AUGUST 15, 1914 



made worker size ; and when she is above, 

 the worker comb is built in that compart- 

 ment. 



KILLING DRONES. 



For the satisfaction of those wlio think 

 that workers will not kill drones, let them 

 try the following experiment: Till a super 

 with capped drone brood over a strong colo- 

 ny with a queen-excluder. The result is one 

 of the most ti'agic in all the life-history of 

 bees. When the cover is raised a few days 

 later, the first thing noticed is the deep bari- 

 tone hum of several thousands of drones, 

 expressing fear and agony. The second 

 thing to be observed is the presence of sev- 

 eral thousand workers running about, buzz- 

 ing angrily, some tugging at dead drones, 

 others at living ones, all with the same ob 

 ject in view — the removal of the drones. 



Raising the super you will find on top of 

 the queen-excluder probably two handfuls 

 of dead drones in every imaginable state of 

 mutilation, the favorite form being decapi- 

 tation. You will see rows of heads lying 

 upon the slots of the excluder which they 

 cannot quite pass through. 



If the drones were starving or dying of 

 old age the great mortality could be ex- 

 plained otherwise ; but it is plainly a slaugh- 

 ter of the defenseless drones — not a quick 

 merciful death by stinging, but by being 

 literally pulled apart limb by limb until 

 they are in pieces small enough to eject 

 from the liive, because there is plenty of 

 honey in the hive, a flow of nectar, and a 

 good force of bees to gather it. Moreover, 

 the drones are all young and vigorous. 



A BETTER WAY TO DISPOSE OP DRONE COMB 



Place a superful of drone brood over a 

 colony with a young queen, without an 

 excluder. The young vigorous queen will 

 not lay any eggs in the drone-cells; so in 



631 



25 days they will be all emptied of brood, 

 cleaned out, and probably with many cells 

 full of honey. They can afterward be used 

 as extracting-eombs. 



HOW TO FILL ALL BROOD-CHAMBERS WITH 

 WORKER-COMB. 



Give your bees plenty of empty frames 

 with half-inch starters. All worker comb is 

 to be placed in the brood-chambers, and all 

 drone comb to be placed in supers. The 

 drone-cells are just as good as worker for 

 extracting combs. By this plan it is not 

 necessary to use full sheets of foundation, 

 as plenty of worker comb will be made at 

 all times. When, as frequently happens, 

 one half is. worker and half drone comb, 

 place above. Life is too short to cut out 

 drone comb from a frame or to tie worker 

 comb in. If the honey-flow is good the bees 

 will probably complete a cut comb with 

 drone-cells. 



THE BEST WAY TO MAKE INCREASE. 



Shake oif all bees from four combs ex- 

 cepting the young ones. Place these combs 

 in an empty hive without a super. Turn 

 the old hive at right angles, and place the 

 hive containing the four combs in its place. 

 The workers come back and fill the hive; 

 and, finding no queen, go to work almost 

 immediately to make several. There is such 

 a mighty force of bees on a few combs that 

 ideal conditions exist, and the result is some 

 of the fattest and best queen-cells I have 

 ever seen. 



In seven days I move the four combs to a 

 new location, cut out all queen-cells but 

 two, and give the rest to new nuclei. The 

 old hive is turned back into its old position, 

 most of the old workers come home, find 

 their mother, and live happily ever after. 



Los Angeles, Cal. 



A BOTTOM- BOARD FEEDER 



BY JAY SMITH 



In the Feb. 15th issue of 1913 I described 

 a feeder which I had built into the back 

 part of the bottom-board. Feed was poured 

 into it through a little door in the back. 

 After using this feeder another year, I find 

 it fills the bill very nicely, yet it has two 

 little defects that I have overcome in an- 

 other model which is illustrated by the ac- 

 companying engTaving. 



Some of the feeders on the market are 

 good for stimulative purposes; others are 

 good for fall feeding. None are exactly 

 satisfactory for both. My built-in feeder 

 did not hold enough for fall feeding; and if 



the bottom-board was not reversed in winter 

 it would become clogged with dead bees. 



The new feeder I used the past season, 

 and find it fills the bill nicely for any kind 

 of feeding, and can be put into the hive in 

 a jiffy without disturbing the bees. Being 

 made of a good quality of galvanized iron, 

 it will not leak; and, if taken care of, it 

 should last a lifetime. It is made in the 

 form of a shallow tray with small slats in 

 it, so that the bees will not drown. It is 

 shallow enough so that it can be shoved into 

 the entrance of any hive having a %-inch 

 opening. It is then raised up and a wedge- 



