606 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1 



single sting, and the yard had over 300 colo- 

 nies and nuclei. But I was careful to han- 

 dle the bees only when I knew they would be 

 good-natured. I never allowed them to get 

 to robbing; waited until the atmosphere was 

 warm before opening any hives; and I also 

 took great precaution to blow a little smoke 

 in at the entrance, and a little over the top 

 of the hive, and especially into the crack 

 while removing a cover from a hive. This 

 part is very important. With the right kind 

 of management the average Italians can be 

 handled without a sting. 



I am free to admit that, if I had been 

 extracting, and shaking and brushing the 

 combs, it would hardly have been possible 

 for me to go to the length of time I did. 

 But I see no reason why one could not pro- 

 duce comb honey by using bee-escapes, and 

 work with few or no stings. In your case it 

 may be advisable to 'work for a while with 

 bee-gloves. — Ed. ] 



E. W. ALEXANDER'S METHOD OF ARTIFICIAL 

 increase; fertilizing in UPPER STORIES. 



I have just read with great interest E.W. 

 Alexander's contribution, on making in- 

 crease, page 425. I am about to make 100 

 new colonies; and as I consider this the best 

 method of artificial increase ever given to 

 the public I shall surely put it to a test for 

 myself. I am writing you this to know if 

 any one has tried the plan of giving the 

 queenless colony a ripe queen-cell or a caged 

 virgin at the time it is set on top of the 

 excluder, allowing her to become fertilized 

 through an auger-hole in the back of the 

 old hive before moving the same to a new 

 location. What do you think of this plan 

 where one has no laying queens to give 

 them? If I can work this plan successfully 

 it will be worth $100 to me. 



W. H. Crawford. 



Roswell, N. M., April 22. 



[The plan of having a queen fertilized 

 from an upper story above perforated zinc 

 was originally described in E'bolittle's book, 

 "Scientific Queen-rearing." Modifications 

 of the plan have been used more or less ever 

 since. But to make it work, a honey-flow 

 or light feeding is required. When used 

 with any of the non-swarming plans it ought 

 to work because the conditions would be fa- 

 vorable.— Ed.] 



the matter of scent, and its relation 

 TO introducing queens. 



Ernest, tell A. C. Miller to buy a pair of 

 cheap sheepskin gloves that smell strong of 

 the tanning, put them right on his hands 

 new. and go to clipping queens' wings and 

 see how many queens he will have that the 

 bees will not ball. I tried it once, but soon 

 laid the gloves away, then washed the scent 

 all off my hands, and had no more trouble. 

 I presume Mr. Miller would say the queens 

 were scared. Why should they be any more 

 scared than with my bare fingers? 



H. S. Wheeler. 



Mt. Pleasant, Mich., Feb. 22. 



AN adjustable ENTRANCE - BOARD. 



I am sending you a small model, a short sec- 

 tion of front end of my bottom-board. Since 

 I wrote you I have made some changes, and 

 I think it is now about as good as I can get 

 it. The rails and bottom-board extend far 

 enough for an alighting-board. The front 

 cleat will strengthen the bottom-board and 

 hold it straight in front. The entrance- 

 board can be made of wood, or galvanized 

 iron, and can be used in three different 

 ways— one or two bee-slots, § inch, or the 

 entrance can be closed by having tin ears to 

 close the slots; and when it is wanted you 

 can change to the full entrance, one inch or 



A shows contracted entrance; B open entrance; C, the 

 adjustable entrance-guard; D, cleat. 



Ij inches, by removing the entrance-board. 

 The tin ears can be put on if the feature is 

 worth it. 



The entrance-cleat is used for the en- 

 trance-board to rest against, and also to 

 hold the hive just far enough to give the 

 finger room to adjust the board 



James M. Brown. 



Pell City, Ala., April 6. 



[It is an advantage, I am sure, to have an 

 entrance that can be easily and quickly con- 

 tracted without resorting to the use of 

 pieces of lath, broken twigs, paper, or 

 grass. Our single-walled hives now provide 

 for three sizes of entrances, any one of 

 which can be adjusted in ten seconds. The 

 largest entrance is 1| deep by the full width 

 of the hive; the medium size is i deep by 

 the full width; the smallest size is I by 8 

 inches. The large size is used when hiving 

 swarms or in the case of powerful colonies 

 during hot weather. The medium size is for 

 a general honey-flow when the colony is 

 working busily in the fields. The smallest 

 is used immediately following the honey- 

 flow when bees will be inclined to rob, and 

 at all times of the year when the weather is 

 cool or cold. Your arrangement provides 

 for four different sizes, and we see no rea- 



