1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



95 



entrance and freezing, and that would be all. 

 A colony in a double-walled hive, well packed, 

 hive completely covered with snow, has all 

 the ideal conditions for successful wintering 

 outdoors. 



2. Yes, the same attendant who takes care 

 of the swarm can also look after the queen ; 

 but when a queen's wing is clipped it saves 

 from a half to two-thirds of the labor of hiv- 

 ing swarms. When she is allowed to have her 

 wings, and go with the bees, several things 

 are liable to happen : First, bees, queen, and 

 all absconding ; second, the swarm clustering 

 on some high limb ; third, swarm with a 

 queen circling about for a half or a whole 

 hour, giving their owner a wild-goose chase. 



The great advantage in having a clipped 

 queen is this : A swarm goes forth, bin the 

 queen goes no further than a foot or two from 

 the entrance. As soon as the bees discover 

 they have no mother they will return to find 

 her, which, if caged, is placed in front of an- 

 other hive now orr the old stand. The super 

 that was on the old hive should be placed on 

 the new one. The bees and queen enter the 

 hive and begin work. There is no climbing, 

 no chasing with spray-pump, and the work is 

 performed easily and corrrfortably without ex- 

 citement or worry. — Ed.] 



A PLEA FOR SEPARATORS TO REACH. TO THE 

 TOPS OF THE SECTIONS. 

 Mr. Editor : — From a Straw on page 870 it 

 appears that Mr. Gathright, Dr. Miller, and 

 yourself agree pretty well that separators 

 should come !+ inch below the tops of sections; 

 and the editor adds, " Our fences for 1899 will 

 be narrow enough to allow this space above 

 and below." Additional weight is given to 

 that Straw by the fact that the American Bee 

 Journal reproduces it. Well, after all the 

 weight and added weight given to that Straw, 

 it appears to me that it should have a qualifi- 

 cation go with it. By your permission, Mr. 

 Editor, I will say that separators between sec- 

 tions having insets on the sections, or other- 

 wise, of J/^-inch only, may possibly work all 

 right according to the arrangements in that 

 Straw; but with those sections having J^-inch 

 inset the separators must come to the tops of 

 the sections, or the * sections, as a rule, will 

 be marred more or less with bulge or burr- 

 comb, or both — that is, provided the bees are 

 crowded sufficiently to secure well-filled and 

 well-finished sections. But, what is a well- 

 filled and well-finished section ? There may 

 be a world of difference of opinion on that 

 question. My answer is, sections that are 

 filled and capped against the wood nearly all 

 the way around. Let's look at it for a short 

 time. With one super placed upon another, 

 both filled with sections having a ^-inch in- 

 set, and separators % inch below the tops of 

 the sections, there will be spaces yi inch x % \ 

 x 4 inches ; or if the separators are % incu 

 above the bottoms of the sections there will 

 be spaces T 9 gx3 4 'x4 inches. Now, Mr. Editor, 

 I want to say that, in almost all my experi- 



*The term " section " properly applies to both the 

 wood and the honey. The former is a section of wood 

 and the latter is a section of honey 



ence, I have found that, when bees are crowd- 

 ed for room for stores, they will not fail to oc- 

 cupy such inviting spaces with comb and hon- 

 ey. 



The troublesome experience I have had in 

 that line has taught me a lesson that I am 

 willing to impart to others at a much cheaper 

 rate than it cost me. 



Yes, I am aware that some few colonies will 

 respect such arrangements ; but they are the 

 rare exceptions. Of course, such wide sepa- 

 rators must have some sort of passageways 

 through them. S. T. Pettit. 



Belmont, Ont., Can., Dec. 20, 1898. 



MORE ABOUT THE HYDE-SCHOLL SEPARAT- 

 ORS ; REPLY TO CRITICISMS. 



Mr. Root; — I believe that, in your criticisms 

 of our separators, you overlooked some very 

 important points. The main point is the great- 

 er free communication offered in the fence 

 separator. It is claimed that this object is the 

 one in view. If so you clearly see we have a 

 greater amount of communication in our sep- 

 arators, also a better filling of the sections 

 clear out to the wood ; for where there is a 

 cleat on the fence we have an opening in our 

 separators. Thus you see it will not only give 

 fuller sections but a larger amount of honey 

 per colony; therefore this will overcome your 

 objection of greater cost, ten times over. 

 Even granting that the extra cost was 5 cts. 

 per super, we claim that colonies where our 

 separators are used will produce at least one- 

 fourth more honey — at least, that is our ex- 

 perience. If so, then does not the extra cost 

 sink into insignificance in comparison with 

 the larger yield? Then, too, I think your 

 criticisms of their frailty a little too strong. I 

 can't help believing they are no worse to break 

 up, etc., than the lence, because they come in 

 contact only with the sections at the corners ; 

 but to those who wish something stronger I 

 will say that The A. I. Root Co. will make 

 these separators of tin also, as well as of wood; 

 and when you get a tin separator you have one 

 for years. Don't think, friends, that there is 

 a patent on these separators. They are free to 

 all. H. H. Hyde. 



Hutto, Tex., Dec. 30, 1898. 



WOOD - ZINC VS. PLAIN SHEET - ZINC HONEY- 

 BOARDS. 



By the way, that man Martin you have 

 rambling over the country, telling big yarns, 

 speaking of queen-excluding honey-boards, 

 says in Nov. loth Gleanings, "I make the 

 wood-zinc board, for they are infinitely better " 

 [my! what a term — infinitely better!] "and' 

 more durable than the plain zinc, for they do 

 not get out of shape and into innumerable 

 twists." Why isn't the man a little more 

 modest, and say, "To vie they seem much 

 superior to the plain zinc boards"? I have 

 been using them ten years ; have 700 of them, 

 and, after trying the wood-zinc, I decide that 

 I would not take them as a gift, and be com- 

 pelled to use them. 



Yes, "get into innumerable twists" like a 

 rubber hose-pipe, so you can never get them 



