314 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



April 15 



the bees at home, the crop will be very materially de- 

 creased as a result, and, as before indicated, the cher- 

 ry will be almost an entire failure if insects can not 

 reach the bloom. Last year two prune-trees in my 

 apiary, with bees under and all about them, bloomed 

 for the first time. Considering the killing frosts of 

 last spring I thought it doubtful if I should get even a 

 sample of fruit; but it seemed that almost every blos- 

 som gave a prune. 



Clovers of all varieties are aided in the same man- 

 ner by the bee. The blossom-cups are so deep in the 

 red clover that usually the common bee can not reach 

 the nectar, and do not work this variety; hence it de- 

 pends mostly upon the bumble-bee. Australia had no 

 bumble-bees; and when they planted the red clover 

 there it would not seed because of lack of fertiliza- 

 tion; and to remedy this they imported those bees 

 from this country, and all went well thereafter. Cut 

 open a lopsided apple, and in the undeveloped side 

 you will find no seed. The undeveloped part was 

 caused by a lack of fertilization on thatpaitof the 

 bloom. 



FASTENING FOUNDATION IN FRAMES. 



Dr. Miller:—! see in Gleanings for Dec. 

 15 an aiticle about sticks in frames for fasten- 

 ing the foundation. 1. Please let me know 

 the size. 2. Will these answer for extracting 

 -without any wire in frame ? 3. In speaking 

 of the engraving under No. 1, "half bottom 

 not yet nailed on," does this mean that there 

 are holes in top and bottom bars for inseition 

 of the sticks? 4. How are the sticks imbed- 

 ded in the foundation ? 5. Which founda- 

 tion, "medium or light," is best? 



Ashland, Ore., Jan. 23. W. C. MvER. 



1. The length is yi inch less than the in- 

 side measure from top to bottom bar, and the 

 sticks are -^ inch square. The reason for 

 having the sticks y% inch shorter than the 

 space between top and bottom bar is that it is 

 easier to handle the shorter sticks in putting 

 them in ; and, besides, basswood (of which 

 timber the sticks are made) increases in length 

 as well as thickness when it swells, and when 

 the wood is thrown into boiling wax I think 

 it likely that it increases in length. 



2. Yes. I extr-icted about 300 pounds from 

 such combs that had been built the same sum- 

 mer, and there was no trouble. 



3. No. The sticks do not necessarily touch 

 either top-bar or bottom-bar, and there are no 

 holes to let them in. The object of having 

 the bottom-bar in two pieces is to allow the 

 foundation to go between the tv\o \ arts. The 

 foundation is cut >^ inch wider than the inside 

 depth of the frame. That, allows % inch at 

 the top to go into a saw kerf in the top-bar, 

 and % inch at the bottom between the two 

 parts of the bottom-bar. The foundation is 

 cut so as to make a close fit to the end bars at 

 each side, the frame is put on the board , such 

 as is commonly used for putting foundation 

 in frames ; the foundation is slipped into the 

 saw-kerf of the top-bar, and then the second 

 part of the bottom-bar is put in place, a single 

 small wire nail is driven at the middle to fast- 

 en the two parts of the bottom-bar together, 

 and then the remaining nail is put into each 

 end of the bottom-bar. Top-bars and end- 

 bars are \yi inches wide, and each part of the 

 bottom bar %, inch wide. That allows l /$ inch 

 between the two parts of the bottom-bar for 

 the foundation. 



4. If you put in the dry sticks, the bees 



will gnaw them out every time. Put a little 

 bunch of the sticks in melted wax, keeping 

 the wax where it will stay hot. At first the 

 air and moisture in the sticks will make a 

 great frothing, and you will not imbed any 

 till all settles and becomes clear. Then with 

 a pair of tweezers, or something of the kind, 

 lift a stick out of the wax, lay it in place, and 

 press it into the foundation with a presser 

 made of a little board about as long as the 

 sticks, or not quite so long, and about y% inch 

 thick. The edge that presses in the sticks 

 must be kept soaked in water, so the wax will 

 not stick to it. Five sticks are used in a 

 frame, one about an inch from each end-bar, 

 the other three at regular intervals. In rare 

 cases I've had the bees gnaw at the sticks, 

 even when cooked in wax, but I don't know 

 why. 



5. I have used rather heavy foundat r on 

 (some I've had on hand for a number of 

 years), but it may be that light foundatii n 

 would do just as well. Certainly just as light 

 foundation can be used as if wire replaced the 

 sticks. 



Thej-e sticks allow the combs to be built sol- 

 id to the bottom bar (but sometimes the bees 

 will dig under), and I know of no advantage 

 in any way that the wires have over them. 



Marengo, 111. C. C. Miller. 



PERFORATED SEPARATORS, ETC. 



1. I have a lot of wooden separators, and 

 should like to know if it would be any advan- 

 tage or disadvantage to bore ^-inch holes 

 through them so as to allow a passageway. 



2. What do you strain your extracted hor.ey 

 through, and in what way? 



3. About how often and how much do you 

 feed an average colony to encourage brood- 

 rearing? 



4. Is there any advantage in having a bee- 

 way on top of the sections ? 



5. I wonder how many put sections in a 

 damp place awhile before folding, instead of 

 welting or steaming them. It goes ahead of 

 either way if you do it right. 



Walter Garabrant. 

 Mendham, N. J., Mar. 28. 



[1. Separators with perforations in them 

 are betttr than those that are plain, I believe. 

 I would suggest that you try a few supers 

 equipped in this way: Half the super with 

 plain separators, and'the other half perforat- 

 ed. Note particularly the filling of the sec- 

 tions, and the rate of filling of the two lots. 



2. We recommend an ordinary cheese-cloth 

 sack, suspended under the mouth of the 

 honey-gate. 



3. About half a pint of syrup daily is con- 

 sidered a very good allowance for stimulative 

 feeding. 



4. There must be a beeway in the top of 

 the s( ctions, provided the supers are tiered 

 one above the other. Closed-top sections are 

 used only when one super at a time is allowed 

 on the hive; but if there is a good honey-flow 

 and a big colony the bees work at a disadvan- 

 tage when they have, only one super. 



5. A good many practice the plan; and I 



