726 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 15 



A CANVAS alighting-board; starters vs. 



FULL sheets in NEW MEXICO. 



I take the liberty of sending- j'ou a pic- 

 ture of a part of my apiary, and a diagram 

 of my new adjustable alighting--board (or 

 canvas) . This board is made of staples, 

 wire, and some good strong cotton cloth, 

 leaving at one end a hem through which to 



run the wire. This wire is loosely fastened 

 to either side of the bottom-board with 

 small staples, one at the front and the other 

 about 7 inches from the front. The edge of 

 the canvas is tacked to a strip of wood fs, X 

 1, which is tacked to the lower side of the 

 bottom board just under the entrance. 



The wire should be No. 8 galvanized, be- 

 cause the common wire would rust the can- 

 vas. This can be bent down at any angle 

 desired to suit the fancy, and it can be at- 

 tached to any short alighting-board to ex- 

 tend it any distance desired. For a party 

 who must move his bees it can not be beat- 

 en, as they can be slid back against the 

 alighting- board out of the way; and after 

 the hive is placed on the stand, all one has 

 to do is to pass along the front of the hives 

 and pull them out. 



The average canvas is almost too heavy. 

 I use a good heavy cotton cloth, and it 

 would be a good plan to have different cot- 

 tons where the hives are close, to keep from 

 such a heavy loss of queens. 



I should like to see how Mr. F. P. Clare 

 (p. 386) and Mr. Strangway would succeed 

 with their starters in the brood-nest. I be- 

 lieve they would be thoroughly disgusted in 

 this locality, and wish they had never seen 

 starters. It matters not what season of the 

 year, nor under what conditions, it seems 

 to be a craze with the bees to build a third 



or a half drone comb, and I am sure I have 

 followed the writings of some of the best 

 bee-men who write for Gleanings; but 

 starters will not work. It is the greatest 

 source of trouble to me, so I use full sheets 

 of foundation, and wire it well, and keep 

 the hive well protected from the sun's rays, 

 and have no trouble from sagging founda- 

 tion. I wonder if Mr. Strangway knows 

 that the raising of several pounds of drone 

 brood consumes a great deal of the nurse 

 bees' time, and also considerable honey. I 

 prefer the full sheets of medium brood in 

 the brood-nest, and get the queen to laying 

 to her full capacity in three or four days, 

 and get them ready for business, as it is 

 honey I want; and if they dally along 

 building comb, you are losing honey, which 

 will pay for the extra cost, or the few cents 

 which the full sheets of foundation cost. I 

 use starters for the section boxes of the 

 lightest super foundation that I can get. I 

 did use full sheets; but it is too thick, and it 

 makes a tough center- piece, which I do not 

 like. Of course, it takes a little more time, 

 but makes nicer honey to eat. If I could 

 get a thinner sheet that they would not tear 

 down I would do so. H. E. Javnes. 



San Marcial, N. M., June 1. 



[The canvas or muslin alighting-board, 

 such as you outline and describe, seems to 

 be quite a good thing ; but its life would 

 probably be only a couple of years unless 

 it were treated" with linseed oil. There 

 is one thing you have not mentioned in con- 

 nection with this device. It can be shoved 

 up out of the way of the lawn-mower in 

 cutting down grass.— Ed.] 



cracked four ribs, and hurt internally 



BV A fall while GETTING A SWARM 

 FROM A TREE. 



I had the misfortune to fall from a tree 

 while hiving a swarm of bees, and crack 

 four ribs, and was hurt internally, but am 

 so as to be about again. I never saw so 

 much swarming in m}' life. Bees are gath- 

 ering lots of honey up to date; have second 

 super on some colonies. Clover is still in 

 bloom, and basswood just commenced to 

 blossom— that is, in the town of Bennington, 

 where I live; but in some places they say 

 they are not doing so well. 



Ira C. Matteson. 



Cowesville, N. Y., July 14. 



the queen's preference for new 



COMBS. 



Mr. A. Heinkel is mistaken in thinking 

 that those old combs mentioned on page 443 

 were all solid pollen. I do not think they 

 weremorethan three-fourths full, if as much, 

 pollen and honey. The rest of the cells 

 were quite empty, but the queen filled every 

 available cell in the newly drawn comb be- 

 fore she paid any attention to old combs. 

 Reginald C. Holle. 



Alma, Brown's Town, Jamaica, B. W. I. 



