264 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



tions against the glass, and then more 

 glass and mere sections, until full ; 

 wedging them tightly inside of the 

 last cleat. They can be tiered np if 

 desired. 



I find by actual experiment, that my 

 sections of honey are freer of propo- 

 lis with the use of this rack than they 

 are with any other. I can easily take 

 hold of them, as it is impossible for 

 the bees to touch the edge only where 

 the insets are in the separators ; and 

 the holes in the separators allow the 

 bees passage ways from one section 

 to another. 



I do not see any detriment to the 

 appearance of the honey, arising from 

 these holes ; but it is the cause of 

 quite an ornament being built on the 

 surface of each comb in the shape of 

 a little mound. I have never had a 

 section of honey that could not be 

 placed by either side of any other sec- 

 tion, and yet the honey not come in 

 contact. 



Boaz, Wisconsin. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Clipping the ftaeen's Wing. 



DR. I. S. SI'ALLISTER. 



Mr. Stewart, on page 576 of the Bee 

 Journal for 1883, after leading the 

 reader along, wishes some bee-keeper 

 to answer his question ; and says that 

 all will agree with him, that a mother 

 cannot transmit to her oH-spring that 

 which she does not possess. I do not 

 agree with him on this point, and 

 would as soon have queens from the 

 one as the other (all things being 

 equal) ; for I have been in the medical 



grofession for over 23 years, and have 

 ad occasion to perform and witness 

 many amputations of limbs, and never 

 saw any offspring from said parents, 

 that was minus any limb ; or, that 

 seemed at all affected thereby. I 

 have watched the progeny of queens, 

 whose wings have been clipped, and I 

 fail to see any difference from those 

 bees that their mother did not have 

 her wing clipped ; and on several 

 occasions, I have clipped a wing so 

 close to the body, that the queen would 

 curl down close to the comb, and 

 show signs of pain for a moment ; 

 then go quietly about her business as 

 though nothing had happened. 



Of course such close clipping was 

 an accident ; as there is no need of 

 clipping more than one-third of one 

 wing. I think the comparisons are 

 not parallel; for it is not supposed 

 that a queen has occasion even to 

 leave the hive, after she has once 

 mated, except in swarming ; and I 

 doubt very much whether it would 

 improve her generative powers, to 

 have her tossed up and compelled to 

 fly ; though it would be likely to in- 

 terrupt her laying ability, besides the 

 risk of otherwise injuring her. 



They are apt to be altogether too 

 handy with their wings ; and it is no 

 pleasant thing to have a valuable 

 queen and a large swarm of bees ab- 

 scond, just for the simple neglect to 

 clip a wing. It has been proven by 

 years of practical experiments by 

 many able bee-keepers, that it is in 



no way detrimental to the well-being 

 of the bees ; and it saves the loss of 

 many a valuable swarm. Years ago, 

 I, too, was opposed to the plan, but 

 now it is only a piece of carelessness 

 with me if I fail to clip a queen's 

 wing, after she is mated and has com- 

 menced to lay. 



As far as hybrids are concerned, if 

 they could be made a fixed type, they 

 might be improved ; but as it is, I fear 

 it will be difficult to send for pure 

 stock l.)ef ore long, as there are so many 

 bees "bred for business." I prefer 

 to keep my stock of Italians pure. 



Columbus, Neb. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



The Use of Comb Foundation. 



E. p. GIBBS. 



On page 25, Mr. J. V. Caldwell 

 takes up the subject discussed by Mr. 

 Doolittle in regard to the necessity 

 and profit of using comb foundation. 

 I am glad to see this question agi- 

 tated ; f<u- 1 have been a heavy con- 

 sumer of foundation, and for the past 

 two years, I have been of the opinion 

 that it was made unnecessarily heavy 

 for use in the brood-chambers. 



The past season has caused some 

 doubts in my mind as to the utility of 

 using foundation in the brood-cham- 

 ber for any other purpose than as a 

 starter in the frames. My observa- 

 tion is, that a great many of the thick 

 slieets of wax are not drawn out at 

 all, but simply built upon; and I be- 

 lieve that the 10 sheets of foundation 

 ordinarily put into a brood-chamber, 

 weighs three times as much as ten 

 frames of new empty comb. The 

 greater part of last season the price 

 of foundation was about 65 cents. 

 Now, nearly four sheets of common- 

 weight foundation for Langstroth 

 frames, make a pound. Hence, to fill 

 a 10-frame hive, it requires 2>^ pounds; 

 and at 65 cents per pouud, would cost 

 $1,621^ instead of 75 cents, as Mr. C. 

 says. 



Mr. C. says we cannot get a hive 

 full of worker comb if we do not use 

 foundation. That is true. Neither 

 can we if we do use it. He says 

 further, if we do not give them drone 

 foundation, how can they get drone 

 comb V If they have no drone comb, 

 and want some, they will build drone 

 cells on the worker foundation. In 

 my earlier days of beekeeping, I used 

 to cut out the drone-brood and throw 

 it away ; but the bees would just as 

 often rebuild it. I finally came to the 

 conclusion that it was wasting too 

 much of their time to build drone 

 comb for me to throw away. 



I do not wish to be understood that 

 I prefer a brood-chamber with i^ or }£ 

 drone comb ; but they loill have some 

 any way. 1 have combs made on 

 foundation that have not a worker 

 cell in them, but all drone cells. I am 

 not prepared to say that it is best to 

 entirely discard foundation in the 

 brood-chamber, but I am satisfied 

 that it is made twice as lieavy as need 

 be ; and that every consumer should 

 insist on a much lighter weight per 

 foot, or make his own. 



Lyndon, 111. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Success in Wintering for 21 Years. 



IRA BARBER. 



By all the methods except one, that 

 I wintered bees, I could not bring 50 

 per cent, of them through the winter 

 in as good condition as when placed 

 into winter quarters. That one was 

 by burying them in trenches in a 

 light gravelly soil, entirely below the 

 surface, and covering them about 10 

 inches deep with the same. In this 

 way, nearly all came out as strong as 

 when put in. 



I tried burying them in clamps 

 above the ground, but sustained 

 heavy losses. I built a house in which 

 to winter them, but this proved too 

 cold for them, and was abandoned 

 after using it for two winters. In all 

 the cold rooms in which I have win- 

 tered bees, diarrhoea appeared ; the 

 worst case destroying % of all my 

 apiary. 



During all this time I had a good 

 cellar, but it was wet, and I was 

 afraid to risk my bees in it, for it was 

 generally believed that bees would 

 not do well in damp cellars. Having 

 130 colonies, I concluded to chance 

 them, thinking tliey could do but 

 little worse than heretofore. 



About Nov. 15, 1 placed my bees in 

 that cellar, keeping a close watch of 

 their condition. One-thfrd of the 

 hives were provided with chaff cush- 

 ions, and the rest were ventilated at 

 the top by raising the top board. In 

 the spring all were alive, but in only 

 fair condition. After three winters 

 of experimenting, I found that those 

 which were ventilated at the top 

 of the hive were in much the best 

 condition ; I might say that they were 

 just as strong as w^hen put in for the 

 winter. By thus wintering them I 

 have had no trouble since. 



I do not think it is necessary to keep 

 the temperature in the cellars as high 

 as 65^ to 90° above zero ; but I know 

 that bees will stand that degree of 

 heat and come out all right, with my 

 way of preparing them". My hiyes 

 are 12x19)^ inches, inside nieasure, 

 and 123^ inches high, with two en- 

 trances, one at the bottom and the 

 other in the centre of the front end. 

 Tor coverings, I use felt and burlap, 

 putting them on when I take off the 

 sections. I also use a top-board 1 inch 

 thick ; the bees having all the fall to 

 glue them fast. I pile them up in the 

 cellar in columns of 4 or 5 hi.gh, very 

 closely together. The lower tier rests 

 on caps taken from the hives, and are 

 raised ^ inch from the bottom to pre- 

 vent molding, and all are left with 

 entrances open. 



For ventilating the cellar, I use a 3- 

 inch pipe 24 feet long, which enters 

 the cellar window and extends up on 

 the outside. My cellar is 17x19 feet, 

 and 7 feet high, and contains 225 colo- 

 nies, they furnishing all the heat. In 

 November the mercury stood 12° 

 above zero on the outside, and 65° 

 above on the inside. In April it 

 stood 6OO outside, and 90'-^ inside. 

 Bees cannot be wintered in a very dry 

 cellar at so high a temperature. 



