518 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 1. 



hives, some colonies not having a drop of hon- 

 ey in them. We had no trouble with robbers, 

 as the sky was clear with a warm gentle south 

 breeze and an abundance of blooms. Though 

 the nectar was scarce and watery, the bees 

 went for it in a rush. 



Between sundown and dark I balanced my 

 scale hive, which you will see by the first line 

 on the middle story in photo, 4/13, 1896, 87>^ 

 lbs. The next line of the record was taken at 

 the same time the next day, which shows S'^^^, 

 1 lb. gain, and so on. On the 18th and lOih, 

 you see by the record we have 15 }i lbs. gain 

 each day. The best days you will see, by com- 

 paring dates, is the day preceding and follow- 

 ing one week after the night I fed until 2 a. m. 

 Thus I have shown you the most discouraging 

 and the most prosperous periods of my 17 

 years' experience, within a space of eight 

 days. By following the record to the 23d you 

 will see that ten days covered the entire period 

 of this honey-flow, beginning and ending with 

 a gain of 1 lb. per day, having gained 78 J4 lbs. 

 in the ten days. 



On the top story I wish to show you a record 

 made at different hours during the day. At 

 the top line you will see Apr. 19, 8 a. m., 

 114>^ 7 L., which shows the hive to be 7 1' s. 

 lighter than it was at night on the 18th. Thus 

 you see we had a good working force out at this 

 time. At the third line you will see 12 m., 

 117, 4}^ L. At the fourth line, 2 p. m., 116,. 

 byzh., although two hours later in the day the 

 hive is 1 lb. lighter, which shows conclusively 

 that at least some bees take noon, as some 

 claim. By viewing this record carefull}' I feel 

 assured that there could hardly have been less 

 than 12 to 15 lbs. of bees in the field during 

 the best hours of the day. 



At the bottom of this record you will see my 

 estimate for the day is 5600 lbs. This esti- 

 mate was made by a close comparison of the 

 condition of all my bees to this scale hive, 

 and the actual gain shown by it, which, in 

 my opinion, is a very close estimate. 



Last, but not by any means least in impor- 

 tance, at 3-3 you will see my entrance contract- 

 or, which is a board exactly the length of the 

 entrance, 2 inches wide by ^ thick. In the 

 center of this board is a slot crosswise of the 

 board, one inch long. At 4 is a thumbscrew 

 which passes through a washer and through 

 the slot in the contractor, and then through a 

 hole in the front of the hive to a nut that has 

 been let into the inner wall of the hive, so as 

 not to be in the way of any manipulation of 

 the interior. At 5 you will see a wedge that 

 is used to adjust the contractor. Should you 

 wish to close the bees in a hive for any pur- 

 pose, place the point of the wedge under the 

 contractor, one at each end ; loosen your 

 screw, press the contractor down on the 

 wedges, tighten the screw, and the work is 

 done. The wedge at the point is smaller than 

 a bee, so you see this leaves a slight ventila- 

 tion the full length of the entrance, which, 

 with weak colonies and nuclei, is sufficient, 

 provided the hive is not in the sun. By loosen- 

 ing the screw you can push the wedges in, 

 raising the contractor and giving entrance of 

 any size desired. Tighten the screw, and the 



contractor stays as you leave it, which is one 

 of its strong points. I have lost many nuclei 

 by a loose stick falling off and letting in rob- 

 bers. When you want a full-size entrance, 

 raise the contractor up and tighten the screw ; 

 and when you want it again, it is right there 

 waiting to be used, instead of being put away 

 in the honey-house, thrown in the trash, or 

 possibly used for kindling, as would be the 

 case with a loose stick, as I and a great many 

 others have used for years. This device is es- 

 pecially useful in rearing queens, as the many 

 small colonies, necessary for the care of so 

 many queens, are such easy prey for robbers. 

 By placing one end of the device down on the 

 bottom-board and adjusting it carefully, we 

 have an entrance that only one bee can pass 

 through at a time, and still have ventilation 

 the entire length of the entrance. 

 Wharton, Texas, Feb. 1, 1900. 



[No doubt there is a very great advantage 

 in feeding at a time that will bring on a large 

 force of young bees ready to catch the expect- 

 ed honey-flow. Mr. Doolittle has long urged 

 the importance of this, and your figures show 

 that much is to be gnned from it. 



You do not say whether the colony placed 

 on the scales was an average one. I should 

 judge that it must be, from the fact that you 

 used this as the basis for your entire honey- 

 crop ; for if this average colony gathered on 

 an average 7j\ pounds of honey per day for 10 

 days, your whole apiary must have been boom- 

 ing, and it speaks well for your method of 

 feeding to stimulate brood-rearing at the right 

 time. 



Your figures regarding the weight of bees in 

 the fields are also interesting ; but these show 

 conclusively that your colonies must be tre- 

 mendously strong, and herein lies another se- 

 cret of your success. That some bees take a 

 rest at noon also appears from your figures. If 

 I understand you correctly, the heaviest forces 

 are out in the morning, and these forces di- 

 minish as the day progresses. I hope you 

 will try the experiment further, in order to de- 

 termine whether this is the invariable rule 

 ■with other colonies. 



Bottom-boards with feeders have very often 

 been used, and are now being used very large- 

 ly. We feed this way at times, and the plan 

 is perfectly practicable, but of course the bot- 

 tom-boards must be syruptight or else there 

 will be a great waste and a consequent loss 

 next morning. If there are any leaky bottom- 

 boards the trouble niav be remedied by coat- 

 ing them with hot paraffine or beeswax. — Ed.] 



EXTRACTING FOR WOMEN. 



How a Practical Woman Bee-keeper Carries out 

 her System. 



BY MRS. A. J. BARBER. 



Our extracting- room is 12x18 feet in size, 

 and faces the south. The two bee-escape win- 

 dows are on each side of and above the little 

 door where we put the honey in. The few 

 bees that come in with the honey, when they 



