1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEK CULTURE. 



471 



iug off the capping seems to go pretty well. 

 When it is very warm and the honey is thin, 

 quite a sHce of the top of the cells makes the 

 best time. Practice alone will tell which is 

 best, every time. The combs must be left 

 level, any wa}-. 



As a parting warning I will say, don't lick 

 off the honey-knife. There is a story current 

 in Groton that Niver once did, with results 

 that all who know him will never forget. So, 

 doJi't. 



Ithaca, N. Y. 



[A short time ago a correspondent wished 

 to tell me in detail just how Mr. Coggshall 

 does his uncapping. As I knew that Mr. C. 

 could tell it better than I, I referred the in- 

 quir}' to him, requesting that he write it up 

 for Gle.^nings. But it seems the latter 

 again referred it to his right-hand man, Mr. 

 Howe, a schoolteacher, who is more " used to 

 writing for print." I would state, in addition, 

 that a great deal of Mr. Coggshall's buck- 

 wheat honey is so very thick in the coml)s 

 that it is thrown out of the extractor before 

 the bees have time to cap all of it; at least, 

 the combs that were taken out the day I visit- 

 ed one of his yards were, about 75 per cent of 

 them, put into the extractor without uncap- 

 ping, for, indeed, there was no uncapping to 

 be done; and the honej- — well, I should say it 

 would run nearly 12 lbs. to the gallon. I be- 

 lieve Mr. Coggshall extracts the combs, not 

 necessarily when they are all capped over, or 

 largely so, but when the honey in them has 

 reached the proper consistency, while at some 

 seasons, and particularly in the case of honey 

 from some sources, he finds it necessary to 

 wait till the combs are capped. About those 

 metal spacers and the uncapping-knife. Dr. 

 Miller will please take notice of what Mr. 

 Howe says. — Ed.] 



THE MOSQUITO-HAWK, AND THE HARM IT DOES 

 TO BEES. 



BY A. J. Vi^RIGHT. 



What may be strictly true in one locality 

 may be strictly untrue in another. A knowl- 

 edge of this fact, and a desire to prevent the 

 wholesale slaughter of what I consider a very 

 valuable insect, impels me to write the follow- 

 ing : 



An article with the above title appeared in 

 March 15th Gleanings. I assume that the 

 writer, in using the term "mosquito-hawk," 

 referred to what is known among naturalists 

 as the dragon-fly. I should feel badly indeed 

 if I believed that the article in question should 

 induce every bee-keeper who reads the same 

 to kill on an average 100 dragon-flies per day 

 for two months (a total of 6000), as the writer 

 of said article avers he has done. Now, I do 

 not wish to be understood as questioning in 

 any way the truthfulness of the statements 

 made in the article referred to, as I do not 

 know what the heated atmosphere of Florida 

 may be capable of producing in the way of 

 dragon-flies ; but during a long and pleasant 

 acquaintance with this truly beautiful and in- 



teresting insect I have never known him to 

 be guilty of any act detrimental to the inter- 

 ests of mankind. 



My apiary and residence are but a few rods 

 from the outlet of a small lake. This outlet 

 widens into a marsh covering hundreds of 

 acres, and produces annually thousands of 

 dragon-flies and millions of their natural food, 

 mosquitoes. I have seen the dragon-fly in all 

 stages of development, from the ^^^ to the 

 adult insect. I have seen him as a larva 

 clinging to the water-lily stalks; I have seen 

 him as a pupa on the muddy bottom and 

 among the eel-gra.ss of the marsh; I have seen 

 him later in this same pupa state upon a 

 water-lily leaf going through a series of con- 

 tortions to free himself from the outer skin, 

 from which he emerges a very king of insects, 

 clothed in purple and gold, with transparent 

 silvery wings, dashing through the air so 

 quickly as almost to elude the eye. I have 

 watched him l)y the hour in the apiary among 

 thousands of flying bees, and have never 

 known him to interfere with them in anyway; 

 and I should require strong evidence to con- 

 vince me that he ever eats a honey-bee, or, 

 under the name of darning-needle, sews up the 

 ears of naughty boys and girls. But here he 

 comes; let us watch him for a time; possibly 

 he may furnish the evidence to convict him- 

 self. He is now in the apiary, and seems to 

 remain motionless in the air. He now makes 

 a sudden dash, and ^^ou next see him darting 

 downward over the strawberry-bed, and sad 

 havoc he is making in that swarm of mosqui- 

 toes and gnats, darting rapidly back and forth; 

 and now, joined by another of his kind, both 

 literally fill their arms with the soft-bodied 

 inse cts, and then retire to enjo}- their well- 

 earned supper. It is now after sunset, and 

 the dragon-flies have greatly increased in 

 number, while the swarm of mosquitoes and 

 small flies has disappeared. What is the cause 

 of that small cloud of dust, and that rustling 

 iioise over there among the grass ? My bee- 

 keeper friend, it is a bee-moth struggling in 

 the grasp of a dragon-fly, and this is only one 

 among hundreds that will perish in the same 

 way before the setting of another sun. 



In conclusion, I do not believe the dragon- 

 fly, or mosquito-hawk, of northern localities, 

 is an enemy to bees; and I believe that earnest 

 investigation will prove him a friend; and the 

 object of this article will be attained if this 

 beautiful insect is accorded a fair and impar- 

 tial trial upon its merits. 



Bradford, N. Y. 



••••»»»•- 



APPARATUS FOR FOLDING PAPER TRAYS FOR 

 COMB-HONEY SHIPPING-CASES. 



BY WM. MUTH-RASMUSSEN. 



A few years ago I asked G. M. Doolittle if 

 he knew of any better way of making the pa- 

 per trays than by folding over a square-cor- 

 nered board. I had then already invented 

 and used the device described below; but I 

 thought that he or some one else might know 

 of something better. I had particularly in 

 mind the folding of the corners of a common 



