262 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE, 



Feb. 15 



fill. In the first place, the machine I use 

 drills the hole, leaving the edge of it rather 

 harder than the rest of the wood. The 

 whirling motion of the drill forms a glaze in 

 soft wood. This might save the wire from 

 cutting in the wood. The machine is simply 

 a No. 1 automatic drill made by the Goodell- 

 Pratt Co., Greenfield, Mass. It cost $L50, 

 and- with it a set of small drills. Take one 

 of the smallest ones; cut it off so as to leave 

 a drill about an inch in length; shai'pen the 

 same as any drill; place the machine in two 



hard-wood brackets — one for the large part 

 and the other for the small portion. The 

 holes in the brackets should fit snug, avoid- 

 ing any play. Fasten the brackets to an inch 

 board by the use of screws at either ends; 

 also attach a lXlX4-inch piece directly in 

 front of the drill, about ^ inch from the 

 drill-point. When the same is drawn back 

 on either side of the drill-point, drive an 

 eight-penny nail close enough to the punch- 

 block to allow the end-bar to slide through; 

 mark the desired space wanted. With a firm 

 quick push, the drill passes through the end- 

 bar. Draw it back and slide the end- bar 

 through to the mark, when the right hand 

 starts the drill again. Fasten the machine 

 on a bench; and as the' drilled bars pass 

 through they may fall in a box or basket 

 placed there for that purpose. The writer 

 can drill at the rate of 1360 holes per hour. 

 I would not take ten dollars for it if I could 

 not get another like it. Wm. Lossing. 



Phoenix, Ariz. 



COLOR OF HIVES; A VARIETY OP COLORS UN- 

 DESIRABLE. 



On page 1428 Wm. Lossing tells his expe- 

 rience with bees marking their location by 

 the hives being painted different colors. 1 

 agree with Mr. Lossing as to the bees, where 

 the hives are painted different colors, mark- 

 ing their location largely by the color; and 

 it is this trait that makes many colors in 

 hives undesirable. I once had the red, white, 

 and blue idea, and found that, if a colony in 

 a white hive swarmed, or if we made a 

 "shook" swarm, or if for any reason we 

 changed the hive-body and I'eplaced it with 

 another, unless the new hive was white or of 

 the same color as the removed hive, the bees 

 would scatter around in the nearest hives to 

 the old location, most of them going into the 



nearest hive of the same color as their old 

 one, which will materially weaken a colony 

 at just the time we want it at its best. I am 

 painting my hives all one color again. I 

 have worked with hives standing from one 

 to three inches apart under sheds; and while 

 I think some bees, in their hurry to get home 

 with their load, sometimes enter the wrong 

 hive, I think they are always welcome, and 

 would be invited to come again (when they 

 have another load). The queens should be 

 raised in nuclei outside. Irving Kinyon. 

 Camillus, N. Y. 



WHERE BEES GATHER PROPOLIS. 



We had quite a flood recently, and the 

 water washed rails, etc., down. The rain 

 washed out and bruised quite a lot of roots 

 and wood of sumac, and out of them oozed a 

 dark pitch, the regular genuine propolis. I 

 could tell by the odor; and I saw the bees 

 busy gathering it. I tested it and compared 

 it with the propolis in the hives, and it smells 

 and tastes the same. At first I wondered 

 why the bees were gathering there along the 

 bank of the creek, and went and looked, so 

 I found they were at the roots. I tasted and 

 found it was not sweet. I was reading in 

 the A B C of Bee Culture, and found that it 

 seems to be unknown just where the bees 

 get it, so I thought I found out something 

 that might add to our bee knowledge. 



Queen, Pa. Wm. Claar. 



[It has long been known that propolis is a 

 substance that bees gather, but the exact 

 source from which they gather it is not al- 

 ways known. This is true of pollen and 

 honey also. — Ed.] 



BEES IN TENNESSEE GATHERING HONEY IN 

 JANUARY. 



As it is very unusual for bees to build 

 comb and gather honey and pollen in mid- 

 winter, I thought a report of such an inci- 

 dent would interest you. For the last four 

 days, beginning with the 16th, my bees have 

 been carrying in pollen and honey the same 

 as in May. I examined a few colonies this 

 morning — one in the empty super with ex- 

 tracting- frames in. They had built three 

 combs about half way across the frames, and 

 the same in depth, and as white as if built in 

 June. Nearly all I examined had whitened 

 their combs on top. The soft maples, elms, 

 and willows are in bloom. 



Atwood, Tenn., Jan. 14. Geo. W. Rich. 



WORM-EATEN PINE. 



The white pine of New Zealand is subject 

 to a grub or worm that riddles the lumber 

 through and through until buildings are de- 

 stroyed. It is a very small grub, the beetle 

 being only^ inch long; but they riddle sound 

 boards through and through until they crum- 

 ble up like rotten wood. If you could give 

 us a remedy for stopping it in our hives we 

 should be much obliged. J. C. Hobbs. 



Palmerston, N. Z. 



[Carbolineum arvenariue is said to be very 

 useful for this purpose in this country. — Ed.] 



