536 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15. 



bore a large number of holes at once, my ad- 

 vice to them is to equip themselves with one. 

 Bee-fever patients are very kind and free with 

 their advice. This is one of the symptoms of 

 the disease. When W. Z. Hutchinson reads 

 this he will smile clear across his face and 

 half way down his back, and he will say, " We 

 have all been there ; he's there now." 

 Eden, N. Y., March 31. 



[It is an old idea, supporting sections in the 

 super by means of the separators or fences. 

 But it is not entirely satisfactory on account of 

 shrinking and swelling. It may do in some 

 localities under some conditions. 



Laying sections (oblong ones) on their 

 sides is another old idea, but it has been aban- 

 doned because one long side of the box will 

 be better filled than the other, and when the 

 box is stood on end on the counter it does not 

 begin to present as nice an appearance as one 

 that was filled while on the hive in an up- 

 right position. Your boxes brought more 

 money because they were larger — weighed 

 more, and looked larger. — Ed.] 



WEED FOUNDATION AND ITS SUPERIORITY. 



Starters in Sections; the Difference in Chewing 

 Quality between the Natural Comb and one that 

 has been Built from Full Sheets of Extra-tbin 

 Foundation; Cold-blast Smokers, Again; the 

 Defects of the Clark, and how a Real Cold Blast 

 should be Made ; Fuel. 



BY C. DAVENPORT. 



For some years past I have made most of my 

 own foundation ; but last season I sold my 

 mill, and, after using up what I have of my 

 own make on hand, I shall probably buy what 

 I use in the future, though I may buy a Given 

 press, as a party here has one that he has of- 

 fered to sell me very cheaply, and I have 

 some curiosity to try it ; but I think, as many 

 others do, that it hardly pays one, unless he 

 runs a very large number of colonies, to make 

 his own. It is true that there is a great differ- 

 ence between the price of foundation and 

 wax ; but probably few who have not tried it 

 realize how much work and bother it is to rig 

 up, properly purify the wax, and make it into 

 foundation ; and, though I have had consider- 

 able experience, what I made was inferior to 

 that which factories fully equipped for the 

 work turned out. When the new Weed foun- 

 dation came out I was much interested in what 

 was said about it, and sent for a few pounds in 

 order to test it. Since then it is the only kind 

 I have used for bottom starters, and it is far 

 superior to my own make for this purpose. 

 Many bottom starters of my own make used 

 to topple or fall over when the bees got on 

 them. It is very seldom that the Weed make 

 does this, and, as claimed, the bees seem more 

 willing to accept it. Was it you, Dr. Miller, 

 who said that, when using bottom starters, in 

 order to have the bees accept the bottom 

 starter, and join it to the upper piece, it was 

 necessary to have the section nearly full ? 



Last season I conducted an experiment in 



order to test the difference in value between 

 full sheets and starters, and in this experi- 

 ment I used about 1000 sections that had only 

 small three-cornered starters at the top, and 

 the bottom starters were about as narrow as 

 could be fastened in with the Daisy machine, 

 and I do not think there were half a dozen in 

 which the bottom starter was not accepted, 

 drawn out, and fastened to the upper one as 

 soon as it was built down low 7 enough. The 

 flow was scant and irregular, too, which, I 

 think, made the test more severe. I do not, 

 though, put supers on until there is some 

 prospect of the bees being able to store honey 

 in them. 



Now, Dr. Miller, I do not mean to insinuate 

 that you do ; but some one, I do not remem- 

 ber who, advised, or at least said he practiced, 

 putting on supers as soon as the colonies were 

 strong enough to occupy them, without re- 

 gard to the flow. Such a practice would not 

 answer here ; for any foundation in supers 

 might be torn down or smeared over with pro- 

 polis if no honey were coming in An exces- 

 sive amount of propolis and pollen is a dis- 

 agreeable but prominent fact here at nearly all 

 times of the season. I am not advocating the 

 use of so small an amount of foundation ; but 

 I have a number of wealthy customers who 

 want the natural comb. They are willing to 

 pay the price, and on this account they get 

 what they want as nearly as it is possible to 

 have it, though I have some doubt whether 

 many if any of them could tell the difference 

 between a section of natural comb and one in 

 which a full sheet of extra-thin foundation had 

 been used. 



I think there is no question that bottom 

 starters are a great help in getting the comb 

 more firmly fastened to the wood ; and this 

 not only insures greater safety in shipping, 

 and when handling, and hauling to near-by 

 towns ; but sections of honey in which the 

 combs are well fastened to the wood are, I be- 

 lieve, a great advantage in an indirect way, 

 for much of the section honey retailed is put 

 into a paper sack, or tied up in paper, and de- 

 livered to or carried home by the buyer, along 

 with other supplies ; and if the comb is well 

 fastened it is not nearly as apt to become bro- 

 ken and mussed up before it reaches the table, 

 and a section of nice honey that reaches the 

 table in good condition makes about as invit- 

 ing and handsome-looking a dish to most peo- 

 ple as can be imagined ; and if, for instance, 

 there are persons present who notice and com- 

 ment on the handsome appearance, as they 

 are very apt to do, the hostess will afterward 

 have a kindly feeling toward honey, and many 

 of the company will make a point to have 

 honey to set before their company, and so on. 

 Since the above was written I have read the 

 footnote to my article on page 351 ; but there 

 is no need of my sending a smoker ; for if you 

 put the fire-cup of a Corneil on a Clark bel- 

 lows you will have about the kind I prefer. I 

 get a tinner to make a cup nearly like the 

 Corneil, except that it has a straight nozzle, 

 and is made at the breech with a sliding door 

 like the Clark. It is made with a detachable 

 nozzle, which, when removed, leaves the per- 



