594 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



For tbo American Bee JoumaL 



Straight Combs without Separators. 



W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 



The width of the sections lias much 

 to do with getting straight even combs. 

 To get straight even combs in sections 

 2 inciies wide, separators are needed. 

 The nearer combs approacli to tlie 

 thickness that bees naturally build 

 them, the more perfect they will be. 

 Why are not separators needed be- 

 tween brood combs ? Instead of at- 

 tempting to answer, let producers 

 take a hint and make their sections 

 accordingly. 



It is my opinion that 1^ inches is 

 about the best width for sections used 

 without separators : that is, to obtain 

 the straightest combs. The sections 

 that I used last season were 1 11-16 

 inches wide ; no separators were used, 

 yet every section was crated. Let no 

 one suppose, however, that every sec- 

 tion was perfectly true, and would lit 

 anywhere, as would sections built 

 with separators ; occasionally a comb 

 would be " plump " or " bulged." but, 

 of course, the adjoining ones would be 

 " thin " or concave ; hence, by the ex- 

 ercise of a little care, all was crated 

 without trouble. If a plump section 

 was found finished, and the adjoining 

 ones unfinished, the plump section 

 was removed and its place tilled with 

 a partly_ finished section, or a section 

 filled with foundation, and. in crating, 

 a lookout was kept* for " lean " sec- 

 tions ; by thus putting together the 

 thick and thin sections, there was no 

 ti-ouble. Xine-tenths of the sections 

 would fit anywhere, and truth com- 

 pelled me to"say that the " bulging " 

 was done by pure Italians. The sec- 

 tions filled by hybrids were like so 

 many " bricks," no crookedness, no 

 bulges, no bear combs, while the cap- 

 pings were of a snowy whiteness. So 

 marked was the difference in the 

 workmanship of the Italians and the 

 hybrids, that, after the cases of sec- 

 tions had been removed from the 

 hives, and stacked up, my brother or 

 myself could look them over and tell 

 which cases had been filled by hybrids 

 and which by Italians. 



I use an fs-frame Lan^troth hive, 

 and the Ileddon case. The sections 

 stand parallel with the brood frames, 

 and I am careful to have the liives 

 stand perfectly level, except that they 

 are slightly raised at the back end. I 

 have tried putting a small piece of 

 foundation in each section as a 

 " starter," have filled the sections 

 partly full, and have filled the sections 

 entirely full, and I am decidedly in 

 favor of filling the sections full, leav- 

 ing J^ of an inch at each side of the 

 foundation, and }4 of an inch at the 

 bottom. When the section is filled 

 full of foundation, the cells are drawn 

 out full length next to the wood, and 

 the comb is well fastened in all around 

 the outside. Vteiug built out nearly 

 even with the edge of the wood ; while, 

 if the section isonly partly filled, the 

 cells decrease in depth as they ap- 

 proach the side of the section, and are 

 fastened with only a thin strip of bear 

 comb that is easily broken. The top 

 and bottom bars of sections sliould be 



% of an inch narrower than the side 

 bars, instead of only M, as usually 

 made. This is a greater help in secur- 

 ing straight comljs without separators 

 than one would suppose. It seems to 

 induce the bees to leave a greater 

 space between the combs. 



There is one other point. The bees 

 should be given the proper amount of 

 room, neither be crowded nor given 

 too much room. When too much 

 room is given, the bees are liable to 

 work first upon one side only, of some 

 of the foundation, and, as a result, 

 it warps and bends. By the way. Dr. 

 Miller, at the Northwestern Conven- 

 tion, said that he thought foundation 

 made upon a roller mill was more 

 liable to warp or curl than that made 

 upon a press, and I am inclined to 

 agree with liim. I used the Given 

 foundation, last year, and ask for 

 nothing better. 



In regard to the queen being more 

 liable to lay in thin than thick combs, 

 I would say that there is a stay in the 

 growth of even the thickest comb 

 when the queen would be able to lay 

 in it, and if she enters the surplus de- 

 partment, she makes it her business 

 to be on hand with eggs just as fast 

 as the combs are drawn to the proper 

 depth, and it should be remembered 

 that she is capable of laying in a cell 

 that is not much more than Vg of an 

 inch in depth. It is my opinion that 

 the width of sections lias nothing to 

 do with inllueucing the queen in re- 

 gard to her entering the surplus re- 

 ceptacles. 



i?o recapitulate : Have dark Italians 

 with a dash of the brown German 

 blood, use narrow sections, fill them 

 with Given foundation, have the hives 

 level, and keep the surplus depart- 

 ment full of bees. 



Rogersville, Mich., Nov. 10, 1883. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



One of My Experiences. 



C. THEILMAN. 



they were all in the hive, the expected 

 fight had commenced ; tlieretore I re- 

 newed the same " shaking-oft " per- 

 formance, without better results ; 

 then I gave them a good spray in the 

 hive and let them be, as I had other 

 things to do. The next day t looked 

 for the Cyprians, but found the hive 

 empty with two pieces of worker comb 

 of the size of a hand ; one of them was 

 nearly filled with eggs, so I put a 

 swarm, that had just issued, into this 

 deserted hive. The new colony seemed 

 to be contented, as they were working 

 lively. 



About eight days after hiving them, 

 I examined and found no brood, except 

 ill the piece above described, where 

 there were three queen cells and about 

 2.5 capped drone cells (enlarged worker 

 cells), and about 150 to 200 worker cells 

 nicely capped over. About two weeks 

 after, I looked into the hive again and 

 found the bropd all hatclied ; at least 

 the cells were empty and a young 

 queen had just commenced laying. 



Now, I leave this case of experiment 

 to the readers of the Dee Journal to 

 judge, whether or not bees can, at 

 their will, rear either workers, drones 

 or queen bees from the eggs laid in 

 worker cells, for the possibility of 

 other eggs being deposited in this 

 piece of comb, other than from the 

 queen of the first swarm, is almost ex- 

 cluded. 



The last swarm, of course, was 

 queenless, and therefore provided for 

 a queen and drones. 



Thielmanton, Minn., Nov. 7, 1883. 



On page 542 of the Bee Journal, 

 Messrs. Youngman and Trussell state 

 that their bees have reared drones and 

 queens from worker eggs and larvas, 

 upon which the editor remarks that 

 " it will be very generally disbelieved, 

 that bees can and will rear drones 

 from worker eggs." I have had this 

 summer (for the first time in 14 years 

 of bee-keeping), an experience which 

 I will give, and which satisfies my own 

 mind, that some theories do not always 

 prove correct. 



One day in .July, I hived a large 

 swarm of pure Cyprians, but on the 

 next day I found that a good many of 

 the bees went back to the old hive, 

 wtiieh left the colony weaker that I 

 wished to have them ; so I concluded 

 to strengthen them with a second 

 swarm that came out on the next day, 

 knowing that the Cyprians would not 

 be willing to accept them, as I had 

 some sad experience before. On ac- 

 count of their being in the hive for 2 

 days, I used peppermint, giving them 

 a good spray after shaking them from 

 the frames in frontof the hi"e, uniting 

 the second swarm with them. Before 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Description of My Bee-Feeder. 



DK. J. S. MC ALLISTER. 



As there has been several descrip- 

 tions of bee-feeders published in the 

 Bee Journal of late, I thought I 

 would describe one of mine, which I 

 think is very practical, and one that 

 cau easily be made by all, especially 

 those who use the American or square 

 frame, with tight top-bars, or bars 1}^ 

 inches wide. It can be made either 

 one-half the depth of the frame, or use 

 the whole frame, which I think is best, 

 and then let the bees build comb or 

 draw out foundation in the same, and 

 fill with honey for winter use, the 

 same as any other frame ; place it in 

 the center of the brood nest for winter, 

 and use it at any time a feeder is 

 needed. To make the frame and feeder 

 complete, nail a bottom-bar about one- 

 half way up the frame or a little more, 

 which is the same width at the end- 

 bar, which is generally made of Ji 

 stuff. Then take two top- bars and 

 shorten them a little, and nail one on 

 each side of the middle-bar, to form a 

 trough the length of the frame ; now 

 bore a hole (about one-half inch hole 

 will do), through the top-bar, and in 

 the hole place a hollow tin tube, long 

 enough to reach very near the bottom 

 of the trough, and your feeder is com- 

 plete. Very thin stuff for the sides 

 of the trough is the best, as it will not 

 take up as much room. I like it the 

 best of any device that I have ever 

 seen. 



