1140 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1 



from $100 to $350 per annum, and my bees 

 are still fine three-band Italians. I have not 

 given my bees half the attention they should 

 have had, yet they have paid me good inter- 

 est for time and money invested from start 

 to present time. 



The hives are of the eight-frame Dove- 

 tailed pattern. When I got them in the flat 

 I nailed them and gave them two coats of 

 paint, some of them lead-colored, and some 

 of them red, and they have never been 

 painted from that time to this. Most of them 

 are in good condition to-day. 



The covers are made of single pieces of 

 board with end cleats. These I painted on 

 both sides, and can reverse them. They are 

 the best covers ever made, for, although very 

 old, and in constant use, being left out of 

 doors summer and winter, they are good to- 

 day. 



Wahoo, Neb., March 14. 



ters under the corners are easily pushed 

 through the opening on to the table near the 

 uncapping-can. This table, as well as a part 

 of the cart-platform, has a raised edge to 

 keep the casters from running off. A pin, 

 seen in front of the comb-boxes, holds them 

 securely on the cart. 



The table-top should be large enough to 

 allow the two boxes of empty combs to be 

 run out on to the cart after receiving the 

 full ones. A light sliding door on the inside 

 of the room is easily handled from either 

 side. The hinged door seen is fastened on 

 the inside. 



Farina, 111. 



TWO OR MORE LAYING QUEENS IN 

 ONE HIVE. 



The Plan Not a Success in the Hands of the 

 Average Bee-keeper. 



A COMB-CARRYING CART. 



BY J. E. CHAMBERS. 



BY T. P. ANDREWS. 



Mr. Editor: — I send you a photo of my 

 cart and fixtures for conveying combs of 

 honey from hives to the table in the ex- 

 tracting-room. The raised remtjvable plat- 



ANDKKWS COMB-CAKKYING CAKT. 



form in the cart on which the two boxes of 

 «ombs stand has a shelf or bridge projecting 

 on the further side between the cart-wheel 

 and handle, making connection with a low 

 table in the extracting-room, so that the 

 ijoxes of combs standing on boards with cas- 



I have read with much interest the article of 

 Mr. Alexander, on the practicability of keep- 

 in g a plurality of queens in one hive, page 

 478 in the April 1st issue, also the letter from 

 Mr. Pressler, page 617, in the May 1st issue, 

 and J. A. Green's note on the following page. 

 While I do not wish to say that 

 Mr. Alexander is entirely wrong 

 about this matter, I will go to 

 the extent of saying that, with 

 most bee-keepers, it would be 

 impractical if not impossible; 

 for, just as Mr. Green says, 

 some colonies will unite without 

 the least trouble, while others 

 will fight to the end, notwith- 

 standing the employment of 

 heroic means to subdue them. 

 Like Mr. Green I am not the 

 least in doubt about laying 

 queens killing each other, though 

 they do not always do so. I 

 know that it is entirely prac- 

 tical to use two queens in each 

 hive in order to get colonies 

 strong enough for a given 

 honey-flow, when otherwise it 

 would not be possible to bring 

 them up to the desired strength; 

 but I have so far found it im- 

 possible to do so without the 

 use of means to keep them sep- 

 arate. If there is any thing of 

 which I am certain, it is this: 

 That a plurality of queens in 

 any hive except under certain 

 well-known conditions is not in 

 accord with the known instinct 

 of bees; and as I do not consid- 

 er that the bee is possessed of 

 any intelligent capacity for improvement, I 

 do not feel very sure that they will ever be 

 brought to act in accord with man's desires 

 when their own instinct goes counter to such 

 desires. I am aware of the fact that, under 

 certain conditions, bees accept a plurality of 



