654 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 15. 



window and look in. Presently the few flies 

 which may chance to be in the room will try 

 to gtt out by coming to the windows. I watch 

 theie flies. Their legs and wings soon begin 

 to be paralyzed ; and as soon as I see that the 

 last fly is lifeless I wait five minutes longer, 

 when I open the door and windows, so as to 

 carry out the smoke as soon as possible." 



" Why do you want it out? I should think 

 it would be better to let the honey steep in it 

 a while till sure all worms are killed." 



"If this smoke is allowed to settle it will 

 give the combs and sections a greenish color 

 which will damage the sale of our honey. 

 The same thing will also be likely to occur if 

 more sulphur is burned than I give you. It 

 seems to be quite a nice point to get this mat- 

 ter right ; for if too little is used the worms 

 will not be killed, while if too much is used 

 the combs are sure to be turned green. The 

 amount I have given you has been arrived at 

 after years of careful trial and experiment- 

 ing." 



" Does one sulphuring suffice ? " 



"Yes, unless more honey is brought into 

 the room after the first has been sulphured. 

 If so, then this last has to be watched ; and 

 when the flour-like places are seen this must 

 be sulphured also, or the whole, if the first 

 has not been taken out and sent to market, or 

 otherwise disposed of. No honey should 

 leave the hands of the producer until there is 

 no danger of these pests making an appear- 

 ance after it has been placed on the market." 



' ' I see there is more in the production of 

 honey than I thought there was. I thought 

 it was a very simple matter till I got started 

 in the business." 



" Glad to know that you realize something 

 of this, for very many beginners rush their 

 surplus on the market with little thought of 

 how it looks or what comes of it after it leaves 

 their hands, thereby hurting the market for 

 the man who leaves no stone unturned that 

 his honey may reach the market in perfect 

 shape and appearance, and one which will 

 last until the honey is all in the consumer's 

 hands." 



" Well, I have bothered you long enough, 

 and I'll be going." 



FEEDING BEES WITH SOUIRT-GUNS ; A RAPID 

 AND PRACTICAL METHOD OF FEEDING. 



In reading Mr. Victor's article on stimula- 

 tive feeding, page 517, it seems to me that to 

 depend on the force of gravity to get the feed 

 into the hive would be rather slow work. Why 

 not apply muscular force, getting the same 

 result in a fraction of the time? If he will 

 get a common bicycle-pump, about 12 inches 

 long by one inch in diameter, unscrew the 

 lower end, and in its place attach a curved flat 

 nozzle, say 2^ in. long by one inch wide, he 



will have a rapid-fire honey-gun that will do 

 great execution. Dip the end of the gun into 

 the bucket of thin syrup or honey, and then 

 draw on the handle until the proper quantity 

 is sucked into the gun^ then fire it into the 

 hive. If one wished to feed exactly the same 

 amount to each colony, marks might be made 

 on the piston-rod showing the number of fluid 

 ounces the gun would hold if the rod was 

 drawn out up to that mark, etc. In practice, 

 however, I think one would soon get used to 

 drawing the handle out the proper distance, 

 and would pay no attention to the marks. 



Three years ago I had occasion to do a little 

 stimulative feeding, and with an implement of 

 this sort I could feed 100 colonies in a little 

 less than 12 minutes. Ordinarily one might 

 take 15 to 18 minutes to feed 100 colonies, but 

 even then it would be rapid feeding. 



Another thing, it won't be necessary to 

 spend any time pounding on the hives to let 

 the bees know that supper is ready. Just in- 

 sert the nozzle into the entrance, give a quick 

 push on the handle, and the ration will be left 

 on the bottom-board, or else it will strike the 

 back end of the hive and fly in all directions, 

 or it will be sent kiting up among the bees, 

 depending on the "elevation " you give the 

 gun and the force applied to the handle. It is 

 far ahead of any other method for stinmlative 

 feeding that I ever heard of. 



San Diego, Cal., July 30. G. F. Hyde. 



[Well, now, friend Hyde, I believe you have 

 struck on something that is valuable and prac- 

 ticable. I just know it would work. Nearly 

 every one has a bicycle, and can very quickly 

 put the plan to a test. But if he has not a 

 wheel he can buy one of these pumps at a re- 

 pair-shop for about 25 cents. I am inclined to 

 think something made specially for the pur- 

 pose will be better still. 1 would construct a 

 bic) cle-pump with a longer barrel, without 

 hose, and on the end have a stationary curved 

 nozzle. If the pumps are about 18 inches long 

 one could reach down to the pan of syrup, 

 shove the nozzle into the entrance of the hive, 

 and squirt the food between all the combs and 

 all through the hive. If this were done at 

 night there would be no danger from robbers, 

 and I will guarantee there is no method for 

 stimulative feeding that would equal this for 

 rapidity of work. I will have a pump made 

 on purpose, and have the thing tested at once. 

 —Ed.] ^ 



the merreliv super-spring ; a practical 



DEVICE. 

 I herewith inclose a super-spring for your 

 consideration and examination. In Glean- 

 ings for June 15 I see Mr. W. D. Wright 

 claims to have originated the round spring. 



Now, he may have claim to his spring in 

 shape, but I don't think he has the right 

 bend in it. The spring I send you I call the 

 hair-pin spring, and you have only to have a 



