810 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. is 



tention of stinging in earnest. His abdomen 

 was curved, and his wings rattled in about 

 the same manner. Directly the drone was 

 in contact with the queen there was a sud- 

 den lurch to side, and they went together 

 some distance into the field until I lost sight 

 of them. As they flew together they much 

 resembled workers when they attempt joint- 

 ly to bear off their dead. I remained by 

 the fertilizing-box perhaps three minutes, 

 and saw the queen return and enter, bear- 

 ing the marks of having met a drone. I 

 still lingered by the box, and soon saw a 

 worker bear out the tell-tale white speck. 

 I later opened the box, and saw the queen 

 bearing the usual thread from male contact. 

 A queen-bee is very swift of wing; but I 

 am convinced that a drone is ten times 

 swifter; for to be able to encircle the queen 

 in the manner this one did, such must be 

 the fact. 



Swarthmore, Pa. E. L. Pratt. 



SWEET CLOVER IN THE OATS; A BETTER 



WAY OF USING THE ROOT-GERMAN 



WAX-PRESS. 



I have three acres of sweet clover, the 

 white variety, which I sowed last year with 

 oats. It is a fine growth, and has been 

 blooming, and the bees have been literally 

 swarming on it for several weeks. It is 

 seeding very heavy, and is free from any 

 thing else. 



I purchased a German wax-press of you 

 last winter, and followed your directions as 

 to using it, and was rather displeased with 

 the thing until very recently, as it was so 

 terribly slow. I now use it differently, 

 and am highly pleased with it, as I think 

 I can extract three or four times as much 

 wax in a day as by your method. My out- 

 fit is an old cook- stove out of doors; the 

 wax-press, a three-pail copper kettle, and 

 a water-pail. 



To start the thing I fill the comb-basket 

 about half full of loosely thrown-in combs, 

 and put over it a pan to confine the steam, 

 and do not use the press. I fill the pail 

 with water, and set it on the back of the 

 stove to be heating, and put on the copper 

 kettle with water therein; and as soon as 

 the water is hot I stir in combs until I have 

 the kettle nearly full of melted combs. I 

 then open the extractor and turn in the con- 

 tents of the kettle, adjust the press, and 

 fire up. I empty my pail of hot water into 

 the kettle, and refill to be heating for the 

 next batch. I work the press, and melt up 

 a new batch in the kettle; and as soon as 

 the press is ready to dump, another batch 

 is melted ready for it. and so on, melting 

 in the kettle, heating water in the pail, and 

 pressing the wax out in the press. 



I can also possibly suggest a slight im- 

 provtment in wax-presses. If you will no- 

 tice, there is alwajs a quantity of free wax 

 on top of ihe cloth covering the cheese after 

 taking out the follower. If this is allowed 

 to cool you will find a portion of the chan- 

 nels on the bottom of the follower filled with 



wax. The reason is, the cloth presses up 

 into the ends of some of the channels, and 

 thus prevents the wax from flowing out. 

 I took the strips off my follower, and cut 

 channels across them so that, when nailed 

 on, there would be a free passage from one 

 channel to the other, which permits a free 

 flow of wax in all directions. This pre- 

 vents any accumulation between the cloth 

 and the follower. Henry Stewart. 



Prophetstown, 111. 



SUMMER MORTALITY OF BEES DUE TO POI- 

 SON. 



Noting the article on page 694, I suggest 

 that the mortality may be caused by the 

 poisonous nature of the flora on which the 

 bees are foraging at that particular season 

 of the year. I have noticed a certain mor- 

 tality of bees in this and other locations 

 that was precisely the same in appearance 

 when bees were working on poison oak, or 

 ivy, as it is called in many sections, and 

 have never noticed it at any other season. 

 Sometimes only a few colonies are affected; 

 again, there would be several thousands of 

 bees scattered on the ground throughout the 

 apiary, and nearly all colonies would show 

 signs of disorder. There is not a sufficient 

 quantity of poison oak in this section to af- 

 ford forage for an apiary; but it is scatter- 

 ed about in very attractive masses of some ex- 

 tent, and is always eagerly sought by the 

 bees. It will probably be found that some 

 poisonous shrub yieldinsr honey profusely 

 exists in those sections, and the remedy or 

 cure for the disease among the bees must be 

 sought for in the source of their forage; and 

 there is the probability that nothing but 

 confinement of the bees— feeding if neces- 

 sarj — during the period of its bloom will 

 afford relief. If confinement should be 

 practicable a release daily at a late hour 

 in evening would be beneficial. 



Howardsville, Va. B. F. Averill. 



HIGH- PRESSURE FEEDING OUTDOORS. 



Since my article has appeared on page 

 660 I have received letters from the United 

 States and from other places asking for in- 

 formation as to how I go about it, and ask- 

 ing me to give the plan in Gleanings for 

 the benefit of its readers. 



The feeder I use is made of the best white 

 pine, well painted and paraffined. The 

 float is also made from white pine Yz inch 

 thick. This is also painted, and should be 

 kept painttd. so it will not become water- 

 soaked and heavy. 



My feeder is 6 feet long, 2 feet wide, 8 in. 

 deep, and stands 2 feet from the ground, 

 and should be under cover, thus protecting 

 it from the wind and rain. When I am 

 having combs drawn I use equal parts of 

 sugar and water. Nothing is made by Jeed- 

 ing sweets too much diluted. I have known of 

 bee keepers here in Cuba to feed their bees 

 with so diluted a feed that they would have 

 to go round the next daj and throw out the 



