i'HE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



11^ 



They are very liable to get bent out 

 of shape. I dislike to adjust the sec- 

 tions to them— it requires so much 

 care iu doing it. They have other 

 disadvantages and some good points ; 

 but not enough to ofl'set their bad 

 ones.— James IIbddon. 



It is a mere matter of taste. The 

 tin T supports answer every purpose. 

 I have used them in some of my sec- 

 tion-cases for several years. By their 

 use separators can be worlsed between 

 tlie rows of sections, the separators 

 resting on the stems of the inverted 

 J.'s. And if an invertible case is 

 wanted, another set of the tin T's 

 can be secured between the cross- 

 rows of the sections at the top of the 

 case, thus securing the sections in a 

 central position in the case, and 

 holding them hrmly, no matter which 

 side of the case is up.— G. W. 

 Dkjiaree. 



Their liability to bend is the great- 

 est objection to their use.— The 

 Editoe. 



HaMling Cross Bees. 



^uerr, No. 380.— Can very cross bees be 

 successfully handled without getting many 

 stings ? If so, how would you proceed with 

 the fiercest kind of hybrids ?— L. 



Smoke them nntil thoroughly sub- 

 dued before the hive is touched.— W. 

 Z. Hutchinson. 



Yes. Use a good bee-veil and 

 smoker.- A. J. Cook. 



Have a cheap boy to handle a good 

 smoker while you handle the bees.— 

 Dadant & Son. 



Take the fight out of them by an ap- 

 plication of plenty of smoke before you 

 open the hive. Use a bee-veil.— J. P. 

 H. Brown. 



Provide yourself with a very large 

 smoker ; then remove the queen and 

 introduce one that would give less 

 trouble.— H. D. Cutting. 



This requires too long an answer 

 for this department. I have treated 

 it to my own satisfaction. See my 

 book, under the head of "Subduing 

 Bees."— James Heddon. 



I always got lots of stings with 

 such bees, and when too cross I 

 pinched the queen's head off. A late 

 number of the British Bee Journal rec- 

 ommends oil of winter-green rubbed 

 on the hands to prevent stings. This 

 is from no less authority than Mr. 

 Frank Cheshire.— C. C. Miller. 



I never had any bees that I could 

 not subdue, except the Cyprians, 

 Blow smoke into the entrance, at the 

 same time gently jarring the hive by 

 pounding on it with the fist. Wait 

 two minutes and proceed to handle 

 them as you please.— G. M. Doo- 



LITTLE. 



I think they can. It should become 

 second-nature to always face the 

 breeze when in the apiary with the 

 face thrown forward and downward. 

 Use smoke for a protector. I ap- 

 proach a hive very suddenly, blow 

 the smoke in at the entrance a few 

 times to scare tlie guards, then get 



off the covering as quickly as possi- 

 ble, and as I always get the lirst shot, 

 three whiffs of smoke there sends 

 them pell-mell down into the hive. 

 While they are getting over their 

 scare and coming back to the top of 

 the hive, I manage to get one or two 

 frames out. The main point is to 

 move deftly, gracefully and surpris- 

 ingly swift undercover of the smoke. 

 — C. W. Dayton. 



I can manage such bees without 

 being often stung. Having them in 

 a properly adjusted hive, I would 

 leave them to themselves except to 

 adjust the surplus cases, and to re- 

 move the honey, doing the work when 

 the bees were busy at work in the 

 fields. With the " fiercest kind of 

 hybrids " my plan would be to pinch 

 off the head of the queen and change 

 the strain of bees.— G. W. Demaree. 



I think they can. Use Scotch snuff 

 in a roll of cotton cloth in the smoker, 

 or tobacco in any other convenient 

 form with shavings. If there is a 

 liability of robbing, the smoking 

 should not be done until towards 

 evening. There is little danger of 

 smoking them too much, as during 

 the night following they will fully re- 

 cover so as to defend the hive in the 

 morning, and will be good bees for 

 about a week after. I have seen 

 nothing that will take the fight all 

 out of bees like tobacco, and it does 

 one good after being stung to use it. 

 — G. L. Tinker. 



My experience has been that very 

 cross bees will sting when handled, 

 and I have never found any means of 

 preventing them from so doing. To 

 handle them I use gloves and a veil ; 

 this does not prevent the stinging, 

 but does protect me from their stings. 

 I know of no other way to protect 

 one's self, other than, don't keep such 

 " fellers."- J. E. Pond. 



A good veil and a large size smoker 

 are the essentials. The best way is to 

 get rid of irascible bees.— The 

 Editor. 



(jTovrcs^ovuleucc* 



This mark © indicates that the apiarist is 

 located near tne center of the State named; 

 5 north of the center; 9 south; O east; 

 •O west; and thisd northeast; "<3 northwest: 

 t>» southeast; and P southwest of the center 

 of the State mentioned. 



For tlie AmerlcaQ Bee JourDac 



A Screen-House for tlie Apiary, 



JAMES m'NEILL. 



System and Succesa. 



^^ All who intend to be systematic in 

 their work in the apiary, should g-et a copy of 

 the Apiary Register and commence to use it. 

 the prices are reduced, as follows : 



For 50 colonies (120 pages) $1 00 



" 100 colonies (220 pages) 3 25 



" 200 colonies (420 pages) 150 



The larger ones can be used for a few col- 

 onies, give room for an increase of numbers, 

 and still keep the record all together in one 

 book, and are therefore the most desirable. 



More Premiums.— Mr. L. J. Diehl, of 

 Butler, Ind., offers a colony of Italian bees 

 as a present to the person sending to this 

 office the largest club of subscribers for 

 1887. The subscriptions may be sent in at 

 any time before the first of May at our regu- 

 lar club rates, and additions made as de- 

 sired, but it must be stated that you are 

 working for that premium, so that we can 

 keep account of the subscriptions. 



As all thrifty bee-keepers are lay- 

 ing plans and making preparations for 

 the coming season during the leisure 

 of winter, I will offer a few sugges- 

 tions iu regard to a screen-house, and 

 advise every bee-keeper to get one 

 ready for use the coming season. I 

 got my idea of the screen-house from 

 Mr. Heddon's book, " Success in Bee- 

 Culture." And here let me suggest 

 to those who hesitate about spending 

 •50 cents or a dollar for bee-literature, 

 that there is no investment from 

 which they are so likely to receive a 

 big return. This one idea from Mr. 

 Heddon's book was well worth ten 

 times the price of the book to me the 

 past season. 



Owing to the drouth the honey-flow 

 ceased entirely about the middle of 

 July last season, and the bees of my 

 out apiary became so demoralized 

 that I could do nothing at all with 

 them in the way of taking off honey. 

 Work as quickly as I might I could 

 not go through more than two hives 

 without having a desperate case of 

 robbing on my hands ; and if there is 

 anything in this world which -is 

 down-right aggravating,it is trying to 

 take honey from the hives when the 

 air is full of robber bees. 



In my despair I thought of the 

 screen-house, and soon had one 

 modeled after Mr. Heddon's descrip- 

 tion with some modifications. His 

 house is a stationary affair with a 

 board roof, and all his hives have to 

 be carried to it for manipulation. 

 Mine is made much lighter, so that it 

 can be moved along to suit my con- 

 venience, ten or a dozen hives being 

 manipulated at one place. My screen- 

 house is 5x6 feet on the ground, and 6 

 high. I would have made it 6x6 feet 

 square but for lack of room among 

 my hives. The two sides are covered 

 with wire cloth, the upper half being 

 double according to Mr. Heddon's 

 directions. But if I were making 

 another one I would have the lower 

 half double instead of the upper, as 

 the manipulated hive, being placed 

 on the ground, the outside bees are 

 attracted to it, and cluster on the 

 wire-cloth as near to the hive as pos- 

 sible, while the bees inside are at- 

 tracted by the noise of those outside, 

 and cluster opposite them on the in- 

 side, so that if any honey is passed 

 out. it is done through the lower half 

 of the screen. 



The two ends of my screen-house 

 are covered with thin muslin, and the 

 top is also of muslin fastened to two 



