1004 



THE AMERIGxiN BEE-KEEPER. 



135 



PROTECTING AND CLEANING 

 COMPRESSED CUPS. 



By "Swarthmore.' 



IT has been the practice in the 

 Swarthmore apairies to use one 

 colonj' for nothing else but to clean 

 out the jelly, trim and protcet the 

 hatched-out cells ready for regrafting. 

 Cells protected in this manner are cer- 

 tain of acceptance almost every time 

 they are grafted. Returning the 

 hatched-out cells to the zinc-covered 

 cages will accomplish the same end 

 but when rearing queens in quantities 

 it is more convenient to have a special 

 cleaning colony at hand, for there are 

 always more or less left over cells 

 in need of patching. 



Cell Cleaning and Incubating Board. 



CC are cleats, to prevent warping of the thin 

 board. These cleats are cut a little short to ad- 

 mit of tiering an empty shallow super, with bear- 

 ings upon botli sides and end of the thin board. 

 H is a frame constructed of % strips one inch 

 «'ide for supporting the cell-bars, twelve in num- 

 ber, placed side by side and bound together with 

 oins— A AAA. To prevent comb building, cover 

 the ends on the under side of the hollow square 

 ivith zinc. 



A thin all wood honey board is cut 

 iway in the center so as to form an 

 jlilong opening eight inches wide and 

 12 inches long, over which a close 

 Tame is constructed for the purpose 

 )f receiving cell-bars on exactly the 

 ^anie principle as in the starting 

 screen previously explained; with the 

 exception of their position on the hive, 

 vbich is across instead of parallel 

 vith the brood-frames, the arrange- 

 uent is identical. 



AVhen bars containing cleaned out 

 •ells are removed for re-grafting, their 

 paces are filled with blank bars, or 

 )ther cell-holding bars containing new- 

 y pressed cups may be dropped into 

 he spaces as needs seem to demand. 



Always cover the cell-holding bars 

 vith absorbent quilts and never use 



anything but a perfectly weatlier- 

 proof roof — all bee hives should have 

 tight I'oofs. Paint on hive bodies is 

 not so important excepting, perhaps, 

 for appearance; but see to it that : 

 roofs are kept well covered with good, 

 durable, water-proof material of one 

 kind or another for there is nothing 

 more ruinous to Ijees than a leaby 

 roof. 



During times of extra pressure upon 

 the cell completing colonies, large 

 numbers of capped cells may be placed 

 in the cell-clearing and incubating 

 board for protection. When this board 

 is used for incubating cells queen ex- 

 cluding zinc should cover the lower 

 side of the square space beneath the 

 bars to prevent the queen of the hive 

 from entering this cell compartment 

 to work wholesale desti'uction there. 



Fix the incubating board perma- 

 nently ui)on a hive containing a power- 

 ful colony and then bring from the 

 nurseries any and all mature cells in 

 need of protection the few days prior 

 to tlie time of their distribution among 

 nuclei. 



In this way as high as 100 cells may 

 be taken care of at one time. The 

 nursery cages will then be free to re- 

 ceive other lots of started cells which 

 may be awaiting their turn for trans- 

 fer from the cell-starting colonies to 

 those assigned to cell-completion. 



Swarthmore, Pa.. Oct. 8, 1903 



THE "COTTON" HIVE "OUT 

 ■WEST." 



By E. F. Atwater 



PROBABLY this is one of the few 

 locations where the "Cotton 

 Controllable Bee Hive" has been 

 somewhat generally introduced and 

 used. Many years ago the late Mr. 

 Morse, a pioneer of Boise, together 

 with Mr. :McClellan, sent to E. Kretch- 

 mer for several colonies of Italian 

 bees, the first to live and prosper here. 



They arrived in fair condition, in 

 "American"' hives. Mr. Morse adopt- 

 ed the Lizzie Cotton hive for his in- 

 crease, and at one time possessed an 

 apiary of 150 colonies in such hives. 

 He manufactured the hives and sold 

 them at ?7.00 each. 



All over the Boise Valley one finds 

 the hives, known here as the "Morse 



