JANUAKY, 1917 



GIvKANTNGS IN BEE CULTURE 



63 



HEADS OF GRAlNl PPQMlQ rmFFERENT FIELDS 



grain, they sink into the wood. "Fiddling" 

 the wires is done to overcome this sinking 

 into the wood rather than to straighten the 

 wires across the frame. I have tried to 

 devise a way to obviate this difficulty; and 

 the best plan I have found is to take one- 

 ounce tacks, lay a tack on the edge of each 

 hole across where the wire is to run, and 

 imbed each tack in the wood with one tap of 

 the hammer. This saves enough time in 

 fiddling the wires, perhaps, to pay for the 

 time spent in fixing the tacks, and makes it 

 possible to get the wires tighter than is 

 possible in the ordinary way. On the other 

 hand, it slightly increases the risk of broken 

 wires, but does not make that risk serious 

 wlien one knows how to do the work. The 

 illustration shows an end-bar with three- 

 ounce tacks opposite the top and bottom 

 holes, in the right place for fastening the 

 ends of the wire, and one-ounce tacks im- 

 bedded ready to have the wire run over 

 them, assuming the wire to be all one piece; 

 but the one-ounce tacks at the upper and 

 lower holes are hardly needed, since there 

 tlie wire runs across the grain of the wood. 

 Stephen T. Byington. 

 Ballard Vale, Mass. 



Where the In regard to the cross 



Cross Bees bees that follow one 



Come from around the yard, they 



are bees from a queen- 

 less colony, nine times out of ten. If the 

 colony is given a queen the nuisance will stop 

 — at least this is my experience. I had more 

 trouble from this source last season than at 

 any time during the last forty years. 



To provide for such emergencies as laying- 

 worker colonies or colonies having drone-lay- 

 ing queens, or colonies actually queenless, I 

 keep several nuclei on hand with young lay- 

 ing queens. These I put on top of such colo- 

 nies, the only entrance being down thru the 

 brood-chamber below. I have not had a 

 failure in twenty years. I have been a con- 

 tinuous reader of Gleanings since 1875. 



Kuna, Idaho. E. A. Cleaver. 



Disinfecting "When there has been 



a Hive foul brood in a double- 



walled Buckeye hive 

 would it be suflScient to scrape hive, bottom, 

 and cover thoroly, and then paint with 

 kerosene oil, or would it be necessary to 

 char it? John G. Bodanhafar. 



Kendallville, Ind., Oct. 27. 



[Scraping your Buckeye hive on the inside 

 would be all right, but painting it with kero- 

 sene would not be sufficient. A better way 



is to put a little straw in the hive, set it 

 afire, and sim]>]y blacken the inside surface 

 of the hive. It would hardly bo wise to 

 omit this. If you mean by painting the hive 

 with kerosene on the inside, and then touch- 

 ing a match and letting it burn until it is 

 blackened, that would be all right. It is not 

 necessary to burn deep. — Ed.] 



Why I Wire Ver- I have a way of wir- 

 tically as well as . ing frames that is cer- 

 Horizontally tain to keep the wires 



from sagging that is 

 not so expensive as splints. It costs a trifle 

 more than the plain horizontal wiring, how- 

 ever. I wire the frames both horizontally 

 and vertically. Usually I use only one verti- 

 cal wire in the center, tho sometimes two, 

 dividing the frame in three equal parts. 



I pierce holes in the top and bottom bars; 

 then after wiring the frames horizontally I 

 pass a wire down thru the top-bar, being sure 

 it is long enough to reach past the bottom- 

 bar; then I take one turn around the upper 

 horizontal wire, then go to the second, third, 

 and fourth in like manner, then thru the hole 

 in the bottom-bar. I then stretch the verti- 

 cal wire and fasten with small nails at top 

 and bottom. It makes a neat job if the 

 wrapping is done properly around the hori- 

 zontal wires. I have used this method for 

 three years, and can find no fault with it so 

 far. 



When putting in the foundation I put the 

 sheet in the groove, then cut the wedge in six 

 pieces and use three of them — one in the 

 center and one an inch or so from each end 

 of the frame. The wax does not tear oif at 

 the top as it does sometimes in hot weather 

 when the whole wedge is used. 



To imbed the wire in the wax I use a hot 

 inibedding-tool, pushing the wire into the 

 foundation. The melted wax makes it stick 

 fine. I heat the imbedding-tool over a lamp. 



Wheatland, Wyo., June 11. F. S. Barter. 



Oc 



The Spacing I use the old-style 



of loose-hanging frames. 



Brood-frames I have tried the fixed 



or spaced frames twice 

 during my experience, and each time after 

 using them a few years I whittled off the 

 projections and made them loose-hanging 

 frames. I will neyer be induced to use the 

 self-spaced frame again. 



I space the frames as follows: For early 

 spring while the bees are building up I 

 crowd the frames up to 1% to 1%, so that 

 the bees can cover more space. Before the 

 bees think of swarming I space them l^^ 



