1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1189 



F Turning t ) our own old masters, and pass- 

 ing over Thomas Hill, 1568, who relied solely 

 on the classic authors, we have Edmund 

 Southerne, London, 1593, stoutly maintain- 

 ing that "to keepe a stirre and lay on with 

 a Bason, Kettle, or Frying-pan is to take 

 great paines and have little thankes. " The 

 editor of Gleanings should refer once more 

 to his valuable 1609 edition of Butler's 

 Treatise, to find (No. 30, Chap. V.) that "it 

 is a common fashion to make a harsh noise 

 with a pan, kettle, bason, or other like 

 thing, thereby to stay them from flying 

 away." In the next edition of his Treatise, 

 London, 1623, Butler states that the original 

 cause of this custom was to establish "a 

 just and open claime laid unto the Swarme, 

 that otherwise some false neighbour might 

 challenge for his." Purchas in "A Theatre 

 of Politicall Flying-Insects," London, 1657, 

 adopts the same view, and with but few ex- 

 ceptions all subsequent writers of note agree. 



Ringing and tanging have not yet quite 

 died out in our rural districts. I myself, in 

 the enthusiasm which I am glad to say the 

 hum of a rising swarm can still kindle with- 

 in me, have "played them a fit of mirth " 

 (Butler again) with poker and shovel. I 

 nave also tried to head off the bees by a shot 

 from a smali fowling-piece, but I can only 

 recommend this weapon as useful in bring- 

 ing down a clustered swarm, branch and all, 

 from a tree. Under ordinary circumstances 

 I fall in with the editor and use a garden 

 syringe. 



King Alfred's law of swarming is, I fear, 

 but a pleasant flight of fancy. 



Leeford, Budleigh-Salterton, England. 



THE ALEXANDER METHOD OF INCREASE. 

 Why F. L. Day Failed. 



BY E. W. ALEXANDER. 



In justice to myself and the method of 

 making increase that I recommended in the 

 April 15th issue of Gleanings, I wish to say 

 a few words to friend F. L. Day, as he, in 

 the Oct. 1st issue, condemns what is now 

 called the Alexander method of increase. In 

 that article of April 15th I said, "Now 

 leave them about ten or eleven days in this 

 shape, during which time the queen will get 

 a fine lot of brood started in the lower hive, 

 and every egg and particle of larva that 

 was in the old hive on top will have matured 

 so it will be capped over and saved; then 

 separate them, putting the old hive on a 

 new stand." 



Now, instead of leaving them only ten or 

 eleven days, as I advised, friend Day leaves 

 them from the 22d of April until June 1st — 

 some 39 days, which changes the nature of 

 the whole operation, and shows very decid- 

 edly that the excluders he uses are worthless 

 as queen- excluders, for we all know that the 

 queens he speaks of as being about ready to 

 natch in the upper hive on the day he sep- 

 arated them must have been newly laid eggs 

 only 15J days before, which also shows that 



the queens he thought were shut below in the 

 under hive were having full swing in each; 

 therefore the only change the four colonies 

 had by his manipulation was to give them an 

 additional set of combs, whereby, in the 

 course of a month, they had a large amount 

 of maturing brood which was the cause of 

 their swarming. I can hardly see how he 

 could have fixed them in any better way to 

 swarm naturally and continually than he did. 



Now a few words to all who try new meth- 

 ods which the writers for our bee journals 

 recommend. Either carry out those methods 

 to the letter or let them alone; don't mix up 

 a lot of your own ideas with those of others, 

 and then condemn the writer for not giving 

 a practicable method, as friend Day has just 

 done in this case. I find this is the worst 

 feature connected with writing for our bee 

 journals — so many bee-keepers with limited 

 experience will undertake to put in practice 

 some new method, and frequently omit some 

 of the most essential parts, thereby making 

 a perfect failure of what otherwise would 

 have been a perfect success. 



In conclusion I will say that, during the 

 last three months, I have received dozens 

 of very complimentary letters from parties 

 who have adopted this method of making 

 their increase, at the same time securing a 

 large amount of surplus honey. 



Delanson, N. Y. 



HOW A SOLAR WAX-EXTRACTOR IS KEPT 

 TURNED TOWARD THE SUN. 



I inclose a photo of my Doolittle solar 

 wax-extractor. I took an old buggy-wheel 

 and put it on a post set in the ground, and 

 arranged the extractor on it, so that it can 



be turned with the sun. It also keeps the 

 box off the ground so that it will last longer. 

 Jas. T. Shackelford. 

 Napton, Mo., Aug. 26, 



