Nov. 1. 1911 



667 



bees. They simply walk out of the hive and die. 

 In several instances, when T have found a queen 

 on the outside of the hive. I have opened it and 

 placed her on the top-bars. Then after a few hours 

 I have found her again on the outside with a few 

 bees with her. I take it that, when the old queen 

 is past all laying, the young queen will not sting 

 her to death: and when she is ready to die she 

 walks out to do so, just as other old bees do. 



Those who winter bees in the cellar can easily 

 make the experiment to see whether those bees 

 that walk out of the hive can be returned. They 

 will invariably walk out again, to die for the good 

 of the colony. [ think that those superseded queens 

 that are still laying eggs may be stung to death b.v 

 the .voimg queen before she lays eggs: but I myself 

 am fully convinced *hat the bees of the hive never 

 drive their own queen away. 



Nashville, III. S. P. SCHRoeder. 



How are the Closed-end Frames in the Simplex 

 Hive Secured ? 



On p. 172, March 1.5. Mr. O. B. Metcalfe describes 

 and illustrates the Simplex hive used by Mr. Carl 

 Ludloff. I am interested in this form of hive, and 

 would be very glad to know how the-frames are se- 

 cured to the bottom-boards — that is. whether a 

 hook is used similar to the ones on the old Quinb.y 

 frames or whether it is some different method. I 

 should like to see a further description of that en- 

 trance, frame, bottom-board, etc. 



Mohawk, X. Y. C. R. Morts. 



[This question was forwarded to Mr. Metcalfe, 

 who replies:] 



I should be glad if some American would try the 

 Simplex hive in this country and report on it. At 

 Cuerna ^"aca I found that Mr. Shoemaker was us- 

 ing this hive almost entirely, and he said it was far 

 ahead of the American hives, of which he had sev- 

 eral in the ten-frame size. In the city of Mexico I 

 met a Mr. Allen who has given the bees a thorough 

 test in American hives, and he was just getting in 

 some of the lAidloff hives as a last effort to make a 

 go of the business. He is a reader of (tLkanings. 

 and I wish he would tell us how the Ludloff-Sim- 

 plex hive came out with him. 



To what I have already said in the March loth is- 

 sue I can add that the hives in Mr. Ludloflfs home 

 .yard are all supplied with a concrete base. This is 

 well shown in Fig. 10. They are thick and heavy, 

 and could not be moved around to any advantage : 

 but this concrete base is unnecessary, as the hives 

 could rest on any kind of stand such as we use. A 

 J's-inch board 10 in. wide, and as long as the hive is 

 ever expected to be. and with narrow ^'s-inch strips 

 tacked along the edges, forms the bottom. The 

 frames are made so that the two side-bars extend 

 down past the bottom-bar about % inch; and as 

 the frame measures 10 in., in.side measurement, it 

 fits down astride this bottom. The two ^ strijjs 

 hold tlie bottom-bars up so that the bees may pass 

 back and forth en the bottom the full length of the 

 hive. The bottom-bars are H inch narrower than 

 the top and side bars, thus leaving a half-inch bee- 

 way between the frames for the toees to go up wher- 

 ever they like. 



Tlie Simplex hive has an entrance at either end. 

 This entrance is about 2>^ in. long and -^'s in. deeii. 



The frames are held snugly at the bottom by 

 pins stuck through Iioles bored in the bottom- 

 board, and at the top by a strong cord which is 

 fastened ijermanently to a peg at one end. and tied 

 (each time the hive is closed) to a peg in the other 

 end. The pegs and the strings may be seen in 

 Figs. 9 and 10. 



Mr. LudlofT claims that the greatest advantage 

 which these hives have over the American hive is 

 that the entrance is at the side of the frame, and 

 therefore does not let the air blow in between the 

 frames to chill bees and brood. He also claims 

 that they are of much more uniform temperature. 

 They probably are when they are as precisely made 

 as he turns them out, for he is a fine workman. 



I have just been thinking that this Simplex hive 

 might be a fine thing in some parts of this country 

 for queen-rearing and for making increase. To 

 make increase. Mr. Ludloff puts in a division-board 

 which goes clear to the bottom, and a few days 

 later he gives a queen to the side where the ciueen 

 did not happen to be. It certainly would not be 

 difficult, with a wire-screen division-board for this 

 purpose, to maintain a one-frame queen-rearing 

 nucleus at one end of each hive. The hive would 



keep it warm, and it would do the hive but little 

 harm. 

 .Mesilla Park, N. M. O. B. Metcalfe. ; 



Italians v. Blacks ; Buckwheat Sown with Corn. 



1 note, Oct. 1, p. 600. that J. \V. Lemry, of Texas, 

 managed to make a test of honey-gathering be- 

 tween the Italian and black bees. His showing is 

 so different from my experience that I am prompt- 

 ed to let him hear from me. I shall go back to my 

 first start, not that the test was made a long time 

 ago, but to show how faithful and devoted 1 have 

 been to black bees. 



Some 35 years ago, when I was a young man, a 

 friend whose family I had treated thiough several 

 cases of sickness made me a present of a colony of 

 black bees, and 1 have kept the same stock all this 

 time, and at times I have had as manj' as 80 colo- 

 nies. But finding all my time was demanded in 

 my profession, and I could not neglect my pets, I 

 sold off until the bees were reduced to only four 

 colonies. I began to get lonely, as they were al- 

 ways company for me, especiall.v in m.y leisure 

 hours: and last fall, 1910, I bought 18 colonies of fine 

 Italian bees, and the spring started off with a good 

 flow from clover. I put on two supers with 48 .sec- 

 tions over each colony, and in a very short time 

 there was nothing for them to work on. I left the 

 supers on. however, until Sept. 20, when 1 removed 

 them all, and from the four colonies of black bees I 

 have an average of 30 lbs. each. Having lost one 

 of my Italian colonies by robbers last spring, the 

 remaining 17 had an average of just 5 lbs. each. All 

 of them were in the same apiary. The difference is 

 enough to cause me to ask whether it depends on 

 the climate. I leave this for some one who has 

 made a more thorough test. 



Mr. Briggs, of Iowa, inquires, Oct. 1, p. 602, regard- 

 ing buckwheat sown in the corn, so I will give my 

 experience this season. The drouth in May dried 

 up ever.v thing, and I was put to my wits' end, for 

 I wished to avoid having to feed the bees. Having 

 over an acre of corn in a rich black prairie loam, 

 and as no buckwlieat is sown in this section. I sent 

 forty miles for some, and on the 1st of July I sowed 

 it in the corn, but not very thick. 1 had a man go 

 between the rows once with an adjustable cultiva- 

 tor, and we had a shower of rain the first night. On 

 the 16th 1 had a furrow run between the potato- 

 rows, and drilled buckwheat in them, and on the 

 25th I m >de another sowing among the potatoes. 

 All three sowings made good growth. You may 

 imagine me out in that corn and buckwheat watch- 

 ing the bees and listening to their lovely and rec- 

 onciled hum. It was an experiment on my part, as 

 I had never heard of its being tried. I want to say 

 to our friend Briggs that, if his surroundings are 

 like mine, he need not fear for the results, as the 

 flow of nectar was certainly good, judging from the 

 way the bees worked on it in the forenoon: but 

 owing to the multitude of bees in this section It 

 was but-little for all. 



(ioodlaud, Ind., Oct. 11. M, L. Humiston. 



Serious Automobile Accident. 



Our friend .J. W. George, while riding in his auto- 

 mobile in Los Angeles, met with a .serious collision 

 with a street-car. He himself escaped without seri- 

 ous injury, and so did .Mrs. ( ieorge: but his .son was 

 badly hurt — a leg crushed, and other injuries that 

 may result fatally, although he is making a brave 

 fight for life, and Mr. G. is hoping for the best. The 

 .son was on the way to the depot to take the train 

 for one of the State agricultural schools. Mr. and 

 Mrs. G. have the symijathy of all. D. D. B. 



A Remedy for Ants. 



For keeping ants out of hives, make a strong .so- 

 lution of gasoline and moth-balls, and with a brush 

 or feather apply to the corners where the ants 

 crawl up on the hives. If your experience is like 

 mine you will not be bothered any more by ants. 

 I have not been troubled by them since. 



Bedford, Ind., Sept. 2:^. A. C. Bknn-ett. 



A Few Good Reports. 



This season we increased our bees from 12 colo- 

 nies, spring count, to 44, besides getting over a ton 

 of honey. 



Minnedosa, Man., Aug. 10. A. T. Harper. 



This year I had 30 stands, spring count, and got 

 .3500 lbs. of extracted honey, and increased to 65 

 stands, which I think is doing very well. 



Lonoak. Cal., Oct. 4. P. F.. Hai.i.ett. 



