1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



951 



Truth is what we all want, and I should be 

 pleased to find myself in error. 

 Frenchtown, N. J. W. W. Case. 



[I can scarcely believe that buckwheat 

 honey is more antiseptic than any other 

 kind; but it is a well known fact that a 

 heavy honey- flow from any source will check 

 and often cure black or foul brood. As 

 buckwheat appears to be your main source 

 it naturally receives the credit for its ap- 

 parent curative qualities. Your other honey- 

 flows are not heavy enough to act as a check 

 on the disease. —Ed.] 



PAROID ROOFING FOR HIVE-COVERS. 



Have you had any report on the use of 

 paroid roofing as a hive covering underneath 

 the wooden lid? I have used this now for 

 two seasons, and find it very satisfactory. 

 The taking- ofli of the cover of a hive is 

 sometimes troublesome on account of being 

 glued down so tightly by the bees; and when 

 it comes off it comes with a jump and a jar 

 which is not very quieting to the bees. 

 With a sheet of paroid roofing under the 

 cover, just large enough to cover the hive 

 without extending over the ends or sides, 

 the lid comes off easily, and one can take 

 hold of the paroid at one comer of the hive 

 and lift it up gently, exposing a portion of 

 the hive or taking it off altogether, as one 

 wishes. The bees do not eat into this ma- 

 terial the way they do into table oil- cloth or 

 any other covering that I have ever tried. 

 Another point in its favor is that, no matter 

 how much the lid warps, this piece of roofing 

 will lie flat on top of the hive and close it 

 tightly. I have used the two-ply roofing 

 only. Wm. Hahman. 



Altoona, Pa. 



[We have never tested this paroid roofing 

 to go next to the brood- nest, but I have 

 seen it in use on top of hive-covers in lieu of 

 tin or other cover material. So far as we 

 know it is giving good satisfaction. We 

 shall be glad to receive reports from others 

 who have tested it.— Ed.] 



A SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE WAY TO CLEAN 

 UNFINISHED SECTIONS. 



A great deal is said of late about how to 

 clean sections To me it is a very simple 

 matter. First, extract from all that are 

 worth it; then at the close of the day, when 

 bees are done flying, place from one to five 

 of them at the entrance of every hive, 

 where the bees still come to the entrance. 

 They will be cleaned before morning. Leave 

 them there till toward night, then remove 

 them and replace by another lot. 



Harvard, 111. J. L. Anderson. 



[Your plan will work sasisfactorily; but a 

 much simpler way is to store the sections in 

 a hive, put the hive a distance from the 

 yard, and let the bees rob them out. This 

 may seem like foolish advice to put in a 

 bee-journal; but knowing so many practical 

 bee-keepers who use this method I am the 



more bold to recommend it. But the begin- 

 ner, at least, should remember to put the 

 supers containing these wet sections quite a 

 distance from the yard, otherwise he will 

 cause more or less of an uproar in the apia- 

 ry; but as soon as the honey is all gone and 

 cleaned off from the combs in the sections, 

 every thing will quiet down. — Ed.] 



A SUGGESTION TO SAVK BREAKING SECTIONS 



WHILE FOLDI>G FOR THE SECTIO.N- 



PRE?!S. 



It has always been impossible for me to 

 fold sections and pre?s without breaking 

 seemingly a large portion of them. I am 

 aware that the kind of lumber and proper 

 use of machinery have, much to do with it. 

 I also discovered that a great many were 

 broken because, in folding oy hand, we were 

 very apt to bend the middle corner a little 

 too far, or because it was the middle comer 

 it received more strain from a longer and 

 consequently harder strain. To avoid this 

 extra strain on any one corner more than 

 another I fastened a square block, 1| thick 

 by 3J j by 31g. on my Hubbard press just be- 

 low the casting which supports the section 

 while the corner is being locked. 



It will be seen that, when the section is 

 folded around this block, each corner re- 

 ceives its right angle-bend and no more. 

 The section can then be placed above in the 

 casting, and the corner locked in the usual 

 way. With me the above saves hundreds 

 of nice sections from being broken every 

 year; besides, I can save a little time in 

 crimping. The above dimensions are for 

 4iX4J sections. F. H. Cyrenius, 



Oswego, N. Y., May 28. 



SECTION STAMPS OR LABELS. 



I do not like C. G. Dickson's inscription, 

 p. 1250, for the simple reason that it leaves 

 the impression that there is comb honey that 

 is not pure. Here is my idea: 



Comb honey can not be made by any thing but bees. 

 From apiary of . 



Let us put this fact plainly in sight of ev- 

 ery purchaser, and the horizontal bar of the 

 shipping-case is the place to put it; also, if 

 the manufacturers can not stamp our sec- 

 tions at reasonable cost, each producer can 

 have his own stamp. I should like my stamp 

 to print on each section, besides the inscrip- 

 tion above, "This assertion is backed by the 

 National Bee-keepers' Association with 

 $1000. This honey came from the apiaries 

 of F. D. Andrews, near Walsenburg, Colo." 



Now, to go further, if we had laws to 

 compel each producer to stamp his name on 

 each section, or if dealers would refuse to 

 buy any that is not stamped, we could then 

 accomplish something, as people desire to 

 know where their food comes from; but 

 when there is no way of knowing, it is very 

 easy for them to remember some of the 

 newspaper stories as to where it came from. 



Walsenburg, Colo. F. D. Andrews. 



