; SLIPSHOD QUEEN- 

 BREEDERS. 



The monthly Postal Guide for May is before 

 me, and I see in the classification of mail matter 

 that queen-bees are mentioned as admissible 

 when properly packed, and this is a matter I 

 think you ought to call the brethren to in big 

 words of warning. Have a notice in every 

 journal, and ask the other journals to do like- 

 wise. It is a serious matter, and one that needs 

 attention. A few years ago I was going to 

 write you, but neglected to. I got a queen, sent 



me from a queen- breeder, in a second-hand 

 cage. The candy was put into the wrong end 

 of the cage; and in place of the cork he used a 

 piece of corn-stalk. It must have dried out, or 

 was too small when put in; anyhow, when I 

 took the cage out of the mail-bag, the queen 

 was nearly out. I just said then I wouldn't 

 have had those bees get out in the mail for a 

 dozen such queens. C. M. Hicks. 



Hicksville, Md. 



[I am glad you have called attention to this 

 matter, friend Hicks. We can not afford to 

 lose the valuable privilege we now have of 

 sending queens in the mails, by such careless- 

 ness on the part of queen breeders. If there 

 are any queen-breeders who put their queens up 

 in any such manner as above explained, send 

 us the" particulars.— Ed.] 



HOW BEES CHOOSE A LOCATION SOMETIMES, 

 PREPARATORY TO SWARMING. 



On page 293 of the ABC book you say that 

 bees choose a location sometimes before swarm- 

 ing. This I know to be true. To-day it was 

 verified. Yesterday, when I returned to the 

 ranch, my brother told me that there was a lot 

 of bees out in the wagon-shfd. Going thereto 

 see what the matter was I found probably a 

 hundred bees buzzing excitedly around some 

 empty hives that I had tiered up. By dark all 

 had disappeared. This morning I closed the 

 entrance to all but one, the highest, and in the 

 front tier I prepared it with frames of founda- 

 tion, and left it. This afternoon the hive was 

 taken possession of by a strong colony of black 

 bees. They are not from my own apiary, half 

 a mile away, as I have only Italians and hy- 

 brids. John M. France. 



Moreno, Cal. 



BOARDMAN EXTRACTOR AND'OLD COMBS. 



Does the Boardman sobr extractor take out 

 the wax of old combs near enough so that the 

 refuse is not worth while fussing with, even 

 with sulphuric acid '? Gustave Gross. 



Milford, Wis. 



[The Boardman wax-extractor, if used prop- 

 erly, will get almost every particle of wax out 

 of old combs; but the old stuff needs to be 

 stirred occasionally so as to let the wax out of 

 the refuse. It may take a week, however, for 

 all the wax to run out. The stuff' that remains 

 is hardly worth fussing with.— Ed.] 



WEED DRAWN FOUNDATION. 



A Step in the right direction has been taken 

 by our American cousins in the manufacture 

 and introduction of the new "Weed" founda- 

 tion, which must necessarily mean a saving of 

 time and labor to the industrious insects; and 

 experience has taught us that, where drawn 

 comb is used, bees commence work much soon- 

 er. The " Weed " foundation will be especially 

 useful in comb-honey production.— R. Hamltn- 

 Harris, Bristol, Eng., in British Bee Journal, 

 March 18. 



