1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



315 



One day three boys came into my apiary. 

 After making a visit of sufficient duration I 

 asked them to go away lest they get stung. 



Smart boy: "Oh! your bees don't sting." 



Brave hoy: "I hain't afraid." 



Oood boy: "I don't have to." 



In order to settle all doubts in less time 

 than it takes to tell it, I walked around with 

 the boys following, till I brought them in 

 front of a hive I knew I could depend upon 

 in time of need. Stepping behind it I raised 

 the hive about an inch and let it down with 

 a bump. The bees responded nicely. One 

 boy acted as if he were mad at himself and 

 was boxing both ears at once. Another 

 spanked himself as though he were trying to 

 hiirry himself up. The third had a hole in 

 his stocking, and he was paying strict atten- 

 tion to that, using both hands. I said: 



"Boys, don't be rushed off." 



But they said they must go — they had 

 stayed too long already. 



A BUTCHER-KNIFE HIVE-TOOL. 



I have seen in Gleanings a description of 

 a great many hive-tools, but nothing in my 

 estimation that is suitable for the Danzenba- 

 ker hive. I have tried several of them, but 

 they seem to be wanting in some particular 

 or other. I am sending you a cut of the tool 

 that J use, and it is all that can be desired. 

 It is simply a butcher-knife of the best qual- 

 ity, with a notch cut in the back of it so it 

 can be used as a hook to pull the spring out 

 of the hive. It is so thin that it can be forced 

 between a super and the hive, and it is strong 



enough »o that, by giving it a twist, you can 

 pry it loose, no matter how tight it is stuck. 

 By taking hold of the handle and using the 

 left hand on the back of the knife near the 

 point you can easily force it between the 

 frames and pry them apart. It is also an ex- 

 cellent thing for scraping propolis from the 

 frames. Then another excellent feature 

 about it, it is long enough so that it will 

 reach to the bottom of the frames. Then 

 with a twist you can force the frames to- 

 gether at the bottom, ready to insert the 

 spring. I called it my butcher-knife hive- 

 tool, but that was too long, so I just called 

 it the "butch." 



CAGES OVER ENTRANCES OF HIVES OUT- 

 DOORS. 



As to shutting bees in the hive in winter, 

 page 1559, I have had cages on hives out of 

 doors since early in November; and from ob- 

 servations so far I believe tham to be a good 

 thing. I hope others will try such a scheme 

 and report result. Gerard Kimbrell. 



[We are not so sure that these wire-cloth 

 cages are going to be a success. See what 

 we have to say on page 83. — Ed.] 



LOAF SUGAR FOR WINTER FEEDING. 



Queen ca^e Candy Not Suitable; Perforat- 

 ed Zinc Honey-boards— Are They 

 Indispensable ? 



BY E. W. ALEXANDER. 



It was with more than ordinary interest 

 that I read the article of Dr. Lyon on winter 

 feeding, in the Jan. 15th issue of Gleanings, 

 with your remarks on the same subject. 

 They recall to memory some sad experiences 

 I had in that line many years ago. It was 

 at the time I bought my 'first extractor, which 

 I got from father Quinby, one of the first lot 

 that was made in this country. With it I 

 soon found that it was so easy to take honey 

 from my bees that for two or three years I 

 had many light colonies in the fall. I then 

 expected they would fill up their combs with 

 a sufficient amount to winter on, which but 

 few did; and when I found 200 or 300 light 

 colonies late in the season, with not more 

 than enough honey for 30 or 40, then I re- 

 sorted to all kinds of feeding imaginable. 

 At one time I made a large amount of candy, 

 as Dr. Lyon did, from honey and sugar, and 

 I had the same results. It melted and daub- 

 ed up nearly 100 colonies so every one died. 



Oh, dear! it makes me now feel bad to 

 think of it; but I kept on trying one way and 

 another until at last I struck what 1 still 

 think is the easiest, quickest, and best way 

 to feed light colonies, either late in the fall 

 or mid-winter, of any way I have ever tried 

 or heard of. It is this: 



Make some rims two inches deep, and the 

 size of your hive on top; then take off what- 

 ever covering you have over the tops of the 

 frames of combs, and put on one of these 

 rims. Then fill this rim with cut-loaf sugar 

 — the kind that is in cubes about one inch 

 square. Moisten this sugar by sprinkling a 

 very little warm water on it. then cover the 

 sugar with cloth mats so as to retain all the 

 heat from the bees below, that you can, and 

 the bees will soon come up into this rim of 

 sugar, every one that can, and cluster in it 

 and eat it as they require until spring. I 

 have fed a great many colonies in this way, 

 and never lost one. They usually come 

 through the winter in fine condition, even 

 though they had only two or three pounds of 

 honey in their hives in the fall. 



One winter I fed two barrels of sugar in 

 this way, with good results. 



This is one of the subjects I intended to 

 call the attention of my brother bee-keepers 

 to early last fall; but it slipped ray mind un- 



