1513 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1 



never had a customer object to bee-glue on 

 the wood section, but that customers are al- 

 ways suspicious of a perfectly clean section. 



Miller, Neb. " T. J. Quail. 



[See editorial on this subject. — Ed.] 



8. Feed about 5 o'clock in the afternoon — 

 a good lot at once. 



9. Send the wax to London or Livei'pool 

 yourself. W. K. Mokkison. 



AN ENTRANCE-GUARD TO KEEP MICE OUT 

 OF HIVES IN M^NTER. 



The accompanying cut shows a tin en- 

 trance-guard to keep mice out of hives in 

 winter. It is simply a strip of tin about 20 

 in. long and | inch wide, corrugated. 



This is placed in the entrance, with the 

 ends clamped Ijetween the hive-body and 

 bottom-board. The tin strips can be easily 

 corrugated by running them l)etween the cog 

 wheels of a tinner's forming-rolls. I have 

 used these guards with success. 



G. J. Sturm. 



Flora, 111. 



[The scheme proposed is not bad; but for 

 the average bee-keeper it will be easier and 

 cheaper to go to the hai'dware store and buy 

 some wire cloth of coarse mesh that will not 

 exclude bees, but yet keep out mice and 

 other vermin. When cut up into narrow 

 strips it can l^e nailed over the entrances. If 

 such wire cloth can not be had, a strip of tin 

 corrugated as above would answer as an ex- 

 cellent substitute. — Ed.I 



THE PRODUCTION OF WAX IN THE TROPICS; 



AN ANSWER TO THE QUESTIONS ASKED 



ON PAGE 1255. 



Mr. Frank McCann, of La Gloria, Cuba, 

 asks questions with I'espect to wax-produc- 

 tion, which, if satisfactorily answered, would 

 go a long way toward solving the difficulties 

 of the tropical bee-keeper. It would be a 

 good thing if Mr. McCann or any others 

 working for wax-production would explain 

 their methods more fully. This would re- 

 sult in much good to the industry, as we 

 could then see where improvements could be 

 effected. At present I content myself with 

 answering imaginary queries in the absence 

 of definite questions. 



1. A queen-excluder should be used to save 

 refining the wax. 



2. Cut out the whole comb except ^ or | of 

 an inch. 



3. Press out the honey with a Root press. 



4. In "feeding back," add a fairly large 

 amount of water to the honey. 



5. In "feeding back," have a small brood- 

 chamber. 



6. In taking out combs of wax, use only a 

 very little smoke and no brush. 



7. Use a bottom feeder. 



HEARTSEASE AND SMARTWEED IN THE SAME 

 LOCALITY. 



The honey-fiow this fall has been better 

 than usual from cotton, heartease, and smart- 

 weed. We note what you have to say on 

 page 1111, and Dr. Miller's comment. In 

 "our locality" we have both heaitsease and 

 smartweed. While the plants are very much 

 alike they are very different as to bloom. 

 Heartsease grows from two to three feet high, 

 and is abundant in fields on headlands and 

 turnrows, and along the irrigated ditches in 

 the rice-fields. While it seems to prefer low 

 places, it grows as well on high ground. 

 The fiower-heads are from three to four 

 inches in length, and a beautiful rose pink. 

 The leaf is not peppery. Smartweed, or 

 water-pepper, grows in low places as a rule, 

 and along the bayou banks, seldom more 

 than 18 inches high. The fiowers are white, 

 and much smaller than those of heartsease. 

 The leaves are very peppery. Bees work 

 busily on both in the morning, but are sel- 

 dom seen on either after 10 o'clock The 

 honey is light in color, and quite pungent as 

 to smell. Whether this is heartsease or 

 smartweed honey we can not say, as both 

 are gathered at the same time. The honey, 

 before it is capped, has a tendency to foam 

 in the cells, as though it were fermented. 

 We never extract this honey, but leave it on 

 the hives. Top stories are left on all winter. 

 In the spring the combs are used in queen- 

 rearing. J. W. K. Shaw & Co. 

 Loreauville, La. 



ALFALFA AS A HONEY-PLANT. 



I can endorse what Dr. Miller says about 

 alfalfa as a honey-plant, p. 791. There are 

 several patches of alfalfa here. I planted it 

 for bee-feed and hay four years ago. I got 

 the latter, but never a drop of nectar. I al- 

 lowed it to get fully ripe for two successive 

 years. Bees did not touch it, so am satisfied 

 it is not a honey-plant in Northeast Alabama. 

 I have some in full bloom now, no bees on 

 it, while my one-half acre of white and al- 

 sike is covered with them. There is a great 

 amount of Japanese clover here — good cow 

 pasture, but I do not remember ever seeing 

 a bee on it. Intuitively, when I see a bee, or 

 hear one in my walks, I watch what it is 

 working on. 



As to 1-lb. sections, I find as a rule my 

 two-way bee-space 4^X4^ sections are the 

 heaviest — some 17 oz. D. Neilson. 



Fruithurst, Ala. 



sweet clover on a lawn. 



There is a part of my lawn covered with 

 sweet clover that has been cut once or twice 

 a week all summer, and there is a nice growth 

 of it now. This came from the seed this 

 spring. W. Craig. 



Luce, Mich., Sept. 7. 



