1356 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1 



place to get a queen early next spring in 

 ease a qneen in soiue hive dies throngh tha 

 winter. B. A. Ammons. 



Mannington, W. Va. 



[Tlie unsealed honey to which you refer 

 would doubtless he ripe; bixt if exposed in a 

 damp place it would take on moisture. 



I should think those five frames woukl 

 hold enough stores for all the bees the combs 

 will ac(^ommodate. — El). ] 



THE SIDE ENTRANCE; THE ADVANTAGE OF 



PLACINO THE CONTRACTING STICK IN 



THE MIDDLE, LEAVING A SMALL 



ENTRANCE AT BOTH ENDS. 



In reference to your editorial, page 368. in 

 regard to side entrance for colonies wintered 

 outdoors, I think you would have found it to 

 work all right if you had placed the closing 

 stick in the center, leaving an inch entrance 

 botli sides; and, still better, to have an emp- 

 ty super under the brood-chamber. This 

 plan has worked well with me in the last four 

 or five winters of my bee-keeping experience. 

 I lost only one colony out of 30 the last win- 

 ter. ^ ' L. Posey. 



Torch, O. 



[A double entrance, perhaps, would be 

 better; but entrance in any case should be 

 directly in front of cluster in the hive to get 

 best results. I don't believe that the super 

 under the hive is any advantage. — Ed ] 



A MODIFICATION OF THE ALEXANDER 

 FEEDER. 



I send you a model of my bottom-board 

 bee-feeder. I see nothing on the market like 

 it except the Alexander feeder, and my feed- 

 er is an improvement or a better plan than 

 the Alexander feeder, as vou can slide the 





then I take a hole-punch and cut it full of 

 holes so the bees can go and fill their honey, 

 and suck and not drown. I call it the Shockey 

 bottom- board feeder, as it seems to me that 

 this is the l)est and most convenient .bee- 

 feeder out; so if it is a good thing let bee- 

 keepers have the benefit of it. 

 Long, W. Va. Ira Shockey. 



[Possil)ly the only drawback to your idea 

 would 1)6 the extra cost of the bottom- 

 boards, and the inconvenience of having 

 new fixtures around. Your feeder, however, 

 woukl not have to be blocked up at the 

 back, and the l)ottoms could be fastened to 

 the hive-bodies as usual. — Ed.1 



bees slow TO ENTER SUPERS ARE POOR 

 WAX-MAKERS. 



I have found out to my satisfaction that 

 bees that do not like to enter the supers are 

 poor wax-makers, and that is the reason they 

 will not enter the supei's. They are unable 

 to build the comb to store the honey in. 1 

 believe it is as necessary to breed bees that 

 are good wax-makers as it is those that are 

 extra good for honev. What do you and 

 Dr. V. C. Miller and"G. M. Doolittle think 

 about it? Geo. W. Deyo. 



Laws, Cal., July 16. 



[I have to confess I don't know, and there- 

 fore I defer to the other fellows. — Ed.] 



IMPORTANCE OF CLEAN HONEY-CANS. 



My location is not extra good here for the 

 production of honey; but this is a good place 

 to sell honey, and to supply the demand 1 

 ))uy about lUOU 11)S. of extracted honey. In 

 one lot there were two sixty-pound cans that 

 had to be strained over before the honey was 

 fit to be used. Now, if old cans can not be 

 made perfectly clean, new ones should be 

 used, for dirty honey is a stumblingblock in 

 the way of consumers. W. T. Davison. 



Velpen, Ind. 



box in its place out of the weather, and just 

 pull it out a little, and fill and push back out 

 of the way, and not molest the bees, and it 

 is out of the way of robl)er V)ees. The box 

 (^an be made a,s you make the Alexander 

 feeder, only my feed box is made out of 2x6 

 lumt)er. The 'length of the feed-box is equal 

 to the width of the bottom-board: and when 

 not in use just turn it upside down and it 

 answers for bottom-board. I have no saw to 

 cut grooves, so I cut the feed-box out, then 

 take a thin piece of board and soak it soft; 



SWEET CLOVER FOR BEES AND FARM STOCK. 



I should like to say a few words for sweet 

 clover. I finished extracting on the 15th. 1 

 got 3500 lbs. of sweet-clover honey from 60 

 hives. There is but little if any wliite-clovei" 

 honey mixed with it. I have thirty a(U'es of 

 this sweet clover on my place. It is good 

 cattle pasture in the early spring and late 

 fall. S. R. Fletcher. 



Onawa, la., Aug. 16. 



GENTLE CARNIOLANS. 



Mr. A. 1. Boot: — I again have a small 

 apiary of my favorites, the Carniolans — no 

 smoke neeiled, no swai'ming; work from 

 daylight to dark. Colorado honey crop will 

 not be more than forty per cent of an aver- 

 age. S. W. Morrison. 



Grommet, Col., Aug. 13. 



[Friend M., I am glad you are enjoying 

 yourself in your old age with some gentle 

 "bees. — Ed,] 



