1030 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1 



field bees from the hive or hives above, it is- 

 entirely unnecessary to use the flight-hole in 

 the rear of the board. However, some of the 

 youngest brood will perish for want of wa- 

 ter unless, perchance, the combs are full of 

 thin nectar, and this was one good reason 

 for having the flight-hole, although the main 

 reason will be shown later on. In my own 

 pi'actice I always requeen with young queens, 

 putting the part of the colony containing 

 the old queen above the board. This makes 

 necessary a much longer division of the col- 

 ony in order to give the young queen time 

 to mate and begin laying; and, as will be 

 readily seen, it was not desirable to draw 

 away all of the held bees, for in that event 

 the brood wovild perish for want of water; 

 and for the lack of pollen and nurses the 

 queen would stop laying entirely. Thus the 

 flight-hole became a necessity. No doubt 

 there were some who did not appreciate this 

 difl'erence. . J. E. C. 



Vigo, Texas. 



A NEW UNCAPPING CAN AND KNIFE. 



The chief feature of my can is the cover 

 that always serves as a protection from dirt 

 and dust, and keeps wandering bees from too 

 close an investigation. I have used this for 

 several years in my bee-yard, and find it 

 vei'y useful and convenient. The upper 

 view shows the cover as closed. C is the 

 G 



When in use, the light or F cover is thrown 

 entirely back, as shown in the lower cut; 

 and when that is done it exposes the frame- 

 rest L, which is simply a continuation of the 

 cover C. The frame rests on L, with the 

 bottom-bar toward the operator. As the 

 frame now stands, leaning a little forward, 

 the back of the fi'ame is against the cleat A, 

 so that it can not slip. The cappings fall 

 directly into the can. The can can be sup- 

 plied with a screen or not, as the operator 

 prefers. 



E is a four- inch piece of steel, made from an 

 old scythe, and riveted to the inside of the 

 can, convenient to clean the knife, and di- 

 rectly under the hand of the operator. This 

 blade stands above the rim of the can only 

 sufticiently high to serve its purpose; and 

 when the cover is down, the blade is enclos- 

 ed in the slot M. K is the usual honey-gate. 



The uncapping-can may be provided with 

 legs, or aiTanged on some suitable stand. 



I think my knife is far ahead of the ones 

 that are ordinarily used. It is thin, and yet 

 sufficiently rigid to stand any pressure need- 

 ed, and is provided with an oval (almost 

 flat) handle, firmly riveted. The tip end of 

 this knife is slightly bent, and I find this 

 feature very convenient in getting into small 

 corners or depressions. E. P. Chukchill. 



Hallowell, Me. 



heavy or permanent cover; near the center 

 are two cleats, A and B, one on each lid, and at 

 each end of cleat A are pins which engage 

 the hook H and serve to hold the cover firm. 

 These two covers are hinged together as 

 shown. 



A BAD SHOWING FOR GOLDEN ITALIANS. 



Your letter, inquiring how the golden It- 

 alian bees wintered in my yards as compar- 

 ed with the Caucasians and the Banats, came 

 to hand this mail. I would not have made 

 my experience public at this time if you had 

 not spoken of the experience of others. But 

 the experience of several persons in one year 

 may have the same force as the experience 

 of one person running through several years, 

 so I will tell you my present sad experience. 

 My father, from whom I learned about all I 

 know of bee-keeping, tried cellar wintering 

 a number of times, and always made a com- 

 plete failure of it; so from the time I came 

 into possession of the home apiary through 

 my father's death until this last winter I 

 never tried cellar wintering. I have a cellar 

 now that seems to be what most advocates of 

 cellar wintering think about right. It is dry, 

 has good ventilation, and the thermometer 

 stands quite constant at 45°. Into this cellar 

 I placed twenty colonies of Banat bees last 

 November, well provisioned and in all-i'ound 

 good shape. All of them were dead by the 

 first of January. My only explanation is 

 that we are in the natural-gas country, and 

 there is always a slight odor of escaping gas 

 in our cellar, and possibly the bees could 

 not stand it. 



In my five out-yards I had about 200 gold- 

 en Italians, 30 Caucasians, and 40 Banats. 

 In two yards every golden Italian colony 

 was dead by April 1; in the other yards more 

 than half of the goldens were dead, and a 

 few dwindled to nothing in May, so that, by 

 May 1, about 85 per cent of my golden Ital- 

 ians had perished. I had placed a few Cau- 



