670 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15 



THE THREE-COMPARTMENT MATING-BOX ; A 

 REASON FOR NOT USING IT. 



I have read with interest what has been 

 said by both Dr. Miller and Editor Root— see 

 pages 18, 140, 199. There is one point left 

 out. A swarm or nucleus will always cluster 

 near the entrance. This is particularly so 

 of a nucleus. In the three-compartment 

 mating- box the one real good point is lost, 

 for this is the way they will cluster— see 

 No. 1. 



In the two- compartment or twin box the 

 same is true if the entrance is placed at the 

 ends as No. 2. With the entrance placed as 

 in No. 3 the warmth of the division- board, 

 together with the opposite effect produced 

 by the cold, causes the bees to form nearer 

 a sphere of the two clusters. This is the 

 only way I have been able to secure the de- 

 sired results, and that only in part. Say, 

 doctor, "if I couH get you out alone I'd 

 have it out with you. ' ' I hate to be a sec- 

 ond party against you, but 1 could not let 

 this go by unnoticed. Surely you will par- 

 don me this time. A. K. Ferris. 



Madison, Wis. 



[Mr. Ferris hits the nail on the head. 

 So, Dr. Miller, your idea of a three or four 

 compartment mating-box goes glimmering— 

 that is, providing Mr. Ferris is right, as I 

 am satisfied he is.— Ed.] . 



WHAT CAN BE DONE WITH GOOD COMBS CON- 

 TAINING SOUR HONEY? 



Will you tell me what to do with a lot of 

 combs containing sour honey? My husband 

 had 108 colonies one fall, and just half that 

 number in the spring. This was the winter 

 when many could tell the same story, and 

 many fared still worse. The frames left 

 contain good straight worker combs. I 

 could make wax of them, but do not want to 

 unless necessary. Will it do the bees any 

 harm to put several of these sour moldy 

 combs in the hive at once, so that they 

 might be cleaned up? or would it be better 

 to put them out in the yard when the weath- 

 er is right, and let them work on them as 

 they would on other combs? M. L. P. 



Syracuse, N. Y. 



[Combs containing sour honey are a very 

 undesirable asset in the bee-yard. If only 

 slightly acid they may be given to the bees 

 in the brooding season; but even then there 



will be some risk. A better way is to un- 

 cap and extract, and if the honey is very 

 sour make vinegar of it. If only slightly 

 soured, boil it till the acid taste or smell dis- 

 appears. It may then be given to the bees 

 as a stimulative feed. But if the honey is 

 quite sour, no amount of boiling will make 

 it sweet. — Ed.] 



BEES WITHOUT A HIVE FOR YEARS. 



Mr. Samuel Simmins, on page 86, speak- 

 ing of visiting a bee-keeper once who had 

 some hives on some strips of IX 2- inch tim- 

 ber up on stakes, and without bottom- boards, 

 reminded me of a colony of bees I saw on 

 Lano River, in Kimble Co., in 1900. These 

 bees were hanging from an overhanging 

 ledge of rock, about forty feet from the 

 ground, and about that far from the top. 

 Some old settlers in the neighborhood told 

 me these bees had been there for a good 

 many years, and no one had succeeded in 

 getting to them to rob them. But the 

 strangest thing about it was that they had 

 gone through some pretty bad winters. 

 They were sheltered only on the north side, 

 and overhead. The overhanging rocks shel- 

 tered them from the sun as well as the 

 rain; so it doesn't seem so strange that 

 those bees Mr. Simmins writes about should 

 go through minus a bottom- board when 

 these others stayed for years right "out- 

 doors." It is strange, after all, what a bee 

 can live through sometimes, and at other 

 times will die with the best of care. It is 

 true that our winters here are mild compar- 

 ed with the winters further north. We al- 

 ways winter on summer stands in single- 

 walled hives; but we do have some real cold 

 weather sometimes, but it doesn't last long. 

 A. A. Ashley. 



Brown wood, Texas. Feb. 2. 



THE MARBACH METAL-SPACED FRAME. 



While you have not asked for any praise 

 or criticism I am going to take the liberty 

 to say a few things concerning the Marbach 

 metal-spaced Hoffman frame. The frame 

 is certainly unique, and the workmanship 

 and the material used are perfect. But 

 there are two objections. 



First, I will say that every spring I 

 thoroughly clean all top- bars and rabbets 

 from accumulated propolis, using a scraper 

 and choosing a warm day; and as the ends 

 have the most propolis, those metal strips 

 that pass over the top-bars would prove a 

 nuisance, and prevent one from doing a 

 swift and clean job. I don't want even any 

 nail-heads on top of the top-bar. 



It is surprising how quick and nice a job 

 a person can do with a proper scraper in 

 cleaning off a set of frames with short rests, 

 rabbets and all, where the propohs is 

 warm and sticky, and it pays all through the 

 season's work. , . , a. 



If the tin spacers could be used without 

 extending over the top- bars it would be bet- 

 ter; but they would not be so substantial. 

 But I don't think they will prove substantial 

 any way. I believe that, after they have 



