1154 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE, 



Sept. 1 



a 10 or 12 frame Langstroth. The hive you 

 now use is awkward, and requires a special 

 system of management. It is better to go 

 with the crowd, and watch how they do. 



3. The swarming season is not the time 

 bees do their supersedure. It is done most- 

 ly later. Yovir country is all right for bees. 

 Get a standard hive and be in line. - Ec] 



A COVER FEEDER. 



The cut partly describes a feeder I have 

 adopted. It is excellent for feeding at any 

 time of the year, but particularly in cool 

 weather, as it is always very close to the bees. 

 Other feeders may be just as good after they 



SMITH S COVER FEEDER. 



are adjttsted; but as long as the cover is used 

 on a hive, this feeder is always adjusted. 

 There is no heat lost by having to open the 

 hive to add a story to accommodate a feed- 

 er, or in any other way by which most feed- 

 ers are used. 



To feed, it is simply necessary to open the 

 little door on one side of the cover (the oth- 

 er side of the cover is permanently closed), 

 and shove in a suitable dripping-pan of feed. 

 A pan which nearly fills the chamber will 

 hold about 10 lbs. of feed. The crack shown 

 in the lower wall of the cover allows the 

 bees access to feed; and when the feeder is 

 not in use the pan may be shoved a little 

 further over, and the crack is closed. 



Palermo, Ont., Can. H. A. Smith. 



[In cold weather the pan could be taken 

 out and a thin cushion substituted, thus mak- 

 ing a warm cover. One objection to this is 

 that such a cover would necessarily be rath- 

 er expensive. — Ed.] 



VV^HY the BEES WERE FIGHTING. 



Last summer, and early in the fall, bees in 

 this (Cass) covinty fought among themselves 

 a good deal. There was no robbing, yet 

 they would be strung out a foot or two from 

 the entrance of the hive, engaged in a rough- 

 and-tumble sort of affair. There was plenty 

 of nectar and flowers for them to work on. 

 Now, what was the cause of all this perform- 



ance? There was no noticeable harm done 

 by the action of the bees, but I can not ac- 

 count for it. There are others in this locali- 

 ty who would like an explanation of this 

 subject as well as myself. 

 Beardstown, 111. H. W. Doerr. 



[In spite of what you say to the contrary, 

 it seems clear to us that what you describe 

 was nothing more nor less than robbing. 

 There might be plenty of flowers in blossom 

 and still be robbing just the same, for necLar 

 is not secreted under all conditions. Some- 

 times robbing will be very bad with acres 

 and acres of white clover in full bloom. That 

 condition existed early this summer in many 

 parts of the United States. — Ed.] 



queen-cells built w^ithout brood. 



I have one hive of bees with no queen or 

 brood, yet the bees built five queen-cells and 

 capped them. Please advise in this matter. 



Phillips, Wis., June 3. Joseph Ba.uer. 



[You probably have laying workers in the 

 hive. Bees under such conditions will often 

 try to build cells over drone larvfe. Cut out 

 all these "bogus" cells and give them a 

 couple of good ones. — Ed.] 



SUPER springs attached TO THE FOL- 

 LOWER. 



While looking over Gleanings for 19U5 I 

 read an article about super-springs in the 

 Jan. Ist issue. I have springs for my frames 

 that are made of old clock-springs, 1 inch wide 

 by 8i long. They are fastened to the dummy 

 or division-board as per cut. This is for 

 closed-end frames. The ends of the springs 

 slide down the end-bars. 



By having the springs fast to the board the 

 bee-keeper is sure of putting them back, and 

 he can put in board and springs together 

 quicker than when they are not attached. I 

 have used these springs for three years, and 

 they are far ahead of any other device I have 

 ever tried. H. Mansperger. 



Lewistown, Mo., Feb. 4. 



TWO QUEENS IN A HIVE. 



I believe I have solved the two-queens-in- 

 a-hive trick. I have had them toose together 

 for two weeks in an eight-frame hive, and 

 they were both as lively as crickets this 

 morning. J. K. Wilson. 



Lancaster, O., June 4. 



[When the robbing season comes on, please 

 report what you find. — Ed.] 



