GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



accounts for that, as all colonies are heavy 

 with stores now, Jan. 19. 



I will extract before the main honey-flow 

 starts, getting possibly 1200 or 1500 pounds 

 of tarweed honey, which is almost a total 

 loss, as there is no sale for it here. 



I am a great admirer of the Dixie Bee, 

 and wish it had more space. 



On page 17, Jan. 1, appears an article by 

 Frank C. Pellett, on the habits of skunks. 

 If I had my bees in one yard and my chick- 

 ens in another, and had to turn Mr. Skunk 

 loose in one, I would put him in the bee- 

 yard. There are lots of skunks here, especial- 

 ly the small spotted variety, and I have seen 

 them near my bees many times, and see 

 their tracks in the wet sand; but I can't 

 say that I ever lost any bees by them. But, 

 on the other hand, in this country the skunk 

 is a natural-born chicken-killer. 



Eain! say, isn't it great? It's been rain- 

 ing for almost three weeks now, and the 

 sage is beginning to leaf out. 



Orcutt, Cal. W. P. Worsham. 



Frames with a Double Top-bar 



Herewith is a sketch of the style of frame 

 I have been using for the past ten years. It 

 is far ahead of the solid top-bar, I think. 

 Before I used them I used to put in sticks 

 or a Hill device; but these were a poor sub- 

 stitute. I have frames that I used when I 

 first adopted these, and they have never 

 been filled up by the bees. They are very 

 easily made. 



I have found that laying a piece of burlap 

 over frames and then a board right down on 

 burlap tight will winter bees better than 

 any cushions over bees. I have kept bees, or 

 they have helped keep me, for about 30 

 years. I use large hives — nothing less than 

 15 to 24 L. frames, side by side. I had only 

 one swarm from 40 .last year. Large hives 

 did it. I use two queens below, and let the 

 bees all work together above. It 's fun to 

 see such colonies at work carrying in honey. 



East Claridon, O. E. C. Miller. 



[The double top-bar as here illustrated 

 v/as exploited some twenty years ago. They 

 are all right, and we do not quite under- 

 stand why they did not receive more recog- 

 nition than they have. The claim was made 

 at the time, that they would provide bee- 

 passages so that the bees would go back and 

 forth from one comb to the other during the 

 winter. The claim was also made that they 

 would eliminate to a great extent burr and 

 brace combs, and that is true. 



This is an instance of one of the good 

 things that were introduced some years ago, 

 but which drppped out of sight. About the 

 time this double top-bar was suggested, the 

 thick top-bar was also brought to the front. 

 As this was a little better for eliminating 

 brace-com.bs, it seems to have crowded the 

 double top-bar into the background where it 

 was forgotten. — Ed.] 



Know the Men with Whom You are Dealing 



On page 74, Jan. 15, L. E. Webb asks, 

 ' ' Are breeders of untested queens guilty of 

 sending out a majority of their stock mis- 

 mated? " 



The dishonest queen -breeders, if there are 

 any, can positively answer this question, but 

 they won 't. The purchaser who has had the 

 misfortune to get even 25 per cent of un- 

 tested queens is not in position to say posi- 

 tively that he is being made the dumping- 

 ground for hybrid queens; but his suspicion 

 is aroused, to say the least. But what can 

 be the opinion of one who receives eleven 

 untested queens, and a mismate in each case? 

 It would seem that there is but one of two 

 conclusions — namely, that the queen-breeder 

 is dishonest or he is surrounded with black 

 and hybrid bees. 



In either case he should not be patronized. 

 But why will one risk his money where there 

 may be a doubt as to fair treatment when 

 there are so many whose reputation is above 

 question? I believe one should always buy 

 his queens from the nearest reputable breed- 

 er, in order to insure quick and safe deliv- 

 ery. ' ' Safety first. ' ' 



I have been buying untested queens for 

 many years, but from only two breeders — 

 one in Ohio, the other in Kentucky, and have 

 never had a mismate yet. I had one drone- 

 layer, which was made good at once. So it 

 seems that the best advice to Mr. Webb 's 

 question would be, ' ' Know the men with 

 whom you are dealing. ' ' 



Indianapolis, Ind. J. F. Kight. 



Some Bee-tree 



We have had a very interesting time here 

 the past week, as we stopped here and went j 

 bee-hunting. We found four trees on the fl 

 railroad company 's right of way, and pro- ■^ 

 ceeded to cut them; and I am frank to say 

 that in 45 years of bee-raising I never saw 

 the like. Two of the colonies had evidently 

 been in the trees for some time, as they 

 inhabited twenty feet of the main trunk of 

 a tree, the hollow part being 18 inches in 

 diameter. I never saw as manj'^ bees in one 

 swarm in my life. There were bushels of 

 them, nearly black, and the honey was the 

 finest I have tasted in years. I have not 

 weighed what we took out, but presume it 

 will run about a thousand pounds, comb and 

 all. To be sure, some of it is dark comb, 

 but a large amount of it is new comb. 



Kansas City, Mo. A. J. Stanford. 



