1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



841 



The advantages are, that we can get colonies 

 for the honey-harvest as strong as possible, 

 with less work, than by any other plan, and 

 can use all the field-bees raised for the honey- 

 harvest concentrated in one hive. When the 

 honey-harvest commences, or at any time we 

 think best, we can get the brood-chamber and 

 the colony in the most desirable condition for 

 the production of comb honey. By this man- 

 agement we do not need to watch for swarms, 

 because we get none. The colonies are as near 

 self-acting as possible ; and for these reasons 

 the method is the solution of the problem for 

 out-apiaries. If you ask me for disadvan- 

 tages, I do not know any. 



Converse, Tex. 



THE USE OF CARBOLIC ACID DURING SPRAY- 

 ING TIME. 



Shallow vs. Extra-shallow Brood-chambers; Pol- 

 len in Sections. 



BY JOHN S. CAI^tBREATH. 



3Tr. Root : — You said some time ago in 

 Gleanings that even when fruit-trees were 

 not sprayed while in bloom, yet many bees 

 were poisoned from sucking up the moisture 

 with the poison in it. In your last number 

 you say that if carbolic acid is mixed with su- 

 gar syrup the bees simply won't touch it. 

 Now, why not mix carbolic acid in the Bor- 

 deaux mixture, or whatever is used in spray- 

 ing trees, and prevent any loss from that 

 source ? If it would be effective, and wouldn't 

 harm the trees, bee-keepers could use it 

 themselves, and furnish it free for their neigh- 

 bors to use. 



HOW TO USE THE BEST OF THE SWARM 



QUEENS, AND YET NOT BREED UP A 



STRAIN OF SWARMERS. 



It can be answered in a few words. Each 

 year select a number of hives with pure queens, 

 purely mated, that have made a lot of honey 

 and capped it white, and that have not swarm- 

 ed. The next year raise an immense lot of 

 drones from these hives, and limit or entirely 

 prevent drone production in all others. In a 

 very few years there will be a noticeable de- 

 crease in swarming — at least that is my ex- 

 perience. 



A ten-frame Langstroth hive with frames 

 1 Yz in. deep — outside measure — top bars %, 

 and bottom bars % in. thick, has almost ex- 

 actly the same comb surface as an eight-frame 

 Langstroth. Wouldn't two such ten-frame 

 hives, used as a brood chamber, in raising ex- 

 tracted honey, be much better than two eight- 

 frame hives, same capacity, used the same 

 way ? Would they furnish too much room ? 

 Could additional ten-frame hives — same size 

 of frame — be used to advantage as extracting- 

 supers? or would the shallower extracting- 

 supers be better ? 



Some years ago I made some shallow hives 

 (4}f), intending to use them singly to hive 

 hive swarms in, and then later to use them 

 double. I didn't have any trouble about 

 swarms staying in the one case ; but the 

 amount of bee-bread stored in the sections 



condemned that plan once for all. Using two 

 cases (16 frames) I have had no trouble from 

 bee-bread in the sections, but they were quite 

 sure to be lacking in stores for winter. Then 

 I tried using three of them for a brood-cham- 

 ber. Also, I used one set of full-depth frames 

 and a shallow case under. In results I have 

 noticed no difference in these two ways. They 

 always have enough honey for winter. They 

 seem to winter better than the others ; they 

 are much less likely to swarm, while they 

 average just as much in surplus ; but they don't 

 commence work in sections as soon as bees in 

 the smaller hives, and a larger percentage 

 " of their sections is likely to be still unfinished 

 when the bees begin work on chestnut, which 

 means, of course, that it will be yellowed up. 

 I think if I could be here in the spring — as 

 for years I have been unable to be — I could 

 overcome this objection (slowness to enter 

 sections) by stimulating brood-rearing. If so, 

 then a 1>^ -story hive (using the eight-frame 

 Dovetailed hive as a unit ) would be better for 

 comb honey than a single story ; and if, as I 

 suppose is admitted, a brood-chamber of an 

 extracting-hive should be larger than for a 

 comb-honey hive, then why wouldn't a dou- 

 ble-story ten-frame hive (frames 1% in. deep) 

 be just the thing in running for extracted 

 honey ? 



Many thanks to Mr. Green for his driving 

 and strai7iijig methods of finding a queen 

 that doesn't want to be found. 



Rock Rift, N. Y., Oct. 8. 



[I am strongly of the opinion that you have 

 hit on a good idea. There seems to be nothing 

 that is so repulsive to bees in the way of a 

 chemical as carbolic acid. If a very little of it 

 is mixed with spraying-fluids it will keep the 

 bees away from the trees I should suppose, 

 even when they are in bloom. But to be on 

 the safe side I would recommend spraying 

 even then after the petals have fallen. If 

 syrup having a little carbolic acid in will go 

 untouched in a hive, I see no reason why the 

 bees would not keep away from the trees un- 

 der any and all circumstances. 



Your scheme of getting a better stock in the 

 apiary is all right ; but I am afraid there are 

 but very few honey-producers who give this 

 any intelligent thought or attention. 



If a shallow brood-chamber is to be used, 

 one 7 or 1 yi inches deep is better than one 4 

 or 5 inches deep, on account of the pollen go- 

 ing into the sections ; but even Dr. Miller, if I 

 remember correctly, says he had some trouble 

 from pollen going into the sections over the 

 seven-inch brood-chamber, while he had no 

 pollen in sections over full-depth Langstroth 

 brood chambers. But this does not seem to 

 be the experience of many others. Under 

 some conditions, and with some bee-keepers, 

 I believe the seven-inch brood-chambers offer 

 advantages over one nine or ten inches ; and 

 it may be true that a sh llower brood-cham- 

 ber would be better under all conditions and 

 with all bee-keepers. I do not know. But 

 I do know this : There is quite a following, 

 and an increasing following, that is working 

 toward a seven-inch brood-chamber. — Ed.] 



