318 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15 



If one wishes, a little whistle can be put 

 on the vent-pipe so as to make some noise 

 until the air is shut off below; but after us- 

 ing it that way I left it off as unnecessary, 

 for I could hear the air escape anyhow. 



Pomona, Cal. M. R. Kuehne. 



[I was thinking I had seen this idea some- 

 where before. While I believe friend Kuehne 

 was original, so far as he was concerned, in 

 the use of the air- tube in the funnel, the 

 same principle has been in use for some 

 time. Only yesterday our gasoline-man filled 

 our square cans with a funnel of practically 

 the same construction as the one shown 

 here. It had a whistle on the top of the 

 tube so the alarm could be given at the 

 right time. Whether the idea is new or old, 

 there can be no doubt that such a funnel 

 would be far more serviceable than the ordi- 

 nary ones without the air-exit tube. — Ed.] 



through a hole in the wall. This would be 

 practically a house-apiary on a small scale. 

 In view of your limited room I think you will 

 find the plan will work very well. — Ed.] 



FREQUENT HANDLING HASTENS GRANULA- 

 TION. 



After your report of the graining of the 

 sample of honey in the factory window last 

 year I went to work to discover the cause. 

 I took several samples from the original lot 

 in the bee-house, and subjected them to fre- 

 quent disturbance by changing about and 

 handling, subjecting them to about the same 

 treatment as the sample sent you would be. 

 Every sample so treated grained more or less 

 during the season, while the rest, left undis- 

 turbed, remained clear and perfect. 



The result of this experiment I consider 

 of great importance. It is so to me, at 

 least, and I report it to you without com- 

 ment. H. R. BOARDMAN. 



East Townsend, 0., Feb. 13. 



[There can be no doubt that frequent han- 

 dling hastens granulation. There have been 

 many reports that go to show that ; but in 

 the case of the sample you sent here, and 

 which was left on our window-sill, the bot- 

 tle, after it reached us, was put on the win- 

 dow-ledge, and was not touched during all 

 the time we had it, but once. The condition 

 of the honey was noted by looking through 

 the window. — Ed.] 



KEEPING BEES IN AN ATTIC. 



I have an upstairs in my house, that I am 

 not using. It is of the IJ-story cottage 

 plan, and has plenty of windows for light 

 and ventilation. What do you think of the 

 idea of placing my bees up there and follow- 

 ing the suggestion of Mr. Doolittle, on page 

 132, with reference to approaches? My 

 home is in town, and my lot is small; so if 

 I could place them there it would annoy my 

 neighbors less, and leave me more garden 

 space below. When would be the best time 

 to move them? (I can front my hives either 

 east or south.) Chas. M. Gates. 



Girard, 111., Feb. 6, 1905. 



[You can keep the bees in the upstairs 

 part of the house; but arrange it so they can 

 have a flight, either through the window or 



dead virgin QUEENS IN JANUARY; WAS IT 

 SUPERSEDURE ? 



I was looking over the hives to see how 

 many dead bees they had carried out, and 

 found one that had the entrance clogged 

 with dead ones. I ran a wire far back into 

 the hive to clean it, and out came a dead 

 virgin. I raked again, and out came anoth- 

 er, so I was satisfied they had superseded 

 the old queen. 



I have been in the bee business for six or 

 eight years, producing honey and raising 

 queens, but I have had no experience in 

 bees superseding in January. Please tell 

 me whether the queen in this hive will get 

 fertilized. H. A. Ross. 



Evansville, Ind. 



[The probabilities are that the old queen 

 was superseded some time in the fall. It 

 being late, the virgins could not be fertilized. 

 If you look further you possibly will find 

 another virgin which, on the principle of the 

 survival of the fittest, killed the other two, 

 as only one queen would be allowed in the 

 hive. If present she may have been fertil- 

 ized, and will begin laying some time in the 

 spring. — Ed.] 



WHAT TO DO WITH UNFINISHED SECTIONS. 



I find that I have on hand six supers with 

 partially filled sections. Will you kindly in- 

 form me as to what is the best use to make 

 of these ? A. J. Warner. 



Elmira, N. Y., Feb. 13. 



[I would advise placing the unfinished 

 boxes over strong colonies, letting them car- 

 ry the honey down into the brood-nest. But 

 a quicker way to clean them up is to set 

 them out in a stacked-up hive 200 or 300 

 yards from the yard, closing the entrance so 

 only one or two bees can pass at a time. 

 The bees will very soon rob them out, clean- 

 ing the combs perfectly. If the sections 

 are th^n leveled down with a comb-leveler 

 you will find them very serviceable for bait- 

 ing in your regular section-super in connec- 

 tion with other sections of foundation. In- 

 deed, the bees will occupy such sections 

 much sooner than foundation; and in a light 

 honey-flow they will fill them when sections 

 containing foundation would be litt'e more 

 than drawn out. —Ed.] 



doesn't like HOFFMAN FRAMES; HARDER 

 WOOD, ETC. 



My objection to the HoflFman frame is 

 that you must lift out the division-board, 

 and come right straight up in the eight- 

 frame hive, or a frame in the ten-frame 

 hive, and in most hives Ihis is by a tight 

 squeeze that you succeed, and especially so 

 when you use as light a frame as the aver- 

 age factory-made one. 



