1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



493 



cut off the bough if it be small, and lay it on 

 the Mantle or cloth, and set the Hive over 

 it, which is the better way." 



The necessity of the drink of beer becomes 

 more apparent when we consider that the 

 use of smoke for subduing the bees had not 

 yet been thought of, and the odor of one's 

 breath after drinking beer seems to have 

 been effective in driving away the bees. In 

 speaking of the means of defense against 

 bees he says: "In these several ways of deal- 

 ing with bees, it is good to defend' one's self 

 as well as may be against their stinging, 

 which to some persons proves very trouble- 

 some, especially if they are uncleanly, or 

 have any ill scent about them; therefore with 

 caution must they be tampered withal. 

 Some only drink a Cup of good Beer, and 

 find that sufficient; others wash their hands 

 and face therewith, which proves a good de- 

 fence: I have gone amongst them in their 

 greatest Anger and madness, only with a 

 handful of sweet herbs in my hands, fanning 

 about my face, as it were, to obscure and 

 defend it. Also if a Bee do by accident buzz 

 about you, being unprovided, thrust your 

 face amongst a parcel of Boughs or Herbs, 

 and he will desert you. But the most secure 

 way of all, and beyond the completest Har- 

 ness yet published, is to have a Net knit with 

 so small Meshes that a Bee can not pass 

 thi'ough, and of fine Thred or Silk, large 

 enough to come over your Hat and to lie 

 down to the Collar of your Doublet, through 

 which you may perfectly see what you do 

 without any danger, also having on a good 

 pair of Gloves, whereof woollen are the 

 best." R. B. Hough. 



Lowville, N. Y. 



[In our opinion the "good beer," so far 

 from preventing stings would, if any thing, 

 have the very opposite effect. We don't 

 know from "experience," but we do know 

 (as admitted by our author) that strange or 

 peculiar odors (peculiar to the bees) some- 

 times induce stinging. We have no use for 

 beer in any manner or for any purpose, and 

 would not, therefore, indirectly encourage 

 its use in bee culture. 



We have many old bee-books, and some 

 of the practices of those olden days are ex- 

 ceedingly ludici'ous, judged from our pres- 

 ent knowledge and experience. We perhaps 

 will make some extracts from some of these 

 other works. — Ed ] 



The reader will have noticed by our last 

 issue that we have begun to quote the honey 

 markets of London, England, and Havre, 

 France. We are establishing connections by 

 which we hope to secure absolutely coiTect 

 pricts at which honey is sold in those mar- 

 kets. We are getting these quotations be- 

 cause it will have a tendency to open an 

 outlet for California and Southern honey in 

 good years when our Eastern markets might 

 all be Hooded, 





case's method of curing foul BROOD; A 

 CORRECTION. 



In your footnote, March 1, page 321, you 

 say that "The old bees, after being moved, 

 would go back to the old location, (vnd, not 

 finding their hive, go into some one near by, 

 thus having a tendency to spread the dis- 

 ease." Now here is just where you make a 

 mistake. If you will read carefully you will 

 find that the bees from the treated colony 

 are on the old stand marked [ | ?, and that 

 if any b ees c ome back from the stand 



marked [ | they will find their sisters ga- 

 lore glad J J and ready to welcome them: this 

 prevents their goiug to other stands near by. 



1 should have said that the hive left on the 

 old stand (the one first indicated), and that 

 contains the swarm, natural or shaken, 

 should be made to look exactly like the one 

 removed, so that all liees returning from [ | 

 instantly recognize it as home. j ? 



W. W. Case. 



Frenchtown, N. J., March 8. 



[We accept the correction. — Ed.] 



HOW a timid BEE-KEEPER CLIPPED A 

 QUEEN. 



Being somewhat afraid to make my first 

 attempt at clipping a queen I devised the 

 following plan, and succeeded without get- 

 ting a sting. I wore my regular gloves: but 

 instead of catching the queen in my hand I 

 placed a wire queen-cage over her (a simple 

 wire-cloth box with a wooden slide to go 

 into the open end. She crawled into it at 

 once, and I slipped the cover on and laid 

 down the cage until 1 had finished moving 

 the brood-frames. Then I stepped away 

 from the hive a short distance, removed my 

 gloves, lifted my veil, and let her run out on 

 my lap, when I held her with one hand and 

 clipped her wings with the other. Then I 

 placed the cage over her and she entered, 

 and I took her to the hive. It was not the 

 queen I was afraid of, but the bees all about 

 her on the brood-frames. I am going to try 

 Mr. Doolittle's method with most of my bees. 

 I saved one colony by Mr. Alexander's 

 method. It had dwindled to a handful, ex- 

 cept that my bees had been out of the cellar 

 a month before I learned of it. 



Neeuah, Wis. Miss Dora M. Hansen. 



HOW TO MAKE ALEXANDER FEEDERS. 



On page 1256 you publish an article by 

 Ira Shockey, of Long, W. Va., illustrating a 

 modided Alexander feeder which he con- 

 structed. I don't know any better feeder 



