476 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15. 



developemeat I am not so much out of date 

 after all. For my use I would not have the 

 spring secured to either the clamp or follower, 

 on account of the inconvenience of getting the 

 follower or the last row of sections in or out of 

 clamp, and especially out, after being glued 

 fast by the bees. With my arrangement I can 

 lift out the spring, tip the follower back 

 against the side of the clamp, and manipulate 

 sections readily, which is sometimes desirable, 

 especially between the clover and buckwheat 

 honey crops, when honey is but partially fin- 

 ished. It is also more convenient in filling or 

 emptying clamps generally, and, to my mind, 

 greatly overbalances the inconvenience of 

 having a loose spring. I allow Yz to Y% inch 

 space for a spring behind the follower, and 

 have a strip of tin secured to the bottom of the 

 clamp to keep bees out of this space, so that 

 follower is not glued to clamp on outside, 

 neither are the springs glued fast. My cus- 

 tom is to place the convex side of the spring 

 next to the clamp, and with ends against the 

 follower, which brings an equal pressure to 

 bear against the top and bottom of the same. 

 The pressure is sufiicient to hold the sections 

 in place when the clamp is inverted, and I 

 usually transport them in that position when 

 filled with foundation, in going to out-api- 

 aries. 



My springs were made of No. 9 steel wire, 

 coppered the same as that used for bed-springs, 

 cut to proper length, and bent in shape with a 

 small steel implement. 



These clamps were originally made for the 

 534^X5^X2 sections, placed in three rows of 

 8 sections each ; but since they have passed, I 

 have substituted four rows, of 9 each, of 3|f X 

 5^X1 H sections, which are practically the 

 same as the prevailing tall pound section ; and 

 the only objection that I know of to their being 

 an odd size is the slight additional cost. 



The change to this size of section necessitat- 

 ed additional strips of tin on bottom of clamp 

 atthe junction of the rows. My separators are 

 of pine and basswood, y% inch, mill dressed two 

 sides, and with insets for entrances as shown. 

 I nail a separator to the clamp, and also to the 

 follower, to form an entrance to the outer side 

 of all end sections, which is done not only for 

 the purpose of hastening work in the same, 

 but also for providing free escape for the bees 

 in smoking them out when removing clamps 

 from the hives. 



Apparently a number of bee-keepers who 

 have recently described the wire-cloth-surface 

 queen-cage for introducing queens are not 

 aware that it was given to the public nearly 

 twenty years ago, in proof of which statement 

 please refer to the following article, repro- 

 duced from the Bee-keepers' Excfiange for 

 January, 1881, published by J. H. Nellis, at 

 Canajoharie, N. Y. I consider the square cage 

 strong enough for its purpose, if made of wire 

 of suitable size, and superior for ready observa- 

 tion, to any cage covered all over its principal 

 surface with wax, a la Benton. The ordinary 

 wire cloth used for fly or bee screens is too 

 light for any form of this cage, as the long 

 raveled ends of wire are too easily bent out of 

 shape. 



Mr. Frank Benton, in his Manual of Apicul- 

 ture, published by the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, in 1896, gives an illustration of 

 this cage in circular form, and recommends 

 pressing the ends of the cage firmly against 

 the adjoining comb, that it might not be pull- 

 ed loose by the bees clustering heavily upon it, 

 which precaution is well with a cage of the 

 size then shown — viz., \y% in diameter, and 

 with 34^ -inch projection beyond the comb sur- 

 face ; however, I have never had any trouble 

 in this respect with the cage made and applied 

 to the comb as directed in the article referred 

 to, besides having the advantage of normal 

 spacing of combs, which is very desirable when 

 they contain much honey if the cage is to re- 

 main in the hive for any length of time. Mr. 

 A. Norton, in Oct. 15, 1899, Gi^Eanings, pro- 

 posed making an opening with a gate in one 

 side of this cage, to avoid mutilation of combs 

 in liberating queens, which, however, is of 

 little account, as the bees quickly repair the 

 damage, and I should prefer to have a solid 

 cage. 



Altamont, N. Y. 



[I thought it was conceded that Capt. J. E. 

 Hetherington was the first to make use of 

 springs in supers to bring about compression 

 of the sections on separators ; and from what 

 you say it is evident that this assumption is 

 correct. Mr. Danzenbaker freely admits that 

 he saw the super spiings at Mr. Mendleson's ; 

 but as these were flat he came home and had 

 some made that were round ; but at the time, 

 he supposed he was original in the use of 

 round wire springs. 



But your detachable springs, made in the 

 form of a bent letter U, it seems, are the best 

 that have yet been devised. There is no doubt 

 at all but it is an advantage to remove the 

 springs entirely, so that the sections can be 

 manipulated easily. Unless some one else 

 claims prioritj^ over you, in the use of round 

 wire springs, we shall have to concede the 

 honor to you ; at all events, it is proper to call 

 them the Wright super spring, for indeed their* 

 construction is right. 



With regard to the wire-cloth introducing- 

 cage, I have long been aware that the idea 

 was very old ; for I think I remember seeing 

 a description in the Bee-keepers' Exchange to 

 which you refer, for it was at that time I be- 

 gan to take hold of apiculture, and to do my 

 first writing on bees. — Ed.] 



A STRANGE MALADY ; IS IT A NEW BEE-DIS- 

 EASE? 



BY J. M. HAMBAUGH. 



Nearly one year ago a friend invited me to 

 come and inspect a bee-yard which was in bad 

 condition, and assist him in unraveling the 

 mystery as to what ailed his bees. I availed 

 myself of the first opportunity to do so, and 

 found them as he reported, "in bad condi- 

 tion." At that time I had never seen a genu- 

 ine case of foul brood, but I had read so much 

 about the disease I felt confident I should 



