998 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



A Device to Stop Robbing 



I give you a device I use to stop robbing — the 

 worry of most beekeepers at times. No article I ever 

 used seems to hit the spot, and trap hives are a 

 bother, besides killing bees that are following their 

 natural instinct. With my plan the home bees do 

 what killing is to be done, and even a small nucleus 

 will take care of itself. 



I take a frame about an inch deep, and of any 

 size to suit the hive to be protected, so as to cover 

 the whole entrance and to extend five or six inches 

 up the hive-body. I cover the frame with wire 

 screen, and across the short way of this frame 

 (which would be vertical when put on a hive) I nail 

 a thin strip of wood, say about an inch wide. At 

 the bottom I cut a hole half an inch square through 

 this thin wooden strip and screen. This hole will be 

 in the center, and on a level with the hive entrance. 

 Now the protector is ready for the fastenings, which 

 can be hooks, to slip over nails or screws on the 

 sides of the hive, or the frames may be toe-nailed 

 into the front of the hive. 



The principle is this: Robbers, whether insects or 

 men, know they are doing wrong, and so try to get 

 in and out by attracting as little attention as possi 

 ble ; so when they fill up and get to the light at the 

 hive entrance they think themselves safe, and start 

 to fly ; but the screen stops them. The home bees 

 nab them; and if they get away from one, there is 

 another ready for him; and you will find very few 

 robbers get away to bring others. They are kept too 

 busy to take time to find the opening they came in 

 at. On the other hand, the home bees can get into 

 their own hive with little trouble; and, while it 

 bothers them to find their way out, yet they soon get 

 "on to it;" and during their search they find the 

 strange bee in the same boat, and finish him; for if 

 he does break away from one he runs into the arms 

 of another. It is but a short time until the home 

 bees begin to stand guard at the opening; and if a 

 few pass the sentries they never get out alive. 



I have used this protector on strong and weak 

 colonies, and it has never failed to stop the robbing. 

 By " strong " I mean when feeding is going on in 

 the spring, before the summer strength has been at- 

 tained. 



Hartstown, Pa. Lewis M. Shafee. 



Dequeening without RecLueening to Prevent 

 Swarming 



In Gleanings for Oct. 15, page 805, appears an 

 article by J. E. Hand relative to " Requeening with- 

 out Dequeening." I wish to know if the hole is 

 made in the super so the virgin can go out and be 

 fertilized, and return to that super, and whether, as 

 soon as she begins to lay, she is allowed to go below. 

 Will she take the place of the old queen the same as 

 a virgin would? 



Phoenix, Ariz. B. Jones. 



[This was referred to Mr. Hand, who replies:] 



In requeening by the virgin-queen method ■with- 

 out dequeening, some have reported the virgin killed 

 instead of the old one. Perhaps it will be safer to 

 remove the old queen and substitute a ripe queen- 



cell, for bees have a decided antipathy against vir- 

 gins when eggs and larvse are present. If done 

 just before the old queen reaches the zenith of fer- 

 tility it will prohibit swarming with large hives ; but 

 reports show that it is not uniformly successful with 

 small hives. It is virtually the same method prac- 

 ticed by Dr. Miller with eight-frame hives. Any 

 thing that restricts queen fertility will cause swarm- 

 ing ; hence undiminished queen fecundity, coupled 

 with large hives, is immune from swarming. Any 

 attempt to have a queen fertilized in a hive with 

 a vigorous queen will ultimately result in failure 

 where bees have access to both queens through per- 

 forated metal. 



Birmingham, Ohio. J. E. Hand. 



Beekeeping and Pigeon-growing 



I have some bees here in Arizona, but not enough 

 to make my living with, and there are not any more 

 locations that I know of that would pay to locate 

 bees on ; so now I should be pleased to know if you 

 think raising some pigeons would pay along with my 

 bees, as I should like to have something besides the 

 bees to make my living, so if we have a poor year 

 for honey the pigeons would help out. I think there 

 would be a good market for the pigeons, but I would 

 have to ship them to Phoenix, which is 35 mileg 

 from here. 



Buckeye, Ariz., Nov. 17. Albert J. Ross. 



[We do not know very much about the business of 

 raising pigeons, but doubt very much if you would 

 find it a profitable industry to work along with the 

 keeping of bees. Perhaps some of our readers could 

 inform us. Poultry-raising or fruit-growing go very 

 well with the keeping of bees, and we should be in- 

 clined to think that you would do better to adopt 

 one of these in place of the business of raising 

 pigeons. In the last edition of our ABC and X 

 Y Z of Bee Culture we have articles on beekeeping 

 and poultry-raising, beekeeping and fruit-growing, 

 and beekeeping and gardening combined. — Ed.] 



Bee-brush Made of Rope 



I have several little conveniences that I use in my 

 apiary, one of which is a brush for clearing the 

 combs of bees. Take a round stick, 16 inches long, 

 and with a rip-saw divide it for about 9 inches, 

 leaving the other end for a handle. Take a piece 

 of one-inch manila l-ope 6 inches long, and with the 

 strands fill the opening in the stick, allowing them 

 to project on both sides of the stick. At the end se- 

 cure it with bee-wire and securely nail the stick with 

 one-inch brads. This makes the best brush I have 

 seen, and is almost indestructible. 



Another convenience is my covered hive-seat and 

 tool-box. My hive-seat is 14 x 16, with a pocket on 

 each end 6 x 14. These pockets come within an 

 inch of the top, and a cover is made to telescope over 

 the seat and rest on the top of the pockets. Under 

 the seat I have my smoker fuel; in one of the 

 pockets my smoker, and in the other my tools. The 

 framework of the cover is made of % xli/4-inch 

 white pine. The roof is rubberoid. Every thing 

 under it keeps dry, though I leave it standing in the 

 apiary all summer, and at the same time I take no 

 chance of setting any thing on fire in the honey- 

 house. 



Milo, la. B. A. Manley. 



