1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



713 



Yes, we tried the plan, but it was a most 

 complete fizzle. Like our friend Doolittle, 

 we did not succeed in g^etting- even one 

 queen fertilized. I have no doubt it can be 

 made to work under soine circumstances; 

 but because of its unreliability we feel that 

 we can not afford to fuss with it. We suc- 

 ceed best with a nucleus, not less than one 

 full-sized L. frame, and two are better. 

 The plan that we used last j^ear success- 

 full3', and are using this 3'ear, is to take an 

 ordinary eight-frame upper storj' and di- 

 vide it off into three compartments length- 

 wise. The bottom is covered with wire 

 cloth. Each one of the compartments has a 

 small entrance — one on each side, and one 

 in the end for Ihe middle compartment. A 

 frame of brood and a comb of honey with 

 bees are put into each compartment, and 

 the same is put on top of a small colonj-. 

 The advantage of this arrangement is that 

 it saves room in the j'ard, puts the nuclei 

 up at a convenient working height, and 

 during cool weather or at anj' other time 

 permits the heat of the strong colony to rise 

 up and keep warm the little cluster above. 

 These nuclei can be treated in very much 

 the same wa}' as the ordinary two-frame 

 nuclei, and cells or virgins that are given 

 to them will soon develop into laying queens. 



While some of our friends have been able 

 to make a small nucleus work successfully, 

 we have not. Even so successful a queen- 

 breeder as Dooliltle has failed. But even if 

 he and ourselves could both make it work, 

 after all wouid it pay? Those of us who 

 have a large queen-trade must have a plan 

 or m.ethod that will work, not once in a 

 while, but all the time and under all condi- 

 tions. When orders come in for queens, 

 thej' must be filled. It does not do to tell a 

 customer, when the season is at its height, 

 and all conditions are favorable for rearing 

 queens, that he will have to wait three 

 weeks or until the queens can become mat- 

 ed. If his hive is queenless, he wants the 

 queen right now or never. 



SCARCITY OF BASSWOOD FOR SECTIONS; 



FOREST-FIRES AND THE WANTON WASTE 



OF OCR VALUABLE TIMBERS. 



Wk have been out on little trips looking 

 for bass wood for sections another year; 

 and while there is possibly ten years' cut- 

 ting left, the territory where this useful 

 timber grows is so limited that, with the 

 big mills that are now cutting it — millions 

 and millions of feet of it every year — it will 

 be only a short time before we shall have to 

 look to something else for sections — possibly 

 go back to the old four-piece or nailed sec- 

 tion. 



Some years ago a fad was started for 

 what was called the "snow-white" section; 

 but if bee-keepers in the future shall be 

 able to get a fair quality of cream and 

 white, they may consider themselves fortu- 

 nate; and, what is more, the price will 

 necessarily be considerably advanced, ow- 

 ing to the sharp advance in the price of the 



timber from which it is cut. We are now 

 paying- more than double for basswood than 

 we did a few years ago; and the rush for 

 this material, now that pine is so scarce, 

 shows that there will be further advances 

 soon. As it is, white stock is getting- to be 

 so scarce that the manufacturers will have 

 difficulty in getting enough of it for No. 1 

 sections, and will be compelled to put in a. 

 large percentage of cream. Such lumber 

 is fully as good — just as tough as white; 

 indeed, - I have alvpays arg-ued that the 

 cream section shows off honey better hy con- 

 trast than the so-called "snow-white." 



There is, however, what is called the 

 heart basswood, of a reddish color, that 

 should not be confused with ordinary cream 

 lumber. Such timber would hardly do for 

 sections. It is too porous or punky. 



Our people have scoured the country for 

 basswood timber; and the alarming fact is, 

 that pine, having become so scarce, bass- 

 wood is now being used very extensively 

 for purposes of building. The furniture- 

 makers, house contractors, basket- makers, 

 and box-makers are slashing into the wood 

 at a rate that will almost mean its exter- 

 mination in a few years; and bee-keepers 

 might as well make up their minds they 

 will have to pay constantly advancing- 

 prices for their sections from now on; and 

 they can afford to. A little figuring will 

 show that comb honey which nets 10 cts. 

 per lb. to the bee-keeper brings him back 

 SlO.OO per thousand on his sections. In 

 other words, he can afford to pay $10.00 

 per 1000 for sections; and if he sold his 

 honey at 10 cts. per lb. he would not lose a 

 cent. But, fortunately, he will not have to 

 pay more than half that price for next year. 



The fearful slaughter that is going on in 

 our country at the present time, of our val- 

 uable timbers, is a matter for general 

 alarm. Lumbermen are wasting millions 

 of feet by using great thick circular saws 

 when they might just as well use band 

 saws and save all that waste. The govern- 

 ment will have to come in and impose on 

 lumbermen regulations of some sort that 

 will stop this fearful waste. In the mean 

 time, young forest- trees ought to be set out; 

 for what will future generations have to 

 depend on for inside house-furnishings and 

 for the every- day needs of life? 



THE DESTRUCTION BY FOREST-FIRES. 



An article in the July Review of Re- 

 views shows that millions of dollars' worth 

 of timber is burned every year. The fires 

 ususally come twice a j^ear — in the spring 

 and in the fall, when the ground is dry. 

 It has been estimated that 65 per cent of 

 the fires are due to sparks from locomotives. 

 The railroad companies are not only care- 

 less in providing suitable spark-arresters 

 in the smoke stacks of their engines, but 

 they allow their section men to burn up old 

 ties in such a way that all the property in 

 the vicinity is endangered. Grass takes 

 fire; the leaves in the forest become ignited, 

 with the result that the whole forest is 

 aflame. Yet this thing has been going on 



