1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



3«r7 



with a strong- brine solution would be more 

 effective. I should be glad to hear from our 

 subscribers who are afflicted with the dis- 

 ease in their apiaries; for the treatment 

 prescribed is so simple, and so easily ap- 

 plied, that it would be well to try it. Bee- 

 paralysis is apt to be in a good many local- 

 ities in the United States, and we ought to 

 have in the neighborhood of 25 or 30 reports 

 during the summer. — Ed.] 



THK PROMINENT BEE-KEEPERS OF CUBA; 



THE DANZENBAKER HIVE FOR COMB 



HONEV. 



Mr. G. E. Moe is still alive, but looks 

 and limps around "ghost-like" after his 

 thousand booming- colonies. Health all gone. 

 And the American tramp? Big apiaries 

 booming, and he "down in the back " and 

 the honey wasting. 



F. O. Somerford, another thousand- hive 

 man — where was he? Gone to the States for 

 for his health, after rustling so man3'bees for 

 so long; and I could name a few more. But I 

 shall have to mention seeing two of the big 

 lights that create and distribute ideas — not 

 the "common Sam Slap" kind either, but 

 solid "facts about bees," facts that cost 

 money to know. Mr. Danzenbaker, of hive 

 fame, was one of the gentlemen, and I am 

 sure that his coming to Cuba will help the 

 comb-honey business here in quality and 

 quantity, as there is not another man on 

 the globe who is so well up on comb honey 

 as Mr. D. is — no, not one. To know him 

 and his hive is assurance enough that it is 

 the best comb- honey hive in the world — none 

 excepted. His hive, not super, I have al- 

 ways classed with the Heddon; but I am 

 sure now that it is the only real thing for 

 comb honey — real nice comb honey, I mean. 

 The super to it I have known all the while 

 could not be beaten, so I have a thousand 

 of them on hand, but had tested only a few 

 of his hives — a pair — and they have the 

 most comb honey to the hive, or more than 

 $3.00 to the hive ahead of the rest of the best 

 hives in the same ranch, although not the 

 strongest colonies. So I will say truthful- 

 ly, " Danz. hives" for comb honey, first, 

 last, and all the time. 



The other gentleman is a man from Rus- 

 sia — a college man, an engineer, draftsman, 

 etc., but a thorough pencil artist, schooled 

 in bee culture in Russia, with manj^ years, 

 and moves to his credit in America, east, 

 west, and south. He is just over from Flor- 

 ida with a boatload of bees, 300 colonies, 

 and is temporarilly located at Cabanas, on 

 the north coast of Cuba, with his real Amer- 

 ican tramp hive, and goes again to Florida 

 for mangrove bloom in Maj^ 



The features of his hive, after sketching 

 and trying them by the dozen, are many; 

 combination comb and extracted-honey hive, 

 queen nuclei included in the hive (same 

 hive) along- with wax-growing department; 

 and for a tramp hive it's always ready with 

 extra queens, as well as other good features. 

 But I am of the opinion that by the time its 



inventor, Mr. Patrin, gets a thousand or 

 two of them on the road at the same time, 

 he, too, will come up missing, as captain, 

 and then what? W. W. Somerford. 



Caimito, Cuba, Jan. 4. 



[I will explain that the foregoing came, 

 as will.be seen by the date, some time ago, 

 but it was mislaid. As it contains some 

 facts of interest we place it before our read- 

 ers, even at this late date. — Ed.] 



PREVENTING SWARMS FROM MIXING; THE 

 M'EVOY SHEET PLAN. 



As I read about McEvoy's plan for stop- 

 ping the outcoming of two or more swarms 

 at one time, and mixing together, in the 

 April 1st issue of Gleanings, and that you 

 wished to hear from others who had tried 

 this plan, I will say that I have prac- 

 ticed this plan for the last three years, and 

 it has worked satisfactorily. 



I use an old quilt or blanket, which I keep 

 handy for this purpose; and as soon as two 

 hives show signs of swarming at the same 

 time I put the quilt or blanket on one of 

 them, putting bricks on the corners of it to 

 keep it down; and as soon as the other 

 swarm is hived I take it away. It some- 

 times happens that the hive covered will 

 swarm within half an hour again. I think 

 it is a good plan, and one that saves both 

 money and work, and a plan well worth 

 trying. G. M. Hanson. 



Christine, N. Dak., Apr. 7. 



raising oueens in upper stories; how TO 



TELL WHEN THE BEES ARE SUPP:RSED- 

 ING THE OUEEN. 



Can a good queen be raised from the 

 queen-cells that are raised by the bees in 

 the super above the honey-board? How can 

 you tell when a queen is being superseded? 



Manhassit, N. Y. J. Schneider. 



[Good queens can be and are raised in 

 upper stories ; but very possibly when the 

 queen-breeder would like to get the cells 

 reared upstairs the bees will not carry out 

 his wishes. A prosperous colony in the 

 time of the honey-flow, or if fed a little every 

 day, will usually rear cells in the upper 

 story, without trouble; and the queens from 

 such cells are equal to the very best. But 

 the bees must be given cell-cups supplied 

 with royal jelly and larvas. 



When a queen is about to be superseded 

 you will usually find cells started in the 

 hive. She acts more or less feeble, and lays 

 sparingly. If the hive is left to itself, the 

 next thing you will see when j'ou examine 

 itagain will be the oldqueen missing,and the 

 young one doing service in her place. — Ed.] 



excluders; putting the rough side IN 



FOR the CONVENIENCE OF LOADED 

 WORKERS. 



I want to call your attention to an idea 

 that came to me within a year, in regard 

 to excluders. If you use reason you will 



