1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



831 



from now on " have a bee," and handle noth- 

 ing bvit the pure article. Now let us, as bee- 

 keepers, endeavor to furnish good well-ripen- 

 ed honey, for the "grocery's bee" alone 

 will not make the satisfied customers. 

 j& 



AN IMPROVED STRAIN OF BEES. 



While in the Beeville country (Texas) 

 some time ago I ran on to what was known 

 as the Atchley improved strain of bees; and 

 many of the bee-keepers who had some of 

 this strain in their yards claimed that this 

 was an improved strain over others they 

 had, especially for honey-gathering. I be- 

 came inquisitive, and wanted to know how 

 these bees were "tixed up," so I had Mr. 

 Willie Atchley, of Beeville, write me about 

 them. It will be I'emembered that Willie 

 Atchley was at one time well known through- 

 out beedom for his method of grafting queen- 

 cups by transferring into them ' ' baby, cra- 

 dle, and all," from the old combs. He 

 writes: "For the Atchley improved stock I 

 cross, by mating daughters of pure Cyprian 

 mothers to pure Carniolan drones. Then 

 daughters from these queens are mated to 

 pure Italian drones, and you have the Atch- 

 ley strain. I use Cyprians for their get-up 

 and get; Carniolans for gentleness and white 

 cappings of comb honey, and Italians for 

 compact brood-nest, non-swarming disposi- 

 tion, and color." 



.^ 



OH WHAT SHADE-BOARDS I 



With one of the apiaries bought last year 

 I got also a lot of about 50 shade-boards that 

 were the most abominable curiosities. They 

 were made of two pieces of full two-inch 

 stulf, 36 inches long and 12 inches wide. 

 These were cleated or nailed on to two pieces 

 of 2X6X24 inches, and over the joint was 

 nailed a piece of board 1X4X36 inches, and 

 some even 6 inches wide. Although I have 

 not heard of such, shade-board lifters would 

 be almost a necessity where such shade- 

 boards were used. As they ai'e all made of 

 heavy yellow pine they weigh from 50 to 70 

 lbs. each — more when wet. These cost about 

 75 cents each for material alone. Shade- 

 boards are necessary when the hives ax'e out 

 in the sun; but they should be light and 

 cheap. Sugar-barrels can be bought here for 

 ten cents, and one will make three shade- 

 boards 24X30 inches. The staves are simply 

 nailed on to one piece of board 24 inches 

 long, placed across the middle of the staves. 

 A brick or small stone has to be used on 

 these to hold them down; and as I use a 

 brick for a "marker" on each hive, two 

 birds are killed with one stone, and there is 

 no objection to them. 



Shade-boards, besides their use for shade, 

 are valuable protectors to the (covers of the 

 hives, especially in hot climates where cov- 

 ers are drawn into all kinds of shapes. I 

 have ti'ied all the covers that have come to 

 my notice; and while some are better than 

 others, they all have to yield to the power of 

 the elements as they exist in such a climate 

 as we have here. For this reason I have 



sometimes thought seriously of using a pro- 

 tecting-board over the covers. Be these nev- 

 er so flimsy, they will lengthen the life of a 

 cover considerably — enough so, I believe, to 

 pay over and above for the extra cost of the 

 boards and the trouble of having to handle 

 them while on the hives. 



TRAYS FOR MOVING BEES. 



Those trays on page 555, for moving bees, 

 are all right. I saw them used, some eight 

 years ago, in moving 80 or more colonies 

 over 40 miles of rough rocky roads, and all 

 arrived in good condition except two combs 

 broken in two colonies. The view on p. 555 

 is faulty in that it does not show two cleats 

 nailed under the tray, one across each end, 

 to raise it up an inch for ventilation, which 

 is very important. The photo shown here- 

 with was taken immediately after the colo- 

 nies had been lifted out of the tray and set 

 on their stands with the original hive-bot- 

 toms. The trays are still seen beside the 

 hives. 



COLONIES JUST LIKTKD OUT OF MOVING- 

 TRAYS. 



Concerning these trays Mr. Arthur Wor- 

 den, of Sabinal, Uvalde Co., Texas, has this 

 to say: 



"I make a frame or bottom for each hive, 

 just large enough for the hive to drop inside 

 of cleats that run around the ends and sides 

 of the frames. That will keep the hive from 

 slipping about, and also keep the bees from 

 getting out. Jn the bottom of these frames 

 is left an opening 6 inches wide and the en- 

 tire length, and screen wire is tacked over 

 it. That will give plenty of ventilation. 

 Also nail a one-inch cleat under the bottom, 

 at each end, so as to let the air circulate un- 

 derneath the hive when you place them in 

 the wagon." 



Nail your covers on so they will not jolt 

 off, and set your hives into these frames, and 

 you are ready to load. A spring wagon is 

 best to use. 



