42 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. 20, 



The Fence Separator with the no-bee-way section has a 

 stone shied at it in the American Bee-Keeper, and a good word 

 for it in Pacific Bee Journal. 



Thin Foundation for Brood-Combs. — The editor of 

 Gleanings thinks thin, but not extra-thiu, foundation might be 

 used in the brood-nest in shallow frames well wired. 



Bees Gnawing Out Bottom Starters. — W. H. Eagerty 

 complains in Gleanings that when late in the season he gave 

 to the bees sections with nearly full sheets and bottom start- 

 ers, the bees gnawed away the bottom starters and finisht up 

 the combs where the top starters ended. 



Triangular Bottom-Bars. — L. L. Skaggs recommends in 

 Southland Queen that bottom-bars be made triangular like the 

 old-fashioned top-bars, the sharp edge or comb-guide being 

 turned up in the bottom-bar. He says they are much stouter 

 than a flat bar of the same weight, and the bees will fasten to 

 them much better. 



Bee-Diarrhea is Contagious, as shown by experience. 

 Strengthen with sound bees a colony reduced by diarrhea, and 

 the dying off will steadily continue. Weygandt says the evil 

 is readily communicated from bee to bee if they eat the same 

 food, and especially, as is the case with bees, when the same 

 food is carried from mouth to mouth. — Editor J. B. Kellen in 

 Luxemburg Bztg. 



Well-Ripened Honey. — The editor of Gleanings, after 

 -describing some honey in such a way as to make one's mouth 

 water, closes up by this sentence, which, by changing " dry 

 room " to " warm dry room " is worth pasting in one's hat:. 

 " Any honey, if of gaod flavor, when allowed to stand in an 

 open vessel in a dry room, will become thick and waxy if 

 given time enough." 



The Long-Idea Hive.— G. M. Doolittle having spoken 

 against the long-idea hive, 0. O. Poppleton comes to its de- 

 fence in Gleanings. He thinks it probable that Mr. Doolittle 

 never had a properly-constructed hive of that kind, as neither 

 the Gallup nor the Langstroth frame can be profitably used 

 in that manner ; only a deep frame that will allow the brood 

 to remain compact. 



Castors for Shipping Comb Honey. — The most danger- 

 ous part of shipping honey is the rough handling by freight- 

 hands when shifting to or from the car. J. E. Crane explains 

 in Review that he prevents rough usage by putting castors on 

 each under corner of a box containing 15 or 20 cases. No 

 two-wheeled truck is then used. The expense i? perhaps J^ 

 cent for each pound of honey. 



Hauling Bees at Night. — In Germany it is a common 

 thing to move bees from one place to another, generally at 

 night, in search of better pasturage. The editor of Central- 

 blatt says that in the region of Hannover the law requires 

 that when hives are thus hauled and are open (it isn't easy to 

 close skeps or straw hives), a lighted lantern must be carried 

 22 yards in advance of the wagon. 



Four-Piece Sections have been almost entirely displaced 

 by one-piece sections, but a return to the four-piece for Cali- 

 fornians is advocated in Pacific Bee Jourual. It is claimed 

 that with glue, or even without it, they are more rigid and 

 perfect than the one-piece, and give a better effect to the 

 honey, and can be made on the Pacific Coast to compare with 

 Eastern manufacturers, counting the difi'erence in freight. 



Fastening Foundation in Brood-Frames.— The A. I. 



Root Co. has adopted as one of its regular productions a top- 

 bar with a kerf in the underside to receive foundation. The 

 kerf is j-i inch wide and '4 inch deep. Parallel to it is another 

 kerf just like it, with a film of wood 1/32 thick between the 

 two kerfs. The sheet of foundation is slipt into one kerf 

 which is in the center of the top-bar, then a wedge-shaped 

 strip the length of the underside of the top-bar is forced into 



the other kerf, crowding the film of wood hard against the 

 foundation, thus holding it fast. This plan has been in use 

 some years in England, but for some reason has not before 

 been Introduced here. A German plan a little like it has been 

 used to some extent here. A single kerf is made In the top- 

 bar, the sheet of foundation is slipt in, then a drop of melted 

 wax here and there from a burning beeswax candle keeps it 

 in place till the bees fasten it. 



Empty Comb for Winter Cluster. — While authorities 

 are telling us that bees don't occupy empty cells in winter, 

 and others tell us bees winter best on solid combs of honey, 

 M. A. Wathelet, editor Le Rucher Beige, urges with emphasis 

 that in preparing for winter, care must be taken not to take 

 out center combs that contain little honey to replace thera 

 with others better filled, thus dividing by full combs the clus- 

 ter, and thwarting the bees in the effort they have made t^ 

 arrange themselves in the best manner possible for the severe 

 season. Where does the truth lie ? 



Austrian Bee-Keeping. — The central society of bee- 

 keepers in Austria numbered 3,667 members for the year 

 1896, the report for 1896 being given in Bienen-Vater for 

 December, 1S97. These members had 23,8-1-4 colonies, or a 

 little more than 6 colonies per member. The average per 

 colony was about 9 pounds of honey and }i pound of beeswax. 

 Not quite two-thirds of the colonies were in movable-comb 

 hives. Of the 15,468 movable-comb hives, only 91 opened 

 on top, as most hives do in this country ; 28 of them opened 

 at the side, 439 at the bottom, and 1,243 at the back. 



A Machine for Cleaning Sections is described and 

 illustrated in the Review, being the invention of L. A. Aspin- 

 wall. It is especially adapted to clean plain sections, allho it 

 might be used with more or less advantage with the old style. 

 A strong frame-work holds something that looks a little like 

 the relic of a thick grindstone that has been worn down to a 

 very small diameter, and the section is applied to this as it 

 revolves, the surface being such as to rapidly remove all traces 

 of propolis and stain. A rapid motion is given to this grind- 

 ing surface by means of a larger wheel and belt. A treadle 

 for the foot gives motion to the larger wheel. 



Temperature of Brood-Nest in Winter. — It is a some- 

 what troublesome thing to get at the temperature in the mid- 

 dle of a cluster of bees in winter, as explained by G. M. Doo- 

 little in the American Bee-Keeper. After a good deal of ex- 

 perimenting he settled upon the following : When the mer- 

 cury stands at zero outside, the temperature in the cluster of 

 bees is 64^, and for every 15^ of change from this point (out- 

 side), the change in the cluster is 1-*. Thus 163 below, gave 

 63^; zero gave 64- ; 15- above gave 65-; while 30- above 

 gave 66' in the cluster. He thinks bees must burn a lot of 

 fuel in the shape of honey or some substitute in a time of 

 severe cold, in order to bring the cluster from below zero up 

 to 6S-, and raises the question whether those who are recom- 

 mending out-door wintering may not be making a mistake 

 that costs a good many dollars. 



Curing Foul Brood Without Drugs, shaking off the 

 bees, or any loss of their work, can be done by even a novice, 

 says M. M. Baldridge in Bee-Keepers' Review. Cage the queen 

 and put her in the top of the hive where the bees can have 

 access to her. Bore an inch hole in front of the hive a few 

 inches above the entrance, and toward sunset fasten over the 

 hole outside, a metal bee-escape. Let it stand till next morn- 

 ing. Take from any strong, liealthy colony one or two combs 

 of brood, with or without adhering bees, put in an empty hive 

 and fill out with frames of foundation or starters. Any time 

 in the forenoon, or when the bees are getting honey from the 

 flowers, place this prepared hive on the stand of the diseased 

 colony, placing the latter close beside it, but turned end for 

 eud, handling it very gently, and leaving the entrance open. 

 Within two or three days nearly all the bees will be in the 

 new hive, when toward sunset the queen is to be taken from 

 the old hive after driving the bees away from the cage with a 

 little smoke, and she is then to be run in at the entrance of 

 the new hive. Gently turn the old hive end for end, and close 

 the entrance. No bee can get out of the old hive except 

 through the escape, and no bees can enter, so all will go to 

 the new hive. In about three weeks all healthy brood will be 

 hatcht In the diseased colony, and soon thereafter all the bees 

 will be in the new hive, and no loss of bees or labor. Then 

 dispose of the old hive and contents by burning or otherwise. 



See " Bee-Keeper's Guide" offer on page 43. 



