130U 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15 



settle anyway. We will admit that mechan- 

 ical disturbances, such as throwing water or 

 other substances among the bees of a swarm, 

 or perhaps the flashing of light among them, 

 may have some efifect in inducing runaway 

 bees to settle, but did anyone ever know any 

 amount of noise, and noise alone, to have any 

 effect in stopping bees after they had once 

 settled and then really started to run away? 



ABOUT SEPARATORS. 



"Good morning, Mr. Doolittle. Cold this 

 Thanksgiving day." 



"Yes, Mr. Smith, and a great change m 

 temperature since yesterday noon. The mer- 

 cury stood at 54 above zero at that time, and 

 now it is only 14 degrees above. Got your 

 bees in the cellar yet?' 



"Yes, I put them in one day last week. 

 I was hoping that they might fly once more ; 

 but I am glad now they are all housed. It 

 was warm enough for bees to fly yesterday, 

 had it not been for the high south wind." 



"I put mine in two weeks ago. Of course, 

 I am always glad to have them fly a few days 

 before they go into the cellar; but I do not 

 wait long after the middle of November, for 

 I think it is better for them to have the hives 

 all dry and nice when they go in rather than 

 have the hives all wet or covered with snow 

 and ice, as is often the case if we wait till 

 nearly or quite December before putting 

 them in ; at least. I can s^e very little differ- 

 ence in the way they come out in the spring, 

 between those set in before or after a day in 

 which those left out have a late flight. There- 

 fore I put them in along from the loth to the 

 20th of November, regardless of whether 

 they have had a flight or not, on the first day 

 when the hives are dry and nice, and when 

 they are not frozen down to the stands. A 

 temperature of from 35 to 40 degrees above 

 zero is one in which they go in with the least 

 disturbance." 



"I am glad to know of these things; but I 

 came over to have a little talk with you about 

 separators. I was readmg in an old bee paper 

 which I found in the paper-rags at the tin- 

 shop last night that more honey could be se- 

 cured in sections where no separators were 

 used than could be with them, as they tended 

 to hinder the work of the bees. I am about 

 to make a lot of new supers this winter; and 

 if it is best not to use separators I should 

 like to- know it before I commence work. 

 What do you think?" 



"There is no question but that bees will 

 store honey in sections without the use of 

 separators ; but the great question is regard- 

 ing its marketable shape where stored with- 

 out them." 



"But what do you think about the matter 

 of their storing more honey where they are 

 not used?" 



"When I commenced to use separators I 

 was fearful they would be a hindrance to the 

 bees in their work, and so I used them on 

 half the colonies that were run for comb 

 honey, and worked the other half without 

 them, with the result that, at the end of the 

 season. I could see no difference as to the 

 amount stored by either half, on an average; 

 but I could see a great difference in favor of 

 that honey built where separators were used 

 when I came to prepare the same for market." 



"But one season would hardly be a fair 

 trial, would it?" 



"That was the way I then felt, and so I 

 ktpt on trying, using more and more colonies 

 with separators, till, after three years' experi- 

 menting, I became satisfied that the separators 

 were no hindrance to the yield of honey." 



"Well, I am glad to know this ; but I hardly 

 feel satisfied in my own mind yet." 



"Well, that being the case, you can, if you 

 desire, go over the ground for yourself; but 

 as nearly if not quite every comb-honev raiser 

 o: today uses separators you will probably 

 conclude to use separators at the end of your 

 experiments ; and, if so, to accept the ex- 

 perience of others, without going over the 

 ground they have traveled, will save you 

 much time and expense." 



"Yes, I know you are right there; and I 

 should decide now, before I build the new 

 lot I am anticipating doing ; but how would it 

 do to bore a lot of holes through the separa- 

 tors, thus making the super more nearly as 

 it would be where no separators were used?" 



"That would only be going over old ground, 

 as the thought is not new." 



"Did you ever use any in that way?" 



"Yes. I procured a boring-machine for 

 this special purpose, and, with the power of 

 a six-horse engine, I could bore the holes 

 through a four-inch plank very rapidly ; and 

 after the holes were bored the plank was 

 sawed up into separators, so that the work 

 would not have been very great. I was so 

 enthusiastic in the matter that I got out very 

 many more than I needed for a careful ex- 

 periment; and such, the next season, showed 

 nothing in their favor, much to my surprise." 



"Can that be possible? I had thought such 

 would be preferable to what are termed 

 'fences.' Have you ever used the fence sepa- 

 rators?" . 



"Yes, both of wood and of tin ; and if I 

 were to adopt fences I think I should prefer 

 the tin, as it takes less room in the super and 

 is not liable to be gnawed and worked at by 

 the bees." 



"But can vou not cet more handsome- 



