938 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Decembeb, 1917 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



cord long- enough to readi from yoiir light- 

 socket to your work-table; untwist about 

 two feet of it and fasten the ends of each 

 str-and to the nails that go thru the wood. 

 Cut one strand about one foot from, the 

 wood ; place the two ends that are cut in a 

 Mason jar filled with water, being careful 

 lo keep these ends from touching or you 

 will blow a fuse. These ends may be held 

 in place with a iiibber band or a string. 

 The electric current, having to pass thru tlie 

 water, will becom.e reduced so that it will 

 not heat the wires too hot. Where the 

 wires enter the water it is well to fasten 

 them to two coarse wires run down to the 

 bottom of the Mason jar. 



To Soi/RC£: OF Power i. 



^J—L^ 



The other end of the cord that is not 

 untwisted is connected to the light-socket 

 and the current turned on. Then, pick up 

 the wooden piece; place it so the two pieces 

 of tin will come in contact with the two 

 taclcs that hold the ends of the wire and the 

 electric cuiTcnt will pass thru the wire and 

 it will become hot. If you use pure water 

 the lieat will not be sufficient. To increase 

 the heat put a little table salt in the water 

 until the heat is just right. Too much salt 

 will lessen the resistance and the wires will 

 become too hot. About half a teaspoonful 

 is right for a 110-volt alterniating cuiTent. 



I do not know whether all will under- 

 stand just what I am driving at or not. I 

 tried the diescription on my wife with rath- 

 er indifferent results; but by a little study 

 aiid experimenting, I think you will have 

 no ti'ouble. 



Vincennes, Indiana. Jay Smith. 



Making Increase in September 



" You are a bigger fool than I thought 

 you wei-e." That is what Wm. Atkinson, 

 Selkirk, Ont., said to me when I told him 

 I had been making an increase of some sixty 

 colonies during the first week in Septem- 

 ber. (This Mr. Atkinson is the man who 

 designed for winter cases a safeguard 

 from sun, snow, and wind, as described in 

 Glean^ings, page 763, October.) The only 

 fiomfort I could get out of his opinion was 

 that in his estimation I had, until then at 

 least, not yet reached the extreme of folly. 



No doubt there are others (for I have 

 come across them) who think September 

 in Ontario or Canada, or even thru all 

 the noi'thern and middle .states, to say 

 nothing of the South, is a wrong time to 

 make increase. With tliis I do not agree; 

 and when I told ]\Ir. Atkinson how I made 

 the increase he came to the conclusion that 

 the method had embodied in it much more 

 wisdom than folly. 



The seaison's operations cirowd pretty 

 hard upon our heels from early spring to 

 fall; and altho a student this summer said 

 that I took good care that no one about 

 me went to sleep during working hours, 

 yet it is often a difficult miatter to keep 

 ahead in our work. This is especially true 

 if frequent rains make our heavy .clay 

 I'oads temporarily impasstable for aut.'o- 

 mobiles and motor trucks. 



Just as circumstances drove me to out- 

 side wintering (which I found far superior 

 to cellar wintering), so circumstances well 

 nigh forced nje to make increase in Septem- 

 ber. I wanted the increase, and yet I did 

 not want to sacrifice any of my honey crop. 

 T intended to make this increase two weeks 

 before the surplus honey-flow was over; 

 but from that time until Sept. 1, I had too 

 much to do to undertake it. (We have no 

 dark autumn honey-flow — ^absolutely none.) 



HOW TO MAKE IT. 



Tf one's bees have been kept together, 

 there will be many colonies in front of 

 which there will be large iclusters of bees 

 hanging after the supers have been removed 

 fi-om the hive. These are the ones from 

 which to make the increase, the preference 

 being aiven to 12-frame hives ; but 10-f ram© 

 Langstroth hives also answer the purpose 

 perj'ectly. The colonies are divided in two, 

 ]ilacing half of the combs at one side of 

 the new hive, taking with them the ad- 

 hering bees: and if this does not prove to 

 be half of the swarm, still more bees are 



