284 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 1 



nication between the different chambers as 

 before, being sure to open the entrance to 

 the middle one (the queen's chamber) on 

 the opposite side, as in the first case. Ad- 

 just entrance-g-uards to all the entrances not 

 stopped, being- certain that none of those 

 above the queen-excluders are open, and 

 return the swarm joined by the strange 

 queen, or the united swarm, as the case 

 may be, to the cell-building chambers. 



The queen with the swarm can, as a 

 rule, be found trying to pass through the 

 entrance-guards; but if from any cause she 

 should pass any one of them she would then 

 be excluded from the brood-chamber by the 

 zinc in the bottom of the hive, the guards to 

 be removed when no longer needed. These 

 permanent excluders not only serve the 

 purpose of preventing the escape of objec- 

 tionable drones, which may be trapped 

 from the entrances above them, but also 

 prevent the entrance (and consequently the 

 destruction) of the cells by virgin queens, 

 or those with swarms that may be attracted 

 by the cell-builders, which is sometimes the 

 case when cells are being built by queen- 

 less bees, or even those in communication 

 with a laying queen, if there be an entrance 

 to the portion of the hive from which the 

 queen is excluded. 



Every time a batch of cups is given and 

 accepted, combs of brood, mostly sealed, 

 taken from other colonies in the apiary, 

 should be substituted for those in the cell- 

 builders' chambers from which the brood 

 has emerged. These should be placed next 

 to the cells or cups every time, and thor- 

 oughly examined as often as a batch is re- 

 moved, for cells that may be constructed on 

 them, all of which should be destroyed, as 

 the hatching of a queen means the destruc- 

 tion of the cells in that chamber, and often 

 an untold amount of trouble to find her. So 

 long as cells are constructed on the combs 

 of brood given, we have positive proof that 

 the bees are in condition to do excellent 

 work at cell-building, a thing they almost 

 invariably do throughout the season in a 

 hive properly constructed or arranged, if it 

 be kept crowded with bees of all ages, and 

 sufficient feeding be resorted to when the 

 flowers do not yield sufficiently to meet the 

 daily demand. But a better plan of keep- 

 ing up the desired strength in the cell- 

 building colonies is to have the brood all 

 sealed above excluders in other hives, and 

 examine them for cells when transferred 

 with adhering bees to the cell-building 

 colonies. By so doing the brood to be fed 

 is never in proportion to the force of nurse- 

 bees, which tends to bring about the super- 

 sedure impulse and the conditions wanted 

 for the best results in cell-building. 



These combs of brood are usually secured 

 from nuclei, and placed over the excluders 

 to be sealed, and those taken from the cell- 

 builders, which are usually filled with 

 honey or sj'rup, are given to the nuclei in 

 exchange, and therebj' bring about the 

 conditions wanted in both. While, as a 

 rule, it is better to allow the cells to re- 



main where they are built, until they are 

 ripe, and are ready to be distributed among 

 the nuclei, or to have a nursery adjusted 

 over them, as the case may be; still, when 

 the cell-buildc-s are inclined to build drone 

 comb around and between them, as is often 

 the case during a honey-flow, or when 

 heavy feeding is resorted to, it is much 

 better to remove them as soon as they are 

 sealed, with adhering bees, to nuclei that 

 have been queenless two or three daj's, or 

 to less populous and prosperous colonies 

 over excluders, as perfect queens seldom 

 emerge from cells unless they possess the 

 peanut appearance. 



Continued. 



COMB FOUNDATION. 



Its Value and Use; the Weed Foundation the Best> 



BY R. F. HOLTERMANN. 



It has been my privilege, either under 

 the Ontario, Quebec, or Canadian Domin- 

 ion Government, as a farmer's-institute 

 worker, to meet a good many bee-keepers, 

 and also to visit a good many in their 

 homes. Quite recently I returned from al- 

 most a month's trip of the above nature. 

 Comb foundation has also been a study 

 with me for many years, not alone practic- 

 ally in the apiary, but in its manufacture. 

 So far as I know, the first experiments 

 conducted in testing in the five various 

 grades of comb foundation were planned by 

 me. The Michigan Agricultural College, 

 when they began experiments with founda- 

 tions, courteouslj' sent me samples of each 

 grade to test, saying they sent it because I 

 had already been carrying on some investi- 

 gations. So strongly am I impressed with 

 the value of comb foundation, that, after 

 careful reflection, to do without it would 

 probably mean for me to go out of bee-keep- 

 ing. I certainly would have to go out of it 

 as a business had my neighbors access to 

 such a valuable asset for the bee-keeper ; 

 and yet I find bee-keepers all through the 

 country who are trying to save (dare I call 

 it this?) by economizing (?) in the use (or 

 not use) of comb foundation. 



It has long been admitted that foundation 

 gives us straight combs ; a starter will do 

 next, and prevents drone comb if a full 

 sheet is used. For this purpose it is worth 

 many times its price. Let us remember 

 that many generations hatch in a comb dur- 

 ing the legitimate lifetime of a comb. Then 

 the bees are saved material. The value of 

 this we do not know. The bees are also 

 saved work bj' the use of foundation. 



In times of heavy flows the bees can not 

 build comb as rapidly as the bees can 

 gather. Here and in the doing-away with 

 drone comb, lies, in my estimation, the 

 greatest value of foundation. In a short 

 honey- flow, running for comb honey, I be- 

 lieve it pays to use only a very narrow 



