1&05 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURK 



605 



the cost of any section honey, while it 

 seems to give great energy to the colony so 

 building comb." 



"But won't the queen go up in those bait 

 sections and put eggs in them, where only 

 empty frames with starters are used in such 

 a contracted brood-chamber?" 



"She will be likely to. And I am glad 

 you asked about this, as it would have slip- 

 ped my mind to say any thing about this 

 part of it if you had not. In all cases where 

 empty comb is used above, over a brood- 

 chambfr having empty frames, a queen- 

 excluder should be used, so as to keep the 

 queen where we wish her. In this we have 

 the advantage of those of the past, who had 

 no perforated metal to use." 



" But does not this queen-excluding metal 

 hinder the work in the sections ?" 



"From many carefully conducted experi- 

 ments during the past, I unhesitatingly say 

 no ! " 



STONES ON COVER FOR SHOWING THE CONDI- 

 TION OF A COLONY. 



A stone about the size of a man's fist 

 placed on the cover of a hive so as to indi- 

 cate the condition of a colony is a conven- 

 ience that, when once adopted, will never 

 be discarded. The system which I will here 

 outline meets allrequirements for me. 



A stone placed on the front of the cover 

 and in the center, shown at A, indicates that 

 the colony is queenless; B indicates a queen- 

 cell; C, a virgm queen; D, that a queen has 

 been introduced; E, diseased brood; and F, 

 that a colony is weak in brood or needs other 

 special attention. When the colony becomes 

 normal, just drop the stone on the ground. 



Now, I do not intend that those stone 

 signs shall take the place of the pencil, for 

 no bee-keeper is more than half a bee-keeper 

 until he has learned to use a pencil, not in 

 a book, but on the hive-covers. 



When using stones in this way, a bee- 

 keeper always knows how many queenless 

 colonies he has, and in what condition they 

 are, by just glancing over the yard. Then 

 when working a yard so marked, one-third 

 of the labor is saved. If queen-cells are 

 wanted you know just where to go to get 

 •them; or if you come to a colony with a sur- 



plus of brood you know just the colonies 

 that are in need of it. In fact, the only way 

 to work a yard properly is by using some 

 such system of signs. Leslie Burr. 



Casanova, Cuba, April 10. 



[Your arrangement to indicate the condi- 

 tion of the hives is a very good one. I have 

 seen various modified forms of it in use; 

 indeed, we have had a similar system in our 

 queen-yards for the last ten years; but in- 

 stead of stones we use small slates. We 

 write the records on a special card tacked 

 on the cover, then shift the position of a 

 small piece of slate 2x3 inches from one 

 part of the cover to the other, so that from 

 almost any part of the yard we can see what 

 colonies are queenless, what have introduced 

 queens, what laying, tested, select tested, 

 and extra-select breeders. A little stone or 

 piece of brick will do nearly as well as the 

 slate. In the filling of queen-orders this is 

 often a great convenience, because the api- 

 arist can make a bee- fine direct toward the 

 hive containing the kind of queen he wants. 

 When he removes one he marks the card 

 and then positions it to indicate that the 

 hive will require a cell or an introduced 

 queen very soon. The reason why we aban- 

 doned the record on the slate was that the 

 slates sometimes become lost in windstorms, 

 get broken, or, worse still, the records may 

 be obliterated by a hard rain or made so 

 indistinct as to be valueless. 



I believe it is a common rule in any yard, 

 where any thing is especially wrong with a 

 colony, to put a stone, stick, or any distin- 

 guishing object, on the hive. At the very 

 next visit the position suggests that the col- 

 ony needs immediate attention. — Ed.] 



CROSS BEES ; CAN THEY BE CROSSED WITH 

 CAUCASIANS TO MAKE THEM GENTLER ? 



I have trouble with cross bees, and have 

 spent at least $25 for queens in the hope of 

 getting gentler bees. I made no increase 

 last year, but requeened every hive, and 

 now no one dare go near them, One man 

 said he would burn them and quit. Could 

 I cross them with Caucasians with good re- 

 sults? Where can I get Caucasians ? I 

 don't want to give it up, nor can I afford to 

 requeen all again. P. T. Lemaster. 



Spartanburg, S. C, March 11. 



[The Caucasians are said to be a very 

 gentle race of bees. We expected to have 

 some here before this, but they have not yet 

 arrived. How much gentler than our Ital- 

 ians they are we do not know from experi- 

 ence. Crossing them with Italians may make 

 a very desirable strain, combining the good 

 qualities of both races in one. Perhaps you 

 will be better suited with pure stock, which 

 will be ready for delivery some time this 

 season, we presume. 



But from what you write it is my impres- 

 sion that you have not yet learned to handle 

 bees so they will not be disposed to sting. 

 One season I worked an entire month in our 

 bee-yard rearing queens, and I did not get a 



