1056 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 15 



like a shed for bees in hot counti'ies, both 

 for the comfort of the apiarist and the bees. 



To prevent the loss of queens, clipping 

 should be resorted to, and perforated zinc 

 honey-boards should be used if extracted 

 honey is being run for. It is a mistake to 

 project the eaves of the shed far over the 

 hives. This causes too much shade, and the 

 bees can not see the entrance at eventide. 



If the climate is damp I prefer the morning 

 sun to strike one row of hives and the setting 

 sun the other row. The bees work better — 

 far better: and the apiarist himself can do 

 more work than if out in the open. In the 

 little matter of stings thei"e will be about 

 three-fourths less. To prevent fire the roof 

 should be of iron or tin. 



ANTS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 



How to Destroy them ; their Habits. 



BY D. E. BEST. 



Mr. McCready's ant-fight with bees, page 

 148, is nothing new to me. Mr. Poppleton's 

 reply is very correct, only I use coal oil in- 

 stead of hot water to kill them, as the re- 

 maining odor of the oil is very efficacious in 

 keeping away those that are not killed. In 

 your footnote, Mr. Editor, I see you call the 

 above a very interesting contribution, hence 

 I will give you some of my trials. 



I have to fight with those big half-inch 

 ants and some smaller ones, say about one- 

 fourth inch long, almost every summer, and 

 they are very troublesome wherever they 

 once take hold. They kill a bee almost as 

 quick as a watch-tick — that is, if they get it 

 the right way. Sometimes the dead bees 

 have the same appearance they do when 

 drowned in fat. Mr. Poppleton says a great 

 many of the ants will also be killed; but how 

 the bees do this is a mystery to me. Why 

 can he not see the bees sting the ant? I 

 think I have seen that. He also says chick- 

 ens are fond of ants and their eggs. I know 

 they are: and whenever you can not laugh, 

 but would like to, simply take six or more 

 young chicks and put them in the middle of 

 an ant-nest; then I am sure you can laugh, 

 and heartily too, as the youngsters will learn 

 their dancing right there. They put in three 

 and four and all kinds of steps. 



I have one hive where the ants took posses- 

 sion three or four years ago, and I tell you I 

 have to keep a close watch every summer 

 else they will kill that colony of bees very 

 soon. I once thought I had killed or driven 

 away every ant and egg, and hence neglect- 

 ed to watch. Then one day I noticed the 

 bees flew no more. I then went close to the 

 hive to see the cause. I finally saw quite a 

 lot of those big ants in the entrance, and 

 they simply kept away the field bees. When- 

 ever one or moi'e bees came near, ants stood 

 ready on their hind legs, and they almost 

 jumped up to catch the bee. Bees inside 

 had to stay inside else they had to enter a 

 big fire, wliich would have resulted in sure 

 death. Then I went for my "gun," which 



meant coal oil, and gave the outside ants a 

 dose. I then opened the hive and took out 

 every frame and comb, and by so doing I 

 found that ants had filled about half way up 

 three or four of the outside comljs with chaff 

 from the outside body. Now, how many 

 eggs, about the same size as the ants, they 

 had in that chaff I can not say: but it was 

 terrilile. So again I gave that hive a good 

 overhauling, and thought I had surely won 

 the battle; but later on I found still more of 

 the pests. Let me tell you that the same 

 nuisance will also kill trees: and whenever 

 you plant vegetaljle seeds or plants in such 

 ant-nests, that means an entire failure, for 

 they are sure to ruin or kill. I remember 

 that, some ten or twelve years ago, I had 

 cabbage in the same field for several years, 

 and there was a certain spot where the 

 plants always siiffered more or less. On ex- 

 amination I found a big ant-nest in the same 

 spot, and, if I mistake not. the same nest is 

 there still, although the field is now in clo- 

 ver. 

 Best's, Pa. 



THE LITTLE RED ANTS; HOW TO PREVENT 

 THEM FROM BOTHERING BEFS. 



In regard to those red ants you spoke of 

 on page 148, Feb. 1, we have them here. 

 They live in ti'ees, stumps, etc. They are a 

 nuisance around a hive. We also have a lit- 

 tle ant that only tantalizes the ))ees. The 

 remedy I use is this: I have all my hives on 

 stands, ten or twelve on a stand, supported 

 by four posts, or legs. I get some very 

 coarse flannel, or old norse-l)lankets, tear in 

 strips a]x)ut six inches wide, wrap them 

 tightly around the posts, but leaving the 

 bottom edge of the strip loose so that it 

 flares out somewhat from the post. This 

 hairy woolen goods makes their headway 

 impossible, for they will not go up inside the 

 cloth and then down the cloth and up again 

 on the outside. Pour a little kerosene on 

 this, and the ants will never bother the bees. 

 We use something similar on the fruit-trees, 

 etc. Ed. J. Cole. 



St. Louis, Mo. 



THE WEST SPIRAL QUEEN-CELL PRO- 

 TECTOR. 



Some of the Different Uses to which they 

 Can be Put; Queen-nursery. 



BY N. D. WEST. 



In forming a queen-nursery with the West 

 spiral wire cage, make a cell-bar. saw out 

 some slats i inch thick by H wide, and J 

 inch longer than the inside measure of the 

 length of your brood-frame. In these slats 

 bore |-inch holes, or a little larger if the 

 larger cages are used. Bore the holes as 

 close to each other as you can and not split 

 the slat, for a cell or a cage bar (see Fig. 1). 



Now go and get as many queen-cells as 

 you have holes in the cell-bar. Place the 

 queen-cells in the spiral queen-cell protector; 



