630 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



enough to be in the center of the finished 

 rim. A part of the wet concrete is now 

 packed in. Then the other wires are laid 

 across the bottom of the mold as shown in 

 drawing, and the rest of the wet mixture 

 tamped in. Two inches or two and a half 

 is enough. A handle as shown in the photo- 



off, because of the way in which the rein- 

 forcing wires are placed. The ends of the 

 cross-wires should be carefully bent and 

 pushed down in the rim. 



In practice it is best to have five or six 

 molds and make up this many bottoms every 

 day or two until the required number is 



gi-aph is tamped on each side, and the mold 

 IS allowed to rest for a day, when the con- 

 crete will have set enough for the newly 

 made stand to be taken out. It should be 

 handled carefully, and dampened every day 

 or so for a week, like any other concrete 

 block, to cure it. The rims will not crack 



obtained. I have had quite a number of 

 these bottoms for three or four years. They 

 have given excellent service, and are now as 

 good as if not better than they w^ere at the 

 time they were made. The material costs 

 about 15 cts. each. 

 University, Ala. 



SOME EXPERIENCES OF AN AMATEUR BEEKEEPER 



Confimng Ae Oeeee Below on One Frasiie of Brood 



BY W. A. DUNTON, M. D. 



Last spring when the hives were full to 

 overflowing with bees I placed the queen on 

 one frame of brood and seven frames with 

 narrow starters below, putting all the rest 

 of the brood in a super with a queeu-exclud- 

 ei between. Nearly all the bees went above 

 with the brood, only about a handful remain- 

 ing below with the queen. In some of the 

 hives there was a small space at the side of 

 the excluder caused by the upper edges of 

 the hive warping outward. In these hives 

 the queen invariablj- went up with the 

 brood. In other hives I left four frames of 

 brood below. In all of these the queen stav- 

 ed below when there was an excluder; but 

 when there was no excluder they nearly 

 always went into the super, because it is 

 warmer there. Queen-cells were started at 

 once when the queen was confined below, 

 but most of those cells I destroyed befoi'e 

 they hatched. Where the cells were not 

 destroyed, the queens that hatched from 

 them were killed by the bees when they were 

 two or three days old. Some of the queens 

 so left below on one frame of brood got dis- 

 gusted and swarmed out with a handful of 

 bees. 



Some of the brood so placed above early 

 in the season chilled to death during the 

 cold California night.^ because too many of 



the bees clustered below with the queen. 

 About the first of May, when the bees were 

 very strong, and there was danger of 

 swarming, I placed four frames of brood 

 above and four below, alternating with 

 frames having narrow starters, but having 

 no excluders. In these hives all the brood 

 was well cared for, swarming was prevented, 

 and while the brood was hatching they 

 worked on all the combs equally, but the 

 queen went above in nearly all hives so 

 treated. In some hives the queen stayed 

 below, the bees building new combs in the 

 empty frames and neglecting the empty 

 frames placed in the super. In the hives 

 where the queen went above, the lower 

 empties were neglected; and if the honey- 

 flow was not good, in some cases they part- 

 ly destroyed the drawn-out comb in the 

 lower hive, gnawing it thin in places. These 

 were always white combs, none of the old 

 black combs being so gnawed. When the 

 honey-flow was good, and the queen laying 

 in the super, the lower drawn combs were 

 in some hives filled with honey contrary to 

 the usual custom, which is to place all stores 

 above. Some active queens kept all the 

 combs above and below filled completely full 

 of eggs in all cells not containing honey. 

 When the queen is below, the new comb is 



