GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



July, 1920 



HEADS OF GRAI]vn i?PQii[i rDIFFERENT FIELDS 



the rows of his hives one can very quickly 

 determine the condition of each hive at the 

 previous visit as shown by the angle or 

 angles of the fasteners. E. E. Eoot. 



Greasy Waste About 10 or 12 



as Smoker Fuel. j-ears ago, several 



articles a p p e ared 

 in Gleanings stating that greasy waste was 

 such good fuel for the bee-smoker. At that 

 time I tried it out, with very unsatisfactory 

 results; the bees getting the best of me each 

 time, seeming to become very angry at the 

 smell and the hot smoke. 



Several days ago, I had occasion to in- 

 crease artificially a few colonies of bees, 



Greasy waste bee stings. 



and, having no other material handy, used 

 some greasy waste which I found there. 

 The result is shown in the accompanying 

 photograph, which is "the end" of a very 

 exciting movie reel entitled, ' ' The Beginning 

 of a Perfect Day. ' ' 



I counted over 200 bee-stings, which were 

 left in my hat. These were from bees of 

 one hive only, into which the greasy smoke 

 was blown. I changed fuel after that, and 

 had no trouble in handling the other bees. 



Baton Eouge, La. E. C. Davis. 



The Use of Steam I have found the 



in Extracting. use of steam heat 



in the extracting- 

 house a great success. I use it for melting 

 the cappings and for heating the honey and 

 keeping it just right so the honey-pump can 

 handle it. The steam is led into the cap- 

 ping-melter, the uncapping-tank, also under 

 the extractor and under the pan that heats 

 the honey for straining, and under the tank 

 that delivers the honey to the pump. All of 

 these five places need no special attention. 

 I simply have to keep up the steam outside 

 under the boiler, and that is easy. 



Brush, Colo. Daniel Danielsen. 



How to Get Rid of 



Pollen-clogged 



Combs. 



In a back issue of 

 Gleanings I read the 

 suggestion of .getting 

 rid of pollen by put- 

 ting pollen-clogged combs above the exclud- 

 er with the queen. This is all right; but 

 the bees will clog other combs below again, 

 so the same thing will be repeated. I take 

 a knife or hive-tool, or something sharp, and 

 cut and demolish the surface of the comb 

 where the pollen is, and then give it to the 

 bees. They will clean it all, carry it out of 

 the hive, and repair the combs ready for 

 the queen to lay in them. 



Brush, Colo. Daniel Danielsen. 



[Unless it is certain the colonies have 

 pollen far in excess of their needs it should 

 not be destroyed, but saved for brood-rear- 

 ing, when it will prove to be exceedingly 

 valuable. In some localities, however, there 

 is always sufficient pollen without any spe- 

 cial foresight on the part of the beekeeper. 

 —Editor.] 



Queen Cages for My cage for con- 



Swarm Prevention. fining the queen on 



the top-bar during 

 the swarming season was given on page 715, 

 1917 Gleanings. For years I have often cag- 

 ed in this way for 10 days as a swarm-pre- 

 ventive measure. I find, however, that it is 

 better to cage the queen nearer the brood 

 and, therefore, now use the cage in the ac- 

 companying illus- 

 tration, dest r o y- 

 ing the q,u e e n- 

 cells and pinning 

 the cage contain- 

 ing the queen to 

 the comb by 

 means of a nail, 

 at the end of nine 

 or ten days re- 

 leasing her and 

 destroy i n g any 

 cells that may be 

 found. 



There is no danger of the bees' balling 

 the queen while she remains in the cage. 

 The perforations allow the bees to enter and 

 freely mingle with the queen, but prevent 

 her from leaving the cage. 



Having the queen confined in the perfor- 

 ated cage has much the same effect as tho 

 the queen were above in the super, but when 

 the queen is confined in a wire cage in a 

 normal colony, another queen will be reared 

 and mated while the old queen is caged. 



There is some prejudice against confining 

 a queen for fear it may spoil her as a layer. 

 It will do her no harm, however, if she is 

 not removed from the hive. 



Medina, O., J. E. Thompson. 



Thompson's iiiieeu c a ir p 



used in prevention of 



of swarming. 



