1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1373 



forming a tight hood or cap affords excellent 

 protection to a colony of bees, particularly 

 if several folds of newspaper or old sacking 

 be placed under the outside rooting-paper 

 hood. The experience above given is quite 

 in line with that given by several others who 

 have tried these paper hoods. They are so 

 cheap that there is really no excuse for one 

 to let his colonies go unprotected. We shall 

 shortly illustrate several methods for wrap- 

 ping hives in paper. —Ed.] 



Gr^wirv 



di/jfGf&u/ields 



THE ALEXANDER PLAN OF BUILDING UP 



WEAK COLONIES; TWO QUEENS IN A 



HIVE. 



I put two weak colonies over strong ones, 

 on the Alexander plan. One did all right. 

 I then put both queens and all the brood in a 

 ten-frame hive, zinc between. They have 

 the hive so full of brood that I put a hive on 

 top with full sheets of foundation. I know 

 of three other hives in my yard with two 

 queens in — mother and daughter. I went 

 into these hives every day, and saw the cells 

 hatch with the old queen laying. 



TOADS KILL BEES. 



Now about those toads of Jay's. This 

 valley has more toads than there are in 

 Ohio. Several years ago, when I had my 

 hives on the ground, I missed my bees, and 

 I took a lamp and went out to look. In 

 front of one hive sat two toads, and another 

 one was at the side bumping his head against 

 it. When the bees came to the front to see 

 what the fuss was the two would lick them 

 up. They actually took turns in bumping 

 the hive; and when they would lick up a bee 

 they would wink one eye at me. I got a 

 club and killed 125 that night in front of 

 hives, and 75 the next; then I got boxes and 

 put the hives up high. John L. Sherkod. 



Fruita, Colo. 



A QUEEN TAKING A PLAYSPELL WITH THE 

 BEES IN THE MONTH OV JANUARY. 



Some time after the first of January last, 

 I was watching my bees, and one colony 

 seemed almost in the act of swarming. 

 There was a great confusion, and I soon dis- 

 covered a golden queen flying in front of the 

 hive enjoying herself fully as well as the 

 workers. So far as I know, that colony has 

 a good queen about 1^ years old. There was 

 no mistake, for i got a good look at her en- 

 tering the hive. I don't understand this 

 case. Who does? W. T. Davison. 



Velpen, Indiana. 



[This was a freak performance if she was 

 ^ laying queen; but are you sure about this? 



If she had been a virgin, there would not 

 have been any thing so very strange about 

 it. We should be inclined to think that the 

 old queen had been superseded, and that a 

 virgin late in the fall had taken her place. 

 Ed.] 



a home-made entrance feeder in which 



a bottle is used instead of a 



fruit-jar. 



I have been using Boardman entrance 

 feeders so constructed as to permit the use 

 of a bottle instead of a fruit-jar. I find them 

 excellent for stimulating early brood-rear- 

 ing. I usually gi^ e each colony one on tak- 

 ing them from their winter quarters. 



As I am engaged in other business, and 

 have to do the feeding in the evening, with 

 prospects of snow, rain, or sunshine the next 

 day, or possibly in a week, you can see the 

 advantage of this feeder to me and to others 

 so situated. 



When the weather is warm enough for the 

 bees to fly, the feed is warm enough for 

 them to take. I have used milk-bottles, both 

 quart and pint, with good results. It is very 

 important that the wire screen be used for 

 the bottle to rest on, to prevent bees from 

 being drawn in when the bottle is taking in 

 air and letting down the feed. 



To the bee-hunter who has not yet found 

 his tree, and wants to hold his line over Sun- 

 day, or for other reasons, he will find it very 

 convenient, by arranging it so only two or 

 three bees can get feed at once. 



Bradford, Pa., Feb. 11. J. S. Brown. 



[It is possible that a bottle with a small- 

 diameter mouth would work better than one 

 with a wider mouth like a Mason jar. At 

 all events, wire cloth could not be used with 

 the wide mouth. — Ed.] 



