1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



371 



takes after her in this matter. The oldest 

 bee-keeper on the island told me the other 

 day he never had a queen do this. A strange 

 thing happened when I introduced her. I 

 released her 52 hours after placing her cage 

 in a queenless hive. I saw the bees would 

 accept her, but could not stay to see her 

 emerge. About four hours after, I return- 

 ed and found her quite at home on a frame. 

 1 took it out and carried it off to look at her 

 in better light. While doing so I noticed 

 the bees grow suspicious of her, and ten 

 seconds after they were balling her. I smok- 

 ed them promptly, and she ran up my sleeve 

 and was gone when I could turn my atten- 

 tion to her. I spent an hour in searching 

 around for her, and concluded that a frog 

 had snapped her up on falling to the ground. 

 Imagine my surprise when, on going to the 

 hive later, and mournfully taking out the 

 frames, to find the queen quite hearty and 

 at home. She evidently flew off my sleeve, 

 and, although she had been put into the 

 hive at night, had never come through the 

 entrance or seen the outside, yet she found 

 her way back, though she took flight several 

 yards from it. But why did the bees at- 

 tack her? I take it that, away from the 

 hive, and in the open air, the wind blew off 

 the hive scent she was acquiring, while her 

 original scent remained. And this the smoke 

 destroyed, making her acceptable on her re- 

 turn. I wonder if this is the correct view, 

 or what was it that made them accept her, 

 then ball her, then take her a^ain ? 



W. G. Hqtchinson. 

 Boscobel, Barbados, Feb. 8. 



[Thanks for your very kind words, dear 

 brother. My impression is that the queen 

 was balled because of the disturbance among 

 the bees caused by removing the frame. 

 In fact, I have had the same thing happen 

 several times to a queen just introduced. It 

 has been recommended to leave the hive un- 

 disturbed for a couple of days, say until the 

 queen has become perfectly familiar with 

 her surroundings. At the same time, I 

 think it a pretty good plan to keep a little 

 watch of things lest the queen be balled. If 

 I opened the hive at all I think I would look 

 in only just enough to get a ghmpse of the 

 queen and see she is all right, and wait till 

 Inter before taking the frames out, etc. 

 We should be glad to have some report in 

 regard to the honey yield in your island. 

 Can you tell us how it compares with Cuba, 

 where such wonderful crops are often secur- 

 ed?- A. L R.] 



A HANDY NUMBER-TAG AND RECORD-HOLDER. 



Along the line of " winter preparation, " 

 some of your readers may be interested in 

 the hive-numbering tag which I and some of 

 my neighbors have been using with much 

 satisfaction. Taking a piece of sheet metal 

 (preferably galvanized steel) four inches 

 wide I cut it into pieces of the shape and 

 size indicated in the accompanying sketch, 

 and by the use of hard-wood blocks bend 

 them as indicated, so that the upper portion 



will fit tightly into the hand- hole in the body 

 of the hive, and the face be about V'e inch 

 from the face of the hive. There is room 

 for three figures IJ inches high on the face, 

 and the space between it and the hive is 

 very convenient for slipping in a piece of 

 broken section or cardboards for records or 

 a memorandum. 



When properly shaped the pressure in the 

 hand-hole is sufficient to hold it in place 

 without the use of nails, staples, or any 

 thing of the sort, and it can be quickly ap- 

 plied, removed, or changed from one hive to 

 another without the use of any tool; and. 



when removed, there is nothing left to dis- 

 figure the hive or interfere with handling or 

 piling. They are so close to the hive as not 

 to interfere with the use of a telescope cover, 

 and can be applied to any part of the hive 

 having a hand-hole. 



In storing my hives and supers in the fall 

 I slip one of these tags in place in each pile, 

 and then a piece of broken section, properly 

 mai'ked and slipped in place, always shows 

 at a glance what each pile contains, whether 

 empty bodies, empty supers, brood-combs, 

 drone-combs, bait-sections, sections filled 

 with foundation, etc. L. R. Ferguson. 



Harvey, 111., Feb. 20. 



[I am not sure but yoj have devised^ a 

 good thing in the way of a numbering-tag, 

 and it may be worth our while to get up 

 something of the kind for the general trade. 

 -Ed.] 



THE BASSWOODS IN TEXAS NOT SUITABLE 



FOR MAKING SECTIONS; HONEY OF 



EXCELLENT QUALITY. 



I see in Gleanings, page 117, that Mr. 

 J. A. Green says basswood is abundant in 

 Texas, and that manufacturers of sections 

 will please take notice that these Texas 

 basswood forests will at least put off for a 

 while the time when there will be no more 

 basswood sections. Now, Mr. Green, I for 

 one think you have been misinformed, for I 

 live in the heart of the Texas basswood 

 country, and I don't believe there is enough 

 basswood in Texas to supply the Root Co. 

 for one year. There is a quite a lot of bass- 

 wood in some places in Texas ; but let me 

 tell you that three-fourths of our basswood 

 is unfit for sections. It is either crooked, 

 hollow, or knotty; the wood is red, not 

 white; very few good sawlogs. As for hon- 



