322 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



ing on goldens. I know that a great many 

 prefer the so-called leather-colored or three- 

 banded Italian ; but it has been my observa- 

 tion that my bi'ightest yellow bees are the 

 ones easiest to manipulate, and they are 

 better workers. I use no veil or smoker on 

 my yellowest on&s, but the ones showing a 

 tendency to three bands or leather color I 

 have to subdue before manipulating. 



I do something in the way of demonstrat- 

 ing at fairs, and I always use my brightest 

 yellow goldens to work with, frequently 

 demonstrating on cool cloudy days, when, 

 to open a hive of dark bees, would be to 

 invite serious consequences. Among my 

 favorite stunts is to shake a whole derby 

 hatful of bees on top of my head (and 

 there is not much protection left there any 

 more ) . 



Now as to Mr. Miller's query regarding 

 behavior of the six hi\es of goldens that 

 were previously gentle, a possible explana- 

 tion is that, as long as they were pure 

 golden, they were gentle (which he admits). 

 On superseding the old queen her daughter 

 would still show the racial characteristics, 

 even if she should mate with a hybrid or 

 black di'one, and would still produce appar- 

 ently golden bees. 



Another reason is that the source of 

 nectar, or, rather, the lack of a source of 

 nectar, was the cause. He also states that 

 the bees were in the hands of beginners. 

 Ah! Any race of bees if handled in a 

 careless timid manner is apt to resent it. 

 If the bees were tinkered with six days of 

 the week by a novice Mr. Miller could not 

 expect to find them the acme of gentleness. 



A HUNDRED DOLLARS TO GET RID OF THE GOLDENS 



BY \K E. LHOMMEDIEU 



Mr. Miller is right. A number of years 

 ago I was desirous of getting some new 

 blood into my stock. At this time the late 

 Mr. Alley was advertising a dozen golden 

 queens, every one a breeder, for $10 per 

 dozen. I received a dozen by mail. They 

 were so bright, and they came thru so well, 

 that I ordered three dozen more, and intro- 

 duced them into four different apiaries. 



The next spring about cured me of 

 goldens. To make sure, however, I got 

 some queens of another breeder, but they 

 were very little if any better. They are not 

 like honeybees. It cost me over $100 to get 

 them cleaned out of the yards. But the 

 goldens have one good quality — they ai'e 

 handsome. 



Colo, Iowa. 



A CALIFORNIA YANKEE'S METHOD OF WIRING FRAMES 



BY S. A. NIVER 



Perhap.s my wiring-clamp will interest 

 some beekeepers who have found the wiring 

 of brood or extracting frames very puz- 

 zling. It is a slow tedious job at best. I 

 have taken several ideas from the bee-jour- 



TOGGie Jo/A/r FOR LEV£R 

 A/^D SL/D/rVG ARMS. 



nals, and combined them into a simple de- 

 vice for holding the frame rigidly and 

 squarely. It is easy to fasten the frame in 

 jDosition and release it, and the wires are 

 strung tighter than by any other plan I 

 know of. 



It is a double-deck- 

 ed affair. Fig. 1 shows 

 the loAver deck with the 

 lever arranged to pull 

 the iron lugs against 

 the end-bars, bending 

 them in toward eacli 

 other, while the wire 

 is threaded. No. 2 

 shows the upper deck 

 with a frame in posi- 

 tion with the lever 

 pushed to the left, and 

 held in place by the 

 " button." The clamp 

 is fastened to the 

 bench by means of a 



l£V£R 



BUTTON 



LOCK 



CLAMP 



