FEBRUARY 1, 1916 



QUEEN -EXCLUDERS 



BY V/. C. MOLLETT 



I have noticed several corameuts on the 

 use of queen-exchideis by different contrib- 

 utors as to whether they prevent the bees 

 from storing as much honey in the supers as 

 they otherwise would. As to this, I think it 

 may depend upon the kind of honey pro- 

 duced, whether comb or extracted. In pro- 

 ducing comb honey in bulk or in extracting- 

 frames I think their use is absolutely neces- 

 sary if the combs are expected to be kept 

 free from young bees — at least that is the 

 case here. I produce only bulk comb honey, 

 as it brings just as good a price ns any, and, 

 of course, the bees will store more honey in 

 the shallow frames than they will in sec- 

 tions. 



It took only a short time for me to find out 

 that the use of excluders produces very 

 much better results than depending upon 

 the chance that the queen would not go up 

 into the supers to deposit eggs. One spring 

 I had put in full slieets of surplus founda- 

 tion, and was expecting a fine lot of bass- 

 wood honey, when, on examining them just 

 before the flow of honey from basswood 

 was due, I found that nearly all the frames 

 contained eggs and larvae in all stages of 

 development. Of course this spoiled my 

 chances for that season, and also showed 

 that it was unwise to depend upon the ca-* 

 prices of the queens as to where they might 

 dei>osit their eggs. In some seasons queens 

 do not go up into the supers, but this is 

 only the exception, not the rule. In i^ro- 

 ducing section honey I do not think there 

 would be very much danger of the queen 

 going above to lay. as the sujiers are divid- 



ed into so many different parts by the sec- 

 tions, separators, etc. 



As to whether bees will store as much 

 above an excluder as they would without it, 

 I have never been able to see any difference 

 during the main honey-flow; but I rather 

 think that they will store more in the su- 

 pers during the fall flow. However, as in 

 most localities they do not secure much 

 more than enough to carry them thru the 

 winter from the late flow, this is not very 

 important. 1 never have any trouble in 

 getting bees to work in the supers during 

 the main honey-flow, when I give them 

 sheets of foundation, which I always expect 

 to do, as I am convinced that the use of full 

 sheets of foundation is a good propostion. 



I notice that the price of zinc has been 

 raised on account of the war. As the new 

 wood and wire honey-boards are so much 

 superior to perforated zinc I am not worry- 

 ing very much. In my opinion the zinc ex- 

 cluder, entrance-guards, etc., are so much 

 outclassed by the wood-and-wire ones that 

 they will soon go out of use anyway. I 

 have used the Avood-and-wire excluders ever 

 since they have been on the market, and am 

 so much pleased with them that I would not 

 use perforated zinc if I could get it free of 

 charge. 



The latest improvement in excluders, the 

 ones with seven wires to each sj^ace, are 

 still better than the ones that had only three 

 wires to the space. I think that the new 

 ones will, without any doubt, replace the 

 zinc ones almost entirely in a few years. 



Stonecoal, Va. 



CORRUGATED-IRON BEE-SHEDS IN ARIZONA 



BY ,J. M. HERMAN 



To show that all sheds in Arizona are 

 not built of brush and barbed wire, I am 

 sending a picture of my sheds which are 

 built of corrugated iron. The jiosts are 

 4x4x9 ft., made of redwood timber. These 

 are set in the ground so tliat they are 7 feet 

 high on the north side and 6 ft. 8 inches on 

 the south side. They are located 12 feet 

 apart each way. The stringers are of 2 x 4 

 l)ine lumber, enough to make the combined 

 length of the shed 108 feet. The cross-i'ests 

 for the stringers are 2x4x12 feet; and 

 the braces, 1x4x6 ft., are nailed to the 

 posts and these cross-supports. 



The corrugated iron is bent down over 

 the strinyeis 1(5 inches on the soutli or 



lower side, and 1) inches on the north or 

 upper side. The pieces are nailed to the 

 sides of the stringers as well as to the top. 

 so that they are not likely to be blown off. 

 The ends of the shed as shown in the pic- 

 ture are made of the same material. There 

 is an aisle for a wheelbarrow between the 

 rows of hives in the middle of the shed. 



I have seven of these sheds in all, holding 

 800 colonies, two at the home apiary, two 

 at the south apiary three miles south of 

 Chandler, and three at the west apiary a 

 mile west of ("handler. These latter are 

 132 feet long. The whole expense was about 

 $700, but I know that my bees are much 

 safer from loss by fire. 



