596 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 1 



and as this is in June and July, when other 

 forage is scarce in most localities, it catch- 

 es the bees. J. M. Jenkins. 

 Wetumpka, Ala., Apr. 21. 



PUTTING ON HIVE-NUMBERS WITH A STEN- 

 CIL. 



After reading " A Method of Hanging 

 Hive-numbers," on page 445, I was prompt- 

 ed to write mj' experience. I have been a 

 reader of GLEANI^GS for some time, and 

 these suggestions offered from time to time 

 are of great help to me as a beginner. Aft- 

 er treating my hives and supers to three 

 coats of paint, I number them in black 

 paint. For doing this I use stencils of my 

 own make, with figures three inches high 

 cut in cardboard. I number the hive, cover, 

 supers, and stand. This, it seems to me, 

 adds to their beauty. It also is of use to 

 me in keeping a diary. I devote one page 

 to each hive, stating when hived, number 

 of pounds of comb hone3' taken off each 

 year, whether wintered in cellar or out- 

 doors, if fed in spring or fall, and many 

 other small matters that are very interest- 

 ing to refer to later in an experimental 

 way. F. H. Hoffman. 



Carleton, Mich., May 25. 



HOW TO HASTEN OR RETARD THE CANDY- 

 ING OF EXTRACTED HONEY. 



Friend Root: — With reference to hasten- 

 ing- or retarding granulation of extracted 

 honey, I would say that, in my practical 

 exper ience of 20 years, if you wish to hasten 

 it. extract before it is ripe, and keep in a 

 cool place. If you wish to retard it, defer 

 extracting until thoroughly ripened, then 

 keep in a warm dry place. It seems to 

 me that is about all there is to this matter, 

 from a non-scientific standpoint. 



PREVENTING THE MIXING OF SWARMS BY 

 THE CLIPPED-WING PLAN. 



After having considerable experience with 

 sheets and blankets for the prevention or 

 stopping of the mixing of swarms, if there 

 are several of them in the air at a time, as 

 there frequently are, and the bees are de- 

 termined to enter one hive, or a less number 

 than that from which they issued, I would 

 say the sheets or blankets are quite eft'ec- 

 tual; but where the object is to prevent 

 mixing, and where one swarm is in the air, 

 and were over issuing, and the sheets or 

 blankets are used for the purpose of stop- 

 ping the issuing of these swarms, / would 

 say that in nine cases out of ten they would 

 be a failure; and in the first case I would 

 rather have a good smoker than a wagon- 

 load of sheets and blankets. I am speak- 

 ing from personal observation, based on 

 the supposition that the queens of these 

 swarms are all clipped, caged, and at the 

 entrance of their new hives, on old stands. 

 The old hives being removed, I have had 

 as high as 8 swarms in the air at the same 

 time, and each one hiving itself indi- 

 vidually and automatically, with no help- 



er, and no assistance except a Bingham 

 smoker, and some of the hives only two feet 

 apart. Elias Fox. 



Hillsboro, Wis. 



A BEE-BRUSH MADE OF PINE NEEDLES. 



I send you a bee-brush I use and make in 

 a few minutes' time, out of pine needles, 

 which is, I think, decidedly the best plan 

 of brush I have ever used. The shape en- 

 ables you to brush the bees from both sides 

 of a comb without turning the brush in 

 your hand, and the point at the end is just 

 the thing for getting the bees out of cracks, 

 holes, and corners. 



These brushes should be made prefera- 

 bly of light broomcorn, shaped from the 

 front end as made, see cut, and do the 

 trimming off the back, as this allows all 

 flexible straw on edges of brush. The 

 Coggshall brush is too thick and too broad 

 and too stiff, and cripples thousands of 

 bees, and angers many. I extract from 5 



to 7 bbls. of honey a day, and brush all the 

 bees with one of those crude home-made 

 affairs. We have no broomcorn here, or 

 I'd have made a better-looking sample. 

 Wewahitchka, Fla. D. R. Keyes. 



[Some of the Coggshall brushes that have 

 been sent out are too heavy — have too many 

 strands. We have tried to get the broom- 

 makers to thin them out more, but they 

 seem determined to make them heavy, be- 

 cause they are accustomed to make them so. 

 Any one who has a bee-broom that is too 

 heavy can very easily thin it out with a 

 pair of shears, to a point when it will give 

 a light, gentle sweep over the combs. — Ed.] 



QUEENLESS bees THAT DIDN'T BUILD 

 CELLS. 



Wishing to Italianize a colony of blacks, 

 I removed the queen, finding her on the 

 frame, thus leaving them with plenty of 

 brood and eggs. Going back a few daj^s 

 later to look for queen-cells to destroy', I 

 was surprised to find there were none. 

 Thinking it was a case of two queens, I 

 ran them through an excluder. Still I was 

 more surprised, as I found no queen. 

 Thinking she had eluded me I ran them 

 through again, but no queen could I find. 

 The bees — a populous colony — allowed all 

 brood to seal without a single cell started. 

 Lastly, to cap it all, they accepted an Ital- 

 ian queen which at once commenced laying. 



Are black bees subject to insanity, or 

 did they mistrust another queen was com- 

 ing? G-. A. BOSTWICK. 



Verbank Village, N, Y. 



[This case is quite remarkable, if you 

 are sure there were no cells; for it is one of 

 the rules that queenless bees will always 



