1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



587 



dry summers of South Dakota are not, as a 

 rule, favorable to bee culture. We should be 

 very glad indeed to be told we are wrong. — 

 Ed!] 



combs instead of dummy boards ; plain 

 sections in the ideal super, perfec- 

 TION. 



Several days ago, while making "dummy 

 boards," with the view of using them for con- 

 tracting the brood-chamber when hiving a 

 swarm, the thought occurred to me, " Why 

 not use two or more frames from the old hive, 

 instead of dummy boards, and give the old 

 colony the frames with starters in, that are 

 taken away from the neiv colony ? ' ' 



We have often been told to place the new 

 colony on the old stand, and then take some 

 of the frames, filled with young bees, from the 

 old colony, and brush them in front of the 

 new, and let them go in, thereby further de- 

 pleting the old hive. If given two frames of 

 brood, in all stages of development, from the 

 ^^^ to the imago, I want to know if such 

 frames are not just as good for all practical 

 purposes as two dummy boards. 



Aside from what I have inquired about, I 

 wish to say that I am giving the Ideal super a 

 trial this year. About the 2oth of June I put 

 a few of them on my eight-frame Dovetailed 

 hives. Yesterday afternoon, July r2th, I re- 

 moved one of them, and found 27 out of 30 as 

 complete sections as I ever saw. If the super 

 had been unmolested 24 hours longer it would 

 have been as complete as could be. The pho- 

 tos heretofore shown in Gleanings were not 

 superior to the work done in my apiary in the 

 Ideal super. I heartily commend the Ideal 

 to all progressive bee-keepers throughout the 

 land. R. B. Arnold. 



Foster, la., July 13, 1898. 



another APIARY TOOL. 



l\Ir. Root: — You ask for a simple all-purpose 

 apiarj' tool. I will suggest a simple one for 

 your consideration. It is a large butcher- 

 knife, the end square for scraping the tops of 

 frames, also the bottom-boards, in a small 



way. The back should be thick for forcing 

 out wedges from supers. The edge is not 

 ground within 'i/i inch of the handle, so as to 

 make a better pry on the end of the super in 

 forcing the w-edges. The end of the handle 

 should be metal, to hammer vnth. In the one 

 I use the blade is 3^^ ioch thick and TV long. 

 It is not shod with metal, but I often use the 

 end as a hammer. For prying off covers the 

 end of the blade does very well, and I can lift 

 the heavy supers by forcing the blade in at the 

 corner near the handle, and twisting or turn- 

 ing the knife. The knife is used, of course, 

 for cutting and prying combs loose, and for 

 manv other uses. E. A. Chandler. 



Mesilla, N. M., June 12. 



C. M., Ohio. — There is some honey-dew this 

 year — some fair quality and some miserable 

 stuff, as you describe. If it is very bad, ex- 

 tract it and feed sugar rather than let the bees 

 use it for winter. See editorials, this issue. 



R. L. //., Ohio. — No doubt the reason your 

 honey is colored is owing to the honey-dew 

 that has been reported from several sections 

 of the country. A very little of this stuff 

 mixed with the clover and l)asswood will make 

 it all " off color," and " off" in flavor in some 

 instances. 



W. B., Canada. — There are generally quite 

 a number of queens, either hatched or in cells, 

 at the time of the issuing of second and third 

 swarms. Seconil swarms may have anywhere 

 from half a dozen to a dozen queens, but usu- 

 ally not more than one or two. 



J. I\l., Pa. — If you have had foul brood in 

 your apiary you ought to destroy all combs, 

 boil all the hives and all the implements you 

 have been using. Should you ever wish to 

 start bee-keeping again, or should any one in 

 your vicinity attempt to do so, the disease will 

 be sure to break out. Before doing any de- 

 stroying, make sure you have the disease. If 

 you will mail us a sample of the comb from 

 which the brood died, perhaps we can help 

 you to determine whether you have the dis- 

 ease or not. But be sure to wrap it in a stout 

 tin or wooden box, first wrapping the comb in 

 absorbing cotton. 



S. S. A'., IVis. — There are several ways of 

 keeping queens a few days after they hatch 

 until a place can be found' for them in some 

 nucleus or colony. But perhaps the most 

 feasible way is the West queen-cage, illustrat- 

 ed and described on page 29 of our catalog. 

 It should be used in connection vdth the 

 queen-cell protector. When the cell is placed 

 in the protector, the moment she hatches she 

 emerges into the spiral queen cage, where she 

 can be confined for several days. But the 

 older she grows, the more difficult it will be 

 to introduce her; for virgin queens a week or 

 so old are not as easily introduced as laying 

 queens. 



J. //., Mich. — It is possible your manner of 

 handling the bees has a tendency to irritate 

 them, for they should not sting, even the 

 Grossest of them, in the way you describe. 

 When handling a cross colony I would recom- 

 mend blowing half a dozen puffs of smoke in 

 the entrance ; then when the cover is lifted, 

 pry up and blow the smoke in a crack that is 

 not wide enough to let out the bees. Now 

 raise the cover and smudge them down. Do 

 not handle them after a rain, nor in the morn- 

 ing or evening. From ten o'clock to one and 

 two is the best time. Avoid quick movements 

 and jars. If you proceed as above indicated 

 you will have less trouble, we feel sure. 



