1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



111)1 



am employed in a clerical capacity; leave 

 home at 7:30 a.m.. and get back at 5:30 p.m. 

 1 have about twothirds of an acre of ground. 

 Raising chickens and bees is my recreation. 

 I can not say which 1 should prefer if I had 

 to make a choice lietween poultry and bees. 

 I expect to have ^j hives this vear. and 1'2U 

 laving hens. G. H. Mohlek. 



Holmes, Pa.. March i). 1906. 



A SECTION COMB-LEVELER. 



This tool, though simple, is very effective 

 as an instrument for cutting down uneven 

 comli in sections. The one here represented 

 is made from a common pancake-turner, l)y 

 cutting the sides as represented on a slant 

 toward the stem, leaving the fi'ont edge two 

 inches wide. The reason for cutting the 

 sides as represented will bec-ome obvious on 

 attempting to use it with parallel sides or 

 edges. The fi'ont of the ])lade should l)e 

 gi-ouud sharp with the bevel on top of the 

 blade: then tine teeth tiled, as shown, with 

 an (nal front. The stem should be bent at 

 the junction of the lilade, so that, when the 

 stem i-ests on the edge of the section, the 

 blade may appear parallel with the section 

 edge. Tile stem should he fastened to the 

 top of the blade so that the under surface 



shall be smooth. I scud you a sample of the 

 work which the one 1 have constructed does, 

 l)y simply vil)rating it much as the reapei'- 

 sickle is used in cutting grain. It leaves the 

 coml) very 5.mooth: does the work (juickly, 

 and I like it much better than the hot-plate 

 coml>leveler whic-h I have sometimes used. 

 Patent not applied for, but good all the 

 same. Wm. M. Whitney. 



Lake Geneva. Wis.. June 5. 



[I know Mr. W. M. Whitney well enough 

 to know that any thing he recommends is 

 probably good. Although I have not tried 

 the tool described above. I should be inclined 

 to regard it with favor. — Ed.] 



HOW TO PREVENT AND STOP ROBBING. 



Last fall or summer, after the honey-dow 

 was over, I left a super of tilled extracting- 

 combs on one of my hives. Some parties at 

 the house were speaking of the bees, so I 

 took them out to show them how I got the 

 extracted honey. The next day, when I 

 came home my wife told me there seemed to 

 be some excitement among the bees. I knew 

 at once I had left the top of the hive partly 

 off. I went and found the super cleaned 

 out, and the bees hanging around the super, 

 trying to get in at the entrance, and I decid- 

 ed to try what I had l)een using for mos- 

 quitoes, to see how it would affect the bees: 



so I put some on my hand and ruii])ed it on 

 the super, and in pouring it on my hand 

 live or six drops fell on the alighting-board. 

 In two or three minutes there was not a bee 

 alxjut the hive. I then put some on my 

 hand, and went to a hive where there were 

 a great many l)ees hanging out, and put my 

 hand near them and drove them into the 

 hive. I then took an extracting-comb tilled 

 with honey antl set it down in the bee-yard 

 until it was covei'ed with bees. I then pour- 

 ed five or six drops of this oil (oil of citronel- 

 la) on the frame. In a few minutes the bees 

 had left it. 1 tried it on weak colonies hav- 

 ing a young queen that they were trying to 

 get in. and stopped them in a few minutes 

 from that. I am confident that the oil of 

 citronella will stop robbing: and by using it 

 on the hands it will prevent stings to a great 

 extent. Since using it I haven't the least 

 fear of rol)l)ing. I should like some of the 

 Southern bee-keepers to give it a good trial 

 before the season opens up north. It will 

 not aft'ect the bees in the hives — only drives 

 them away from the front. 

 Baltimore, Md. J. I). Williamson. 



[Some twenty years ago there was sold in 

 England a liquid called "apifuge." As the 

 name indicates, the su instance was designed 

 to drive bees from the object smeared with 

 it. By anointing the hands with it, it was 

 observal)le that the bees were lesi inclined 

 to get on the liands: Init I found by experi- 

 ence that it would not stop a direct onslaught 

 when the bees were bailly stirred up. 



The drug here referred to by our corres- 

 pondent may be of the same nature. I 

 should judge that it would answer a very 

 excellent purpose sometimes. I have tried 

 carbolic acid — a weak solution. While it is 

 oft'ensive to bees it is iKjt enough so to keep 

 them from robbing a comb or robbing a 

 hive. Perhaps the oil of citronella would be 

 more eft"ective. We should be glad to get 

 reports from others. — Ed.] 



A clustering space for BEES ON EACH 

 SIDE OF A SUPER: FEEDING AND WIN- . 

 TERING. 



I am getting a lot of fences with the idea 

 of taking out a section-holder on each side 

 of the super and tilling in with the fences, to 

 see if it will not result in sections being tin- 

 ished up even, and also to give a little stor- 

 age room for bees. If for any reason you 

 know this to he impractical)le, please let' me 

 know. As the fences are somewhat shorter 

 than the sections, thus allowing more than a 

 l)ee-space at the top. it may result in their 

 tilling in with burr-comb. 



The Alexander feeders are a complete suc- 

 cess. I made three rough ones after reading 

 his description in Gleanings, and it is now 

 no trouble at all to feed the bees. And hei'e 

 is something I have discovered — they are just 

 the thing for supplying bees with water. I 

 let the bees hustle for whatever they can tiud 

 during the day, and feed them in the eve- 

 ning, so keeping them at it day and night. 

 In the morning I put half a cup ur a cup of 



