256 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Apr. 15 



Heads of Grain 



from Different Fields 



Ten-frame Hives should be Wide Enough for a 

 Follower, 



The tendency of bee-keepers seems to be In favor 

 of the ten-frame hive; and, if I am correctly in- 

 formed, that hive is made without a dummy, fol- 

 lower, or division-board. Why are the ten-frame 

 hives thus made? Is not a follower or division- 

 board as important in ten-frame as in eight-frame 

 hives? 



A hive of any Icind without a follower or dlvision- 

 boai'd would be to me an intolerable nuisance; and 

 If we are going to discard the eight-frame for the 

 ten-frame hive, why not make them with followers 

 or division-board like the eight frame hive? 



My Muth Ideal bee-veil gives me the headache, 

 and makes me dizzy. What is the cause? 



While looking into one of my hives I noticed one 

 •cell which had two eggs in it. D'es a good queen 

 ever lay more than one egg in a cell? The queen is 

 a Banat? J. T. L. 



[In view of the fact that the ten-frame hives are 

 being more and more used, the width has been al- 

 tered so that there is as much room for the dummy 

 and follower as in the eight-frame hive. 



In case of the bee-veil, we presume that the wire 

 cloth happens to be just such a distance from your 

 eyes as to cause confusion. If you could arrange to 

 have the wire cloth closer, so that the muscles 

 which control the focusing are not constantly fix- 

 ing the focus on the wire cloth, you would have no 

 further trouble. 



One cell with two eggs in it would not necessarily 

 Indicate a poor queen. Sometimes a good queen, 

 being somewhat cramped for room, will lay more 

 than one egg in a cell; but if there is very much of 

 this kind of work when there is still plenty of un- 

 occupied room in the hive, we should say the 

 queen was not up to the standard.— Ed ] 



Clover Honey; 320 Combs of it Too Thick to 

 Extract. 



I have about 40 eight-frame Dovetailed hives filled 

 with very thick clover honey, all sealed. I waited 

 until cold weather, thinking I could extract at my 

 leisure; but I find that, if I warm the honey over a 

 stove until it will extract, the combs (many of 

 which are new on full sheets of foundation, and 

 wired) will break, and can not be pulled from the 

 comb-basket of the extractor. Can you suggest any 

 remedy or any thing helpful? If I keep it until 

 warm weather will it work any better? or will it 

 then be candied in the combs? 



Wells Bridge, N. Y., March 20. L. C. Jud.son. 



[Your difficulty comes about from the fact that 

 you placed your Dovetailed hive-bodies, filled with 

 new combs and sealed honey, right over the stove. 

 The heat would be too intense near the bottom of 

 the combs, and insufficient near the top. More- 

 over the outside surfaces of the combs would be 

 warmed up while the centers would be cold. In 

 cases of this kind the combs should be stored in a 

 warm room, and kept there for at least 12 hours, 

 and 24 would be better. The temperature of the 

 room should be somewhere about 75 or 80. 



Then, again, when you come to extract, turn the 

 reel very slowly, extracting one side of the combs 

 partially, and then the other side, and extract that 

 partially. Increase the speed of the extractor a 

 little: reverse, and so on until the combs are fairly 

 clean. With new combs you may have to turn the 

 reel longer, and use a moderate speed rather than 

 a high one, for a short lime.— En.l 



More Directions for Carbolic Cloths. 



In answer to the inquiry made on page 26, Jan. 1, 

 regarding carbolic acid for quieting bees, I submit 

 the following report: In " The British Bee-keeper's 

 Guide Book " directions are given for one part of 

 Calvert's No. 5 carbolic acid to two of water; but I 

 prefer at least equal parts of each, and sometimes 

 more acid. My experience of twenty years in the 

 use of the carbolic solution has proven that the 



other mlxtvu-f Js not strong enough. Since having 

 used the carbolic cloth, the smoker is almost a 

 thing of the past with me. 



The cloth should be cut the size of the top of the 

 hive, or larger» and, hemmed. After wetting it 

 thoroughly \vith tjiisjsolution, and wringing It fairly 

 dry, it should be placed, when not in use, In a cov- 

 ered tin box, reEtdy to be used when needed. By 

 way of caution it may be well to add that care must 

 be exercised In wringing the cloths or the acid 

 may burn the hands. Some bee-keepers perforate 

 the cork of the bottle containing the solution, and 

 sprinkle the cloths. 



When ready for use, pull the quilt from the top of 

 the hive, and at the same time replace It with one 

 of the cloths. The bees will soon run down into the 

 lower part of the hive. If the cloth is left on too 

 long, however, it will excite them too much, and 

 will sometimes drive most of them from the hive. 

 A little practice will be required to accustom one 

 to the use of carbolic acid in this way. 



Wallington, Surrey, England. C. Longlky. 



[If the solution of carbolic acid has to be strong 

 enough to eat the skin off the hands it would seem 

 that a smoker would be preferable. Would it not 

 be better to follow the directions given In Cowan's 

 book, which provide for a solution not so strong 

 but that the hands may be used to wring out the 

 cloths? It may take longer to do the work, but it 

 would be safer. After all, it is our opinion that 

 most bee-keepers will prefer to use a smoker. — Ed.] 



Borrowing Bees for Cell-building. 



I have kept bees for the last 25 years, and the lon- 

 ger I keep them the more I love them. I have 36 

 colonies in the cellar; and if all Is well I should like 

 to increase to 100 in the spring and summer by the 

 Alexander method, buying young queens and in- 

 troducing them. Or, If. I find time, I mav try to 

 raise them from my best queens. Still, I feel con- 

 vinced that 1 need fresh blood in my apiary, so I 

 will buy some queens. 



Please explain " borrowing bees for cell-building," 

 of Alexander's Writings on Practical Bee Culture, 

 page 75. 



A TEMPERATURE OF 60" BELOW ZERO. 



What do you think of bees which wintered in fine 

 condition when kept for six consecutive months In 

 the cellar with the temperature outside sometimes 

 as low as 60° below zero — average consumption of 

 stores, 12 lbs.? 



Valley, Ont., Feb. 13. James M. Munro. 



[The term "borrowing bees" was originated, If 

 we are correct, by the late E. L. Pratt, better known 

 as " Swarthmore." He simply shook oflf four or five 

 frames of bees into a box with wire-cloth covering, 

 and confined them there for a few hours. At the 

 end of that period they could be used for starting 

 cells. After the cells are started, the bees are re- 

 turned to their original colony; hence the term 

 " borrow."— Ed.] 



Size of Bees in Old Combs. 



On p. 88. Feb. 15, I read with interest the article 

 regarding the melting of old combs when the cells 

 have become small from age, so that the brood is 

 cramped for room. I dare say that this is true in 

 some cases, for two years ago my father and I found 

 a colony of bees in an old oak in the woods. I was 

 much surprised to find that the bees were very 

 small, and made the remark that they had been 

 there for a long time. 



Upon examination I noticed that the combs were 

 very old. I cut them from the tree and placed 

 them in the frames from a hive that I had brought 

 with me. After the bees had been smoked into the 

 hive and had been taken home, frames of foundation 

 were put between the frames of old comb. In due 

 time bees hatched from the combs that were built 

 on the foundation. These were about a third larger 

 than those from the old combs. 



Birmingham, Mich. Otto A. Park. 



[Many of our best authorities do not believe that 

 old combs hatch out any smaller bees than new 

 ones. Bees appear to be smaller under some cir- 

 cumstances than at other times. When the weath- 

 er is a little cool, bees look much smaller than 

 when It Is warm and when they are engaged in the 

 business of gathering or evaporating nectar in the 

 hive. We rather doubt whether the change of 

 combs made any difference in the size of the bees. 



—ED.] 



