THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



489 



part of the trap, and are annoyed by 

 not being able to get out through the 

 wire -cloth, not having sense enough 

 to go at once to the perforated zinc 

 above, where they can easily get out. 

 As a trapper of drones the success is 

 perfect. Of course it is better to 

 have all worker comb in a hive and 

 rear no drones only where they are 

 wanted, but with the utmost vigilance 

 some drones will be reared. 



The bees will build drone-cells in 

 out-of-the-way places. If .vou are not 

 careful, mice will make holes in the 

 combs in the hive in winter to be 

 filled up with drone-comb; and if 

 given all worker foundation, some of 

 It will be sometimes changed to 

 drone, so that, after all, some drones 

 are apt to be present, and I cannot 

 imagine any better way to get rid of 

 such than by means of a drone-trap. 



On coming out of the hive, the 

 drones are not long in finding their 

 way through the cone into the upper 

 part of the trap, and then they are 

 out of the way of the workers' full 

 passage. The trouble is that the bee- 

 keeper must empty the trap every 

 few days, or the dead bodies of the 

 drones make a bad stench. If he 

 does not object to the labor, the tin 

 slide might be taken out each day 

 after swarming time is over for the 

 day, letting the drones come out 

 themselves. Or, if there is no danger 

 of swarming, or if he does not care to 

 catch the queen in case they do 

 swarm, the tin slide could be left out 

 altogether, and then you have perfec- 

 tion in the way of destroying drones, 

 providing there are no other hives 

 without traps where the drones may 

 be allowed to enter. 



I was most anxious to try the traps 

 as queen-traps, but although I had 

 them on six of my strongest colonies, 

 never a swarm issued, owing to the 

 extreme drouth . I had about 4 inches 

 of the south end of the trap covered 

 with thin board, according to Mr. 

 Alley's instruction, so that if a queen 

 was caught she would be in the shade. 

 It is a pretty clear case that if a 

 swarm issued, the queen would be 

 caught, the same as the drones, in the 

 trap. For those who cannot be with 

 their bees in the middle of the day, 

 this ought to work " like a charmj" 

 and perhaps it would work just as 

 well if the bees were unseen for sev- 

 eral days. If, however, the trap 

 should be left on until a young queen 

 hatches, there might be "trouble in 

 the camp." I do not like to have so 

 little ventilation as the trap allows. 

 That might be remedied by having 

 ventilating space at the entrance or 

 elsewhere covered with perforated 

 zinc. 



I do not full understand the object 

 of the hole that, when unclosed, 

 allows passage from the upper to the 

 lower part of the trap. I have kept 

 mine closed, not knowing of what use 

 it could be open. Will Mr. Alley tell 

 us about this V 



Marengo, 5 Ills. 



Directions for use are sent with 

 each trap, but in Dr. Miller's case we 

 think none was sent. Concerning the 

 object of the hole which Dr. Miller 



does not understand, we quote the 

 following from the directions : 



" If you examine the trap, you will 

 notice a small liole at one end of the 

 division-board. This is provided so 

 that the queen can return to the hive 

 in case a colony swarms during the 

 absence of the bee-master. If swarm- 

 ing is desired, a nail should be pushed 

 in through the side of the trap, thus 

 closing the aperture and preventing 

 the queen from going out. A nail is 

 sent with each trap for this purpose." 



The directions also say : 



"If the trap does not quite cover 

 the entrance, close the open part by 

 nailing a piece of wood or perforated 

 zinc over it. The entrance to the 

 hive should be as long as the opening 

 in the trap, and not less than half an 

 inch high." 



I am strongly in favor of a large 

 entrance to the hive, whether a trap 

 is used or not. 



When the directions are followed, 

 the hive will be amply ventilated, and 

 there will be no trouble about the 

 trap working satisfactorily in ninety- 

 nine cases out of one hundred. 



Here let me say to those who use 

 the traps, that the opening in the 

 small end of the cone tube through 

 which the bees pass into the trap 

 should be about % of an inch in 

 diameter. It is easily and quickly en- 

 larged by anything that is sufficiently 

 small at one end to enter the tube. I 

 use a butt end of a bit of any size 

 which is the handiest thing I know of. 



When large numbers of drones are 

 trapped, the trap should be cleaned 

 out. Early in the morning is the best 

 time for that work. It is not neces- 

 sary to clean the trap oftener than 

 once a week, as the drones do not die 

 for several days after they are 

 trapped.— Henry Alley. 



For the American Bee Joumat 



Caves of Honey and Bees. 



HENRY K. STALEY. 



The following is an article which I 

 clipped from the Cincinnati Weekly. 

 I think it will be interesting to many 

 of the readers of the American Bee 

 Journal. Albeit, that it contains 

 some hyperbole where it says that the 

 "barriers" between the different 

 families of bees were " ingeniously- 

 constructed walls of wax, nearly half 

 an inch in thickness." It will in- 

 terest all those who own caves suit- 

 able for bees and honey. 



Pleasant Ridge, ? O. 



HONEY BY THE TON. 



" Joseph R. Haning,a young farmer 

 living near Littleton, is the hero of 

 Morris county to-day. His discovery 

 of an odd and wonderful cave full of 

 thousands of pounds of rich honey 

 is the talk of North Jersey. The cave 

 is just off the main road from Parsi- 

 pany to Morris Plains. Haning was 

 standing under the big blulf the other 

 day, and, happening to look up, per- 

 ceived a heavy mass of honey-bees 30 

 feet above him. A few feet further 



down the bluff was another mass of 

 bees. The two swarms buzzed so 

 loudly that it sounded as though a 

 high wind was blowing. It did not 

 take Haning long to perceive that the 

 bees were passing in and out of huge 

 holes in the rocks, and his curiosity 

 then turned into excitement, and he 

 started for some friends in order to 

 investigate the strange sight. He 

 got two young farmers, and they went 

 to the top of the rock to see if they 

 could find an opening. Tliey had a 

 lot of powder with them, and at- 

 tempted to blast an opening. Every 

 time there was a blast, millions of 

 angry bees swarmed out of the re- 

 cesses of the rocks, until the farmers, 

 even with bee-hats and thick clothing 

 on, found it dangerous to proceed. 



" New plans were then adopted. 

 Ladders were brought and a charge 

 of powder was fired into the rocks, 

 a few feet beneath where the bees 

 settled. Then the explorers went 

 home and waited until the next after- 

 noon before resuming their search. 

 They discovered that they had made 

 an opening through a shell-like wall 

 into a hollow beyond. A rich stream 

 of golden fluid was trickling down the 

 face of the rock. This showed that 

 some of the honey-combs had been 

 broken. Brimstone was then pushed 

 into the hole and then ignited. The 

 smoke soon began to drive out the 

 bees by the thousands. But the 

 honey could not be obtained as yet, 

 owing to the hive of solid rock. Then 

 young Haning thought of dynamite. 

 He obtained some cartridges, and the 

 first cartridge that exploded bored a 

 hole in the top of the rock that re- 

 vealed the entrance to what was ap- 

 parently a small but empty cave. 

 Lights and ropes were brought, and 

 the three farmers descended into an 

 irregularly-shaped cave, the size of an 

 ordinary room On all sides the walls 

 were covered with great masses of 

 honey-comb several feet thick. The 

 honey was of various colors and qual- 

 ities. It had been gleaned from the 

 whitest of buckwheat blossoms to the 

 reddest clover heads. On several 

 spots the comb ran back like veins 

 into rocks where the bees had filled 

 up the interstices. The honey, in 

 many places, was very red, and was 

 spoiled by age and moisture. But in 

 the main portion of the cave the 

 honey was in perfect condition. 



" There was a curious feature about 

 the deposit. The cave had apparently 

 been divided up by several swarms of 

 bees, and they had erected barriers 

 between the territory they had pre- 

 empted and the other swarms. The 

 barriers were ingeniously-constructed 

 walls of wax, nearly half an inch 

 thick. The deposit of honey is very 

 valuable. Mr. Haning thinks there 

 are at least several thousand pounds 

 that can be removed and sold at good 

 prices. The three discoverers are 

 keeping the exact locality of the cave 

 a secret until they can get rid of the 

 valuable honey." 



I*" The stiirlE County Bee-Keepers" Society vriU 

 hold its next meeting in Grange Hall at Canton, 

 O., on Tuesday, August 9, 1887. 



Mark Thomson. See. 



