1258 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1 



thought that, if the belt could be kept from 

 slipping, the 2|-inch pulley would give the 

 proper speed. But if the combs will not 

 break, a higher speed would be desirable, 

 and the three-inch driving-pulley would have 

 the advantage. 



Gasoline-engines run most economically 

 when they are hot, and the high temperature 

 is a decided advantage; therefore, unless the 

 cylinder should become so overheated as to 

 cause self-firing or burning of the lubricat- 

 ing oil, it is our opinion that the fan is not 

 needed except when the engine is working 

 continuously at the limit of its power. — Ed.] 



QUEEN-EXCLUDING HONEY BOARDS. 



Do they Obstruct the Passage of AVorker 

 Bees? Sizes of Perforations; Upper En- 

 trances; No Excluders Needed in the 

 Production of Comb Honey. 



BY S. E. MILLER. 



The article by G. C. Greiner, p. 107, Jan. 

 15, last, and your editorial comment and call 

 for reports, inspires me to express myself on 

 queen-excluding honey-boards. 



This article deals mainly with the size of 

 perforations; and while 1 wish to discuss 

 queen-excluders in a general way I will first 

 reply to the query in the latter part of the 

 editorial comment as to whether the perfor- 

 ations as now made are too small. 



I wish to go on I'ecord as saying they are 

 not. I want a queen-excluder to exclude 

 queens. 



Mr. Greiner admits that he used the old- 

 style excluders (those with the larger open- 

 ings) on the more advanced and stronger 

 colonies, and those with the smaller open- 

 ings on colonies that did not require surplus 

 room until later. He does not express it in 

 these words, but it amounts to the same. Is 

 it any wonder that the colonies having the 

 old-style excluders outstripped the others? 



Again he asks, " Why do queens so seldom 

 start brood in our section-cases, although a 

 case well supplied with bait-combs offers a 

 tempting inducement?" Mr. Greiner, it 

 seems to me, could easily have answered this 

 question himself, for he certainly knows that 

 queens will not of choice select a comb as 

 small as a one-pound section to deposit eggs 

 in. 



A little further on he asks: "Is it such a 

 terrible affair that, to prevent it, we have to 

 compel our bees to crowd themselves through 

 these sharp-edged strainers?" This was in 

 reference to finding brood in the extracting- 

 combs. To find combs which we supposed 

 were full of honey, and honey only, contain- 

 ing large patches of brood, is not exactly ter- 

 rible, but it is a nuisance, and quite a lot of 

 bother and time lost in putting the queen 

 back where she belongs, and adjusting things 

 to prevent her from again entering the sur- 

 plus-chamber, for my experience does not 

 exactly agree with Mr. Greiner's, where he 

 says, in reference to allowing her to run in 

 at the entrance, "In all probability she will 



remain there." With me, in all probability 

 she will be back up in the surplus-chamber 

 in less than 24 hours unless I find the open- 

 ing she has passed up through and close it. 



In my opinion the great effort required on 

 the part of a worker to pass through perfor- 

 ated metal, as told by Mr. Greiner and oth- 

 ers, is very much overdrawn. 



The thing is very easily tested, thus: Place 

 a drone-guard over the entrance of any pop- 

 ulous colony when they are working strong. 

 When first placed there it will cause consid- 

 erable confusion, and apparently some effort 

 on the part of the bees to pass through; but 

 if you will take notice a few hours or half a 

 day later you will see that they have acquir- 

 ed the knack, and pass through with little or 

 no trouble. It's easy when they know how. 



I will here mention one objection to a 

 drone-guard or trap; and that is, that much 

 of the pollen is scraped off the bees' pollen- 

 baskets in passing through the metal. I have 

 seen times when I believe I could have gath- 

 ered up a teaspoonful of pollen from the 

 alighting-board of a single hive. This can 

 not be considered a serious objection, how- 

 ever, for it is only at certain times and on 

 certain colonies that we need use drone- 

 guards or drone and queen traps; and when 

 it comes to queen-excluding honey-boards 

 this raking-off of the pollen may be consid- 

 ered an advantage rather than the contrary, 

 for we do not wish to have pollen stored with 

 the surplus honey. 



A queen-excluder should be what its name 

 implies; and when we intend to confine a 

 queen to any certain part of the hive by 

 means of an excluder there should be no 

 doubt about her remaining there. 



Producing extracted honey without queen- 

 excluding honey- boards is practiced by many 

 expert bee-keepers, and I should like to have 

 one of them come to my locality and show 

 me how it is done. With me the queens will 

 insist on occupying the upper story, frequent- 

 ly deserting the combs below entirely. If 

 two stories only are used she will take to the 

 upper, or second one. If the third is put on 

 she will then enter it; and if honey is not 

 coming in sufficiently to keep the hive full, 

 the lower set of combs will be found clean 

 and dry, for the workers seem to enter into 

 the spirit of the thing and conspire to aban- 

 don the lower combs. 



This is not in exceptional cases, but is 

 the rule with my bees. Is it the bees, the 

 locality, or the keeper that is to blame for 

 this state of affairs? If some one who knows 

 how can tell me how to overcome this difii- 

 culty I may try to dispense with queen- ex- 

 cluders in the production of extracted hon- 

 ey; but so long as I know no better I must 

 keep on using excluders, and believe that 

 the great majority will do well to do like- 

 wise. To extract honey from combs contain- 

 ing unsealed brood is an abomination. 



While I would not attempt to produce ex- 

 tracted honey without queen-excluding hon- 

 ey-boai'ds, I am at a loss to know why many 

 learned bee-keepers still use honey-boards 

 of the queen-excluding type in the produc- 



