AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



829 



bloom this year before July 1 ; usually 

 it blooms, in this locality, from March 

 1 to 15. 



It hardly pays to fuss with little weak 

 colonies at this time of the year, and 

 usually I dump a swarm right on these 

 little colonies, as I like a hive full of 

 bees for business. A swarm put in in 

 this manner will go right to work in 

 boxes, and is more profitable than any- 

 where else, to the bee-keeper. 



A few swarms issued during May, just 

 as we expected, and quite a number 

 since, but to-day the weather is quite 

 cool and cloudy,, and has been for a 

 week, which has checked swarming 

 considerably. One swarm that came off 

 a week ago has about half filled their 

 hive already with new comb, just from 

 strips of foundation an inch wide in the 

 frames. 



In reply to friend vStilson, in the May 

 number of the Nebraska Bee-iCeepc)-, and 

 " Buckskin Charley " in the June num- 

 ber, I will say that I do not wish to 

 enter into a controversy with these 

 gentlemen in regard to there being no 

 basswood in Nebraska, but will say this 

 much at least, that I seldom say, or 

 allow anything to appear in print over 

 my signature, that I cannot back up or 

 verify. 



Again, I am not going to attempt to 

 prove this matter in this article from the 

 fact that it is not necessary, but will 

 simply state further, that I have been a 

 bee-keeper for 20 years or more, and 

 have made a business of producing 

 honey, too. During this time I have 

 obtained nearly all of my surplus honey 

 fiH3m the basswood. A few years ago, I 

 took from one colony 350 pounds of 

 honey, and a large portion of it was from 

 this same basswood. 



In speaking about there being bass- 

 wood in Nebraska, I had reference to 

 the eastern part of the State, and not to 

 the western sand-hills, where there are 

 miles and miles of broad prairie where 

 even so much as a riding switch cannot 

 be cut. 



I came to this State in 1855 ; have 

 lived here ever since, and have been over 

 the State considerable, and wherever I 

 found forest a little basswood was to be 

 found ; even on the Niobrara River — not 

 Niabrara — some can be seen growing. 

 It will, perhaps, surprise these gentle- 

 men more for me to state that there is 

 plenty of saw-log basswood timber in 

 this locality, and it is a fact that plenty 

 of it can be found all along the Missouri 

 River for several miles above and below 

 here. 



Plattsmouth, Nebr., June 8, 1891. 



Taking Sections Ont of a T Super. 



DK. C. C. MILLEK. 



I will now describe the plan I have 

 followed for some time, to take single 

 sections out of a T super, without taking 

 the super off the hive. I thought of doing 

 so sometime ago, but had about given it 

 up, with the thought that, if followers 

 and wedges in T supers came into gen- 

 eral use, there would be no special plan 

 needed. Still, it may be useful to a 

 good many. 



You "may remember, friend Root, a 

 tool that I took to the convention at 

 Madison, a year ago, and then forgot to 

 show. Well, I send it herewith. I have 

 pulled sections by the thousand with the 



identical one I send you. I will 

 tell you how to make one. Have 

 your tinner cut a piece of No. 11 

 wire about a foot long. Straighten 

 it. Bend the wire at right angles 

 about 1 inch from one end. Make 

 another right-angled bend, M of an 

 inch or less, from the same end. (I 

 am not sure which of these bends 

 should be made first). The end of 

 your wire is now shaped like the 

 bottom part of a capital L (see 

 illustration). But the end is blunt, 

 and must be filed down to a cutting 

 edge like a chisel. Your chisel-edge 

 will, of course, be the size of the 

 thickness of your wire — a little more 

 than % of an inch. 

 Now, for a handle. Make a 

 curved bend at the other end of the 

 wire, about 3 inches from the end, so 

 that it shall form a semi-circle at the 

 end, an inch in diameter. This leaves 

 about 2 inches of the end straight, and 

 I do not know whether it is better to 

 have this 2 inches parallel with the 

 main wire, or to have the end come 

 within % of the main wire. The b6nds 

 at both ends are all made in the same 

 plane, so that the hook will lie fiat upon 

 a table, without any part projecting 

 upward. 



Another tool is needed. Take a com- 

 mon steel table-knife, and make it 

 square across the end by cutting off the 

 rounding part. Make this square end 

 about as sharp as the cutting edge of a 

 table-knife usually is. 



Now, we will go to the hive, and I will 

 show you how to pull out any desired 

 section. Take off the cover and give the 

 bees just enough smoke to drive them 

 out of the way a little. There are 

 separators in the super, and on top little 

 separators MxM inch, 12 inches long. 



