08 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



IlOU- TO <iKT THK BEi:* Ol T OF THE 

 HO>EV BOXE^i, ETC. 



*■ rX tJikiiin- ofl lior.ey lio.ve*. nian.v cf vuiir rciuieiN have 

 a|i IVlt IhtMiceil of sonic fixture tliat would iicnnit the 

 — ' bees to pass out freely fioiii the boxes, and at the same 

 time effectually iirevcnt them from coming back and 

 briiiginjj all their friends with them. Last Sept., when 

 honey was scarce and robbers plent.'f, I made and used the 

 lixture descriljcd below, and found it to r.iiswer the pur- 

 |)ose exactly. Make one tube of wiw cloth 8 inches loni; 

 and 1?4 in diameter; make another of the same mateiial, 

 S inches lon.s, 1?4 in diameter at one end and •+ inch at 

 tiie other. Put the last tube inside llie lirst, and yon have 

 the lixture. To use it, bore a 1 k inch hole in tlie side of a 

 box, fasten the large end of the inner tube over the hole, 

 l)ul your honey boxes inside the box and cover c'osely, so 

 as to exclude robbers and the light. This lixtuie can be 

 used at any time when the weather is warm enough for 

 bees to voluntarily leave the boxes. To make the thing 

 more complete, take a i)lece of '2 inch pine ixl inches, and 

 f.-vsten the tube over a hole in the centre by driving tacks 

 through loo))s ill the end of the wire cloth. It can then 

 be fastened anywhere by pushing a large tack through 

 holes in the wood. The inner tube should be about '-4 or 

 ."j-16 inches diameter at small end. Six inches in length 

 would probably do as well as eight. 



The robbers clustered around the base of the tube ; saw 

 :t few go inside of the outer tube but they soon became 

 disgusted with the ari-angement. I didn't sec any that 

 c-nme near getting in. E. M. Reynoxds. 



East Springticld, O., March J)th, 70. 



One great advantage of the section boxeS, is 

 that the bees can be driven out with smoke at 

 once, or they can be brushed off as we do in 

 extracting, it tlie boxes hold but a single comb. 

 With boxes liolding two or more coiiibs, espec- 

 ially those with four glass sides, there is al- 

 ways more or less trouble, in getting the bees 

 out. Quinby advises putting a lot of the box- 

 es in a large box, and covering it with a white 

 cloth which is to be turned over as often as 

 the bees get clustered in considerable numbers 

 on the under side. This requirts care and 

 time, and if you are careless, the wind maj- 

 blow the cloih off in your absence and away 

 go the robbers and the honey. The plan given 

 above is less trouble, and makes a pretty sure 

 thing of it ; but what is to become of the 

 young bees that have not yet learned to fly 

 home? To save all these, it has been suggest- 

 ed that we pile our boxes all up close to each 

 other and then put one box among them con- 

 taining a queen ; or if more convenient, even a 

 piece of unsealed brood would do. The bees 

 will in time all flock to it, and may then be 

 treated as a swarm or nucleus. 



The wire cloth tube may also be used for 

 trapping robber bees. On one occasion we 

 were troubled with a quantity of black rob- 

 bers that would by some hook or crook get at 

 our surplus combs in spite of us. They would 

 even burrow in the savf dust with which some 

 hives were closed, until they got in, and then 

 away went the contents of the well filled 

 combs. One morning after we had become 

 perfectly tired of their pilfering at every hive 

 we opened, we bored a hole in a hive they knew 

 the contents of, and allowed them to go out 

 and in until they were really doing a "land 

 otBce" business. We then pushed into the 

 hole a wire cloth tube with the inner end rav- 

 eled out, and the loose ends brought near each 



other. Of course as soon as the machine was 

 ready, they crowded in until every last robber 

 bee had disappeared, and peace and tranquilli- 

 ty reigned in the apiary. During the day a 

 few more would now and then come round, 

 but the "squealing" of their comrades who 

 wanted to '-get out" would very soon draw 

 them to the spot ; in a trice they too were sale- 

 ly '"bagged," for as the tube reached nearly in 

 to the centre of the hive, the cluster of bees 

 trying to get out, were not near the end that 

 was raveled. We gave them a comb of import- 

 ed brood, just after dark, and left them nearly 

 a week to get to be "honest bees." By tlie way, 

 black bee? are much more disposed to go home 

 after such confinement than Italians. Well, 

 we finally decided to let them out, and they 

 poured out in such a stream that we 'eared 

 they were onl}' robbers still ; but after, may-be 

 15 minutes, we were more astonished than ev- 

 er to see a crowd of bees before the entrance 

 struggling to see who should get in first, and 

 everj' one was laden with huge pellets of a 

 beautiful snow white pollen that contrasted so 

 ludicrously with their jet black and shining- 

 bodies that we could only shout with laugh- 

 ter. We would like to add that they built up 

 to a fine colony; but they did nothing of the 

 sort, for in less than two weeks nearly every 

 bee was gone; probably died of old age. Do 

 you wonder why we never told of this before V 

 Well the fact is, the trap was made on the 

 Sabbath day, and they were let out on the Sab- 

 bath ; besides we never quite succeeded in per- 

 suading ourselves that these black bees came 

 from the woods instead of from some of our 

 neighbor's bee hives. It happened two years 

 ago. 



Before closing, we wish to mention that the 

 Br itisli Bee Journal, ahont a year ago, gave a 

 drawing of a "five pin bee trap" so ingenious, 

 that we will try and procure the cut for our 

 June number. 



RIPEIVIjVG EXTRACTEB IIOXEV. 



f' REORET having to take issue with so excellent an 

 authority as friend Muth, but while I agree with him 

 in the main, I think Le is certainly in error in regard 

 to honey ripening better in open vessels than in the hive. 

 I hope that apiarians will test the matter thoroughly, and 

 rejiort the coming season. It is a good ])lan to allow the 

 honey to ripen, as Muth advises, but not so much to allow 

 the honey to ripen as to allow all the particles of all- mixed 

 with the honey to escape. 



Extracted hone.\ being thrown in small particles from 

 the comb, contains many particles of air which ought to 

 be allowed every facility to escape. 



In regard to keeping each kind of honc.v soijaratc, 1 

 fully agree with him, but will not extract tliin watery 

 honey on any account unless it is of such a flavor as to se- 

 riously injure the choice honey. My experience with 

 thin honey is that it remains thin, unless more than ordi- 

 nary care is taken to evaporate it. "\Mien the hives are 

 filled with thin watery honey, there is but little to be 

 gained by extracting. As the yield in such cases is usual- 

 ly not very great 1 prefer to keep my bees building comb 

 in the centre of the hive, giving them all the room neces- 

 sary. We should aim at quality instead of quantity. 

 There is nothing to be gained by Hooding the market with 

 inferior hoiie.v. 



If the fruit blossom honey is very inferior, it should be 

 extracted at the commencement of the clover season and 



