1084 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



When I withdrew the plug the honey ran out 

 80 clear and free from wax particles that it 

 was almost unnecessary to strain it. 



Ehineland, Mo. S. E. Miller. 



Staple-supported frame as used by A. K. Clement, 

 Brunswick, O. Instead of the spacing-pins in the 

 rabbet Mr. Clement also uses spacing staples on the 

 end-bars in the regular way. 



["Almost exactly this kind of frame was 

 devised years ago, with this difference, that 

 it did not make use of metal pegs at inter- 

 vals to regulate the. spacing of the frames. 

 The objection to a staple projection is the 

 danger of si^litting the end-bars and top-bars 

 either while they are inserted or while in use. 



The arrangement would not be very satis- 

 factory where hives are moved about from 

 yard to yard. — Ed.] 



Should This Queen Lose Her Head? 



On p. 701, Sept. 1, Dr. Miller says his best 

 layer in No. 81 is marked for decapitation 

 because her bees do not deliver the goods. 

 Is it not a fact that the extra honey and 

 pollen required to feed and rear these extra 

 numbers of bees would make a fair surplus 

 with a less prolific queen? Would it not be 

 a fair test, doctor, to balance that hive at 

 night with your best honey-gatherers; then 

 decide if decapitation is in order? I have 

 just such a queen, and I use her as a helper 

 to my weaker colonies, and would not think 

 of decapitation as long as she can lay eggs 

 at the clip she is now going unless her bees 

 were entirely worthless as honey-gatherers, 

 which cannot be the case, and care for such 

 fertility. 



Indianapolis, Ind. J. F. Kight. 



Did the Galvanizing Make the Trouble? 



The following experience may be worth 

 something to many who are beginning in 

 beekeeping. A citizen of this section failed 

 to feed his bees as much last fall as he 

 thought they might need; and when January 

 came he became uneasy about them and went 

 to a yard and stirred a lot of sugar into 

 water, mixing it in a galvanized-iron wash- 

 tub. The weather was so bad that he could 

 not feed, and so he went away leaving the 



sugar syrup in the tub. Now, this man was 

 not a chemist, and failed to figure on any 

 chemical action that might be taking place 

 while he was away. About the first of 

 March he went back to the yard and fed the 

 syrup to twenty-six colonies, and, greatly to 

 his surprise, he killed every one that he fed. 

 He could not imderstand it; but he did no- 

 tice that all the zinc on the tub was gone 

 where the syrup touched it. Now, was not 

 that a case of zinc poisoning, due to the fact 

 that the sjaup had enough acid of some kind 

 in it to dissolve the zinc with which the tub 

 was coated? He claims that he mixed 16 

 pounds of water to 25 pounds of sugar. The 

 syrup was good and thick, and had not 

 soured. Evidently the zinc did the work. 



What about his combs? The combs have 

 some honey or syrup in them; and to give 

 these combs to other colonies would be a 

 rather risky proposition. 



Mt. Airy, N. C. J. E. Johnson. 



[We nearly always mix our syrup in an 

 extractor-can, and very often store it for 

 weeks at a time; but never have we had 

 any trouble from poison. It would be our 

 opinion that Mr. Johnson killed his bees by 

 feeding too early. He should have given 

 candy or frames of sealed stores. Mid- 

 winter or early feeding overstimulates a 

 colony, with the result that it starts breed- 

 ing when the weather conditions are un- 

 favorable. While we do not deny that poi-' 

 son may have had its effects, such early 

 feeding is always attended with great risk. 

 — Ed.r 



Pays to have a Money Order. 



In February, 1914, I sent an order of 

 twenty-eight dollars to a party in California 

 for bee supplies. In about a month 's time 

 I expected my freight at the station, also 

 reply from the man, but in vain. I sent him 

 a letter, bi;t got no answer. I sent a letter 

 to the postmaster to find out if the money 

 reached them. In about three weeks came 

 the answer from that postofRce that the par- 

 ty had received the money order, and would 

 give it proper attention. I waited another 

 month without getting more reply or goods 

 than I had, and the letter from the postmas- 

 ter. I went to our nearest town, about nine 

 miles, horseback, to see an attorney, and 

 explained to him the case. In two weeks I 

 received my order with the money order, so 

 you see he never cashed it. There was not 

 a single line of excuse. 



It is always safe in sending money by 

 money order to save the slip, even if it is for 

 only a small amount. 



Weiser, Ida. Mrs. Margarete Green. 



How to Keep Bees away from Watering- 

 troughs. 

 I tried the experiment of placing salt in 

 the water where I wanted bees to drink, in 

 order to entice them away from places where 

 stock were watered. While I provided this 

 salt in several different arrangements I could 



