ro4 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1. 



extended the comb down to the bottom of the 

 section, and bnilt or stuck it all around, the 

 same as any other foundation. For my part I 

 should prefer the sections only half full of the 

 raised foundation, as I think it is^just as good 

 as having them filled, thereby saving expense. 

 The principal feature of it is to get bees started 

 to build ; after that, there will be no trouble, 

 and your new process of manufactured comb 

 starts them sure. The only difficult part I 

 experience is in fastening them to the section. 

 Bloomdale, O., Sept. 7. M. N. Simon. 



THE DEEP-CELL FOUNDATION A SUCCESS IN 

 EVERY WAY. 



The 20 combs of drawn foundation were all 

 finished up nicelv, and their eating qualities 

 can not be surpassed. This was a very poor 

 season to test it by the side of common foun- 

 dation, as bees would start on any sheet of 

 wax. Some j^ears we know it is hard to start 

 them, even on the best foundation. I expect 

 to use the drawn foundation another season 

 entirely. J. C. WheELER. 



Piano, 111. 



UNFAVORABLE FOR NEW DRAWN FOUN- 

 DATION. 



The willow-herb was a failure in this local- 

 ity, so I could not give the new drawn foun- 

 dation a test from that source. A few sections 

 containing common foundation have been 

 filled and finished from fall flowers, but none 

 containing new drawn foundation have been 

 finished. " The third day after putting on the 

 svipers the common foundation was drawn out 

 farther than the new drawn foundation clear 

 down to the base. R. E. Ashcraft. 



Woodville, Mich., Sept. 3. 



[It is the exact truth that we want. If there 

 are more reports of a like character, let them 

 come in. — Ed.] 



OCCURRING THOUGHTS. 



BY J. 



W. SOUTHWOOD. 



Mr. Editor: — On page 527 you say, "It 

 does little if any good to put any thing on a 

 bee-sting." Try ma-le-na. It not onl}' al- 

 lays the pain if applied soon, but by its 

 pleasant smell destroys the odor of the sting 

 and thus prevents the b^'es from becoming 

 angered. It is found in drugstores generally, 

 and costs 10 cts. per box. It is a good salve 

 for many purposes. It is manufactured at 

 Warrior's Mark, Pa. [The pain is very brief 

 at most, and my way is to grin and bear it. 

 The pain would be over before I could get the 

 stuff on. To destroy the odor I blow smoke 

 on the wound. — Ed.] 



On page 533 of American Bee Journal, Mr. 

 A. B. Mellen says he prefers piling up the su- 

 pers five or six high with a cone escape on 

 top, rather than use a Porter bee-escape, as it 

 saves one handling. I have never practiced 

 that method, but have seen it practiced, and 

 believe I can free the supers with less work 

 and less liability of destroying the capping by 

 the use of the Porter escape. I think it a 

 grand invention. 



One diflference between pure blood and 

 thoroughbred is that pure blood is barely sus- 

 ceptible of improvement, while thoroughbred 

 can be greartly improved. G. M. Doolittle, 

 on pages 500 and 501, points out this fact rel- 

 ative to the black bees as compared with the 

 Italians. While the latter have been, and ma)- 

 yet be, greatl}- improved, the black or Ger- 

 mans are barely susceptible of improvement. 



When from some cause queens are not clip- 

 ped, many times the queen ma}- be caged as 

 she issues from the hive. Prepare a roomy 

 cage ; and if the hive has a full entrance, pre- 

 pare an entrance-block ; and, if near at hand, 

 pass to the hive while the swarm is issiiing, 

 and lessen the size of entrance by moving the 

 entrance-block endwdse at one side of entrance 

 so the eye caji easil}- see the full width ; and 

 as the queen comes out cage her b}' putting a 

 cage over her. vSlie usually comes out quite 

 reluctantly toward the last, and sometimes 

 comes only to the entrance, and then goes 

 back. In such cases I open the hive and take 

 her out, as she is quite easil}- found. I fre- 

 quentl}' take queens of after-swarms in this 

 way. 



ITALIANS vs. BLACKS FOR WINTERING; FEED- 

 ING; UNIFORMITY IN HIVES; WIRING 

 frames; METAL-CORNERED 

 FRAMES. 



A correspondent sends in a number of ques- 

 tions ; and as I do not think it best to take as 

 nuich space in answering them as I usually do 

 to each question, I have thought best to num- 

 ber them and answer by number. 



1. Do you think that Italian bees stand the 

 cold winters we have in 43° north latitude as 

 well as the black or German bees ? 



Ans. — It is said by some that the)^ do not ; 

 and I used to believe that what the ' ' some ' ' 

 said was the truth ; but that was before I made 

 any careful tests in the matter. Some eight- 

 een or twenty 3'ears ago I began to look care- 

 fully into the matter of wintering; and during 

 the experience of all of these years since, I 

 have become convinced that there is little if 

 au)^ difference in favor of either along tliis 

 line. Some winters the blacks seem to do the 

 better ; in others, the Italians come out ahead. 



2. A neighbor has given me some bees in 

 box hives, because he thinks they have not 

 stores enough to winter on. How can I feed 

 these bees ? 



Ans. — This is very easih^ done at this time 

 of the year hy boring a hole in the top of the 

 hive, if there is none already there, and plac- 

 ing a feeder on top, covering all w\\X\ a hood, 

 box, half-bushel, or something of the kind. If 

 you do not have a feeder, a suitable-sized tin ba- 

 sin or pan will answer every purpose for such 

 feeding. After having the feed in the pan, 



