848 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1 



cussed. I can not find it in your indexes. 

 I have a very strong colony that was a 

 large May swarm. It filled the brood- 

 frames, and just started work in a super in 

 June, and yet it has been doing nothing 

 but exist, since July. Other colonies near 

 this one, though not so strong, have done 

 well. Would shaking the bees out and 

 making a new artificial swarm on partly 

 drawn-out combs cause them to work? 



Joseph G. Baier. 

 New Brunswick, N. J., Aug. 25. 



[Loafing around the entrance is caused 

 by a lack of shade or the entrance being 

 too small, or both. The remedy is obvious. 

 It is our rule to give the bees shade during 

 the heat of the day, at least while they are 

 gathering honey, and to provide as wide an 

 entrance as the hive will admit. Last 

 summer I succeeded in causing the bees to 

 go to work in several of our hives by sim- 

 ply raising the hives oft" the bottom-boards, 

 making the entrance not only wider, but 

 leaving an air-gap at the sides as well as 

 at the front. So far I have never failed in 

 making the bees go inside of hives provid- 

 ing I gave them enough ventilation at the 

 bottom. You will find this subject indexed 

 under Entrances; under Bees Loafing; un- 

 der Clustering, and Clustering Out. The 

 subject has been discussed in nearly every 

 volume, and especially during the height of 

 the honey- flow. — Ed. J 



DISEASE vs. KILLING DRONES. 



I inclose a sample of dead brood that is 

 being dragged out of one of my hives. They 

 commenced on the 27th, and still continue. 

 They have put out 200 or 300 in all stages. 

 It is a swarm hived May 27, 1903, and it is 

 working the second super. It is one of my 

 best and most prosperous hives, and the 

 bees are as yellow as pure Italians. The 

 27th was quite cool, and it has been cool 

 and rainy since, following some verj' warm 

 days previous to that date. If you will 

 kindly solve the mystery for me, and say 

 what will probably be the outcome, it will 

 be a satisfaction to me. S. A. Peck. 



Northumberland, Pa., Aug. 29. 



[The brood that you sent has been ex- 

 amined, but I do not see any thing to indi- 

 cate black or foul brood, nor any of the 

 contagious diseases known to afflict bees. 

 The fact that it is all drone brood indicates 

 that the season has closed, and that the 

 bees had killed not only the living drones 

 but had destroyed all drone brood, lugging 

 out the imperfect baby drones in the cells. 

 Indeed, that is exactly what they will do at 

 the close of the season. — Ed.] 



PAINTING HIVE-COVERS THAT ARE COVERED 

 WITH PROPOLIS. 



I wish to repaint a lot of hives and cov- 

 ers, and my past experience teaches me 

 that, wherever a cover has propolis, or bee- 

 glue, on it, no matter how clean j'ou scrape 

 it the paint refuses to dry or stick. Can 



you suggest some way by which I can suc- 

 ceed? J. A. MiNNICK. 



Anderson, Ind., Sept. 9. 



[If the hive-covers are smeared with wax 

 or propolis there is not much need of paint- 

 ing. Either one is a good preservative 

 against the weather. I do not know of any 

 white paint that you can make stick on 

 such a surface; but if you desire to substi- 

 tute paint for propolis, immerse the covers 

 in boiling water. When dry, put on the 

 paint. — Ed.] 



THE HOCHSTEIN UNCAPPING-DFVICE; SOME 

 CORRECTIONS. 



I see that, in j-our article on my uncap- 

 ping-device, July 15, you have given the 

 credit of the invention to my father, C. F. 

 Hochstein. I also see that in the engraving' 

 the comb is held with 

 the top slanted toward 

 the knife, or as shown 

 in the figure at the left. 

 This is a very incon- 

 venient and unnatural 

 position. I always put 

 them the other way, or 

 as shown in the figure at the right; for al- 

 though, when thus held, the cappings do 

 not drop so easil}', it is a much better way 

 in all other respects. Try it and see. 



Lewis B. Hochstein. 



Paradero de Punta Brava, Cuba. 



[The general practice, I think, is to let 

 the comb slant toward the knife so that the 

 cappings y^'xWfall away from the comb rath- 

 er than on to them, as in the method thf^t 

 you prefer. I tried both ways in Califor- 

 nia, and prefer the one where the cappings, 

 as soon as sliced ofl^, fall from the comb di- 

 rect on to the mass below. As this may be 

 a matter of personal preference I should be 

 glad to hear from some of those who have 

 done a large amount of uncapping. — Ed.] 



ammonia for bee-stings. 



On page 588 there is considerable said 

 about bee-stings. Now let me give you an 

 antidote for the poison of a bee-sting; and 

 if applied as soon as the pinching remedy, 

 you will know nothing more of it; but if 

 left till very much swollen, it would not en- 

 tirely stop its effects. If swelling has com- 

 menced, apply as far as or further than the 

 swelling reaches. The remedy is aqua am- 

 iiionia. Try it and be convinced. 



William Whitney. 



Carson, Iowa, Aug. 7. 



[Aqua ammonia is an old remedy for 

 bee-stings, and you will find it mentioned 

 in many of the text- books. But are you 

 sure j-ou can apph- the alkali quickly 

 enough so it will reach the acid of the poi- 

 son through a puncture that is far more 

 minute than the finest cambric needle 

 would make? Lay the two under the lens 

 of a good microscope magnifying anywhere 

 from 300 to 1000 diameters, and you will 

 find that the needle is a sawlog in compar- 



