NOVEMBER 1, 1916 



nevei* been doubted; but tlie queen-excluder, 

 from time to time in articles published in 

 the German bee-journals, has been adverse- 

 ly criticised. Of course, such articles have 

 always been answered by some who recog- 

 nized the g:i'eat benefit of its proper use. 



THE QUEEN-EXCLUDER. 



Some beekeepers called it a nuisance to 

 the bees; others, an instrument of torture. 

 This was said especially of the perforated 

 zinc sheet excluder. Perhaps such criticism 

 has stimulated the inventive genius. The 

 list of bee-supplies was increased by a 

 queen-excluder of "' papier-mache " of any 

 size, and by excluders entirely of wood. 

 The wooden excluders are certainly handy 

 for the bees where they are of suitable size ; 

 however, these are mostly very small, about 

 3 X 10 inches. I consider an excluding- 

 board the size of the brood-nest just right. 



We have now on the market two kinds of 

 wire excluders. I consider them preferable 

 to the zinc sheet excluders, altho I have only 

 the latter in use. 



SHEET ZINC EXCLUDERS. 



These, after they are stamped, have on 

 one side very sharp edges. Even a treat- 

 ment with wire brushes does not remove all 

 of them. It is these sharp edges that abrase 

 the natural hair dress, and may inconven- 

 ience and injure the bees, some of which 

 have to pass them heavily loaded. These 

 sharp edges may easily be beveled off and 

 made smooth by passing a suitable tool over 

 the edge of each perforation. A few min- 

 utes suffices to bevel the edges of an eight 

 or ten frame excluder. 



DIPPING EXCLUDERS IN WAX. 



After the perforations have been made 

 smooth, tlie excluder might be further im- 

 proved by dipping it in hot wax and hang- 

 ing it up with a wire to let the surplus wax 



drain oft. The hotter the wax the thinner 

 the coating. Such a wax-coated excluder 

 pleases the bees much better than the bare 

 metal. The coat of wax reduces the heat- 

 conducting quality, and offers a better foot- 

 hold for the bees. 



ANOTHER WAY. 



Besides using excluders there is etdll 

 anotlier Avay practiced among beekeepers 

 here to prevent the queen from going into 

 tlie super. This method is based on the 

 assumption that the queen will not pass 

 ^'^vu a long dark cliannel. The eonstructior 

 of some of the hives in use here can be 

 readily adapted to this system. The brood- 

 nest, by a permanent partition, is separated 

 from the super. On the side of the entrance 

 a long dark channel leads up to the upper 

 story. It is said that the queen very rarely 

 finds her Avay thru into the super. I have 

 never used the plair, but know of a practical 

 beekeeper Avho used it successfully for many 

 years, and was pleased with it. 



Quite a number of beekeepers have a 

 hole only 3 to 4 inches in diameter; others, 

 an opening about 4 by 10, covered with an 

 excluder to communicate with the super. I 

 am satisfied with an excluder nothing less 

 than the size of the brood-nest. 



IMPORTANCE .OP THE EXCLUDER. 



The weather and bee-pasture here are 

 such that, without the excluder, the surplus 

 would be so small (many seasons nothing), 

 I would not keep bees for the honey they 

 migkt bring, but would keep only a few 

 colonies for the pleasure they would afford. 

 The excluder for me serves not only to keep 

 tlie queen from going up into the super, but 

 also to limit the brood-rearing at the right 

 time. Tliis I consider essential to success 

 in this locality. 



Kempten, Bavai'ia, Germany. 



ODDITIES OF CHINESE BEES 



BY BRO. ROMAIN 



The readers of Gleanings will be j)leased 

 to know that their esteemed paper is read 

 in a country so far distant as China; they 

 may also appreciate the good will of a re- 

 mote subscriber who comes bringing his note 

 of variety, talking of the Chinese bees, 

 which may, perhaps, share in the oddity of 

 their masters, the citizens ■ of the newest 

 republic. 



In China we find the same bees as in 

 Europe — the pure races excepted. They 

 are neai'ly half yellow, but a little smaller 

 than those in Europe — so much so that they 

 rear " dronas " in worker-cells of European 



foundation. They show a groat reluctance 

 to build on that foundation and to go into 

 the section. Like their masters, they don't 

 trust innovations. 



In the southeast of China (Foo-kien) 

 there exists another kind of beas — black, 

 hairy, and much bigg'fer than common bees. 

 The workers are as large as black European 

 drones. I nearly succeeded in getting a 

 colony of those dragon bees. Unfortunate- 

 ly the Chinaman killed them by smoking 

 the box over the chimney of his hut. It 

 was a great pity, for I believe those bees 

 able to gather nectar from the kidney beans 



