the entrance with straw or hay, which is then well sprinkled with water. I have had but a limited experience with robbing, but have found this method effective so far as I have tried it. I usually leave a small opening at the corner, so that bees belonging in the besieged hive can pass in out and in. Louisville, Ky., Oct. 16.

[Our correspondent did not menthis plan of stopping robbing by means

of wet hay or grass strewn over the entrance, with the idea of bringing something new before the readers of GLEANINGS, for he knew that the plan had been before mentioned in these columns, and in several editions of our A B C of Bee Culture. Indeed, it is given the preference in that work over all others, for the treatment of robbing at the entrance of a hive where the bees are making a poor defense. His idea was to give added emphasis to this very practical way of overcoming a common difficulty, and we are glad to give space for the very clear illustration, which will, we are sure, make the matter plain.-ED.]

I am sending you a few prints and a description of our bee-keepers' meeting held Sept. 19, at George School, Pa. If you consider the prints of sufficient interest, you may use them in GLEAN

[In the newspaper clipping which accompanied the above letter, a full account of the meeting

was given. The affair was in reality a field meeting, and a very interesting one too, judging from the illustrations. After many practical demonstrations an indoor meeting was held in one of the large halls connected with the school.

Field meetings are valuable in any line of business; but they are especially valuable in the beekeeping line. A subject can often be explained much more satisfactorily if the different operations being described are actually carried out. A number of bee-keepers' associations all over the country are adopting this plan to make the meetings more interesting, and, in many cases, to

save the time ordinarily taken by long explanations. We wish to commend the idea as being worthy of the consideration of all societies.-ED.]

PARCELS POST.

The Objections Found to be Groundless by a Study of Conditions in Other Countries.

BY THOMAS WM. COWAN,

Editor British Bee Journal.

For some years I have watched the controversy respecting parcels post, and have been surprised at the objections put forward-objections that have proved to be groundless considering the very satisfactory manner in which parcels post works in Europe. When I was in California I supplied a friend who was President of the Postal Progress League, with statistics which showed what an inestimable boon parcels post has been to all classes, and how, instead of being a hindrance, it is a stimulus to trade

I see in GLEANINGS, page 1309, an extract from The Shoe and Leather Gazette, in which an endeavor is made to show that parcels post would be an advantage to the large mail-order houses, and an injury to the smaller local merchants. This is not true, for we have found it has been just the reverse. Small shopkeepers who could not keep a large stock of goods formerly lost orders because they could not compete with larger firms who, with their larger capital, could afford to keep a large stock. Since the introduction of parcels post all this is changed, and these small shopkeepers have been able to get a living, as they do not need to have a large stock on hand, samples of the different goods being sufficient. Customers select from these samples, and the goods are delivered at their doors in from one to three days, at the same prices as would be charged at the large houses. The customer does not pay

more, but the tradesman gets his legitimate profit.

It does not appear that the wholesale houses have suffered in any way, and there is no doubt that the small dealers have been benefited, and the benefit has extended to the purchasing public, for it has brought shopping facilities of the city within reach of every one in the country. No doubt your express companies will suffer; but is it not an anomaly that it costs more to send a parcel from New York to San Francisco by express than it does from London to, say, China by parcels post? Even parcels from London to different points in the United States cost less for postage than the express charges in the country. If the express companies can make a profit on English parcels after deducting cost of freight by steamer across the Atlantic, they are surely charging too much for carriage of parcels in the country. It is surprising to us that a practical people should have so long kept out of parcels post, and submitted to exorbitant express charges. No one in Europe would for one moment advocate doing away with the advantages we now derive from parcels post. I hope you may also soon share the same benefits with us.

Taunton, Eng., Nov. 30.

THE ADVANTAGE OF A CAGE FOR PREVENTING ROBBING.

BY E. M. GRAVES.

I wonder how many readers of GLEANINGS use a cage when working their bees. I have been using one several years, and would hardly know how to get along without it, for I consider it one of the most useful fixtures about an apiary.

With a cage to set over a hive one can work in comparative comfort all day long, and seldom get stung. Bees are very sensitive creatures, and they do not like robbers about their homes. If we open one of the hives, and a hungry lot of

robbers commence to steal from them, how mad they will get! and we are almost sure to get stung. We can do any kind of work with them when using a cage, but it must be so tight that the robbers have to stay outside; and, no matter how much of a roar they make outside, all will be quiet inside, even when very little smoke is used. Very often, with no smoke at all, we can do all the work we want to, and as leisurely as desired.

The cage is very handy in queen - rearing, both in handling the old stocks and going through the nuclei and mating boxes. I set the cage centrally in the mating-yard, pick up the boxes one after another, take them inside the cage, and, after closing the door, I am alone with the little colony without any robbers to make me or the bees nervous.

The cage I use is made very much like the one shown on p. 1261, Oct. 15, only it is somewhat larger. I made mine in four panels. The two for ends are 32 feet wide and 5 feet 8 inches high. Each panel has two posts, and two girts sit two inches from the ends of the posts. Then there are two sides 5 feet 6 inches wide, and the same height as the ends with girts at top and bottom, the same as the ends. All are held together with ten-penny finishing nails, one at each joint or four to each panel. There is a door that takes up half of one side, made in the same manner, only the girts or cross-pieces at top and bottom are set close to the ends of the side pieces of the door. There is a middle post which the door swings on. Two-inch butts allow the door to swing, and a small hook fastens it shut so it will stay shut and

DEMONSTRATING BEFORE THE PHILADELPHIA BEE-KEEPERS': ASSOCIATION.

not be swinging when we step inside. I take hold of the twoj small bars that run along the sides, and carry the cage easily about the yard. A top part is made in much the same manner, and all is covered with wire cloth; but I do not use it very much, as I find it is not needed in general work; if one were transferring, cutting out combs, or cleaning up an old neglected swarm then it would be all right to put it on, and be sure all is tight around the bottom.

I used 8-inch boards ripped up 1% wide, and the four panels are bolted together at the corners with-in. bolts, so I can take it apart and house it when the season is over.

The whole thing is easy to make, and is inexpensive; and that is not all. It is not heavy to handle, and it is just as light to work in as it is without it. This cage will not blow over as easily as one made of cloth netting, and is much more durable. Ioamosa, Cal. [We use large cages as well as small ones at all of our queenrearing yards. Indeed, we regard them as indispensable during the robbing season. For the production of honey they are not So necessary. Most bee-keepers do without, -ED.]

A STUDY OF THE CONDITIONS IN A BOX HIVE.

Would Not Wider Spacing of Combs Provide a More Natural Clusteringspace for Winter?

BY J. A. CRANE.

I have seen the question discussed as to why bees often winter better in a box hive than in a good chaff-packed hive. I have thought often on the subject, and had accepted the theory advanced that the frame hive allows cold drafts around and over the frames. I still think that is one of the main causes; but how often do we find straight combs in a box hive or bee-tree? I think it is safe to say that crooked combs are the rule; also that the crooks and turns and also the popholes are so arranged by the bees, either by accident or intention, as to prevent almost entirely any draft in the hive except such as the bees themselves set up for ventilation or evaporating honey. I have examined carefully all the box hives I have transferred for the last two or more years, and have found this to be the case in every instance, although I think I have seen one or two cases where the combs were about as true as foundation-built combs; but in no case do I recollect their being built straight away from the entrances, as in our hives.

Another thing which seems to bear on this theory is that, no matter how few bees there may be in the box colony, so far as my experience goes, there is never any candied honey. This spring, after severe losses I purchased a lot of box hives which were a caution to look at. Two had no covers whatever-only some sticks laid across the tops. There were from four to six mouse-holes in the sides, and the hives were so rotten that I had to wrap them up in sacks to keep the bees in to take them home; and I rode in fear of the load collapsing before I got home. However, when it came to transferring I found that I could have rolled the hives down hill and not got the combs apart. They were built in angles and circles, and fastened together in all shapes; and, strange to say, there was not one cell of candied honey, even away in the corners of the hive, where the combs were two or more inches thick, while in my chaff hives with straight combs the honey is candied clear to the cluster. I transferred these bees during cherry bloom, and, without trying to save any but good pieces of brood, I filled from four to five jumbo frames with brood, and they soon became the best colonies in my yard. I have also noticed that many of the combs are a great deal further apart than our regulation spaces allow from 12 to 21⁄2 inches. This permits the building of combs fat with honey at the top and sides, and thinner for the brood lower down, thus providing an ideal clustering-place for the bees. These bees wintered with a loss of only 6 per cent, without even a tree for protection, and with a mouse-nest as large as a quart measure, with two full-grown mice running through the combs after I had drawn them seven miles, while my loss was nearer sixty per cent in first-class well-packed hives.

I know we do not want such conditions in our hives; but I believe if we could get nearer to them through wider spacing, thus giving thick

combs of honey around the cluster, and wide spaces between combs for the cluster, with an entrance in one corner, we could pass a bad winter with less loss than at present.

I am not advocating any new system on these lines; but do not these facts go to show that the bees are not in a state of nature in modern hives which need so much protection, while they wintered perfectly in a box little better than a potatocrate when allowed to build this home after their own blue prints and specification? Marion, N. Y.

UNCAPPING.

The Angle and Speed of Blade Important; the Advantages of Cutting Down Instead of Up.

BY F. B. CAVANAUGH.

I wish to add to what has been said in favor of the cold uncapping-knife versus the heated, and in addition to cite some good reasons for cutting downward. I wish also to show why it is preferable from the standpoint of dollars and cents to dispense with the hot-water device entirely.

To keep the knife sharp is good practice; but a proper inclination and speed of the cutting edge are of more importance. A comparatively dull knife will do clean work if a quick slanting cut is made. Notice the principle of the scythe, the angle of the cutting blade. Note that, even with a dull blade, speed will greatly enhance the cutting efficiency.

Our circular saws require a certain speed for highest efficiency. Why not ascertain the proper speed for the uncapping-knife also, and then approach it as nearly as possible?

In uncapping I invariably cut downward with the knife-point inclined upward about 45 degrees. I catch the upper nearest corner of comb surface with a forward thrust, then bring the knife forcibly downward at a similiar angle, completing the cut at the bottom end by bringing the blade into a horizontal position. If a small strip is left I catch it coming upward.

This method requires wrist power, speed, and a little skill derived from practice. I have found no advantage in very deep cutting, although the beginner who aspires to become a rapid uncapper must expect to cut deep sometimes, and to run the knife out occasionally, but perhaps no more so than by other methods, however. Time saved is money earned, and the downward uncappers are much the speediest.

Now notice for a moment the mechanical advantages of cutting downward over cutting upward. First comes the weight of hand, knife, and capping assisting in the former method, impeding in the latter; second, the pressure in the downward cut holds the comb solid on its support. The upward cut tends to unseat it. Third is safety in the employment of speed while the upward cutter is likely to cut the left hand if much speed or force is exerted. Fourth, in cutting downward the cappings are thrown directly downward into the receptacle instead of catching on the unsealed surface of the comb. Fifth, the easy and natural position of hand and wrist, and downward pressure, causes much less strain on