1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



429 



if I mistake not. The feature of having 

 trapdoors opening and closing I believe to 

 be excellent if not new, for the bees may 

 then be allowed to have a flight whenever 

 weather conditions seem to warrant it. One 

 possible objection to this form of construc- 

 tion of a building would be that the outside 

 bees— those bees from the yard— could go 

 between or over the hives into the building, 

 if I understand the matter properly. The 

 ordinary house-apiary is a convenient place 

 for the storage of honey and combs, and 

 these could not be exposed in a building of 

 this kind without danger of inciting robbing. 



It is pretty well settled now that any form 

 of house- apiary construction should involve 

 the use of outdoor hives so that the outdoor 

 bees can be brought inside, and those inside 

 taken out. Supers and all other fixtures 

 can thus be used interchangeably. 



Painting the entrances of the fronts dif- 

 ferent colors works very satisfactorily. I 

 saw the principle put into practical applica- 

 tion at F. A. Salisbury's, at Syracuse, N. 

 Y., in the case of a house-apiary holding 200 

 colonies. He reported to me at the time 

 that he had no trouble from losing mating 

 queens; and as I saw the bees flying back 

 and forth it was evident to me that they 

 had no trouble in locating their entrances. 

 Prior to the use of these different colors 

 Mr. S. explained he had had some trouble. — 

 Ed.] 



hoffman frames in new zealand; zinc 



covers; CURRENTS OF AIR UNDER 

 HIVES. 



In course of time most people drop down 

 to the plan of working bees that suits them 

 best. I hav^e discarded hive-stands, as I be- 

 lieve the hives are better with a free current 

 of air beneath them, and bees less liable to 

 attacks of disease. My hives stand four 

 feet apart on two 2X4 scantlings, 4-inch 

 side up. The one in front is 9 inches high, 

 and the other 10; the two are 20 inches 

 apart, supported by wooden blocks. 



The hive- covers of the "Excelsior" pat- 

 tern used to leak, so I nailed a strip of board 

 on the top to make them level with the end- 

 cleats. I next nailed |-inch boai'ds all over 

 the tops, running from front to back, and 

 finally covered the whole, top and sides, 

 with zinc which is painted white. These 

 cavers are heavy enough to remain on the 

 hives in a high wind, and never leak. Since 

 I placed my hives on scantlings, and cover- 

 ed the tops with zinc, my bees seem in bet- 

 ter condition. 



As to foul brood, I at one time thought 

 chemicals good; but too much of this dis- 

 heartened the bees; and I believe the only 

 satisfactory way is to shake them on to 

 clean frames and burn the old combs or melt 

 them down. 



The first Hoffman frames I used had full- 

 length top- bars, and the bees stuck them 

 tightly against the hives. Later I cut off i 

 inch from each end of the top-bars, and put 

 staples beneath, and I am very much pleased 

 with them, because there is no question as 



to correct spacing— just puth them together 

 closely, and all is correct. I use 9 frames 

 and a division-board, making 10- frame hives. 



This is the worst season for honey I have 

 experienced. It is nearly Christmas (equiv- 

 alent to end of June in the northern hemi- 

 sphere). I don't think my bees have stored 

 a pound of honey— wet and wind, wind and 

 wet, day after day. Chas. F. England. 



Foxton, N. Z., Dec. 21. 



[Different people have different notions; 

 but it is hard for me to explain why any one 

 should desire to use Hoffman frames with 

 long top-bars. Of course, the argument is 

 put forth that these projections are neces- 

 sary for handling; but I very seldom pick 

 up a Hoffman frame by the " ears." I pre- 

 fer to grab the top-bar at a Tpoint just inside 

 of the end-bars, where I can get a good se- 

 cure hold for shaking or brushing. For the 

 purpose of examining the comb surface I may 

 handle by the ears, but only then. — Ed.] 



fastening FOUNDATION TO THE TOP-BAR 

 WITH A BULB AND GLASS TUBE. 



I send a sample of the wax-tube founda- 

 tion-fastener that I use. I consider it far 

 superior to the VanDeusen. I fasten super 

 foundation similar to G. J. Yoder, p. 487. 



I do not use rosin, but pure bef swax and 

 have no trouble. I use the tube as I would 

 a dropper. The glass tube must be so that 

 it can be readily pulled out, for once in a 

 while I forget and hold it point up, and the 

 wax runs down inside and hardens. I can 

 not control the stream from the VanDeusen 

 tube so as to use it for fastening super 

 foundation. These fasteners of mine cost 

 me 7 cents for material, buying at retail. 

 S. J. Griffen. 

 Bridgeport, Ct. Feb. 25. 



[I will explain to our readers that the de- 

 vice here shown is made up of an ordinary 

 piece of glass tubing that can be obtained at 

 any drugstore, perhaps 12 inches long, and 

 a short length of |-inch rubber tubing just 

 right to slip over the glass tube. The other 

 end of the rubber tubing is plugged up. 

 The glass tube is bent in an alcohol flame, 

 the end brought down to a small orifice. 

 This any druggist can do for you if you will 

 show him the illustration. To operate, 

 squeeze the rubber tube in the hand while 

 the glass tube is immersed in a pan of hot 

 wax. Release the pressure on the tube, 

 when the wax will flow up into the glass 



