372 



GLEAXIXGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 1 



ey, it is fine, very white, of fine flavor; but 

 on an average it fails to yield nectar about 

 two years out of five. H. A. Michell. 

 Shepard, Tex., Feb. 20. 



SELF-SPACING FRAME STRONGER THAN THE 

 HOFFMAN. 



In Gleanings for Feb. 15 you say you are 

 anxious to know about those frames, to- 

 gether with my objections. I send you un- 

 der separate cover a sample of an end-bar 

 similar to the one I used on the English 

 standard frame (my own design) in 1884. 

 The principal objections to the Hofi'man that 

 I find in my own use are: 



1. Splitting off the shoulders of the end- 

 bars. 



2. Breaking off the ears of top-bars. 



3. Frames not rigid. 



4. End- bars too thin to hold nails. 



This is prevented in my end-bar, first, by 

 nailing through; second, by carrying the 

 top-bar through the end all one thickness, 

 and also obviating splitting, as in your way 

 of nailing; third, the method of putting the 

 top and end bars together. 



f I would myself prefer the old square bot- 

 tom-bar. The objection that bees build to 

 one side of it is more than offset by the fact 

 that they build clear to the bottom, nine 

 out of ten, while in the thin wide bottom- 

 bar nine out of ten are not; but, as a mat- 

 ter of fact, that is not one of the crucial 

 points. 



The points that this end-bar has over the 

 Hoffman frame are, first, smallness of con- 

 tact; second, and most important, much 

 stronger, no liability of splitting off be- 

 cause of the nailing holding the wide part. 

 Making the slope on the end of the top-bar 

 does away with the staples, the worst fac- 

 tor in the splitting of the end-bars. 



H. FiTZ Hart. 



Wetumpka, Ala., Feb. 24. 



[I do not quite see how this particular 

 construction of frame is stronger than, the 

 Hoffman. The end of the top-bar is almost 

 cut off by the side notches; the projection, 

 therefore, is no stronger than at the weakest 

 point— the neck that slips between the 

 prongs on the end-bar— not half so strong 

 as it looks, in fact. We have made 



frames in this way; in fact, our all- wood 

 frame that we have made for years, and are 

 still seUing, has this principle. But it was 

 our experience that the two side edges of 

 projection were liable to split off, either in 

 shipping or nailing. The beveling on the 

 under side of the top-bar would hardly be as 

 good as a staple, as the bees would glue it 

 to the rabbet much more securely than they 

 could the staple to the rabbet. We tried 

 this plan in a limited way a few years ago; 

 and while it was better than having a top- 

 bar project full length, it was not enough 

 better, in our opinion, to warrant the change. 

 The end-bars to the present Hoffman 

 frames are made considerably thicker now 

 than they were a year ago. 1 1 is now possible 

 to nail this particular frame either way- 

 through the top-bar downwardly into the end- 

 bar or in the usual way. Or, if it is prefer- 

 red, drive a nail through the top of the end- 

 bar, as shown in the sketch above, taking in 

 the neck or tenon of the top-bar. — Ed.] 



YELLOW PINE FOR BEE-HIVES; INCREASE BY 

 THE SOMERFORD METHOD, ETC. 



1. Will bees stay in hives made of yellow 

 pine? 



2. To increase by the Somerford method, 

 can I cage the queen of a colony and hang 

 this cage (containing the queen) in the hive, 

 and expect queen-cells started? 



3. All bee-keepers around here do not 

 practice giving the super of the old colony to 

 the newly hived swarm; but if I attempt to 

 do so, would I not get more honey if I left 

 it where it was, namely, on the old hive ? 



Findlay, 0., Feb. 11. W. H. Dreyer. 



[1. Bees have no objection to yellow pine, 

 so far as I know; but the wood for hives is 

 not as acceptable to bee-keepers on account 

 of its weight, and disposition to ooze out 

 pitch. 



2. Queen-cells would undoubtedly be start- 

 ed if the queen were caged. A colony with a 

 caged queen will behave precisely as if it had 

 no queen in the hive at all. 



3. Better give the super to the swarm. 

 The old colony would be too weak to do any 

 thing in the sections. — Ed,] 



BEE-STINGS and RHEUMATISM — ANOTHER 

 TESTIMONIAL. 



When I commenced bee-keeping a sting 

 was a serious matter to me. I was subject 

 to attacks of rheumatism. In time I became 

 immune to bee poison and also to rheuma- 

 tism. Among a number of bee-keeper 

 friends 1 don't know one who is a rheumatic. 

 Might it not be that frequent injections of 

 formic acid give immunity to rheumatism in 

 all cases? Jno. D. Gill. 



Phillipsburg, Pa., Mar. 1. 



[Friend G., it seems pretty well settled 

 that bee-sting poison is a remedy for some 

 kinds of rheumatism; but we have had so 

 many reports to the effect that it had no ef- 

 fect, we fear we shall be obliged to answer 

 your question in the negative. —A. I. R.] 



