190G 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1059 



better in their place, which I am sure I have 

 given in the abuve. Since we practiced this 

 method we are pleased to see a colony swarm, 

 anil often wish that moi-e of our bees would 

 swarm than do. for we are sure to get our 

 largest sm-plus from colonies that are treat- 

 eil as above ilescribed. 



I don"t think that there is any other condi- 

 tion a colony of bees can be in where they 

 will work with such perseverance as when 

 their desire to swarm has been gratified. 

 Some of the nearest apiaries to us have 

 swarmed a great deal this season, while Ave 

 have had only 81 swarms all told up to Aug. 

 1, and this from an apiary of 750 colonies, 

 and about 20 of these were caused by a 

 blunder we made in June. 



I speak of this small per cent of swarms 

 during a decidedly swarming year to show 

 that, while we allow our bees to carry out 

 their natural instinct, we also apply natural 

 methoils to work in harmony with their de- 

 sires, thus ))ringing tw<j or more elements to 

 work t(jgether, which has much to do with 

 success. 



This article was mostly written last March, 

 so it could appear in Gleanings in time for 

 you to try this method during the summer: 

 but sickness prevented me from finishing it 

 until now. I am sorry it is so far behind 

 what it should have been; but 1 could not 

 help it: and as this is my first attempt at 

 writing for nearly four months I wish to 

 thank many friends for their kind, sympa- 

 thizing, and encouraging letters iluring my 

 illness: and especially do I thank those who 

 sent me boxes of l)eautiful fragrant flowers. 

 When these tokens of respect were In'ought 

 to my l)ed I could only say. "Ohl why do my 

 friends do so'/" It is my sincere hope and 

 prayer that you will all live to a good okl 

 age, anil that the greatest of all l)lessings. 

 good health, will lie yours to the end. 



Delansou, N. Y., Aug. 1. 



CHAMBERS' CELL-STARTING DEVICE. 



Further Particulars ("ouoerninjj; the Method 

 Desorihed on Page 293 ; the Use of a 

 (jamers-hair Bru.sh for Transfer- 

 rins: Larva?. 



BY J. E. CHAMBERS. 



[For the convenience of the reader we reproduce 

 the cut that appeared on paye 294. — Ed.1 



Since the pul)lication of my article in the 

 March 1st issue of Gleanings I have received 

 a number of letters asking for additional in- 

 formation regarding my cell-starting device, 

 and also for a moi'e explicit tlescription of 

 the construction and operation of said device. 

 In answer to all these inquirers and others 

 who may lietrome interested I will state that 

 I have done my best in this article to give 

 full and accurate information, carefully de- 

 scribing every detail. In order to avoid the 

 possibility of any one making a mistake I 

 have gone into the minor details more fully 

 than commonly. 



This device consists of a wire-cloth-cover- 

 ,ed frame, with a feeder nailed crosswise of 

 the frame. By reference to the illustration 

 accompanying my article on page 294 the 

 feeder will l)e seen at A, with the wire cloth 

 that covei's the frame raised up to show the 

 feeder. This frame mu.st be the exact size of 

 the hive in use, with a bee-space over and 

 under the feeder. The wire cloth covering 

 the frame is for the double purpose of keep- 

 ing the bees fnjm flying out when the cover 

 is raised to pour in the feed, ami to prevent 

 robber bees from getting into the hive when 



the CHAMBEK.S CELL-BUILDING HIVE. 



the cover is up for ventilating purposes. 

 The remaining part of the device is what I 

 call the trap-l)oard. which is a plain | l)oard, 

 cleated all around the outside edges, and 

 made the exact size of the hive. Through 

 the center of this bcjard there is a hole cut, 

 14 inches long and 6 wide, covered with 

 wire cloth on Ijoth sides. At either side of 

 this double-screen-covered hole is shown 

 another hole the same length, and two inches 

 wide, covered on the bottom with perforated 

 zinc and over the top with tin slides. These 

 slides are shown at E, E, in the illustration 

 for March 1st: and the wire cloth turned 

 back at M is the top cloth covering the large 



