1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CUI.TURE. 



221 



than the above — superior both summer and 

 winter. There is now open for settlement 

 here, for homesteads, many thousand acres of 

 very rich land, unsurpassed for alfalfa, timo- 

 thy, wheat, oats, barley, rye, apples, pears, 

 plums, grapes, and other fruits. Water-canals 

 for irrigation will immediately be construcied 

 — in time for this summer's crop. As soon as 

 this fact becomes known the land will soon 

 be occupied. To homestead, 50 cents per 

 acre cash is required, and one dollar per acre 

 on final proof to procure patent. Room for 

 bees here, but it will certainly not pa}' to 

 bring bees from Iowa. S. W. Morrison. 

 Ignacio, Col., Feb. 7. . 



[Dr. Morrison is an old correspondent of 

 years gone by. If he is connected with any 

 real-estate boom of any kind I am not aware 

 of it. But in any event, no one should go in- 

 to any new field like this, taking his whole 

 family. He should write to as many as possi- 

 ble, then go alone to prospect. — Ed ] 



bi,\ck's section folder. 

 I here show you two drawings of my sec- 

 tion folder, one open, the other one closed 

 on section finished for use. I am satisfied it 

 will excel any other I ever saw. The machine 

 weighs 2% lbs. I also have a machine that 



will fold 4:%X4:}4, 3^X5. I think it is almost 

 impossible, by fair means, to break a section 

 by folding, as the machine is bound with stetl 

 hinges around each side. The dovetail is 

 pressed together firmly by the yoke and ec- 

 centric lever, as shown in cut. After it is 

 clo.sed it leaves sections square, not oblong. 



To operate, raise the yoke as in the first 

 view. Lay the machine before you on the ta- 



ble. Lay in the piece to be folded, as shown 

 in No. 1. Then take the left hand and bring 

 up the left end of the piece to be folded over 

 the top Catch the yoke on the hook on top ; 

 with the right hand press the lever down. It's 

 all complete. Raise the lever to disengage the 

 hook. The press adjusts itself for the next. I 

 feel confident a child can operate it perfectly. 



It's quick, but not cumbersome — no breaking 

 sections. It leaves them square. 



Greenville, O., Jan. 80. Henry Black, 



[Your folder would no doubt give good re- 

 sults, but it would be s^ow in action. — Ed.] 



DOOLITTLE OUEEN-CELLS ; STICK FOR FORM- 

 ING THEM. 



I see in your last issue of the A B C of Bee 

 Culture, directions for making queen-cells by 

 the Doolittle plan. While it is very plain in 

 most parts, yet as I have no rake to take a pat- 

 tern of a tooth from, I should like to know the 

 proper thickness of the stick that is used in 

 forming the cells. W. C. Evans. 



Fort Collins, Col., Jan. 2. 



[In general it may be said that the cell-stick 

 should be made to fit snugly into the bottom 

 of a queen-cell made by the bees. The major- 

 ity of the queen-cells are built off from a work- 

 er-cell after cutting it down, so that the lower 

 end of the slick should be somewhat smaller. 



The general construction should be something 

 like that shown in the accompanying pic- 

 ture. — Ed.] 



Taking out queens to keep bees from 

 swarming. 

 In Jan. 1st Gleanings, p. 18, Mr. N. C. Al- 

 ford speaks of taking out the queens to keep 

 the bees fr m swarming. What is the mean- 

 ing of that? Docs he mean cutout cells? 

 H. D. Hopkins. 

 Indianapolis, Ind., Jan. 4. 



[Mr. Hopkins refers to the method in use 

 by P. H. Elwood and others, by which queens 

 are removed or caged just at the approach of 

 the swarming season, all cells being cut out in 

 eight days after caging ; and, as a rule, again 

 in eight days. Colonies without queens will 

 not swarm. 



The cells are cut down in eight days to pre- 

 vent the hatching of young queens, which 

 would be almost sure to lead forth swarms at 

 their first wedding-trip. It involves a large 

 amount of work ; but the advocates of the 

 plan say, that, in addition to preventing 

 swarming, it also prevents the rearing of a lot 

 of brood and bees that will be useless consum- 

 ers later on. This plan you will find describ- 

 ed in our ABC book, under the head of 

 "Swarming;" sub - head, "Prevention of 

 Smarming by Caging." — Ed.] 



ideal sections and the fence. 

 I got 10 hives of you last year, with plain 

 sections 3|^x5Xl^, and fence separators, 

 some time in June. I put an extra large 

 swarm in a 10-frame hive, and by the middle 

 of July I took off the super of 35 sections of 

 No. 1 honey, and there were only about 5 that 

 were not filled to the side of the section. I 

 sold it right away to summer resorters around 

 Harvey's Lake for 10 cts. apiece, which 

 brought me $3.25. This, I thought, was good 



