1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1031 



casians and a few Banats in each yard to 

 compare wintering qualities. Of all the Ban- 

 ats, one colony died. It had been very weak 

 in the fall, and there was not a double hand- 

 ful of dead bees. Of all the Caucasians, four 

 died, and they had been weak in the fall; so 

 T could not be sure that there was any dif- 

 ference in the wintering qualities of the Ban- 

 ats and the common Caucasians. But there 

 was a remarkable difference between these 

 races and the golden Italians, and it was in 

 favor of the dark races. I love beautiful 

 bees, but with last winter's experience I am 

 tempted to give up the golden bees. The 

 Banats (or as I have been calling them Ban- 

 at Caucasians) are also a very pretty bee, 

 and 1 have about transferred my affections 

 to that race. 

 Emporium, Pa. N. E. Cleaver. 



CONCRETE CORNER-BLOCKS FOR HIVE- 

 STANDS. 



I have been makiag some cement hive- 

 stands' for my own use. The blocks are 

 made 5 in. squai'e on the bottom, 5^ in. high. 

 The top, or where the hive rests, is 3 in. by 

 IJ. These cost me three cents apiece, are 

 much cheaper than wooden stands, and are 

 practically indestructible, besides presenting 

 a very neat appearance. You will see that 

 the hive i"ests upon such a small surface that 

 there is small chance for dampness to collect 

 to rot the bottom-board. 



ished sections; and with regard to the men- 

 tioned contrivance and your footnote I beg 

 to say: 



Last year I made a fe\y such boxes, and 

 have used them, and also now am using them 



CONCRETE HIVE-STANDS. 



Since I have used these hive-stands they 

 have given me such satisfaction that I would 

 not return to wooden stands, even for the 

 few hives I have; and it seems to me they 

 would be economical, even for the large api- 

 ary, as they can be made by any one who 

 can get cement and gravel. 



Brattleboro, Vt. Carl F. Cain. 



[The concrete-block scheme here shown is 

 perfectly feasible and good. The form for 

 making the little " pyramid " would not cost 

 much; but four common half-bricks would 

 be almost as good and much cheaper. — Ed.] 



AN ENTRANCE FEEDER FOR GETTING UNFIN- 

 ISHED SECTIONS CLEANED UP. 



On page 1130, 1906, is an article from the 

 Rev. W. L. Palfornon on disposing of unfin- 



AN ENTRANCE BOX FOR FEEDING BACK UN- 

 FINISHED SECTIONS. 



very successfully for fall feeding of weak col- 

 onies. Thiere is with my feeder boxes no 

 difficulty whatever in attaching them to the 

 entrances, for I simply have made them ex- 

 actly the same way as the Boardman feeder, 

 i. e., with projections, which, in my feeder, 

 extend 2^ inches into the entrance of the 

 hive. The material used is of old shipping- 

 cases. My feeders are made for only three 

 sections. There is a bee-space underneath, 

 but not on top or sides of sections. The 

 communication from hive to feeder is just 

 |Xi inch, and there is a sliding shutter which 

 is operated ffom the top. To hold it open, 

 there is a little swinging cleat, which, when 

 in position with the shutter, is "set," as I 

 call it. When swung sidewise it is off. 



Dr. Phil. Max Boelte. 

 Valley Center, Cal. 



CRY HEARD FKOM DRONES THAT WERE BE- 

 ING DESTROYED. 



A Curious incident occurred among my bees 

 about Sept. 1st, last. I was out near my 

 hives one day when I heard a curious mourn- 

 ful and pitiful cry coming from one of the 

 hives, sounding like " wooah, wooah, 

 woo-ooah," so loud that it could be heard 

 thirty or forty feet away. Upon approach- 

 ing the hive 1 discovered the workers di'ag- 

 ging out the drones and tearing them limb 

 from limb. This explains the distressing 

 sounds, which kept up for perhaps ten or 

 fifteen minutes. J. G. Ratcliffe. 



Waukon, Iowa. ' 



THE ALEXANDER PLAN OF BUILDING UP 



WEAK COLONIES; TWO LAYING QUEENS 



IN A HIVE. 



I put six of my weakest colonies on top of 

 my strongest ones. There was no hostility. 

 Every thing went all right for a few days, 

 but the queens on top gradually stopped lay- 

 ing and disappearett. The bees seemed to 

 leave the upper queen, and go below and 

 stay there. 



When I read Mr. Alexander's article on 

 X)age 474, I didn't believe it at first; but I 

 finally decided to experiment with some old 

 queens that I had wantetl to supersede. I 

 put three in one hive and two in another a 



