564 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1 



in a region not given to strong winds may 

 be three times as large as that of a hive in 

 a bleak location in a region where winds 

 blow fiercely for hours at a time. [Quite 

 right.— Ed.] 



I AGREE WITH YOU, I think entirely, Mr. 

 Editor, in your views, p. 488, about getting 

 better stock, unless it be as to increased 

 chances from increased purchases. The 

 chances would be better with 5 queers than 

 with one, and still better with 100; but not 

 by any means 100 times as great. Indeed, 

 with the right care on the part of purchaser 

 and seller the purchase of 100 queens ought 

 not to improve chances 10 per cent over the 

 purchase of one. 



H. H. S. ASKS, p. 507, about drones over 

 excluder, when a weak colony is put over a 

 strong one. Will a colony rear drones so 

 long as it is weak enough to be thus kept 

 over another colony? But in the American 

 Bee Journal a man reports using the plan 

 without any excluder at all, and in ten or 

 twelve cases only one queen was lost. Would 

 there be much danger of a queen being kill- 

 ed so long as the cluster in the upper hive 

 did not reach down to the lower cluster? 



' ' Let ALL factory people adopt the plain 

 bar and this method of fastening starters," 

 p, 501. Please don't punish the rest of us, 

 Bro. Aikin, because the groove-and- wedge 

 plan of fastening foundation doesn't work 

 with you. I have never had a failure with 

 it yet, and can work it faster than waxing, 

 although I have waxed thousands of frames. 

 [I do not understand why some of our good 

 bee-keepers are not able to make the dou- 

 ble-groove-and-wedge plan of fastening 

 foundation work. Inquiry into the difficulty 

 often reveals the fact that the wedge is not 

 driven helow the surface of the wood. This 

 is very important. — Ed. ] 



Stimulative feeding is, to be sure, prac- 

 ticed in Europe, but it is there called a two- 

 edged sword, and I think I have seen more 

 warnings against it in German than in 

 American bee-journals. [A good deal de- 

 pends on the locality. One place, as soon as 

 it warms up, will keep warm, while another 

 will warm up to stay that way for a week 

 or ten days, then turn chilly to cold. In 

 such a place a colony that has been induced 

 to rear a lot of brood finds itself at a great 

 disadvantage in taking care of this brood. 

 For this reason, in this locality we do not 

 find it advisable to give artificial substitutes 

 for pollen, such as Indian meal, etc.- Ed.] 



I wonder, Mr. Editor, how jou got the 

 impression that ' * the bees did not build over 

 these splints perfectly in all cases," page 

 487. I am thinking carefully of what I am 

 saying when I say that I do not recall ever 

 seeing a single cell not occupied by brood be- 

 cause of foundation-splints. But truth com- 

 pels me to say that too many of my combs 

 are not built down perfectly to the bottom- 

 bar because so many of them were built 

 when the bees were half idle, and at such a 

 time the bees enjoy gnawing out a passage- 

 way. [I do not know but we ought to con- 



sider the advisability of constructing a ma- 

 chine that will make these splints. The or- 

 dinary buzz-saw and table is not suitable 

 for this work, although it can make them; 

 but not a few of the splints will shoot down 

 between the saw and the slot in the table, 

 wedging against the saw to the extent that 

 our workmen dislike making them. The saw 

 must be stopped and the spHnts pulled out. 

 I remember when I was at your place you 

 showed me some very nice combs; but I was 

 under the impression that a few of them 

 were not perfect.— Ed.] 



It is a good time now to clean out propo- fl 

 lis, dead bees, or any mold that may exist, 

 from the bottom-boards of colonies, light or 

 strong. A long-handled scraper with a thin 

 blade on one end can be used to good advan- 

 tage, even when bees are in the hive, jf 

 smoke be used to keep them from ' ' resent- 

 ing the intrusion." 



OUR PENNSYLVANIA ARTICLE. WL 



We had planned for this issue to put in a 

 special Pennsylvania article, but found it 

 would be impossible to do so, owing to the 

 crowded condition of our columns, as noticed 

 elsewhere, and to the lack of some material 

 which has not yet come in. We hope to 

 give this, however, either in the June 1st or 

 16th issue. 



IMPORTANCE OF AMPLE ALIGHTIVG-BOARDS. 



During the early spring months it is very 

 important to have either large alighting- 

 boards, or better, perhaps, an inclined run- 

 way from the ground up to the entrance, 

 that is free of obstructions. During the 

 chilly days of spring, many bees are lost 

 that might all be saved if they could but 

 crawl into the entrance when they miss the 

 ordinary alighting-board. 



E. W. ALEXANDER RAPIDLY IMPROVING. 



It was with much regret that we had to 

 chronicle in our last issue the fact that our 

 valued correspondent, Mr. E. W. Alexander, 

 who has given us many helpful hints, was 

 critically ill. We have received two reports 

 from the bedside since then, stating that the 

 danger is past, and that he is rapidly on the 

 mend. He wishes to thank his friends for 

 the svmpathetic expressions that have been 

 tendered him during his sickness. Through 

 his wife he reports that he will be able to con- 

 tinue his series. He has some new good 

 things to give, and these will follow in the 

 due course of time. 



