884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. is 



INTRODUCING TWO VIRGINS AT A TIME; 

 SMOKER FUEL OF OLD SACKING. 



Mr. Roof: — I am quite interested in your 

 experiments in introducing- two virgins at 

 one time. Some fourteen years ago I did 

 the same thing in another way, using the 

 cage illustrated on pag-e 220 of the ABC 

 book. In this way a hatching cell was 

 placed on a piece of comb having hatching 

 brood and some honey, and covered with 

 the cage. Some days after the virgin was 

 hatched, the old queen was caged in a sim- 

 ilar manner (if not wanted otherwise), the 

 young virgin released, and another cell 

 treated as the first. On very old comb it 

 worked like a charm; but as that was not 

 always obtainable in just the right condi- 

 tion I thought about getting some founda- 

 tion made with a wooden midrib. How- 

 ever, just afterward I went out of the queen- 

 rearing business, and have not tried it 

 since then. 



I wish you would try for a week my smo- 

 ker fuel, and do it this way: Take an old 

 sack, and with a hatchet or knife cut it in 

 strips three inches wide, then roll it tightly 

 around a tapering stick one-half inch at the 

 small end until the roll is large enough to 

 fit the smoker tightly. A few hot coals 

 will light it the first time, or it can be eas- 

 ily lighted with a match and a few shav- 

 ings. After the first lighting in the morn- 

 ing I scarcely ever have to light the smoker 

 again all day. Simply put in another wad 

 on the old coals, often driving from the 

 home yard to one of the out-apiaries, and 

 finding the smoker ready for use without 

 relighting or recharging. 



Please note that I used wire cloth, not 

 perforated queen-excluder, as I find the 

 same trouble with it that you do. 



H. FiTZ Hart. 



Wetumpka, Ala., Sept. 5. 



[Our plan of introducing two virgins at a 

 time seems to work under all conditions — 

 before the honey- flow, during it, and after 

 it. Experience has shown that a method 

 that works satisfactorily during a honey- 

 flow may be any thing but a success before 

 or after. 



Your smoker fuel, I believe, is all right. 

 Mr. W. L. Coggshall has a plan that is 

 quite similar, except that he rolls the sack- 

 ing into a long roll. When of sufficient 

 diameter to fill the smoker nicely, he chops 

 it up into suitable lengths after it has been 

 tied with strings. A few live coals dropped 

 on to the g-rate will readily ignite a bundle 

 of this sacking, and will give a pungent 

 and lasting smoke, says Mr. Coggshall. — 

 Ed.] 



leach's BOTTOM-BOARD FEEDER, 



Being a bee-man (on the side) for some 

 years, I have constructed a feeder of my own 

 make, and used it for the last two or three 

 years. It gives me perfect satisfaction, and 

 a proper one to my notion, to be used at all 

 seasons of the year. I call it a bottom- 

 board feeder. 



This is made of pine plank, 2 in. thick, 

 with saw-cuts made a bee-space apart, and 

 2 in. from front end, and Yz inch from the 

 back end. The feed is poured in at the back 

 of the hive, where wire screen is used to 

 prevent bees from getting out. This is al- 

 so covered with a strip of wood to shed 

 water. There is no robbing, and a small 



or large quantity of feed can be given at a 

 time. My bees have taken up 10 lbs. in one 

 night. 



I notice an item in July 1st Gleanings 

 about feeding from the bottom. It is the 

 proper way when you have the proper 

 fixture to do it with. I use loose 

 bottoms with staples so they can be easily 

 removed, and I can feed from '4 lb. to 15 

 lbs. at once. L. T. Leach. 



Orillia, Ont., Canada, July 10. 



[So far as feeding bees is concerned, 

 with a bottom-board such as you describe, 

 the plan could be successfully employed; 

 but the expense of it — ah I there's the rub. 

 The two inch plank grooved out as shown 

 in your drawing will be as expensive, al- 

 most, as all the rest of the hive; and, be- 

 sides, it would check so badly after using 

 it a season or two that it would be utterly 

 worthless. It is well to bear in mind that 

 an improvement or invention must not be 

 too expensive or it will never come into gen- 

 eral use. A good many bee-keepers, how- 

 ever, tilt up the hive and pour syrup in at 

 the entrance. The ordinary bottom-board, 

 after it is propolized all over inside, will 

 hold two or three pints of syrup without 

 leaking. — Ed.] 



an experience in moving bees in HOT 

 WEATHER. 



A few days ago I had occasion to move a 

 few colonies of bees. They were in new 



