[Special thank-you note to Betty McAdams on Kangaroo Island, and a tip to
anyone else interested in good bee-gadgets.]
 
Dear Betty -
 
Some few weeks ago you suggested that I nail an excluder to the bottom of
a deep box, and shake brood-frames into it when I go queen-hunting.
 
It works very well.  I usually put another box containing a few frames of
brood under the "strainer", and smoke the bees down out of the "strainer"
every two or three frames.
 
I lined the "strainer" with thin sheet aluminum to reduce the tendency of
the bees to cluster on the sides and corners.  It helps a little, but not
very much.
 
Thanks very much for the idea.  The "strainer" now resides in my truck
full-time.
 
Walter Weller
Post Office Box 270
Wakefield, Louisiana  70784
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