1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



567 



ing done, place the strip of comb in position, 

 pressing it into the melted wax, care being 

 taken tnat the comb shall come in the mid- 

 dle of the top- bar. 



Right here let me say that for one I have 

 no use for frames with grooves and wedge 

 device, not even if I were to use full sheets 

 of foundation, as I consider the melted-wax 

 plan far ahead for several reasons. 



The strips of old combs being tough, and 

 as they are at once securely attached to the 

 top-bar by the bees, they very seldom break 

 loose from their fastenings, and with me 

 they prove far raoi'e substantial and satisfac- 

 tory , than strips of comb foundation. Of 

 course, if I were building up and wanted 

 lots of combs at short notice I would use 

 full sheets of foundation; but as it is I al- 

 ways have moi-e combs than I need, for I 

 manage to prevent swarming by allowing 

 the bees to build comb in their brood-nest. 



D. S. Hall. 



South Cabot, Vt., Feb. 4, 1907. 



TO TAKE A SWARM OUT OF THE BODY OF A 



TREE WITHOUT CUTTING THE 



WHOLE TREE DOWN. 



I notice in Aug. 1st Gleanings, 1906, that 

 Mr. Fisher gives instructions for transferring 

 bees from trees or other natural abodes. 

 Please tell us how one is to construct a plat- 

 form away up in a tree. I don't understand 

 how one could take a nucleus hive up in a 

 tree, and, after securing the colony already 

 in the tree, let it down with safety. It would 

 be full of bees, and would be very awkward 

 to handle so far from the ground; besides, 

 the bees in the tree would be apt to sting. 



Stanley, W. Va. B. G. Elefritz. 



[Where a swarm is in a hollow limb, the 

 limb may be sawn off and then let down by 

 means of a rope in the hands of some one on 

 the ground, the rope passing over some other 

 limb. It is easy enough to get hives up in 

 the air by means of this same rope, or to let 

 a swarm down. It should be borne in mind 

 that chopping next to the hollow where the 

 bees are located will soon induce quiet so 

 there will be no stinging. — Ed.] 



honey and butter; HONEY BREAD. 



Mr. J. A. Green wonders why I wish to 

 "freeze" the honey and butter together as 

 suggested. Well, my object is quite differ- 

 ent, probably, from what he had in mind. I 

 want to get equal amounts of each, blended 

 perfectly, because such a mixture is ahead of 

 cod-liver-oil emulsion for thin anemic per- 

 sons, and is highly recommended by some 

 European doctors. They (the doctors) say 

 cod-liver oil is not so useful, because it does 

 not induce a free flow of saliva. Of course, 

 both substances have to be warmed before 

 mixing, and, if possible, should be hardened 

 at once. Stirring helps the process. 



Another food of like sort is honey bread, 

 of which I have a loaf before me which is 6 

 months old. It has more honey in its make- 

 up than flour, and tastes like good confec- 



tionery. It is veiy porous; and as it contains 

 nothing whatever but honey and flour it is 

 healthful and nutritious — just the thing for 

 dyspeptics. The rising, I think, is ammonia; 

 if not that, baking-powder. It was made by 

 a firm in Vesey St., New York, who retail a 

 loaf at 25 cents. Everybody likes it. Mr. 

 Coggshall liked it so much he sent to ^ew 

 York for some so he could fill up on it just 

 for once. — W. K. Morrison. 



SMALLER CROP SECURED WHEN EXCLUDERS 



WERE USED; THE ALEXANDER PLAN 



OF BUILDING UP WEAK COLONIES. 



In looking over the item on page 232, Feb. 

 15, regarding queen-excluders, I would say I 

 started keeping bees five or six years ago. 

 The first year 1 ordered my supplies for the 

 Langstroth hives. I ordered some queen- 

 excluding metal, put it on some of my strong- 

 est colonies, and had very little surplus from 

 them, but had a fairly good crop from the 

 others without the excluders. In 1905 I had 

 over 1600 sections from 23 hives, spring count, 

 8 of them being old box hives, and in only 

 three sections had there been any brood at 

 all. The year 1906 being a poor one I had 

 only a little over 1400 sections from about 40 

 hives, and not one section had brood in it. 

 I feel confident that, had I used excluders in 

 1905 and 1906, my yield would have been a 

 great deal less. The only use I have for the 

 excluders is in the spring, when I put the 

 weak colonies over the strong ones as de- 

 scribed by E. W. Alexander. 1 find it to be 

 of great value in building up the weak colo- 

 nies in the spring. W. G. Asbell. 



Sussex, N. B.,Can., Feb. 19, 1907. 



[Queen-excluders are scarcely ever used 

 in the production of comb honey. It is only 

 when extracted is produced that they are 

 deemed necessary. — Ed.] 



BOTTOM STARTERS IN BROOD-FRAMES. 



In my brood-frames, to make the bees build 

 to the bottom-bar I put a narrow strip of 

 foundation, and at the bottom also. I see 

 many times that the bees build down to the 

 bottom, then stop. What do you think of the 

 plan? I use a narrow strip at the bottom of 

 sections, with a large piece at the top. This 

 makes the combs solid. S. D. Buell. 



Union City, Mich., Feb. 19. 



[There is no objection to the plan of put- 

 ting bottom starters in brood-frames except 

 the labor. It would probably give solid 

 combs as you say. — Ed.] 



WHICH DIRECTION SHALL A HIVE-ENTRANCE 

 FACE ? 



Referring to Stray Straws, pages 155 and 

 156, hives facing north or south, I know it is 

 the general practice to face south or east, 

 but 1 wish to tell you of something I noticed 

 last fall, and it impressed itself on my mind 

 very forcibly before I read the Straw. 



I bought two apiaries last May. They are 

 located in a canyon running north and south. 



