1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



307 



them so long as I could get wide frames. I 

 prefer the wide frames to any other arrange- 

 ment for comb honey, except, perhaps, the 

 Danzy super with or without the fence which 

 I tried last season, and believe will prove su- 

 perior — in my hands at least — to any other 

 arrangement now in the market. 



In regard to the large and small hives, after 

 using the three sizes mentioned above for the 

 last three years I have settled on the ten- 

 frame as the best for my locality. I believe 

 locality has nmch to do in selecting the proper 

 size. ' M. D. Andes. 



Bristol, Tenn., March 25. 



BLACK vs. ITAIJAN BEES; A GOOD SHOWING 

 FOR THE ITAMANS. 



I had two swarms of black bees three years, 

 and gave them each one full hive and one su- 

 per, which were filled with hone\' each year. 

 They have never cast a swarm. Now listen to 

 the yellow bees. Last year I had four colonies, 

 and gave them the same treatment I gave the 

 blacks — plenty of room; two of them did not 

 swarm, and gave me lots of nice honey. The 

 other two did swarm three times each, and 

 gave no surplus honey. They were all in fine 

 condition. L. E. Burlev. 



Exeter, N. H. 



[If you had tested the two kinds of bees 

 both the same season, the result would have 

 been a little more exact. However, I must 

 confess that I want to believe that the Italians 

 are a little bit ahead generally. There will be 

 something interesting about this same subject 

 in this issue, from the pen of O. O. Poppleton. 

 —Ed.] 



ventii.ation from between super and 



HIVE. 



I see there is some discussion in Gleanings 

 in regard to the use of blocks under the hive, 

 to admit of ventilation in warm weather; but 

 I consider it useless labor, as I have been ven- 

 tilating about 150 colonies for comb honey for 

 four or five years, by placing the super on the 

 hive so as to admit about y% to Yi, inch space 

 on top of the hive right over the end-bars, 

 clear across the hive, which I find ample ven- 

 tilation; and as the opening is above the en- 

 trance the ventilation is more direct, and the 

 bees can also use it as an upper entrance, 

 which has proved to do no harm when the 

 space is closed later in the season. 



Centreville, O. G. W. Lawson. 



[Yes, I know you can get ventilation by 

 opening the top of the hive; but I will bet a 

 cooky, friend Lawson, that you would secure 

 riper honey and better-filled sections, and 

 have what is of considerable importance, more 

 fragile comb, if you secure the ventilation by 

 a larger or deeper entrance. In order to carry 

 on comb-building, ripen honey, and cap the 

 cells, the bees must have the requisite tem- 

 perature; and letting draughts of air strike 

 the top of the sections, as it will do at times, 

 does not bring about the most favorable con- 

 ditions, certainly, for comb-building, to my 

 way of thinking. — Ed.] 



HOW yellow-jackets tear open BEES. 



Last autumn, 1897, I noticed yellow-jackets 

 alighting at the entrance of a hive. Not only 

 did they alight without molestation or chal- 

 lenge, but made their way fearlessly into the 

 hive. Investigation revealed the fact that, 

 in several hives, there were a few yellow-jack- 

 ets, though there was no evidence of harm 

 being done by them. Some of the hives were 

 cleared of all I saw. In the spring I shall 

 carefully inspect all hives for evidences of 

 their presence. 



On melon rinds last autumn I often saw 

 bees killed by these pests. A jacket would 

 grab a bee by the side, and, quick as a wink, 

 tear a hole into its honey-sac, and leisurely 

 proceed to devour its contents. Whether any 

 of this is new to the fraternity, I do not know. 

 I give it for what it may be worth. 



Bees are wintering nicelj'. Of 4() colonies 

 in fall, all were alive a few days ago. 



Pueblo, Col. O. L. REED. 



THE golden section-cleaner; is it pat- 

 entable? how to make the sand- 

 belt. 



I see on page 130 what Bro. Golden calls 

 a section-cleaner, and that he says he is going 

 to have it protected by a patent. Well, that 

 sounds to me pretty nearly as bad as the story 

 I have just told you of the bees in this part of 

 Florida. If Bro. Golden will use a band on 

 his machine, made of several thicknesses of 

 coarse muslin, and then put a good coat of 

 glue on the outside of the band, and then just 

 sprinkle the band with a good coat of sand, of 

 the grade or fineness he wishes his work 

 done on the sections, he will have just the 

 proper thing for cleaning sections. That is 

 the way all the sandpapering and polishing of 

 all the fork, shovel, and other kind of han- 

 dles have been done, to my knowledge, for 

 over 15 years; and he will find, when he en- 

 deavors to obtain a patent on that, that he is 

 not the inventor of that process at all, by sev- 

 eral years, and I do not think I am making a 

 mistake when I say that, if you will try the 

 same plan on your machine, on p. 186, you 

 will find out you do not need any sandpaper 

 on your wheel at all; just fasten on a few hick- 

 nesses of coarse muslin; sand it, and let it dry, 

 and that will last much longer than sand- 

 paper, and will make the dirt more than fly. 



W. C. Green. 



Lakeland, Fla., Mar. 5. 



KEEPING BEES ON shares ; A NEW PLAN OF 



division. 

 The question is asked as to a fair rental for 

 bees. What do you think of the following? 

 The party of the first part gives the bees, 

 hives and fixtures, with the use of bee pasture, 

 to the party of the second part, who there- 

 upon assumes all future cost for the term 

 of years for which the bees are rented out, 

 for hives, honey-boxes, foundation, and, in 

 fact, every thing that may be needed in the 

 proper care of a well-ordered apiary. The 

 party of the second part gives to the party 

 of the first part a tenth of all the surplus 



