1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



445 



Atchley, came, but no oranges, and the 

 railroad company can not find any record 

 of any shipment. It is evident that Mr. 

 Watkins needs a little more " free advertis- 

 ing," and we are quite willing- that he 

 should have it. — Ed.] 



A BOTTOM-BOARD BEE-FEEDER THAT DOES 



AWAY WITH OPENING THE HIVE FOR 



POURING IN FEED, AND PREVENTS 



ROBBING. 



I have been using a feeder for some time 

 which I consider ahead of anj' other I have 

 seen, and is to be used with the Dovetailed 

 hive and Danz. bottom-board, deep side up. 

 It is a tin pan 16 inches long, 11 inches 

 wide, and from }i to -''4 inch deep. It is bet- 

 ter to have a wooden rack or frame in the 

 pan for the bees to crawl on while feeding. 



Having the feeder ready, goto the rear of 

 the hive that needs feeding, and pry the 

 body off the bottom-board, and drive up the 

 bees with smoke. Then tilt the hive for- 

 ward; and if there is any burr- comb on the 

 bottom of the frames, remove it. Place the 

 feeder under the hive in the rear end of the 

 bottom-board and slide the hive forward so 

 as to leave a space for pouring in the svrup. 

 This space is afterward covered with a 

 stick. 



The bottom-board should be nearly level 

 when feeding. When the pan is placed in 

 the hive it can be left any length of time. 

 It is excellent for fall feeding. 



Kegg, Pa. George McVicker. 



A METHOD OF HANGING HIVE-NUMBER 

 TAGS. 



I inclose a drawing 

 of a hive-number that I 

 have used for some 

 time, and consider a 

 good thing. Take 

 pieces of tin 2X3, or 

 an}' convenient size, 

 place them on the end 

 of a block of hard wood, 

 and with a thin -)4-inch 

 chisel make two cuts 

 in the form of a letter 

 A. Next bend down the central tongue and 

 cut off a little of the point so that, when it 

 is bent back, it will leave just room for a 

 small nail and still not allow the head to 

 slip through. This is a handy device for 

 those who desire to change hive-numbers 

 quickly in the hurry of the swarming sea- 

 son. James Roat. 

 Canandaigua, N. Y. 



[When I first read this over I wondered 

 why friend Koat did not use a round punch 

 in cutting the hole through the number-tag. 

 Then it occurred to me that a V-shaped hole 

 with the tongue of the A sticking upward 

 could be made with any cold-chisel; and 

 when the hole is made the tag will hang 

 to the nail better; i. e., the angular hole 

 will not permit the tag being blown off as 

 readily. 



The scheme of using number-tags is >.et- 

 ting to be quite common; and numbeis in 

 connection with the card index or a book 

 give one a very nice and satisfactory history 

 of a queen or colony. In the rearing of 

 high-class queens it is the way to get at the 

 pedigree.- Records on slates are apt to be- 

 come illegible; and, what is worse, some- 

 times some child may innocently displace 

 or run away with the slates. — Ed.] 



A HANDY DEVICE FOR NAILING UP SECTION- 

 HOLDERS. 



I send you herewith a description and 

 drawing of an arrangement which I find 

 very handy in putting together Danz. sec- 

 tion-holders. It is made in the shape of a 

 box 17 inches long. It can be any width; 

 but if made 11 inches wide it will just hold 

 8 section-holders at once. The end-pieces 

 are a little less than 5 inches high, and are 

 set in a full half-inch from each end. On 

 the bottom, at the ends, are nailed pieces 

 about 1^2 or 2 inches wide. But these 

 should not come up far enough for the hang- 

 er pins to rest on them. This makes a lit- 

 tle space '2 inch wide to hold the end-pieces 

 of the section-holders, top ends down, dove- 

 tailed ends up, and hanger-pins out. To 



use I put 8 end-pieces in each end of the 

 box. Then lay on the bottom- bars, and 

 drive them to their places, and nail. The 

 hanger-pins should be put into the end- 

 pieces before putting together; but before 

 driving them in I take a good sharp j4-inch 

 bit and counter-sink the holes a trifle so 

 that the heads of the pins will drive in en- 

 tirely out of the way, so as not to interfere 

 with the sections. 



Having the form in the shape of a box 

 makes it very convenient for holding the 

 end-pieces. I throw them into it as fast as 

 I drive the pins into thein, and then they 

 are right handy for setting up into the ends 

 of the form for making up. It will hold all 

 the end-pieces which come in a package of 

 five supers. E. S. Webster. 



Hutchinson, Kan. 



[Your plan of nailing up section-holders 

 is very good. It would apply equally well 

 to any section- holder used in the various 

 styles of hives put out by any of the m;inu- 

 facturers Of course, the dimensions would 

 have to be changed to fit. — Ed.] 



There is not going to be a very big crop 

 of honey. The season is too cold and wet; 

 bees are in bad shape, and are very weak. 



W. J. PiCKARD. 



Richland Center, Wis. 



