1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



725 



frames left filled with all worker comb, and 

 the sections filled with beautiful snow-white 

 honey. ' ' 



"Well, if this thing will work as well 

 with me I shall feel well paid for coming to 

 see you. I will try it at least." 



swarm from going away when once hived 

 would be all right.— Ed.] 



ENTRANCE - GUARDS FOR OUT - APIARIES TO 

 PREVENT SWARMING ; ALSO TO PRE- 

 VENT NEWLY HIVED SWARMS 

 FROM LEAVING. 



I want to ask you something concerning 

 irunning out-apiaries. I have 155 stands of 

 bees at present— more than I think will pay 

 to keep in one place. I am thinking of run- 

 ning an out- apiary next year. How far 

 ought the two to be apart ? I will give my 

 plan for running it. 



I thought I would put on entrance-guards 

 just before swarming, and visit the apiary 

 once a week and take the guards off and let 

 them stay off all day so the bees could 

 swarm that day if they wish to, and also in 

 order that the young queens could come out 

 and take their flight; and when I leave the 

 apiary late in the evening, put the guards 

 back on and continue the same way through 

 the swarming season, then remove the 

 guards for the rest of the year. Please 

 give me your opinion as to how you think 

 the plan will work in running out-apiaries. 



I noticed in Gleanings that some have 

 complained of swarms running away. I will 

 give my plan of keeping swarms from what 

 we call running away. When I hive a swarm 

 I put a small entrance-guard on the hive, 

 and let it remain there for a few days— that 

 is, until the bees have commenced work. 

 I then remove the guard, and therefore I 

 never have any swarms leave after I hive 

 them. I have had them try to leave every 

 day for several days, but the queen could 

 not get through the guard; and so the swarm 

 would return and go back into the hive. I 

 think if those who have been troubled with 

 swarms leaving will try this plan they will 

 not be troubled in that way any more. 



Dawson, Ga., June 5. E. J. Horne. 



[It would not be practicable for you to take 

 off the drone-guards and expect swarms to 

 come out when you were at the yard. As a 

 general thing, when a swarm attempts to 

 go through the metal, and tries it two or 

 three times as it would do in your absence, 

 it will kill its queen and rear others. What 

 is worse still, it will waste valuable time 

 right in the height of the season, sulking, 

 because it can not go off with its queen. 



The use of the drone-guards to keep the 



A substitute for the RUSSIAN TIN BOXES; 

 COMB HONEY WITHOUT SECTIONS SIM- 

 PLY WRAPPED IN OILED PAPER, 

 AND SLIPPED INTO A 

 CARTON. 



If the Russian tin box can not be produced 

 in this country at a price that will meet the 

 conditions of our honey market practically, 

 then I believe the same thing can be accom- 

 plished in another way, and that "cut comb 

 honey ' ' can be wrapped in oil paper and 

 placed in a nice strong paper carton, and 

 marketed as well as or better than in the 

 tin boxes. As to preserving honey in trans- 

 portation, store, and for table use, I do not 

 see why this plan would not be perfect. 

 Properly wrapped in oil paper, there could 

 be no leakage, and the natural aroma of the 

 honey would be retained, as the wrapping 

 would be practically air-tight. Frames 

 spaced 1^ from center to center will give 

 sealed comb IJ thick ; and if this is cut into 

 sections 5X4 they will weigh one pound, 

 after the honey has drained out of the sev- 

 ered cells. These 5X4XU sections of cut 

 comb honey, wrapped and put into a 5|X4| 

 Xlf carton would be in fine shape for dis- 

 tribution, I should think. 



To secure ' ' no-drip ' ' packages, the paper 

 wrapper would have to be 14X10, and for 

 shipping honey put up this way sectional 

 crates would be required, so each carton 

 would have a separate pocket. Honey put 

 up in this way might put an effectual stop 

 to the canards about comb honey. 



Blairsville, Pa. , May 11. W. D. Keyes. 



[I question somewhat whether it would be 

 practical to wrap up cut comb honey in par- 

 affine or waxed paper so it will not leak out. 

 If there should be a break in the corner of 

 the paper, a large amount of honey would 

 ooze out, soiling the retailer's counters and 

 showcases in a way that would disgust him 

 forever with goods put up in that way. I 

 hope, however, you will try the plan, and 

 report how it works, both in wrapping and 

 as to how the trade takes to it.— Ed.] 



bee-escape swarming; a plan that seems 



TO HAVE considerable MERIT. 



For three seasons I have used the follow- 

 ing plan with success. When I find larvae 

 in queen-cells so that I know the colony is 

 preparing to swarm I put a body filled with 

 frames of foundation on the bottom-board, 

 next to a queen-excluding board, then the 

 surplus cases, next a Porter bee-escape 

 board; on this the body containing the frames 

 of brood, and, lastly, the hive-cover. Leave 

 the hive in this condition on the old stand 

 till the field bees have had time to pass 

 through the bee-escape, say twenty-four 

 hours. So far the manipulation is the same 

 for all purposes. The next thing to do is to 

 introduce a queen into the colony below the 

 queen-excluder. This may be the old queen 



