|£>Jfc ■& * UMASS/AMHERST 312066 0333 2695 4 trmrs; SJt&f ■'■m' - *I^P mWfc^&k 1 v-1*. •< ^P^a^?, jMB»l-** ^1 !S/L#:i WBlB *M gapaDaapDaaaaaDDDDDDnnnDDDDDDDDD *e«si UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LIBRARY DaaannDDQonaDoaDOQDnnDnnDDQDDDan LIBRARY/- I iVERsirToF (iaSSACH^ETTS T Gr 4 7 Vv 7 VOL. XIII. NO.23.1 * i* "!JX- JDECEMBER 1, I885T| it* ENTERED AT THE POST OFFICE, MEDINA, OHIO, AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER. GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. ^:d"V"jb:fltise:m::ei>tts- We require that eveiy advertiser satisfy us of re- sponsibility and intention to do all that he agrees, and that his goods are really worth the price asked for them. Rates for Advertisements. All advertisements will be inserted at the rate of 20 cents per line, Nonpareil space, each insertion; 13 lines of Nonpareil space make 1 inch. Discounts will be made as follows: On 10 lines anfl upward, 3 insertions, 5 percent; 6 insertions, 10 per cent; 9 insertions, 15 per cent; 12 insertions, 20 per cent; 24 insertions, 25 per cent. On 50 lines (lA column) and upward, 1 insertion, 5 per cent; 3 insertions, 10 per cent; 6 insertions, 15 per cent; 9 insertions, 20 per cent; 12 insertions, 25 per cent; 24 insertions, 33% per cent. On 100 lines (whole column) and upward, 1 insertion, 10 per cent; 3 insertions, 15 per cent; 6 insertions, 20 per cent; 9 insertions, 25 percent; 12 insertions, 33}^ per cent; 24 insertions, 40 per cent. On 200 lines (whole page), 1 insertion, 15 per cent; 3 insertions, 20 per cent; 6 insertions, 25 per cent; 9 insertions, 30 per cent; 12 insertions, 40 per cent; 24 insertions, 50 per cent. A. I. Root. OHjTTBIBIITG- list. We will send Gleanings— With the American Bee-Journal, W'y With the Bee-keepers' Magazine, With the Bee-keepers' PiHde, With the Canadian Bee Journal, W'y With all of the above journals, ($1.00) (1.00) ( .50) (l.Uu) With American Agriculturist, (1*1.50) With American Garden. (#l.ooi With the British Bee-Journal, (1.40) With Prairie Farmer, (2.00) With Rural New-Yorker, (2.00) With Scientific American, (3.20) With Ohio Farmer, (1.25) With Fruit Recorder and Cottage Gard'r, ( .50) With U. S. Official Postal Guide, (1.50) With Sunday-School Times, weekly, (2.00) 2.25 [Above Hates include all Postage in U. S. and Canada.] HEADQUARTERS FOR $1.75 1.75 1.40 1.9,) 4.25 2.25 li.W 2.25 2.75 2.90 3.50 2.00 1.40 2.25 k Imported and home-bred ; nuclei and full colonies. For quality and purity, my stock of bees can not be excelled in the United States. I make a specialty of manufacturing the Dunham foundation. Try it. If you wish to purchase Bees or Supplies, send for my new Circular containing directions for introduc- ing queens, remarks on the new races of Bees, etc. Address Itfd l>r. J. P.H. BROWN, Augusta, Ga. FLAT - BOTTOM COMB FOUNDATION. High side-walls, 4 to 14 square feet to *-Sg^' the pound. Circular and samples free. d. VAN DEUSEN &SONS. 4tfd Sole Manufacturers, SPROUT BROOK, MONT. CO., N. Y. Western headquarters for bee-men's supplies. Four-piece sections, and hives of every kind, a specialty. Flory's corner-clamps, etc. Orders for sections and clamps filled in a few hours' notice. Send for sample and prices. «,-.». M.R.MADARY, 22tfdb Box 172. Fresno City, Cal. DADANT'S FOUNDATION FACTORY, Whole- sale and retail. See advertisement in another column. 3btfd Cash for Beeswax! Will pay 20c per lb. cash, or 25c in trade for any quantity of good, fair, average beeswax, delivered at our R. R. station. The same will be sold to those who wish to purchase, at 28c per lb., or 35c for best selected wax. Unless you put your name on the box. and notify us by mail of amount sent. I can not hold myself responsible for mistakes. It will not pay as a gen- eralthing to send wax by express. A. 1. ECCT, Medina, Ohio. Barnes' Foot-Power Machinery. Read what J. T. Parent, of Chaklton, N. Y.. says — "We cut with one of your Combined Machines last winter 50 chaff hives with 7 inch cap, 100 honev racks, 5t,U broad frames, 2.(00 honey-boxes and a great deal of other work. This winter we have double the amount of bee hives, etc., to make and we ex- pect to do it all with this Saw. It will do all you say it will." Catalogue and Price List Free. Address W. F. & JOHN BARNES, 68 Ruby St., Rockford. HI. When more convenient, orders for Barnes' Foot- Power Machinery may lie sent to me. A. I. Root. 5tfd » PATENT JOUNDATION Mills g'StfS W.G.PELHAM MAYSVILLE,KY. RUBBER STAMPS DATING, ADDRESSING, BUSINESS, LETTER HEADS, ETC. No. No. 3. Address only, like No. 1, $1.50; with busi- ness card, like No. 2, $2.00 ; with movable months and flguresf or dating, like No. 3,*3.00. Full outfit included— pads, ink, box, etc. Sent by mail postpaid. Without ink and pads, 50 cts. less. Put your stamp on every card, letter, pa- per, book, or anything else that you may send out by mail or express and you will save your- self and all who do business with you a " world of trouble." I know, you see. We have those suitable for druggists, grocery- men, hardware dealers, dentists, etc. Send for cir- cular. A. I. Root, Medina, O. 1ST! I GLEANINGS IX BEE CULTURE. IMPLEMENTS FOR BEE CULTURE ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED. US 10 S 00 75 15 100 10 For description of the various articles, see our Twelfth Edition Circular and Price List found in May No., Vol. V!., or mailed on application. Eot directions How to Make all these various arti- cles and implements, see A 11 C of Bee Culture. This Price List to be taken in place of those of former date. Mailable article-: are designated in the left hand column of figures ; the figures giving the amount of postage required. Canada postage on merchandise is limited to SM oz., and nothing can be sent for less than 10 cents. Alighting Board, detachable. See A B C Part First $ Bass ./ood trees for planting. For prices see Price List Balances, spring, for suspended hive (00 lbs.) Barrels for honey 2 50 " " waxed and painted... . 3 50 Bees, per colony, from $7 to $10, for partic- ulars see price list Bee-Hunting box, with printed instructions Binder, Emerson's, for Gleanings -50, 00, Blocks, iron, for metal cornered frame ma- king One of the above is given free with every frames, or 1000 corners. 10 | Burlap for covering bees. 40 in. wide, per yd I Buzz-Saw, foot-power, complete; circular with cuts free on application. Two saws I and two gauges included 35 00 0 | Buzz-Saws, extra, 85c, to $3.50. See price list. Tke above are all filed, and set, and mailed any where 80 | Buzz-Saw mandrel and boxes complete for I C inch saws. No saws included 5 00 i The same for 7 and 8 in. saws (not mailable) 7 00 Cages for queens, wood and wire cloth, provisioned. Sec price list 10 " " " per doz 1 00 Candy for bees, can be fed at any season, per lb Cards, queen registering, per doz per 100 Chaff cushions for wintering (sec Nov. No. for 1877) " " without the chaff 40 | Chaff cushion division boards 2 I Cheese cloth, for strainers, per yard Clasps for transferring, package of 100 Climbers for Bee-Hunting Comb Basket, made of tin, holds 5 frames, has hinged cover and pair of handles 1 50 Comb Foundation Machines complete $ 35 to 100 00 Corners, metal, per 100 75 top only, per 100 100 bottom, per 100 50 On 1,000 or more a discount of 10 per cent will be made, and on 10.000, 25 per cent. The latter will be given to those who advertise metal cornered frames. Corners, Machinery complete for making $250 00 Enameled cloth, tlie l>est thing for covering 1 frames. Bees do not bite and seldom propolize it. Per yard, 45 inches wide, 25c. By the piece, (12 yards) 22 Extractors, according to size of frame, §0 50 to 10 00 " inside and gearing, including honey-gate 5 00 " Hoops to go around the top 50 per doz 5 00 5 I Feeder, Simplicity, (sec price list) 1 pint .... 05 7 ' Feeders, 1 quart, tin, (see April No) 10 ■i ! The same, ball' size 05 25 i The same, 0 qts, to be used in upper story 50 ■0 i Files for small circular rip saws, new and valuable, 20c; per doz. by express... 1,1 The same, large size, double above prices '2 | " :; cornered, for cross-cut saws, 10c; doz Frames with sample Rabbet and Clasps... Galvanized iron wire for grapevine trellises per lb. (about 100 feet) 20 Gates for Extractors tinned tor soldering.. 50 Gearing for Extractor with supporting arm 1 25 Gi.kamncs, Vols 1 and if, each 75 Vol's IV and V, each 100 Vol. in, second-hand 2 00 " first five neatly lwmnd in one... S 00 ** " unbound... 4©0 10 15 15 no 18 is 40 0 18 30 18 15 20 18 111 Hives from 50c to $6 25 ; for particulars see price list Honey Knives, straight or curved blade... 1 00 % doz 5 25 " " Vi doz by Express 5 06 Labels for honey, from 25 to 50c per 100 ; for particulars see price list Lamp Nursery, for hatching queen cells as built 5 00 Larvae, for queen rearing, from June to Sept 25 15 Leather for smoker bellows, per side f>0 0 Lithograph of the Hexagonal Apiary 25 0 Magnifying Glass, Pocket , 50 0 " " Double lens, brass on three feet 1 00 0 Medley of Bee-Keeper's Photo's. 150 photo's 100 12 Microscope, Compound, in Mahogany box 3 00 0 Prepared objects for above, such 0 as bees' wing, sting, eye, foot, &c, each 25 Muslin, Indian head, for quilts and cush- ions, pretty stout, but not good as duck, per yard 10 10 | Opera Glasses for Bee-Hunting 5 00 18 Paraflino, for waxing barrels, per lb 25 0 I Photo of House Apiary and improvements 25 60 I Pump, Fountain, or Swarm Arrester 8 50 0 Queens, 25c to $6 00. See price list 1 Rabbets, Metal, per foot 02 Salicylic acid, for foul brood, per oz 50 10 I Saw Set for Circular Saws 75 0 | Screw Drivers, all metal (and wrench com- I bined) 454 inch, 10c ; 5 inch, 15c. Very nice for foot-power saws 0 | Scissors, for clipping queen's wings 40 6 I Section boxes, fancy, hearts, stars, crosses, I &c, each 05 Section Honey box, a sample with strip of fdn. and printed instructions 05 | Section boxes in the flat by the quantity, $9 50 per thousand and upwards, accord- ing to size ; f Or particulars, see price list. 15 | Case of 3 section boxes, showing the way in which the separators are used, suitable for any kind of hive, see price list Seed, Alsike Clover, raised near us, per lb. . " Catnip, good seed, per oz. 10c ; per lb. " Chinese Mustard, per oz '• Mellilot, or Sweet Clover, per lb White Dutch Clover, per lb 50 18 is 18 00 1 00 10 10 25 1 00 15 35 35 Motherwort, per oz. 20c; per lb. , — 2 00 - 75 05 50 10 75 50 Mignonette, per lb. (25c per oz) Simpson Honey Plant, per package " " " peroz Silver Hull Buckwheat, per lb " " " peck, by Express Common " per peck Summer Rape. Sow in June and July, per lb 15 A small package of any of the above seeds will be sent for 5 cents. 5 | Sheets of Enameled cloth to keep the bees from soiling or eating the cushions 10 I Shipping Cases for 48 section frames of | honey 60 [ The same for 24 sections, half above prices. This size can be sent by mail in I the flat, for 75c Slate tablets to hang on hives 01 Smoker, Quinby's (to Canada 15c extra)l oO & 1 .5 " Doolittle's, to be held in the mouth 25 Bingham's $100fl60; 2 00 25 " Our own, see illustration in price list 7j> Tacks, tinned, per paper, (two sizes) 5 I Thermometers . . 0 I Veils, Bee, with face of Brussels net, (silk) The .same, all of grenadine (almost as good) Veils, material for. Grenadine, much stronger than tarlatan, 21 inches in width, per yard •••••••••.•••; ■• Brussels Net, for face of vail, 29 inches i n width, p< -r yard Wax Extractor • ( topper bottomed boiler tor above. . g Wire cloth, for Extractors, tinned, per square foot Jx 2 I Wire cloth, for queen cages. j--v™ Above is tinned, and meshes are 5 and 18 to the inch respectively.. . • • 3 I Painted wire cloth, for shipping bees, 14 mesh to the inch, per squaro foot. All roods delivered on board the cars here at prices named A. T. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. 20 1 50 3 50 1 50 in 06 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Jan. Advertisements will be received at the rate of 20 cents per line. Nonpareil space, each insertion, cash in advance ; and we require that every advertiser satisfies us of responsibility and intention to do all that he agrees, and that his goods are really worth the price asked for them. A beautiful work of 100 Pages, One Colored Flower Plate, and 300 Illustrations, with Descriptions of the best Flowers and Vegetables, and how to grow them. All for a Five Cent Stamp. In English or German. The Flower and Vegetable Garden, 175 Pa- ges, Six Colored Plates, and many hundred Engrav- ings. For 50 cents in paper covers; $1.00 in elegant cloth. In German or English. Vick's Illustrated Monthly Magazine— 32 Pages, a Colored Plate in every number and many fine Engravings. Price $1.25 a year; Five Copies for $5.00. Vick's Seeds are the best in the world. Send Five Cent Stamp for a Floral Guide, containing List and Prices, and plenty of information. Address 12-3 JAMES VICK, Rochester, N. Y. Early Queens. J. P. H. BROWN, Augusta, Georgia, Importer and breeder of Italian queens, and dealer in Bee- Keepers' supplies. Queens bred a month earlier than in the North. Low express rates. Packages of five or more queens sent free of express charges to any part of the United States except California and Oregon. lltfd MANUFACTURERS OF SUPERIOR DOUBLE REFINED GRAPE AND MALT SUGAR, CRYSTAL GLUCOSE SYRUP. Superior Double Refined Grape Sugar for feeding bees, at3J,4c per lb. in barrels of 375 lbs., and 4c in boxes of 50 or 110 lbs. Crystal Glucose Syrup 5c per lb. by the barrel. Samples of the Grape Sugar will be sent prepaid, by Express, on receipt of 10 cents. lltf LOUIS P. BEST, Sup't, Davenport, Iowa. STILLMAN*Co ravm ON WOOD \ N.W. Copo FRONT&VlNE CINCINNATI OHIO, $1.50 per YEAR ; CLUBS of 5 or More $1.00. Send Ten Cents for a Sample Copy of The American Bee Journal The Oldest, Largest and Best Bee Paper. THOMAS O. NEWMAN «fe SON, CHICAGO. Gash for Beeswax! Will pay 30c per lb. for any quantity of nice, clean wax, delivered at our R. R. station. A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. Before Purchasing Supplies for your Apiary, send a postal card with your name and (if you will do us the kindness) those of bee-keeping neighbors, for our Illustrated Circu- lar of Apiarian Supplies, and sample Sectional Box and Comb Foundation, made on the Dunham Foundation Machine, which is the latest improve- ment in that line. We wish to place these samples before Every Header of this Magazine, and hence offer them Free. Just send your name at once. N. B. — We have secured the general agency of the above machine. Special attention given to rearing Italian Queens and iiees. The highest price paid for Beeswax. J. C. & II. P. SAYLES, Hartford, Wis. NELLIS7 "FLORAL INSTRUCTOR. An elegant illustrated quarterly devoted to gai- dening in all its branches, containing a complete list of Seeds, Plants, Bulbs &c. at reduced prices, also much information. 10c. per year; sample copy and 2 p'k'ts of bee seed for 3c. Seeds for bee-keep- ers a specialty. A. C. Nellis, Canajoharie, N. Y. You can not look over the back No's of Glean- ings or any other Periodical with satisfaction, unless they are in some kind of a Binder. Who has not said— "Dear me, what a bother— I must have last mouth's Journal and it is no where to be found." Put each No. in the Emerson Binder as soon as it comes, and you can sit down happy, any time you wish to find anything you may have previously seen even though it were months ago. Binders for Gleanings (will hold them for two years), gilt lettered, free by mail for 50, CO, and 75c, according to quality. For table of prices of Binders for any Periodical, see Oct. No., Vol. II. Send in your orders. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. ¥ mm i ? Having built a shop and put in new machinery, I am prepared to furnish Bee Hives, Section Boxes, Frames, &c, &c, as cheap as the cheapest. Section Boxes, 4&x4&x2, per M., $3.00, and every- thing else at bottom prices. For further particulars send for Circular. F. A. SALISBURY, 12-ld Geddes, Onondaga Co., N. Y. The A B G of BEE CULTURE Part First, will tell you all about the latest im- provements in securing and Marketing Honey, the new 1 lb. Section Honey Boxes, mak- ing Artificial Honey (loinb. Candy for Bees, Bee Hunting, Artificial Swarming, Bee Moth. &c, &c. Part Second, tells All about Hive Making, Diseases oS Bees, Drones, How to Make an Extractov, Extracted Honey, Feeding and Feeders, Foul Brood, etc, etc. Part Third, tells all about Honey Comb, Hon- ey Dew, Hybrids, Italianizing, King Birds, Tlie Locust Tree, Moving- Bees, The Lamp Nursery, Mijjjnoiinettc, Milkweed, Mother- wort, Mustard, Nucleus, Pollen, Pro- polis, and Queens. tS*"All are Profusely Illustrated with Kn- gravisags. Nothina Patented. Either one will be mailed for 25c; M doz., $1.25; 1 doz., $2.25; 100, by express, $15.00. The three parts bound in one, mailed for 60c. One 1 doz. $6.00i 100, by express. $35.00. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. *% -% DEVOTED TO BEESA1ND HONEY, A.1NT> HOME INTERESTS. Vol. VII. JANUARY 1, 1879. No. 1. A. I. ROOT, ") Published Monthly. (TERMS! $1.00 Per Annum in Ad- Publisher and Proprietor, > < vance; 3 Copies for $2.50; 5 for $3.75; Medina, O. ) Established in 1 87 3 . C 1 0 01 more, 60c. each. Single Number, lOc. SCRAPS AND SKETCHES. NO. 1. 0W, my friends, I wish each one of you to im- iyii agine that you are a neighbor of mine, and s * that you have just driven over to make me a visit and have a real good bee chat; and I, in re- turn, will imagine that I have put your horse, Clip, in the barn, given him a nice "lunch" of Alsike clo- ver hay, and invited you into the shop where I am making hives. Please don't think you have been slighted, and feel offended, because I asked you into the shop in- stead of the house, for my shop is neat, clean, and cosy. I will confess, however, that when I first com- menced work in it things did get scattered around just a little, and sometimes I was obliged to hunt for a tool when I wished to use it; but increase of busi- ness compelled me to be more orderly and systemat- ic, to have a place for everything and everything in its place, and to keep my floor, workbench, &c, all brushed up "slick." Now, my friend, we will imagine that you are "dangling" your feet from the top of my work- bench, while I am putting together frames and tell- ing you about THE HIVE I AM USING. 1 used the American hive one season, and that Convinced me that, although expensive and compli- •cated, it was too limited in capacity to suit any go- ahead bee-keeper. And right here, please let me di- jrress long enough to say that, although I am trying Very hard to go ahead, and not beoutstrippedbymy brother bee-keepers, I have no ambition to own a large number of bees; the height of my aspirations is to keep what bees I do have in the best possible manner. I try to keep my apiary so neat and tidy that I should not be ashamed of it if if Novice ■himself should make me a visit. And now that my npiarv Is fully started, I try to make it self-sustain- ing; if I need any improvements the bees have to 'buy them, and and 1 am making money out of v»\y bees. There, I think I have "bragged" enough so that T can stick to the hive question and not •dodjre off again. When the American hive is full, you have either got to divide your bees or let themswarm; you can 'not build them up into a mammoth colony, and get a large yield of honey. There is little chance to use the extractor, as the brood occupies, or at least should occupy, nearly all of the frames. Boxes can be used only (in tup of the frames. I was suited with the American frame, and I did not wish to throw away the hives I hvd made, there- fore, the easiest way out of my troubles seemed to be to use a Simplicity hive holding the American frame, and one year's experience with such a hive seems to prove that it is the hrst. As some of mv •customers tonk a fancy to the American hive, as I myself once did, there was little trouble in disposing of what few I had; some were sold empty, and some with bees in them. My friend, perhaps you think r am rather harsh in my criticisms on the American hive; I may be harsh, hut if vou should give it a fair trial, I think you would be harsher. W. Z. Hutchinson. Kogersville, Michigan. If I understand you, friend II.. it is not I the hive which you criticise, so much as the j principle on which it was planned originally. ! It has been very much modified and changed : since it was first given to the public. We fre- j quently make Simplicity hives, with frames 1 foot square, and call them Am. hives, but I only on account of the size of the frame. The onlv objection I have to the -Am. frames is that they are too deep for a two story hive. Friend Bingham uses and succeeds well with ; a frame even shallower than the Langstroth. i This works nicely in a hive as tall as even 3 ' stories. OUR FRIEND SCIENTIFIC, ON A VISIT. E have been on a visit, my wife and I. On the 24th of Oct., after seeing that our bees were all in good order, honey all shipped off (except enough to supply the neighbors), and the turkeys, geese, chickens, and cattle, all in good hands, we set our faces toward the east, and the far famed land of wooden nutmegs. Now we do not propose to tell you of our visit with friends, or of all the machinery we saw, but of the few facts we observed in our journey, upon hon- ey matters. We halted in Albany a few days, and found honey quite plentiful, and for sale at from 10 to 25 cts. Very good comb honey was selling, in some stores, for 14c, but was of dark color. From Albany to Southington, Conn., we occasion- ally saw bee hives, but they were few and far be- tween, and all of the box hive pattern. In S., we found no bee-keepers, and as a consequence, their market was supplied with California honey in Har- bison frames, and selling at 25c. S., is a small man- ufacturing town, and ought to consume much ex- tracted honey, but we saw none on sale. A day spent in Hartford also revealed honey, both local and California (so called), for sale for 2"ic. All hon- ey put up in Harbison frames is from California, you know. Some people imagine they can taste honev from the orange blossoms. This is a very beautiful thing for groeerymen to expiate upon, and their customers are sometimes green enough to swallow their Stories. We 1)11(4 tnention our visit to Colt's Armory, or manufactory of revolvers and gatling guns. This whole manufactory is kept as nice as an apiary, or shall I say bee hive? Cleanliness, precision, intel- ligent workmen, and splendid engines were promi- nent points. All were hard at work, supplying man- kind with weapons of defence, or shall I say making Btincrere for mankind? Middletown was our next stoppiner place. This is an old city on the Conn., River. We found there many old 'fashioned houses, with large chimneys and capacious tire places, and the regular old New England garret, with relics of a hundred years ago. This place is also dependent on other sources for i its honey supply, and prices range from 20 to 30c. ! We were pleased to meet here Mr. J. L. Davis, who I ihas a few swarms and is well posted upon their i management. Mr. D. has invented a very ingenious I cast iron apparatus for holding the frames at fixed GLExVXINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Jan. distances apart in the hive, but we who handle hun- dreds of frames in a day, would think them quite a bother. Mrs. Davis is somewhat apprehensive in regard to the increase of the apiary; she reasons that if she gets stung once a day from a dozen hives, she will average 8 or 10 stings per day from a hundred swarms. Upon our return from Middletown, we made a short halt in Springfield, Mass., and found the hon- ey market about the same as in other quarters. All dealers complain of dull sales, in this line of their business. We were impressed with the variety of prices at which honey was sold; but upon inquiring about butter, we found as much of a variety in that. Though that is a standard article, we found it ranging all the way from 18 and 20 cts., at our home, to 25 and 36 cts., in Conn. At all points, a nice article, put up in good shape, commanded the best price, and there will be but little white honey, in single comb3, kept over until spring. It seems the Geow brothers have made a fortune in the honey trade in the N. E. states, and the field is still open for enterprising and honest dealers to work up a splendid honey trade in those states. Connecticut has not, as yet, developed such honey resources as York State, and they do not raise enough for the home demand, Grocerymen say that if thev could only sell as much honey as they did a few years ago, when times were flush, they would purchase quantities of honey. Where hund- reds of pounds were then sold to employees in manufacturies, now but a few pounds are sold. Still, our honey production is greater than ever, and it goes somewhere; it must be spread oat thin- ner, and goes over a greater territory. Should flush times come again and to stay, as some de- clare, our honey trade would spring up again into still greater proportions. . Upon our return to Troy, we found our friends talking of a man named Duffy, who shipped several thousand lbs. of comb honey to N. Y., by boat, and accompanied it; but after a day's trial to sell it, he got disgusted and returned it all to Troy, and could not sell it at anv price. T did not learn the style of packoge. Will Mr. Duffy rise and explain as to the truth of the reports about him? Excuse the length of this epistle. It leaves us at home again, trving to profit from our excursion. Hartford, N. Y., Dec. 3d, '78. J. H. Martin. well, but not so well as yours, nor is it quite so handy. These hives, nicely painted, not counting mv labor, will cost me less than a dollar apiece. While I am here, I must show you a picture of the ^ ib» a» A COUNTRY PARSON'S BEE-KEEPINU. 4pfl| OOD morning, friend Root. I thought I would v k«?J dr°P in and Pay m? subscription to Glean- ' ^JT ings for another vear. 1 find it so valuable I can't think of doing without it. And, by the way. [ will also add that during the year, I bought an Emerson binder, and now I could scarcely be in- duced to do without it. I have a thin board, size O'txe1.; inches, and as soon as I receive a number, I trim it neatly to these dimensions, and having placed it in the binder, I "can sit down, happy," with no thought of getting the number soiled, torn, or lost. By the way, friend Root, that advertise- ment needs "reconstruction"; you can't put 4 years of Gleanings (latest vols.) in one of those binders at once. You see Gleanings has outgrown its "baby clothes", and of course feels bigger now than formerly; 338 pages last year, 424 this. That looks healthy. Glad to see it, I'm sure. I havn't received my imported queen yet, because, you see, I havn't ordered her. Money has been so close, and you tell us not to go in debt, winch is very srood advice, certainly, and accords with high- er authority, which says "Owe no man anv thing" (Rom. 13, 8,); but I must confess, it is rather hard to wait when there is more than twenty times the amount needed cominsr to us, and has been due sev- eral months. Butit willcome and so will the queen; and so, I bide my time. At spare moments, I have been making some chaff hives, a la Clark, "with variations," and I don't feel ashamed of them either. 1 have made them two stories high and of nice planed pine boards. The corners I made of ^ lumber, cutting pieces of the proper length, %M by l'j respectively, and nailed them to look very similar to the corners made a la Root, which I couldn't make if I'd try, be- cause I havn't the machinery. The roof, I make of clean pine boards, % in. thick, and extending over 1% inches. Around and under this extension, I nail strips 1 in. thick by 1U wide, cutting places to fit the corners. It makes a good roof and looks very SIMPLICITY COMB HOLDER. It answers the purpose nicely, is very easy to make, and costs almost nothing. When I finished the invention, T imagined friend Root saying, "Well now, that holder can be made and finished for about 10 cents, perhaps 94, and the work ought to be well done at that price." HOW TO MAKE IT. Take a piece of '„ lumber, size 20x94 inches; also cut two pieces, 9I.x2l>, and U inches thick; saw a rabbet 4x% inches, in one end of each, in which tack a tin rabbet k in. high: nail these ends to the sideboard; also nail on a thin bottom board 20x-"r inches; then fasten on two pieces of hoop iron and bend to hang on the Simplicity hive; finish by giv- ing it a good coat of paint, and you have one of the cheapest and handiest things about the apiary. Al- low me also to add that now is the time to make this article to have it ready when wanted. Don't you think friend Williams got his SauliDs a little mixed in Nov. Gleanings? Now. friend Root, whenever you go out "rusticat- ing," I would be glad to have you stop with the Country Parson. Will treat you the best welknow how. Good day. L. S. Jones. New Philadelphia, Ohio, Dec. 5, 18*78. I stand convicted about the binders, and Saul of Tarsus too, friend J. DEPOSITORY OF Or Letters from Those Who Have Made Ree Culture a Failure. Su HAD 30 stands of common bees transferred to Langstroth hive, the last of May, and have lost _ !) half of them. The job was badly done. Many of them were evidently without queens or brood. Only yesterday, it being warm, one small colony left its hive and went into another. On examina- tion, I found honey, some capped over, but. no brood or eggs, and there never hns been any, which proves that they are the same bees put into the hive 6 months before; rather contrary to what I was told as a fact, that the life of a worker bee is about 45 days. I hope to be better informed. Shelby Co., Tenn., Dec. 12, '78. A. Donelson. Now, friend D.. it rather reflects on you, as a bee-keeper, if you allowed a colony to stand 6 months, without even discovering that they had no queen, eggs, or brood. I should expect we would all go into Blasted Hopes, pretty speedily, if we did it in that way. The transferring was certainly very badly done, if you lost even one out of 'SO transferred in May. I think, my friend, you arc hasty in saying the books teach that worker bees live only 45 days. Do they not say about 4-3 days on "an average, during the working season? The brood in the hive would not all hatch under 21 days, and the bees, being without a queen, would not work as they usually do. During the win- ter time, bees live on an average nearly <> months, and the bees in your queenless I hives would perhaps live nearly as long. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. TENEMENT HIVES. f- SAW in the Dec. No. of GLEANINGS an article from D. C. Underbill, of Seneca, III., in favor of I the tenement hive, which yon seem to think (the cover being whole) will be an ungainly thing to handle. Now 1 have made one of a dry goods box, whii h I think does away with your objection. The cover is very light, it being made of thin stuff; the gables and side strips are of % stuff; the roof is made of %x6 in. lap ceiling: the joints are well painted before they are nailed to the ridge board, which is 1x3 in. and dressed as you do ridge boards of the chaff hive. There is a 2 in. hole in tach gab'e covered with wire cloth for ventilation. You want two wire hooks, and eyes to match (one at each end: screw the eye that is attached to the hook into the centre of the gable, and the other eye into the centre board, but one side of the centre far enough to give room to lift out the frames. Then shove the cover over and hook it fast. There is no lifting or tumbling the cover, and nothing in the way of the flight of the bees. The flight holes are as near the corners as 1 can get them, and are '->x8 in. in the clear. You will see by a rough draft which I en- close, (hat there is plenty of room to stand at one side of the flight holes and work with your bees. THOMSONS TENEMENT HIVE. For the sake of economy of material used, the hives should be nearly square. 0. Thomson. Brighton, Mich., Dec. 10, 1878. THE TENEMENT HIVE. HEN I wrote the article you published in the Dec. No. of Gleanings, on the above Wiy/ subject, I had no doubt that you would ac- cept my offer of a skeleton of one, and thus get a correct knowledge of its construction. If you had done so, you would not have said what you did about the hive in your following comments. The bee entrances are not on all sides as you seem to have supposed, but occupy two sides, leaving the other two free for manipulations. The cover weighs from 14 to 21 lbs., according to the thickness of the lumber. So you see a 10 year old boy or girl can lift it off, if it ever becomes necessary. When I wish to examine a hive, 1 slide the cover to the other side, where it forms a convenient place to set the smoker, and any other tools 1 have need of; also to lay the cushion and sheet when taken out of the hive. When I am through, the sheet and cush- ion are before me to be returned to their places, instead of being on the ground or a neighboring- hive. I then slide the cover back to its place. I received a note of enquiry from J. B. Gains, of Bedford, O., who had some curiosity to know what sort of a cover I was making, that took two men to lift it off, and kindly suggested a remedy; but as I was building no such cover, the remedy was not needed. Any pencil sketch I could make would give you no correct knowledge how the tenement is built, or j how it is used in practice. When I stack them up I among discarded inventions, I will let you know, and not do as Shaw appears to have done, say noth- ing about their failure. I think our failures are as | important apart of our experience as our success- ful ventures, and quite as numerous. The only mention I have seen made in print be- fore, of the principle of the tenement hive, is in the i Nov. No.. 1874, page 167, in an article entitled 'A ('ouple of Hours in a German Apiary." The writer j savs, "I may here mention that most of his hives i are more or less fixtures; that is to say, there are 3 or 4 stocks in one large hive, separated from each other by dividing boards, an arrangement which he I finds a great saving of trouble to himself, and equally good for the bees." My attention was not fixed on this however, until after I had planned the tenement. Seneca, 111., Dec. 19, '78. D. C. Underhile. I humbly beg- pardon, friend U.; it was out of what I considered a kindness to you and others, that I suggested a sketch, rather than a hive. I did not suppose your cover w;is made heavier than you have mentioned, but I thought, and can but think still, that a cover large enough to compass 4 hives, would be unwieldy. If my neighbor Shaw alone, should give me an account of the kinds of hives he has invented and discarded, it would rill Gleanings for several months, to the exclusion of every thing else. Your letter has called forth an amount of corres- pondence, acompanied by excellent sketches of hives, that is far beyond anything we can publish. 1 fear, judging from the experi- ments of years past, that they will all soon be laid aside and forgotten. Shall we not wait a little before giving them too much space, to the exclusion of other matter? Send the hive along, and if you desire, I will have our engraver make a cut of it. CHAFF HIVES. M; BELIEVE we can all agree in giving friend Townley the credit of persistently ^ bringing before the public, the matter of using chaff for winter packing, even if we do not give him full credit for discovering the virtues of chaff for this purpose. As a consequence, he has many letters to answer on the subject, and asks to answer them through Gleanings, which we shall be very happy to have him do. Below are two of them'. Mr. Townley: I have a few hives of bees which are packed in chaff, and I have found it a great deal of work. I understand that you are using the chaff hive, and I would like to have your opinion about it. Would you advise any one to make a chaff hive in preference to any other? Can you get more comb honey from a chaff hive, where it is protected from Ihe changes of the weather, than you can from a hive made of inch lumber? Is the upper story sur- rounded with chaff, the same as the lower story? If you can answer these questions for me, you will oblige me very much. Geo. H. Denman. Pittsford, Mich., Nov. 12, "7g. P. S. What does it cost you in money to get up a chaff hive? J. H. Townley Esq.:— I hope you will not be offen- ded, for I would like a few questions answered, and as you have had a pretty good experience in the business, I take the liberty of writing you. I am just starting in the bee business, and before I invest in any new hives, I want to be posted on the best hive. I have read a good bit about different kinds of hives, and I am almost persuaded that the chaff hive as made by A. I. Boot is the best. lam pretty well satislied that that sized frame is best. What hive would you advise me to use? Is the chaff hive better than the simplicity for summer use, when both are shaded? Is sawdust better than chaff? Ought cither to be stamped tight or just thrown in loose? By answering the above and anything else which vmi deem advisable, you will greatly oblige. Tyrone, Pa., Nov. 18, '78. J. B. McCcllough. Friend T replies as follows. Friend Boot:— By permitting me to answer through Gleanings the following inquiries, from numerous correspondents, you will confer a favor that will be esteemed and reciprocated in any way you may suggest. 1st. What hive would you advise me to adopt? GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. JAN. Thirteen years ago, I commenced' using frames the same length as the simplicity frame, and two inches deeper. Since then, I have tried the Thomas, Gallup, Conklin, Hazen, Simplicity, and other sized frames, and rejected all but the Simplicity; and were 1 to commence again now, it would be with the Simplicity frame, with the top bar made different from friend Boot's, ten frames in a hive. 2d. Is the chaff hive better than the Simplicity when both are shaded? My experience during the past summer, in my own apiary, of 38 chaff hives, and over 40 not packed, Is very much in favor of the chaff packing. Colo- nies in the chaff hives have swarmed the least and stored the most sectionj[honey. 3d. Would you advise one to make chaff hives in preference to any other? Yes; especially, if bees are to bo wintered on their summer stands. 4th. Is sawdust better than chaff? No; use no sawdust in packing. It not only packs too close, but it absorbs and retains moisture. 5th. Is the'upper story surrounded with chaff? Yes. 6th. Ought either to be stamped tight, or thrown in loose? Press the chaff down tight withjthe hand, close enough so that it will not settle and leave an open space at the top. 7th. What does it cost you in money to get up a chaff hive? 1 can not give an exact answer, but it is not far from $1.25. This is for the lumber, dressed, ready to cut into suitable lengths, shingles, nails, and paint, but does not include frames and chaff cush- ions. 8th. How do you keep ants out of the chaff? I have never been troubled with them. A friend tells me that salt sprinkled occasionally on the ground around the hives will effectually rid an api- ary of these scavengers. 9th. I have been quite successful wintering bees in my cellar; would you advise mc to abandon it for chaff packing? No; you can make a few chaff hives and if, after giving them a trial for summer and winter use, you think it will pay, you can soon change to such hives. 10th, Do you use metal corners? Yes; I make no frames now without them. It is true, they slide easily on the rabbet, but that is just what suits me; no carrying a crmvhar around with which to pry frames loose. J. H. Townley. Tompkins, Mich., Dec. 1878. 3IAIL.IIVG QUEENS. fNTIL 1868, all the queens sent out by my son and myself went to our customers by express. In the summer of that year we mailed some, by using a pretty large sponge .well wrapped up to prevent a too rapid evaporation of the water which the bees used to moisten their candy. Those which had only a short distance to travel fared well; but if the journey was long, the sponge, in spite of all our precautions, dried out, and the bees died. While we made a failure in mailing queens, others— among whom I would specially notice Mr. Alley, of Wen- ham, Mass.— were quite successful, and until the ex- clusion of bees from the mails, the great majority of those distributed for the last few years were sent by mail. It seems very unreasonable to many, that such an important interest can no longer use the mails, which reach every man's home, but must rely upon the express companies, which, to say nothing of their heavier charges, cannot reach many who de- sire to purchase queens. I do not think that our bee-keepers have given due weight to the objections against sending them, put up in the usual way, through the mails. All will agree that packages which contain honey that may leak out, should be refused; but what valid objection can lie against such boxes as have been used for some years past? The story of bees escaping from them, and stinging the officials, is received with great incredulity; but it may happen with wire cloth so weak, and' often so Insecurely fastened, that it can be punched thro' or displaced by the rough usage to which the mail bags are often subjected. Taking all things into ac- count, the ruling which excludes bees, put up as they have been put up, from the mails, seems to me to be right. I will give two plans, by either of which I think that they may be safely sent through the mails: Let a hole be bored lengthwise, through a piece of a large corn cob. In one side, let the candy be poured in a liquid state, and before it hardens, let the hole be tightly stopped with a cork or piece of cob. After putting in the bees let the other hole be closed with a stopper, in which is fastened a vial of water, with a small slot cut (on Mr. Root's plan) in the cork which closes the vial. Let a thin piece of lampwick be wrapped around a wire reaching to the bottom of the vial, the wick coming out even with the cork, so that whatever may be the position of the cob in the mail bag, the bees can always get wa- ter from the end of the wick. This last idea comes from my neighbor, Mr. D. A. McCord, who is fertile in suggesting and executing nice devices. Before the bees are put in, some ventilating slots must be made by a buzz saw. Such a package will be cheap, light* warm, and so strong that it could not be brok- en, unless by design. My second plan is to use 2 boxes of the usual kind. Instead of wire cloth, let suitable ventilating slots be made in the sides of these boxes. After intro- ducing the candy, bottle of water, and bees, let the boxes be firmly fastened together with annealed wire, so as to enclose the bees in the double hollow. Enough bees, candy, and water, to endure a long journey, can be sent in this way, in quite cold weather. Cork boxes, made somewhat after the fashion of the old cork inkstands, would answer perfectly, as I think, for sending bees from Italy, by mail or express, to all parts of our country. Might we not reasonably hope from our Post Mas- ter General's well known regard for the public good, that he would allow bees, put up in such pack- ages, to be sent through the mails? If they can be sent safely, no doubt he would be pleased, while helping an important interest, to add, at the same time, a nice little sum to the revenues of the postal service. Before closing this article, I will make a few re- marks on the proper way of giving credit to those who make new inventions, or valuable suggestions. It often happens, after such things are given to the public, that rival claims are put in for them, and sometimes it is no easy matter for any one to decide between such claims. It should, however, be borne in mind that it is a well settled principle of law, that no patent can issue to one who has kept his invention a secret so long as not to be able to prove that he has used due care and dilligence to give the public the benefit of it; but, on the con- trary, must issue, on application, to the party from whom the public actually gets the benefit of its knowledge and use. On the same principle, it is not necessarily the first discoverer of any valuable prin- ciple, to whom the credit should properly be given, but to the one who, being an original discoverer even if not t he first, actually gives the public the knowledge of it. 1 will illustrate these principles, by some facts. Long before Mr. Root used his bottle queen cage, I had fully tested the feasibility of keeping bees for along time, in a cage, with candy only for their food, which they softened with water from a sponge. I carried them about for days on my person, laid them on a shelf in the house, etc., merely wetting the sponge occasionally. My failure in sending out queens, however, showed that I had not, like Mr. Boot, discovered the right way of securing a contin- uous supply of moisture. But more than this, I even went so far as to devise a bottle feeder for honey, but not for water, to be pivoted and weighted in the transport box, so that the feeding side of the bottle would always present the honey to the bees, on the same principle that toys are weighted to as- sume any desired position. That plan is f ully de- scribed in my private journals, under the date of its invention, with the confident declaration, Ithat by it bees could be safely sent to any part of the world. But what benefit did the public get from all these minutia?? None at all. To A. I. Boot, to whose inventions bee-keepers are so much indebted, to him first and last, belongs the full credit not only of making this thing a practical success, but of giving the knowledge of it to the public. By what he did and published, the world first learned how easy a thing it is to send queens anywhere, and at almost any season. "To the law and to the testimony" of public use and published documents, must all such matters be submitted. L. L. Langstroth. Oxford, O., Dec. 18, 1878. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 9 %em% tdun\n. Under this head, will be inserted tree of charge, the names of all those having honey to sell, as well as those wanting to buy. Please mention how much, what kind, and prices, as far as possible. The prices Quoted in our cities for honey are, at present, too low, to make it worth while to publish them. As a general thing, 1 would not advise you to send your honey away, to bo sold on commission. If near home, where you can look after it, it is often a verv good way. By all means, develop your home market. For 25cts.,' wo can furnish little boards to hang up in vourdooryard, with the words "Honey for Sale" neat'lv painted. If wanted by mail, 10c. extra for postage. Boards saying "Bees and Queens for Sale," ,-ame price. W HAVE 250 gal. of extracted honey which I wish I! to sell to the highest bidder, and must sell to s*j some one soon. Mrs. J. T. Capehart. Memphis, Tenn., Nov. 29, '78. No. 358 2d. St. I have about 2 barrels or 90 gallons of extracted honey taken in the last part of June, nice and clear, light "colored, all grained. Would take 10c. per lb. and deliver at rail road, barrels, worth $3.00, not in- cluded. Jas. Green. Freeport, Harrison Co., O., Dec. 9, 1878. n m •• This department was suggested by one of the clerks, as an opposition to the "Growlery." Ithink 1 shall venture to give names in full here. Spip RECEIVED goods on the 3d. inst., as per order jll in the best possible condition, showing the *-» economy of an experienced hand in packing, tint sparing no pains nor expense to secure their safety. Please accept thanks for the same and oblige. J. H. Wyckoff. Simcoe, Ont., Can., Dec. 7, '78. You ought to have been apprised, last Monday, of the receipt of the photo, but I was too ill to even say "thank you"; they tell me, I have the consump- tion. Really, my dear sir, you do not look like a man disposed to "slam things," rather like one ef- fectual in persuasion. Unless it flatters you im- mensely, your wife ought to be proud of Blue Eyes? ( '.) she is a noble looking child. "Guenon" came last night. I expected a paper covered pamphlet; but this is quite large and su- perbly bound, printed on the best of paper, cream tinted and suggestive. It seems to me, perfect in "get up" and composition. You surely do your readers a kindness, in calling attention to works of such practical value. I cannot express my gratitude for each and all of your favors. Hoping that your success may be perfect and your life happy, I remain Resp. Yours, Mrs. Jennie Leete. West Amboy, Oswego Co., N. Y. Is it true. Friend Jennie, that yon, who have so many times seemed the most fitting one tor the Smilery, are a consumptive? Is it because you. are a Christian, and have no i'ear of death, that yon are thus cheerful even when in poor health? I trust so, and that we may all learn a lesson from you. It was a hard cross to confess about that temper of mine, and I shudder even now, when I look back and think of the time when I feared neither God nor anything else. I have been censured some for making such a public confession of my faults, and some have so far overlooked the moral I wished to convey, as to think I might do the same thing 'now. I wrote it, because I knew it wiiu Id carry the light of a Savior's love to many a heart, as it has done in the case men- tioned in the following letter. I have taken Gleanings now one year, and have learned a great deal from it. I commenced with 4 swarms of bees last spring, and have increased to 10 and from 9 of them took 400 lbs of honey in the cap. My wife did the hiving, I being away from home to work. Gleanings does me a great deal of good, not alone in bee matters, but by the last pages in the book. May God bless you in the work you have be- gun. I used to swear a great deal, every time I got stung. 1 don't think I hurt the bees, but my wife used to cry, and beg of me not to swear so; till fi- nally, about 3 weeks ago, I made up my mind to lead a different life, God being my help. Give me an in- terest in your prayers, Brother Root, and don't drop the last pages of the paper for something else. Keep right on, and God will be with you in the year to come. C. Sevener. Geneseeville, Mich., Dec. 19th, 1878. Pertaining to Bee Culture. [We respectfully solicit the aid of our friends In conducting this department, and would consider it a favor to have them send us all circulars that have a deceptive appearance. The greatest care will be at all times maintained to prevent injustice being done any one.] M1 KS. COTTON continues to be sole can- didate of this department. Mr. Wm. — : Clement, of Malcolm, Iowa, sends a let- ter too long for publication, detailing how he sent her a swarm of bees for her hive and system. After some correspondence, he re- ceived an L. hive, made of hemlock boards, to rough to be used even for a heirs nest. As for the new system for getting $50.00 from a hive in one season, he wrote in vain, and never received so much as a scrap of paper in regard to it. As he paid about $3. express on the hive, he was worse off than a neighbor of his, Levi Parker, of Beading, Iowa, who sent her $10., and never received so much as a word of reply in answer to his many letters. READERS, BEWARE OF MRS. COTTON. An advertisement of practical information with reference to Bee-Keeping, by Mrs. Lizzie E. Cotton, West dot ham, Me., lately appeared in our columns. A copv of "Gleanings in Bee Culture," a month- ly, published by A. I. Root, Medina, O., is now sent us, stating that this Mrs. Cotton has the disagreea- ble habit of making no return for money sent her, though she often makes fair promises. As she ap- parently has the equally disagreeable habit of not paying her advertising bills, we fear that the impu- tation of our contemporary is not without founda- tion. Newspaper publishers should make a note of this and shun her. We have no doubt but that she is trusted simply because she represents herself a woman and writes so handsomely and feminine like when sending her advertisements to publishers, but in answer to bills for advertising, her hand writing looks remarkably masculine.— Farm and Fireside. HONEY SCALES. ITER hunting up every thing in the shape of scales, that will answer at all for weighing honey, I have decided that nothing will answer the purpose, short of the scale given above. The only objection is the price. They ordinarily sell for from $4 to $-5.00; but I have been able to make an arrangement withjthe manufacturers, where- by I can offer them at $3.00. This will weigh a half oz., without trouble; but with cheaper scales, it is difficult to weigh nearer than ilh., and that is too much of a variation, 10 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. .) a \ . in retailing honey. The machine, besides being strong and accurate, is a very hand- some piece of furniture, as you see. The nnt under the platform takes off the tare. It is as accurate as a balance scale, and very much handier. The scale shown in the engraving is repre- sented as weighing 24 lbs.; those we offer for $3.00 only weigh up to 12 lbs., as tins does very well for retailing honey. A 24 tt>. scale like the one in the cut, I can furnish for $3.50. I presume a great demand for them, would reduce the price quite materially. Those who are studying on scales, should bear in mind the following points. To make a scale that will weigh ounces, you must have a circular dial, for it would string out very long, to have even 12 lbs. graduated by oz., unless we had the divisions very close together, and then old people could not read THE "FAVORITE" FAMILY SCALE. them. A nice dial with a nicely working hand are rather expensive. Again, if you have the platform work freely up and down, which it must do to record oz. accurately, you must have a broad base to contain the necessary levers. The case to contain these levers must be of cast iron, for wood or tin would not be sufficiently permanent to se- cure accuracy. Scales can be made like those mentioned by friend Kellogg last month, for perhaps a dollar, if you are satis- fied with something weighing no nearer than ifb. In purchasing bees, and in preparing bees for winter, a scale is very handy; for this work we want one that will weigh 100 lbs. or more, and if it comes within a lb., it will do very well. For this purpose I would recom- mend the German Ice Scale, which weighs from 1 to 300 lbs. I will try and picture it to you next month. They are sold for $1.00, 1 believe. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 11 WORK AND WAGES FOR 18 79. HOW TO GET BETTER WAGES, AND HOW TO GET POOR- ER. PjlpJHE following was intended for the use of the Jljl hands of our establishment only; but,onthink- ■s ing it over, I concluded, inasmuch as we are all working: for somebody, at least indirectly, that it would be valuable to air the readers of Glean- ings. The hands in my employ receive all the way from 25c. to $4.00 per day, or from 2V2 to 40c. per hour. All are hired by the hour, and as a general thing-, they commence and stop when they choose. We used to have a great deal of scolding about hands not being on time in the morning, or not putting in a full 10 hours. After studying the matter over, and asking God to guide me, and give me patience, I finally employed a clerk to keep a record of the time when each hand commences, and when he stops, putting it on a card properly ruled, and arranged so that the sum of the hours each hand has worked during the week is added with very little trouble. Each one commences and stops just when he pleas- es, and this establishes pleasant relations between both parties. The aim was to have no fault finding on either side. Each hand has his work, and is ex- pected to see that it is done properly and promptly, or report to the office, with his reason for not nav- ing it finished. No one is expected to be absent a half day or more, without giving notice before hand, and get- ting some one to take charge of his work in his ab- sence. They are also to be held responsible for all work done by such substitute. To insure prompt- ness, a card is placed over each clerk's desk, read- ing as follows: "Fill all orders and answer all letters by return mail or express, or give notice each night, of the work remaining undone, with the reasons for it. In my absence leave the notice on my table." This gives me notice at once, of all hitches in the business, of goods that are not in stock, and points out those who are inclined to be dilatory and slack. Supposing a clerk fails to report orders remaining unfilled; he is first reasoned with, in a pleasant, friendly way, and given to understand in the same kind way, that if he cannot do his work without too much such supervision, he will have to give place to some one more efficient. I am glad to say that no one, so far, has been removed from his place. I have given above, the plan on which this is to be done. The greatest difficulty in making it work perfectly is that I am too small for my part of the programme. 1 cannot muster up the moral courage to insist on having all this carried out, and to do it pleasantly. I very often so dislike to give pain, that I pay for losses myself, rather than insist that the proper one should do so for his own good, as well as mine; and, worst of all, I am careless and forgetful myself, and do not set a good example for the rest. Do you know, dear reader, how hard it is to be always faithful? The greater number of my boys and girls get only 75c. or a dollar a day, and many of them, as yet, have no especially assigned class of work. They do odd jobs as they come up. Very often, they come to me and say: "Mr. Root, do you not think I could earn 25c. more a day?" "Why, yes, n. v rriend, I am quite sure you could." "But, do I not earn it now? If not, why not?" Now, there is not a single hand in my employ, that I have not watched and weighed in regard to his money value. I have often raised wages when it was not asked, and I assure you, nothing gives me a keener pleasure than to be able to raise the wages of anyone. I have sometimes raised wages, when I have felt it was premature; for it is not for an oc- casional faithful day that we can raise wages, but for a steady pull, day after day, and week after week. Many give as a reason, or excuse rather, for imperfect work, that they are not strong enough. Strength is very easily found, but brains are very scarce. I will give you an illustration: Six bolts were wanted for putting up machinery. I was desired, as I was going up town, to get them, and that I might make no mistake, I put the dimen- sions on my pocket memorandum. The hardware man looked at his drawers where the different lengths were very nicely labeled, and I thought he found the proper drawer emptv, but as he had his njle in hand, I supposed he found the ri^rbt length in another drawer. I sent them down by a boy, but he returned after awhile, saying- they were not the length ordered. It then occurred to me, that the hardware man knew they were not right, but thought the longer ones would answer, and said nothing to me about it. I went in again, and his son waited on me. I told him we must have the ex- act length. He said he would be sure they were right, and I trusted him to do them up in a' paper. Back went the boy, a half mile each trip. In the evening, the foreman said jokingly: "Root, you are 'brilliant !' " "Why?" "The last time you sent only 5 bolts, and three of those were a half inch too short." Shall I abuse the hardware man and his son for both cheating and blundering? No. Shall I then say mistakes happen in the best of families? No; that is only another subterfuge, and another hum- bug. Shall I think mankind a pack of idiots, and myself the biggest one? No. Shall I make up mv mind to let Mr. Washburn attend hereafter to ail such business, even if he does cost $4.00 a day? By no means; shall I be so weak as to think I have got to pay $4.00 a day for an errand boy? Well, what shall we do-all we who know by past experienco that we are blunderers? Take a lesson of Mr. Washburn, and see how he avoids mistakes. I have seen him work so often, I know just how he does it. He does not work partic- ularly fast, but on the contra^', at first look, he seems to move rather deliberately, but he makes few, if any, false motions. He rarely has cause to say, "Oh! I forgot." He would go into the hardware store as I did, but his rule would be out and open before the bolts were handed over to him. The ex- act length and diameter would be taken before you had time to notice it, and if the wrong size were handed him it would be very quietly handed back. The bolts would be as sure io be right, as if he had fitted them into the place designed for them. The first trouble was, I had no rule in my pocket. How many of you carry a rule, boys? Mr. W. knows how careless is humanity, and he'does not trust to others, when he can verify things himself. He ex- pects people to make mistakes, but instead of scold- ing them for it, quietly accepts it, and keeps a sharp lookout. How many of you, boys, yes and girls too, who are working for wages, keep a knife in your pockets? Is the knife always sharp? During our busy season last summer, I found the boys continually running to our best carpenter for his knife. When he want- ed it, he had to inquire all around for it. I talked with them about having knives, and they said they could not afford one, and that they always lost it, if they had one. One boy who could not afford a knife had a lump of tobacco in his cheek; others smoked cigars; but when they wanted a knife to cut the strings with which they tied up the bundles of sec- tions, they had to hunt around among the carpen- ters, until they found one they could borrow. Do you think such delays as this made me feel like raising these boys' wages? A boy that cannot keep a sham knife in his pocket, seldom gets over a dol- lar a day. On the same day when the trouble about the bolts occurred, I noted the following "troubles:" The cows were found on the patch of seven top turnips. The boys who harvested the silver hull buckwheat, nearly two weeks before, were desired by myself, to be sure and fix up the fence when they got through. My father afterwards told them tho same thing, and asked them not to forget it. There were three of the boys; when interviewed, the ex- cuse they gave was that it was too dark to put up the fence that night, and the next mr: umtrthey for- got all about it. My turnips were eaten off, and all tramped up. How much would you pay boys, my friends, who let the cows into a crop because it was too dark to put the fence up? One of these has since asked to have his wages raised. The blacksmith found the «ollar that holds the saws on the hand ripper, in his box of old iron; his shop is down cellar, and the machine is up stairs. Somebody else found the nut that held the collar on, in the pail of water where he cools his irons. I could not believe him, until I went up and found that both were missing. Had the machine been wanted, these things could not have been replaced without several dollars expense, and many days' de- lay. The hand who took off the saw, probably laid the collar and nut down, instead of screwing them on in place, in order to bo sure they would not be 12 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Jan. lost. Somebody else pushed them off on the floor, they were then carried down with rubbish, and got, I know not how, into the slop pail and old iron box. I confess this incident tried my patience more se- verely than almost anything that has happened all summer. For a long time after, I "got mad" when- ever I thought of anyone's being so very heedless and careless with' my property. Three hands were getting a large and valuable stone into the boiler room. They let it fall, and broke it in two. I do not know how I can raise their wages; only one of them was probably to blame, and perhaps they would claim that nobody was. If anv one of the three had said, "Now, ooys, do not let us break this, whatever we do," I do not think it would have been broken. A clerk was paying a man some money, and among the articles purchased was a little over 5 lbs. of cop- per wire for a telephone. I happened to notice the amount, and thought it was too much. The wire was 50c. per lb., but the amount carried out was over $5.00. It was simply a mistake in multiplying, and as this clerk does not make such a mistake onetime in a thousand, it should be called only an accident. T tell you. my friends, we ran do better even than this. 'Following out Mr. W.'s plan, as soon as the clerk commenced the multiplication she should have said, mentallv, "As the wire is a half dollar a pound, there will be half as many dollars as pounds; so the result must come somewhere near $2.50;" apply- ing- not the rule of feet and inches to it, but the rule of keen common sense. In the same way, I have been for years in the hab- it of making a rough estimate of what things should cost, or what results should be, long before mv mul- tiplications or additions are made, and thereby have stopped many a mistake, before it had gone farther. It all sums up, in having your wits con- stantly about you, your mind always on your work, and looking forward to anticipate any trouble that may come up. One more illustration of how a hand can earn bet- ter wages happened that day. A man was working on hive stuff on a circular saw, and as he finished each board, he turned around and laid it down be- hind him. The next piece was picked up in a simi- lar way. By night, this man would be very tired, and would have tired himself out in work worse than useless. A box or stand should have been pro- vided, at an easy height, and close to his hand, or a boy should have put the boards in place and taken them away, so he would have had nothing to do but to push the pieces through. By arranging things properly, and setting two hands at the work, the whole lot was put through in 45 minutes. This principle is by no means confined to my work; I presume you, my friend, might save a great part of your hard labor each year, by following out the principle T have suggested. If you are working for wages, you will not only stand a chance of getting better pay, but you will be sure of a nlace, at good wnges, even when times are dull, and money scarce. Numbers are now coming to me for places in the new building, but careful, faithful hands, such as I have described, are never out of work, but are as a general thing hunted up, and wanted in a dozen places at once. A boy who cannot keep and take care of a knife of his own will seldom take care of the tools and other property of his employer. I do not know but that I shall ask the next bov who applies for a place, to let me see his pocket knife; if it will whittle my lead pencil nicely, I can afford to hire him. m m ^ — ANABC SCHOLAR'S EXPERIENCE. ESPECIALLY WITH QUEENS. sjlj? SHOULD long ago have reported my experience Ijl with those three queens I got from you when I sal was in Medina, in July last, but protracted ill- ness prevented me. I often think with pleasure of those two days I spent in your shop, and especially amongst your bees, and I saw and learned a good deal that is of value to me; but I don't think I both- ered much with asking questions, or did I bother you, "friend Will?" Those queens I took were of different looks; one was of such a beautiful golden color that I marked her No. 1, on the cage; the second, hardly inferior in looks, I called No. 2; and the last one, rather an inferior looking, dark queen, of smaller size than the other two, and with the tip of her abdomen quite black besides, I named No. 3. With each one of them, I had more or less trouble in introducing, but I succeeded with all of them, in the end. No. 1, I thought too valuable to risk with a colony of old bees, and so I made a nucleus, by taking from each of three strong swarms, one frame with hatch- ing brood and the adhering bees. These frames I put into a Simplicity hive, and my queen in her cage on top of the frames. A couple of hours after, I saw in front of this nucleus a ball of bees on the ground, and imagine my feelings, when I found amongst them- — a dead queen. In spite of my looking ever so sharp, as I thought, I had taken a queen along with those brood frames, and there she lay now. dead on the ground, and right behind me was a colony all in an uproar about their lost moth- er. Disgusting! wasn't it? The following day, I released the Italian queen in this nucleus, and as all the old bees by this time would naturally have left for their old homes, I ex- pected her majesty to be received with smiles and kisses; but in this, I was mistaken; for she was balled up in less than five minutes, and I had to re- lease and cage her again, to save her from the fate of my poor black queen. Next day, I tried again; but hardly had I opened the cage, when the contrary thing came rushing out and flew away. A tremendous jump, the highest since my boyhood, in hopes to catch her, availed me nothing; she was too quick for me, and was out of sight in a few seconds. I felt almost bad enough to cry, but I remembered that the same thing occurred to friend Will, when I was with him, and that his queen came back again, after a little time, he leav- ing the hive open meanwhile. This gave me hope, and with beating heart, I watched at the side of the open hive for about ten minutes, when, sure enough, there she came flying slowly, straight to her hive, but alighting some five feet from it, on the ground. She almost slipped away once more, but, this time, I was too quick for her, and had her in her cage again before she was aware of it. The following day, I let her out again; she did not try any more excursions, but staid on the comb as "honest queens" should do, and the bees treating her kindly, the introduction of queen No. 1 was a success. Queen No. 2, 1 gave to a queenless colony. I had to fuss with her for 4 days before she was accepted, but after that, she was allowed to reign in peace. Queen No. 3, the one with the black tip, I intro- duced to one of my most populous colonies (first made queenless, of course), and she was accepted on the fifth day. Two days after she had been safely introduced, I opened the hive towards evening, to see how she was doing, but hardly had I removed the cloth from the frames and blown a little smoke into the hive to keep the bees down, when lo! and behold! the old lady came running up and flew away. I left the hive open and watched for the re- turn of the truant; my daughter (my main assistant in my work with my bees) was with me, keeping a lookout at the entrance, while I watched the top of the frames, but neither of us saw anything of the queen. Tired of watching any longer, I took the frames out, and both of us kept on looking them over and over again, as minutely as if trying to find a pin in a haystack, but could discover no queen. It grew too dark, at last, for keeping up the hunt any longer; that queen was surely lost anyway, so I thought, and with a deep sigh of disappointment, I shut up the hive. ^- . The following day, I had to go away on business, and when I came home again, towards evening. I was startled with the unexpected news, that 1h3 bees had been swarming. My daughter had hived them, but she had not seen from what hive they came. ,, , _ . As I had my lost queen from the day before up- permost in my mind vet, 1 went and opened that particular hive, and here was a puzzle! Of my rous- ing big colony, there was but a handful of bees left; sure enough, they had swarmed, but without a queen? How is that? To solve this riddle, I went and shook my new swarm onto a sheet to find the queen, and behold! almost the first thing I cast my eyes on was my lost, yellow queen, with her "black tip." , ., . , „ She must have got in unobserved the day before, and kept hidden somewhere while I was looking over the combs, as it is too improbable that she could have staid away over night, and succeeded in finding her hive the next morning. As the queen seemed to be dissatisfied, with her 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 13 first home, I thought best to accept this swarm and work. For foot powers, a very thin soft belt * TheAfeesfm Steparent hive had no unsealed larvse is needed. Softening it with neat's foot Oil, (1 had taken that out before introducing the Italian naay belp matters. I cannot remember see- queen), and I had to supply them with this from an- ing you. friend K., which I regret, as I have other hive, to give them the means to raise a queen As this swarming out, where the parent hive was left hopelessly queenless, goes against all my for- mer experience, I hardly think this was a natural swarming act, after all." Perhaps only the queen flew out. at first, and as she had been away for quite awhile but the day be- fore, the bees, being afraid of losing her, sallied forth after her in great numbers, and when she alighted they settled around her to keep her secure. Is this theory correct? or was this swarming an in- discretion of the queen, peculiar to the Italian race? But be this as it may, I had ope more swarm any- way, and in spite of the lateness of the season (fore part of Augusts this is now (thanks to the movable comb frame) one of my strongest colonies. In due time, the young bees appeared in my three Italianized swarms, and I feel so pefectly pleased and happy about them, that you will have to give i me a corner in the "Smilery." All, as far as I can see, are pure three-banded Italians, but the largest i and prettiest bees are those bred from queen No. 3, the one I valued least. This queen is besides won- derfully productive, and rather than lose her, 1 would be willing to give up the other two. JUDGING BY LOOKS. How much, with things in general, and queen bees ( in particular, can we be mistaken by judging from ■outward appearances only ! As the honey harvest in this locality was mostb' •over for the season, I had not much chance to find out which of my three Italian queens produced the most industrious (the main point with me) progeny; but if I breed queens next spring for Italianizing 'the rest of my bees, it will be from queen No. 3. FOOT POWER BUZZ SAWS; A CAUTION. I see in the last number of Gleanings, that friend Hutchinson made a foot power buzz saw, and I am glad he succeeded to his satisfaction; but I would advise everyone to be slow in investing money in such a thing, because I did and failed. I spent over a week on this concern, hired a carpenter to assist me several days, and his wages, together with the material (the leather belt alone was $3), amounts to "nearly $20, with my time thrown in. For all this ex- : pense, I have a perfectly worthless piece of machin- 'ery, because it requiresthe strength of a Sampson to saw through only half inch stuff, and would Mag 'even "him out in less than 10 minutes. When I was in Medina, you were unfortunately so j 'busy With your type-writer (it being nearly the end of "the month) that I was denied the privilege of a • 'little visit with you, and for this reason you will ; wave to excuse me, if I have made this visit a little more lengthy than I at first intended to do. Chas. Klimitz. Batavia, N. Y., Nov. 23, 1878. I cannot say why the bees swarmed ont with the new queen, friend K., but I hardly think a queen can, of herself, induce swarming. I am glad to know your daugh- ter works with you. I have just been think- ing, what a safe place for a daughter by her father's side! and still more is it a safe place for a father by his daughter's side. I tell you, it is a great mistake to suppose that a father and daughter can have no feelings and pursuits in common. I, too, am well aware that looks have but little to do with the value of a queen, and if we paid no attention to the looks of a queen at all, I believe it would be better for the honey crop. Judge them solely by the looks and doings of the workers. Your foot pow- er saw certainly runs too hard. If the bear- ings are of iron, nicely polished, and well "tallowed," it must run easier after it has been used a while. Be sure that nothing binds about the machine ; that is, make every separate part run free and smooth. Perhaps your belt is too heavy for .such been very much interested in your instruc- tive letter. This is not very strange how- ever, as we have visitors almost all the time during the summer season. "Friend Will" is supposed to be never weary of answering questions, for it is a part of his business. .TIOKE BEE ENEOTIES. ITH this I send you an insect enemy to the bee, of which I have seen nothing in any of the bee books or journals. I had several other specimens of the insect, but my little daugh> ter accidentally destroyed them. I also enclose two specimens of their handiwork, showing the cruel manner in which our poor little pets are mutilated, to furnish these marauding ras- cals a dainty feast. Both of these bees are workers, as you see, and were crawling about quite actively when 1 caught them, though the entire contents of their abdomens were quite gone, leaving nothing but the mutilated shell, seemingly sucked quite dry. The little fellow whose abdominal shell is so badly torn on the upper side, I saw dropped from the claws of its enemy. This enemy, I first discovered perched, back down, upon a spray of cedar about 3 feet from the ground, with this identical bee in his embrace. He had it by a back hold—his custom. I think with his strong, short proboscis inserted in the top side of the poor bee's body, and was leisurely suck- ing the juices 1 herefrom, very much in the same way that the Asilus Missouriensis regales himself. From the time I saw him, he was about one minute in literally sucking this little fellow dry, during which time the bee was perfectly passive. He then dropped it at the moment of leaving his perch and Hew away, leaving his little victim to crawl about in this mutilated condition till it died. The first of these depredators that I saw at work among the bees, I mistook for the common bumble bee, as we call it here, which often enters our hives for honey, and is frequently killed in considerable numbers, by the bees. They bear a close resemblance in size and mark- ings to one species of that bee that is abundant here in the spring, but 1 heir behavior is quite different. I have never seen one of them attempt to enter a hive, and their flight, and, indeed, all their move- ments, are much more rapid than those of the bum- ble bee. They seem to operate in pairs, male and female, I think from their markings, often perched within (S inches of each other, and leisurely devouring their prey. They have a curious habit of remaining poised on the wing, in one spot, for several seconds, their wings vibrating so rapidly as to be almost in- visible, and then darting away so quickly that the | eye fails to follow them. "Thevare very shy, and it is difficult to kill or cap- ture them, except when devouring their prey. I have not been able to ascertain whether they cap- ture the bees upon the wing or not. [Without doubt, they do. A.J.Cook.] It was about the beginning of Sept., when I first noticed them catching bees, though I had seen a great many dead bees with the small holes in then- bodies lying about, all summer; but this, I sup- posed, was the work of ants (the bees being already dead), or of the A. Missouriensis, which are not numer- ous here, or possibly of mosquito hawks, of which we have a great many. But close watching fixes the guilt, beyond a doubt, upon our new acquaintance, and I send him up to tou fully committed. I have, during Sept. and Oct., killed numbers of them, every one in ftanrante delicto, clasping in his foul and deadly embrace one of our "little pets. Hold him up to the obloquy of the whole world. Ex- pose the affairs of his private life remorselessly. Spare him not, but cry aloud and let us know all abotit him. If 1 can secure a pair, I will send them to jou, though it is probably too late to do so this season. A. H. Bbantlv, M. ™ Decatur, Ga., Nov. 14, 1878. I). 14 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Jan. ANSWER BY I'HOF. COOK. Mr. Editor:— You may perhaps remember tliat 1 received last August, through you, from Mr. J. F. Montgomery, of Lincoln, Tenn., an insect which much resembled a bumble bee, with the report that it was waging savage warfare uponhisbees. As the • peeimen was sadly mutilated, I at once wrote to Mr. Montgomery, who kindly sent me four more specimens, with the remark that they were very quick on the wing, and when found at rest, always hud a bee in their fatal grasp. Mr. M. killed these last insects, after strikingthem down with a board, by applying coal oil. This, with the wear and tear in transit, had so injured the spec- imens that I can not give as full a description as 1 should desire. The insects plainly belong to the Family Asilid.v, the same that includes the Miss mri Bee-Killer, Asi- lus Missouriensis, the Nebraska Bee-Killer, Pro- mich'is bastardi, and other predatory insects, sev- eral of which, I regret to sav, have the same evil habit of killing and devouring our friends of the hive. ThQ characters of this family, as given by Loew, one of the greatest authorities on Diptera, or two- winged flie-, are prolonged basal cells of the wings, third longitudinal vein bifurcate, third joint of an- tenna simple, under lip forming a horny sheath, empodium, a projection below and beneath the claws (Fig. 6, c), a horny bristle. Thrl insect in question belongs to Loew's 3d group, Asilina, as the antennae, end in a bristle (Fig. 3), while the second longitudinal vein of the wing (Fig. 4, b) runs into the first (Fig. 4, a). The genus is Mallophora. The venation of the wings much resembles that of the genus Promach- ns, i he same that contains the Nebraska Bee- Killer, though ihe form of these insects is very different. The Nebraska Bee-Killer is A KtVf BBl-KILLBR. long and slim like the Asilus Missouriensis (See Manual of the Apiary, Fig. 108), while the one in question is much like the neuter bumble-bee in form. In Mallophora and Promachus, the venatiou is as represented in Fig. 4, where, as will be seen, the second vein (Fig. 4, b) forks, while in the genus Asilus (Fig. 5), the 3d vein is forked, though in all three genera the third joint of the antenna? (Fig.. 3) ends in a prolonged bristle. The insect, which I am informed by Dr. H. Hagen is Mallophora orcina, Weld, (Fig. IV is 1 inch long, and expands 1*£ inches (Fig. 2). The head (Fig. 3) is broad, the eyes- black and prominent, the antennas 3 jointed, the last joint terminating in a bristle, while the beak is very large, strong, and like the eyes and antennas, coal black. This is mostly concealed by the light yellow hairs, which are crowded thick about.the mouth and between the eyes. The thorax is prominent and thickly set with light yellow hairs. The abdomen is narrow, tapering, and covered with yellow hairs except the tip, which is black. Beneath, the insect is clear black, though there are scattering hairs of a grayish yellow color on the black legs. The pulvilli, or feet pads (Fig. 6, b), are two in number, bright yellow in color, sur- mouuted by strong black claws (Fig. 6, a), while below and between is the sharp spine (Fig. 6, c), tech- nically known as the empodium. I can not give the distinctions which mark the sexes, nor can I throw any light upon the larval con- dition of the insect. The habits of the flies are interesting, if not to our liking. Their flight is like the wind, and perched near the hive, they rush upon the unwary bee re- turning to the hive with its full load of nectar, and grasping it with their hard strong legs, they bear it to some perch near by, when they pierce the crust, suck out the juices, and drop the carcass, and are then ready to repeat the operation. A hole in the bee shows the cause of its sudden taking off. The eviscerated bee is not always killed at once by this rude onslaught, but often can crawl some distance away from where it falls, before it expires. Another insect, Mallophora bomboides, Wied, was lately received from Mr. N. J. Bayard, of Maitland, Florida. Thfs fly might be called a larger edition of the one just described, as in form, habits, and appearance, it closely resembles the other. It belongs to the same genus, possessing all the gen- eric characters already pointed out. Mr. Bayard has witnessed their depredations for some time, but finds it difficult to capture them, as they are so quick and active. This fly is 1 5-16ths inches long, and expands 2!4 inches. The head and thorax are much as in the other species. The wings are very long and strong, and, as in the other species, are of a smoky brown color. The abdomen is short, pointed, concave from side to side on the under surface, while the grayish yellow hairs are abundant on the legs and whole un- der portion of the body. The color is a lighter yel- low than in the other species. These insects are powerfully built, and if they be- come numerous, must prove a formidable enemy to the bees. The insect sent by A. H. Brantly, M. D., of Deca- tur, Ga., though it closely resembles the two just described, is of a different genus. It is the Laphria thoracica of Fabricius. In this genus the 3d vein is forked, and the 3d joint of the antenna is without the bristle, though it is elongated and tapering. The insect is black, with yellow hair covering the upper surface of the 1 horax. The abdomen is wholly black both above and below, though the legs have yellow hairs on the femurs and tibia. This insect belongs to the same family as the oth- ers, and. as will be seen by Dr. Brantley's letter, has the same habit s It is found North as well as South. 1 should be very glad if the gentlemen referred to above and any others would send me a number of specimens of these insects, and of all others which are seen preying upon our bees. Insects may be killed without injury by turning a little benzine up- on them, and by enclosing in a small box, packing closely about them with cotton batting, they may be sent safely in the mails. As they are so light the postage is but very little. Any rubbing removes the hair, and may break off the legs or antenna?, which parts are very necessary in determining the species. A. J. Cook. Agricultural College, Lansing, Mich., Nov. 21, '78. 1879 GfLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. fo ROBBING. Paul says, "TKe'Jove of money is the root of all evil." I should be inclined to state it in this way; the disposi- tion to get money without rendering an equivalent, is the root of all evil. Well, the root of a great many evils, in bee-keeping, is the disposition of the bees to gain honey without rendering any equivalent. Some one of our ABC class has said that he found bees making visits to over 100 clover heads, before they obtained a load sufficient to car- ry to their hives. I think it very likely, that during a great part of the season, a bee will be absent a full hour, or it may be, during unfavorable spells, as much as two hours, in obtaining a single load. Is it at all strange, that a bee, after having labored thus hard during the fore part of the day, should, in the afternoon, take a notion to see if he could not make a living in some easier way? Would he be very much worse than many types of humanity V Well, as he passes around to other hives, he catches the per- fume of the clover honey they have gathered in a like manner, and by some sort of an op- eration in his little head, he figures out that if he could abstract some of this, unper- ceived, and get it safely into his own hive, he would be so much the gainer. I presume he has no sort of care, whether these other folks die of starvation or not. That is no concern of his, at all. With all of their wonderful instincts, I have n^ver been able to gather that the bees of one hive ever have any spark of solicitude as to the welfare of their neighbors. If, by loss of a queen, the population of any hive becomes weak, and the bees too old to de- fend their stores, the very moment the fact is discovered by other swarms, they rush in and knock down the sentinels, with the most perfect indifference, plunder the ruined home of its last bit of provision, and then rejoice in their own home, it may be but a yard away, while their defrauded neighbors are so weak from starvation, as to have fallen to the bottom of the hives, being only just able to feebly attempt to crawl out at the en- trance. Had it been some of their own Hock, the case would have been very differ- ent indeed'; for the first bee of a starving col- ony will carry food around to his comrades, as soon as he has imbibed enough of the food furnished to have the strength to stagger to them. Well, suppose the bee mentioned above, in prowling around in the afternoon or some • other time, should find a colony so weak, or so careless, that he could slip in unobserved, and get a load from some of the unsealed cells, and get out again. After he has passed the sentinels outside, he will usually run but little danger from those inside, for they seem to take it for granted that every bee inside is one of their number. There is danger though, for should he betray too great haste in repairing to the combs of honsy, they will often suspect something ; so he assumes an indifference he is far from feeling, and loi- ters about very much as if he was at home, and finally, with a very well assumed air of one who thinks he will take a lunch, he goes to the cells, and commences to fill up. Very often, when he gets pretty well 'podded out" with his load, some bee approaches, appar- ently to see if all is right. When the robber once gets his head into a cell, however, he seems to have lost all sense or reason, and if he is discovered at this st ige to b.1 a stranger and a thief, he is often pounced upon and stung with very little ceremony. How do they know a stranger from one of their own number, where there are so many? It is said, they know by the sense of smell ; this may be the principal means of distinguish- ing strangers from their own number, but I think they depend greatly on the actions and behavior of a bee, much as we do when judg- ing of the responsibility of a man who asks to be trusted. We can give a very good guess, simply by his air or manner, or even by the sort of a letter he writes. If a robber is sus- pected, and a bee approaches for the purpose of satisfying himself, it is a very critical mo- ment, and one becomes intensely interested in watching the performance. The robber will stand his ground, if he is an old hand, and permit himself to be looked over with a wonderful indifference, but one who has watched such scenes closely will detect a certain uneasiness, and a disposition to move slowly toward the entrance, that he may he the better aide to get out quickly, when he discovers things to be too hot for him inside. If the bee who fust suspects him concludes he is an interloper, he begins to bite him, and grab hold of his wings to hold on until others can come to help. The thief has now two chances to escape, and sometimes he seems meditating winch to adopt; one is to brave it out until they shall perhaps let him alone, and then slip out unobserved. The other is to break away, and trust to his heels and wings. The latter plan is the one gen- erally adopted, unless he is a very old and "hardened sinner" in the business. One who has been many times in such scrapes will usually get away, by the latter plan, by 16 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Jan. an adroit series of twists, turns, and tum- bles, even though three or four bees have hold of him at once. Some of these fellows. by a sudden and unexpected dash, will liber- ate themselves in a manner that is also won- derful, and then, as if to show their audaci- ty, will wheel about and come back close to the noses of their retainers of a minute be- fore. But in case the bee gets his load, and makes his way out unobserved, he gets home very quickly, you may be sure, and under the influence of this new passion for easily replenishing his hive with the coveted sweets, he rushes out with a vehemence nev- er known under any other circumstances. Back he goes and repeats the operation, with several of his comrades at his heels. Does he tell them where to go V I wish to digress enough here to say, that I do not believe in a so called language among bees, or animals in general, further than certain simple sounds which they utter, and which we may learn to interpret almost, if not quite, as well as they do. When a bee comes into the hive in such unusual haste, podded out with his load in a way also rather unusual where it is obtained from ordinary stores, his comrades at once notice it, and either from memory or instinct, they are suddenly seized with the same kind of passion and excitement. Those who have had experience at the gambling table, or in wild speculations of other kinds, can understand the fierce and reckless spirit that stirs these little fellows. Patent hives illustrate the matter very well. A man who afterwards became editor of a bee journal once held up before my untutored eyes, a right to make a patent hive, saying : "Mr. Root, I get $o.00 for these rights, and they do not cost me more than the paper they are printed on— less than half a cent apiece." The idea that fto.OO bills could be picked up in that way, compared with the slow way I was in the habit of earning them, so im- pressed itself on my mind that I could hard- ly sleep nights ; but after I had taken that amount from several of my friends and neighbors for the "right," I concluded that money without a clear conscience is not just the thing after all. Can we blame the poor bees, for being so much human? Well, the bees, when they see a comrade return in the way mentioned, seem to know without any verbal explanation, that the plunder is sto- len. Anxious to have "a finger in the pie," they tumble out of the hive, and look about, and perhaps listen, too, to find where the spoil is to be had. If they have, at any for- mer time, been robbing any particular hive, they will repair at once to that ; but if it is found well guarded, those used to the busi- ness will proceed to examine every hive in the apiary. As an illustration of the way in which they communicate, or rather observe the movements of each other, see account of bees getting into the honey house, given in POLLEN. Of course, they have particular notes, as of joy, sorrow, anger, despair, etc., which are produced by the wings, usually when on the wing, but I am quite sure they are unable to communicate to each other more than a sin- gle idea. In other words, they have no fac- ulty of telling their fellows that a lot of hon- ey is to be had in a feeder at the entrance, and that it would better be brought in quick- ly, or other bees may find it. A bee goes out in the spring, and by smelling around the buds, discovers honey and pollen ; when he comes into the hive, the others see it and start out, and hunt it up in a similar way. For more on this subject, see swarming. If you will turn back and read anger of bees, you will get a very good idea of the causes that start bees to robbing. Read al- so, bee-hunting, feeding, etc. As a gen- eral thing, bees will never rob so long as plenty of honey is to be had in the fields. During a bountiful flow, I have tried in vain to get bees to take any notice of honey left around the apiary. At such times, we can use the extractor right in the open air, close to the sides of the hives, if need be. On one occasion, I remember leaving a comb of un- sealed honey on the top of a hive, from morn- ing until noon, and not a bee had touched it. It seems, they preferred to go to the clo- ver fields, in the regular way, rather than to take several pounds from the top of a neigh- boring hive. I can readily suppose that they did not have to visit anything like a hundred blossoms at this time, and perhaps they se- cured a load in going to not more than a half dozen. Such a state of affairs is not very usual in our locality. We have very few days during the season, when it would be safe to use the extractor for a whole day in the open air ; the bees will generally learn to follow the freshly uncapped combs about, and that it is easier than going to the fields. The first indication of robbing which you will have, will probably be the cool and wicked way of stinging, that I have de- scribed in ANGER OF BEES. After the season begins to fail, you may expect that every colony in your apiary will T8T9 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. IT be tried. As a rule, any fair colony will have sentinels posted to guard the entrance, as soon as there is a need of any such pre- cautions. The bee that presumes to think he may enter for plunder will be led off by "the ear," if I may so express it, and this will be repeated, until he learns that there is no chance for speculation at that house. At the close of the honey harvest, we should be sure that there are no feeble hives that may be overpowered, for one such may start the fashion of robbing, and make it a much harder matter to control this propensity. An apiary, like a community, may getsode- | moralized, that thieving becomes a univer- sal mania. "A stitch in time will save1' a great many more than nine, in this case. Be ' sure that each colony has the entrance con- tracted, and, in fact, the space occupied by the bees also, in proportion to their num- bers. Give them only so many combs as they can cover, if you wish them to defend them properly, from either moths or robbers. A colony without either queen or brood is not apt to fight for their stores very vigor- ously, so it will be well to see that they have either one or both, should there be an attack made on them. It is hardly necessary to re- peat what has been said about Italians be- ing better to defend their stores than the common bees. A dozen Italians will often defend a hive better than a whole swarm of black bees. COLONIES THAT WILL MAKE NO DEFENSE. Although this is contrary to the rule when the queen and number of bees are all right, yet such cases do sometimes come up. I have found that colonies which have been wintered in-doors are most liable to get into that peculiar state, where they will allowr bees from other colonies to come in and help themselves without molestation, yet it is not always the case. When they cannot be stirred up so as to show a particle of spunk or resentment, the temptation is sometimes very strong to say, "It is good enough for them; they ought to starve." This might be gratifying to one's feelings for the time, but on the whole, it would not pay. I have cured them of it, in various ways; some- times by giving them some good lighting bees from another hive, and sometimes they got over it themselves after being shut up a while. I have tried scenting the robbers with some strong odor, like camphor or pep- permint. Do this just at night, and by the next morning, the bees from each colouy have an odor so distinct, that the sentinels have no trouble in telling their own bees from the others. This has seemed to an- swer, but as they might have been all right anyway, I am not quite certain that chang- ing the scent was the cause of the cure. Contracting the entrance and closing all cracks and crevices are always very import- ant in stopping robbers. HOW TO STOP ROBBERS. It depends a great deal on what particular stage of proceedings they have reached. If they are fighting briskly, and stinging one occasionally, they will usually take care of themselves, if there are plenty of bees in- side, and their entrance is contracted. I have known the robbers to get up so early on a cool morning that th? regular inmates were not stirring, and before they were roused, and could put a stop to it, the rob- bers had quite a lively "trade" started. This is a bad fashion for an apiary to learn, but it will usually cure itself, if the colonies are all strong. If the bees are going in and out very rapidly, and running over the sen- tinels in a way indicating that they are over- powered, you must shut up the hive at once. Now be sure you shut it up so it will stay. Putting blocks before the entrance is of but little use, for the united strength of the rob- bers will move quite a heavy weight, slid- ing the hive back, as wre do the Simplicity, is about the safest way whieh I know, of closing the entrance just as you want it, and having it stay. Now be -sure you re- member the caution I am going to give you in regard to this. Should the hive be stand- ing in the sun, during a very hot day. and be full of bees, they would be very likely to smother, without a good deal of air. There are several ways of preventing bees from smothering, when the hive is closed, and a very common one is to give them air, by means of an opening closed with wire cloth. Unless this is quite large, they will often pack so densely over it, as to exclude every particle of air. and thus defeat its pur- pose. If an upper story can be put on, and tins covered witli wire cloth, it will do very well, but even then the robbers inside make such a fuss as to call the robbers outside to them, and keep up a disturbance in the api- ary all day. But a still worse objection is that the robbers will sometimes make an ar- rangement with those inside, by which they will pass the honey out, and thus clean out the hive, in time, as effectually as if they were allowed admittance. Our neighbor, Shaw, used a double wire cloth, with a half inch space between the sheets, for his small nucleus hives, just to prevent this kind of IS GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. JAN. sharp practicing. I have several times seen hees pass honey through the wire cloth in this way, but have always stopped the fun, before the insiders had passed it all out. A correspondent in the Jan. Gleanings for 1879. gives an instance, where the whole of the honey was handed out to the robbers, leaving the insiders so destitute that they actually starved to death, the whole of them. These fellows, it seems, were a little too Sharp, and in their greed for ill gotten gains, rather overstepped themselves. Well, if we cannot give them ventilation through wire cloth, what shall we do? I Would let the robbers out, without letting any of the outsiders in ; I generally do this by brushing away, with a little bunch of as- paragus tops, all the bees which are around the entrance, and then keeping them away until all get out that wish to. You can then close the hive with very little danger. If the colony is a large one (it is very seldom a large colony is caught being robbed), you would better shade the hive, to be on the safe side. It will also be a good idea to set on an upper story, and let them go up into that. If you have got the robbers all out, it will often do to give them their liberty the next morning, but if they will not defend them- selves then, I would shut them up and let them remain 3 days. By this time, all the bees that remained in the hive, or a large part of them, even if they are robbers, will adhere to the stand as if it had always been their own. I hardly know why this is, for a bee remembers things that happened several weeks before. Perhaps they get interested in the ways of their new home, and conclude to cast their lots there. I know that bees remember more than 3 days, because I once carried a stock away to a swamp and kept them there about a month. When I brought them back, I placed them on a new stand, and jostled them a little in opening the en- trance. At this they sallied out in quite a body, but when they tried to return to their hive, they all went directly to their old stand. Bees have been known to do the same, after being in a bee house over winter. After a colony has been confined a day or two, because they would not repel robbers, I woidd let them out just about sundown, and watch them closely. To be on the safe side, you would better get up next morning be- fore they begin to fly, and see if they are all right. It sometimes puzzles beginners ex- ceedingly, to know whether the bees that come out are robbers, or the ordinary in- mates of the hive. HOW TO KNOW ROBBER BEES. A robber bee, when he approaches a hive, has a sly, guilty look, and flies with his legs spread in rather an unusual way, as if he wanted to be ready to use his heels as well as wings, if required. lie will move cau- tiously up to the entrance, and quickly dodge back, as soon as he sees a bee coming toward him. If he is promptly grabbed for, as soon as he attempts to go in, you need have but little fear. If a bee goes in and you cannot well tell whether he was a robber or not, you must keep a close watch on the bees that come out. This is a very sure way of telling when robbers have got a start, even at its first commencement. A bee, in going to the fields, comes out leisurely, and takes wing with but little trouble, because he has no load. His body is also slim, for he has no honey with him. A bee that has stolen a load, is generally very plump and full, and as he comes out, he has a hurried and guilty look; besides, he is almost always wiping his mouth, like a man who has just come out of a beer shop. Most of all, he finds it a little difficult to take wing, as bees ordinarily do, because of the weight. In bee hunting, I told you how a bee laden with thick undilut- ed honey, would stagger several times under his load, before he could take wing for his final trip home. Well, the bee when he comes out of the hive with the honey he has very likely just uncapped, feels instinctively that he will be quite apt to tumble unless he can take wing from some elevated position, and therefore he crawls up the side of the hive before he launches out. When he first takes wing, he falls a little by the weight of his load, before he has his wings fully under control, and therefore instead of starting out as a bee ordinarily does, he takes a down- ward curve, coming quite near the ground, before he rises safely and surely. With a little practice, you can tell a robber at a glance, by his way of coming out of the hive, particularly, by that fashion of running up the side of the hive before taking wing, in the way I have mentioned. As soon as you find bees coming out of the hive loaded, shut it up at once. If there are not many of them, there will be no danger of suffocation. It is the bees gorged with honey that are most apt to suffocate, for they are much like an individual who has eaten too large a dinner, and they cannot stand close confinement. When near suffocation, they will disgorge the honey, and the quantity is often sufficient to wet the whole mass almost as thoroughly, as if they had been dipped in honey. The 18?9 GLEANINGS IX BEE CULTUKE. 19 heat given off by the clamp crowd is often so great as to melt down the combs into a sticky mass, and when touched by the hand, it oft- en feels almost scalding hot. The bees soon die in this condition, for their breathing pores are closed, and unless they can be speedily licked off by other bees, or washed, they will be "no good." If they are found in this condition, with life enough to move, they may be saved by giving them to clean bees to lick off, but they should be confined so that they cannot readily crawl out of the hive in the dirt ; they will always do this if they can, for they seem to consider them- selves of no use, and like any ailing bee, try to get off out of the way of those that are healthy and well. I have often saved almost every one, by dipping a teacupful, or even a pint, with a spoon, and placing them right over the frames of a strong colony. If you do not give each hive too many at once, they will soon clean them off as bright as them- selves. Letting the outside robbers get at the mass will do, but it may result in more trouble, unless you are master of your busi- ness. One of our feminine friends reported a short time ago, saving such a colony, by washing the bees in warm water, and then drying them in the sun, in a box covered with wire cloth. HOW TO TELL WHERE THE ROBBERS BE- LONG. If you are a bee hunter, you will probably line them to their hive without any trouble, but if you are not, you can easily find from which hive they come, by sprinkling them with flour, as they come out of the hi ve being robbed. Now watch the other hives, and see where you find the floured bees going in. I can generally tell in a very few moments, by the excited actions of the robbers, already mentioned. It has been often recommended that the combs be broken and the honey set running in the robbers' hive, that they may be induced to stay at home ; this will some- times check them, but as these colonies are almost always extra spry and active, they will have things fixed up in a trice, and be out at their old trade again. In trying to people our house apiary, in the fall, when it was first built, I had a great deal of trouble with one certain colony. In fact, if any rob- bing was going on anywhere, it was sure to lie these hybrids who were at the bottom of the mischief. After I had tried every plan I had heard recommended, and still these fel- lows would persist in pushing into every new colony I started, the idea occurred to me that, on the principle that it takes a rogue to catch a rogue, it would be well to try and see how they would repel robbers. I simply took the greater part of the combs from the robbers, bees and all, and carried them into the house apiary, and put them in place of the colony which they had been robbing. The effect was instantaneous. Every laden robber bee that came home with his load, on finding the queen and brood gone, at once showed the utmost consternation, and the passion for robbing was instantly changed to grief and moaning for the lost home. The weak colony which they had been robbing, and which had only a queen cell, was placed with them, and they soon took up with it, and went to work. The robbers newly dom- iciled in the house apiary, repelled all invad- ers* with such energy and determination, that the rest seemed to abandon the idea which they, doubtless, had previously formed, viz., that the house apiary was a monster hive but illy garrisoned, and I had but little trouble afterward. Before I swapped them, as I have mentioned, I had serious thoughts of destroying the queen, simply because they were such pests; but the year afterward, this colony gave me in the house apiary, over 100 lbs. of comb honey. SWAPPING COLONIES TO STOP ROBBING. The practice of swapping colonies is not always a very safe one, on several accounts, although an experienced, or a careful hand, will often make it serve an excellent pur- pose. Sometimes the queen of the weaker colony may be attacked and destroyed, and again bees from other hives may strike in, and both being demoralized by the unexpect- ed transition, and unfitted to repel intruders, robbing may be started on a much larger scale than before. Instead of exchanging hives and all, I think by far the better way is to leave the hives on their old stand, and simply exchange the greater part of the combs, with the bees adhering. With the fingers between each two combs, with both hands, we can raise four combs with all the adhering bees, and carry them all together. If done in this way, enough of the original inmates will be left in the strong hive to pro- tect it, and enough will also be carried to the weaker hive to make it perfectly safe. The queen of the stronger hive will be in no dan- ger, but the queen of the weaker one may have to be caged, although I have seldom found this necessary. WHAT HAPPENS IF ROBBING IS NOT STOP- PED. Well, when the work is under real head- way, the honey of a strong colony will disap- 20 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Jan. pear in from 2 to 12 hours ; the bees will then starve in the hive, or go home with the pil- lagers, or scatter about and die. This is not all ; when the passion is fully aroused, they will not hesitate to attack the strongest stocks, and you will find your bees stung to death in heaps, before the entrances. This may, after a spell, put a stop to it, but I have seen them push ahead until every hive in the apiary was in an uproar, and it seemed as if every bee had gone crazy, sure. At such times, the robbers will attack passers by, in the streets, and even venture an attack on cats, dogs, aye, and hens and turkeys too. Like the American Indians when infuriated at the sight of blood, every bee seems to have a demoniacal delight in selling his life, by inflicting all the torments he possibly can, and feels sad because he cannot do any more mischief. The account below, taken from page 224 of Gleanings for 1877, illustrates very vividly what I have tried to describe. I send you a paper, the Valley Herald, published at i our county seat, which has a little article on "Bees on a Rampage." I would be glad to hear your views on the subject. What caused those bees to act so, ! &c? John W. Hoodenpyle. Looney's Creek, Tenn., July 10, 1877. BEES ON A RAMPAGE. Mr. Elisha Tate, who lives some tifteen miles from | this place on the head of Battle Creek, met with j quite a singular misfortune on the 19th inst. He has, or did have at that time, about twenty hives of bees, and on that day, while all were away from the ] house except a daughter and the baby, the bees be- . came mad from some cause or other, left the hives in I large swarms and commenced to sting every living j thing on the place. They attacked the daughter, j who fled from the house, leaving the babe on the bed. A fine jack was stung to death in the stable; j all the chickens were killed, and a sheep, that was ] around the house, was stung so badly on the nose that that organ swelled to huge dimensions, causing death by suffocation. The cries of the daughter brought Mr. Tate to the house, and he proceeded to rescue his babe, which he found literally covered with bees; and we understand that it was with great difficulty that its life was saved. Mr. T. attempted to destroy the bees at night by piling fodder on the hives and setting fire to it, but it only served to again arouse them and they attacked the family and compelled them to abandon their house and go to a neighbor's. No one can account for the strange occurrence. Some think that a snake must have visited the hives, as it is known that bees have the greatest an- tipathy toward snakes. In all probability, the account is consider- ably exaggerated, as such things usually are before they get into the papers, but it affords an excellent lesson nevertheless on the re- sults of letting bees get into a habit of rob- bing each other, or of finding honey scattered about the premises. I tried, in anger of bees, to illustrate it, but the above does it still better. The worst season seems to be after basswood is over, and the bees seem to get especially crazy, if they even get a smell of this aromatic honey left carelessly about the hives. One who has never seen such a state of affairs, can have but little idea of the furious way in which they sting every- thing and everybody. The remedy is to get a kettle of coals and put in enough chips or sawdust to make a "big smoke ;" carry this out among the hives and proceed to close every hive that shows any symptoms of be- ing robbed. Shut up every bit of honey where not a bee can get at it, and do your work well, for at such times they will wedge into, and get through, cracks that would make one think inch boards were hardly pro- tection enough. Just before dark, let all the robbers go home, and be up betimes next morning to see that all entrances are close and small, and that all the hives are bee tight. An experienced hand will restore peace and quietness in a very short time, in such a demoralized apiary. Black bees are much worse than Italians, for the latter will usually hold their stores against any number of assailants ; good, strong, well made hives, filled with Italians, with plenty of brood in each, will be in little danger of any such "raids,'' although we have seen the wounded and slain piled up in heaps before robbers would desist and give up trying to force an entrance. The love of honey, my friends, is by far more potent than "snakes'' in demoralizing an apiary. I do not think bees have any par- ticular enmity to them. There is one more point ; if in uncapping drone brood, or in cutting out brood to rear queens, you leave the cappings or bits of comb scattered about, the bees will get a taste of the milky fluid and juices of the brood, and it seems to craze them worse than j honey even, if that is possible. Below is a letter illustrating it. CROSS BEES. I had some of the crossest bees this summer that were ever heard of. They would fight the top of a stovepipe that runs up through a shed roof; there would be 50 or 100 bees at once, just whackine- against that pipe, and very many fell into it and burned to death. They would dive into my smoke- pan, and burn up in that, and sting folks along the road. What the cause was I could not imagine, but at last I happened to think. I had been destroying1 drone brood, and when it was in a milky state I could not shake it out of the combs; the bees would eat it and it just made them crazy and ugly. Well, 1 always want to be sure about anything, so 1 left it off for awhile and they became peaceable again. On again giving them access to the milky brood, the same result followed. I suppose you will laugh, but I am well satisfied that this and this only, was the cause of the fierceness of the bees. D. Gardner. Carson City, Mich., Nov. 9, 1877. PREVENTION OF ROBBING. Beginners are very apt to say that the bees must rob some, that there is no such thing as preventing it absolutely. They say honey will get daubed about, on the door knobs, on the posts, and on the ground, and that it can- not be helped ; that the bees will rob after 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 21 the honey yield has ceased, for they will crowd into the hives when they are opened to cut out queen cells, etc. Is this so. my friends? To be sure it is not. You can hue your honey house as clean as your kitchen, and you can have every particle of honey cleaned up. You can have a wash basin and cloth, and just the moment a drop falls, you can. if you hive a mind to, get right down on your knees and clean it up. You can not afford to take so much time? I verily believe it will take less time to have everything neat, and always in place, than it will to have such scenes of disorder. I could sit down and cry, many times, if I thought it would do any good, to see young people defeat themseh as, and make themselves un- happy too, by their h • >dless. careless way of doing things. Is it because they have not been trained differently? Perhaps so. and perhaps experience is the best teacher. Ex- perience is a very slow teacher, and I would like to stir you all up. and have you get along faster in habits of neatness, for I know you all admire a neat apiary nearly, if not quite, as much as I do. A GREAT DISCOVERY. I have often, when beset by robbers du- ring some experiment I wanted to make in the fall of the year, longed for some place where I could carry a single hive, where it would be entirely free from bees of other hives. I first thought of some spot in the country, where there were no bees within a couple of miles, but as such a soot would be difficult to find here, I thought of a wire cloth house; but then, you know, t'n bees of my one hive would tiy against fi > wires, and so that would not be free from difficul- ties either. I have before mentioned my troubles in trying to people the house apiary, in the fall. Queens were already hatched in the lamp nursery, and unless the colonies were divided at once, so as to make use of them, all would be lost. The surplus combs for making these late swarms were in the upper stories, and the robbers knew it; for no soner was a cap raised than they were on hand, and before I could get the brood combs to g ) with them (I found that the bees would not adhere even to their own combs, unless soni ■ of them contained unsealed brood), a smart traffic would be under way. It came night, and my hives and queens were in all sorts of bad shapes. I was glad to have it come night, I assure you, for I longed for the time when the robbers would be com- pelled, by the gathering darkness, to go home. I presume many of you have had cause to repent trying to work with bees when it began to grow dark, but I got the idea into my head that, with some good lamps with nice shades on them, I could do my work in the evening. I went at once and got a lamp, and walked around the apiary, viewing the inmates of the different hives, that were clustered out at the entrances, humming merrily, I presume in remem- brance of the rich loads they had but an hour before snatched from me. Scarcely a bee- took wing, and I then ventured to open a hive. With the lamp on one of the posts of the trellis, I found I could handle the bees almost as well as in daylight, and to my in- tense relief, not a bee would leave his hive, no matter how many combs were held tempt- ingly under their very noses. I went to work, divided my hives, caught the queens, and even handled vicious hybrids, with less stings than I could possibly have got along with in the daytime. As I passed again and ; again the hives of the robbers who were clus- tered out viewing proceedings, I could hard- : ly resist the temptation to place my thumb at the side of my nose, to let them know how much I enjoyed having completely outwitted them. The last hive in the house apiary was filled, unsealed brood and a queen cell given to all, and all were fixed so that they could repel robbers by morning, without trouble. i Of course, I had a good smoker, and this did much towards preventing them from taking wing. If the lamps were placed very near the bees, occasionally a bee would buzz against the light, but when placed off at a distance of 6 or 8 feet, they rarely approached it. I have extracted honey, late in the fall, ' by moonlight, when it would have been im- possible to do it in the daytime, on account ' of the robbers. There is a kind of pillaging called borrow- ing, where the bees from one hive will go quietly into another, and carry away its stores as fast as gathered ; but this usually happens where the robbed stock is queenless, or has an unfertile queen. As soon as they have eggs and brood, they begin to realize what the end of such work will be. This state of affairs seldom goes on a great while. It either results in downright robbing, or the bees themselves put a stop to it. Caution to beginners. — The first year I kept bees, I was in constant fear that they would get to robbing, as I had read so much about it in the books. One afternoon in May, I saw a large number of bees passing rapidly out and in, at a particular hive, and the more I examined them the more I was 22 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Jan. persuaded that they were being robbed. I contracted the entrance, but it seemed to make little difference ; I finally closed it al- most entirely, compelling the bees to squeeze out and in, in a way that must have been quite uncomfortable , at least. After awhile , they calmed down, and we had only the or- dinary number of bees going out and in. "There," thought I, "if I had not read the hooks and known how, I might have lost my bees," and I presume I felt very wise, if I did not look so. On turning my head, behold the robbers were at another colony, and they had to be put through the same programme; then another, and another; and I concluded a host of robbers had come from somewhere, and made a raid on my apiary, and that had I not been on hand, the whole of them would have been ruined. I had got very nervous and fidgetty, and when I found the whole performance repeated the next day, I began to think bee-culture a very trying pursuit. Well, in due course of time, I figured out that there was no robbing at all, but that it was just the young bees taking their after- noon play spell. Since then, I do not know how many of the ABC class have gone through the same, or a similar experience, and it is but a few days since I saw our min- ister and his wife out by a hive, closing it up, to stop the robbers that were making a raid on it. On my suggesting that they were mistaken, they replied, "Why, the air was full of them, and we could see them circling about away up in the air," proving conclu- sively to me, that it was the young bees play- ing, as I have said before. The directions I have given for distinguishing robbing bees from the ordinary inmates of the hive, will enable you to tell whether it is playing or robbing ; but, as the books had not described the afternoon play spell that young bees al- ways take in suitable weather, I was some- what excusable. B.AFE (Brassica). This plant is a near relative of the turnip, cabbage, mustard etc. All of them yield honey largely, where' grown in sufficient quantities. As rape is the only one of which the seed is utilized for purposes other than for increase, it should play a prominent part on the honey farm. It would seem, in fact, that it is almost the only plant that should stand beside buck- wheat, or rather perhaps above it, for the honey from the rape is very much superior to buckwheat honey. The great drawback is the lack of hardiness of the young plants, when they first come up. In our locality, the black flea is almost sure to eat the ten- der green leaves when they first make their appearance. Our neighbors have several times tried considerable fields of it, but though it would come up nicely, this flea would take off almost every plant. In other localities, we have had reports of bountiful crops of seed, and honey enough so that the bees worked beautifully in the surplus re- cepticles. Like buckwheat, it commences to blossom when quite small, and continues in bloom until the plant has gained its full height. As it will bloom in 20 days after sowing, it may be sowed almost any time in the simmer; but it is said to escape the rav- ages of the flea best, when sown between the ;X)i.h of June, and the first of July. The ground should be very finely pulverized, for the seeds are very small. It is sown broad- cast, 3 lbs. of seed to the acre. There is a steady and good demand for the seed, for feeding" canary birds, as well as for the man- ufacture of oil. Bee-keepers should contrive to induce seedsmen to have all these seeds raised near them, or on their own grounds. Dealers in bird seed should also be furnished in the same way, for these things are often raised in large quantities, where there are few, if any, bees to gather the honey. From what I have said on pollen, you will understand that both parties would be benefitted by the arrangement. RASIV ERRY Where this fruit is raised largely for the market, it is quite an important honey plant; but it would hardly be advisable to think Oil raising it for honey alone. The bees work on it closely in our locality, but we have not enough of it to judge of the honey. If bee-keepers and growers of small fruits could manage to lo- cate near each other, it woidd probably be an advantage to both. Langstroth says of the raspberry honey: "In flavor, it is supe- rior to that from white clover, while its deli- cate comb almost melts in the mouth. AVhen it is in blossom, bees hold even white clover in light esteem. Its drooping blos- soms protec t the honey from moisture, and they work upon it when the weather is so wet they can obtain nothing from the up- right blossoms of the white clover." In our locality, it comes in bloom just af- ter fruit blossoms, and just before clover, so that large fields of it would be a great acqui- sition indeed. RATAN This plant has been several times spoken of by our southern friends, and it is probably quite an important honey plant. Some seed has been sent me, but no plants have as yet been raised. I will give farther reports, as soon as I can. 1S79 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 28 From Different Fields. A QTJEBB BEE TREE. PJIHIS has been a good season for bees in this lo I cality. I started with 2 hives in spring anc and increased to St, partly by artificial swarm- ing, and partly from bee-trees, and took 212 lbs. of honey. As they were nearly all young swarms, they had just about time to build up for winter, so that most of the honey was from the old stocks, one of which gave 100 lbs. of honey besides about 30 lbs. left for winter, and one new swarm. One young swarm gave 42 lbs. I purchased 2, dollar queens in June, and introduced them to young swarms, by taking frames of brood and bees from other hives, and putting into empty ones, and putting queens in with them. From one of my Italian queens, I raised two young queens, which mated with black drones, so that I now have 2 Italian, 2 hybrid and 5 black swarms. I made all my hives by hand, but I find it rather slow work. We have the queerest bee-tree here I have ever heard of. Early this summer, a swarm of bees took up their abode in one of the castings of the iron bridge which crosses the river at this point, on the I. C. K. K. It is a casting almost as large as a cook-stove, and hollow inside. The converging rods and braces enter here and are fastened, there is a cavity inside, which they have appropriated with- out asking leave of anyone. Did you ever hear of such a queer bee-tree? J. R. Young. Oglesby, Ills., Dec. 9, 1878. A FRAME FEEDER. I wrote you some time ago, about my idea of a feeder, which was to take a wide frame, such as you use for sections, and to box with light stuff, say \& to nK thick, from the bottom to within 2 inches of the top. Fill it with sugar, and hang it in the hive as you would an ordinary frame. Should the bees manifest any disinclination to eat the sugar, just pour in a pint of water and they will soon put it all away. This I prefer to the trouble and annoyance of making candy, syrup, etc. When I wrote you before, I had not given the above a trial, but since then, I have done so with perfect success. This same feeder can be made tight enough to hold hon- ey or syrup, by waxing the seams, and in this case, Iuse afloat which will fit in easily, but not too small, to keep the bees from drowning or getting daubed up. Try this, and when you do, make the feeder of tin which will be still better than wood. New Orleans, La., Dec. 11, '78. Geo. W. Palfrey. The plan given above is not entirely new. The moistened sugar will do very well with one who is careful, but with the average A B C scholar, bees would be drowned, the trough get to leaking, and I fear it would prove to much machinery. If left in the hive, a comb would be pretty sure to be built inside of it. I am not much in favor of feeders to hang in the brood chamber, for they are so sure to be forgotten and left. QUEENS FOUND ON THE BOTTOM BOARD, AND WIN- TERING WITHOUT A QUEEN. My father-in-law. in moving his bees into the house to-day, found the queen of one of his best swarms, on the bottom board, on a chunk of snow, chilled. He took her into the house, she came to, crippled around a while and died. The swarm is a strong one, but has no brood or eggs; what will be- come of them? Can ho get a queen from you now? Will the bees all die before warm weather? If a queen could be got through, he would send for one. If the s warm will live without a queen till spring, he will wait and get an Italian of you. Arcadia, Wis.. Dec. 9. '78. E. A. Morgan. There is very little doubt but that the queen found on the bottom board was a su- perannuated one, and that a young and heal- thy one is in the hive. There would be no eggs and brood in the hive any way, at this time of the year, nor would you readily find the queen on account of her small size now, as I have explained before. Even should they winter without a queen, it will do no harm. When spring opens, I think you will find eggs and brood, all right; if you do not, give them a frame of brood and see if they start queen cells. If they do, procure a queen for them then, or let them rear one, as soon as she can be fertilized. If the first one they raise proves a drone layer, kill her, and have them try again. SALT EOR BEES. I placed an old salt barrel (I mean one which had contained salt for some time) on its side, on some stones, in a small creek which passes about seven rods to the north of my apiary. It was placed to one side of the creek, where the water scarcely moves, with open end to the south, and a little ele- vated. The barrel was lowered just enough to let the water rise an inch or two in the deepest place, while it was very shallow around the edges. By throwing in a few floats, not many bees will be lost. They came to this in large numbers, and in cold, clear days, would dart from their homes to this wa- tering place, and seemed to enjoy loading up in the sun, while it was cold and windy outside. I am quite sure that this arrangement was a decided ad- vantage to the bees, furnishing salt, water, and pro- tection. I have tried salt in different ways, and think that salt water for bees must be quite weak to suit their taste. S. T. Pettit. Belmont P. O., Ont., Canada, Dec. 13th, 1878. Last spring, I noticed that my bees were taking water from where salty dishwater had been thrown out. I then sawed off the bottom of a tight salt bar- rel about six inches from the head, put in it one pail of water, one handful of salt, and some sticks of wood for the bees to light on to keep them from drowning, and set it near where they were working. The dish was crowded with bees from spring until fall, a continual string coming and going on all days when the weather would permit. It is very essential that the water should contain the right amount of salt, and I think every one should furnish their bees salt in a similar manner. By so doing, we may save them the flight of miles in search of it, and oven then they might fail to get the needed quantity. Euclid, O., Dec. 13th, '78. F. C. White. I find that my bees will use neither dry salt nor strong brine, but that they collect, with eagerness, the dew from the grass where briny fluids have been sprinkled. This shows that they want their salt in the form of a very weak brine. The bee-keeper can supply this by filling with water, barrels that have contained brine; such as fish barrels. These should have floats placed in them for the bees to rest on while collecting the water; the best floats for this purpose are made by sawing slits in boards, as de- scribed by Mr. Langstroth. E. M. Hayhurst. Kansas City, Mo., Dec. 13th, 1878. Just take a fish keg, brine and all, fill it up with water, and set it near where your bees water, and if your bees are like mine, it will be literally covered directly. A. B. Smith. Atlanta, Ga., Dec. 12th, 1878. KING BIRD NOT GUILTY. You ask for evidence in favor of the king bird, and as I have some evidence which may be in its fa- vor, I will make it known. Last June, on different days, in the afternoon, when the bees were flying briskly, I could see the king birds catching them, so I shot at different times four birds, and found their gizzards crammed full of drones, and no othes bees among them. Years before this, I have shot as niany as one dozen when they were perched near my bees, and I never before could find a bee within them, but they were usually filled with various kinds of insects. F. C. White. Euclid, Cuyahoga Co. O. Dec, 12th, '78. Your experience is quite different from others, friend W. I should be very glad in- deed to hear it was only drones they catch. 24 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Jan. BEE CULTURE IN THE SOUTH. I never see in Gleanings anything from Ala., and but little from any State South. Is it because bee culture does not prove profitable South? I know many here who have attempted it, and in a few years given it up. It seems that in a land of mild winters, and flowers from March to Nov., they would prove a success; but judging from the expe- rience of others, failure, from some cause, seems to result. Now, will you please give us your experience and views in full, on bee culture in the South, to aid us in our efforts. Our bees this season have nearly all died from starvation, in July, Aug., and Sept., while we had flowers in plenty. During these months it was exceedingly dry and hot; was this the cause of this fatal result? The same result attended the box gum and movable frame hive. Give for our aid, your views and information on southern bee culture. W. R. Whitman. New Market, Ala., Nov. 28, 1878. Why, my friend, you have answered your own question most fully, as I understand it. Bees are liable to starve, even in July, in any .country that I know of, and if the bee- keepers are so thoughtless, or lazy, perhaps I should say, as to let them starve, it is cer- tainly no fault of the bees, or season either. They must be looked after, daily, as you would look after your horse and pig, and you will soon find that they will gather enough for themselves, and you too. From ] reports given all through our back numbers, you will see that bee-culture has prospered \ in the South, nearly, if not quite, as much as anywhere else. Bees seem to thrive only under faithful and constant care, and I am frequently at a loss to tell why bees in old boxes starve while in the same neighbor- hood, by careful management, they will give their owner 100 lbs. of surplus, and get enough to winter besides. When I got the | bee Fever right here in Medina, I was told that bees were no profit ; that a dozen colo- nies gave not a lb. of surplus, and then starved in wintering besides. You want to get waked up, my friend. When you are so much interested that you can study bee books until you fall asleep at night, and then be up before daylight making hives, you will find your bees haye waked up, too. COMB BUILDING BETWEEN UPPER AND LOWER FRAMES, ETC. I succeeded well with small sections, having taken 3,000 lbs. of honey from 28 colonies, M extracted. The greatest trouble was with their building comb between upper and lower frames, and with only xi inch space between frames. I have done well with fdn.; the thinest sagged badly in hot weather. The imported queen I got from you produced very fine bees and queens, but she was old and so badly mu- tilated, that they tried to supersede her all the time. She died in Oct., without any eggs, brood, or young queens. Frank L. Dougherty. Indianapolis, Dec. 3, 1878. The trouble with comb building between the upper and lower frames is a difficulty, we have never got rid of entirely. Some stocks will not do it, when the space is re- duced to i in., but others will fill it up solid, as fast as you may cut it out. Mr L. has suggested a honey board; without question, this would answer, but I am very sure it would hinder the bees from going up into the boxes so readily. Friend Wilkin, in Cal., wrote about using a sheet of enameled cloth, but my objection to this would be the same. Making the top bars of the brood frames so wide that the bees could just get between them, like the bottoms of the broad frames, I think would make it all right. Friend Townley, the chaff man, uses such top bars, if I am correct, and says he likes them. It is a good point for our ABC class to experiment on; but before you alter all your frames, I would advise glueing or brad- ding small strips on the sides of the top bars, then if you do not like them, you can pull them off again. It is pretty well settled that thin fdn., without walls, will sag worse than that made heavier, and with good walls. Your queen may have appeared old, but I do not think she was in reality, for Tremontani has as- sured me that all the queens he has sent were young and prolific. WATER WHEEL FOR HIVE MAKING, SAND IN PLACE OF SAWDUST, AND ONE STORY CHAFF HIVES. I have been "walking around the" stove, aud have been thinking about a buzz saw. I think Mr. Hutch- inson's home made saw is just about the thing, but then when a body has not much time or money either, what can he do? Now there is a little brook close by, and I would like to well, 1 won't say just what. My friend, couldn't you tell us how to make a small water wheel? and perhaps you could get up a cheaper mandrel, for I have great faith in your ability to improve almost any thing in our line— bee line. I am sure there are many readers of Gleanings, situated somewhat as I am. Would sand answer the same purpose as sawdust In the apiary? I have heard that it is used in Long Island, to some extent, instead of alighting boards. I have just finished a chaff hive by the ABC. How would a single story chaff hive do? It could be fin- ished on the top to receive a Simplicity cover, or a Simplicity hive as a second story. For winter, a Simplicity hive with the chaff cushion could be used, or a chaff Simplicity cover made several inches high and packed with chaff. Thus we need have only one sized cover in the apiary. Wir.LiAM Morehouse. Fairfleid, Ct., Nov 11, 1878. In passing through York State, I saw a waterwheel near an apiary, and from the ; looks of the surroundings, inferred that it ! was used for hive making. If you can get i fall enough to your brook by damming it, and the stream is a permanent one, you have | probably got the best and cheapest power in ! the world. I would visit water mills near i by, to see how the wheels are made. A home made, overshot wheel is a very simple i affair, and any bee-keeper should be able to j make one. We are making mandrels now, j but a cheap mandrel, that is, one made so ' cheap as to be poor, is rather an expensive thing to attempt to do anything with. Sand will do very well, where it is plenty and near by, but weeds are rather more apt to grow in it than in sawdust. Single story chaff hives can never afford the protection for winter, that a permanent upper story does. The cracks where the joint is will permit frost to get in, at least to some extent. COST OF USING SECTION BOXES. How much will it cost to furnish section boxes, broad frames, and fdn. starters, for 6 hives? [already put up ready to go on the hives, $10,50, as per list.] I should not trouble you to answer this, but I am a new subscriber and have never used any of these things. I have the old fashioned L. hive, and from 4 swarms I took 384 lbs. of comb honey this season, but it is in such shape that I can not sell it, so I want to join your ABC class and learn how to put it in salable shape. J. P. Byrne. Fosters, O., Dec. 12, 1878. As several friends have asked how to put sections on their old L. hives, and what it would cost, I have thought best to answer at length. The old style Langstroth hives, to 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 25 be used with boxes on top, usually have a shallow cap made of f stuff, with the cover nailed on permanently. As they are only about 8 inches high, they would not take a frame of 8 sections, even though we make the top movable. It is true, they will hold the 3 box case without trouble, but as a sin- gle tier of boxes is insufficient to get the best results from any fair colony, I would hardly recommend them. Your better way will be to set these shallow caps aside, and have some upper stories made to hold frames, witli a movable cover. As a double end must be put in these upper caps, they are rather a clumsy and complicated affair, and I often think I would rather set the whole hive aside, and use the Simplicities, just be- cause the upper and lower story are always alike. This upper story with its cover should cost you about .50c. and now you are ready to use the section boxes. It needs 7 broad frames to fill an upper story, and the cost of these with section boxes fitted with fdn., separators, and all, will be 2oc. each, or $1.75 in all. This would make, all together, 82. 2o. This is quite an expense, it is true, but they are all permanent fixtures, except the section boxes and fdn. These, as fast as filled, are to be replaced by new ones, and as the 7 frames contain 56 sections, you will have an expense each year, of about 56 cts. If you use the fdn., you will need to add to each about I of a cent. Therefore, to use sections, the expense the first year will be something like $2.25 per hive; but each year after that (supposing you average 50 lbs. of comb honey per colony, which is a fair estimate all seasons and latitudes, begin- ners and all), it will will require only about 62c. per hive, per year. After receiving1 the hive you sent, I got me up a foot power saw, and have made 20 hives all but the frames, and intend to make about 30 more this win- ter: that is, if my capital holds out. Bees in this section did very poorly this season. I had 4 swarms in the spring in common box hives, and transferred one the last day of June, to the hive you sent. The other 3 swarmed twice apiece, and from the 9 swarms in box hives, I got the enormous pile of one box of surplus honey, weighing 5 lbs., and from the single story simplicitv that you sent, I took 18 nice- lv filled sections. This swarm was, I considered, the poorest I had, until about buckwheat bloom. Pembroke, N. Y., Dec. 16, '78 W. P. Hall. There has been a little criticism in regard to the way I have of advertising my own wares. Please consider, my friends, that I teach how all these things are done, and that, in one sense, the wares are as much yours as mine. The simple fact that friend II. succeeded in making his own foot power saw. and his own hives, will encourage oth- ers to do the same, and it does me just as much good to hear that you have copied my hives, and thus saved the expensive freights, as it does to get an order. It may be I have stated it too strongly, but I do like to hear that you are succeeding with your own shops and tools. The fact that so much more honey was secured from one colony than from the other 9, does not advertise my waresalone, butthe hives, skill, industry, and enterprise of friend II. It al- so indirectly advertises Gleanings as his teacher. A great part of Gleanings is made up of articles like his own, from other beginners. Perhaps it also advertises my management a little, and really, my friends, I do not know how to help this, if I would. STIMULATIVE FEEDING, WINTER PACKING, BROOD FRAMES KEPT APART, ETC. I am one of your ABC scholars, and I come to you for information. In A B C, part 2d, you say, for brood raising, we should feed a little every day. How would I do it in cold weather, with the Dunham feeder, without opening the hive every day? Mv hives are something like your Simplicity with a division board at one side, and a moss cushion over the frames. I have set my hives on a board platform 4 inches from the ground, with board back and roof, and have packed leaves between and be- hind the hives about 4 or 5 inches thick, and intend to put leaves or straw over the top and leave the en- trance open. The hives are facing east. At what time should I begin to feed for brood raising? Would candv or syruo be best? I want to set out trees along the roadside next spring, to ben- efit the bees; what kind should I get to keep up a succession of blossoms as long as possible, and that would not send up suckers and run all over the meadow and field? I can get linden and soft maple verv hindilv, within a few miles. Would raising small fruits benefit the bees anv? To keep the frames from crushing the bees when taking them out and into the hive, I drive a head- less shoe nail in each side of the frame, near to the bottom, and let it stick out about xi of an inch. I find this a great help. Aug. J. Hintz. Lemont. Ills., Dec. 5. 1878. You do not want to start brood rearing, before March 1st, and many seasons, per- haps April 1st would be as well or better. The Dunham feeder is not well adapted for stimulative feeding, but for giving colonies which are nearly starving a good lot, all at once, and with little trouble. I fear your packing is too far away from the bees. Ile- member what I have told you so often, that your bed clothing, in a cold night, does not want to be over the tops of the bed posts, but close and snug around your body. The flour candy is the best of any thing I know of, for brood rearing. I would by all means take the linden trees. Nails have been used a great many times as you sug- gest, but everybody seems to get tired of them and pull them out, sooner or later. I have seen almost all kinds of powers through Gleanings, but I have not seen a power to suit me. Now the power that I want for sawing is a wind mill power, and if you will please send me a picture of one with directions for making you will not loose the confidence of one of your readers. I h ave a plan for one, and if you do not know of any, I will send you a drawing of it some time. Gilbert Sharp. Fullers Station, N. Y., Dec, 16, 1878. My friend, a few years ago, it was my es- pecial hobby, to see how much, and how many kinds of machinery,, could be run by a wind mill. All our bee-hive machinery was run, saws, etc., and even Gleanings it- self was printed by the power of a 17 foot wind mill. Now while the mill furnished a great deal of power for a very small expense, or rather at no expense at all, if we should keep count of the time wasted in waiting for power, compared with what might be done with an engine or water mill, that will send the saws right along, it proves an expensive power. Home made wind mills have been made all over the land, but they can rarely be made so as to stand storms and gales, un- less at more expense than to buy them of the regular manufacturers. The U. S. Wind- mill Co., Batavia, Ills., make, perhaps, as good a mill as can be made for the money. 26 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Jan. MIGNONNETTE AS A HONEY PLANT. Can you tell us how we are to tell when wo get that variety of mignonnette that is recommended for bees to work upon ? I bought some seed of this last spring and sowed it. The plant grew about one foot high, ripened in Sept., died down, then sprouted and came up again, and to-day it is green and in bloom. The bloom is about the size of the head of an ordinary pin and is wholly worthless as a bee plant. C. Bates. Beda, Ohio Co., Ky., Dec. 10th, 1878. Yours is the first unfavorable report of mignonnette I have ever heard, friend B. The tall varieties yield the most honey, I. believe, but usually the bees work on all kinds. I think yours must have been very busy on something else, or perhaps, like most other plants, it does not yield honey every season. We can supply the seed of the grandiflora this season, at the same prices as the common. FROM THE EGG TO THE PERFECT QUEEN, HOW LONG? My imported queen, referred to in Gleanings for Nov., was introduced to her bees the same day that she was received. The next morning I found her depositing eggs. Within an hour or two of sixteen days from this time, I had queens hatching, that were raised from these eggs, and when I first saw the eggs they could not have been more than fifteen hours old, even if the queen had commenced to lay immediately after she was turned loose. The queen cells were built by a full colony during pleasant, warm weather, at a time when the bees were gath- ering scarcely any stores. They were hatched in the lamp nursery, in which the temperature was kept at about 95°. E. M. Hayhurst. Kansas City, Mo., Dec. 13, '78. Please state how long a drone will live. I think they will live as long as a queen. A. S. Smith. Atlanta, Ga., Dec. 12, '78. I have generally supposed that drones lived about as long as workers, and little, if any, longer. I have never known drones to winter over, although they are sometimes hatched out during the winter, and are found j in the hives in the spring. It is true, we can | keep them in queenless colonies, but they j seem to be gone, when they are about a ! month or two old, even during pleasant j weather. Can our friends tell us anything j about their longevity f DRONES IN QUEEN CELLS, ABSCONDING, ETC. I saw one colony go to the woods, leaving a hive j full of comb, eggs, and brood, and 1 am still wonder- I ing "what in the dickins possessed them." Saw a | colony, belonging to a neighbor, with plenty of i stores, attempt to leave at least a dozen times in as many days. They swarmed out about 4 o'clock P. M., and started in the same direction every time, but the queen's wing being clipped they had to return. I I saw brother Plunket at the state fair, with his j bees and improved Simplicity hive, and exchanged | a few ideas with him. Brother Moon was there also, but he was so engaged in sight-seeing that I could not overtake him, although he goes on crutches. Hawkinsville, Ga., Dec 7, '78. J. B. Mitchell. It seems probable that live drones some- times hatch from queen cells. Bees do, at times, desert their hives when it seems diffi- cult to assign any good cause. I obtained nearly 150 lbs. of surplus honty, and a large swarm. This was doing remarkably well, and the honey was in the best possible shape, pro- nounced "just the thing" by every one that saw it. The closed end frame which I tried this season was not well adapted to section boxes, and besides had other objections; sol decided that the Simplicity was the hive for me, and sent to you in Oct. last for a sample hive to work from. I made several hives and transferred two colonies last fall, but found that to make the hives to advantage, 1 must have a circular saw. I have a tread power which I use for cutting feed for my stock, and I took the cylin- der shaft of an old thresher, which belonged to the tread power, to Buffalo, and Frank & Co. put an ar- bor on for a saw. They did a good job, and when I got the tables etc. rigged, it worked very true ami well, a great deal better than I dared expect, and 1 was surprised at the amount and variety of work one could accomplish, with such a saw. Some of. my neighbors wanted a few hives, so I planned to make 30, thinking that number would be a great plenty for all demands this season; but when May came I transferred 17 swarms for other parties into the Simplicity, and with what 1 wanted for my own use my stock of hives was soon exhaust- ed. I kept on making, however, and up to the pres- ent time have sold 67, and used myself 26, making 93 two story hives in all. All the swarms I trans- ferred did well, averaged, I think, 60 lbs. of honey and a swarm; but I got my hands too full, and was un- able to supply sections as soon as needed, or some would have got more than they did. All that bought hives are however satisfied, and the reputation of the hive stands high. If bees winter well, I expect a demand next sea- son which I am taking steps to supply, intending to manufacture all I can this winter. Many thanks to you, and your journal, for directions and instruc- tions in the bee business, in which I have become deeply interested, and in which 1 have been success- ful beyond my expectations. I have made 10 chaff hives, and put swarms in them for trial this winter. The only objection I see to the chaff hive is the difficulty of cleaning the bot- tom board, and why would it not be a good idea to make the cover to the simplicity after the pattern of the chaff hive cover? Fdn., 1 consider a necessity to the most profitable management of bees, and have used and sold with hives some #25.00 worth. Honey in sections has sold for 18 to 20cts. for clo- ver, 15c. for buckwheat. C. C. Long. Williamsville, N. Y., Nov. 14, 1878. HOW A BEGINNER SUCCEEDED WITH THE SIMPLICITY HIVES, SECTION BOXES, ETC. Two years ago, I had several stocks in Quinby hives, suspended frames. During the winter, I made some new hives with closed end frames, think- ing to adopt that style as the best hive for surplus honey in boxes. By subscribing for Gleanings, however, I became interested in the plan of having honey stored in section boxes, and accordingly made an upper story for 2 of my Quinby hives and filled them with sectoln boxes. From these 2 hives BADGES FOR BEE-KEEPERS. Would it be an extravagance for bee-keepers to wear a badge, or pin, appropriate to their calling? If we had a nice, golden, Italian queen, life size, mounted upon an imitation piece of comb, say of silver, wouldn't it look "perfectly killing," as the girls say? We have masonic pins, trade pins, and pins for all branches of human industry. I sup- pose you have heard of the chap (a carpenter) who wanted an appropiate pin, and chose a masonic pin with its square and compass. He would have liked a hand saw on it; but what was the G for? "G— G— • lemme see; G stands for— for —gimlet; that's it; square, compass, and gimlet; I'll take it." You are a'practical jeweler; give us the pin— the queen-bee pin. J. H. M. Hartford, N. Y., Dec. 16, '78. Although I have been for 18 years in the jewelry business, to tell the truth, I have never been much of a friend to jewelry, or badges. I do not know that I should wish to criticise the taste of others, but whenev- er I receive money for jewelry, it gives me no such satisfaction, as it does when I get it for a bee hive. I could make the pins you mention, without much trouble, but should I get up something remarkably neat and tempting, and thus encourage my A B C class, in spending their money in such a way, I am sure I should not have a really clear conscience. It may be well enough for those who have the money to spare, but as by far the greater part of the letters I receive speak of close economy, and trouble in making expenses come inside of the income, 1879 (iLEAXIXGS IN J3EE CULTURE. 27 I cannot think it best. I know full well how new jewelry "takes,"' and often induces those to buy who cannot afford it. Deliver us from temptation. There is another view of the case. When away from home, on the cars, etc.. it would be very pleasant to know all the bee folks. A pretty little badge would answer the pur- pose, and a queen bee might be made of sil- ver or of a still cheaper metal, nickle plated, that would answer all purposes. "What do the friends think of it 'i Please bear with me a little farther; suppose 1 should get up a very neat, silver, queen bee, that could be sold tor 25c, just the price of ;in A B C book. The latter would talk to you, would suggest, and draw forth ideas, but the pin would— 1 guess I will let you finish the sentence, for I might forget, and get to arguing the case. GOOD AND BAD HONEY, SMOKING BEES WHEN CARRYING THEM OUT, EMERY WHEELS. ETC. What is the matter with our western honey that you are finding fault about? Now, Mr. Root, I con- sider that we can produce just as good honey west as you can east. Buckwheat honey is as poor in quality as any 1 know of, and there is a large variety of honey producing plants here. Jt seems tome you ought ot be a little more cautious how you go back on us western bee-keepers. Now I will tell you something you do not know. It is for the ben- efit of those that winter their bees in cellars, or in- doors. 1 hose that ha\c had experience in carrying bees out when it is very warm know that hees will sting. Alter being stung somewhat in that way, I began to think why something could not be done to stop it. So when I commenced to carry out my bees, they commenced to sting unmercifully. It seemed as though their stings weic longer than when I put them into winter quarters. I guess they had grown some. 1 called aloud for my boy to get a kettle, and I made a smudge in the cellar. Soon all was quiet; then I had quiet also, and carried them out to my heart's content. When they roused up, I gave them more smoke. Now 1 should hate to be deprived of its use in that line. One question about emery wheels; can you use them to a good purpose on small circular saws, 6in. in diameter? Something ought lo be used besides a file', or else a different shaped file, togh'eit more "thioat," to keep it from clogging. Eureka, Mis., Dec. 16, "18. Albert Potter. I beg pardon, friend P.; I did not mean to carry the idea that you did not have nice honey. I only mentioned it to show that honey not pleasant to the taste is not neces- sarily adulterated. Your plan of making a smudge in the bee house or cellar, when tak- ing bees out, 1 think, is a good one. The emery wheels we advertise are purposely for keeping 6 inch saws in order, and a saw' can be made to cut beautifully, without any hie at all. The emery wheels are also much cheaper than files, "but it takes people a good while to get over old notions. USING SECTIONS ON BOX HIVES, FDN. FOR HONEY FOR TABLE USE, LAI E TRANSFERRING, ETC. 1 thought of using your 3 section cases on my box hives, with the 7 in. Langstroth cap. The difficulty to my mind is, there are but 4 holes in top of the box hive, 1x2 in., which would not be sufficient, I think, for sections; it does not seem practicable to make more holes with the bees in. Also, I have been in the habit of using 4 and 6 lb. honey boxes, and excluding the bees from clustering in the top of the cap; but in your arrangement, I do not see but they would have free access to the whole cap. The comb fdn. is a new thing to me, which I think quite an aquisition, but is it in anyway detrimental to comb honey, for table use? I do not like the trouble of transferring to some other hive, as Mrs. Lizzie Cotton, or Mr. as the case may be, advises us to do, with the whole apiary, as late as Oct., which, from my experience in bee- keeping, led me to think all was not right. Lockport, N. Y., Dec. 17, 1878. H. Kingsbury. Your bees will work in sections on the box hive, as well as in your old style boxes; but 1 think you will be' the gainer by taking the whole top of the hive off, and replacing it with strips having i inch space between them, just right to match the spaces be- tween the bottom bars of the 3 box cases. If this is too much trouble, just set the 3 box cases on the combs left exposed. With a smoker, it is not at all difficult to take the top off from a box hive, after the combs are old enough so they will not break down. Fdn. is used very extensively for comb hon- ey, and few have ever complained of it. lr the fdn. is made very thick, the bees sometimes leave it without thinning. With the thin fdn. made now expressly tor comb honey, no one will probably be able to tell the difference. Never allow the bees to get between the cover and the boxes. To advise beginners to undertake to transfer an apiary in Oct.. would be quite a grevious error, in- deed. WHAT MADE THE BEES HIE'.'' One of my near neighbors has about 22 stocks of bees, and ^ of his best swarms— first swarms- have died, and 2 or 3 mote are most all dead. I have ex- amined 1 he combs, Qui) iby size, and don't see what is the trouble. They seem to have died quite sud- denly. Theie is no dysentery, aud no bad smell. Their combs are bright and nice, but still, the un- sealed honey don't look just right; it seems to be pushed out of the cells, and not as thick as it is gen- erally. Can it be the honey gathered during the dry spell last summer, or the honey dew which they got, mat caused the disease? This morning, anoth- er of my neighbors came over for me to look at his bees. He had 1$ stands and we found one of his "gone up," too; this was also a first swarm. Old swarms and alter swarms seem to be all right yet. My bees are all right so far. When 1 first heard of the trouble, 1 went at my hives, and took out the combs, to see if there was much unsealed honey. 1 was going to throw out all the unsealed, but 1 found but very little, and so I took out all combs that bees did not occupy, put in division boards, filled in the empty space with chaff, and took off honey boards, ana tilled the caps with chaff, too. Did 1 do right? King's Corners, Wis., Nov. 30, 1878. H. G. King. P. S.— The bees have rtot gathered any thing from cider mills, sorgham or grapes; for there are none within 5 or 6 miles. They have died in the cells, on the top of frames, and among the combs, as if of starvation, yet they have enough stores. H. G. K. The above was sent us by friend Sayles, of Hartford, Wis. I should pronounce it the genuine old bee disease, and give the cause as bad stores, as suggested. The honey pushing out of the cells, with a thin foamy look is just it, exactly. The only remedy 1 ■ could suggest is what friend King did with his own bees. Some frames of sealed honey, gathered earlier in the season, if they can be procured, will sometimes stop the mortality. A good chaff protection, close to the bees, has seemed to save them, several times, even with their bad honey. CLIPPING QUEENS' STINGS. Now please don't laugh, but could not two or more queens be induced to occupy one hive, if the extremity of the sting is severed? So we might run mammoth hives and stocks, and have many other advantages. Would it affect the longevity or fertil- ity of queens? s. D. Haskin. Yrour idea, my friend, is not a new one, but I believe no one has as yet ever succeed- GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. ,tAN. ed in putting it into practice. The great obstacle is that we know of noway to induce a queen to protrude her stinger, unless it is a royal combat. Besides, if queens were in the habit of wasting much time in trying to kill each other, they could not lay many eggs. I am afraid, too, that the bees would take sides, and do the killing as they often do, by balling one or both of the queens. SIMPLICITY SECTIONS. I took some 1 lb. sections to our county fair, where they were admired by all. Some said "That's a suc- cess," and "How did you get it in those little boxes so nice and straight?" Others said "That will take the premium;" and sure enough it did. In Oct. Gleanings, you speak of sending honey to Chica go; I guess there was not enough for all, because a gentleman here from that place who saw some of my 1 lb. sections, remarked that he never saw the like before. He ordered some at once. I also filled a small order from Indianapolis, and what is strang- est of all, I had a small order from Toledo 0„ but 1 could not fill it. How is that? Joel Tilman. North Manchester, Ind., Dec. 16, 1878. SCALES, SALT FOR BEES, PRESERVING COMBS, QUEENS' STINGS. If you go into manufacturing honey scales, use the spring, with 6 or 8 in. platform over it, clock face, dialed 24 lbs., and the index hand movable on its axle, like the minute hand of a clock, to move forward and backward. The screw is too slow work. My bees use the lump of rock salt placed in the portico. I water my bees to keep them from the well bucket; 1 put a handful of salt into a jar, fill it with water, and cover with a plate. When inverted, fill the plate with sand, and set it in the shade. 1 one day placed a small lump of salt on the sand; it dissolved, and most of the bees sucked from the salt- ed place. How shall I preserve my frames of empty comb? If filled with salt water, do you think it would injure them for brood comb? Several times, I have held a queen bee in my closed hand, and never knew one to sting, but once knew of one's biting; she bit, and was turned loose quickly. Your correspondent, W. A. Eddy, must have been bitten on the lips. 1 think the mouth a queer place to hold queens. J. A. Nelson. Bibb Co., Ga., Dec. 10, 1878. Keep your combs dry and a little distance apart, and they will keep safely any where almost. See Bee Moth, in A B C. Bees wax, when moistened, soon decays; although it will hold honey any length of time, water slowly destroys it. 1 had 4 new swarms and 2 old stocks out in the yard, and discovered yesterday that one of the form- er was frozen. I moved the balance down into a dark, dry cellar, where the thermometer registers constantly about 41°. Is this too warm for them? and shall I allow cushions on top, as I now have them? Ed. D. Heckebman. Bedford, Pa., Dec. 19, 1878. Should the thermometer stand many de- grees below zero even, your bees would not freeze, if other conditions were all right. I fear their brood nest is too large, and that they got away from their honey. Leave the cushions on, just as you have them. The temperature you have is about right. Please send sample copy of Gleanings to John Lemley, Knobnoster, Johnson Co., Mo. He has a patent moth proof, non-swarming hive, for which he paid $18. 1 call it a big swindle. Friend Root, I cannot come up with some of our brother bee-keepers, but think I have done very well this year. Apr. 1, 1878, had 40 swarms. Dec. 9, 1878, have 53 swarms. Have taken 5,400 lbs. of hon- ey, extracted, and selling at 6J4c. at home. W. B. Collins. Arrow Rock, Saline Co., Mo., Dec. 12th, 1878. more about salt for bees. You say you don't get your bees to take salt or salt water. My bees swarm on a trough filled with water and corn cobs. Fill the trough with water and cobs, then sprinkle half a pint of salt among the cobs. This much salt is for a common sugar trough. Robert Quinn. Shellsbury, Benton Co., Iowa, Dec. 13. 1878. GLASS FOR HIVES, A PISACTJCAI, TEST OF f lib VALDEOF F»N., A CHAPTtR on ttoB{BSBi\<;. I'/rc. A letter fbom father and son. Some 15 or 20 years ago, quite a large number of swarms were kept in this town (Hamilton), mostly \ in the old fashioned box hive. 9 or 10 years ago, Mr. : Sisson introduced a patent hive with frames, and glass on all sides. They looked very nice, and we all fell in with them ; but before spring came, we fell out, bees and all; I lost all I had. 1 purchased a few colonies the next season, in box hives, and transferred them to frame hives. 1 took out the glass from the glass hives and replaced it with inch boards, and have had very good luck since. I have now 54 swarms. Part of them are Italians. To test the value of fdn., 1 used 2 young swarms. No. I came out the 5th of July, and 1 put them into a hive without fdn. No 2 came out the 10th of July, and I put them into a hive with all the frames filled with fdn. The result was that No. 1 had 10 lbs. of cap honey, while No. 2 had 44 lbs. 1 have one col- ony in a chaff hive (or my wife has) from which I took 150 lbs. of comb honey. I took 1,000 lbs. in sections, that weighed from \lA to 3 lbs. per section, and sold at home for 18g. A honey peddler came through town, and sold for 15 and 16c. One of my i neighbors purchased because it was cheap, and has i it now in his house. He says it is not honey. He came here, and said he wanted some honey; after eating a little, he said that was honey that woe honey. • He bought of me and gave me 18c., saying it was cheaper than to give 15c. for such stuff as he had at 1 home. Now about bees robbing, I will relate what took place here. 1 had 300 or 400 lbs. of honey in a safe; ! one day, the door was left open and before it was noticed, quite a lot of bees got in. As I could not i get them out, I closed the door. The outsiders would gather in clusters on the outside, and come i and go. I watched them closely, and soon ascer- tained the cause. I found that the bees inside of the safe would fill themselves with honey, and feed | those on the outside, by putting their bills together, and as soon as they got their fill they would leave for their hives. They kept it up till night, when I opened the door and got rid of them. preventing bees from robbing. My way is this. I first find the robbers, and change places with them. Then I change the frames, or a part of them, with all the bees hanging on them, so that the robbers, or a part of them, are in the rob- bed hive on their own comb of honey and brood, and the robbed bees, or a part of them, are in the robber hive on their own comb, and they are so mixed up that they have enough to attend to, to straighten matters at home. I have not yet failed of stopping the robbers. Albebto M. Sawdv. BEE BURGLARS. I had a swarm of bees in a box hive, well filled with honey. Bees began to rob. I tried to stop them by closing the entrance, so that only one bee could enter at a time; but that was not effectual. I finally closed it entirely, and to prevent them from smothering I bored some 2 inch holes, and covered with tin made full of holes with a nail. I had as many burglars inside the hive as bees that be- longed to the hive. I watched them for a number of days, and those tins were covered with bees from morning till night. I found that they were coming and leaving all day long, and that the tins were covered with bees inside as well as outside. In short, I found that the burglars inside were hand- ing out to those outside. After a week or more, this thieving stopped. I went and turned up the hive and found the honey all gone, and the fools inside all starved to death. I say a Dee has no cal- cnlation for the future. Now, how is that "for high?" EliW. Sawdy. Poolville, Madison Co., N. Y., Dec. 7, 1878. I8f9 GLEANINGS IK BEE dULTUBE. 29 tor Ileum. If any man will come after me, let bim deny him- self, and take up his cross dally, and follow me. ifTT was during the morning service on Sunday, and toward its close, when I be- gan meditating that I should have to go On toot to my afternoon Sabbath school, be- cause the roads were so very rough it would injure my new buggy more "than I could af- ford. Well, if T went on foot, I should have barely lo minutes to get my dinner; for to meet my appointment on time (I am always on time, unless some very unlooked for event hinders), I should have to start out the very moment Sabbath school in our church was adjourned. It was quite a walk to my home, and I therefore was under the necessity of going out of church just as soon as they began singing. The sermon and closing prayer were one of our minister's happiest, and gave me a renewed-zeal in my work. As I passed out of church, I caught just the two lirst lines of the hymn he had selected for the closing exercises, and the words that struck on my ear so strangely were these : "Jesus, I my cross havfe taken, All to leave, and follow thee." As I went home for my hasty dinner, the words kept ringing in iny ears; I thought of them during the whole time of sabbath school in our own church, and while teach- ing my class of boys, and when school was over "and I started for my five mile walk, even though the snow ami sleet blew in my face, it seemed just glorious to breast the storm, with that thought, "All to leave and follow thee,*' running through my mind. I remember inviting in a playful way, several who asked if I would go out there on such a day, to come along with me. I assured sev- eral of them, in answer to their remon- strances, that I had a great deal rather go on foot once more, but I did not tell them why I wished to go on foot. I am going to tell you, my friends, even at the risk of hav- ing some of you think I am proud of my mission work; because I know, by the let- ters 1 get from you, that my experience cheers a great many others in their duties. In the midst of a piece of woodland just be- yond the brook, are some great trees, and a secluded place, where I have often knelt in prayer, winter as well as summer. Well, since I have been riding to the school, 1 have somehow felt that I missed a certain strength or energy that I used to gain in passing through these woods. How easily I walked the whole distance that day. think- ing of the line in that hymn! flow near God seemed to me, as I knelt in the storm by those trees! For a few months after my conversion, when I laid my tired head on my pillow at night, after a day of mission work, I used sometimes to have a strange sensation come over me. as if I were in the presence of innummerable friends; and even when the house was still, it seemed almost as if I could distinguish voices of encourage- ment and kind counsel, bidding me be not troubled, but go on in my own way doing my Savior's work. At such times, a strange joy and peace thrilled me, and yet I never thought of Heaven. When I use the term Heaven now, as I frequently do, I can only associate it witli the present. I know noth- ing of the future, and care less, for I have perfect trust in God, who will take care of all that, and make it all right. He will be with me, and I shall not fear. Well, as I prayed for that school that Sun- day afternoon, this wonderful joy and sense of companionship seemed to come over me again, and I wondered if Jesus' desiples in olden time used to feel such a pleasure in following him. I thought of the dreary Sundays when I did not believe in the Bible, and again I thanked him for this new path, even though it called me out on long tramps, through storms and sleet. "All to leave and follow thee." As I got out of the woods, I heard voices, and looking around, I saw a couple of girls who had started out in the storm, too. They explained that they had not intended to go, but seeing me, they concluded they could walk one mile, if I could five. One of them taught a class. Several new scholars were present, and among them, three boys, sons of an old friend of mine, who, I had reason to fear, did not endorse Sabbath schools very much. All had their lessons unusually well, and it seemed one of the happiest schools we had ever had. Had my praying in the woods anything to do with it? On my way home, I stopped for supper at my mother's as usual, and she told me the circumstances under which those beautiful lines were composed. A young lady whose parents were not favorable to religion was turned out of doors, because she would not renounce it. Before leaving, she took a last farewell of familiar objects around the home of her childhood, and when in the orchard, took her pencil and wrote. The lines tell the rest of the story. "Jesus, I my cross have taken, All to leave and follow thee. Naked, poor, despised, forsaken, Thou henceforth my all shalt be. Perish every fond ambition. All I've hoped, or sought, or known; Yet how rich is my condition ! God and Heaven arc still my own." "Now, my friends, the thought of those words followed me through all the week, and I will tell you some of the results. Money matters were not all quite adjusted, and oiie considerable bill had been present- ed, that I was not able to meet. On Thurs- day, the man who had furnished the brick said he must have the whole balance due him-. He must have it, and that was all there was to it. I asked the book keeper how much there was due him. "$328.13:" "Mr. S., at just what day or hour must you have this V" "I must have it on the 20th, without fail.'1 "All right; you shall have it." After he had gone, said the book keeper. "We will not pay the hands then to-day r" "Yes, pay them all." "But how will you meet all these demands, if you do?" 80 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. JAN. "The hands doubtless need it; pay them an." Before we went to bed at night, I told my wife all about it. I confess I had begun to suspect it might be possible that some of my friends feared, if they did not crowd me a little and get their money pretty soon, that perhaps they might not get it at all. Sup- pose they should all hand in their bills, as did the brick man, and say they must have it immediately. It might make trouble, without question. Said my wife, "What will you do, if they should?" "Ask God to send the money, or tell us how to get it, as we have before.1-' "But, perhaps you are not doing right. I cannot think that it is your duty to keep so many boys at work, when you could get along very well without them. You are doing them little, if any, good. They ram- ble about on Sunday, smoke and swear al- most as much as if you had never tried to have them do better. You are wasting your energies, time, and money for them, and yet they worry you almost to death, by scatter- ing' things about in such disorder, breaking the tools, etc. I do not believe you ought to get in debt so, and I fear God' does not wish you to keep on in this way.1' These may not have been her exact words, but they are the substance of them, and if she did the boys injustice,' the fault was all mine, for I have always told her all my cares and trials, and she doubtless thought her husband was all right, and the boys all wrong. I see now, that a great part of the fault may have been mine. "All to leave and follow thee," came into my mind, and I told her we would kneel down and ask God if it was his will that I should keep these boys at work, and keep trying to have them become Christians, even though it did so little good. Still farther, I asked him to give me a plain evidence of his approval, by sending the money to pay those bills, if it is his wish that I should go on as I have been doing. This was ou the 12th day of Dec. Next morning, a visitor from quite a dis- tance came in, and my work, writing espe- cially, was so much behind, although I had been up and at work long before daylight, that I almost felt like refusing to stop very long, but "All to leave and follow thee" rang in my ears again, and I made up my mind I would make it as pleasant as I could for him, even if things did cross and vex me exceedingly that day. lie was a very kind, pleasant man, and, indeed, these friends al- ways are. I like to show visitors around, when the work is done with order and neat- ness, but when I go into a room and find dirt and disorder, it tries me exceedingly. He wished to see how fdn. was made, and I told the boys to start up; as it takes several hours to get the wax melted, they had abun- dant time to have their room in order; but, on going in with our visitor, I was very much vexed indeed, to find one side of the room covered with dust and litter, and worst of all, evidence all over the room, and even all through the starch with which the fdn. is rolled, of the presence of mice, in great numbers. I presume the boys sat down on the boxes and waited for the wax to melt, instead of sweeping and brushing up. Again and again, have I urged that the traps set for the mice be examined every day, but they had been forgotten and neg- lected. When I asked one of them, why the room had not been cleaned up, I believe he replied that he did not know I wanted it done. I looked at those filthy black specks scattered over the implements and in the starch, and smelled the disgusting smell, then I looked at a place in the rolls where some body had rolled a piece of candy through, and marred the rolls, and I was discouraged and cross. I will not have such work. I did not say it but I thought it, with some pretty big resolves. It is well to think so, but it is very wrong for me to say it out loud. "All to leave, and follow thee." Yes, with God's help, I will try and have no more such work. As we walked down to the factory, I tried to talk cheerfully, but it was only assumed. Finally said I, "My friend, I am cross to-day. I was going to take considerable pride in showing you how we make fdn., but I have been aw- fully humbled.'1 It seems that this point blank telling of the truth, even though he was a stranger, was the surest way of mak- ing the conversation interesting," although I had no idea he would care about my trials. "I have had the same troubles, my friend, and I would not bother with boys who are so heedless.11 "But if I do not, who will? These boys can all be taught neatness, I know by expe- rience." "I dare not advise,11 said he. "Go on in your own way; if you have the patience to do it, it is your work.'1 He was anxious to see a swarm of bees transferred, and as Will was off on a visit, I finally decided to have the engraver do it. The transferred colony was put in the stone bee hive over my office; he did it nicely and every scrap was brushed up and put away. He is an expensive hand, audi knew he would do it well. Do you see the point, boys? We pay him high wages just because he is neat and looks after specks of wax not larger than a pin's head, that they do not get tramped down under foot. We started to go over to the apiary. Said my visitor, '"Mr. Root, 1 wish to take a little liberty.11 "Anything you wish." "But I may'ask you questions you do not care to answer?11 "I have no secrets in the world; ask any- thing you like." "How much are you in debt?11 I told him as nearly as 1 could without going to the books. "How much interest do you pay?" I told him. "Are others connected with you in any way that would involve them, if you should have bad luck?" "Only two people have undersigned me, and they are well secured by mortgages, as well as by an insurance on my life." "Can you not get money lower?" "Yes, but I should have to get signers. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 81 and I do not wish to have my business in any such shape, that a bad move on my part might involve others."" He approved this. T have given above the substance of the conversation, as nearly as I can remember. Finally, said he, ••Have you any bills com- ing due very soon, that may trouble you to meet?" I could not help looking at him in surprise at this, and he apologized. "Perhaps I am going too far." "Nor; said I. "I have some bills to meet that trouble me some, especially, the balance I owe the man who made the brick for my building." "Well," said he, "I have a proposition to make you, and I hope you will be frank to say so, if you do not wish to accept it/' There! "thought I, I see through it all now. He wants to go in company with me. I had concluded some time ago, that the only com- pany I should ever have in doing "God's work was my Savior himself. You see I did not, even then, have faith enough to see the connection between this conversation and my prayer of- the night before. His next words, however, opened my eyes, and it all became plain. "If it will be of service. I will send you SoOO.OO, and you may keep it a year, at 7 per cent." "But, my friend, you will want security?" '•None, only your note of hand." "•But why do you. an utter stranger, trust me thus? How do you know I will not make a foolish use of the money, and get us all into trouble?" "Well, I think you are trying to do good, and I want to help?'1 "But I am really doing very little good ; you give me far more credit than I deserve. I cannot understand it." "Well", said he, "I have been reading your Home Papers for a few months past, and I got to thinking about it, and wonder- ing whether you might not be in need of a friend, just about now. The more I thought of it, the more I thought I would like to come and see you, and see if a little money would do you good rather than harm. I have seen you. and am satisfied." I thought of the strange intertwining of events; of the lines of that hymn; of my frankness in telling him how annoyed I was about the disorder in the wax room. I thought, too, of what the Bible says of enter- taining angels unawares, and of how uncourt- eously I had many times treated visitors. I saw clearly that God was in it all, and I almost felt frightened, as I realized how near He had been to me. Lnless I lived a purer and better life, I felt almost afraid to take that money, so manifestly from God's own hand. I told my friend that God had sent him here in answer to prayer. He did not dispute it although he made no profes- sions of religion. I told the circumstance at our prayer meet- ing that evening, and to several others, as an illustration of the way in which God answers prayer. A great many inquired if the mon- ey had come; when I told them it had not. the greater part of them replied that they ! would like to see it, before they were con- vinced. I told it to the boys in jail, but they insisted it was some new confidence game, and that I would be the loser in some way. Finally, I told them I would bring the check over and show it to them before the day 1 had agreed to pay the man for the brick: In vain, I told them' God did not answer prayers by sending swindlers ; they wanted to see the full proof. After my Sabbath school, I stopped at my mother's. She, of course, had a faith like mine, but father feared some- i thing would happen to prevent its getting around in time. Said he : "The man may be taken sick." "But God will see that the money comes nevertheless." "The mails may be stopped by deep snows." "God will take care of the snows, and see- that the money gets here by the appointed time." The cashier of the bank said it was a won- derfully strange thing, and asked if the man had not some selfish purpose in view. "Did he ask for no favor?"1 "None." "Did he not carry away something? I saw him, if I am not mistaken, carry off a pack age under his arm." "He took with him some goods, but he paid for them all." •'Strange; very strange." I wish right here to digress a little. The next morning after this strauge friend left, a gentleman came in. xVs soon as my eye caught him, I remembered my new resolu- : tion, to be careful hereafter about being un- ! courteous to strangers. After a few com- j monplace remarks, he gave his name as Bing- ham. "Bingham of Michigan?" said I. •"The same." "Mr. Bingham, I am very glad to meet you," and as I said it. I thanked God that I was glad to see him, from the bottom of my heart. Well, we had a long talk about smokers. You do not know how glad I am, as I look back upon it, that it was a long, friendly talk. We did not agree on many things, but, although we talked plainly, and criti- cized each other pretty severely, on several things in the past, we did not so far forget ourselves, but that we indulged in some most hearty laughs, as we reviewed the past. The Home Papers caught it some, but it does not now trouble me, as it did once, when their imperfections are pointed out. Friend Bingham, in his plain talks, did me a great deal of good. lie told me all about the history of his smoker. I saw how he had got to look upon it as a child of his brain. I looked on mine too; I reviewed the different features one 1 by one, the short cuts I had made from time to time, in saving expense, its extreme simplicity, as it seemed to me, compared witli other smokers, and it seemed as if I could not give it up. It is true, I could not make it without valves, unless I managed t<> blow the lire from a little distance. This blowing the fire from a little distance, in- stead of putting the bellows' nose right into the fire, he claims as his invention. I should 32 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Jan. not think of patenting such an invention, but he thinks otherwise. He is a man of clear intellect, and he may be right and I wrong. It is not the loss of my profit alone, for if I stop making these smokers that have been received with such loud tokens of ap- proval, will it not be a loss to community at | large? I think it will ; but my friend thinks all parties will be greatly benefitted by being obliged to buy his. Who can tell us what is right? Did God send me that j money to go into a patent right lawsuit with? That evening was our teachers1 meeting. Friend Bingham went with me. I was asked to close the meeting with prayer. Should he hear my voice in prayer, and go away thinking it was but empty words, and religion was all a pretence? I know this is close ground, and that there are extremes both ways. I know we should do our duty, without fear of what men may say in one sense, and in another we should be very careful that they have not reason to say we pray one thing and practice another. My friend expressed himself much pleased with the meeting. I asked God to tell me my duty about the smoker. The result was. I told him next morning that I would give way, and so long as nothing could be shown to prove that he was not the first one who used a blast from a bellows in that way, I would, in accordance with his wishes, make no more smokers embodying that principle, and that I would also use my influence to have others do the same. I know there are those who wrill say I have no right to do this. In choosing the less of two evils, I did the best I knew how, erring on the side that harmed me most, if anything. There are several things about the matter that I think are not right, but I do not know how to right them. It seems to me that friend B. has wronged Mr. Quinby, and Mr. I;. C. Boot; but, on the other hand, why did not Mr. Boot continue to make his smoker as he did before the Bingham smoker came out? If I am right, be has copied the features I have mentioned. In regard to the legal view of the matter, Mr. Bingham has got out a new patent that covers the whole ground most completely, which his first claim did not. Well, instead of being a patent on a bee- smoker, both his first claim and this one are on an apparatus for the fumigation of in- sects. The first was so named, by mistake, so it is said. The last was so named by mis- take too, so friend Bingham says. He thinks such a mistake would stand law, but I do not. Now considering the laws of God, rath- er than the laws of man, had I any right to give way, under such circumstances? I think it was best, considering the feelings of all parties. Should nothing turn up to make it clear that this feature is free, morally, for everyone to use, and should I not be able to get up a good smoker without it, why, we shall have to use Bingham's, and that will be no very great hardship, more than that we could not get a half dozen for 60c. each. Now we have got back to our subject; if God di- rected me to give this up, he will certainly guide me in giving you something just as good, if not better, in place of it: Can we trust him? Thursday noon brought a letter from a bank at least a thousand miles away, con- taining a check for $500.00 in gold. In a let- ter received from this kind friend a day or two before, he says : "I hope you may meet your brick man with a smiling face, next Thursday." The brick man came in at the appointed time, and I judged from the expression on his face, that he feared he would be disap- pointed. To be sure, I could meet him with a smiling face, and as we walked over to the bank, I told him of how God helps those who trust him. I borrowed the check and took it over to the boys in jail. It silenced them, and brought out just the moral I wished to convey. Said one: "I wish God would send me $500.00." "Very well; now tell me what use you would make of it/' "I would prosecute Holcomb,to the fullest extent of the law.*' Holcomb was the name of the man who had had these fellows arrest- ed, and they claimed, much as such fellows always do, that it was a mistake, and they were innocent. "I fear God will never send money, to be used for revenge ; can you not possibly for- give Holcomb?" "No; if it takes 50 years, and I can possi- bly scrape the money, I will prosecute him." "The Bible says, 'Love your enemies, bless them that curse you. do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despite- fully use you, and persecute you.' " "I cannot help it ; I will never forgive so mean a man as H." "Why, my friend, H. is only a man like the rest of us, and certainly no worse. Even as you state it, it is no worse than any of us might do." "I do not believe there is another so mean a man in the world." "Let me show you your error." Turning to one of the other boys, said I, "My friend, is there anybody you cannot forgive?" "Yes, and he is a great deal msaner than II., from the account as I have heard it." "Do you see the point, boys?" and I held the gold draft above them. "This paper reads, 'Pay to the order of A. I. Root, $500.00 in gold, etc.,' but there is something else on it to me." I had their attention completely. "On this paper, God says to me, 'Go on and take care of the boys and girls who have no homes, and no work to do. Hunt out those who are poor and needy. Look after those who are unfortunate, careless, neglect- ! ed, unhandy, and who may be rescued from i a life of wickedness and sin. Teach them to i love their enemies, to study the Bible, and ; to grow in wisdom's ways. Be patient, doubt not, and be not discouraged ; for, lo! I am with you to the end of the world.' " "Unless you will forgive your enemies and those who may have wronged you, boys, i you will go down to the bottomless pit; but, j if you will take up these little crosses, hard ; as they may seem, and say God's will, not 1 mine, be done, these doors Avill open, and | you will be free, not only to go where you | choose, but to enter into the highest places in the land." It is a hard matter to make them compre- ' hend this, and to show them that it is fact, 1879 GLEANINGS LN BEE CULTUEE. 33 not fancy. I got my friend Fred, of whom I have often told you. to go in and talk to them. He had gone through it all. and well knew the transition from hitter hatred to a forgiving spirit toward all humanity. He told them how hard it was for him, to for- give those who had wronged him, or at least whom he had imagined to have wronged him. and he told them too, how he had sat in that same stone room and dwelt on these things, and how much happier he felt, when he resolved to forgive them all, and take those pleasantly by the hand, whom he had felt as if he never could forgive. I reason a great deal from past events, and when I look upon the most hardened culprit we have in our jails, and rememher Fred's conversion. I think, perhaps he, too, may he- come a sincere and humble Christian. And when a stranger comes now. I fall to wonder- ing whether he is not some one whom God has sent. It is not the hoys in the jail alone who refuse to take up their crosses and fol- low Christ, hut we seem to he stubborn and backward all around. 3 be "SrcMenL [This department is to be kept for the benefit of those who are dissatisfied; and when anything1 is amiss. I hope you will "talk risfit out." As a rule we will omit names and addresses, to avoid being' too personal.] fjjpBk EAR friend Root:— I have not received any bee- j»||Jy} journal this month. For some reason or another ±mz you don't send those bee books very regular. Ex- pect you won't send any for 3 months, and then you will send them all at once. If you do business in that way. you do it on a pretty poor plan. If you can't send the books a little more regular, and any one has got to write to you every little while, you will run short of signers. "That is too thin, you bet." You have got a srood bee-journal, but be a little more prompt in sending them. Write me a postal and tell why you don't sond them more regular. I don't know whether you overlook Lewis Beal's name or not. Send more regular, Mr. Root, if vou will do so. Springport, Mich., Dec. 6, '78. Lewis Beal. The subscription clerk explained to friend Beal that we had mailed every journal promptly, except the Dec No. This one was delayed by moving the printing office, printing the voluminous index, etc.: but it seems there was trouble some where else. and now. friend Beal takes the Government officers to task in the following quaint, good natured way. Dear friend Root: I received your postal card in due time, but l hain't got any bee-book yet, this month. I don't know what is the reason. Them postmasters and them tellers that attend to the mail had ought to gel some bees in their wool, "you bet:" maybe it would do them good: they had ought to have a lot of them creatures after them, and maybe the bee books wouldn't get lost. I don't know whether it is your place to send me another or not: you can do as you please about that. Them post-masters had ought to have a scoldinsr, "you bet": hadn't they, Mr. Root? Lewis Beal. Springport, Mich., Dec. 18, 1878. It takes a lot of hard work to get up the Journals, friend Beal. but after they are done, we have no earthly use for them', only to hand them over to our subscribers, and so we are just as anxious as you are that you shall all have them at the very earliest possi- ble minute, "you bet." I am very sorry for your delays, and will try and have the "ma- chinery'5 fixed up all around. CLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE^ J±. I. ROOT, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, MEDINA, OHIO. TEilMS! $1.00 PER YEAR, POST-PAID. zmhetdust^, j^nsr. 1, 1879. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.— Isaiah, xxvi, 3. Never mind if your bees are all covered with snow. They are all the better for it. M. D. Dubois, of Newburgh, N. Y., speaks of a swarm of bees clustering on a schooner's mast, while sailing up the Hudson River, through the Highlands, from which he infers that they do not al- ways, at least, choose their home before swarming. My friends, I am in trouble: it is because I have so many real good, pleasant, and profitable letters from nearly all of you— letters that richly deserve a place in Gleaning?, all of them, but they are so long, that I cannot get in a tenth part of them. [ have tried to select the best portions, and to con- dense, but if I do bj, 1 shall spoil your special indi- viduality, which is to me one of the most pleasing things about any writer's work. I usually have plenty of short letters for Heads of Grain, but this year they seem to be all long, every one. Shall I enlarge Gleanings? I do not think it best to have the price more than a dollar, and I cannot afford a larger Journal for that price, at present. Shall we not all try to tell shorter stories? Or if you please, send me several short ones instead of one great long one. The short ones almost always find a place. OBITUARY NOTICES. In Somonauk. Monday, Nov. 25th, 1878, Charles Herbert, son of Major Franklin and Lydia Ann Bliss, aged 4 years, 4 months and 14 days. You will see by this, that we have lost a loved one. We will never again hear that pleasant little voice say "Pa, the bees is swarming" ; but God knows best. Frank Bliss. Somonauk, 111., Dee. 12, '78. My daughters, LiiuU and Emma, owners of the Memphis Apiary, died Sep. 7th and 8th, of yellow fever. Mv wife also died Sep. 7th. Mr. J. Capehart is also dead of same disease. My daughters managed 100 colonies and Mr. C. 200. C. H. Getchell. Memphis, Tenn., Dec. 9, 1878. We deeply sympathize with you, friend Getchell, in your heavy affliction. From the letters we h?.ve received at different times, from Miss Linda, we re- gard her almost as a personal acquaintance. Among the last was a pleasant one, about a smoker with a bellows of tin, that her papa had made. God gives, my friend, and God can take away. None but He can give us comfort, amid trials like these. When- ever I hear that one of our number is gone, I almost invariably look back, and wonder if their last letters received the kind and friendly answers they should have had. 34 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Jan. TABLE OF PREMIUMS. The first column is for those only, « S who send 5 or more names. S"g £ <5 Names of Premium Articles. ^q* Any of them sent post-paid on rec'pt of price. \—A B C of Bee Culture. Part First, 25 2— Lithograph of Amary, Implements, etc. 25 3 — Photograph of House Apiary 25 4— "Thai Present,'1'' Novice and Blue Eyes 25 5 — Emerson's Binder for Gleanings, will hold 3 Volumes 50 6 — " " better duality 60 7 — Pocket Magnifying Gl-ass 60 8— First or second Volume of Gleanings.. 75 9 — Best quality Emerson's Binder for Gleanings 75 10— Double Lens Magnifier, on 3 brass feet 1,00 11— Photo Medley, Bee-Keepers of America} ,00 12— First and second Vol. of Gleanings. .1,50 13— A real Compound Microscope, beatdi- ■ fully finished, and packed with Imple- ments in a Mahogany Box 315 M—Onera Glass for Bee ITuntinn *S.flfl lb— American Silver (Wall ham) Watch $10.00 Number of Sub- I scribers j required ' at or at 75c. 1.00 5 2 5 2 5 g 5 2 6 7 3 4 8 4 9 4 9 6 10 20 8 25 10 1 50 20 GRAPE SUGAR. Superior, double refined Grape Sugar, for feeding' bees, @ 4c. per lb. in barrels of 375 lbs., and 4l/£c. in boxes of 50 or 110 lbs. The above prices are for sugar shipped from Me- dina. If ordered from the factory, at Davenport, la., the price will be %e, per lb. less. Any amount less than 50 lbs. will be 5c. per lb. Instructions for feeding it to bees sent free. Sample by mail, 10c. A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. Machinery for Making Section Boxes. There is such a demand for Saws and Mandrels for this purpose, that I have been obliged to have them made expressly for the work. A B C, Part II, con- siders the whole matter. A mandrel, suitable for holding the whole 8 saws at once, must be very strong and heavy, or vou will have much trouble with the bearings getting hot. Such a mandrel, in- cluding 5 in. saws and washers, will cost $27.50. For only 4 saws, a lighter mandrel will do, and the whole rig will cost $16.00, with 4 inch saws. A single saw can be run on the light $5.00 mandrel, and the entire expense will be only $6.50. The latter can be sent by mail, for 70c. extra. Four inch saws, $1.50 each; 5 in. $1.75 each. Steel washers accurately ground to go between saws, 50c. each. A. 1. ROOT. POCKET RULES. Since writing about the importance of each per- son's having a rule of his own, I have written to the manufacturers of rules, and find I can get them, by the quantity, so as to send you a very pretty, 1 foot, boxwood rule, 4 fold, for the small sum of only 12c; and a 2 foot rule, same kind, for onlv '20c. A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. Tin for Separators and Extractors. As we buy in large quantities, I can perhaps give you better rates than you are getting at home. Price per box of 112 sheets, size 14x20, for Separators and small cans for honey $6 00 " " sheet, for less than a box 7 IX tin for making Extractors, 14x20, per box 8 50 " " per sheet 9 We will ship it from Medina, or from Philadelphia, as may be most convenient. A. I. ROOT, Medina. Ohio. WANTED, an Apiarist. Address L. B. HOGUE, Carpenteria, Cal. Poplar Sections. Cheap. Dovetailed Sections, 4i.tx4i4. 2 in. wide, per 1,000 $6.00 other sizes ' $8.00 Comb Fdn. 45 to 55 cts. per lb. Also Queens, Bees, Honey, etc. Wax worked up to order, at 25 cts. per lb. I will take good yellow Beeswax in exchange for Comb Fdn., and allow 30 cts. per lb. delivered here. Circular and price list free. Sample Section by mail, 5 cts. REINHARD STEHLE, Id Marietta, Washington Co., O. GEORGE GRIMM, JEFFERSON. WISCONSIN. Hereby respectfully gives notice to the public, that his Circular and Price List of Italian Bees, for the year 1878-9 is ready; and that he is selling bees at his usual low prices. 10-3d. BARNES' PATENT FOOT POWER MACHINERY! CIRCULAR and SCROLL SAWS. Hand, Circular Rip Saws for heavy and light ripping. Lathes, &c, &c. These machines are especially adapted to Hive Malting* It will pay every bee-keeper to send for our 04 page Catalogue. Ma- chines Sent on Trial. W. F. & JOHN BARNES. Rockford, Winnebago Co., 111. nCSUICDAI Assortment of Peach and Apple UEaBvClQllL trees, and small fruits. Alsoseveral Farms for sale cheap. R. S. JOHNSON, Stockey, Del. Langstroth Bee Hives, Frames, and Section Boxes, of all kinds, cut ready to nail, at reasonable rates. R. R. MURPHY, l-2d Garden Plain, Whiteside Co., 111. ections! Sections! Before ordering your Sections, send a 3c. stamp for a sample of our snow white, poplar wood. Sec- tion Box, so much admired by all at the National Convention. Any size made to order. Price greatly reduced. Circulars free. A. E. MANUM. Bristol, Addison Co., Vt. BEES FOR SALE. 50 Colonies Italians in Langstroth Hives, - $6 00 50 " Hybrids " • " - 5 <0 100 " Blacks in Triangular " - 3 00 Will deliver in good condition on any Miss. River Packet. The stocks are worth the price for the hon- ey they contain. GEO. B. PETERS, ll-2d Council Bend, Arkansas. Pure bred Poultry, Pigeons, Rabbits, and Guinea Pigs, for sale: 3c stamp for circular. H. E. SPENCER, Center Village, N. Y. Glass for Bee-keepers. Glass, 8x18, for large shipping' cases, 7c. per sheet; or $ i.00 per box, in boxes of 50 sheets. Glass, 8xl3V4, for small shipping cases, 5c. per sin- gle sheet; or $3.00 per box, in boxes of 66 sheets. Glass, cut to any of the sizes used by Beekeepers, for $3.00 per box. At this price, each hnx must contain but one size. Glass in full boxes, shipped from Pittsburgh. A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. VALENTINE'S ITALIAN BEE YARP, Established 1867. Send for new price list of imported and Home bred Queens, Comb Foundation, Hives, Section Boxes, Extractors, and Bee-Keepers' Supplies. Also high class Poultry. Queen breeding a specialty. First Premiums awarded us at St. Louis Exposi- tion for 1878, on best Italian bees and honey. l-6d VALENTINE & SON, Carlinville, 111. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. IMPLEMENTS TOE, BEE CULTURE ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED. For description of the various articles, sec our Eighteenth Edition Circular and Price List found in Dec. No., Vol. VI., or mailed on application. For directions How to Make all these various arti- cles and implements, see A B C of Bee Culture. This Price List to be taken in place of those of former date. Mailable articles are designated in the left hand column of figures ; the figures giving the amount of postage required. Canada postage on merchandise is limited to 3% oz., and nothing can be sent for less than 10 cents, j 15 I Alighting Board, detachable. See ABC. 10 8 00 2 50 3 50 HI Part First $ Basswood trees for planting. For prices see Price List Balances, spring, for suspended hive (00 lbs.) Barrels for honey " " waxed and painted. Bees, per colony, from $7 to $10, for partic- ulars see price list Bee-Hunting box, with printed instructions Binder, Emerson's, for Gleanings f 0, 60, Blocks, iron, for metal cornered frame ma- king One of the above is given free with every frames, or 1000 corners. 10 I Burlap for covering bees. 40 in. wide, per yd Buzz-Saw, foot-power, complete; circular with cuts free on application. Two saws I and two gauges included 35 00 0 | Buzz-Saws, extra, 85c, to $3.50. See price list. The above are all filed, and set,'_and mailed any where 60 Buzz-Saw mandrel and boxes complete for 6 inch saws. No saws included 5 00 The same for 7 and 8 in. saws (not mailable) 7 00 Cages for queens, wood and wire cloth, provisioned. See price list 10 " " " per doz 1 00 Candy for bees, can be fed at any season, per lb Cards, queen registering, per doz per 100 Chaff cushions for wintering (see Nov. No. for 1877) " " without the chaff Chaff cushion division boards Cheese cloth, for strainers, per yard Clasps for transferring, package of 100 Climbers for Bee-Hunting 2 50 Comb Basket, made of tin, holds 5 frames, has hinged cover and pair of handles 1 50 Comb Foundation Machines complete $35 to 100 00 Corners, metal, per 100 50 " " top only, per 100 60 bottom, per 100 40 On 1,000 or more a discount of 10 per cent will be made, and on 10,000, 25 per cent. The latter will be given to those who advertise metal cornered frames. I Corners, Machinery complete for making $250 00 15 | Enameled cloth, the heat thing for covering frames. Bees do not bite and seldom propolize it. Per yard, 45 inches wide, 25c. By the piece, (12 yards) 22 Extractors, .according to size of frame, $6 50 to 10 00 " inside and gearing, including honey-gate 5 00 " Hoops to go around the top 5 7 4 i 25 I 01 50 per doz 5 00 05 in iir, 50 Feeder, Simplicity, (see price list) 1 pint Feeders, 1 quart, tin, (see April No) The same, half size, The same, 6 cjts, to be used in upper story Files for small circular rip saws, new and valuable, 20c; per doz. by express... " The same, large size, double above prices " 3 cornered, for cross-cut saws, 10c; doz Frames with sample Rabbet and Clasps.. . Galvanized iron wire for grapevine trellises per lb. (about 100 feet) Gates for Extractors tinned for soldering. . Gearing for Extractor with supporting arm Gleanings, Vol's I and II, each 75 Vol's IV and V, each 100 Vol. Ill, second-hand 2 00 " first five neatly bound in one... 5 00 " " " unbound 4 00 2 00 1 00 10 20 50 1 25 Hives from 50c to $6 25 ; for particulars see price list Honey Knives, straight or curved blade.. . 1 00 >/2 doz 5 25 " " % doz by Express 5 00 Labels for honey, from 25 to 50c per 100 ; for particulars see price list Lamp Nursery, for hatching queen cells as built : «0 LarviP, for queen rearing, from June to Sept 25 Leather for smoker bellows, per side 50 Lithograph of the Hexagonal Apiary 25 M agnif y ing G 1 ass, Pocket 50 " " Double lens, brass on three feet 1 00 Medley of Bee-Keeper's Photo's, 150 photo's 1 00 Microscope, Compound, in Mahogany box 3 00 Prepared objects lor above, such as bees' wing, sting, eye, foot, &c., each 25 Muslin, Indian head, for quilts and cush- ions, pretty stout, but not good as duck, per yard 10 Opera Glasses for Bee-Hunting 5 00 Parafrine, for waxing barrels, per lb 25 Photo of House Apiary and improvements 25 Pump, Fountain, or Swarm Arrester 8 50 Queens, 25c to $ 6 00. See price list Rabbets, Metal, per foot 02 Salicylic acid, for foul brood, per oz 50 10 Saw Set for Circular Saws 75 0 | Screw Drivers, all metal (and wrench com- bined) 4ii inch, 10c ; 5 inch, 15c. Very nice for foot-power saws 0 j Scissors, for clipping queen's wings 40 6 I Section boxes, fancy, hearts, stars, crosses, I &c., each 05 Section Honey box, a sample with strip of fdn. and printed instructions 05 Section boxes in the flat by the quantity, $9 50 per thousand and upwards, accord- ing to size ; for particulars, see price list. Case of 3 section boxes, showing the way in which the separators are used, suitable for any kind of hive, see price list 10 Seed, Alsike Clover, raised near us, per lb. . 26 " Catnip, good seed, per oz. 10c ; per lb. 1 00 " Chinese Mustard, per oz 15 '• Mellilot, orSweet Clover, per lb 35 " White Dutch Clover, per lb 35 " Motherwort, per oz. 20c; per lb 2 00 18 " Mignonette, per lb. (25c per oz) 175 Simpson Honey Plant, per package 05 " " " peroz 50 18 " Silver Hull Ruckwhcat, per lb 10 " " " peck, by Express 75 Common " per peck 50 18 *' Summer Rape. Sow in Juno and J illy, per lb 15 A small package of any of the above seeds will be sent for 5 cents. 5 | Sheets of Enameled cloth to keep the bees from soiling or eating the cushions 10 | Shipping Cases for 48 section frames of honey 60 I The same for 24 sections, half above prices. This size can be sent by mail in I the Hat, f or 75e Slate tablets to hang on hives 15 01 Smoker, Quinbv's (to Canada 15c extra)l 50 &1 75 25 3 00 Doolittle's, to be held in the mouth Bingham's $ 1 00; 1 60 ; Our own, see illustration in price list | Tacks, tinned, per paper, (two sizes) 5 | Thermometers 0 Veils, Bee, with face of Brussels net, (silk) 75 The same, all of grenadine (almost as good) 50 Veils, material for, Grenadine, much stronger than tarlatan, 21 inches in width, per yard 20 Brussels Net, for face of vail, 29 inches in width, per yard 1 50 Wax Extractor 3 50 Copper bottomed boiler for above 1 50 Wire cloth, for Extractors, tinned, per square foot 10 Wire cloth, for queen cages 10 Above is tinned, and meshes are 5 and 18 to the inch respectively Painted wire cloth, for shipping bees, 14 I mesh to the inch, per square foot All goods delivered on board the ears here at prices named. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. 05 40 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. EEii. Advertisements will be received at the rate of 20 cents per line, Nonpareil space, each insertion, cash in advance ; and we requiro that every advertiser satisfies us of responsibility and intention to do all that he agrees, and that his goods are really worth the price asked for them. iiMmm A beautiful work of 100 Pages, One Colored Flower Plate, and 300 Illustrations, with Descriptions of the best Flowers and Vegetables, and how to grow them. All for a Five Cent Stamp. In English or German. The Flower and Vegetable Garden, 175 Pa- ges, Six Colored Plates, and many hundred Engrav- ings. For 50 cents in paper covers; $1.00 in elegant cloth. In German or English. Vlck's Illustrated Monthly Magazine— 32 Pages, a Colored Plate in every number and many fine Engravings. Price $1.25 a year; Five Copies for $5.00. Vlck's Seeds are the best in the world. Send Five Cent Stamp for a Floral Guide, containing List and Prices, and plentv of information. Address 12-3 JAMES VICK, Rochester, N. Y. WANTED A virtuous, honest, and intelligent assistant in Gar- den and Apiary, for coming season. Address DR. J. J. ADAIR, 2 Shawhan, K. C. R. R., Bourbon Co., Ky. Bees and Bee-Keepers' Supplies for Sale. I will ship to order, either by 1{. R. or River, any number of Italian, Hybrid, or Black Bees, in Lang- stroth Hives, for $4.00 per colony, payable when the Bees are shipped. Safe arrival guaranteed. Also any amount of Bee fixtures. MRS. CAPEHART, Admr'x, 2 Memphis, Tenn. MANUFACTURERS OF SUPERIOR DOUBLE REFINED GRAPE AND MALT SUGAR, CRYSTAL GLUCOSE SYRUP. Superior Double Refined Grape Sugar for feeding bees, at 3'^c per lb. in barrels of 375 lbs., and 4c in boxe3 of 50 or 110 lbs. Crystal Glucose Syrup 5c per lb. by the barrel. Samples of the Grape Sugar will be sent prepaid, by Express, on receipt of 10 cents. Iltf LOUIS P. BEST, Sup't, Davenport, Iowa. §TILLMAN«Co raying ON WOOD rj N.W. Cor: front&vine: CINCINNATI OHIO, $1.50 per TEAR; CLUBS of 5 or More $1.00. Send Ten Cents for a Sample Copy of The American Bee Journal The Oldest, Largest and Best Bee Paper. THOMAS G. KEWMAN ]• hollow log is much better than any kind of movable frame hive. Improvements in apiculture are not in their line, and inventors and writers will more and more ignore them. The shape of hive most in use, when 1 first kept Vices, gave too little top surface for surplus honey. The low and broad style which 1 introduced, besides remi dying this d< feet, has other advantages. 1. It is, for obvious reasons, much better adapted to the use of tipper stories than tidier hives. My own experience strongly supports the belief of so many, that it is more natural to bees to put their stores over their brood-nest (I use this convenient German term) than anywhere else. It was my practice, in using the extractor, to keep neither honey-board nor quilt over the frames, so that 1 might work with the least possible delay. A glance at the top of the frames -was enough, with Italian bees, to show whether the frames needed emptying. If the combs were crowded with honey, these bees would begin to build upon the tops of the frames; they repeatedly did this when they had plenty of room for comb building in empty side frames! As the attempt to build wpveardi is very difficult, being contrary to the laws of gravity, and of course to the instincts of the bees, why should they attempt it when there was ample room for ex- tending their combs laterally? 2. Long and shallow frames are much better for all necessary manipulations than any other style. [a] In handling them, the arms are kept in an easy, instead of a cramped position; a point of great im- portance to those who must often spend many hours a day in such work, [b] The eye readily commands the whole surface of a comb, without that uncom- fortable craning of the neck which the use of deep frames compels, [el There is much less danger of hurting bees in lifting out or returning the shallow frames, [d] Less motion and, of course, less time is needed to insert or remove the shallow frames. [e] It is mtieh easier to make shallow frames hang true than deep ones. At some future lime, I will reply to the objections which have been urged against my standard frame. My friend, Prof. A. J. Cook, in his admirable "Man- ual of the Apiary," recommends the Gallup frame. It is a good frame, and I am heartily glad that this and other styles are being so largely ttsted by such experts as the Hetheringtons, Dadants, and others. If it be in the nature of the case possible to decide what ought to lie the standard frame, we shall, in due time, reach such a result, ami our best apiarians will no doubt cheerfully accept it. Oxford, O.. Jan., 1879. L. L. Lanostroth. We are very much indebted to friend L., for the very valuable suggestions he has giv- en us so opportunely, on the matter of hives and frames. It would seem from the above that even the long hives about which there was so much excitement a few years ago were nothing new to friend L., after all. I have often noticed the disposition of bees to build comb right over the brood nest in preference to side storing, and as soon as fdn. made the securing of comb honey so easy, I was at little trouble in deciding that a two story hive with tlw standard L. frame was the one wanted. HIVE MAKING. Last season, I manufactured about ;">(I0 Simplicity hives, one story, and about 20,000 sections for my- self and brother bee-keepers in Clinton Co. I did not advertise at all. My customers hunted me up, and took all the hives and boxes I could make, and they have givett entire satisfaction. E. Thew. Saranac, N. Y.. Jan. 17, 1879. 1879 GLEANINGS IX BEE CULTURE. 43 AXOTIIKK C ALIlOiiNIA APIARY. fj|IIE Photograph from which the pict- ure was taken was sent us by Mr. John — ' OJtman, Los Angelos, Cal. Ihavebeen unable to get any further particulars in re- gard to it. From the long rows of hives ex- tending away in the distance until they look like mere specks- of white, one can readily imagine that honey must be yielded in great profusion from some source, probably from the mountain sides, whose peaks seem al- most to touch the sky in the distance. If 1 am correct, the mountains, as well as valleys, are covered with the wild sage that furnishes the beautiful, clear, aromatic, mountain sage honey. The different altitudes furnish hon- ey at different seasons, thus greatly pro- longing the yield. I should judge that the picture was taken during a yield of honey, from the unconcerned way in winch our friends eat their watermelon, sitting on the top of the hives ; even the little hoy seems oblivious of the fact that bees ever sting, especially when one happens to drum his feet idly against the hive he may he sitting on. With such a number of hives all of one kind, it would seem that the owner would have been careful to get a good kind to start with, and I should guess by the looks, that he had wisely settled on the time honored Langstroth frame. Where they are piled up to 3 stories in height, does it not seem a pity that the 3 stories were not all made precisely alike, Simplicity style, instead of making each one a size larger than the one below it as shown in the cut V The saving in having just one sized bodies and covers, amino more, in an apiary, is no small item. How we would enjoy dropping down on our friends for an hour or two in their wild mountain home, would we not, boys V Do you suppose they would have watermelons enough to go round i COGSWELL'S APIARY-, LOS ANGELOS CO., CALIFORNIA. With such a multitude of hives, just thinkjtbow much depends upon doing the right thing, instead of tiie wrong one ; upon having a uniformity not only in the size of the hives and surplus boxes, but in your ways of doing things; upon having every- thing undt r your thumb, so that there are no lost motions' and no time wasted in delays, hunting for tools, ! rectifying blunders, or anything of that nature. One needs to rec- ognize his own peculiar failings, before he is ready to learn wisdom's ways. 44 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Feb. $&e$ and $aevte$. [Reports of a similar nature are coming- from a great many localities; it seems to be a revival of the old bee malady. The directions given in this No., and in the A 15 C, are all 1 have to offer. Let us have full reports in regard to the chaff packing-.] F LEASE rest yourself a little, and answer me 2 questions. Can I go through my hives now in midwinter, and clean them and examine them? 1 came to Omaha from Kansas in Nov., and there has been no time since then that I could examine them on account of the cold. lam uneasy about them; 15 stands are in the cellar. I put a screw in each side of each frame before shipping, and they seemed to come through safe. Can I take one at a time into the kitchen, and open them, using the smoker, and clean the hives ? Would it not do, to do it at night by lamp light ? Have you ever done it ? Can 1 get them all back in the hive ? Please tell me how to do it safely. W. G. Pigman. Omaha, Nebraska. [You can do all you say, if you work carefully, and it will not hurt the bees at all, if you pack them up warm and snug after you get through. I have overhauled them thus, during every month in the year. Unless many of them are dead and are in bad condition, 1 think it quite unnecessary to disturb them.] What quality of lumber do you use for hives? [We use first quality of barn boards, for the bodies of the Simplicity hives, and best wide box lumber, for the covers. The Chaff hives are all made of cull lumber. We have to pay, for seasoned lumber, about $22 for the barn boards, $30 for the wide bos, and $10 for the culls.] Of whom do you procure it, and at what price? [Our lumber was purchased from different mills, in the Michigan forests. If desired, I will get some re- liable dealers in lumber, in our larger cities, to give us their addresses. Lumber must be purchased as near home as possible, on account of the expense of shipping. Unless you want as much as a car load, it will probably be better generally, to pur- chase at your nearest lumber yard.] Is not white clover better for honey than Alsike? At what price per bu. can you send the seed of each variety? [Have had reason to think white clover honey superior to that obtained from red clover, but we have always regarded Alsike and white clover honey the same. It may be that the Alsike is some- what like the red, and that it lacks the fine, exqui- site flavor of thoroughly ripened white clover hon- ey. There is a difficulty in procuring seed of any white clover, except the white Dutch; sec price list.] All who have honey for sale need scales that will weigh as much as 75 'lbs. at a time, and that can be taken with them in a wagon and not occupy much room. At what price can they be bought? [The scales we have been figuring on, only weigh about 12 to 24 lbs. If you wish them to go as high as 75, the best thing I know of is the family scale, with both scoop and platform, weighing from }■> oz. to 240 lbs. We can furnish these, shipped from the factory in Bingham pton, N. Y., for $9.00.] Jerome Wiltse. Rulo, Neb., Dec. 13, 1878. What makes my bees come out of the hive iu the coldest weather, . rht thinks E. A. Morgan does not deserve a $3.00 queen, if he charges $1.00 for transferring bees. I think it is cheap. I will say this much for him: I live 7 miles from Arcadia. He came out to my place with all kinds of bee fixings, hives, smoker, A B C of Bee Culture, and Gleanings, and offered to transfer my bees from my old box hives to the new for $1.00 a swarm. I have kept bees for 10 years and never before had seen, or heard of, mova- ble frame hives, and never had any profit from bees, except once in a while when I sold a swarm, or sul- phured one and took the honey, and had taken cap honey enough from 10 to 20 swarms (whatever I kept) for my own family. I bought 4 new hives and had him transfer the bees. He showed me the first queen bee I ever saw. In fact, I learned more from him that day than I ever knew before about the habits of bees, and the profits of keeping and manner of handling them. He entirely revolu- tionized bee keeping with me. I gave him $1.00 each for transferring and 20 lbs. of comb honey as a present besides, and engaged the balance trans- ferred in spring. I am going to get new hives for all my bees in spring, and Italianize to some extent too, and shall employ him to do that. The bees in new hives, after being transferred, seemed to work with renewed energy, filled their hives in 3 weeks, and are in as good shape as though nothing had happened. 1 would not take one hundred dollars for what ho taught me about bees in one day. Enclosed is $1.00 for Gleanings for one year. Now that I am waked up, I mean to keep myself posted, and try and realize some profit from my bee'. I have sold off several stands this fall, and winter only 15. James m. Taft. Arcadia, Wis.. Dec. 12, 1878. Vnii sent me a copy of Gleanings, in the sum- mer, and I mean to subscribe for it at the beginning of the year. I have several swarms of bees now, which first came from a forest tree. My hives are home-made, frames -JO in. long by 14 deep, 9 in a hive. Every hive is full of honey and bees. My best swarm sat in the sun, and in August all the honey broke down and commenced to run out. I set pans under and caught 20 qts. t lost 4 the bees, and supposed the whole would be lost. I went 10 miles, however, to Arcadia, and got my brother, E. A. Morgan, and a L. hive, and some fdn. He said of course I could save the bees, and went to work and transferred them; but the brood was all lost, and the honey all melted. He put fdn. in all the frames, and took all honey away; placed all brpken combs and drips GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Feb. (about 20 lbs.) in the upper story in a dripping pan and let them carry it down. They built up, and be- fore Oct. 15th, had the hive full and plenty of brood. The same day, we went into the woods and took 75 lbs. of honey from the side of a tree, but could not get the bees. As the tree was large and the honey at the bottom, we cut off the side; but the bees went up 6 feet in a small hole in the center. My bees, I consider extra workers, or I live in a good locality. I never saw the same kind before. They seem to be as large again as the common honey bees, and are a black bee, but very cross. I shall hereafter shade my bees and use L. frames, as too large frames won't do. R. A. Morgan, P. M. Eagle Branch, Wis., Dec. 20, 1878. I have just received one of your Gleanings. I have one swarm of bees which hung on a twig near my house, in May, 1875. I am very much afraid of bees, so I turned an empty salt barrel over them, and after dark, I set them on a board where they stood until Aug., 1878. The hoops had rotted and broken, and the staves were spread apart, so I ex- pected to lose them. I wanted to take the honey and kill the bees, but the swarm was so strong 1 could not go near. I heard of E. A. Morgan's handling bees, and went to see him, but thought no live man could handle them, for I always supposed that a swarm of bees would go for a man as long as there was one alive. But, lo! he came, gave them a little smoke, rapped on the barrel a few times, then pried off the staves. I watched at a good distance, for I expected to see him used up in about two minutes; but the bees seemed to stand around buzzing and take no nolice of him. He took off the staves half way round, then commenced rapping on the outside with a hammer. The bees ran up into the top story of his new hive, which he had taken off from the lower part, and placed on a staging just above the barrel. It was soon full, and hanging below were over half a bush- el of bees, and still they came in from the fields. All seemed to be out of the barrel. He then went to work, and took out the'honey, and laid it on a large work bench ; cutoff pieces from the bottom and fitted inside the frames, and fitted them so tight, he did not use wires; he filled 10 frames and set them in the bottom part of the hive, then moved the barrel away and set the hive on the spot, and took the top part down and emptied the bees on top of the frames and set it over the lower part, push- ing a half bushel of bees off on the ground. He did not put anything in the upper frames, but fixed them in and went to work at the remainder of the honey. He took 117 lbs. of good sealed honey. Meantime the bees clustered out and more than half a bushel hung outside. He then went to work and made s, third story and put it on, and all went in; but such a roaring they kept up for a week, eve- ry night and all night! He offered me *10.CO for them, but I would not take it. He came again in 2 months and looked at them, when the hive was full, and it now weighs 152 lbs. The combs in the barrel were 34 in. long and the 3 center ones were 22 inches wide. I think they never swarmed, but Morgan says there were empty'queen cells. What do you think? Did they ever swarm? And did one queen keep up the swarm? There are over one bushel of bees. I gave him $3.50 for hive and work, and think it was cheap. What did he offer so much for the swarm for? I stole 50 cts. worth of experience of him, and when I get able, am going to take a bee paper. Answer in Gleanings. I borrow of Morgan. Michael Arrigan. Arcadia, Wis., Dec. 16, 1878. Yes, friend Morgan, what did you offer Mr. Arrigan $10. for those, bees far ? 15ees in a barrel, or in any very large hive, may not swarm for a great many years, but they are pretty sure to do so sooner or later. I think friend Morgan's charge of $1.00 quite reasonable. lie did the work in a thorough, workmanlike manner, and took pains and pride in teaching all he could meanwhile. A man who would do the work, even if he did it well, without taking pains to teach bee culture, might not be worth half as much. Again, friend Morgan was fully equipped with implements, and well posted in all modern improvements. Does not that make a difference? I predict that he will have more such work, at that price, than he can possibly do, and even if he does get four or five dollars a day, he fully earns it. En- ergy and brains are in brisk demand, even through hard times. THE TENEMENT HIVE. MR. SCHOOLMASTER:— I won't stand this any longer. 1 don't mind sitting and listening i for awhile; but, after a time, I get tired of this one sided game, and feel like "talking back." With a little insignificant apiary of 30 colonies and no imported queens (we get honey though), I need not think of the "boss" coming near enough for me to talk to him. Well, at one time in the fall, 1 thought of going to Medina just to see if there is any hexagonal apiary there. But I would be so boied to go theie and find hybrid bees building square cells in a straight row of hives, that 1 finally concluded to stay at home. Then, if 1 did go, I couldn't very well take one of my hives with me, and the "boss" wouldn't listen long enough for me to tell him that I had one at home, and he would go on his way rejoicing, thinking that no one can make hives without "steel gauges'' and a "brick factory." Another good reason for not going is that I might become dissatisfied with my "ttxins." and a b.ggcr reason is that . I— t— well, I might come back with a poorer opinion of myself. When a fellow reads about bees and works with the bees and lays awake o' nights and studies about bees, is it strange for him to tnke a notion to talk about bees? And right here is where the trouble comes— to whom will 1 talk? If I'd go to talking about the fertilization of queens and about introducing virgin queens, about tin separators, comb foundation, and chaff hives, to the old farmers— why, (hey would send me out to t'other side of Columbus, before a week. Well, I wouldn't have lived this long, but J. A. Buchanan comes around once in awhile and sometimes I go there and— well— pretty near forget to come home. The genuine bee-keeper is a species of lunatic any how. Did you ever see two of 'em meet? Can't they talk and ask questions? They may be entire strangers to each other, but they are fast friends at once. And such talk ! to the bystanders, it is unin- telligible jargon. Now "boss," did you ever try to talk bees to a feller who wasn't a bee-keeper? You can take some subject and explain it all out, and think that you have made it so plain that the "wayfaring man though a fool" can't help but understand it, and then he will just turn around and ask some "fool question," showing that he don't understand a word you have said. Did it ever occur to you that one of our most scientifically constructed hives is very much like the natural comb? it is the joint product of the many. And again, how a fellow will study and study and blunder around every way, in trying to find out some little, simple thing that he "ought- er knowed always." I was led into this train of thought a few days ago, while looking over Glean- ings. During the last year, I have been construc- ting a hive; each part has been adopted after delib- erate consideration; lam pretty well through with it, but, "for the life of me," I couldn't name it satis- factorily. Now another fellow coolly steps in and, without a bit of trouble, calls it "The Tenement Hive." Well, it's a "leetle provokin," isn't it? By referring to Vol. 5, p. 38, you will see that I had 4 hives packed in chaff during the summer of '76. They were in one long box, with the entrances all to the south. During the summer of '77, I had 3 hives in one box, with entrances at the same side. I have had no trouble by the loss of queens, but there are other objections. If a swarm issues and then decides to come back, I have always found it necessary to cover or close the other entrances. Other objections to having the entrances so near each other will readily occur to practical bee-keep- ers. With this exception, I liked the plan so well that I began to think of permanent institutions for three colonies. Last spring, I fixed up permanent apartments for 5 colonies in a box that was made in '74, to pack hives in. The entrance to the middle ; apartment is at the north, the end ones open to the j east and west, the other two open to the south. I have found nothing seriously objectionable in this plan, but I would prefer to have no entrance at the 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 49 side where I stand. In Oct., I built one hive for 2, and one for 3 colonies. Now for your objections; "It cannot be hinged at one sido." After working with a rover of this kind for three years, I have failed to find any inconven- ience whatever. On the other hand, it is one of the very things that I like. The cover is raised up cut of the way, and propped in a twinkling-, and if it is hinged at the south side, it is as good as an umbrella. Advantages : — With Mr. Underbill, I will say "Economy of material and labor in construction, and convenience in working about or with them." And why not say economy of heat during winter and cool weather in the spring? If the cover is raised 6 or 8 inches at the north side, it seems to suit the bees exactly in the hottest weather. The long box referred to above was stocked with five large, natu- ral swarms, hived on frames half filled with fdn. The roof is tlooring covered with pine shingles and was not shaded at all; yet, when the roof was raised 8 or 10 inches at the north side, there seemed to be no inconvenience on account of the mercury stand- ing" at H5° in the shade. Then, this hive can be locked the same as the poul- try house and the corn-crib, if it is needed. I have been quite enthusiastic over this chaff "Ten- ement Hive" for some time; but several years ago I decided not "to write up" new things until they had stood the test of usage (a bad rule; it would ruin the patent business). J. M. Reynolds. East Springfield, O. Dee. 13, 1878. Friend R. sends some beautiful diagrams of his hive with the above very pleasant and "neighborly"' letter. The only objection I have to the tenement hive is: that all that have been tried (and there are a great many of them scattered over the land, as I judge from the pile of letters we receive in regard to them) have almost always been sooner or later discarded. When everybody drops a thing, I regard it as pretty good proof of its unworthiness. The long Adair hive well il- lustrates this. Thousands were made, and many bee-keepers transferred all their bees to them, but now scarcely one is used, unless it is those sold by Mitchell, who claimed them as his patent just about the time they were declared to be a failure. It is quite possible we have never had a really handy tenement hive, and we can certainly give friend Underwood the credit of having in- vented the name, if not the tenement hive, that will be adopted by the coming bee men and women. USING SECTION BOXES, TI^IE OF I'l'T- TJNtt THEM ON THE HIVES, ETC. MAVING given you my plan of putting sections together, you may be interested to know I about using them on the hives. Last sum- mer, I did not get sectims on all my hives till about June 18th, as I had but little time to see to my bees till June Tth. Having sections to put together, frames to make, &c, after June Tth, 1 got behind- hand in my work and kept behind all summer long, making my work harder and more unpleasant, and I think quite likely I might have had 6,000 instead of 5,000 lbs. of honey, if I had been in readiness with everything done'in advance that could be done. It is somewhat important to know just when is the right time to put on sections, and I am not sure that I know, but I think 1 would rather put them on too soon than too late. If they are put on too soon, the hive is made unnecessarily cold, and part of the tlying force is kept at home to keep up the heat. If sections arc not put on till after the bees are ready to store surplus, they waste time in storing in the space that should be left for the queen, and very likely make preparations for swarming, thus ma- terially interfering with the surplus crop. If I had only a few colonies and plenty of time to work with them, I think, as soon as the hives seemed well stocked with bees and honey was coming in, I should put on frames of sections only as fast as the bees occupied them, closing out, by means of quilts and division boards, all cold space not actually oc- cupied by the bees; but I had 124 colonies to handle, and I could save time by putting on a super filled with sections, all at once. SHAEL WE PUT SECTIONS IN TIIE LOWER STORY? The summer of 1877, I put two frames of sections at the side of the brood, in the main apartment, be- fore putting on the super, and I am not prepared to say whether it is best to do so or not. 1 think the bees are rather slow in such cases, to finish up the bottom sections. Last summer, I put sections only in the supers, and 1 think it made me less work; but, possibly, by right management, more honey might be secured by having sections in the brood apartment also. To get the bees to work more promptly in the sections, I put a frame of brood between two section frames and turned the open side of each (on which were no separators), next to the brood. This brood I put in the center of the su- per, crowding the section frames tight and snug up to it. In a few days, perhaps 5, but varying accor- ding to circumstances, the bees had commenced work on all the sections in these two frames, and then I put two empty frames next the brood, or be- tween the brood and the sections already started. When these empty frames of sections next the brood were started, they changed places with the outside empty ones, and the super was now left with 6 frames of sections in full progress and one frame of empty sections. This frame of empty sec- tions was apt to be very unsatisfactorily worked, and I am not sure that I have hit on the best plan, but I am willing to learn. 1 am sure I can improve another year, and shall be glad of your criticisms. Chicago, 111. Dec. 19, '78. C. C. Miller. Your experience, friend M., is much like that of the rest of us. There is a great dif- ference in colonies, in regard to working in sections at the side of the brood in the lower stories. If you have no upper story on at all, the bees will work with great vigor, in the sections in the lower story, but this does not pay, unless the colony is a feeble one. Also, if we have only a single tier above, they will be much more disposed to work be- low, than where Ave have the usual upper story full. This is one reason why we have such a difference of opinion, in regard to the storing. A tall frame, like the American, also favors section boxes at the sides ; but with the L. frames, and the whole 56 sections above, the bees are often disposed to let the bottom ones remain until they get soiled and dark, before finishing them. With the fdn. starters, we seldom have any trouble in get- ting the bees to go right into the upper sto- ries at once, without any frame of brood at all. Our bees are generally ready to go into the upper stories in a mass, as soon as honey begins to come, for we usually succeed in having every hive crowded with bees, by the time clover comes into bloom. FOIL, BROOD. %fi BOUGHT 2 swarms of pure Italians., at $10. each, l|[ in Apr. Moved them to my home, about 3 miles, &3i and soon after commenced feeding them a little honey from a hive that had had a swarm in it the year previous. The Italians being in Langstroth hives, and very gentle, I took great delight in watch- ing their progress, which was done so easily, by tak- ing <>11 the honey board and lilting up the frames one by one, that I learned very many things during the season that I had never heard of before reading Gleanings. No. 1 swarmed June M, it being the earliest swarm in town, 1 think, then again the 13 and 17 of June. No. 2 got nearly ready to swarm once or twice, as I supposed; at one time, they had 3 queen cells capped over, but the next time I look- ed at them, in a day or two, Ihe cells were destroyed and my hopes nearly blasted. After this, I took 6 of their best cards of brood and placed in No. 1 and their 3d swarm, 3 to each, then fillea their place in 50 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Feu. No. 2, by putting- the 3 I took from No. 1, and 3 that I made from the comb in this old hive, in their place. About this time, I noticed that there were a number of cells in No. 2 that contained a blackish, putrid looking- substance. My bees did extra well, I thought; for in the fall, 1 found 1 had taken 180 lbs. of cap honey in 2 lb. boxes, the most of which I sold for 15c. per lb. After taking- the set of boxes, of 48 lbs., off the 2d voung- swarm, 1 do not think there was 4 lbs. in the* hive. They had put it all above. Later in the fall, I noticed that this putrid substance had increased wonderfully, producing a very offen- sive smell in the two old stocks, and furthermore, it was to be seen in the 3 young swarms. By this time I made up my mind, from what I had read and oth- ers had said, that my bees had foul brood. I destroy- ed the bees and comb in the 2 old stocks, and the combs of the worst young swarm, shook the bees in- to an empty box, kept them there 3 days, then put them on some clean combs that I bought of a neigh- bor, and fed them clean honey. I removed the oth- er 2 hives of bees, 13 miles off, and traded a cow for 0 swarms more. 1 am trying to winter the 9 swarms by packing in chaff. 'i have never written anything concerning bees before, and I guess you will hope, by this time, that 1 never will again. QUESTIONS. 1st. How shall I manage with the 2 swarms, in the spring? 2d. Have I cured the one at home? 3d. Shall I use the 3 hives again? Jfso, how can they be cleaned? E. H. Knapp. Fabius, N. Y., Dec., 13, 1878. All I know of foul brood is given in the A B C. As I have never had any personal experience with it, I can only suggest. I think you have done about right. Giving the hives a thorough fumigation with brim- stone, or a zero freeze, I think, will kill the germs of the foul brood ; but, as the point is not well settled, it may be safest to destroy them. I should try salicylic acid on the two you have moved away. ^ ■•■ ^ SEPAHATOKS OR NO SJiPARAT US. ALSO SOMETHING ABOUT EXTRACTED HONEY. TAKE the liberty to write to you concerning the use of tin separators, about which, begging your pardon, 1 cannot agree with you. I have been reading and watching your ways fori or 5 years past, but have still followed our old friend, Mr. Langstroth, until I thought your new inventions were well tested. So last spring, I ordered of you an extractor, tin separators, and several other things, to start on the new plan. Well, 1 fixed up some nice 3 frame boxes with separators, and put them on 3of the best stocks I had, which were covered up on top and around the sides with old rags to keep in the heat, and about the third day, I thought 1 would peep in and see what they were doing; but, behold! there were on- ly a few scattered bees crawling around here and there. Well, as honey was plenty, but the weather I thought too cool for separators amongst the bees, especially at night, I concluded I must try some oth- er plan. So 1 made some cases to hold 30 sections, with slats across the bottom to set the sections on, and put on a few of them for trial, and in two or three days peeped in, and what did I see? Nice white comb nearly to the bottoms of the sections; but, as the hives leaned forward, the comb was built accordingly. However, I saw thoy meant to work with a will, either straight or crooked; so I leveled up my hives from front to rear, perfectly level, and made more cases, got sections on them all, and they worked with a will, and 1 tell you, dear sir, they made me work too. The most of the sections without the separators were filled and taken off before they began to work in those with separators; and where the hives were leveled up and comb fdn. hung plumb in the sec- tions, they were as n:'c3 as anybody could wish, and there were no bits of comb built between them— not in one in two or three hundred; besides, the sec- tions are fuller and plumper by having only one passage instead of two. Now it may be that experience differs as well as opinion, but if mine don't differ from this year, I will never want any tin separators. Besides, they are very unhandy, to say the least, unless they are in the broad frames, and they are not needed there, because I got some of my nicest sections in broad frames, from new swarms. Now, 1 will give you the amount of honey I took this season from 35 stands; mind they had a good surplus of old honey f'rom last year, as 1 had no ex- tractor until last spring. Well, I sold of extracted honey 1,803 lbs., besides what we used, and of sec- tion honey I have sold about 1,400 lbs., and have about 400 lbs. more, but they are not full weight. These I will sell at a less price. Besides i got about 80 lbs. of box honey. For my extracted honey, I got from 10 to 15 cts. per lb. Mv section honey 1 wholesaled to James Baird f or 15 cts. per lb. Now, Mr. Root, you will think that looks a little too big; it does to me; but I give you the honest facts, and will refer you to my neighbor bee-keepers, Mr. John B-iird and James Baird, who retailed about 1,000 lbs. of section honey. I will give what 1 extracted from three hives; not as a big thing, but to show that it will pay well, at 10 cts. per lb. June 13, extracted l3Mj gal. " 20, " 14 " 27, " 10 July ti, " J«'., " " 27, " 10>2 " Total, 72' 2 All from upper stories. It weighed from 11 to 11' 2 lbs. to the gnllon. One thing I would suggest ; that is, that you print, a few thousand copies of how and why it is, that ex- tracted honey can be sold cheaper than comb honey. If I had had 200 or 300 copies to give to my custom- ers last summer, it would have saved a good deal of time and a good deal of talking, besides introdu- cing the honey. Some, as soon as their honey began to candy, ac- cused me of dishonesty ; said it was made of sugar. I will tell you of one honey dealer in Wheeling, who has dealt in honey for several years, and still sup- posed that extracted honey was pressed out, until [ explained it to him, and when his honey candied, he didn't know he could melt it again. Wm. Bitzeis. Elm Grove, Ohio Co., West Va., Nov. 26, 1878. If we dispense witli separators, we virtu- ally reduce the upper story to one large box, and I am well aware the bees will commence sooner without the separators titan they will with, many times; if you will look on page 1209 of Gleanings for 1876, you will see that I once came to the same conclusion you have, and the next season, sections were put on about half of our apiary, without separa- tors ; but when we commenced taking the honey off, I very soon decided that I never wanted any more sections in that shape, and we finally went over all the hives exchang- ing broad frames with separators on, for those that had none. All of our honey labels, friend B., give a brief explanation of the difference between extracted and strained honey, but since you have mentioned it, 1 think 1 will have a la- bel made, giving fuller explanations, and the reason why extracted honey can b3 sold so much cheaper. SALT FOK BEES AGAIN. 1 can tell you how 1 make my bees eat salt. I go out early in the morning, when the dew is on the grass or bushes, within a few rods of my bees, and sow the salt broadcast onthe grass orbushes, which- ever it may be. It will dissolve in the dew, and 1 will guarantee that the bees will lick it all up clean. Jordan Center, Wis., Jan. 1, 1879. A. Auair. Thanks, friend A. [ presume our bees will stand a chance of being well salted next season, even if they have gone hungry for salt heretofore. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 51 ROCKY MOUNTAIN BEE PLANT. i Gleome InU grifolia |. This is a beautiful plant for the flower garden, to say nothing of the honey it produces. It grows from two to three feet in height, and bsars large clus- ters of bright pink flowers, as shown in the cut. ROCKY MOUNTAIN BEE PLANT. It i:; a near relative of the spider plant. which see. It grows naturally on the Rocky Mountains, and in Colorado, where it is said to furnish large quantities of honey. Al- though it succeeds easily under cultivation, in our locality, I cannot learn that it has ever been a success pecuniarily. With this, as well as with all other plants, it must be borne in mind that, to yield honey enough to give it a fair test, acres are needed, instead of lit- tle patches in the garden. The seed has been offered for sale for several years past, as a plant to be cultivated for honey; even if it does not pay for honey, it will pay to have a bed of it on account of its beauty. I first saw it in bloom, at a neighbors, but have never learned whether it yields honey in the same manner as the spider plant, or not. STING-S. It is true that bees cannot lute and kick like horses, nor can they hook like cattle, but most people, after having had an experience with bee stings tor ttie first time, are inclined to think they would rath- er be bitten, kicked, and hooked, all togeth- er, than risk a repetition of that keen and exquisite anguish which one feels as he receives the full contents of the poison bag, from a vigorous hybrid, during the height of the honey season. Stings are not all alike, by any means, and while I can stand the greater part of them without even wincing, or stopping my work. 1 occasionally get one that seems as if it could not possibly be borne. As I always find myself obliged to bear it. however, I try to do so as best I can. I have often noticed that the pain is much harder to bear, if I stop and allow my mind to dwell on it ; or after being stung, if I just think of former times when I have received painful stings, at the mere thought, a sud- den pang darts along the wounded part. I do not know why this is, unless it is the ef- fect of the imagination ; if so, then it is clear to my mind that even imaginary pains are very hard to bear. I have sometimes pur- posely, by way of experiment, allowed my mind to dwell on the pain of the sting the moment it was inflicted, and the increase would be such, that it would almost make me scream with pain. If you doubt this, the next time your feet get very cold, just think of wading barefooted in the frozen snow, at a zero temperature. Perhaps my imagina- tion is unusually active, for it sometimes makes the pain, when riding in the cold, al- most unbearable, while I get along very well if thinking of something else. Well, if oth- ers have had a similar experience, and I pre- sume you all have, you can see why I have so often given as a remedy for stings, simply to keep on with your work, and pay no at- tention to the stings whatever. Of course, where stings swell on one so badly, as to shut an eye, or the like of that. I presume you might be obliged to stop work awhile, but even then. I would advise pay- ing as little attention to the matter as it is possible to do, and by all means to avoid rubbing or irritating the affected part. I have known stings to be made very painful. by rubbing and fussing with them, that I have good reason to think would have given little, if any. trouble otherwise. You all know that when you get warmed up with hard work, a bruise, a bump, or a slight flesh wound gives little if any pain; but to sit down calmly and cut into one's flesh gives the most excruciating pain. When a lad. I have repeatedly cut great gashes in my fin- gers with my jack knife, and felt but little pain at the time, but when it became neces- sary to lance the flesh to get a sliver out of the foot, or to cut open a stone bruise, the , pain was the most intense I can imagine. 52 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Eeb. To pare away with the razor until you get through the skin, and see the hloocl start- why, it makes my flesh creep to think of it now ; but the clips that came unawares with the dull jack knife were scarcely heeded at all, more than to tie up the wound to keep the blood from soiling my work. Well, the point is, we are to take stings just as we used to take the cuts with those jack knives, in our boyhood days. Of course, we are not to rush needlessly into danger, but when it comes, take it philosophically. I would pull the sting out as quickly as pos- sible, and I would take it out in such a way as to avoid, as much as possible, squeezing the contents of the poison bag into the wound. If you pick the sting out with the thumb and finger in the way that comes nat- ural, you will probably get a fresh dose of poison in the act, and this will sometimes prove the most painful of the whole opera- tion, and cause the sting to swell when it otherwise would not have done so. I have sometimes thought it might be near- ly as well to leave the sting in the wound. I have frequently found them when washing, and the presence of the sting was the first indication I had that I had been stung ; but I presume I knew at the time that a sting had been inflicted. THE PROPER WAY TO REMOVE A BEE STING. The blade of a knife, if one is handy, may be slid under the poison bag, and the sting lifted out, without pressing a particle more of the poison into the wound. When a knife blade is not handy, I would push the sting out with the thumb or finger nail in much the same way. It is quite desirable that the sting should be taken out as quickly as pos- sible, for if the barbs (to be described furth- er along) once get a hold in the flesh, the muscular contractions will rapidly work the sting deeper and deeper. Sometimes, the sting separates, and a part of it, one of the splinters, so to speak, is left in the wound ; it has been suggested that Ave should be very careful to remove every one of these tiny points, but after trying many times to see what the effect would be, I have concluded that they do but little harm, and that the main thing is, to remove the part containing the poison bag, before it has emptied itself completely into the wound. When I am very busy, or have something in my other hand making it inconvenient to remove the sting with my knife or finger nail, I have been in the habit of rubbing the sting out, against my clothing, in such a way as to push the poison bag off sideways, and although this plan often breaks off the sting so as to leave splinters in the wound, I have found little, if any, more trouble from them than usual. REMEDIES FOR BEE STINGS. For years past, I have taken the ground, that remedies of all kinds are of so little a- vail, if of any avail at all, that the best way is to pay no attention to any of them. This has awakened a great deal of arguing, I know, and the remedies that have been sent me, which the writers knew were good, be- cause they had tried them, have been enough to rill pages of this book. I have tried a great many of them, and for a time, have imagined they "did good," but after giving them a more extended trial, I have been forced to conclude that they were of no avail. Nay, farther, they not only did no good, but if the directions with the remedy were to rub it in the wound, they did a positive harm ; for the friction diffused the poison more rap- idly into circulation, and made a painful swelling of what would have been very tri- fling, if let alone. Please bear in mind that the poison is introduced into the flesh through a puncture so minute, that the finest cambric needle, could, by no manner of means, enter where the sting did, and that the flesh closes over so completely after it. that it is practi- cally impossible for the remedy to penetrate this opening; now, e^en if you have a reme- dy that will neutralize the bee poison, in something the same way that an acid neu- tralizes an alkali, how are you to get the rem- edy in contact with the poison V I know of no way of doing it, except we resort to a sur- gical operation, and if you will try that kind of "tinkering" with one bee sting, you will probably never want to try another. I tell you, there is no remedy in the world like let- ting it alone, and going on with your work without even thinking about it. But sup- pose we get a sting under the eye, that closes up that very important organ ; shall we go on with our work still? Well, I be- lieve I would go on with my work still, and do the best I could do with one eye. If both were closed at once, I do not know but I would wait awhile until they should get open again. I would not resort to medicine and ^tinkering," even then, but would let the eyes alone, until they came open of themselves. If the wound is feverish, or if a person has received a great number of stings at one time, an application of cold water or cloths wet in cold water may prove a relief, but even in using this simple means, I would lay 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 53 the cloth on very quietly, and carefully avoid rubbing or irritation. I have often dipped my hand in cold water after having a pain- ful sting, but as my hand ached just as bad under the water (it really ached worse, be- cause I had nothing else to do but to stand there and think about it), I soon dropped that remedy also. A year or two ago, kerosene oil was suggested as a remedy, and two of our friends regarded it of such importance, that they almost got into a controversy about which was entitled to the honor of the dis- covery. Well, I had a very bad sting on my hand, and I went for the oil can, and dropped oil on the spot for some time ; as kerosene will remove a rusty bolt or screw when noth- ing else will avail, and as it seems to have a wonderful power of penetrating all cracks and crevices, I began to have faith that it might follow the sting of the bee, and in some way neutralize the poison. I had the satisfaction of having one of the most pain- ful and lasting stings I ever got, and togeth- er with the offensive smell of the oil, it quite sickened me of that, as a remedy. I pre- sume the oil made it no worse, but it really seemed to me that it must have done so. In discussing this matter of bee sting rem- edies, we should remember that the pain of a sting very often ceases suddenly, with no application whatever; those who have been stung a great deal will all tell you that this is the case. Well, the beginner who carries his saleratua water or hartshorn, and always makes an application of some kind, will tell you, and truthfully too, that the pain stopped the very moment the remedy was applied. Again ; some stings swell very badly, while others do not swell at all. Well, if an appli- cation is made, and no swelling results, he will remember how former stings had swelled, and at once ascribe the difference to the remedy applied. STou will see from this, that it is only by repeated trials, ex- tending through a considerable period of time, that Ave can arrive at the truth. There is one rule that will apply to this, and to a great many other similar matters. If a thing is really good, it will come into general use, and stay there, not only for a few weeks and months, or for a single season, but will be in demand year after year. If I am cor- rect, not one of the bee sting remedies have stood this test. Sooner or later, they have all been dropped, and old bee-keepers get along in the way I have advised— picking the sting out, if they are not in too much of a hurry, and thinking no more about it. WHAT TO DO WHEN STUNG A GREAT NUM- BER OF TIMES, ALL AT ONCE. There is very seldom any need of such a catastrophe, but as such an event may come about, it may be well to consider the matter. In hiving hybrids, under certain conditions, I have known them to attack the operator in a mass, and sting him most unmercifully. A neighbor of ours was stung in this way until he fainted, and had to be carried into the house. In such cases, I would resort to the usual means to restore the person from the fainting fit, and then extract the stings as speedily as possible, and treat with wet cloths. It is true that death may result from the stings of bees, and if report is correct, a single sting has been known to result in death, in very rare instances. Shall we stop keeping bees on this account V People are killed by horses almost every day, and such cases are comparatively frequent, but did anyone ever advocate giving up the use of horses on that account V Cases that have re- sulted fatally, or in laying a person up for a time, or have produced fainting, are usually where the person is stung for the first time ; after the system gets inured to the poison, its effects are comparatively harmless. GETTING HARDENED TO THE EFFECTS OF STINGS. When I first commenced bee keeping, stings swelled so badly and were so painful, that I had either my hands or eyes swelled up most of the time, and I seriously contem- plated giving up the business, just on this account alone. After I had had a little more practice, I discovered that there was very little need of being stung at all, if one was careful not to provoke the ire of the little in- sects. Still further, I found the swelling to be gradually less and less, and before my first summer was over, I very seldom felt the effects of any sting, the day afterward. When first commencing, if my eye was swelled so as to be closed by a sting, it often took until the third day, to have it go down entirely. The A B C class, almost without exception, corroborate this experience. HOW TO AVOID BEING STUNG. Some may imagine, from the foregoing, that it is necessary for one who keeps bees to submit to the pain of being stung several times, every day. A short time ago, a lady said that she could never stand it to have her husband keep 100 swarms, for she got stung four or five times a day with only a dozen, and 30 or 40 stings a day would be more than she could possibly stand. Now, 54 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUBE. Feb. my friends, I think I can take any one of you into an apiary of 100 colonies, and have you assist me all day long, without your getting a single sting. Nay, farther ; if you are very timid, and cannot bear a single sting, by tak- ing some pains, you may be able to work day after day, without being stung. The apiary must be properly cared for, and no robbing allowed, and you must do exactly as I tell you. See anger of bees. It may be a hard matter to tell you in a book how to be- have without being stung, but I will try. In the first place, avoid standing right in front of any hive ; I am often very much tried with visitors (some of them bee-keepers, too. Who ought to know better), because they will stand right before the entrance until they have a small swarm scolding around them because they cannot get out and in, and then Wonder why so many bees are buzzing about in that particular spot. If you should go in- to a factory, and stand in the way of the workmen until a dozen of them were blocked lip with their arms full of boards and finish- ed work, you would be pretty apt to be told to get out of the way. Now you are to exer- cise the same common sense in an apiary. By watching them, you can tell, at once, their path through the air, and you are to keep out of their way. Bight back of any hive is a pretty safe place to stand. One of the first things to learn is to know Whether a bee is angry or not, by the noise he makes. It seems to me you should all know by the hum of a bee, when it is gathering honey from the heads of* clover in the fields, that it has no malice toward any living thing ; it is the happy hum of honest industry and con- tentment. People sometimes jump, when a bee hums thus harmlessly along, and it seems to me they should know better, but I presume it is because bees are not in their line of business, and they don't know "bee talk." Well, when you go in front of a hive, or even approach hives that are not accustomed to being worked with, one of the sentinels will frequently take wing, and by an angry and loud buzz, bid you begone. This note is (piite unlike that of a bee upon the flow- ers, or of the ordinary laborer upon the wing; it is in a high key, and the tone, to me, sounds much like that of a scolding wo- man, and one who will be pretty sure to make her threats good, if you do not heed the warning. AVhen one of - these bees ap- proaches, you are first to lower your head, or better still, tip down your hat brim; for these fellows almost always instinctively aim for the eyes. lie will often be satisfied and go back into his hive if you move away a lit- tle, but you do not want to give him to un- derstand that you admit yourself a thief, and that he has frightened you. If he gets 1 very threatening, and you are timid, yon would better go into some building. I am in the habit of opening the door of the honey house, and asking visitors to go in there, when an angry bee persists in following them. Very many times I can hardly get them to go in as I direct, because they can- not see why the bee will not follow them, and thus have them cornered up and a sure prey. I do not know why it is, but a bee very seldom ventures to follow one in doors. A single bee never does, if I am correct, but a very vicious colony of hybrids, when fully aroused, may do so. I have learned by hab- it, to know just about when one of these cross bees is ready to sting, and the greater part of the time, I can catch them in the act of inserting their stinger, before I am stung. Sometimes I get a slight prick, but not often. Where there has been no robbing going on, one has usually warning enough, and in am- ple time, to take precautions. Where the bees are quietly at work, that is, during the working season, there is but little danger from bees in the air. When you are work- ing with a hive, bending right over the un- covered frames, you are comparatively se- cure from the bees of other hives, for when there is no robbing, bees seem to have no disposition to meddle or hang around their neighbors' homes. This is one reason why bystanders, or those who are off at a little distance, are so much more apt to be stung than the apiarist who is right among them. HOW TO OPEN A HIVE, WITHOUT BEING STUNG. Have your smoker lighted, and in good trim, and then set it down near the hive you are going to work with. Now, I would nev- er use smoke with any hive of bees, unless they need it to subdue them, for why should we disturb and annoy the little fellows while quietly going about their household duties, unless we are obliged to? I frequently open hive after hive, with no kind of use for smoke at all, and yet I often see bee-keepers drive the poor little chaps down to the bot- toms of their hives with great volumes of smoke, when they had not shown the least symptom of any disposition but the most friendly one. It is true, where the colony is very large, the bees sometimes pile up in the way, on the rabbets and ends of the frames, 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CtJLTUltE. so that it becomes desirable to (hive them away for their own safety. For this pur- pose, very little smoke is needed, and it' you are in no great hurry, they will clear out of the way. if you just pat them on the backs gently with a weed or bit of grass. If the 1 »ees are disposed to be cross, and to show light, you will readily discover it, the minute you turn up the first corner of the cloth cov- ering, and if it takes smoke to make them beg pardon, give them smoke, but only in small quantities until you are sure more is needed. The top of the hive is supposed to be off, the sheet removed, and yourself down on your knees on the sawdust beside the hive. If it is a chaff hive, you work standing, but lean your body against the hive. With your eye, decide which one of the 10 frames will come out easiest, and slide the rest on the rabbets a little away from it. By sliding two or three on each side, you can have all the room you need to liftoutthe frame without pinching a single bee. Now this taking out not only the first frame, but any or all the frames, is a very important matter, if you wish to do it without getting stung. Suppose you are obliged to pass through a room, witli the floor all covered with babies, creeping about. As you lift your feet and set them down, you will prob- ably exercise some care, for it would be quite a serious piece of business to hit one of the soft little things a blow with the heel of your great, awkward boot. Now I wish you to think it just as serious a matter to mash one* of these little innocents while faithfully do- ing their work in their own home. I know you will say, some of you, that you haven't the time to be so caret' id, but I tell you God holds you responsible for any needless cruelty you may inflict on these dumb friends. Be- sides that, you will make more money, to be human and gentle, than if you smash ahead, regardless of everything except the money you can squeeze out of these little creatures. If you can lift out the frames and put them back without harming a bee, you can get along, usually, without any smoke, if you choose. It is much easier to handle a shal- low frame, without killing bees, than it is a tall one. When I see a person opening a hive, I us- ually watch him carefully, to see if he takes care to kill no bees. After the first frame is taken out, it must be placed somewhere. I believe the usual way is to stand it on end, leaning against the side of the hive. Now the corner of the frame that rests on the ground is very apt to be covered with bees, and many, many times, after it has been put back in the hive, have I seen the maimed and mashed bodies of the little fellows, writh- ing in their death agonies. Do you blame bees for stinging when they are treated thus? Why will people be so careless and heedless of the comfort and life of the rest of the ani- mated creation? Within the lust year, sev- eral devices have been suggested for the purpose of holding the first frame or frames, that the rest may be manipulated with great- er e:;se. These will be found in the July, Aug., and Oct. Nos. of last year, and in the Jan. No. of this year. While thes;- imple- ments are very handy, without question, they are more machinery to have around in the way. and it takes time to run after them and cany them about. I do not know "but that I should prefer doing without them, but you will probably have different tastes and views in the matter. I have illustrated them, that you may be able to act according to your own judgment. If you decide to stand the first frame on the ground, be sure that you brush or drive all the bees off the corner that is to touch the ground. Be sure, also, that you set the frame at such an angle that it cannot possibly fall over, or be blown down by the wind. On this account alone, I would want wind breaks of some kind, to keep off the prevailing winds. If your colony is a small one, and the hive not full, the frames are very easily handled without killing bees; if there is a division board, it can be moved back a little, and the first frame set on the other side of it. All these things can be done very quickly, when you get used to it ; much quicker than you could take out a movable side to a hive. I believe experience has taught this with al- most everyone that has used hives with mov- able sides. 2no matter how sanguine the in- ventor may be, at first, that his hive is the one to prevent danger from stings, in a few years, we find all such hives dropped, and laid aside. WHAT BEES STING THE WOBST. The general decision is that the pure Ital- ians are, as a rule, the most easily handled. Not only do they sting less, but as they keep their places on the combs without getting excited, when hives are properly opened, they are far less liable to get under one's clothing, than the common bees. A great many stings are received from bees that are in no way badly disposed at all,- simply by their getting pinched accidentally, while on the person of the bee-keeper. Pure Italians may be handled all day, with no such mis- 56 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Feb. hap ; but after working among blacks or hy- brids, I often find a dozen or more under my coat, up my sleeves, if they can get up, and worst of all, up my trousers, if I have not taken the precaution to tuck them into my boots, or stockings when I wear low shoes. See bee dress. Well, I believe this one thing alone would decide me in favor of the Italians, if they, were simply equal to the blacks in other respects. The hybrids, as I have before stated, are much worse to sting than either of the races when pure. It may be well to add, that we find many exceptions to these rules ; a hive of blacks will sometimes be much easier to handle than a hive of Italians in the same yard, and the progeny of a queen that we may have every other reason to call pure, may be as cross as the worst hybrids. Still farther; a very cross swarm of bees may be so educa- ted, by careful treatment, as to become very gentle, and vice versa. The colony in front of the door of the honey house is always a gentle one, season after season ; the explana- tion of it is that they become accustomed to the continual passing and repassing of the bee-keeper in front of their hive, and learn to be dodging past some one almost all the time. On the contrary, those bees that are in the remote corners of the apiary are very apt to sting you, if you just come round to take a view of their entrance. The Egyp- tian bees are said to be very much worse than any of the other races, and as they do not yield to smoke, as do others, they have been discarded, principally on account of this unpleasant feature. THE BEE STING POISON. When bees are very angry, and elevate that portion of their bodies containing the sting, you will often see a tiny drop of some transparent liquid on the point of the sting. This liquid is the poison of the bee sting. It has a sharp, pungent taste, and when thrown in the eyes, as often happens, it has a sting- ing, acrid feeling, as if it might be a com- pound of cayenne pepper, onion juice, and horse-radish combined, and one who tastes it or gets it in his eyes concludes it is not so very strange that such a substance, intro- duced into the circulation, produces such ex- quisite pain. The poison of the bee sting has been shown to be similar in composition to that of the viper and scorpion ; but at the present writing, I cannot learn that any chemist has ever given us an analysis that would tell us just what the poison is. The acid obtained from ants is called formic acid, and I have wondered whether that from bee stings is not similar, if not the same. It is probably a vegetable acid, secreted from the honey and pollen that constitutes their food, and it is well known that the poison is much more pungent, when the bees are working in the fields and accumulating stores largely, than it is when they are at rest in the winter months. It is generally during basswood bloom, that we get those severe stings which draw the blood and show a large white spot around the wound. HOW IT IS DONE. It is quite an interesting experiment to let a bee sting you on the hand, and then coolly observe the whole performance, with- out disturbing him. When a boy wishes to jump across a brook, he usually goes back a few feet, and takes a little run ; well, a bee when he introduces the point of his sting, prefers to make a short run or dash, or he may fail in lodging the barbs of the sting se- curely in the fiesh. I do not believe a bee can very well get up the necessary energy to sting, unless he is under the influence of some excitement. I have sometimes, in try- ing to see how far I could go with an angry colony of bees without the use of smoke, had a lot of them strike my face with a sudden dash, but as I kept perfectly still, they would alight without stinging. Now the slightest movement, even an incautious breath, would result in some pretty severe stinging ; but if I kept cool and quiet, and carefully walked away, I might escape without any stiugs at all. Very often, a single bee will work him- self up to a sufficient passion, to try to sting, but to commence while standing still, I have always found to be rather difficult work for them, and although they sometimes prick slightly and give one a touch of the poison, they seldom sting very severely, without taking wing again. To go back ; after the bee has penetrated the flesh on your hand, and pumped the sting so deeply into the fiesh as to be satisfied, he begins to find that he is a prisoner, and to consider means of escape. They usually get smashed at about this stage of proceedings, unless they suc- ceed in tearing the sting— poison bag and all —from the body; however, if allowed to do the work quietly, they seldom do this, know- ing that such a proceeding seriously maims them for life, if it does not kill them. After pulling at the sting to see that ' it will not come out, he seems to consider the matter a little, and then commences to walk around it, in a circle, just as if it were a screw he was going to turn out of a board. If you will be patient and let him alone, he will get 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 57 it out by this very process, and fly off un- 1 harmed. I need not tell you that it takes some heroism, to submit patiently to all this manoeuvring. The temptation is almost un- governable, while experiencing the intense pain, to sty, while you give him a clip, "There, you little beggar, take that and learn better manners, in future." Well, how does every bee know that he can extricate his sting by walking around it? Some would say it is instinct. Well, I guess it is; but it seems to me, after all, that he "sort o' remembers" how his ancestors have behaved in similar predicamsnts for ages and ages past. ODOR OF THE DEB STING POISON. After one bee has stung you, if you use the hand that has been stung among the bees in the hive, the smell of the poison, or some- thing else, will be pretty sure to get more stings for you, unless you are very careful. Also after one sting has been inflicted, there seems a much greater chance, when about in the apiary, of getting more stings. Mr. Quinby has'suggested that this is owing to the smell of the poison, and that the use of smoke will neutralize this scent. This may be so, but I am not fully s dished of it. DOES THE DEE DIE AFTER LOSING HIS STING? It seems strange, after all that has been written about it, that nobody seems to know whether the bee dies or not. I know it does not die right away after losing its sting, for I have kept them some time in confinement, afterward, and could not see but they flew off just as well as bees that had not lost their sting. I am inclined to think they live and gather honey after the sting is gone, but they probably never do much more in the sting- ing line' The matter might be tested by painting the backs of a number of bees which have lost their stings, as we do in bee hunting. If you rind them day after day in the hive, and see them witli loads of pollen, we will then know that losing their stings does not spoil them for other duties. I have often identified certain bees, both in the hive, and on the alighting board as they came in from the fields. SMOKE NOT ALWAYS A PREVENTIVE OF DEE STINGS. Although smoke is our great reliance as a security against stings while working among bees, there are sometimes colonies, or sea- sons of the year, I scarcely know which, when one can get along better without it. I remember trying to open a colony of hybrids in the fall of the year, to show them to my wife. As a safeguard, I first gave them a good smoking; but, to my surprise, they got into a perfect panic, and poured out of the hive and showed tight, in great numbers. It is true, I could drive them down, but the minute I ceased smoking them, to lift out a comb, they became perfectly infuriated, and although driven down to the bottom board repeatedly, they were up and ready for an attack, almost as soon as the smoker was turned away from the hive. I let them go, without half making the examination I wished. The next day, in passing the hive. I thought I would look in, and see if they were of the same opinion still. I had no smoker, and so raised the corner of the cloth over the frames cautiously. They kept on with their work, and seemed to care nothing about the intrusion. I took the cloth clear off, lifted frame after frame, but not a bee showed the least sign of hostility. In sur- prise. I carried a frame with the queen on it, into the house and showed it to my wife, and told her it was the same swarm that acted so wickedly, just the day before. The only trouble seemed to be that they very decided- ly objected to having their hive deiuged with the offensive smoke, and I am sure it must be very painful to them in its effects. I took the lesson, and have since often found that I could get along even better without smoke. Have your smoker in readiness, and if you are obliged to use smoke, use a very little, as circumstances seem to decide best. Some- times, the only way seems to be to use it in considerable quantities, but I would never smoke the poor little fellows needlessly. MECHANICAL CONSTRUCTION AND OPERA- TION OF THE STING. After a bee has stung you, and torn him- self away from the stinger, you will no- tice, if you look closely, a bundle of muscles, near by and partly enveloping the poison bag. Well, the curious part of it is, that for some considerable time after the sting has been detached from the body of the bee, these muscles will work with a kind of pump like motion, working the sting further into the wound, as if they had a conscious ex istence, and burned with a desire to wreak vengeance on the party attacked. Nay, far- ther after the sting has been pulled from the flesh and thrown away, if it should stick to your clothing in such a way that your tlesh will come in contact with it, it will commence working again, pulling itself into the tlesh, and emptying the poison into the wound, precisely as if the living bee was himself working it. I have been stung a great many times, from a sting without any bee about it. at all. Without any precise fig- ures, I should say a sting would hold life enough to give a very painful wound, as long as full five minutes, and it may be, in some cases, even ten minutes. This phenomenon is most wonderful, and I have often, while watching the sting sink into the rim of my felt hat, pondered on that wonderful thing, animal life. Why should that isolated sting behave in this manner, when the bee to which it belonged was perhaps far away, buzzing through the air? Why should this bundle of libers and muscles behave as if it had a life to throw away? I do not know. Tins, however, I do know; when you pull a sting from the wound, you should throw it far enough away so that it will not get back on your face or hands, or into your hair, to sting you again. In giving the following description of a bee sting. I am much indebted to the draw- ings and description given by J. It. Bledsoe, of Natches, Mississippi, in the American Bee Journal for August, 1870. I am also in- debted to Prof. Cook's excellent Manual, for hints on this as well as on many other GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Feb. subjects. As friend Cook is an entomolo- gist, lie has been enabled to give us very material aid in that department. Friend Bledsoe has given us by far the most com- plete description and drawings, and I have just been trying, with a good microscope, to verify his work. Although I have not been able to verify all his work, probably because I lack the necessary skill in making dissec- tions, I have found some items, which I think have not before been given, and I have made some changes, that I think brings the matter nearer the truth. The sting under the microscope is found to be a beautifully fashioned and polished instrument, whose delicate taper and finish make a most surprising contrast with any instrument man has been able to produce. In shape, it appears to be round, but it is, in reality, like a three-cornered file, with the corners nicely rounded off. It is of a dark red color, but transparent enough so that we may see the hollow that runs through the centre of each of its parts. These hol- lows are probably to secure lightness as well as strength. NgaWilP' BEE STING MAGNIFIED. I have given you three views of the differ- ent parts of the" sting, like letters represent- ing like parts in all. Bear in mind that the sting proper is composed of three parts, the outer shell or husk, D, and two barbed spears that slide partly inside of it. In Fig. 2, I have shown you the spears. The barbs are much like the barbs on a fish hook ; and when the point of one spear, A, penetrates far enough to get one barb under the skin, the bee has made a hold, and has no difficul- ty in sinking his sting its whole length into the wound ; for the pumping motion at once commences, and the other spear, B, slides down a little beyond A, then B beyond that, and so on. The manner in which these spears are worked is, as near as I can make out, by a pair of something like pump han- dles, operated by small, but powerful, mus- cles. I have shown you the arrangement of these handles at J and K, Fig. 1st, as nearly as I could conjecture what it must be, from watching its workings under the microscope. These muscles will work, at intervals, for some time after the sting has been torn from the bee, as I have explained. They work with sufficient power to send the sting through a felt hat, or into a tough buckskin glove. I have often watched the bee while attempting to get his sting started into the hard cuticle on the inside of my hand. The spears will often run along the surface diag- onally, so that you can see how it works down by successive pumps. The hollow in these spears is indicated at G and F, in Figs. 2 and 3. Fig. 3 is a transverse section, sliced across the three parts, at about the dotted line, 1). A and B are the barbed spears; F and G, the hollows to give them lightness and strength; II II the barbs. It will be ob- served that the husk, I), encloses but little more than & of .them. Now the purpose of this husk is to hold the barbs in place, and to allow them to slide easily up and down, also to direct them while doing this work. To hold all together, there is a groove in each of the spears, and a corresponding pro- jection in the husk, which fit each other, as shown in the cut. This allows the barbs to project, to do their work, and yet holds all together tolerably firm. I say tolerably firm, for these spears are very easily torn out of the husk, and after a sting is extracted, they are often left in the wound, like the tiny splinters I have before spoken of. When torn out and laid on a slip of glass, they are scarcely visible to the naked eye, but under the microscope, they show as seen in Fig. 2. Stings do not all have the same number of barbs. I have seen as few as 7 and as many as 9. The two spears fit nicely into each other, as shown in Fig. 3, and you will observe that the shape and the arrangement of the 3 parts leave the hollow, E, in their centre. This hollow is for a channel for this wonderful vegetable poison. The working of the spears also pumps down poison, and quite a good sized drop collected on the points of the spears while I saw them work- ing under the microscope. Friend Bledsoe found a valve that let the poison out of the poison bag, into this wonderful little pump, but prevented it from returning. 1 have not been able to see this, but have no doubt that it is there. The drop of poison, after it has laid on the glass a few minutes, dries down, and seems to leave a gummy sub- stance, that crystalizes, as it were, into strange and beautiful forms. I have tried to show it to you, in Fig. 4. There are some things about the bee sting, I should much like to know. How do the muscles work those levers so as to make them pass and repass as they do? Is the bee sting acid, perhaps formic acid? If not, what is it? 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 59 %&ad§ of %vam, From Different Fields. BEES AND HONEY ACROSS THE WATEH. ^nj? SAW some lino specimens of honey in Glass- )?([ gow, but no bees. In Scotland, there are mil- s=*l lions of acres of heat her, rich in honey, which goes to waste, for want of bees to gather it, the cli- mite being; too cold for them. In Paris, I found but a limited quantity of honey, and only 5 black bees working- on some ginger cake; and I could get no information about bees or honey. Yet there was a fair specimen of it on exhibition, but not equal to Hctherington's, of Cherry Valley, N. Y., at Phila- delphia. But there was a splendid exhibit of wax from Ita- ly, consisting of a slab about 6 ft. square, 1 foot in thickness, and white as this paper; on the top was a full grown lion, of yellow wax, with eagles' wings, couchant; around and on the slab was white and yellow wax in bars, and almost every conceivable shape. I g-ave it up. O. E. Wolcott. Byron, Mich., Dec. 2, 1878. BEE HUNTING AND MOVING BEES IN THE FALL. 1 have cut several bee trees this fall, the first of which was a large rock oak. The entrance of the bees was 50 ft. from the ground, just above the comb. The cavity was 19 in. in diameter, and 8 ft. in height, and every bit of space was filled with comb, but only half the combs were filled with hon- ey, as it was just at the beginning of buckwheat bloom, which is the main supply in that section. It contained about 100 lbs. of honey. I transferred the bees to a Langstroth hive, and they are doing well. Is it possible for one queen to utilize such an amount of comb? This wa.s about 20 miles from Lewisburg, where buckwheat is largely cultivated. The principal honey supply here, near Lewisburg, is white clover. Do you think it would pay, or would it be advisable, to ship bees there after the clover is gone here, which is before buckwheat blooms? We can ship by freight at reasonable rates. Could we not obtain a double honey harvest in this way? W. E. Yoder. Lewisburg, Pa., Dec. 16, 1878. It will pay well, many times, to ship bees in the fall where buckwheat is raised large- ly. One queen furnished all the bees doubt less, but she would have done better with but a small part of the comb. LETTER FROM A BOY. 1 bought a hive of bees this fall that I paid $1.00 for, and it weighed exactly 87 lbs. I think I should like to get some more at the same price. They were in a box hive. I took two boxes off the top, that weighed 25 lbs. The comb was somewhat black, as I don't think the man I got them of, had taken off the boxes for some time, and the bees had to store honey in it and then eat it out. Mr. Wheeler, our bee man in this town, said t he boxes were not worth taking- off; but 1 didn't think my folks thought so. lie said it was a good healthy swarm. They are not pure Italians but hybrids. I hope you will read this letter as I am a small boy of 13 years. New Ipswick, N. H. John M. Burton. Of course. I will read your letter, and be very glad to get it, for we do not have many Y.\ year old --bee men." (iETTINfi NATURAL COMB FOIt STARTERS. After 1 Hiking over the last three volumes of GLEANiNfis. Magazine, and American lire Journal, I find no place to inform me how to get the bees to make comb to use for starters. Of course, drone comb would be preferable, but anv nice white comb will do. I want it to use next spring-, in time for the honey harvest. Please inform me particularly. As to-morrow will be Christmas, permit me to wish you and yours a happy Christmas. Bees are doing well. Could I not get them to build it during fruit blos- soming and buckwheat harvest? Will want much of it in June to use. A. Fahnestock. Toledo, O., Dec. 21, 1878. T Before we had the fdn., I used to save all the little bits of white comb found about the apiary, and in the course of the season, a great many would be collected. Whenever found a colony building new drone comb, it was carefully broken out and saved, of course removing the frame, so that drone comb building was stopped. If you put an empty frame in the centre of any colony for about 2-1 hours, you will get plenty of start- ers, and willi a thin light comb guide, you might get them right in the sections, thus saving the time of putting them in. The following is what friend Jjoolittle says, on page 296, Dec. No. of 1876. Of course, 'these directions are for the very few who decline to use fdn. for starters. We should say starters cost not over 50 cts. per lb., taking everything into consideration. Most of them are built at times when the bees would not work in boxes at all; namely, from apple blossoms, dande- lion and buckwheat. This is the time to get your comb for starters built, and we should consider it a very poor apiarian that could not get a pound built from each stock during the season, and not reduce the amount of his box honey more than one per cent. Buckwheat honey is at present wholly or nearly unsalable, and with a good yield, 2 lbs. of nice starters could be secured with ease from each stock during its flowering. G. M. Doolittle. Borodino, N. Y., Nov. 15th, 1870. On the 1st of May last I had 26 swarms. From them I have taken 1^20 lbs. of honey, half comb and half extracted. I increased m y stocks to 46, and sold two; % of my honey is sold at about lOctsperlb. Honey is plenty about here, but I have sold mine all to citi- zens. 1 have regular customers. Loads have been brought in from the country, and sold for 10 and 12 cts., and retailed on the streets at that. My honey is nearly all clover with a little bass- wood. 70 lbs. to the hive ! is not that pretty good for the city, in a location built up all around me, and with- out having any trouble with my neighbors on ac- count of bees ? N. A. Prudden. Ann Arbor, Mich., Dec, 1878. FREIGHTS ON HONEY, ETC. Bees did well this summer; I took 4500 lbs. from 03 swarms, and increased to 105 good smarms. They are now all in the cellar. I sold most of my honey in Philadelphia, at 15c, and shippedin yourshipping cases by freight safely. The charges were 2c. per lb. from here, while honey from San Francisco to Philadelphia cost to ship only l^cts. How is that ? Sterling, Ills., Dec. 26, '78. A. F. Stauffer. I presume it comes about because the Cal- ifornians have finally succeeded in getting a special through rate on honey, in conse- quence of their immense production. The R. R. Co.'s very likely make a better profit on that, at H cts., if ft is true they have re- ally got it down so low, than on yours at 2 cts., because of the very large shipments. THE CARELESS WAY COMPARED WITH THE INTELLI- GENT AND THRIFTY WAY. I have just got home from a 2 months' visit west, where sickness, weather and weeds have made poor crops of corn and honey. One man had 10 hives of bees, and I saw the tall weeds standing thick, just as they had grown, all around his hives. He said he had taken only about 10 lbs. of honey from them this year, but intended to brimstone one swarm, and take their honey this month. On page 304, of Cleanings, my address was print- ed Saxon, 111., when it should have been Toulon, 111. In Sept., I took 57 lbs. of extracted and comb hon- ey, making 424 lbs. for the summer and fall, from the -i stocks mentioned, besides increasing to 0 stocks. D. Tyrrell, M. D. Toulon, 111., Dec. 25, 1878. 60 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Feb. DYSENTERY. What is the matter with my bees ? About the loth of Oct., I transferred one colony from a box hive to an old style Langstroth hive, putting- them on 5 frames, contracting brood chamber with 2 division boards, and packing sides and top with cut straw. I also united 3 weak colonies, making one strong one of them, and packed them in the same manner. Since the cold weather, I examined them and found the entrances clogged up with dead bees and ice. I cleaned out the entrances and the bees came buzzing out, leaving the hive and not seeming to have any disposition to return. Some of them would fly in the air 30 or 40 feet, and drop in the snow. I found the alighting board and snow badly specked by the bees. Please give cause and a remedy. Plainfield, Ind., Jan. 10, '79 Jno. L. Gunn. Dysentery, in the A B C, will give you the whole subject much better than I can possibly give it here. I have several times thought that bees transferred late in the fall were much more liable to be thus affect- ed. We should be very careful that the en- trances are made in such a way, that they cannot readily become clogged. That of the .Simplicity hive is especially advantageous in tins respect. Ice at the entrance is a sun indication of there not being sufficient up- ward ventilation through your straw and chaff cushions. Take them in doors and dry them out; give them a tly inside of a frame covered with netting, as given in the A B C ; put them back on their stands, with the dry chaff and straw close to the cluster, with some sort of a ventilator under the cover, and, if there are bees enough left, they will fetch up all right. WINTERING WITHOUT REMOVING THE UPPER FRAMES. In July, I put a box with frames on the top of a good strong colony of bees, for them to store sur- plus honey in, and they never stored an ounce all summer but the queen laid a good many eggs in the upper box. Not knowing what to do, 1 left the box on, which has proven too cold, I suppose, for the bees, for they all died early this winter. You will oblige me very much, Mr. Root, by tell- ing what I should have done in the case. If I had taken the upper box off, what should I have done with the combs containing brood, etc.'.'' I am down to one colony, and would not like to lose that on account of not knowing what to do, in case of a repetition of that sort of work. Mrs. Helena Madsen. Gunnison, San Pete, Utah, Dec. 30, 1878. If the bees built combs in the upper story, I must think you mistaken, my friend, when you say they stored not an oz. of honey there. At the time of building the combs, they probably had honey there too. but carried it down afterward. If there was brood above, there was certainly some honey around it. After the season had closed, all the frames above should have been removed, and their places supplied with a chaff cushion, or even loose, fine straw. Any colony except a very powerful one, would suffer, if left all winter with nothing over them but empty combs. When preparing for winter, the brood is al- ways to be put below, in place of some other frame, that has so little honey in it that it can be spared. This is one reason why the lower story should always take the frames used in the upper one. As your lower story was a box hive, you could do nothing but lose the brood, or carry it to some other hive. I should have transferred them, the minute I found myself in such a predica- ment. Cover your one colony with bags or cushions of chaff, and make them snug and warm, if you have not already done so. My judgment is, the future for honest bee-keep- ers is very gloomy and discouraging on account of the improper use of glucose by designing bee-keep- ers, as it will almost stop the demand for honey. P. D. Hill. Mt. Healthy, O., Jan. 30, 1879. The Humbug and Swindle department is waiting for such designing bee-keepers, friend Hill, and if any body can put me on track of one who has sold comb honey pro- duced by feeding glucose, I shall be very much obliged for the information. EXPENSIVE mistakes. I don't think it best to trust to memory in every- thing. I had a hive of bees that needed feeding. A storm came on; I ran out hastily and thrust some candy under the quilt. The storm cleared away; my pets were dead. In my haste I fed the wrong hive. Had I made a note of the number of the hive needing food, the mistake would not have occurred. F. M. Peeler. Manchester, N. J., Dec. 24, 1878. BEES OP EGYPT. In Stanley's new book, "Across the Dark Conti- nent," is the following about bees, which may be of interest to your readers. On page 387, Vol. II, he says: "On'the following morning (June 2d), the na- tive brought about 30 lbs. of beeswax, a very dark substance, which, had it not been for the diminutive bees which clung to it, might have been mistaken for pitch. Subsequently, 1 proceeded myself to the source of supply, and discovered about a hundred weight of beeswax attached to a lofty fragment of rock, near Massassa Falls. These bees are of a dark brown color, short and dumpy, about one-half the length of the ordinary honey bee. At several pla- ces, there were similar large secretions of wax, on cliffy rocks." This place is about 100 miles from the sea, on the west coast of Africa. If some of the bee importers could manage to import them, they would, no doubt, prove more profitable than Italians. It is a pity Mr. Stanley does not state whether they also collect hon- ey, and whether the swarm of insects is in propor- tion to their immense stores. H. Goetz. Boston, Mass., Dec. 38, 1878. If these are the same as the Egyptian bees that have been imported to this coun- try, we can hardly consider them equal to the Italians in all respects. WHAT HIVES TO BUY, COST OF THEM, HOW TO ORDER, ETC. I want to change my bees, in the spring, from the Thomas hive to some other good .reliable hive, and want a littlo advice from you. Now, what I want to know is this: Why do you claim the "Simplicity" to be the best? and what will you furnish them for, ready to nail up? 1 want 25 on the start; what wili they cost per hive? Why do you think them better than the Langstroth? Please answer by return mail. Wm. Lossing. Freeland, Mich., Jan. 5, 1879. You will see, friend L., by reading every No. of Gleanings, that I do not call the Simplicity hive the best, but admit that there may be other forms that will give just as good results. We do claim for the Simplicity hive, how- ever, in comparison with the Langstroth, that it is cheaper, lighter, more simple, and occupies less space, while the inside dimen- sions are the same. Also, one story of the Simplicity always fits over every other story; or, a hvo story hive is always' 2 one story hives, which is not the case with the L. hive. It is almost impossible for me to give you prices of Simplicity hives in the fiat, unless you read the conditions expressed in the price-list, whicli we always send free upon application. For instance ; do you want 1 or 2 story hives V do you want them arranged for comb honey, or for the extractor V do you i879 CLEANINGS LN BEE CULTURE. want them furnished with fdn. starters V do you want all wood or metal cornered frames V etc., etc. Many of the A B C class say, "I don't hnow what I want; what do you ad- vise V" In that case. I advise you to pur- chase very little to start with. If you havn't much money, get a £1 hive, and test all these other things one at a time, and you will, in a fern weeks, lie able to make out your orders understanding!)-. ICE IN THE HIVES; WHT? I have 11 stands, mostly box hives, set close to a hoard with an entrance 3 in. by %, and from 6 to 8, inch holes in the top, over which is a cover C or 7 in. high. This winter being unusually severe, I made some straw caps (by tying a bunch tightly together at the top), and spread one cap nicely over each hive, tying a band around below; but this I neglected till after the first cold spell. Now I notice, in some hives, that the vapor has rim down the inside, and frozen so as to close the entrance partly, and some bees are already com- pelled to leave'the hive, and are unable to get home. L fear this indicates dysentery, and will result in a serious loss. 1 know Quinby ad\ ises to set them bottom up in a room or dry cellar; but we have no vacant room, and our cellar is so cold that water and even turnips froze to some extent. I think they all have honey enough, there being' only 1 last summers swarm. Now, what shall 1 do to save my bees? I might vacate a room in the house for their re- ception, if by so doing-, you think I can save them. J. II. Yodek. Leetonia, O., Jan. 16, 1879. Take off your straw, and let the sun di- rectly on the hives. Open all the holes, and raise the cap a little, so the air can pass through the hive slowly. The straw on the outside of the hive will do no more good than it would on the roof of your house, to keep you warm while in bed. It really does harm,' by keeping off the sun. Do not put your bees in a room, by any means. A dark, dry, frost proof cellar is what Quinby ad- vised ; but, taking all things into consider- ation, I would rather risk them out of doors. If you could pry off the whole top of your hives, it would be better; you could then put a bag of chaff right next the bees. This would absorb all the dampness, and allow air to pass through it, and yet, at the same time, keep them warm. Protracted cold weather, such as we have had this winter, is what is making the trouble ; but if the colo- nies are strong, and packed as I have advised, close to the cluster, they seldom suffer. Hives that are near the ground, and com- pletely covered with snow are generally do- ing the best. PUTTING BEES IN DOORS, ETC. In trouble again; I bought 4 colonies of bees this winter, in wretched old "gums," and it being too cold to transfer (5° to 20° below zero), I set them all in an old house I had bought, which is plastered and tolerably warm, and has one window on the east. Now on the first nice day, they took a flight, and worried around the window to get out; I only learned it, however, upon finding V% pint of bees dead on the window sill. I had hoped they would find sufficient space in the large room for flight. Now I want to know, first ; would you raise the win- dow on nice days, or carry bees out? It is.very light in the room. If they go out at it, would they return through it? Bees certainly would have frozen in 15 seconds, the day they tried to get out. Second; can't I transfer in a good, warm room raised to 60° or 70°, if I have hives, cushions, &c, ready? Dr. A. C. Williams. Hugo, 111., Jan. 2, 1879. No, my friend, do not hoist the Windows, but do "hoist" those bees out of that build- ing, and set them under the broad canopy of heaven, even if it is 20° below zero, at times, and there let them stay the rest of their lives. Every little while, some one of the ABC class kills his bees in just the way you have been doing, by kindness, or what is intended as such. Our veterans will doubtless have a good laugh at your idea of having the bees fly around your large room, and go back to the hives without getting on the windows. My experiments with bees in the greenhouse, given in former volumes, pretty well demon- strated the difficulty of such arrangements. If you put bees into a room with fire in it, they will be sure to fly on the windows and die'; if you fasten them in the hives, they will usually worry themselves to death in trying to get out. If you put them in a room with no lire in it, they are, as a general thing, colder on an average, than when out doors, for they are deprived of any chance sunshine that may come. Worst of all, should the weather turn warm, they are sure to get out and die in just the predicament mentioned. Bees should never be housed, unless they can be put into a room that is perfectly dark, and frost proof. All things considered, I think very much the best way is to leave them permanently out doors oh the summer stands protected in the way I have so often told you. An ex- perienced hand can transfer bees in the win- ter, in a warm room, having but one colony in the room at a time, but you will be very likely to fail, unless you study the subject up most thoroughly. SALT FOR BEES, ALSO SOMETHING ABOUT GRAPE SUGAR, Last spring, when I took my pork from brine to smoke, I put the bbl. and brine out of doors, some 5 rods from my bees, thinking to give it to my hogs as needed. The next day I saw many bees visiting it, and a few days after, quite a line was kept up between it and my apiary. I also found about a pint of dead bees in the brine. I then put a board to float on top, from which they worked well, without loss. So 1 left it all summer; and as you will see by my report last Aug., my bees did well. You may think it was water they wanted; but wa- ter was in great abundance much nearer. Nor was there any sweetening in the brine, as some use it. In regard to grape sugar, I have used it with sig- nal success, and shall keep a supply on hand in case of need. 1 got it last spring, from Davenport Manf. Co., Iowa, in a time of drought, and I did not lose a swarm, while many lost several swarms without it. Falls City, Neb., Dec, '78. Harry Pittock. COMPARATIVE EXPENSE OF CHAFF HIVES AND SIM- PLICITIES. Since getting up the 3 chaff hives ordered of you a short time since, I like them so well, and they are so little trouble and expense after they are once pro- cured, that I have decided to use them altogether, if I can make them come inside my means, and the difference is not too great, to start with, between them and the Simplicity. 1 can get the Simplicities in the flat In St. Louis* at 30c each, but I am not en- tirely satisfied with them for winter, as both ends are exposed even with the chaff division boards. Kirkwood, Mo., Oct. 19, '78. N. H. Allen. This is a problem, friend A., that many are studying on. I can see no better way, than to have both kinds. The cheap, light Simplicities are always desirable for sum- mer use, even in an apiary where the bees are all in chaff hives, and no inconvenience can result in having both, if all are made on 62 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Feb. one size frames. I have studied some, on a Simplicity hive with chaff ends, hut there are complications in the way of having the stories fit nicely on the top of each other, that seem to me to render it not desirable to try to make them thus. Our friend, W. R. Whitman, of New Market, Ala., has been writing on the subject, and lias offered some good suggestions in regard to the matter. A 2 story Simplicity hive, to hold 20 frames, costs— hive alone without any frames— about SI. 20. A 2 story chaff hive to hold 21 frames costs $2.50. Taking into account the extra number of frames the latter holds, we rind the difference in expense of the two kinds of hives to be just about $1. 00; the expense of painting, inside furniture, and preparing for winter will be about the same with either. friends, that there shall be no mistake in the queens we send you, and we therefore take the greatest pains to mark plainly, the hives containing the imported stock. HONEY ON COMMISSION. I started in the spring' with 18 stands of bees, and have, at present, 38 stands, an increase of 20, this year. I sold my honey for $50, at a very low price, or it would have brought me $75. I don't think I will sell honey on commission again, but will try to sell it myself. John Boerstleu. Monterey, 111., Dec. 17, 1878. P. S.— The "Home of the Honey Bee" is a very good one, and I hope that you and all the boys and girls that work for you may be kept as busy, 'during the next year, as your bees. J. B. SHIPPING QUEENS IN THE WINTER. I wrote to you to send me an imported Italian queen, if you thought there was a probability of her getting through safely. I received thebeesdur- ing a snow storm, when everything was frozen, and from the date of your postal, you must have had freezing weather when you started her. How then could you think the bees could stand the exposure ot an express handling without freezing? Of course, you could expect nothing else, and you must have been experimenting at the expense of your pat- rons. Well, the queen and court were duly received, in very cold weather, and though benumbed by cold, the goodly quantity of bees kept them all alive but three. I opened them in a close, warm room, on a window pane, and gave them a lunch of fresh honey which, with the warmth of the room, restored them completely. I recaged the whole group, displaced a black queen, and the imported lady is safely ensconced on top of the frames, under the quilt, where 1 will watch her until she has acquired the proper scent of the hive, when I shall cautiously liberate her. I fear, however, that my anxiety to save the queen will cause me to do something that will jeopardize her. Please write me particulars. Is she without doubt an Italian imported queen? If so, how long since she left Italy? Did you change the nucleus in which she was imported, or did she come in the present cage? Enclosed, I send the $1.00, as your part of the bus- iness is full and complete, as far as the life of the queen is concerned in safe arrival, but I think it was a risky experiment. Geo. B. Peters. Council Bend, Ark., Dec. 1, 1878. Not at the expense of my customers, friend P., for all shipping of queens, in any weath- er, is at my own expense. I bave lost none as yet, by shipping in cold weather. How natural it is for each one to ask if the queen is undoubtedly from Italy. I have, a few times, shipped the queens in the original boxes received from Italy; but as we have had bad luck with such shipments, even af- ter they were opened and examined, we now take every queen from the original package, and introduce her to a hive, and keep her there until she lays, before we dare ship her. I know, full well, how anxious you are, my that the press costs, book ink, worth 40c. lbs. of paper. This PRICE OF BOOKS AND JOURNALS. Why is it that in this land of printers, ink, and pa- per, the price of books has not declined in the same ratio as other commodities? Undoubtedly, this question is a "new departure" from questions generally asked you, but it is one which will interest your readers generally; so, if you see fit, give us an article upon the subject. Be- ing a proprietor of a printing establishment, you are well informed, I suppose. C. R. Billings. Randolph, Wis., Nov. 25, 1878. I have often thought of this matter, my friend, and I have once or twice decided to write upon it, but feared to awaken unpleas- antness. Better paper than is used in any common books can now be bought for about 12|c. per lb. Our new press will print about 500 lbs. of the A 13 C books, in a day. I should think $10.00 a day ought to pay the pressman, and the interest on the money It takes about 1 lb. of per lb., for every 100 will bring the cost of the printed book, all ready for the bindery, at about 15c, per lb. Three girls, at an av- erage expense of $3.00, will bind in paper covers and finish 100 lbs. in a day. This brings the cost of finished books, in paper covers, at about 18c. per lb. It is rather a hard matter to estimate the cost of the author's work, or of the compos- itor's; for after the book is once done, thou- sands of tons can b? printed, if they are in demand, at no additional cost. Hooks that are not in good demand may have to be sold at a good many dollars per lb., to pay expen- ses. I think an author should be able to get his ideas put into hook form, and in good shape too, for a price not exceeding 25c. per lb. He certainly ought to be willing to fur- nish them to booksellers, at least so it seems to me, for 35c. per lb. This is the rate I have fixed on the A B C books, and Gleanings too (as you will see by weighing them), to those who buy to sell again. A fair price, at retail, seems to be universally agreed up- on, as about 50 per cent, above cost. If you think this too much, go into the business yourself and sell cheaper. If the books are to be sent by mail, enough is added to cover postage. By weighing Gleantngs or the ABC books, you will see that 50c. per lb., postage not included, is just about what you have to pay. Whether you pay more or less for oth- er books, you can easily determine by throw- ing them on the scales. Books bound in cloth, according to the above calculation, should retail for about 60c. per lb. I would not spend time in arguing as to whether they can be sold cheaper, but rather set to work and do it cheaper. Such arguments are the only ones the world can never get over. The multitudes of boys and girls who are want- ing something to do, might be set to making books ; folks nowadays, do not require years to learn trades as they once did ; our young artisans will copy almost everything they see, if you give them time, and we have one here, who makes a very fair book, even if he is not a book binder. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 63 G3TTIN3 SURPLUS FROM BOX niVE3. Say to H. K., that with si sharp inch bit that will cut smoothly, he can bore any number of holes he may wish, iii the top board of his box hives, without any injury; bore down into the combs & in. and the bees will fix all right. It seems to me, where oh iff i-s not plenty, the com- mon cat-tail flag', which in many places is easily ob- tained, if properly cured, and run through a straw cutter, would make good cushions and a first rate packing, as it is a good absorb ,int< of moisture, and dries out readily. We have had 3 weeks of steady cold here, so that it has not thawed in the middle of the day at all. Bees are on summer stands, without packing, except in the cap. An old fogy Quinbv box-hive man, Battle Ureek, Mich., Jan. 10, '78. J. A. Robinson. given a fly as I have directed in the ABC, and found to be all right. This however will seldom pay, unless for experiment. Keep a sharp look out, but beware how you needlessly tinker with them, in cold weath- er. After they have had a good cleansing flight, it is always safe to overhaul them, and fix their hives and combs, if they need it. BADGES FOR BEEKEEPERS. 1 think your objections to badges for bee-keepers are not well sustained. At the meeting of 'The Western Beekeepers' Society," we had a badge of a large bee printed on a blue silk ribbon, 2x3 inches, for each member; and 1 tell you it was a treat to meet one of our badge friends on the street, many of whom we would not otherwise have known. I think we have as good a right to wear pins as any other society; for, are we not a society bound to- gether by ties of common interests? I put in my vote for the bee-keepers pin. Let us have the pin, by all means. Never mind your scruples about it; if they don't buy a bee pin, they will buy some other trinket. Will. M. Kellogg. Monmouth, 111., Jan. 20, 1879. Your reasoning is good, friend Kellogg, but why not have the silk ribbon badge, hi place or the pin V They can be got up very nicely, and so cheap that when one gets soil- ed, we can have another. Please send me a sample, and tell me where they are made. It will be strange if something neat and pretty does not come of it. BEES GETTING LOST ON THE SNOW, AND FASTENING THEM IN. I have fixed some 20 hives with chaff cushions, and left them out doors. They seem to be all right so far, except that, when a bright warm day like this comes, epiite a number will fly out, and many are lost on the snow. How can this loss be prevented ? It is sometimes recommended that the snow be piled about the entrance, and the bees be thus confined to the hive ; this does very well for a time, but unless constant care be taken to keep the snow firm against the hive, the bees will soon work their way between the hive and the snow and none will get back into the hive. Tell us how to contrive this matter. Decatur, 111., Jan. 17, ".'J. E. A. Gastman. I do not know how to prevent some of the bees from getting lost on the snow. I used to be very much troubled about it, and fear- ed they would all be lost ; but as there seemed a fair colony left, I finally learned to let it pass without worrying Very much. Banking the snow around them, rouses them up, and many times induces them to fly, when they would not otherwise. After try- ing a variety of ways, I think it best to just let them alone, unless I find the entrance clogged and the bees trying in vain to get out, or something of that kind. You should bear in mind that many bees die of old age every winter, and that they maybe found on the bottom board in the spring, or scattered about the yard on the ground, and of course nearly invisible, or scattered about on the snow. In the latter case you see them all, and they seem to lie very many; but if you will gather them all up from a given area, you will find there are not so many af- ter all. When colonies are diseased, they sometimes scatter about on the snow and die in great numbers. For experiment, they have been gathered up, warmed and BEE KEEPING FOR FARMERS. How to attend to the farm without neglecting the bees, or to give the bees the attention they need without neglecting the farm, is the dilemma I have got myself into by studying Gleanings, the Bee- Keepers' Magazine, Langs troth, etc. Don't you think an article in Gleanings on Bee Keeping by Farmers, would be interesting to many of its readers '! I kept bees 3 or 4 years without any trouble, for about all the summer's increase|would die out the next winter, leaving the hives (box) ready made for the next years increase. I got precious little honey though. Jas. P. Gilmer. Honey Grove, Tex., May 11, 1878. You are right, friend G. If a farmer has only a half dozen stocks, and cares for them with the latest improvements, they may very soon compel the consideration of the ques- tion, which it shall be the farm or the hees. Unless you have help in the shape of boys and girls, or those around you needing em- ployment, it may be best to give up one or the other. It is much better to do one well, than to neglect both. There is one way you can do to keep your apiary within bounds, and that is to sell off, each year, all above a certain number; we have farmers in our neighborhood, who have done this for years past, making a sure profit, year after year. A dozen stocks carefully managed will swarm but little, and where both honey and increase are sold promptly for what they will bring in a home market, it cannot very well prove a losing business. feeding bees in winter. I write to ask you what to do for my bees. I want to feed them and they will not eat anything. I tried them on grape sugar, and on syrup made of white sugar, and they will not eat either. They are nearly all dead now, and those that are still alive, I think, have nothing to eat. Please let me hear from you at once. Peter P. Yates. Greensboro, N. C, Jan. 16, 1879. It is quite a difficult matter to feed bees in the winter, especially, when the weather is steadily freezing, and the colonies are weak. They cannot take syrup, because they would have to leave the cluster to get it, and would be frozen before they could get back into it. The only remedy is candy, and it must be given them in small lumps, placed right over or among the bees, and then closely covered with warm, dry woolens, or chaff cushions. Grape sugar can be fed in the same way, but, for reasons I have before given, should not be used unless some honey is present in the hive to be used with it. Colonies can be wintered on the flour candy, with no honey at all. It is a bad policy to allow bees to get out of stores in the middle of the winter. Better attend to all such work before cold weather. Comb honey will do, of course, if it is handier than candy, but even with that it is risky business unless we have a thaw. 64 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Feb. GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. ^. I. EOOT, EDITOR AND PUBLISHES,, MEDINA, OHIO. TERMS: $1.00 PER YEAR, POST-PAIR. IMIEZDIHST-A., FEB. 1, 18-70- Give us the names of the bee-keepc sold comb honey containing' glucose. ps wli.i have adulterated honey shipped from California to Eu- rope, as bees here work cheaper than rascals can af- ford to. To the credit of California be it said, that she has upon her statute books a law making the adulteration of honey a penal offence— an example that should be imitated by every State in the Union, not only for the adulteration of honey, but for the adulteration of any articles of food, many of which are most fearfully adulterated, in a manner to affect the public health." A hearly amen to the above. And they shall build the old wastes, th3y shall raise up the former desolations, and thoy shill repair the waste cities, thy desolatijns of mmy generations. lsa. 61 : 4. Give us a law against adulteration, such as they have in England and Scotland. It is always a pleasure to me to see things cheap- er. The Magazine folks have made an arrangement by which we can furnish the Bex-Keepers' Magazine and Gleanings, hereafter, for only $1. 75. Can anybody adulterate either comb or extracted honey, with grape sugar? Leave out the talk, and just do it; of course I mean in the apiary or in your homes, not in the laboratory. While here, friend Bingham explained to me the manner in which the Bingham & Hetherington hon- ey knife was to be used, and I am well satisfied that for uncapping honey their knife is a great improve- ment over anything heretofore made. controversies. There seems to be an unusual tendency, at pres- ent, to indulge in long controversies. I hope you will excuse me, my friends, for declining to publish communications, however good and true, that will stir up this spirit. Those who get engaged or en- tangled in these discussions seem to lose their usual good, strong sense, and worst of all, seem incapable oe being made to see their error; they cannot see hiw painful the whole matter is to an outsider. If I could see some concession, or some giving up, on one side or both, I would try and have more faith. It seems to me we are ignoring facts, and spending breath on theories. You know how much time was wasted in discussing black bees; would it not have been better for the writers to have started an apiary of black bees and demonstrated their value by tons of honey? Would not quiet work and shnrt stories have been far better? Thin wood for separators answers, as seA-eral have repoi'ted, and I, at one time, thought of usingthem; but as they will be very liable to get broken unless they are very much thicker than tin, and as tin is now so low that it costs less than yt cent for each section (25c. for a two story hive) we retain the tin. We have made arrangements by which we hope to supply, promptly, the British Bee Journal, mailed from our office, at $1.50 per year. In these days of adulteration, it may be well to have a journal from England, even if they do seem to know little more in regard to the adulterated ship load of comb honey than we do. -«»•<»»**»- The cut of the Itocky Mountain bee plant, given in this No., was copied on a smaller scale from Cook's Manual. The cut of the aster, given in Dec. No., was from King's New Text Book, in the same way. Had these ilowers been in bloom when the cuts were wanted, they would have beeu taken from nature. If the authors or publishers of these works object, I shall of course do so no more. During the months of Dec. and Jan., we have had more losses in the maiU than ever before in the same length of time. At first, we thought the deep snows had only caused a temporary delay; but as three clerks in the postal service have been recent- ly arretted, and mail matter found in their posses- sion, many of the letters will probably never como to light. Several advices of money orders are now in our P. 0., for which the orders have not yet come. Be patient, dear friends, and state just what your orders were, and I will send the goods at once. All money sent by P. O. orders or registered letters is safe. Incase the letters containing money were not registered, I have, several times, sent the goods and asked the parties to remit half the original amount, if they saw lit. Perhaps it will be well to register, or use postal orders, if you wish to be sure of no delay. To save so much expense, it will be well to have neighbors send in their orders togeth" er. By this means, money will be saved both ways. From the way in which the wired fdn. has worked i in our own apiary, and from the reports of others, I | dare not at present advise its use. If we use very j thick fdn., so that the wires are completely covered, I I presume no cells of brood would be lost, but the j expense of so much wax, I think, makes it, for the j present, entirely out of the question. I am, at pres- ent, experimenting with very hard paper, as a base for the wax. Our friend, Levering, says in the Los Angeios Herald :— "I do not think there has ever been a pound of I have decided, since there has been so much said against the dollar queens, to rear all we sell, in our own apiary. The only difficulty in doing this, is that when orders come far beyond our ability to supply, as they do almost every season, we shall get a hail storm of unkind letters, in consequence of the de- lays. By purchasing, I have been enabled during the past two seasons to ship queens almost the hour the order was received, and the satisfaction to pur- chasers was such that the business was really a pleasure. By rearing them in my own apiary, I shall know just how the queens were reared, and that the unkind and inconsiderately thoughtless statements made in regard to them, are undeserved, at least in my case. You that have queens to dis- pose of would better advertise and send them out yourselves, that any who have a complaint to make, may go directly to the one who raised and shipped the queens. Our back Vols, show that some of the largest yields of honey ever made, were from hives containing dollar queens, and 1 think we shall have no trouble in having them do as well in the future. By their fruits ye shall know them. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 65 iw twm- And a man's foes shall he they of his own house- hold. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of m 3. —Matthew 10; 33, 37, 33. f ENCLOSE $1.00 for Gleanings. I do not like to leave you, as I started in with your _. first No., an i have every No. since, bound in book form. However, I am frank to say that I am not pleased with Gleanings the past year; your contributors are not first class, and 1 think the energy devoted to the confounded Home Department might be better em- ployed in strictly attending to your legitimate busi- ness, apiculture. Give us as good a paper as possible the coming year, and leave out of sight as much a« possible, the capital I's. Hoping these remarks will be taken, as they are meant, in all kindness; that you may have a prosperous year; that we (your readers) may have a better Gleanings than ever, and not be bored to death with the swishy, swashy, '''■Home Papers,"— I am trulv &c, Granville, O., Jan. 7, 1879. W. H. Sedgwick. P. S. — T could not get Geo. L. Jones to renew; he said he had enough of Gleanings. The old reliable A. D. J. was good enough for him. W. H. S. Thank you for speaking out your views, friend S., for, although such criticism often stings keenly, one who has a Christian spirit should he able to look up pleasantly and re- ply gently, even though the criticism be an unjust one. I should b3 very sorry indeed to bid adieu to any of my readers, and espe- cially to one who has been a subscriber from the first number of Gleanings. In our text above, Christ has told us that, in follow- ing him, our foes may be of our own house- hold. I have no idea, friend S., that you will ever stand in the light of a foe, but it seems that you, and very likely many others of my readers, may be vehemently opposed to the way I have felt it my duty to conduct a bee paper. Shall I stubbornly set at naught the wishes of my readers"? By no means, for such a course would be very far from exemplyfying the spirit of Christianity. My duty is rather, to be guided by the wish- es and wants of my readers ; to study their good, rather than my own. The voice of the people, taken in a proper sense, is the voice of God; and this is one great truth that I have been learning of late. To illustrate my meaning clearly, I shall have to tell some stories. I might avoid saying I 1 1 so much, if I made up these'little stories, but I confess I do not feel really at home, in tell- ing fiction. I might also tell about other folks, and their faults and failings, but I do not like to do that, for if I use other lives, even by way of illustration, I know, by ex- perience, that I often hurt their feelings. Will you not excuse me, even if I do speak of myself? At one of our revival meetings, an intem- perate man who was quite well known in ' our town was converted. It was noised abroad, and the little boys on the street were talking about it next morning. Said one : "I do not believe any such thing." "Why do you not believe it?11 "Because I just saw him passing along,; and he was smoking a cigar.'1 I The boy seemed to feel, instinctively, that a converted man would have some other way i of occupying his time, the morning after he was truly converted, than by smoking cigars. I presume the rest of the boys all agreed with this view of the case, and yet they were profane, bad boys. There is something in humanity that points out the right way, even if they are of the most depraved classes; and, when we will hear it, the voice of God speaks out clearly and distinctly from the multi- tude, even though they be bad men or women. People will disagree widely, as you, friend S. , and the subscribers whose letters in regard to the Home Papers might lie beside yours on my table; but, if we listen for the voice ! of the multitude, quietly and without preju- i dice, we shall hear the voice of God, saying I most plainly whether it is his wish that the, work should go on or stop. Father and mother, or those equally near and dear, may j find fault and object, but he who loves God I and God's work more than all these will oft- en rind that his duty lies directly against the opinions of these near and dear friends. If 1 the work is right in the sight of God, friends and aid will spring up in places least expect- ; ed ; but woe be to him who shrinks at the idea of encountering opposition, or losing friends or support, in doing his duty. Ministers, as well as other people, some- times call this an ungrateful world; they sometimes tell of how they have labored and toiled for those who are always unthankful. They have labored all their lives for human- i ity, but have been passed by unappreciated. t Somebody else who was undeserving took the credit of all their good deeds, and "O dear! this is just the way the world goes.,, Yes, this is the way the world goes, and I think the world did about right. You will excuse the world there, will you not? The , world, doubtless, gave them just the credit '. they deserved. Individuals are sometimes partial, but the mass of the people, never. What one omits, some one else will do. If you are not appreciated it is, doubtless, be- cause you do not deserve to be. Labor for humanity, because Christ has said, "Inas- much as ye have done it unto the least of one of these, ye have done it unto me;" la- bor for them for Christ's sake, and for no other reason ; have no favorites, be impar- tial, and the voice of God will soon be heard, through the voice of your fellow men, giving you all the thanks and all the credit you de- serve. It is a happy thought, and a" happy feeling, my friends, when you can kneel both morning and night, honestly believing that you are having more of the blessings of this world, and more credit, than you justly de- serve. Do you know how Moody worked alone, scarcely thinking, much less caring, what people thought of what he was doing? Do you know how he used up all his money in trying to help others, and almost forgot about himself? lie wondered if God had forgotten him. No; I tell you, God had not. Right from among those people with whom he had been laboring came the voice of God, assuring him he should not suffer as long as they had a cent of money, and a crust of bread, and from that time on, they tried to 66 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Feb. give him more than he wanted or needed. Chicago soon waked up to the fact that he was doing more to arrest crime in that great city, than all the combined efforts of their great and expensive system of police machin- ery, because he not only stopped bud men, but he made missionaries of them, and they, in torn, started out doing good too. Did the world forget to say that they approved of his work? Did they pass it all by with careless [ indifference? They may have done so for a little while, but very soon busy men stopped | to note these new reform movements, and skeptics and ungodly men paused to take a view of a kind of religion that was acted out, not preached only, and dropping all views of doctrine, and without stopping to ques- tion or argue, they not only proposed to take stock in the work, but did take stock, and | set to work to help him. Men who never dreamed of such a thing as kneeling in ! prayer soon felt the need of a God and the need of prayer too, and followed, without questioning, the simple, childlike plan that Moody pointed out to them. Moody started out to do God's work for Christ's" sake; and for no other reason, did he strive to save the lost. I do not know whether anybody ever called him a hypocrite or not, but if they did, it matters little to him ; he knew God would take care of all that, and so he did. Moody had left mother, home and friends, and, in truth, did it be- cause lie loved the haunts of vice more, so long as there was a place for doing God's work. Would he have succeeded as well, if lie had done it all from a love of approbation, and that he might win a great name? To be sure, he would not ; for it is not in the pow- er of any human being, to put on a sem- blance of Christianity, and wear it very long, without the cloven hoof's betraying its -If. Even the little boys in the street would de- tect the bogus coin, and rroelaim it to the world, in almost the very outset, as God has intended they should. But say many, we cannot, all of us, be Moodys. No, indeed, we cannot, and God does not want us to be, but we can be followers of Christ, and can commence this very minute. How? Well, suppose you are among a crowd who are swearing, quarreling, or telling impure and obscene stories, or even speak- ing ill of an absent one, with nobody to take his part. Shall you sit still, smiling and pleasant, as if nothing was wrong? Church members sometimes smile, when swearing is heard; perhaps I should have charity here, for I know how hard it is often times, to break abruptly in upon those with whom you are little, if any, acquainted, with a re- proof. Yet, if you love God more than any- thing else, or if you choose to put it in a dif- ferent way, if you love humanity and the morals of our people and nation more than money, the praise of your fellows, or selfish things, you cannot consistently sit still and look pleasant and unconcerned. Nevermind the objections that Satan throws in your way or suggests to your mind. Do your work fearlessly and faithfully ; if you have not a gift for this work, ask God to help you, and then do it the best you can. Very soon, you will hear the voice of God speaking approv- ingly, and that, too, very often, through the very people you have reproved. Help and encouragement will come, if the motive in your heart is a right one, and one who hon- estly goes to God for guidance, cannot go wrong very far. Even though persecution may come, clear, sharp, and strong is the ap- proving voice. It is true, that a course which one most strongly condemns another as stoutly ap- proves, and if there is one lesson that I have learned above all others, during the past year, it is the importance of having a very broad charity. A thing may be related to us, and then the question asked, "Now, is it possible for a man who does so and so to be a Christian?'1 It may seem to be utterly im- possible, but, my friends, be careful how you judge, especially if you have heard only one side. No matter how dark things may look, nor how utterly impossible it may seem that there is room for an excuse, beware how you judge. We are different, widely different, and we do not look at things alike. How often this is illustrated when we try to heal up quarrels ; how plainly an outsider can see the unreasonableness of both parties to each other, and yet how blinded, and utterly in- capable they each seem of seeing their own false reasoning; it is for these cases, that Christ told us to have mercy, as we hoped to obtain mercy. Now, where one urges a certain course, and somebody else directly the opposite, what shall we do? Where a large class take one view, and an equally large class the op- posite, where shall we find the voice of God? Suppose one-half of my readers declared these Home Papers were out of place in a bee journal, and the other half wished me to go on, what should I do? Ask God in prayer? Most certainly, but how would he answer? Some may say lie would impress it on my mind, and there may b2 those who think God directs by dreams. With all respect to the latter ciass, I am free to say that I do not think Cod has ever direct- ed me in anything, by that means. Things are often impressed on my mind, but so far as I recollect now, these impressions often come from the acts or words of my fellow men. The wonderful answer to prayer narrated last month, came through one of my read- ers, and the message and help was brought by a visitor, and one who made no profes- sions of Christianity. Every human soul seems to have a sense of right and wrong, and through the ruins of a wasted life, there shine, at intervals, especially when some- thing comes up to draw it out, glimpses of Gods image. In the jail, a few days ago, the b >ys said they could see no reason for prayer. They could not take up a duty, without under- standing how it could be of any avail. [ tried to tell them if they had faith enough in God to obey when they did not understand all his reasons, they would be pretty sure to obey when they did understand. They still insisted on having a reason which they j could fully understand, for everything which they were required to do. Said I: "Boys, are you sure you will obey in ; things you do understand?" i879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 67 They all declared they would. "What do you think about swearing and profanity? Is it well to have the boys of our nation learn to swear, about as soon as they learn their A B CV If you wanted good trusty men to take care of your busi- ness or property, or to enrortte our laws, or to educate our children, would you have men who do, or who do Hot swear?"' "Men and boys who do hot swear," said they with one accord. "There is ho mistake about it?'1 "None; certainly," said they, as before. "Now, my friends, we are coming to busi- ness; boys, upon honor, and before God Whom you have promised to obey when you hear his voice clearly and without any mis- take, tell me if you are in the habit of swearing among yourselves when here alone?17 You coidd have heard a pin drop. They glanced at each other, and cast down their eyes. Not before me, but before God, they confessed their guilt, being condemned by their own consciences. Clear and plain came the voice of God from these men who were on their way to the penitentiary, de- claring as their honest convictions, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.'' Clearly they pointed out the way, but, human like, they' followed not in that way. Do you ever swear, my friend? and you? and you? and you? If you do. dare you ad- vise that the youth of our nation should be taught it? If so, are you not ready to con- fess this minute, that you are a "sinner in God's sight, condemned by the voice of your own conscience? Is it any trouble for us to decide, in the above case, which is the voice of God speak- ing through the people? Whether it is the words that consider the welfare of the fu- ture of our nation, or the oaths that are ut- tered because— — because what? Why does anybody swear? Can anybody tell? Be- cause they are enlisted in God's work, or because they are enlisted in the Devil's work, and are, in very truth, trying to be the Devil's own? We do not all swear, but the most of us have our besetting sins, doubtless nearly as bad, in God's sight, as profanity. I wonder how many of us there are who know what duty is, and do it not ; who make no espe- cial* effort to follow the promptings of right that God has implanted in us all. .It is true, I get occasionally a letter ob- jecting to the Home Papers, but these are few and far between, compared with the steady stream of hints like the ones below. Our Homes in Jan. No. is the best of any jet. That about treating everybody kindly tits my case exactly. We are hurried so sometimes, that it seems almost impossible to do so, but let's carry a pleasant face if nothing more. O. F. Bowen. Randolph, N. Y., Jan. 10, 1879. To-day, in looking over back volumes, I re-read with interest those first words that told us the story of the new man— of the change that lead to "Our Homes." My wife and I often speak of the lessons of those Home Papers, and assure you that we ap- preciate them. With the friendliest wishes for your success, and trusting that you will ever be sustained by Him who never deserts his true dis- ciples, I remain yours fraternally, J. P. Swarthout. Crystal Springs, N. Y., Jan. 13, 1879. The Home Papers. —Keep up this depai'tment, by all means. I Can't tell you how much good they have done me; but, whenever I have read one of them, I lay down the book, with my heart softened toward all mankind. I feel that away off there in Ohio, you have made me a better husband and fath- er, a better citizen, and 1 hope, a better Christ- ian. Dr. A. H. Brantly. Decatur, Ga., Jan., 13, 1879. Even those who complain, it seems, read all these papers, and from the way in which they write, I sometimes wonder if they do not read them the very first thing. When they were first started, I expected I should lose subscribers by the course, and was pre- pared to bear the loss ; but somewhat to my astonishment, my circulation has been on a steady increase ever since. At the time I decided on this department, or rather on taking this stand, my circulation did not reach 1,000 at any time in the year ; it is now only the 11th of Jan., and our list has already reached nearly 4,000. I will tell you exactly at the end of the month. I do not say this because I would have anyone take up relig- ion in order to make more money by it, but to show that bringing religion to bear on business will never kill the business. The life of Gleanings is from the ABC class, and this same class have made astonishing progress; astonishing to myself, and to themselves. Is it not possible that "Our Homes"' has helped them to succeed in bee culture? Are not the principles taught there really at the foundation of thesuccessof any business, or we might almost say, any na- tion? What did the boys in the jail say? Any man or boy who is striving for self con- trol, and to become ruler of his own spirit, will be pretty sure to thrive. Do the arts, sciences, and manufactures thrive most where there are communities of skeptics and infidels, or where there are churches, and where the Bible is read in every house daily? The boys in the jail will answer readily, and mankind, almost in a body, will respond amen to their reply. My contributors are not first class. In one sense I admit they are not. They are most- ly beginners, and as a rule, they have not large apiaries. They are not able to write fine spun theory, and long controversial ar- ticles. I pray God they may never be. But they do tell u's of their own work at home; of how they save their money by using home made appliances; and how they get yields of honey that might excite the envy of the old- est hands in the business. I have chosen simple, plain articles, with a hope of getting our readers out of the old ruts, and have tried to encourage a spirit of independence ; of going to the bees themselves, and work- ing things out by experiment, rather than by depending too much on what anybody writes. I do not particularly care to have the best bee journal in the' land. I want mine to be good, and others better. If you or your friend think the other journals bet- ter, I have no objection at all. I want to see the other journals do good and thrive, and I am perfectly willing they shall do good in their own way. We are different and 68 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Feb. have different tastes. Our nation is broad, and there is plenty of room. The people will always give us all the support we honestly deserve. I have been absent from my type-writer for about two hours; during that time I made a visit to one of the principal saloons in our place, and finally prevailed on the proprietor to go with me* to a union meeting of all our Medina churches. He spoke du- ring the meeting, and said he wanted to be a Christian. A heavy board is now nailed across the front doors of his saloon, his sign taken down, and he did it with his own hands, and of his own free will. Which is better, to take a saloon keeper to jail against his will, or to induce him to go to meeting of his own free will and accord V My boy, Albert, who has had so many ups and downs, I have been obliged to let go, at least temporarily. After he had been paid off, and started out to seek work more to his taste elsewhere, I plead with him, to keep sober and beware of temptation. lie prom- ised faithfully to do this, but rejected the religion of the Bible, declaring he thought Spiritualism better. In vain we talked and argued, for I believe argument is almost al- ways vain. As I could take no more time, I I closed the talk in this way: " Albert, I will demonstrate the religion of the Bible by my daily life, and you may ! demonstrate Spiritualism by your daily life. | If you show that it will keep a man from temptation, raise him above his taste for j drink, and make a steady, good citizen of him, such as you have been while going to I meeting with me, I will believe in it. Now ! for God's sake, my boy, do not have another j fall ; if you can not accept my way, be a man in your way, and let us see you can rule your own spirit.1' "All right, Mr. Boot, I will be careful ; if I get to drinking again, you need not be- lieve any more in Spiritualism." My friends, can not we close all argument in this same pleasant way? If Spiritualism or infidelity causes a saloon keeper to nail up his saloon, and tell his neighbors that he is sorry for his past deeds and will do so no more, give them to us by all means. Peo- ple see, and believe, even if they do not ad- mit it in argument, and through the people comes the voice of God, telling, in terms unmistakable, which is the straight and narrow path that leads to His great throne. Come all ye that are weary, and heavy la- den; come ye that have struggled against profanity, the love of drink, the love of ap- probation, or the thousand and one forms in which Satan comes to drag men down, and to make them think it is of no use to try ; never mind the things you can not under- stand, but take hold of the things you do understand, and show your good will. Come and work in the things we do agree on, and God will take care of the rest, as fast as we come to it. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.- John, VII; 17. With pain and sorrow, I am obliged to add that Albert was on a drunken spree al- most immediately, and I have just been told that he has been sent back to his old home in the jail. I have faith that he will become a Christian yet, and stay one, if we are patient and do not get discouraged. It is God's work and not mine, and why need I doubt, or fear to do his bidding. clumn. Under this head, will be inserted free of charge, the names of all those having- honey to sell, as well as those wanting: to buy. Please mention how much, what kind, and prices, as far as possible. The prices quoted in our cities for honey are, at present, too low, to make it worth while to publish them. As a general thiiig, I would not advise you to send your honey away, to be sold on commission. If near home, where you can look after it, it is often a very good way. By all means, develop your home market. For 25cts., we can furnish little boards to hangup in your door yard, with the words "Honey for Sale" neatly painted. If wanted by mail, 10c. extra for postage. Boards saying "Bees and Queens for Sale," tame price. MY customers appear to be all supplied with honey for the present, and I have 1 barrel __ left which I should like to dispose of. Can you please tell me of a buyer at 9 cts. per lb.? It is excellent in quality. Fred. T. Nunn. 83 Public Square, Cleveland, O., Jan. 4, 1879. O. Brumfield, of Brumfield Station, Ky.. will de- liver honey at Railroad, in new, iron hooped, waxed barrels, at 10 cts. per lb. This honey was all made before July 1st, and is very thick and fine. No charge for barrels. Jan. 20, 1879. I have a 32 gal. barrel of extracted honey, from autumnal wild flowers (golden rod, aster, etc.), and candied solid. Would take $25.00. delivered at rail- road, and include the barrel. Will send sample of honey if required. [This would be about 7c. per lb.] Hudson, MC Lean Co., 111. EDGAR SAGEB. %uigbu%§ | f§windk$, Pertaining to Bee Culture. [We respectfully solicit the aid of our friends in conducting this department, and would consider it a favor to have them send us all circulars that have a deceptive appearance. The greatest care will be at all times maintained to prevent injustice being done any one.] ^OpHUKBEB admits that he has adultera- ted extracted honey with glucose. I — ' have shown up three different parties, in the Humbug and Swindle department, in back volumes, for this same fraud, and there is room for more, if you will only give their names right out. The innocent' have noth- ing to fear. There seems to be a terribly mixed up state of things in regard to grape sugar. From the reports, I supposed, of course, that some one (or many) in our country had been feeding glucose, and had succeeded in get- ting nice looking comb honey in sections; yes, even a ship load. If anybody ever de- served a place in Humbugs and Swindles, it would be the men who had done this. The matter, like the statement that several hun- dred colonies had been killed by grape sug- ar, has been dropped right there, and no one knows where it came from. If anybody does know, will he not speak out? I am rea- dy to help ferret out fraud, but I cannot 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. waste time on wild goose chases. Such kinds of business cannot be managed with such secrecy that they can not be found out. The Scientific American of Jan. !'•>, con- tains the following : The accusation of adulteration made by certain parties against several of our largest refiners of sugars has, according to Mr. Wells' recent report on the subject, no foundation in fact. Careful tests have been made by the highest chemical authorities, which seem to verify his statements. Now is it the learned chemists Who have been paraded through our newspapers so much of late, or the Scientific American, that deserve a place in Humbugs and Swindles ? There is no room for excusing both parties. Aggassiz and Tyndal are not the only ones who have talked* learnedly of subjects upon which they had no practical experience. Is it for the sake of a brief newspaper notori- ety that men have written so foolishly V Mrs. Cotton has finally sent the bees to one of her customers, and I am very glad to say that she also sent the interest on the $20.00, for the year that she held it. They were promised several different times, before they were sent, but she did send them finally. These bees were to the lady mentioned in our Nov. No. I do not know how far the notices of her work in Gleanings, July, "77, may have influenced her, but I do know there are a great many more of us waiting patiently, especially,' for that wonderful book. I shall be very glad to give her cred- it as fast as things are tixed up. ON ANOTHEIS VISIT TO A BOX HIVE MAN. /<(FK UR objective point was the apiary of Mr. Jes- H_m sie Keech, Fort Ann, N. Y., consisting of 376 %^ swarms. Mr. Keech is one of our old fash- ioned bee-keepers. His bees are in a box hive, hav- ing a capacity of 2,000 cubic inches. Surplus honey is obtained in large, rough boxes, holding 12 lbs. each, and no glass in the ends. His method of finding filled boxes is to go from time to time, and rap with his knuckles on the top of the box; if it does not resound, he guesses it is full and off it comes. This might be termed the wa- termelon process. Mr. Keech's pasturage is good; the mountains near him give an abundauce of chestnut and bass- wood bloom, and the rich farming country in front of him gives willow, clover, asters, etc. He claims that the pollen from the many varieties of willow soils his whitest honey. Chestnut also gives a dark honey, and comes in with bass wood. Mr. K. "reckoned he'd never had no luck with movable frames and other tarnal fixin's." He liked the good old way, and reckoned he would get about 20 lbs. per swarm; but honey, which, to our mind, is a sure test of a bee-keeper's prosperity, we saw none of. Mr. K. also "reckoned" he had a lively time when they were swarming. Wrhen he saw a swarm "bilin' out," he "hollered" for Gus., Phebe, and the "old woman;" the dog and cats edged round too; they were all busy, and "sich a roarin' !" Mr. K. said it made him "narvous to think on't." Mr. K's. colonies seemed to be all strong, and many had built comb under the benches upon which they were standing. He winters in a not over dry cellar, and packs them in close. This section of country, owing to large tracts of forest, is quite prolific in wild swarms, and we think these mountains catch swarms from many miles to the east of them. We saw one hive 12 feet tall; it was a log cut from a tree, and was then chained to another tree. Mr. Adams informs me that he" has frequently found swarms clustered under large limbs, where, from the quantity of comb, he judged they had set- tled for life; at other times, rocks and stumps were their hiding place. In one instance, a swarm was found in a limb, 13 feet long, six inches in diameter, and filled with comb the entire length. Isn't this the longest hive on record? and ought it not to sat- isfy both the tall and shallow hive advocates? This region is on the east shore of Lake George; is sparsely settled, and the black bear and deer are frequently found. We did not visit Mr. Adam's own apiary. His api- ary is located on the very last part of the creation; the people carry ladders around with them to climb over the rocks. They would, no doubt, give a largre reward for the invention of a flying machine. (We would say that the above, about Mr. A.'s location, is, as Artemus Ward has it, "sarka&tical.") Hartford, N. Y. J. H. Martin. HOK!i TENEMENT CHAFF HIVES. • f SENp you a pencil sketch of a tenement hive, M or "four in one," as we call it. I wintered 4 col- 5=s onies in it last winter, and can say that it was a success. There were scarcely any dead bees to be found at any time during the winter; while a colo- ny left out on the summer stand, without protec- tion, as an experiment, lost as many as '■> gallon. I think this plan for a tenement hive the handi- est for the bees and their keeper, of* any I have seen described yet. It is packed 4 in. all around with chaff. It has 2 alighting boards, 12 in. wide, and running across the fronts of each 2 colonies, enabling the over laden bees to crawl up into their hives, without taking wing. You will see by the drawing, that by taking off half the roof, we have colonies No. 1 and 2 before us, the frames in each running from right to left, the best position for handling. It has a portico at each end, protecting the bees from sudden dashes of rain, as well as shading the entrances from the sun. The division in the portico keeps the bees from mixing, although I don't think any harm would be done if they should mix. The roof is made in two pieces, and pitches from side to side as shown. It parts at the gables, and either half can be slid off. This hive contains 40 brood frames and 112 prize boxes, 10 of tho former and 28 of the latter to each colony. This hive stood out in the sun last summer without shading, and the bees lay out less than those in single hives that were shaded. In winter, I put a quilt and good thick chaff cushion on each colony, and never had bees winter better. Jos. M. Brooks. Columbus, Indiana. 1879. I have given the above, principally, be- cause it seems a very handsome hive. Per- haps we pay to little attention to taste and symmetry ; where the looks can be improved by little or no additional expense, I think it well to consider the matter. If you let the bees mix, friend B., you will stand a great chance of loosing those beautiful queens you raise; keep your divisions in the portico, and J would have those divisions between the hives, extend clear up to the roof of the cap, if it could be done. Our Medina bee- keepers almost discarded double and quad- ruple hives, several years ago, just because the bees would mix and eventually form one colony, if we did not watch them closely. 70 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Feb. Number of Sub- scribers required at or at 75 c. 1.00 5 2 5 i 5 2 B 6 3 7 3 7 3 4 8 4 9 4 9 4 10 6 20 8 Bfi JO 50 v'O TABLE OF PREMIUMS. The first column is for those only, « § who send 5 or more names. S'g Names of Premium Articles. ^^ Any of them sent post-paid on rec'pt of price. \—A B C of Bee Culture, Part First. 25 2— Lithograph of Apiary, Implements, etc. 25 3— Photograph of House Apiary 25 4-— "That Present,'1'' Novice and Blue Byes 25 6— Emerson's Binder for Gleanings, will holdS Volumes 5f 6 — " " better quality 60 7 — Pocket Magnifying Glass 60 8— First or second Volume of Gleanings.. 75 9— Best quality Emerson's Binder for Gleanings 75 10— Double Lens Magnifier, on 3 brass feet 1,00 11— Photo Medley, Bee-Keepers of America], 00 12— First and second Vol. of Gleanings.. 1,50 13—^4 real Compound Microscope, beauti- fully finished, and packed with Imple- ments in a Mahogany Box 315 14— Opera Glass for Bee Huntinn S5.00 15— American Silver (Waltham) Watch $10.00 Machinery for Making1 Section Soxes. There is such a demand for Saws and Mandrels for this purpose, that I have been obliged to have them made expresslv for the work. ABC, Part IF, con- siders the whole matter. A mandrel, suitable for holding the whole 8 saws at once, must be very strong and heavy, or you will have much trouble with the bearings getting hot. Such a mandrel, in- cluding 5 in. saws and washers, will cost $27.50. For only 4 saws, a lighter mandrel will do, and the whole rig'will cost $16.00, with 4 inch saws. A single saw can be run on the light $5.00 mandrel, and the entire expense will be only $6.50. The latter can be sent by mail, for 70c. extra. Four inch saws, $1.50 each; 5 'in. $1.75 each. Steel washers accurately ground to go between saws, 50c. each. A. I. ROOT. ' POCKET RULES. Since writing about the importance of each per- son's having a rule of his own, I have written to the manufacturers of rules, and tind I can get them, by the quantity, so as to send you a very pretty, 1 foot, boxwood rule, 4 fold, for the small sum of only 12c; and a 2 foot rule, same kind, for only 20c. A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. GEORGE GRIMM, JEFFERSON, WISCONSIN. Hereby respectfully gives notice to the public, that his Circular and Price List of Italian Bees, for the year 1878-9 is ready; and that he is selling bees at his usual low prices. 10-3d. BARNES' PATENT FOOT POWER MACHINERY! CIRCULAR and SCROLL SAWS. Hand, Circular Rip Saws for heavy and light ripping. Lathes, &c, &c. These machines are especially adapted to Hive Making. It will pay every bee-keeper to send for our 64 page Catalogue. Ma- cliines Sent on Trial. W. F. & JOHN BARNES, Rockford, Winnebago Co., 111. Glass for Bee-keepers, Glass, 8x18, for large shipping cases, 7c. per sheet; or $3.00 per box, in boxes of 50 sheets. Glass, 8xl3!o, for small shipping cases, 5c. per sin- gle sheet; or $3.00 per box, in boxes of 66 sheets. Glass, cut to any of the sizes used by Beekeepers, for $3.00 per box. At this price, each box must contain but one size. Glass in full boxes, shipped from Pittsburgh. A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. Italian Queens. 1879. $3 00 .2 00 Price, April, May, and June, each July, August, and September STANDARD OF PURITY. All Queens guaranteed to be of good size, vigor- ous, producing workers, large and uniformly marked with three distinct vcllow bands, of line golden col- or. No circular. A. F. MOON, 2d Rome, Ga. GRAPE SUGAR. Superior, double refined Grape Sugar, for feeding bees, @ 4c. per lb. in barrels of 375 lbs., and 4>4c. in boxes of 50 or 110 lbs. The above prices are for sugar shipped from Me- dina. If ordered from the factory, at Davenport, la., the price will be y2c. per lb. less. Any amount less than 50 lbs. will be 5c. per lb. Instructions for feeding it to bees sent free. Sample by mail, 10c. A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. Tin for Separators and Extractors. As we buy in large quantities, I can perhaps give you better rates than you are getting at home. Price per box of 112 sheets, size 14x20, for Separators and small cans for honey $6 00 " " sheet, for less than a box 7 IX tin for making Extractors, 14x20, per box 8 50 " " per sheet 9 We will ship it from Medina, or from Philadelphia, as may be most convenient. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. Poplar Sections Cheap. Dovetailed Sections, 414x4 14,2 in. wide, per M - $6 Comb Fdn. 45 to 55 cts. per lb. Also Queens, Bees, Honey, etc. Wax worked up to order, at 25 cts. per lb. I will take good yellow Beeswax in exchange for Comb Fdn., and allow 30 cts. per lb. delivered here. Circular and price list free. Sample Section by mail, 5 cts. REINHARD STEHLE, 2d Marietta, Washington Co., O. Sections! Sections! Before ordering your Sections, send a 3c. stamp for a sample of our snow white, poplar weed, Sec- tion Box, so much admired by all at Ihe National Convention. Any size made to order. Pricegreatly reduced. Circulars free. A. E. MANUM. 2 Bristol, Addison Co., Vt. "bees for sale. 50 Colonies Italians in Langstroth Hives, - $6 00 50 " Hybrids " " - 5(0 100 " Blacks in Triangular " - 3 00 Will deliver in good condition on any Miss. River Packet. The stocks are worth 1 he price for the hon- ey they contain. GEO. B. PETERS, ll-2d Council Bend, Arkansas. ONE HUHDRED COLONIES^ ME IMLM KES, FOB. SALE CHEAP. Queens all bred from Imported Mother. QUEENS &. HONEV IN SEASON. Send for Circular. Address C. C. VAUGHAN, 2tf Columbia, Tenn. l>evo-tei> to bees atsi> honey, and home interest*-. Vol. VII. MARCH 1, 1879. No. 3. A. 1. UOOT, Publisher and Proprietor Vlett lit;:. O. ' JEs Published Monthly. Established in 1873 (TEKITIN: %1.00 Per Annum in Ad- vance; 3 Copies for $2.i>0; 5 /or S3. 75; (. lO oi more, 60e. each. Single Number, lOc. SCRAPS AND SKETCHES. NO. 3. HURKAH POK FOUNDATION ! 'F there is anything in my apiary that makes me feel like swinging my hat, it is the sight of combs built upon ran. They arc so nice, true, and even; not a drone cell unless wanted; combs built and tilled with honey in 8 days; and all these advantages secured at a cost of only 7 or 8 cts. per comb. The first sheet of fdn. that I put into a hive was given to a strong swarm, and I guess every "dear little creature" in the hive wanted to see that "new- fangled improvement," and then, Yankee like, wanted to feel of it, to taste it! to smell it, and, last- ly, wanted to go to work drawing it out into a nice yellow comb; the result was, so many wax workers and '"hangers-on" congregated upon the fdn., that it broke in two, about an inch from the top bar. Well, instead of sending back my 10 lbs. of fdn., , and then rushing into print to warn the public, by informing them that fdn. was a brilliant failure, 1 "rushed" for what "print— ed" bee-matter I had, and set my wits to work, to dis- cover a remedy. In J. H Nellis' circular for 1877, I found the following: "We insist that the sheets be only !s inch short at each end, and explain the reasons as follows: the bees commence to lengthen the cells and fill them with brood and honey, from the center of the sheet, and work towards ihe edges. When the space at the ends is only '8 in., the bees work out the edges (the sagging occurs when they first commence to work the wax) and fasten it to the end bars, before the sheet becomes so heavy that the top part cannot sustain the weight, and either sags or breaks alto- gether." On page 185, Vol. II, of Gleanings, D. B. Baker writes as follows: "The bees always begin at the top to build them oot. and, with me, always complete one side ahead of the other. This will cause the sheet, sometimes, to balance over toward the uncompleted side, and as soon as the corner touches, or nearly touches, the side bar, just so soon will it be fastened. Now, as the bees go on finishing this side, ot course it stretches, and as the corner is fastened, a bulge will occur just above. I found mine not only bulged as stated, but the opposite side was stretched too long, causing another large bullae. My remedy was, to cut it loose from the bottom bar, and take out about ': inch; also to cut the corner loose and take out % in. of comb. This lets it swing clear until comple- tion." Of course. I wanted my fdn. to "swing clear until completion," and if the lower coiners had got to be clipped, why not do it when cutting out the sheets; but then, Nellis says the fdn. must be only \: in. from the side bars, or it will say and break down. Ten minutes thinking enabled me to effect a com- promise, and in 2 more minutes 1 had a sheet of fdn. cut in such shape that it almost touched the side bars 2 in. down from the top, then it gradually ta- pered as it neared the bottom, where it lacked about % of an in. of touching the Bide bars. Fdn. cut in this shape proved to be the thing; I had about 120 combs built, and there was no more breaking down, and no kinks or bulges. As my frames are ll'/2 in. deep inside, I out the fdn. I1! in. short at the bottom, and the combs us- ually stretched enough to nearly touch the bottom bar; but they were all as nice and straight as a board. 1 presume this management would not be necessary with shallow frames. The fdn. was fast- ened into the frames by tacking a strip of wood Jg by % into the top bar, with the upper edge of the sheet between them. To sum up, I will always have my combs built up- on fdn.; and if I can't get the money to buy it, in any other way, I will sell some of my bees. W. Z. Hutchinson. ltogersville, Genesee Co., Mich. The plan you mention, friend II.. or a sim- ilar one, has been given before by some- body ; for deep frames it is doubtless an ex- cellent idea, but we have had such nice work with the sheets as we make them for the L. frames, that hardly anything more is need- ed, unless it is something to make them strong enough to ship. At present. I am in- clined to think the line wire, woven in the frames as described in Aug. No., of last year, the most feasible. Even if the queen does skip a cell now and then, she may use these same cells, after the comb gets a' little older. The matter needs a thorough test- ing, and it will have it very soon. *'H* THE HIVE I AOT NOW USING; ALSO SOMETHING ABOUT INVESTING IN PATENTS. f; HAVE been engaged in bee-keeping, from my "pop-gun" days to the present time. Indeed, "£ work pertaining to the care and management of the apiary is about all the work I take to kindly, and with all the trials and failures incident to the fasci- nating pursuit, the profits from the trade have most liberally replenished my exchequer. The greatest ba?ie to my success has been my fool- ish desire to purchase and test the many patented hives that have been brought to my notice. About tin- worst take I got was at the Ohio State Fair, at Columbus, where I had the misfortune to meet the King Bros., with their famous Am., hive. Perfectly captivated was I, by the superb arrangement, so much so that I danced to the tunc of $75. for rights, and material ready to put together. At that memo- rable time, I Was using the old style, eight frame, Quinby hives, and right good were tbey, "you bet," as friend Heal would express it; but then I had learned something at the fair, and must make haste to transfer my bees to the new wonder. After all were transferred into the marbleized Am. hive, I felt happy. All I had to do, when the lower box was partly filled, was to raise it "gently" and "slip" the other under, and SO on, ail Infinitum. Gra- cious I what a sublime arrangement ! But, like friend Hutchinson, I soon found 1 had been soldout- right. My greatest objection to the Am. hive is that it is a fraud in nearly every respect, as 1 sec it. A closed 80 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Mar. top bar frame is a perfect nuisance, and, indeed, frames so constructed as to be kept at fixed dis- tances must fail to give the best satisfaction. My varied experience with almost every form and size of frame has brought me to the conclusion, that any depth of frame greater than 9 or 10 in., at most, is unprofitable; and just in proportion to the in- crease of depth in a frame, beyond this limit, there will be a corresponding decrease, as a rule, ; in the amount of honey stored in surplus boxes. Last spring found me with 70 colonies of bees, and using' only 9 different styles of hive. Thirty colonies in Am. hives gave me but little more honey than I obtained from 9 chaff hives containing' 10 L. frames. I have been so well convinced of the superiority of the L. frame and Simplicity hive, that I have trans- ferred all my bees into this hive. Although the ex- pense and labor of the improvement was pretty heavy, and trying- to the patience, I do not regret it, as I now have the satisfaction of having- ^0, ten frame, Simplicity hives, and every frame exactly alike, all in hives painted white, which is a satisfac- tion to the person having to work with them, and to ii person of good taste, a pleasure to look upon. It is an easy matter for me now to examine my bees and know their condition, by simply turning- the quilt back, instead of taking- off a movable side and then removing- all the frames, as is the case with frames constructed on the closed top principle, and having- a greater depth than nine inches. J. A. Buchanan. Wintersville, O., Jan., II, 1879. My experience has been quite similar to yours, friend B., and I do not know but that i have arrived at pretty much the same con- clusion. tiadiej* ^p/ivhi^nt A LESSON EN BEE CULTURE, FOR. WO- MEN. ALSO A LESSON FOR INVALIDS. s f- f A VTNG finished another very busy year, our PlfjS'll bees having increased to 300 colonies, now, l-JLJ] as they are sleeping in the cellar and in snow banks, 1 will write you how we (ourselves and the bees) are getting along. Last spring, we started with 1S5 colonies, in 2 apia- ries 5l/2 miles apart. Mr. Axtell and myself took care of the bees at home, 135 colonies I believe, and the 50 at the Burwic apiary, our nephew went over each day to look after. 'They are in timber, and consequently had access to a considerable wild fruit bloom, which caused them to throw off 2 large swarms in apple blossom time, which were re- turned. SUGAR FEEDING AND PUBLIC OPINION. The bees all increased very fast, but stored only a very little honey in fruit bloom. Then a cold spell of weather came on soon after, which retarded the white clover bloom, and our bees came near run- ning out of food. We fed over a barrel of honey, and feared we would have to resort to sugar feed- ing, which we would have disliked very much to do, as the people in our vicinity, far and near, are very suspicious of any who feed sugar to their bees. We have quit it entirety, and would advise anyone who wishes to build up a home market for extracted honey never to feed sugar, and to extract and sell only white honey. If the honey is dark let it candy. EXCESSIVE SWARMING. Although the season seemed early, swarming was later with us, than the year before; but when it did begin, it was in real earnest. We never had such swarming; nearly every colony swarmed, except ex- tracted hives. At first, we began putting 2 empty frames in the center, cutting out queen cells, and returning the bees, and using the 2 center combs taken out to make nuclei, &c. ; but soon we had to abandon that way of swarming. The bees, in a day or two, would be on the wing again, in many cases, having scarcely entered the boxes. Then we took to putting a swarm into a new hive, giving them 2 brood frames, and filling up the hive according to the strength of the colony with boxes and empty frames. Wo think we failed in not giving the bees sufficient room at the beginning of the honey harvest. CAUTTON ABOUT CLOSING HIVES IN SWARMING TIME. We melted and destroyed 3 colonies, by closing the hive for a few minutes, to prevent swarms from going together. This plan we soon abandoned, and would warn people to beware of closing the hive in hot weather, even if ventilators are open as ours were. Two of tue hives had wire cloth on the bot- toms of the hives, as large as my two hands; but the colony was sti-ong and all agitated, which causes them to get very hot in a few minutes. Afterwards, we were very careful to catch the I queens, and then let swarms go together. The first swarms would always come back, generally to one I or two hives; then we would divide them. We have had as many as ti swarms in the air at once, and 35 swarms in a day; hut many of the swarms were put back into the hive they left. PREVENTION OF SWARMING 15 Y USING EXTRACTOR. Of 20 hives, run for extracting, only 4 swarmed. They were allowed to settle in a box, in front of the hive, and the honey was extracted from above and , below, and the swarm returned. For extracting we put a top box on our Quinby ' hive, raising it just high enough to receive another row of brood frames on top. Wc generally extract only the top frames, and are not bothered much by the queen's going into them, if they are fastened a little farther apart than the lower frames. We like top frames much better, to extract from, than side frames; but if a division board is put be- tween the brood frames and extracting frames, it will always prevent the queen from goiug on to the extracting combs, or boxes of comb honey. DIVISION BOARDS FOR THE QUEEN. Mr. A. makes the division boards of lath, nailed just wide enough apart to let the bees pass through, and no wider; if wider, it will cause the comb honey to be bulged. For several weeks after the white clover was done blossoming, the bees scarcely made a living. The bees at the other apiary, in the timber, got some linn honey, though not enough to amount to much, either last season or this; but still, even a lit- tle of it is a great help to the bees, because it pro- motes brood rearing. We got a good harvest from the buckwheat and fall tlowers, about as much as from the white clover. BEES VERSUS DOCTORS AND MEDICINE. I have been an invalid for about 21 years; have been to water cures and medical institutions 5 dif- ferent times, and have spent hundreds of dollars upon doctors' bills, but have never been benefited so much as I have been by the care of bees, during the past few years. Now, from the beginning: of warm weather, when bees may be handled, until they are packed with straw for winter, I am out working with them, all I am able, almost every day, Sundays excepted. This year, in swarming time, even Sundays could not be wholly excepted. If 1 am not on my feet working with them, and must lie down to rest, I have my couch in their midst, where I can watch swarming. I also nail the surplus boxes. We like nailed boxes belter than dovetailed, for one reason, because I Can have the starters all on, with no danger of the boxes be- ! ing- "wapper-jawed." )■ We hire a housekeeper, and I give my whole time i to the bees. I find it profitable medicine, and am in ; hopes that the out door exercise and the stings of I the bees will in time, with God's blessing, wholly re- ! store my health. I feel that it has been in answer , to prayer, that my health has been so nearly re- stored. My husband often tells me I would rather work i with bees than do anything else, and I confess I do feel a good deal of enthusiasm in the work, and do ; not fear their stings, when properly protected, more than I would fear caring for a fiock of chickens. I like best to have my face protected with a wire cloth sewed in the front of my sunbonnet; it is cooler to the top of the head, if the bonnet is flaring, than a hat. BEE DRESS FOR LADIES. I like also to have on a largo apron, made out of denim, reaching to the bottom of my dress, with a ' bib in front, and straps to go over the shoulder and 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 81 cross in the back, a belt to button around the waist, and long-, deep pockets; a brush of leaves or twigs (not asparagus, don't like it) tied to one side with a long- stout string-, and a stiff case knife tied to the other side; a small bladod pocket knife in my right pocket, a lead pencil and a bit of writing- paper for taking- notes, in my left pocket, and a handful of dry wood for my smoker. I like to have 2 of these aprons and wash out, ev- ery evenine, the one I have been wearing- through the day. Having- thing's tied to me saves my steps, and I do not lose them in the grass. GRASS VERSUS SAWDUST. I think I should like grass better than sawdust, because it is so cleanly and pretty, and there is no danger of its getting on fire. Ry the way, we have already burned up 2 colonies of bee"; the quilt of the first one took fire from a piece of rotten wood, and the last one from the Bingham smoker. The hive was saved, but combs and bees were destroyed. Before getting that thick apron I often used to set my calico dress on fire. HOW TO STOP ROBBING. I like best to stop robbing by wetting cloths, and wrapping them around the hives. Nothing is better than an old shirt, cotton or woolen; clasp the bot- tom of the hive with the sleeves, and throw the skirt of the shirt over the top. If robbing badly, lean a board against the front of the hive, and have the cloth dripping wet. I work right ahead with bees, for hours in robbing time, by covering- each hive over in that way. As soon as done with a hive, skip over, each time, to the farthest hive from the one last opened. After an hour or so, you can take off the first cloth. HOW TO SELL THE HONEY. We took 5 barrels of extracted honey, which we have sold very readily, and could have sold more if we had had it. We shipped to Chicago, 2,500 lbs. net, mostly comb honey, in \1'2 lb. section frames, besides supplying 15 towns within about 20 miles of us. We go about once in 6 weeks, and take a new supply, see that it is kept in proper shape, bring home the shipping boxes, &c. We generally canvass some be- tween the towns. In that way we sell our extracted and rough honey to farmers. We want to thank you for the g-ood advice con- tained in "Our Homes." We generally make that almost the first piece read in Gleanings. You may put this in the Ladies' Department, or in the Smilery (if it is worth printing), whichever you please; and tell the ladies, those who are not too much burdened with family cares, and especial- ly the invalids, that they are losing very much, by allowing their husbands and brothers to do all the work in the apiary. Never mind the stings; they will soon cease swell- ing. Your faces and hands may be somewhat browned, but it will be a healthier tint than the sal- low of ill health. Mrs. L. C. Axtell. Roseville, Warren Co., 111., Dec. 28, 1878. After reading the above, I could not help thinking of the first letter I received from you, my friend. As it may interest our read- ers to know how the 300 colonies started, I will give a portion of the letter, taken from our Feb. No., of 1874. Please bear with me if I relate a little of our bee experience which has been a good deal dishearten- ing. Many have been the times this summer that both husband and I have wished we had let bees alone, but there is no backing out now, without quite a loss which we could ill afford. Two years ago this winter we brought home one swarm of bees; the next summer they swarmed twice and gave us about three dollars surplus; one of the * warms filled the hive of 2,000 cubic inches, box hive, clear to the bottom, so we thought we would do as some of our neighbors did, pry off the top and take out some of the honey. We inquired of half a dozen j or more of our neighbor bee-keepers if it would do [ any harm; they could not see that it would, so one I hot day in Aug. or Sept. we went to work; but such j a muss as we got into! bees, honey and all squashed [ down together! It set us thinking if there was not j a better way; so last winter or fall we borrowed some bee books, bought some, and sent for some papers, and during the last year we have learned something. Wc had 15 stocks in the spring and in- creased to 27, but have had to feed and nurse them all summer. Had you and your husband become faint hearted and given it up, see what you would have lost. I know you have worked hard, and been faithful servants, and now you are beginning to have your reward. I cannot quite agree with you, Mrs. A., in regard to sugar feeding. If sugar was very much cheaper than honey, I should use it, no matter what people said, providing I could be sure that none of it could possibly get into the honey offered for sale. After considerable experience in feeding to pro- mote brood rearing, I do not think there is any danger, at all, of its getting into the sur- plus boxes. Those who talk to the contrary have not tested the matter, by practice. In- vite those who talk of frauds to come and see you and get acquainted. When I have a guilty conscience, I fear to have people talk, but at no other time. Your division boards made of lath are ef- fectual, but I should prefer some thin light strips, because they take so much less room in a hive. I am a firm believer in open air, and awak- ened enthusiasm, in place of doctors and medicine, and I hope your advice and ex- ample may stir up a spirit among your sis- ters, to arise and do likewise. If grass can be kept mown close, it will do very well ; but I object to it for the very rea- son you have mentioned, that things are apt to get lost. It is quite difficult mowing among the hives, and in wet weather it is rather unpleasant. It takes hard work to keep an apiary clean and tidy, either way. My neighbor, Shaw, keeps sheep in the en- closure to keep the grass down. Mrs. A., cannot we men have such an apron, too ? we like to be clean, and we have had ample experience of the effects of honey on our good clothes, when we happen to have any. We also get things lost now and then, i our plan of selling honey is the idea, exactly ; but alas ! that takes energy and go "aheadativeness," too, and that is the great lack, the world over. It may be, that hard times will drive us to it, and I know your cheering letter will help us on the way. FOOT POWER SAWS, ETC. MERE is a well, I will call it a drawing of my foot power. It being rather different from _j any 1 have seen, 1 thought I would send it you. The arm from the crank runs back, as you will see, 30 in. The length of foot power is 3 ft. and 6 in. I get more power than I should to go right down from the crank, which is 2l/2 in. My foot rises 9 in. The balance wheel is iron, 24in. in diameter, 3in. face, and weighs 65 lbs. When new it cost $1.30. The mandrel is 53 in. in diameter andl7in. long. I had it made for me, washers, nut, and all complete, for 50cts. The stand is spruce; the saw frame, hard pine; the saw table, ash; the gauge that runs para- lell with the saw is ash, 2x3; the saw table is 44x24 ; the mitreing table, black walnut, 2 in. thick, 30 in. long, made according to your directions in the A B C; the track on which the sliding table runs is ash, the shape of a 3 cornered file. It is all made and put together in good shape, with iron rods in the legs to make them stout. The pulley on the mandrel is wood, 2 in. in diam- eter. The saw does not run very fast, but I shall have to make it do for the present. I have made about 40 Simplicity bee hives with it; I made 17, in good shape, in as many hours. I have one whjon you made, and mine is as good as yours, 1 thin... 82 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Mar. My machine cost 88.00 and :i day's work for 2 of us. Mr. Root, I almost forgot to tell you the kind of saw I used for cutting the mitre to my hives; I tried my cut off, but that did not cut fast enough or eas- ily enough, so I used what I call a mongrel saw, neither a rip nor cut off saw, but just half way be- tween them, and that went nicely and easily. Now, Mr. Root, don't think I am too much of a brag- for telling- you what I have done and can do. for I am finite sure of it. I have taken more honey out of that hive which I got of you, than anyone around here has taken from all they have got; some have '.• swarms, and did not get 20 lbs. I got from that hive 54 lbs. and 10 oz. of comb honey, and it was not a good season here for honey, last year. D. S. Bassett. Farnumsville, Mass., Jan. 27, 1879. I ;ini not quite sure that any advantage is gained from the way in which you make your treadle. We use a saw a great deal in our work, that is half rip and half cross cut. It lias a decided advantage for cutting mitres. or for cutting across the grain of the wood diagonally. We keep in stock saws of this kind. Sin. in diameter, that we can furnish at the usual prices. Do you mean, my friend, that yon got a new mandrel made for 50cts. V I would like to hire the man who can do it. all the time : also one who could make a new 65ft. balance wheel, for SI. HO. 1SEWINVKMIONS OF THE IUOXTII. (<7J IXCE my invention of the Simplicity ||P feeder in 1S77, there have been a great many additions and improvements; hut, as it was made almost expressly for the pur- pose of feeding at the entrance in the night time. I did not then, nor can 1 say I do now. think any addition necessary. Feeding in the day time, especially, when any honey is to be had in the lields. is a very bad plan." as I have many times demonstrated. I have kept a colony at home fussing with a lt>. of honey in feeders while one by its side would get 3 lbs. in the fields. For the benefit of those who must feed in the day time. Mr. Gray, our foreman, has invented the follow- ing addition to the Simplicity feeder. Our friends who have buzz saw's will find it a nice little exercise for their ingenuity. SIMPLICITY FEEDER, ARRANGED TO RE USED AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE HIVE, IX THE DAY TIME. Get a piece of bassvvood 2i by 1". by 1 foot long; pine will do, but is more apt to split. Bore a hole in the centre, almost through, and then bore for the screws to hold the cov- er on. Next drop the block over a very thin saw. to cut a place for the tin slide which is to close the auger hole. Then rip off the cover just below this slot, and finish with the grooving saw, which should cut about S; this saw may be a. wabbler, a saw with a very wide set. or a group of 3 thick saws. Yon will observe there is a cut made under the cover, precisely like the one on the side fa- cing you. After these are done, von have only to cut the little troughs, 3 in number, and you are to cut them jnst i inch deeper than the bottom of the auger hole. Roll up a piece of tin, and push it to the bottom of this auger hole, letting the tube come just up to the tin slide. This tin tube is to carry the feed down under the bees, that it may well up under their feet when the feeder is tilled, and so need not daub them or soil their wings. The feeder is to be used tight up against the front end board of the hive, partially closing the entrance. I used the Simplicity feeder in the same way when it was first made, by laying a board over the top except one end, when I wished to feed in the day time. The price is 12c; if sent by mail, 20c. MAT FOR COVERING THE FRAMES. I am sorry to say. that even the enameled cloth is, in time, eaten through by the bees, and it seems that nothing is going to hold them permanently but wooden boards. The boards, however, need not be very thick, or very wide. Mr. Gray has come to our aid again, and given us the device shown above. The great beauty of it is that while it can- not shrink so as to let the bees out at the n\t\* or sides, it can be rolled back, folded smaller, and adapted to the varying sizes of the hive with a division board.' even better than any cloth, and in placing it over the bees, we can see through the cracks, so that not a bee is killed. The strips are of bass- wood, and are 1-10 by ■} inch. They are woven in a loom, with hard hemp twine. I consider this a great acquisition. Price. 10c; by mail, 15c. COMBINED SIIIPPINQ CASE A.ND HONEY (KATE. I have for years thought of a shipping case thatcould lie set right on the hive to be tilled, and taken right off the hive and sent to market ; but difficulties have always stood in tlte way, until now. The above lias bot- tom bars to protect and hold the sections. precisely like those on the broad frames, and they are supported by a groove cut along the lower edge of the end hoards. Now to space 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 83 these bottom liars as they lay in the grooves, exactly, so as to match the bottom bars of the sections, we use a spacing strip shown in the engraving, below the case. This strip, when pushed down in place, also holds the separators at just the right height. The sec- tions are closed tops, and when they are all in place, a thin strip is pushed down so as to rest on the top edges of the separators, and hold the boxes firmly upright, and in place. A strip of glass runs along each side, which allows the apiarist to see how fast the bees are working, by simply raising one side of the cover to the story and a halt hive. This case finished complete, niass and all. we can furnish for 20c; in the flat, for 15c. The case lilled with sections (28), starters, and separators, only 50c; without the separa- tors. 40e. If yon send the whole case to market, yon can get along very well without separators, for every comb can be sent just as the bees build it. If the central sections are capped first, separate them in the mid- dle, and swing them around, so that the fin- ished ones will come next the glass. Just one more invention, and then 1 will keep still for a whole month, for to-day is the 27th of Feb. IIONKY BOX FOK FARMERS. Some of the farmers around here, and I suppose around you. must have a honey box. Well, we will make one as described last month, and we will have it just the size of 3 sections. Eight such boxes will lib the case above], if we put 4 sections through the mid- dle. From bolts of thick basswood properly cut and grooved, we will slice off pieces like that shown below. how I could do any hotter, if yon took 20 instead of one. SOMETHING ABOUT GRAPE SIGAK, ETC. GB M'F. SUGAR. ¥( >l may recollect that I sent you some hard, white, grape sugar In slabs, and that I after- — j wards wrote to you, that the bees which I led with that sugar took the dysentery. The next spring ('78), I went to the tuills, and saw the chem- ical superintendent of the works, and had a talk with him. lie explained to me the reason why that sugar was injurious to bees or, in fact, to any ani- mal (man included). I [e stated that that white slab sagar was manufactured expressly for the use of confectioners, and was bleached with sulphurous (not sulphuric) acid, in order that it might look white, In candies, &C. (Nice for candy eaters?) He said that, if he had been there when I bought it, he would not have allowed me to take it. He gave me 300 lbs. of wine growers' sugar, as he called it, used by brewers, wine growers, and vine- gar milkers -a yellowish gray sugar somewhat soft and damp, with a much pleasanter taste than the white. 1 used it for feeding in May last, during the wet, cold weather which we had about apple blos- som time. I cbneidei that it almost saved my bees; they were pretty full of brood at the time, and with- out stores, and the result was that, when June 10th came, they were "chock" full of young bees. 1 en- dorse grape sugar for spring feeding. CHEAP FDN. MACHINES. i send you a sample of fdn. made on my machine. It is one of Bourgmeyer's, and I think you will ad- mit that it is good, it has a 9 in. roil, and the price was only 830. Now, Mr. Root, add to our many obli- gations by seeing- if you can't figure out a reduction in the price of yours. Honey is cheap, and I could not have afforded to buy one at $50. I don't see the need of wire in fdn.. especially, since we have it made with the base of the division walls. [ had hardly any cases of sagging last sum- mer. I, of course, put in the frames of fdn. between frames of comb. .John Dickinson. Milwaukee, Wis., Feb. 2, 1870. I am glad, from the bottom of my heart, if friend Bourgmeyer has succeeded in mak- ing a good machine, at the price mentioned, even if it does cut off a large trade for Air. Washburn and myself. Much disappoint- ment and some hard feelings were caused by the first, imperfect machines which he sent out, but the sample of fdn. which you send. I am sure, would do very well. Before folding them up. we will groove them, with a thin saw, to hold fdn., and also cut some similar grooves their whole length and nearly through, so that, with a pen knife, the grocer can readily separate every box in- to three distinct sections. The finished box is shown at the right. It can have a groove for a glass or not. as you choose. The price of a crate filled with these boxes will be the same as with sections. Price of 3 lb. box with glass and fdn., all set up complete, 4c. Price of boxes in the flat, 2c. each. 1 hope you can make them still cheaper, and that these inventions may all contribute to your happiness. Good day. \'. S — While 1 have hold of the "door knob"1 one thing more occurs to me. I told you the story and a half hive was sold in the flat, at the same price as the Simplicities. As it has a permanent bottom board, it will figure in the list, at 'i more; thus: three will cost 7Jc. each; live ~~e. each, and so on. You can furnish it with such inside work as you choose. The hive complete, nicely painted, all wood frames below, and our new case of sections above, no separators, we are pre- pared to send out for an even $1.50. This is cheap and simple, and for beginners 1 do not know of any- thing better. The price is so low, 1 do not know THE »25 ft!Vi:, * 'VI SITING' ETC. QUEENS, A R something very simple is what we all want (£.*\ in the bee business, and as no one has sent — ! — ! you that frame yet, 1 think I will have to send you mine. As i have no stairs that I can get around, 1 have used the result of your walk; so hero it is. Just take one of your all wood Simplicity frames, cut off the projections at each end, take a piece of hoop iron as wide as the end pieces, make a bend at one end, cut it off about half as Ions as the end piece of the frame, punch :.' holes through, one at the low- er end, and one near the middle, take ~ tacks that will clinch, nail the hoop iron on each end of the frame, so that the hook will be just even with the top of the frame, and, lo! you have it. FERTILE QUEENS GOING "VISITING." The queen 1 wrote you about finding away from home, some time ago, is a strange acting lady; in fact, she will take a fly whenever she has a mind to. Twice, since I wrote you, 1 have seen her out. She will fly off and be gone one or two minutes, when she will return, and walk into the hive as though she had a perfect right to go and come when she pleased. 1 caught her both times, opened the hive, and found it full of brood, from hatching- bees down to eggs. She is a nice yellow queen, purely fertil- ized, and her brood arc till yellow, ',i banded, good na- tured fellows. I like "Our Homes" in Gleanings ; they help me 84 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Mar. very much. I cross the St. Joseph rivsr in a little canoe, every Sabbath, walk 2 miles, superintend a Sabbath school, walk back, and cross home again, very tired. May the Good Master bless you in the good work, and' when you are called to cross, the deep, dark river, may his angles bear you company. Wm. L. Kino. St. Joseph, Micb., May 14, 1878. Thanks, my friend. Your hoop iron, spring hook, on the end of the frame, -is not exactly new. The objection to it is, liabili- ty to kill bees, and to be clogged with propo- lis. Your fertile queen's going out doors is certainly something new. It seems that, af- ter all, fertile queens do, at least sometimes, \ leave the hive. Who can tell us more about i this? AUSTRALIA. WATER FOR BEES DURING SHIPMEMT. fi MUST now tell you of another failure; 10 small boxes, each containing- an Italian queen, were tss sent from the apiary of Fiorini, of Venice; they arrived here on the 14th of May, all dead. There is another consignment due here to-day, but it has not yet arrived. I am doubtful about their safety. With regard to water, I have sent upwards of a thousand colonies away during the last 7 years, and never lost a single stock. Water is no new thing with me; I have used it for more than 7 years, and have never sent a colony away without it. Some of my bees have made a journey of 3 mos. and 20 days, traveling on bullock drays, and in the broiling sun, (How is that for high, Novice?) and arrived safe and sound, at the station. More than 2 years ago, I mentioned water to you, when describing the hive I would like to have sent from America. These are something like the words I used: "Send me plenty of bees, plenty of stores, and plenty of water." Now, if this next lot of Italians don't arrive safe, you had better try your hand. You will not lose much by the affair (depend upon it), if it proves a success. So now, Novice, I must wind up, by telling you that my stock only numbers 11 colonies, and that I am going back to the good old Langstroth frame (there is none other), and I will hang it in the chaff Simplicity. By the way, I hope you will do all you can for the safety of my goods; the lawn bee hive will be quite a novelty here. S. Carroll,. Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Aus., Nov. 7, 1878. I certainly will try my hand, friend Car- roll, if you fail in your next shipment, and if the bees die on the way, they will cost you nothing. It seems hard enough to pay these expensive shipping charges when your bees come through alive, and to have the whole shipment dead, is awful. I think of you often, friend Carroll, in your far away home, and if you do have trials and disappointments, we sympathize with you, even if we do not do much to help you. point, but sometimes, it looks much as if such was the case.] Oh! oh! oh! don't stop your paper! Keep my name on your books, as I will send you money soon. I can't get along without your paper, and as long as I can get 10 cts. per day, I will try and pav you for it. W. W. Rowley. Eau Galle, Wis., Jan. 17th, 1879. [Can't break over our rules, my friend, even if it is a killing matter, but I will tell you what I will do; I will send you the Jan. No. free, and before Feb., you can certainly scrape up 25c. It does me much good, to know you really want it.] Oh! Oh! Oh! I was too happily disappointed to re- ceive Gleanings! I rlid not expect you would be so foolish as to trust these bee men. Now, I have just got the $ 1.00, so I will send it to you with this; but a little advice won't come amiss will it? Don't do so again; as you may lose it next time. Feb. 2, 1879. W. W. Kowley. $&$§ and faumM. ?' HAVE lost one swarm of bees this winter. They died wil h plenty of honey in the hive. What wis the matter? W. W. Templeton. Hunt-ville, O., Jan. 30, 1S79. [I cann t tell, from so brief a statement of the f ' in. deep, and the usual length from end to end of the frame, thus obviating the danger of sagging anil breaking down? | They would often build out with drone comb.] Wilmington, N. C, Dec, 22, "18. K.C.Taylor. Tell our friends who have home made foot-powers to make the bearings of brass, and there will be less friction than with any other metal. Bees have win- tered well, and were carrying in pollen on the 28th of Jan. A. T. MclLWAiN. Abbeville C II., S. C, Feb. 3. 1879. 1 have been writing to you with reference to buy- ing some hives, etc., this spring, but from present appearances, I shall not need them. It is a warm day. and the bees have tlown out, but fail to return to the hive. They are not out 3 seconds before they turn over on their backs, flutter a little, and then die. They do not smell bad, and the hive is not dir- ty, so I think it is not dysentery. Please give a rem- edy. Can I give them a fly in the house and examine the hive? if I can. please give directions. Jamestown, N. Y., Feb. 6, '79 < '. E. Jones. I I can not tell, from the symptoms given, what is the matter with your bees. You might try giving them a fly in the house, but 1 doubt whether it would do them any good. For directions, see Jan. ami Feb. NOS. Of GLEANINGS, for '79, or A B C, Part Second.] How can 1 post myself in Apiculture? [Get a swarm of bees, then read the books and journals, and make practice and study go hand in hand. You. want the books to guide you, but they are worth little, without the practice to go with it'] Will it pay to devote one's self to it as a business? [I think so.] Are its risks of management fully understood? [The risks are pretty well understood, but there 86 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Mar. will always be more to learn.] Which is the best locality'/ [Perhaps California is the best locality known, at present, for honey, but many other conditions are to be considered; it may be difficult to decide.] I am buying the best white clover honey, for 15c. per lb. It seems to me there can be but little profit in that, to the original shipper. New York, Jan. 14, 1879. Jas. E. Boyd. GRAPE SUGAR FOR WINTERING. ANOTHER BAD REPORT, SEEMINGLY, FROM GRAPE SUGAR. I have seen it stated in the bee journals, and also heard from practical bee men, that grape sugar is an excellent and cheap food for bees. Taking it for granted that these men knew all about it. I sent to Davenport for 110 lbs., which cost me $6.20. The next thing was to prepare it for the bees, which 1 did by putting some of it into frames, and cutting some into thin slabs. I put the frames into the hives among the bees, and the slabs on top of the frames. When I came to look at the bees, ex- pecting to see great holes eaten through the sugar, what was my surprise when I found the bees dead,- and the sugar not touched ! In one chaff hive containing a large swarm, I hail put 3 cards of honey, then 1 of sugar, then 5 of hon- ey, then 1 of sugar, and then 4 of honey. I found the bees dead between the sugar cards, and no hon- ey wit h.them, but plenty of honey on each side. I suppose, during the cold weather, they could not pass the cold sugar to get honey, and as they would not eat the sugar, they died. In another hive, where the swarm was divided by a card of sugar, the bees on one side ate out their honey and died, while the other side had honey and lived. I then melted some grape sugar with first class maple sirup, and put that in the frames, but they would not touch it. Next I took some pure white sugar and put about an ounce of grape sugar to a pound of white sugar. They ate a very little of this, but I am satisfied they would starve oti it. Now I will enclose a small piece of the stuff for you to ex- amine, and see whether it is sugar or tallow. I started in the winter with 23 swarms and now have 16. Wm. Bebout, Savannah, O., Feb. 10. '79. AND ONE THAT IS NOT BAD, SEEMINGLY. Also a Solution of the Great Problem of Combining Flour with Grape Sugar. In order that my experiment may be clearly un- derstood, I ought to say that I use a frame 12 '4 in. deep and 10% wide inside measure, with closed top bar, the latter being l'» in. wide. My hives hold 10 of these frames. Last Nov., I determined to try grape sugar in 4 hivei to see the effect on winter- ing. I prepared it for the hives by taking a frame and making the sides and bottom the same width as the top, V,i inches. This gave me a box, 1^4 inches deep, the size of a frame, but without a bottom. After warming the sugar in the oven until it was in a semi-liquid form, I laid my frame upon a table and poured the grape sugar into it. I generally mixed a little flour with it. In the course of a few hours, the sugar would be hardened in the frames, and they were ready to put in the hives. I intended to put one frame in the middle of a full hive but ac- cidentally left out 2 frames at the side, and this hive was put in the cellar until the latter part of Jan., when it was brought out where it has remained since that time. Since standing out in this very open condition, the mercury has fallen to 5° below zero. I found the cluster right on one side of the comb of grape sugar, which was about half used up, and the two combs right along side of it about \& filled with brood which was hatching out. Every- thing about the hive indicated perfect health. There were very few dead bees. The grape sugar was softened by the heat of the cluster and the bees were feeding on it. In another hive, I put a frame of grape sugar in the center of 4 combs of honey, a division board on each side of these combs, and then filled the re- maining space on each side, about 2'i inches, with chaff. This hive has stood out all winter, the tem- perature falling to from 18° to 25° below zero, ac- cording to different thermometers. On examina- tion to-day, I find the condition of this hive almost exactly the same as the other, except that the 2 frames on one side of the grape sugar were more than half full of capped brood, the frame next to the division board having brood on both sides. I did not have time to look at the other two hives. I think the bees do not use much of the flour; it seems to be on the bottom of the hive. Decatur, 111., Feb. 22, 1879. E. A. Gastman. PROTECTION AGAINST EXTREMES OF HEAT ANI> COLO, si I5B>1.\ AND SE- VERE CHANGES OF TEMPERA- TURE, ANI> DAMPNESS IN THE HIVES. fN the 1st edition of my work on The Hire and Honey Bee, published in May 1853, there is quite i a long chapter with the above title. The follow- ing extracts will give a tolerably fair idea of its con- tents: [As Mr. L's. article only reached us the 22d inst., and our journal was all made up, we were obliged to omit the quotations for want of space, but will give you them next month.— Ed.] I hope to give in another article my reasons for saying so little upon this all important subject in the 3d and last edition of my book, published in May, 1859, and will close with some facts recently observed by me. Having regained my health last fall sufficiently to revive my interest in bee-keeping, I sent to Mr. Root for some of his chaff hives, and an imported queen. A fair stock of bees was placed in one of those hives, early in Dec, their queen removed, and the imported queen safely introduced. It was too cold for the bees to fly. and yet 1 found, shortly af- ter her introduction, that she had begun to lay. In Jan., the mercury sank to 24° below zero— the aver- age of the four coldest days being 11° below zero the coldest consecutive four days ever recorded in Southern Ohio. In the latter part of this month, the weather hav- ing moderated enough for the bees to enjoy a cleansing flight, I found a little sealed brood on two frames, and eggs in a third. I gave the stock a frame of flour candy of Mr. Root's make, and al- though not at all lacking in honey or bee bread, the bees begun to work vigorously upon the candy. Jt was put on the outside, and yet the largest spread of brood was soon found to be on the comb ne*t to it; and frequent examinations have shown that the side of the candy next to the brood was always cov- ered with bees busily at work upon it. Judging from this experiment, I am strongly in- clined to believe that, if this kind of candy is given to the bees in a thoroughly protected hive, after they have had a good cleansing flight, it will be a constant stimulus to breeding, and enable the apiarian to save the time and losses of the usual mode of stimulative feeding. If so, we may safely say that, by the use of Hour candy, bee-keeping has made an- other important .advance, since, in this latitude, it is indispensable to have the stocks strong early in the season. Two weeks ago the mercury sunk on two succes- sive mornings to zero and 2° below zero. Before this, many bees had hatched, and the queen had layed quite a wide spread of eggs. To-day (Feb. 20th), I estimate that some two thousand bees have hatched, and at least as many more are staled over. The number of larva? a few days old is email, but the number of newlv laid eggs quite large. This shows that during the last very cold weather, the bees re- moved most of the eggs from the cells. This has given a little check to the progress of the colony, but the loss of eggs, or even very young larva1, at this season, is of little consequence. The large spread of eggs found to-day shows that the bees are not at all discouraged. As bees, when merely disturbed by the handling of their combs, often, in the fall, resume breeding after they had entirely ceased, I cannot yet decide how much of this winter breeding is owing to the giving of flour candv to a fair stock, in an admirably protected* hive, and how much may possibly be ow- ing to such frequent disturbances as my experi- ments compelled me to make. T do not think that I have lost, in all, a hundred bees upon the snow, as I have used the smoker freely. I shall endeavor to keep your readers advised of the results of this ex- periment. L. L. Langstroth. Oxford, O., Feb. 18, 1879. *Not only was the hive lined with chaff, and a thick chaff cushion used, with a chaff divider to eon- tract the hive, but by the sawdust arrangement, the bottom of the hive was admirably protected. 1S79 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 87 STARTERS, GIUPK SUGAR, CHEAP HONEY FOR FEEDING, ETC. &fp]|HlS cold snap will try "every man's work, what JJ(|| sort it is," in regard to preparing bees for win- "j ter; 22° below zero yesterday morning, and lei this morning! and this so soon after the cold spell of last month! It will thin out the bees all over the country. The past honey season has been only fair with us, not quite so {rood as 1877. The hives extracted from averaged 80D lbs. against 2:20 lbs. in 1877, while in cnnib honey, the yield was better than in unv pre- vious year, which was due to the use of fdn. in sec- tion frames, you will probably say; but such is not the case, for I am opposed to the use of "raw" fdn. in boxes. The way I use it is this: I fasten it in L. frames, and hang them in the upper story until the fdn. is worked out and filled with honey; if capped, all the better; then I extract the honey and cut up the comb for starters. I have never seen the plan recommended by any one, iu the journals. Try it, bee-keeper, and your customers will not complain of a hard center in your comb honey. The honey market has been rather slow with us. this winter, still, by hard work, we have succeeded in marketing-, up to .Ian. 1st, :S,761 lbs. of the 7,001) lbs. taken last season, from 59 stands. And now, friend Novice, I must say a few words about this glucose and grape sug-ar busmess; not that I intend to pitch into vou in the way others have done, but merely to offer a few friendly criti- cisms. In the first place, we are satisfied— yes, sure -that you will, before long, quit the use of the stuff, quit advising- others to feed it, and quit dealing in it. You profess to be working for the good of bee- keepers. Now. while a few may lie benefited by the use of it, as a cheap feed on which to winter their bees, arc not the many injured? Let it once be known that bee men all over the country are feed- ing anything but pure honey, and it will be harder than ever to convince those who would buy, that what vim are trying- to sell them is pure honov. Whatever you can get bees to take as food, they will also store in the surplus boxes or comb, when they need the room below for brood. On page 365, in speaking of glucose, you say, "The fact that it is more expensive than grape sugar is the reason we do not use it." Then you would not hesitate in using- and recommending it to others, if money could be saved by so doing! There is another way of working for the interests of bee-keepers, and that is, buy of those who have it for sale, dark honey, such as will not bring much in our city markets, and sell to those who need it to feed. Poplar and dark fall honey can now be bought very low, and you could thus open a market for a large amount of it ; thereby benefiting bee-keepers instead of the manufacturers of grape sugar. On page 366, Nov. Gleanings, you say that as soon as those imported queens arrive, you will get them to laying, if possible, by feeding. Now as that is the natural season of rest, both for queens and bees, will it not injure them and probably shorten their lives, to thus feed them up? Experienced bee- keepers will agree that by feeding a colony early in winter, to such an extent as to induce brood raising, more old bees are lost than young ones raised; and if the workers are injured, why not the queen also? With the best wishes for the success of all your enterprises which tend to the welfare of honey pro- ducers, dealers, and consumers, I am yours truly, Jonas Scholl. Lyons Station, Ind.. Jan. 4, 1879. Thanks, friend S., for your friendly criti- cism. If I get your idea, in regard to fdn., you think the hase is thinned out more ef- fectually 4n the brood combs than in the sec- tions. From the observations I have made, I think the difference must he very slight. While the fdn. is thinned out in the great majority of instances in the section boxes, there are cases where it is left too thick to be desirable, and I have found just as thick bases in combs that were built in the brood frame, as in the section boxes. Your re- marks iu regard to grape suujar, like those of the great part of those who have objected to it, would seem to imply that you have never used it. Is this fair? From its hitter taste, I do not think it could ever be used to adul- terate honey without utterly ruining it for table use, aside from its inveterate propen- sity to solidify, even in slightly cool weath- er. If you will make some experiments with it, I think you will be satisfied that it is next to impossible for it to get into the surplus boxes. I beg pardon for so much repetition. Again ; I do not know, my friend, but that I shall accuse you of accepting too much theory, without verifying it by practice. I have fed colonies late in the fall for the last ."> years, and have never injured one by so doing. I fed a single colony a barrel of sug- ar, so late as to get drones reared and flying in Oct. and Nov., yet they wintered beauti- fully. Last season. I fed honey to 2 colonies to get them to rill out sections in Oct. and Nov., and although they reared brood clear into winter, they came out my very best in the spring. The colonies that I fed to get the imported queens to laying, are stroii"- and thrifty, and I have no fear that they will be injured. Still further; by the use of the flour candy in frames. I had stocks in the chaff hives rearing brood almost, if not quite, every month last winter, and they came out running over with bees. Folks who write hooks often draw wrong conclusions, and it is your business and mine, and, I hope, the business of our ABC class, to sift these things most thoroughly, by practical work with the bees themselves. Your idea in regard to using cheap honey is a most excellent one, and I have already put it into practice to some extent, but the cheap honey is making my bees, to-day, soil their hives sadly, while those fed on grape sugar are clean, dry, and healthy. Thanks for your kind wishes. %he "UvcMevu" [This department is to be kept for the benefit of those who are dissatisflod; and when anything is amiss, I hope you will "talk right out." As a rule we will omit names and addresses, to avoid being too personal.] viP SENT 25 cts. to you, some three weeks ago, for }|| the A B C of Bee Culture, Part 1st, and I have t?j not received the book, or even an answer to my letter. I hope you will forward it by return mail, for I do not like that way of doing business. I will await vour reply. John Nickle. Creemore, Ont., Can., Nov. 11, 1878. I do not like that way of doing business either, my friend, and if I succeed in cipher- ing out any way of answering letters I do not get, I assure you I will do it with alacri- ty. Your letter was probably among the mis- sing ones mentioned last month, and your A B C was sent the minute we found that you had sent an order If you do not get an ans- wer in in days after you send us an order, send a postal ; but please do not accuse your friend of willful neglect, until you are sure they are to blame. There is no use in my truing to "keep cool" (though the weather is such that it would appear an easy thing to do) any longer! I must growl, long and fiercely, or "bust!" My friend, phase tell me what (8 the matter with our uncle "Samivel's" mails? Not 88 GLEANINGS IX BEE CULTURE. Mar. satisfied with suppressing- bees, are they now en- deavoring-to suppress the bee hooks? Perhaps the offieials fear the "wood cuts;" and how soon may it be ere they (the cuts) are not mailable, on account of a bee paper's becoming; unwrapped, and some tender official reporting- at headquarters, the fact that one or more of the wood cuts in Gleanings, were "loose" and rampant, in the mails? How long may it be, I say, ere these things come to transpire? Query again: "Bee" these postolfice people do- ing their duty by us poor "beeings?" You mailed me 3 or 4 copies' of the Jan. No. of Gleanings, and accidentally I got one of 'em. On the 20th of Jan.. you say you sent the ABC, parts 2d and 3d. Well, I havn't seen them yet, and am fearful I never will see them, at least till you send a doz. or so. Perhaps I might then get one, by accident ! Let me advise you, to put a printed label on the outside of the wrapper, in future, at least on my ar- ticles ordered through the mails. There are 15 peo- ple here who have the honor to bear your humble servant's surname, and it's my private belief that these people get many of my papers, &c, &c. Now, my growl is over, I feel better, anil if you consign this, with me, to the (irowlery column, I shan't growl about that. H. C. Taylor. Wilmington, N. C, Feb. 8, 1879. In the matter of queens by mail, we should try to bear in mind, my friend, that we are all of us interested parties, and can hardly be expected to take an unbiased view of the matter. Shall we not try to think that the P. M. G. is possihly all right, and that we are all wrong? The losses by mail about the first of the year, were quite serious, but it is pretty much over now. We have some neat little gummed labels, and one is put on ev- ery article of any value sent out. Below is a sample. | TO THE POSTMASTER. J k Should this package miscarry, or remain jg uncalled for, will you kindly notify us of the m fact, and we will send you postage necessary _J k for its return to us. ffl ** A. I. HOOT, J m Medina, Ohio. <$ Those of you who send off things by mail will find them a great convenience. We can fmTiish them for $1.00 per thousand, with anybody's name and address on them. Thank you for your confession at the end of your "growl," friend T. I suspect that many of our troubles come about from the same cause; viz., from the fact that there are others of the same, or nearly the same name, at your P. O. When anything is lost, will not our friends take particular pains to enquire very carefully into the matter, at their P. O. I would like to know what is the matter, that you don't send my goods. I ordered them on Jan. 27th, 1879, and have written to you since, but have re- ceived no answer. I need the goods sent at once, or wish you to return the money so that I can get them somewhere else. G. K. Fagely. Meiser, Pa., Feb. 15, 1879. Gently, my friend. You did not stop to consider that, possibly, the fault might be yours. Your order was received, with the money to pay for it, and we were very much troubled to find no trace of a name on the letter. We first looked to see if we had any subscriber at your post-office, and finding none, we wrote once to your P. M. to see if he could inform us of the writer; there be- ing nothing more we could do, we were obliged to lay the letter aside, and just wait until the complaint came, hoping to get the name with it. Now we can ssnd your goods, without further delay. DEPOSITORY OF Or Letters from Those Who Have Made Bee Culture a. Failure. N the 1st of March last. I had 12 colonies; but Hw during March, April, and May, they dwindled &J down to 2. They were chaff ' packed, and all had plenty of honey. The 2 left were very weak; one lias not swarmed, and none have made any sur- plus honey, but all are now strong, and have plenty of stores for winter. Why the dwindling? .). A. COXTRTRIGHT. Duck Lake, Mich., Dec. 23, 1878. I do not know, my friend, what made them dwindle, if you had them all properly pre- pared as you say, unless it was because they had the "dwindling." PEACHES FOR BEE FEED. AND WHAT CAME OF IT." ALSO MAPLE SUGAR FOR FEEDING BEES. I fear I shall have to go into Blasted Hopes. Last spring- my son and I started in the bee bus- , iness, with 7 log and box hives. We bought lum- ber, made hives, transferred, bought bees, and in- creased to 28 colonies. It was a bad honey season, , and late in the summer, bees fed largely on peaches. We thought they went into winter quarters with stores enough to take them through. We spent ! about $15.00 besides our own labor, and everything went on swimmingly. About Dec. 1 st, cold weather set in and continued until about the 18th inst., when I it moderated and the bees dew out in great numbers. But, Oh ! such a smell and such a sight ! They dot- ted the snow around for several yards, perfectly thick. I suppose it was dysentery; they looked j swelled perfectly tight, and scarcely able to fly un- til they unloaded themselves. Ten of the 28 colonies I are dead, and the others greatly depopulated. It is now warm, and they have had i days of good dying. Some are rearing- brood and all seem to have a good deal of energy. I hope they will not all die. I think they have stores plenty. Had we better feed them? and if so. what? Will it do to feed them syrup made from the sugar ma- ple? Italian colonies raised from queens sent by you, Hayhurst, and others, 5 in all, are all alive, and do not seem to have suffered as much as the blacks. Is it because they are hardier? Was it dysentery they had? If. H. Fox. Tribulation, Mo., Jan. 22, 1879. I believe, my friend, that peaches, cider mills, or fruit diet of any kind, generally af- fects the bees about as you describe. Some kinds of fall honey seem to have much the same effect. The warm weather will make things all right, and I trust no more will die, even though you do live in the town of Trib- ulation. Good maple sugar or syrup will answer excellently for bee feed, and when the price is low enough, I always use it. If placed in small lumps or cakes right over the cluster, under the chaff packings, the bees take it as well as the usual bee candy, or even better than that. For brood rearing, it would be much improved by the addition of about 1-5 Hour; and now I think of it, I will, this minute, set about seeing if I can- not make such a mixture grain, so it may be poured into slabs like the candy. Hurrah for maple sugar and flour candy ! 187!) (.LEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Bees have suffered terribly hereabouts this win- ter. I have lost 0 colonies, another man has lost 10, another 15, another 1~, and several others have lost from 1 to 10. I suppose Gleanings will give re- ports from all sections. Has not this been the se- verest winter on bees for some time? ROYAL J. FtJNK. Plqua, O., Feb. 17, 1879. Strong stocks, with plenty of good stores, have done as well as usual with us; but some swarms, with stores of bad tasting, fall honey, from the West, have had the dysen- tery badly, and we have lost several colo- nies. Where this disease is prevalent, a cold winter like the present is not so favora- ble as a mild one. How mueh beeswax do you want at 30c. per lb.? and how long will you pay that priee? About % of the bees in this country, I think, are dead, and there will be a large quantity to be had. Chas. H. Carpenter. Dunlap, Tenn., Feb. 14, 1879. We cannot say how long we will pay 30c, but consider ourselves under obligation to do so until notice is given in Gleanings to the contrary. We at present advertise to take any quantity of good, clear wax. at o"0c, and we always intend to make good our word given in our advertisements. We are sorry to hear of the heavv losses. THE COM) N1IOKEIJ AND THE WAY IN WHICH IT IS DEVELOPING. GOD S GIFTS TO HIS CHI LI) KEN. STOLI) you last month that the voice of God could be heard through the voice -1 of the people. In this matter of smo- kers, it comes in a way that is almost start- ling, and seems clearly to indicate that these great inventions shall come through the united efforts of the masses ; and that it is not His will that any one of us should hold a monopoly over the others. Orders came for the cold blast smokers, almost be- fore—as it seemed — the Feb. No. could have reached you. A Simplicity smoker, on the cold blast plan, was ready to send out about as soon as the orders came, and it is so much ahead of any of our former Simplicities, that 1 can but regard friend Bingham's visit, as a special providence. I give you a cut of the smoker below. (I, ARK'S COLD SMOKEK. SIMPLICITY COLD SMOKER. You will see that we have used friend ( orey's damper as a place, for supplying the fuel, "by enlarging it and adding a wooden handle to open it by. By turning the ring, it is opened to put in fuel ; by turning a lit- tle farther, the small semicircular notch gives the proper draft ; still farther, and the opening is closed so tight that the Ore goes out. This is wonderfully simple, and works beautifully. With 'this smoker, it is an easy matter to deluge a hive with smoke, when standing as much as 6 ft. ; away from it. "Well, as there are many of our friends | who prefer an upright smoker like Mr. ' Quinby's original one, I very soon thought i of adapting the cold blast principle to these. 1 Several correspondents sent letters similar to the one below. Mr. Corey's smoker looks like the long sought for concern. I have always made it a point to hold the nozzle of the smoker as far away from the bees as was practicable, to avoid the hot smoke; but this could not be done in windy weather. I. that smo- , ker (Corey's) proves a success, we all owe him a vote of thanks. I will order one as soon as you get them in selling order, and if it is all I think it will be, I will lay aside my "Bingham," which has, until I now, been the best smoker made. Can't you make the new smoker with an upright bellows? A flat : one, I think, is very unhandy. T. F. C. VanAllen. Adams' Station, X. Y., Feb. 5, 1879. Accordingly we set to work, and found , we could make a smoker as large as Bing- ham's largest, almost as easily as the Sim- plicity, and at about the same price, only that the blast tube must be turned at right angles to accomplish it. To do this, with- out solder, was no small problem. The tin- ners, myself, and Mr. Gray studied on it, in vain. I wanted all the operations done so i cheaply, that it could be sold for the same price as the others. After we had all given up being able to make a 75c smoker, on ac- count of this little difficulty, a box came, by j express. Inside of it was the first smoker shown in the engraving, and the following letter : I received my Jan. Gleanings promptly on time, and at once set myself down to read. Somehow I get to "Our Homes" very soon, and before one quar- ter of the book is read. When 1 read your talk with Bingham, and your decision about the smoker, I thought there might be some other plan of one that would answer as well ; very soon a plan came to me, and [ worked it out in its details. Now I have your Feb. number of Gleanings, and lo! and behold! you have the same principle em- bodied in one from a friend in California; but I have decided to send you the one I have made, and per- haps there may be some features about it that you may like even better than Corey's. It works beautifully; the draft of air across the top of the fuel causes it to burn clear and slowly, and leaves very little creosote. I find that rags burn, but perhaps 54 as fast as where the air is forced up through the bottom. Its convenience as a "breech loader" is an Item in its favor, also that it retains its position while in use. The Simplicity always seemed to me a little awkward, on account of being obliged to turn it bottom up so often, while in use. Now, if you can use this to advantage, or modify it to suit you any better, you are welcome to it. As a counterbalance to friend Sedgwick, I will say that the best part of Gleanings, to me, is "Our Homes." Four years at>-o I would have written as he dues, but I see things differently now, and am happy in beina able to place myself by your side, as a Christian. Mav God speed you in your good work, and bless "Our Homes." Your friend, Sterling, 111., Feb. 4, 1879. NORMAN Clark. Our engraver has hardly done justice to friend Clark's beautiful implement. The cold blast is obtained by a small cone just inside of the large one, and near its mouth. The air goes directly into this through a 90 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Mar. short tube. The bottom is hinged ; but in those we are now making, the fuel recepta- cle extends lower down, and opens in the side just like the Simplicity. It stands up as solidly as an oil can, and" is the most com- pact and simple of any smoker yet out. Is there not something wonderful in all these coincidences? Friend Clark, the bee- keepers of our nation owe you, too, a vote of thanks, for your very timely invention, so kindly offered. Just" see how simple! a single piece of tin for the body, and another for the bottom, and the whole so compact that it can doubtless be mailed without any box at all ! Nothing can be cheaper or simpler. We can give you a nice, large smo- ker, on this plan, for 7oc. or :50c each, by the dozen. I should have mentioned last month, that friend Corey, besides giving us the cold blast, has devised a most ingenious and cheap valve. In fact it is so cheap, that we can have a valve almost as easily as not to have one. It is simply to bore a hole in the bellows board, and tack over it an oblong- piece of soft leather. For a hole f in. in di- ameter, you want a piece of leather about H by 3i in., putting a tack in each corner. In making bellows, there will be fragments of leather left, that will answer 'for nothing else. Such valves work beautifully, are ab- solutely air tight, and I hardly know how they can get out of order. I have studied much on valves, and when I saw it, I felt ashamed, to think I had never thought of a thing so simple. AN OPEN LETTER TO MB. COKEY. Mr, John 6. Corey, Santa Paula, California : Dear Sir:— I have tbe pleasure of mailing- to your address this day, one of my large sized bee smokers, in which I have arranged and developed the princi- ple you have so generously donated to the bee-keep- ers of America. How far superior cold smoke may prove to that heretofore used, time and extensive use alone can determine. To facilitate such practical experiment without possible loss, should it prove of no real value, I havo constructed the attachment contained and shown herewith, which can be used or removed without trouble or expense, as may be desired. I was pained to receive so unmerited a slur from a practical bee-keeper— one of a class of citizens whom it has ever been my greatest desire to benefit, and among whom it has ever been my pleasure and pride to associate. I have a patent, it is true, covering- my smoker, but my smoker has not raised the price of smokers, neither has it debased their quality; but, on the con- trary, has done just what the framers of the patent law designed that it and all other real improvements should do; viz., placed within easy reach of the user or consumer the best quality of goods, at a reasonable price. Respectfully yours, T. F. Bingham. Otsego, Mich., Feb. 18, 1879. GLUCOSE ONCE MORE. BELIEVING you to be in error on the glucose question, and feeling- convinced that vou are exceedingly desirous to be set right if wrong, I desire to present the following points to you and your readers, feeling that, though all the points be not well taken, the importance of the subject should insure them an earnest consideration bv all honest and candid honey producers and dealers. 1. Grape sugar and glucose are one and the same, home dealers may call the liquid form glucose, but whether solid or in form of syrup, both are grape sugar, both glucose. This nomenclature is found in all scientific works. Any manufacturer who devi- ates from it is facing all scientific usage, and of course must back down. 2. In your kind letter, as also in the current vol- ume of Gleanings, page 41, you ask, "Can any bee- keeper convert grape sugar into glucose'/" Of course not, no more than you can change a quadru- ped into an animal with four legs. They are already the same thing. Hid you asked, cm anyone con- vert solid grape sugar or glucose such as I sell, into the liquid, i would have answered, yes; just put it into a basin, add water, then boil cm the stove till it is of n desired thickness, and you have it. The solid glucose you sent me, I treated that way, and return it to you in bottle No. 1. 3. You ask, "Can the grape sugar 1 sell be used to adulterate honey?" In bottle ISo. 2, I have mixed the syrup from the solid glucose half and half with white clover honey; in bottle No. :j, there is only one-fourth grape sugar; while bottle No. 4 is pure honey. Here then you have the full answer to your question. Owing to the greater specific gravity of the honey, the liquids do not readily mix; but by warming and shaking them, they mix thoroughly and afterwards remain so. Please repeat the ex- periment for yourself . You need no laboratory, or even skill; just use your cook stove, a basin, and water, as you do when you make a syrup from cane sugar to feed your bees. 4. But what of the quality of honey thus adulter- ated? I made the following test. I prepared four dishes as follows: No. 1, pure honey; No. 2, three- fourths honey; No. 3, two-thirds honey; No. I, half honey; the remainder was syrup made from the glucose you sell to bee-keepers. I had several persons test them. The following is the result. X g. good best honey President Abbot best Mrs. " " good Rodena " " Prof. Carpenter " Mrs. Cook " Mrs. Fairchild best Agnes " good Edwin '' best David good Mrs. Beale nice Miss Baird good Myself good X a- 'i glucose poor poor abominable poorest not good best very poor good best poor pooi- best fair very poor poorest poor good good good good good good good I asked all to test my several grades of honey; no i one, except Mrs. Cook and myself, knew what 1 h-d i done till judgement had been rendered. I fully be- lieve that with no honey to compare them with, few would complain either of that with > i or ':i grape 1 sugar. SHALL BEE-KEEPERS USE GRAPE SUGAlt.' An article which appeared in a late issue of the i New York Tribune, gives my views on the subject. I I should have less objection to artificial adultera- tion, if each can or bottle was labeled glucose and honey. A. J. Cook. Agricultural College, Lansing, Mich., Feb. 12, '79. Many thanks, friend Cook, for your very faithful experiment. I give up, and beg pardon ; the bee-keeper can, if so disposed. add as much as I grape sugar to pure honey, I or perhaps even more, and still have it pass as honey. It seems to prevent candying al- so; but" the bottle No. 1. the contents of which you seem to think you had made into glucose, contained only solid grape sugar such as I sent vou. Before me is a small bottle of glucose, that although so thick it will hardly inn. has remained as clear as crystal, for the I iast -1 years, and yet has been exposed many times to temperatures far below zero. Do not you and Prof. Kedzie owe me an apology, friend Cook V You failed with the basin on the stove; suppose you now try in the laboratory, to convert grape sugar into glucose. I have made many experiments with great care, to see if there was any dan- ger of the grape sugar's being carried into the surplus boxes, when fed to bees to pro- mote breeding, and I am satisfied that there is none. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. m [Concluded from last month.] I cannot close the subject of stings, with- out speaking of the wonderful similarity be- tween the mechanism of the sting of the bee, and the apparatus furnished many in- sects for sawing and boring into wood and other substances, for the purpose of deposit- ing their eggs. Almost precisely the same apparatus is used, but the barbs on the ex- tremities are saws instead of the sharp hooks, [f you will look at the cut, you will see that but very little change need be made in these barbs to convert them into saw teeth, and then we should have an engine for cutting and boring holes, that might eas- ily be patented, if old dame Nature were so disposed. Now listen. If the insect had but one saw. even though he had strength to draw it back and forth, his Light body would not give him purchase enough to do much execution with it. It is true he might "dig in his toe nails." and hold himself down so that he could work it to some extent, but then he could not change his position, ac- cording- to his work. etc. When the saw was worked, instead of its cutting into the hard timber, his light body would be simply slid to and fro; but, with two saws, like the barbed spears of the bee sting, working in a sheath to hold them together, he can stand his ground and use his enormous muscular strength to do rapid cutting, even if his body does not weigh only a half grain, or less. While one saw goes forward, the other goes backward, and the rapidity with which these insects work them enables them to make as- tonishing progress, even in substances so hard that one would not suppose they could make any impression at all. Now here comes in again the wonderful law I have spoken of so many times, on these pages. The insect that has the most effective and perfect set of tools will lay most eggs and have them most secure from the depreda- tion of enemies, and his species will stand a better chance of survival than the individ- ual or class with poorer tools. By giving a constant preference to the best workers, and taking into account how nature sports and varies, would it be strange, if, after the lapse of ages, the result should be the beautifully finished work we see through the micro- scope. I do not know that bee stings could develop into saws, or saws into bee stings. but if an insect should be found using its ovipositor as a weapon of defense, as well as for the purpose of egg laying, it might look as though the thing were possible. 1 am not an entomologist, and T do not know that any such insect has ever, been discovered. Who will enlighten us? SPIDER PLOW2E [CVeome Pun- gens). This has but recently been brought into notice as a honey plant. It belongs to the same family as the ROCKY MOUNTAIN BEE plant, which it much resembles. All I know of it is given on pages 292 and 329 of last year's Gleanixgs. SUMAC {Bhus). This is a sort of shrub, or small tree, readily known by its bunches of bright red fruit, having an in- tensely sour taste. The acid property, how- ever, seems to be only on the surface of the fruit, in the red dust that may be brushed off. I have had no experience with the hon- ey, which the bees sometimes get in large quantities from the small greenish flowers, but give the following from page 9f5, Glean- ings for 1874: June 22d, 1874. — Contrary to expectations, we are now in the height of a wonderful How of honey from sumac, which of late years has not yielded much. Everything- in the hives is filled full, and I am kept busy hiving- swarms, as it has become too much of a job to keep them from swarming: by removing frames of brood. O. F. Mekria.m, Topeka, Kan. SUCTFIoOWER {Helianthus). This plant embraces a very large family, but the principal ones for honey, are the common sunflower, and the Jerusalem artichoke. During some seasons and in some localities, the bees seem to be very busy indeed on these plants, all the day long. The mam- moth Russian sunflower bears flowers of enormous dimensions, and from the way the bees crowd each other about the necta- ries, one would suppose they yielded much honey. The seed, which is yielded in large quantities, would seem almost to pay the ex- pense of cultivation. The following is taken from page 36, Vol. Ill, of Gleanings. My boy had a small box of sunflower seeds, which hr kept as one of his playthings. Last spring- he ac- cidentally spilt them in the g-arden by the fence, and, old as they were, they came up profusely. They looked so thrifty, 1 took it into my head to trans- plant them. 1 set them all around in the fence, out of the way. where nothing else would grow to advan- tage, and.' if you will believe me, I had an enormous crop. When They blossomed the bees went at them in earnest, and after the bees got through with them, there were several quartB of seed. I sold a dollar's worth to my druggist, and the balance 1 fed out to my hens, and as a writer of old has said, I found nothing so good and nourishing for laying: hens as sunflower seeds. Then I out off the empty heads, place them near the bee hives, fill them with sugar and water, and that suits the bees to a T. Bo you see I was at no expense, and they paid well. I write this that others may be benefited as well as myself. On. R. Hitchcock. Smith Xorwalk, Conn., Feb. :i, 1875. SWARMING-. AH animated nature seems to have some means of reproducing its like, that the species may not become ex- tinct, and, especially among the insect tribes, we find a great diversity of ways and means for accomplishing this object. In the 92 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. MaR. microscopic world, we find simple forms of animal life contracting themselves in the middle until they break in two, and then each separate part, after a time, breaks in two, and so on. With bees, we have a some- what similar phenomenon. When a colony gets excessively strong, the inmates of the hive, by a sort of preconcerted, mutual agree- ment, divide themselves off into two parties, one party remaining in the old hive, and the other starting out to seek their fortunes else- where. I have carefully watched this proceeding, with a view of determining how the matter comes about, and whether it is because a part of the bees become dissatisfied with their old home, and seek to better their con- dition, or because the queen leaves, for some reason of her own (because she has not room to lay her eggs, for instance), and the bees simply follow from a sort of natural instinct, because she is the mother of the colony, and an absolute necessity to their prosperity. After seeing a number of swarms issue, and finding that the queen was among the last to leave the hive, I concluded that the bees take the lead, and that the queen simply fol- lowed as a matter of course, in the general melee. Suppose, however, that the queen should not take a notion to join the new ad- venture ; well, swarms do often start out, with no queen accompanying them, and they usually go back to the hive after a time, to try it again next day. If she does not go then, nor at the next attempt, they often wait until they can rear a new queen, and then go off with her. After I was pretty well satisfied that this is the correct idea of their plan, a little circumstance seemed to upset it all. A neighbor, wanting to make an observatory hive, drummed perhaps a quart of bees from one of his old hives. As he had no queen, I gave him a black queen taken from a hive purchased several miles away. I mention this to show that the queen had never been out of the hive, in the loca- tion which it then occupied. After a day or two, this neighbor informed me that I had played a fine trick on him, for my queen had gone home, and taken his quart of bees with her. I told him it was impossible, for she had never been out of the hive, only when I carried her over in the cage. We went and looked in the hive she came from, and there she was, true enough, with the bees she had brought with her stung to death, in front and on the bottom board. It is possible that the bees swarmed out first, but even if they did, they certainly followed the queen in going back to her old home. We also know that bees sometimes follow a young queen, when she goes out to take her wedding flight. It is my opinion that it is neither the queen nor the workers alone, that make the first start, but that all hands join together, and act in concert. WHY KEES SWARM. If you can contract the size of the hive, when honey is coming in bountifully, the bees will be very apt to take measures toward swarming, about as soon as the combs are full of brood, eggs, pollen, and honey. They will often wait several days after the hive is seemingly full, and this course may not cause them to swarm at all, but it is very likely to. As soon as it has been decided that the hive is too small, and that there is no feasible place for storing an extra supply of honey where it can be pro- cured in the winter, when needed, they gen- erally commence queen cells. Before doing this, I have known them to go so far as to store their honey outside on the portico, or even underneath the hive, thus indicating most clearly, their wants in the shape of ex- tra space for their stores, where they could protect them. I believe want of room is the most general cause of swarming, although it is not the only cause ; for bees often swarm incessant- ly, when they have a hive only partly filled with comb. First swarms usually come about from the cause I have mentioned, but after swarming (which see) often gets to be a sort of mania with the bees, and they swarm, apparently, without a reason. AT WHAT SEASON BEES USUALLY SWARM. The old adage runs, — "A swarm of bees in May, Is worth a load of hay; A swarm of bees in June, Is worth a silver spoon; A swarm of bees in July. Is not worth a fly." There is much truth in this, especially if managed on the old plan ; but with modern improvements, a swarm in July may be worth a silver spoon, or even a load of hay; possibly, both together. See after savarm- ino. A colony that was very populous in the fall, and has wintered finely, may cast the first swarm in May, in this latitude, but such events were very unusual before the advent of Italians. The latter often swarm during fruit bloom, and in some cases even earlier. In our locality, swarms do not us- ually issue until the middle or last of June. If the season is a little late, sometimes the greater part of them will come in July, and 1879 G LEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 93 we almost always have more or less swarm- ing going on during our national holiday. At this time, basswood is generally at its height, and we frequently have quite a yield from clover, after basswood is gone. On this account, swarms that come out during the first week in July, usually get enough to wilder, and are therefore worth the price of a swarm of bees anyway. 1 presume the old adage referred, principally, to the amount of honey they would store ; if the July swarms did not secure enough to winter over, and were allowed to starve, they would not be worth the trouble of hiving them, and so they might be rated as of less value than a fly. Swarms that come out in June, would till their hives, and perhaps make a surplus that, on an average, would bring at least a dollar, the old price of a silver spoon ; while those that were so thrifty as to be able to start in May. would have the whole season before them, and if they did not get setback before white clover came out, would very likely make a surplus worth $5.00, the mar- ket price of a load of hay. In some locali- ties, bees seem to swarm in the latter part of July and Aug., and reports seem to indicate that they do it when little or no honey is to be had, and when the bees are disposed to rob; but such is certainly not the case here, for our bees give up all preparations for swarming, some little time before the honey crop has ceased. I do not remember ever to have seen a natural swarm issue here later than July, but in some localities, buckwheat swarms are a very common thing. "Where the apiarist has plenty of extra combs tilled with stores, it is an easy matter to care for and make valuable stocks of swarms that is- sue at any time. SYMPTOMS OF SWARMING. Although we can sometimes tell when bees are going to swarm, I do not think it will be safe, by any means, to assume that we can always do so. It has been said that the bees which have been clustering outside will, all the morning of the day they are in- tending to swarm, go inside the hive ; but this cannot always be SO, for I have seen a swarm issue while the loafers were hanging on the outside as usual, and at the sound of the swarming note, they took wing and join- ed in. Where a colony is intending to swarm, they will not be working like the rest, as a general thing, and quite likely, on the day they are intending to swarm, very few bees, comparatively, will be seen going out and in at the hive. With movable combs, we can generally give a very good guess of the dis- position to swarm, by opening the hive. Bees do not, as a rule, swarm until they have got their hive pretty well tilled up, and have multitudes of young bees hatching out daily. The presence of queen cells is generally con- sidered an indication of the swarming fever, and it used to be supposed that there was no danger of swarming unless these were pre- ent in the hive ; but since so many stocks of Italians have swarmed when nothing in the shape of a queen cell was to be found in the hive, the idea of removing queen cells, to arrest or prevent swarming, has been to a great extent abandoned. Many think that the clustering of the bees on the outside of the hives is an indication that they are going to swarm. To a certain extent this may be the case, but it is by no means an indication that they are going to swarm very soon. I knew a colony, belong- ing to a neighbor, that hung out in great masses nearly a month, before the bees came out. His new hive was in readiness, and he staid at home and watched day after day, until clover and basswood both were almost gone, and finally they cast a truly large, tine swarm. NEVEI! ALLOW HICKS TO HANG OUTSIDE THE HIVE. This swarm had hung outside the lave during the great honey harvest of the sea- son, and as it is no unusual thing for a colo- ny to store 10 lbs. a day, during the height of the season, they had lost at least 100 lbs. of honey, for the swarm was an unusually strong and tine one. I think they co\ild eas- ily have secured this amount if they had worked, but it is by no means certain that they could have been made to go to work. as they did after they swarmed, and were put into a new hive. Within two or three weeks after they swarmed, if I remember, they tilled their hive, and gave about 25 lbs. of surplus. How shall we deal with such bees? Well, it will be an excellent problem for our A B C class to work out by actual practice. One way is to put section boxes on the top and sides, and then drive the bees inside with your smoker, and thus make them go to work, if you can. If they will not do so, get from some other hive some ] sections partly tilled, and this will generally ' accomplish the object. If the bees are in a box hive, and you cannot at the time trans- fer them (it is rather unsafe to transfer dur- ing a great honey yield, with the hive full of i honey, you know), fix a new hive all right, I move away your old box hive, brushing all I the bees off on the ground, and then give u GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Mail them a queen or a frame of brood in the new hive, as in artificial swarming, and make them go to work at something. You can do it every time, although it may be a few days before they get over their stub- bornness, and get to work fully. Sometimes a very large, new swarm will hang out, and refuse to work. I have several times made such go in and attend to business, simply by the use of a smoker. If bees hang put dur- ing the hot weather of Aug., after honey has ceased coming, you can still set them to work by feeding, but unless you want more colonies, more combs built out, or can rear queens for sale, it may not pay to try to keep them at work. Towards night, after very sultry days, bees will sometimes hang out so as to cover their hives, and there may be no harm in allowing them to do this, although I should prefer to have them better occupied by doing something in doors. A really en- ergetic colony will often be at work rearing brood at such a time, if they are gathering honey enough. Bees should always have room enough during the working season, to prevent their being crowded out, but we should not go to the opposite extreme, and give them so much that they feel cold drafts in their hive, and cannot keep up the requi- site heat for comb building and brood rearing. preparations for swarming, to be made by the bee-keeper. Every apiarist, even if he have but a cou- ple of hives, should make preparations for swarming, at least to some extent; for, even though artificial swarming is practiced, and the utmost care used to prevent any other, there will always be a chance that swarms may come out unexpectedly. Hives should be in readiness, and at least one should be fixed on the stand where you wish your next colony placed. Bank it round with sawdust, and fix it just as nice and level, as if it con- tained bees. Have some extra combs if pos- sible, and have them placed in the honey house where you can put your hand on them at any minute ; I would also have some hives where I could get a comb of unsealed larvae, without very much trouble ; that is, make up your mind what hive you are to go to, in case you should want such a comb in a hurry. Bees will often swarm on Sunday, and as we would not wish to work with our bees on the Sabbath more than is absolutely necessary, it behooves us to be at all times prepared to take care of a swarm, should it come, with very little trouble. I can re- member having swarms on Sunday, when it became necessary to hunt up a hive, decide on its location, hunt up some empty combs, and then look over my hives to see where there was one with no surplus boxes on, that I might get at a brood comb with as little trouble as possible, to put in the new hive, to prevent them from decamping. All these things take time, and more than one swarm has departed while a hive was being made ready to receive them. If you keep the wings of your queens clipped as I have ad- vised, you will need some queen cages where you can lay your hands on them at a min- ute's notice, for there are times when you need to step about as lively as you would if a house were on fire, and you do not want to be bothered by hunting for things. In our June No. for last year, N. N. Shep- ard, of Cochranton, Pa., gave us a plan of an apparatus for hiving swarms, with some ex- cellent instructions for using it. One of our hands uses an apparatus for catching swarms, as shown below. =£ The hoop is made of stout wire, and is about 20 inches in diameter. The ends are soldered into a tin socket that will receive a rake handle, or for tall trees, something still longer. The bag is to be put up under the swarm, and the hoop is then made to gently cut off the cluster so that the bees will fall into the bag. It is then turned edgewise, so as to confine them while it is taken down and carried to the hive. As the bag is made of cheese cloth, they have plenty of air. To get the bees out, turn it inside outward. The bag has the same diameter as the hoop, and is about four feet long. The whole appara- tus would cost about 75c. This machine an- swers very well, where the cluster hangs straight downward, but where they get among the small limbs of trees, and in in- convenient places, the basswood box is the handiest, and I am inclined to give it the preference, as a general thing. In the en- graving which we gave last year, the handle was represented as being put in the end of the box; Mr. Shepard writes that it should be put in the side, as shown below. siiepard's htvtng box for swarms. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 96 HOW TO IITVE A SWARM OF ISEES. The great secret of this depends much on keeping in mind the queer propensity, in- stinct, or habit which bees have when clus- tered together in swarming, of running eagerly into any cavity, box, or hollow that may present itself. It was this queer fash- ion that first attracted my attention to the subject of bees. I have mentioned the cir- cumstance in the introduction to this book. My friend, when he started after the bees, picked up a rough box that lay near by, and when they came to the ground, he simply set the box near them. Seeing the cavity or shelter offered them, they at once com- menced humming, and traveled into it. My curiosity was unsatisfied, and I asked him how he knew they would go into the box. He said he knew they woidd because bees always went into a box or any similar thing that offered them shelter. Their instinct seems to prompt them to seek any sort of a cavity, and this very point is the secret of the success of friend Shep- ard's swarming box. Those auger holes in the basswood box are sure to attract them, and they seem to enjoy hugely, the crawling in and then crawling out again, through the holes, beginning at once to claim it as their home, and being doubtless the better pleased with it because it lias so many cool door ways where they can look out and get the fresh air in abundance, which they always need when the swarming fever is on them, and every bee is gorged with honey with which to commence provisioning the new home. In fact, their first act when getting ready to swarm, is to repair to the unsealed stores of honey and fill themselves with all they can contain. I do not know how they always behave after being thus filled, but in the few instances when I have been right on hand when the swarm issued, I have seen them commence to circle about the inside of the hive with uplifted wings, uttering the swarming note, until finally they began to issue from the hive. As they go tumbling out pell mell, hurry skurry, like a lot of ur- chins when school is out on a summer's af- ternoon, they seem, for the time, to have but one object in life, and that is to get as far and as speedily away from their home as possible. By turning to QUEENS, you will see that I have advised clipping the wings of every queen as soon as she becomes fertile ; if we do this, our queen can not take wing, as she usually does as soon as she gets out of the hive (she is generally nearly the last to come out), but hops helplessly on the ground. If you are on hand, pick her up as soon as she makes her appearance, and cage her. As soon as the bees are all out, move the hive to a new stand, put a new hive in its place. and lay the caged queen down close by the entrance. The bees, as soon as they discov- er that the queen is not with them, will come back to their old stand, and enter the new hive. When they are going in nicely, release the queen and let her go in with them. All this is very simple, and we have practiced the plan quite extensively. To let the new swarm go to work at once, and prevent any possibility of absconding, we give them a single comb containing eggs and larva1, and fill out the rest of the hive witli frames of fdn. The bees usually com- mence coming back, in about 5 or 10 min- utes, bid they may cluster and remain away 1") minutes, or in extreme cases, as much as a half hour. They will always come back sooner or la- ter, so far as I have been able to learn, un- less they have an extra queen, or get another queen by uniting with another colony, or something of that sort. See ABSCOtfDTNG swarms. If you do not find the queen as she conies out of the hive, and she has a clipped wing, you may be pretty certain that she will come back. After swarms | which see) have unfertile queens, and consequent- ly their wings can not be clipped. If you see them when they come out. and succeed in catching them, you can often hive the swarms in the same way; but the young queen will sometimes put right out again, and you must expect her to show all sorts of eccentric maneuvers. If you do not wish to move the old stock away, you can tie the caged queen to the end of a pole, with some leafy twigs near her, and usually succeed, without much trouble, in getting the bees to cluster around her. AVe have usually kept on hand for this purpose, a common rake, witli a bush tied to the end of it. If they commence cluster- ing on a, limb, hold it near them while you shake the limb and keep it in motion, and you will soon have them on your rake, to be car- ried where you please. If your hive is al- ready fixed, lay the rake on the ground in front of the hive, and the bees, finding the cavity, will at once commence to travel in. If they do not discover the entrance at once, guide them to it with a twig ; after they are going in nicely, release the queen and watch to see that she goes in with them. 96 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Mail TWO OR MORE SWARMS COMING OUT AND UNITING. When the swarming note is heard in the apiary, it seems to carry with it an infec- tion ; this may be a mistake, but in no other way can I account for swarms issuing one after another, while the first is in the air, unless they hear the sound and haste to go and do likewise. Of course, they will all unite in one, and as many as a dozen have been known to come out in this way, and go off to the woods in a great army of bees, be- fore anything could be done to stop them. If your queens are clipped, and you 'muscle around," and get them all in cages deposited in front of the hives, they will usually sepa- rate and each bee go where he belongs. Un- less you have plenty of help, you will be un- able to get the hives all moved away, and a new hive fixed for each one before they come back. In this case, they will go back into their old hive, and, if the queen is re- leased will sometimes go to work, but often- er, they will swarm out again within a few hours, or the next day, and if you keep put- ting them back, they will soon attack and kill their queen, and loaf about until they can rear a new one, and then swarm. This is very poor policy, and we can by no means afford to have such work. If they swarmed for want of room, they may go to work all right, after having room given them. If they come out the second time, I should give them a new location, divide them, or do something to satisfy their natural craving for starting a new colonv. To go back ; suppose they get a queen or queens having wings, and cluster in one large body. In this case, you are to scoop off bees from the cluster, with the swarm- ing bag, a tin pan, or a dipper, as may be most convenient, and apportion parts, made about as nearly of the size of a swarm as may be, about in different hives. Give each hive a comb containing eggs and larva* as before, and then get a queen for each one if you can. In dividing them up, should you get two or more queens in a hive, they will be balled as I have before described, and you can thus easily And them. If more than one queen is in a hive, you will rind a ball of bees, perhaps the size of a walnut or hens egg, about them, and this can be carried to the colony having none. If you cannot tell at once which are queenless, you will be able to do so in a few hours, by the queen cells they have started. If you are more anxious for honey than bees, you may allow two swarms to work together, and if you give them sufficient room, you will probably get a large crop of honey from them, but this plan does not pay, as a general thing, be- cause the extra bees will soon die off by old age, and your colony will be no larger than if the queen had had only her ordinary num- ber of bees. PREVENTION OF SWARMING. If we can entirely prevent swarming, and keep all the bees at home storing honey all the season, we shall get enormous crops from a single hive. Whether we shall get more in that way, than from the old stock and all the increase, where swarming and after swarming is allowed, is a matter as yet hard- ly decided. If a swarm should come out in May, and the young queens get to laying in their hives by the first of June, their work- ers would be ready for the basswood bloom in July, and it is very likely that the workers from 3 queens or more would gather more honey than those from the old queen alone. But another point is to be considered. The two or three new colonies must have stores for winter, and as it takes nearly 2-5 lbs. to carry a colony through until honey comes again, this amount would be saved by the prevention of swarming. Where one has plenty of bees and desires honey rather than increase, a non swarming apiary would be quite desirable. Then how shall we prevent swarming? We can do it very often, by simply giving abundance of room in the sur- plus receptacles, just as fast as more is need- ed, but no faster. This plan is the one gen- erally in use. If the bee-keeper is on hand to look after his bees carefully, he will get along very well usually. But suppose he is not on hand. In that case, if the queen has both her wings, she will go with the swarm and cluster. If the queen is clipped, she will hop out on the ground and may stay near the entrance until the swarm com- mences to go back, when she will be attract- ed by their humming and go in with them. After watching their manoeuvres many times, I am inclined to think that, in such cases, about half the queens get away and are lost, when no one is near to direct them. In case the queen is lost, the bees come back to the hive, and do little or nothing until a new queen is hatched, and then swarm again. This is a great loss, for the use of a good queen a week or ten days, in swarming time, to a populous colony, might be equiva- lent to a swarm of bees ; besides, if the bees were at work in the boxes, almost all work would be suspended until they were again 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 97 in possession of a queen. To prevent this loss, Mr. Quinby invented what is called A QUEEN YARD. This was a little box, perhaps 20 inches square, with sides 2i in. high. On the top edge of thes? sides tin was nailed, so as to project inward perhaps a half inch. This was so placed before the hive that the en- trance opened directly into one side of the yard. The bees, when at work, came out in- to it and took wing. When they swarmed, they took wins without any trouble, but the queen, after trying to fly, would try to crawl up the sides, and could not on account of the tin ledge. She could only get back into the hive, which she would be sure to do about as soon as the bees got back. I believe these worked all right, except that they were cum- brous things to have about in an apiary, and that the bees often killed the queen after trying several times and finding she was never with them. Before we had Italians, it used to be con- sidered that cutting out all the queen cells, as fast as built, was a preventive of swarm- ing. But as Italians often swarm without any sign of a queen cell, the plan has been pretty universally dropped. Cutting out all the queen cells except one, after the first swarm has gone out, will of course prevent any third or fourth swarms from coming out, if you are careful not to overlook any cells. See aftek swarming. I believe, however, that this plan is not much in vogue at the present time. Perhaps it is because, where colonies are in the habit of being overhauled enough to perform such opera- tions, artificial swarming is made to take the place of natural swarming, or what is still better, a judicious combination of the two modes is practiced. A few years ago,, it was quite common to talk of non-swarming hives, and there were many inventors who claimed to have accom- plished the end desired. The most of these hives were covered by a patent, and they have gone the way of most, if not all, patent- ed bee hives. Giving the bees abundant room, both over the cluster and at its sides, will do very much towards making a non- swarming hive, but they will swarm occa- sionally, in spite of us. Keeping the hive well shaded, or having the walls entirely pro- tected from the sun, will do much to discour- age swarming, and the chaff hive has for this reason proved about as good a non- swarmer as any brought out. KEEPTNO BEES IX TAPPER ROOMS AND (iAR- RET6. This plan for keeping a single colony, to furnish honey for the table simply, has been in vogue for perhaps centuries back. If the room is small, and made perfectly dark, the hive being placed back a few feet from the entrance in the wall, the bees will seldom swarm. One or more sides of the hive are generally removed, and the bees build their combs on the outside of the hive, or against the walls of the room, where the owner can go with knife, plate, and smoker, and cut out a piece for the table, without opening any hive, or disturbing anybody. In fart, he can consider this his 'iioney room," and leave the honey stored there year after year, if he chooses. When a friend calls, he can say, "Will you have a slice of new honey? or will you have one a year old? or two years old?" He might even have it ten or a dozen years old, for aught I know, if he has a taste for antiquated honey. Would not such a honey room be nice? While writing about it, it has occurred to me that a room of this kind, fitted up with all modern appliances, might be a very pretty and a very useful thing. With the experience I have had in the house apiary, however, I am inclined to think that, where there is so much room, there would be a great disposition in the bees to loaf and cluster on the sides of the room, in the shade, instead of going to work. Now for the objections. If the liive and honey is close by the en- trance, the bees will swarm as much as in the house apiary. If it is a yard or more back from the wall, the bees, not being able to take wing in the dark, will crawl all this distance on foot, which would prove a great loss of time and strength, and consequently, of honey. Providing the plan succeeds, you get a good crop of honey year after year, it is true, but you have all the time only the efforts of a single queen. While your honey increases, your gathering force is no more, after the lapse of 10 years, than it was be- fore. If one colony is all you want, this may be all right. The queen cannot live more than three or four years, and at her demise a new one must be reared and fertilized. For some reason, I know not what, she is very often lost, in these garrets, and the colony dies of queenlessness. Worst of all, they will often swarm, and keep swarming, until nothing is left of them; but I believe swarm- ing is rather the exception, and not the rule. Now who will have the nicest honey room, close to, or adjoining the pantry? Have it so your wife can cut out the honey any day in the year, without saying a word to any- GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Mab body. When it is all in nice working trim, send me a description of it. Very often, the readiest way of getting a swarm, especially if you are away from home and without tools, is to cut off the limb on which they are clustered and carry them where you like. If the limb is small, you can cut it with a stout knife; but if large, a saw will be needed. The teeth should be tine, that there be not too much jarring, and it would be well to make a slight cut first on the under side, that the bark may not hang when you get it nearly off. CARRYING HOME A SWARM OF BEES, BY SAWING OFF THE LIMB. A small pruning saw, such as is shown in the picture, is very convenient for getting in between the limbs; if bolted to a pole, all the better. When the limb begins to fall, catch it with a pitchfork, or get some one to do it for you. If you catch it properly with the fork, you can let it down very quietly. I have carried a swarm of bees on a limb. ] of a mile or more, without any trouble. Where the limb cannot well be cut, or the cutting would mar a valuable tree, I often get a basket and tie some twigs to the bot- tom on the inside, then hold them over the cluster and with another twig, make the bees climb up into it. and carry them home, giv- ing the owner of the tree a dollar or half a dollar for the bees, according to the season, or as we can agree. HIVING BEES BY MACHINERY. A friend sends us a model of a machine for taking down swarms. As it is ingeni- ous and a curiosity, if nothing more, I have had our engraver make a copy of it. MACHINE FOR SWARMS. TAKING POWX The machine is made for hiving bees: it is 10 feet high, and can be made higher if wanted; it is so light that (in*' man or boy can carry it easily, and it only cost a lew cents to make it. Sot it with the cross pieces on the ground, and with the little pul- ley up: then turn your crank so as to let the table tor the hive slide clown: put your bee hive on it, and turn your crank until the hive is right up to the bees that have lighted on the tree or bush; put a pin in one of the holes to keep the crank from turn- ing- back, then get up on the ladder and start them to going in: when they are in, pull the pin out and let them down slowly, and set* hem where you wish to have them. I had one in ire during the summer, and I think it is real fun to hive bees with it. Joiian .Tackix. Bell Plain, Wis., .Ian. 0, 1879. I tear it is too much machinery, friend J., but we will let our readers try it if they wish, and they can then report. The following, in regard to Simplicity see! ions, is from J. Oatman i: sons' catalogue: DOVETAILED SECTIONS, Four and one fourth by four ami one fourth inch- es, eight of which lib a Langstroih frame, are very desirable for trade in many places. The local trade in X. Y. closed out the entire stock of honeyin these sections, this season, long before much of a hole had been made in the prize box honey, or any other style, on the market. Dealers informed us much more could have been readily sold at 20 cents, had it been in stock. This style is very convenient for those using- Langstroth or Simplicity hives, from the fact that they may be started in the body of the hive below, and raised to the upper story to finish when well started. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. M HOW TO MAKE DOVETAILED SECTION BOXES WITH A FOOT I'OWF.l! SAW IVAKINCt t'UAMES, SE< "JTIONS, &e., FOOT AND HAND POWER. HY gN () many questions Lave been asked about v^; making section boxes, frames, etc., with the dovetailed corners, that 1 have giv- en you the engraving above. It can be used with any kind of a buzz saw, and you can make the joints just as tight as you please. [f you make them so they will have to In- driven together with a hammer or mallet, they may be thrown on the floor, without racking the joint. Of course, the joint will he much stronger if you make your stuff pretty thick, and if made as thick as we or- dinarily do where we nail work, it will be pretty nearly as strong. For honey boxes, we do not ordinarily wish to use more than i stud', because much wood with the honey- is objectionable. Any foot power saw will answer. Get a saw that will cut about a | groove, or wider if you wish: a thick saw can he used, or you can set the teeth of an ordinary saw very broad. Tut a thin board, i inch thick, over the saw, with a rib fastened to it by slender brads, as shown in the cut. Tins rib is for the track. One of iron or steel would lie better, if much work is to be done. The distance of this track from the saw decides the looseness of your joints. The figure rep- resents a piece of inch or I board. The block is first run tight up to the track, then the groove thus made is next run on the i track, and so on through, always keeping the last groove made, on the track. When your blocks are all grooved, put on an ordi- nary rip saw, and saw off strips. If rightly done. 4 of the sticks should make a frame as shown. You can use a cutter head in place of the thick saw if you choose, but we decid- edly prefer the thick saws, because they have so many more teeth to do the work. Now, if you depend on foot power alone to do the work, you will find one saw all yon can use at once, and when you come to rip up 2 inch stuff for sections, yon will find the task a pretty severe one. Our enterprising j friends. Barnes Bros., have come to the aid of those using the foot power machines, and have rigged a crank as shown in the cut. With a large saw. and a man or boy to turn, 2 inch stuff can be ripped to very good advantage, much as on the hand rip- per; that is, by this attachment, they make the foot power saw answer for a hand ripper too. HAND POWER ATTACHMENT FOR I'.AKNK FOOT POWER SAWS. The price of the attachment is $5'., and they can be attached to any of the foot pow- er saws they have sold. Orders can be sent to us. if desired. The machine is made with cut gearing, and seems to be very strong and serviceable. I DO not like to mar the letters of our contribu- tors, by cutting out portions of them, anymore than 1 can help; but sometimes, when you speak unkind- ly of each other, 1 feel a strong disposition to check you by playfully holding my hand up, so that the one to whom the unkind words were directed, may not hear it. When you Bee long dashes in a commu- nication, you may know it is intended for a pleas- ant chiding. You will permit me to take this liberty without being offended, will you not? — ■ «■ i Dealers in bee keepers' supplies are sending out very neat and complete catalogues, this season. 1 think it will be a good idea to have allot them or at least, many of them, for they all contain more or less \ aluable Information. Catalogues have been received from the following persons: < '. F. Mulh, (in.,0.; J. Oatman & Sous, Dundee, 111.; J. ('. A II. P. Sayles, Hartford, Wis.; Lewis & Parks -mentioned last month— Watertown, Wis.; A.E.Manum, Bristol, Ver. ; M.Richardson, Pt. Colborne, Ont., Can., and B. 0. Everett, Toledo, O. 100 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Mar. %$ad§ of gram, From Different Fields. PROPOLIS FOR SOAP MAKING, AND COTTON SEED IN PLACE OF CHAFF. fi HAVE found propolis to be an excellent substi- tute for rosin in tho domestic manufacture of _i soap. One pound of propolis being used to 5 lbs. of soap grease. I use cotton seed instead of chaff for quilts, divi- sion boards, &c, and find them to be an admirable packing material. The <|uilts are somewhat heavy, but this is not a disadvantage, as the enameled cloth is pressed into close contact with the frames, so that no comb can be built over the too bar. M. W. Chapman. Mayhew Station, Miss., Feb. I, 1870. EMPTY COMBS FOR MAKING ARTIFICIAL SWARMS. How are the ABC class to form artificial colonies, when they have no spare combs? You direct in ABC part first, that the frames taken out of the mother colony to form the new colony, must be replaced with frames of worker comb. Are you aware that but few of the ABC che-is have any extra combs? I think you do that class an injustice, '.s you give Ho instructions lor artificial swarming, unless they have extra combs. The old and well posted bee-keepers, no doubt, have such things, but the ABC man, no. sir; he has not this article. Now, I have 5 colonies, all wintering on from 5 to 6 combs each; will they, early in sprimr, build drone comb to fill un the hive? or will they build worker (tomb? or will they build none, till they swarm? How would it do to arivo them worker fdn., early in spriner? Will they till it out properly before swarm- inetime? Yours trulv, "Tar-Heel." Wilmington, N. C, Jan. 7, 1879. Are you not a little hasty, my friend? If you look again, you will find that I do men- tion using fdn., in place of empty combs. EMPTY COMBS FOR ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. These will almost always be on hand in swarming time, but if not, a 'frame contain- ing a sheet of fdn. may be put in place of any comb taken from a strong colony. The fdn. is fully as good as the natural comb, and, in some respects, even better. If you have no fdn., let the bees build combs, one at a time, in new frames, watching them to see that they do not build drone comb. If they will not build worker comb, contract the space with a division board, and have the combs built in weaker colonies. Using frames of fdn. is, however, far the better way. During fruit blossoms, and long before swarming time, an ample supply of beauti- ful combs may be secured, built out from fdn. CHAFF HIVE COVERS. We bought several chaff hives for our own use last summer, which please us very much; we have one suggestion to make, however. The covers of most of ours (about 8 in number) leak more or less when we have long continued rains; would it not be well to make them pitch a little more, that the rain may more rapidly flow off? Stair & Kendel. Cleveland, O., Jan. 28, 1879. We have had some trouble in keeping the roof tight, and to make a sure thing of it, have just decided to cover them all hereafter with tin. We have devised a plan for mak- ing a very neat and strong job of it, and as it saves all the time of cutting the grooves, besides allowing us'to use cheaper lumber, for the roof boards, we have decided to fur- nish them thus, at 15c. extra. We will send, at the above price, the two sheets of tin needed to make them tight, to you and to all the rest who have purchased chaff hives of us, and which have troubled them in the way you mention. Please accept thanks for directing our attention to the matter. ONE UNFAVORABLE REPORT FROM GRAPE SUGAR. I received the grape sugar, but could not make the bees touch it. 1 then mixed it with honey and fed it to 2 light swarms. Ere long, both colonies were dead. The sugar was light coloi-ed, but had quite a bitter, disagreeable taste. Whether it was the sugar that killed them or not, I can't say, but I could account for it in no other way. I dare not feed any more of it. Past Gleanings speak of its being pleasant to eat, and of its improving the fla- vor of table syrups when mixed with them. I can but think that something was wrong with it. Orangeville, O., Jan. 10, 1879. N. Case. The sugar was ordered in Nov., and must have been fed after the approach of cold weather. Had they been fed on cane sugar, or honey even, it would have been nothing strange", had the two light swarms per- ished, so late in the season. I give you the facts, and you can draw your own conclu- sions. If our friend will return the sugar, I shall have no fear in feeding it to my bees. It always has a peculiar bitter taste, which would always betray it. even if it could be used to adulterate honey. STAND FOR CHAFF HIVES. Place a chaff hive on a box, 1 inch less in diameter than the hive, and 4 in. deep in the clear, having top and bottom, and Jilted with chaff. All moisture drips to the ground without dampening the bottom board, and the chaff seems as sensible as frosty atmos- phere between bees and frozen earth. Jennie Leete. West Amboy, N. Y., Jan. 30, 1879. Your remarks are very sensible, friend Jennie. I have recommended placing the chaff hives on 4 half bricks, but your frame filled with chaff. I think, would be still bet- ter. If set directly on the ground, it would very quickly rot; perhaps we could imbed the bricks so as to support this frame, and allow nothing but the chaff to come directly in contact with the ground, and when it is de- cayed, put in some fresh. The siding to the chaff hive extends a little below the bottom board, for the express purpose of carrying all the water down beyond it. hasty conclusions that A HIVE is queenless. The queen has been a great puzzle to me. After 3 weeks, when it was time for the young bees to cut out, I opened the box and finding no brood I sup- posed her dead and gave them a black queen. In about 7 weeks to my great astonishment hybrids came out. They didn't spread much. I give them credit however'for being the grandest thieves in creation. They have increased wonderfully, and now there is a large amount of brood. Botland, Ky., Jan. 27, 1879. S. T. Hamilton. You are not the first one, friend II., who has concluded the queen was gone, simply because he could not find her and saw no brood. In such a case, give them some brood from another hive, and see if they start queen cells. THE CENTURY PLANT FOR HONEY; HURRAH FOR NEW MEXICO! I now have 3 colonies of Italian bees, which I got from California for $50 per hive; cheap enough, af- ter being hauled 750 miles. A Langstroth hive, poorly made by one of our car- penters here, would cost $30. I have watched our wild, ground bees at work here on many plants. If the Italians collect honey from them, I will send you seeds of the best honey plants. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 101 A large century plant flower, turned upside down, and jarred over a large dish or pan, will give a pint of honey each morning, for many days. A very large plant will have from 6 to 18 such hunches of bloom. Indians collect honey from it to eat. The berry or fruiting yucca has several dozen (lowers as large as an egg, and each flower h is at least a tea- spoon full of honey. The fruit is 2 to 3 in. in diam- eter, 6 to 9 in. lonir. and good to eat. If my bees do well, I w ill want everything in the apiary line. ,)as. K. Metcalfe. Silver City, New Mexico, Jan. IS, 1879. Six or seven pints of honey ;i day. from a single plant, looks, to ns Northerners, like a pretty big story, friend M., and yon must not be surprised if you see a lot of us Yan- kees traveling off down there, about the time this gets into print. Has anybody else no- ticed this wonderful honey yielding property of the century plant. TIN CANS AND PAILS FOR EXTHACTED KONEY. For several years past, I have sold more or less extracted honey in pails, with an annually increas- ing custom. 1 keep on hand a supply of pails vary- ing in size, from one quart to 5 gallons. My princi- pal business point is Jackson, and I seldom go there without meeting one or more customers in want of honey. They give me their orders, stating the amount and kind (clover, basswood. or fall honey) wanted, which I deliver the next time 1 go to town, leaving the pail with the customer until it i* emptied. To save keeping an account and a possible loss of pails, they should be sold with the honey when delivered, and then, unless the buyer wishes to keep the pail, it should be bought back when returned or called for. J. H. Townley. Tompkins, Mich., Dec. 28, 1878. SALTING BEES. I do not think bees require much salt. I have given them salt in different ways, but they like best to sip it, after a rain, from the ground where stock have been frequently salted, which shows that they like it in the most diluted form. WATERING BEES. There is too little attention paid to this. I set out pans and little troughs, but never enough. Last year I had 15 feet of trough, with corn cobs set in it in the shape of an X. It would do any bee-keeper good to see them get all they want, with no danger of getting drowned. Then you can sprinkle on a little fine salt, just to suit their fancv. West Point, la., Jan 15. 1879. J. I". Jakkett. BEES GETTING LOST ON SNOW. Bees may be kept from getting lost on the snow (as E. A. Gastman complains), by spreading a little straw in front of the hive, say for 3 or 4 ft. I have tried this plan this winter, arid am satisfied that I saved a good many bees. GLUCOSE AND GRAPH SUGAR. You say "I have never sold any glucose." Did you not advertise it? You inserted the Davenport Co.'s advertisement, and stated below, "We can furnish the above, at an advance of etc." If you have not sold any, was it your fault?" SECTION BOXES. In the Jan. No., of 1878, you say that a glassed Betsinger box weighed (with light glass) eleven ounces, and that it did not average over 2 lbs. when tilled. Let's look into the matter a little closer. I took a 514-\ii,i box, received from Doolittle, and glassed it with glass that I took indiscriminately, and weighed it ; it weighed !i'v oz. You say 16 sq. in. (where the sections are 1 15-16 inches wide, and separators used) weigh 1 pound. A B-tsinsrer box 511\ii1t inches outside, 5x54 in- side, contains about :!'i' 2 sq. in., which, according to your estimate (16 sq. in. to the lb.), would weigh nearly 1', lbs., instead of lib. 5oz., as vim state. This would give the weight of the Betsinger box as follows: 1 !, lbs. plus 9J4 oz., which equals :.' lbs. 5>t oz. There la certainly a "big" mistake somewhere. It is rav impression that the Betsinger sections, when filled, will average 2?4 lbs. glassed. WIRED FOUNDATION. In Feb. No. of the .4. B. J"., page 71, T. F. Bingham says: "The pressing in of the honey, or the raising of'the cell on the other side, invariably produce the original and time honored base." Now, will Mr. Bingham tell me. which? also whether the draw- ing out of the cells, or the pressing in of the honey, will bend the wire in the bases of the cells, so as to adapt it to the "time honored" shape of the cell? or, in other words, I will state, as my humble opinion, that bees are not capable of bending a straight wire to the form of the base of a cell, and that the only way the bees tan manage is to leave such cells as contain wire, Hat at the base, or else fill in with their own wax until the cell is of proper shape. T. F. C. VanAllEN. Adams' Station, N. Y., Feb. 5, 1ST!). Thanks, friend Y .: the plan of spreading straw lias been given before, and, I believe, answers a good purpose where the bees are healthy, but when affected with dysentery, they seem to take no pains to alight on the, straw. I did advise trying glucose, before so much was said about adulteration, and I even ordered a keg of it to experiment with ; but, for some reason, Mr.- Best never filled the order. After I was accused of feeding it, I was glad he did not, and that I had nev- er bought or sold a pound of it. The figures I gave with the Betsinger box were from a sample section that Mr. Doolittle brought me, and the empty glassed section was one from a hive bought of him. The glass was rather thin, but the ends of the section were of elm, that they might hold nails better, and elm is rather heavy wood. Sections tilled with honey often vary as much as ± lb. in -1 lbs. Are you not a little hard on Mr. Bingham? The bees certainly make the flat bottomed cells concave, but on watching them closely, they seem to do it by scraping the wax away. and crowding and burnishing it witli their mandibles; where the wires pass, of course, they do no such thing. CARDS TO PUT ON SHIPPING CASES OF HONEY. I enclose you one of the cards which I tack on the cover of each case of honey when shipped. SMASHED ! This Fine Honey will be "Smashed" and Spoiled unless handled carefully. This Side Up. 83^"* Will you please HANDLK with CAKE ? Of course, you will easily see that it is not original, as the idea and almost the words are copied from your "killed" card; but it answers very well. I put the address on a wmaU card right under this one, so they have to read the large one first. If you think it will pay to print some large cards, something like this, in black on red or buff cards, I will take a few. Danville, P. Q., Dec. 24, '78. Geo. O. Goodhue. Thank you, friend G.; I will try to have some cards in readiness, before another sea- son. NEW ZEALAND. As I am just about starting an apiary, on a large scale, and am desirous of securing the latest improvements, I have taken the liberty of writing to you to ask you to send me a price-list or cata- logue. I should like a machine for making foundation comb, and the best kind of honey extractor or sling- c\\ and any other late improvements; also the best in ink on working with movable frame hives. i believe, if there was an agency established out here for the sale of these things, that a large trade might be done, as, at present, there are none of the latest improvements used and they cannot be got, out here. I believe Xew Zealand to be one of the finest coun- tries in the world, for bee-keeping. I have kept a 102 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Mar. few hives for years, and I have taken, on an aver- age, 100 lbs. to a hive in the season, and in the mid- dle of a township situated on the sea coast. Isaac Hopkins. Grahamstown, New Zealand, Jan. 5, 1879. NAILING HIVES WITHOUT CJAUGE FRAMES; FDN. BREAKING DOWN, KOBBING, ETC. The hives I sent for last season, came to hand in just the right time. The bees were swarming-, and i had got down to the list hive, when they came. I put up the 10 in one day and had no gauge frames to hold them while I nailed them. I nailed 2 cleats to the floor to hold one end. and had a clamp to hold the top or other end. I am no carpenter, and your all- wood frames had to be nailed to make them stick together. The express charges on 10 hives were $4,10; high, I thought. The fdn. in the brood chamber broke down badly, and put my bees back instead of helping them. First swarms, hot weather, and honey coming fast was the reason. I took platefuls of broken down combs from hives. 1 put 2 queen cells in the upper story, above the brood frames, and they hatched all rig-tit. One of the best queens I have, was raised from larvae that you sent me. How to stop robbing-: I put a sheet over the hive and tuck it around, which keeps all in that are in, and those out that are out, and those inside can not feed honey through it. I keep them there until evening with no danger of smothering the bees. You can feed a weak stock inside of a sheet, on the alighting board. Thomas Bickerton. West Elizabeth, Pa., Feb. 6, 18T9. Your plan of nailing the hives, unless you are very careful, will not insure them all of an exact size and shape, so certainly as will the gauge frames. If your fdn. was securely fastened to the top bars, and then broke down, it must have been made of a rather soft lot of wax. Dark wax from old combs, of a greenish shade, we have found to stand the hot sun rather better than the light yellow wax. We now sort our wax so as to have the lightest made into drone comb for the sections, and the darker for brood combs. Hives in the flat should always be ordered by freight. A similar plan to stop robbing is given in another place. I would not trust too much to it. Where they are robbing fee- bly, grass or bushes put around the hive, or a pane of glass set up before the entrance, will often induce the robbers to go home. A MINISTER'S trials. Brother Whitman (who had 23 hives of bees) gave me one of his best swarms in an old fashioned box hive. After he had taken out a number of the plugs on top, he covered the holes with tine wire, and also covered a space above the entrance holes in the same manner. He then brought the bees and my wife and myself home, 28 miles. We cam- in a very easy spring wagon, and when we reached home the bees were very active, and to all appearance doing as well as possible. I put them in my cellar, and examined them care- fully. Bro. W. told me to leave the wires on the ventilating holes, as he thought they would have an abundance of air. They were put in the cellar Sat- urday night; on Monday, they were very busy hum- ming in the hive; on examining them on Wednes- day, alas! they were dead! the air holes all closed up with their little bodies! Be sure, my brother, this was a sad disappoint- ment to us, and as wife said, it was hard to keep the tears back. On opening the hive, I found them all wet and black; no combs were broken; they were smothered. There was a peck of bees, a good deal of young brood, and many young bees that would have come out in a few days, and honey to keep them till spring. They had made 116 lbs. of section honev last season. Rev. C. Smith. Plover, Wis., Feb. 6, 18T9. We give the above as a warning to our readers to be careful about giving too little ventilation. With a strong colony of bees, such as the one described, either the whole top or the whole bottom of the hive should have been covered with wire cloth, even in cold weather. "OOING IT BLIND." 1 went it blind last yenr, and got 1200 lbs. of box honey, from 25 stocks. They increased to 31 only, and are all in good condition. I have 3 Italian queens, but my former lot are all hybrids. I bought 1 queen some 4 years ago, and paid $10. I found that was too high for bees, quit all that foolishness, and am trying to live a more moderate life. I do not doubt but the Italians are best, but I find, if you keep stocks strong, that there's where the secret lies. EXTRACTING FROM BROOD COMBS. Do you think it best to use the extractor on the brood combs? O. L. Magkuder. Bardstown, Ky., Jan. 31, 1879. I do not know, my friend, but I should "go it blind" again, as you seem to have done so well. I would not, as a general thing, extract from the brood combs at all, and if I did, I would do so only in the fore part of the sea- son. If your hive has but one story, extract from the outside frames, where there is gen- erally no brood, and from those containing but little brood. If the hive is broad enough, the outside frames take the place, in a meas- ure, of the frames in the upper story. INTRODUCING QUEENS TO ARTIFICIAL COLONIES. Mr. West, author of a "Guide to Bee-Keeping," says he never knew a queen to be lo-sf, if introduced to an artificial swarm, in the following way. Take as many frames as you want, with the adhering bees, from the same number of hives; put them in anew hive, and then introduce the queen to the new colony. I think it would work well. Let me have your opinion or judgment on it, in March Gle*nino<5. J.F.Edwards. Sebree, Ky., Feb. 12, 1879. In consequence of our buying so many queens last season from our Southern friends, we had, perhaps, a better opportu- nity than any other apiarist has ever had, of giving the different modes of introducing queens a very thorough test. We intro- duced them in our own apiary, by several different methods, one of which was the one you have described. While we found it generally successful, it sometimes seemed to give more trouble than any other. We remember once keeping a queen caged four weeks, before the colony, made up of frames from different hives, would accept her. As I have said before, I know of no infal- lible method, without- close watching both before and after the queen is released. CUTTING BEE-TREES AND TRANSFERRING IN WINTER, AND HOW A BEE CARRIES PROPOLIS. I helped to cut a bee-tree on the 16th of Jan.. and got some honey and a fine swarm of bees. After losing a pint or more that fell in the snow, I brought the little fellows home, and put them on 5 American frames partly filled with their own comb. I then gave them a box containing about 6 lbs. of sealed honey. About the first of this month, I examined them to see what they were doing, and found all the hon- ey and most of the comb gone out of the box. I lifted one of the frames out, and was surprised at the work they had done, in repairing old and build- ing new combs. The wax came from the box given them, I suppose. I found larvae all the way from the egg to sealed brood, proving the presence of the queen, which I was glad to know, as I saw nothing of her in trans- ferring. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 103 She had commenced to lay about 6 days before we made her acquaintance, or that of her family rather. Have you any Italians that beat this black queen, for early breeding and energetic business habits? I am afraid I shall weary your patience, but I must tell you of something I never read of. I was watching" a bee load up with propolis that had been thrown down on a box from some old frames hang- ing-overhead. He daubed a quantity of it on his legs in the usual way, then gathered up about half as much in his mouth, and struck a bee-line for the apiary. 1 watched a few minutes, and saw another, or the same bee, repeat the trick. T. 0. Marsh. New Madrid, Mo., Jan. Ill, 1S79. THURBER s DEFENCE. Tiie following is taken from the N. V. World: "Messrs. H. K. & F. R. Thurber & Co., who a little more than two month* ago succeeded in landing 200,000 lb?, of honey in England by one shipment, and all in good condition, deny the report lately published that the honey had been seized by the British authorities for violation of the Adulteration act. A reporter for the World, who visited the firm yesterday, was told by Mr. F. B. Thurber that the report probably arose from a circumstance which he would explain. Tomb honey,' said he, 'being a fragile substance, more or less of it arrives here in a broken condition, and in order to save it, it became necessary to pack it in some kind of a receptacle. A number of years ago another New York house, large dealers in honey, began cutting up comb hon- ey into slices, packing it iu glass jars, and filling the interstices with strained honey. It was found, how- ever, that this soon candied or granulated to such an extent that it destroyed the clear, translucent appearance which consumers demand. In order to avoid this a quantity of dextrine or starch sirup, commonly known as glucose, was added. When our firm took hold of the honey business we put up hon- ey in this manner, and after it was introduced in England our attention was called to the fact that a retail grocer had been summoned under the English Adulteration act for selling' in glass jars as honey an article which was not wholly composed of that sub- stance, the fact not being' stated on the label. A small tine was imposed but no seizure was made. We now label all jars containing honey, statins: that the space around the combs has been filled with a solution partly composed of starch sirup in order to prevent granulation. Since we began to do this there has been no trouble. The summoning of the English grocer happened about a year ago, and was published at the time in several bee journals in this country. Our last exportation has been the means of bringing this matter up again, but that shipment was pure honey in comb, in glass boxes, just as it is taken from the hives, and has met with great favor.' " Very good, Messrs. Thurber & Co. I ran not see any wrong done if you label your jars of honey in the way you mention, and peo- ple choose to buy them when thus labeled. On page 311 of Bee-Keepers'1 MagaHne for 1877, appears the following: "Thirber's Candied Honev.— One thousand dol- lars in gold coin will be paid if the honey contained in this jar is found to be impure, or in any manner adulterated. The above is on all of Messrs. Thur- ber & Co's. labels." WHAT KIND OK WINTERS REQUIRE MOST HONEY? I am having a little strife with one of my neigh- bor bee men, as to whether bees eat more honey in a cold, hard winter, or in a moderate, warm winter (out door winteringi. Please answer this immedi- ately, as the one of us that is wrong is to send for your bee journal one year. I was a subscriber last year, but have neglected to send this year. John Nimphy. Swartz Creek, Mich., Feb. It, 1879. I do not know that I can answer the <|iies- tion directly, for if the weather should be such that the bees commence breeding large- ly, as they did last winter, the honey con- sumed to feed the brood, would be greater than where the winter was so cold that lit- tle or no brood was started. On the other hand, bees consume much more honey to keep up the animal heat during very severe weather, than they do when the temperature is mild. I think less honey would be con- sumed in an even temperature of about 40 , such as we have in the best cellars, than when it is either colder or warmer. I think you would better each pay half on Glean- ings. THICKNESS OF SECTIONS. I use frames for surplus honey on your plan, but having tried different sizes, I have settled on the following, as most profitable for me, and quite as salable; in fact, often more salable. My sections contain 2 lbs. of honey, when full. I make them oQiXil1x2?_t, in., thus having' 6 sections in one frame, and also make 411xf11x"'', , which contain VA lbs. \ cut the sections out of 3 inch plank which I have dressed on both sides, to :.", in. I then cut it into the length for sections, and groove it before sawing. I have tried both ways, and this seems most satis- factory. I have a horse power which works first rate. We all owe you much for your endeavors to give your readers the benefit of your ingenuity, and it made me mad to see . John Dickinson. Milwaukee, Wis., Feb. 2, 1879. There is <|uite a difference of opinion in regard to the thickness of section ooxes. 1 have used them as thick as you mention, but the bees sometimes get two thin combs, instead of one thick one. Muth, in his new circular, writes as follows : "There is no doubt but that the most honey is pro- duced in frames which are 1'2 inches apart from cen- tre to centre; 1 have added aj inch to this width be- cause it makes more handsome combs, and I find that it works well; but to have honey framesS inch- es or more a part from centre to centre is at the ex- pense of the honey crop, and were it not for the sep- arators, the bees would build three combs in every two frames. "One of my friends argues very correctly thus: "When the combs are so thick the cells are too deep, and it takes the bees too long to evaporate their hon- ey before they can cap it.' I prefer to raise comb- honey without separators, for the other reason that I do not believe that the bees will build as much comb when their clusters are separated from each other, as when clustered together." I have decided, as you perhaps know, on about 2 in., separator and all, and we rarely fail of having our sections nicely filled. 1 like the looks of the thick combs, when you can set the bees to build them nicely. TWO SEPARATE COLONIES IN ONE HIVE. Success with us, in the apiary, during the past year or season, has been about the average of your correspondents' reports; our experience about as varied as theirs; for we also have been experiment- ing with bees, hives, and theories. With one colony, however, we struck a "big bonanza," and "a nut for Novice to crack." That colony stored 2563^ lbs. of honey, during the past season. We allowed no increase. Most of the honey was line comb, taken in "connected sections," tiered 6 high. That's the "big bonanza." In putting in starters in a section, we used some bits of comb (from a brood chamber) that contained a few eggs. We tbousrht nothing more of it at the time, supposing that the bees would clean all up as usual. The section with starters containing eggs was placed in the middle tier. In removing them. In Sept., we found that the bees had actually reared B queen from these eggs; that she had matured, be- come fertilized, anil laid worker eggs in nearly all of that section; that the eggs had matured into brood which were nearly all out of the cells, and t!-:e 101 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Mar. cells were again being used by the queen for eggs when we made the discovery. Now comes the "nut to crack." Did this queen pass down through the brood chamber proper of the hive, and out to meet a drone, and back again through the dominions of the original sovereign queen of the hive, without molestation from either bees or queen? The hive contains 10 G. frames. There were a few drones in the sections, with the queen. We would be pleased to have vour opinion of this bee freak of ours. J. C. & D. H. Tweedy. Linden Vale Apiary, near Smithfleld, O., Dec. 2, '78. The queen undoubtedly passed through the lower part of the hive and out to be fer- tilized, as the workers also did, to gather honey. Such cases are not new, as 2 colo- nies have several times been known to work together peaceably, in the same hive. Such, however, is not the general rule and there is always danger of one queen's being killed. The extreme height of your hive favored such an arrangement, in this case. We once had a second queen hatch in one side of a common Langstroth hive, which was allowed to live and rear brood in her own side, thus forming 2 colonies, and both using the same entrance. THE FIRST HONEY OF THE SEASON. I have a few questions to ask you, that I could not find answers for, in the ABC or Gleanings. Last Oct., I packed 5 hives of bees for winter; Nos. 1 and 2, with 6 frames of honey and :i frames of empty comb; Nos. 3 and 4 with 4 frames of honey and 2 of comb; No 5, with 3 frames of honey and 2 frames of comb, and all the frames were packed full of bees. As thev were all in good trim for winter, I did not bother'them until the first day of Feb., when J found all of them carrying in great loads of pollen. As we do not have much cold weather, after the first of Feb., I thought I would unpack them for summer. So I opened No. 5 first, lifted out one of the middle frames, and to my astonishment it was full of cap- ped honey, except about one inch at the bottom, and that was nearly full of pollen. After lifting all 5 frames out I found them all in the same way. I then examined all of my hives, and found them all in the same fix. Now, what I want to know is, where did all this honey come from? can bees make honey in the win- ter? and will it do to take out the honey, and insert empty combs in its place? Now, Mr. Root, I will stop asking so many ques- tions, for fear you will get mad at me. W. S. Cauthen. Pleasant Hill, S. C, Feb. 3, 1819. Your bees are undoubtedly gathering hon- ey, and if you track them, you can probably find the source from which they get it. The fact that they are bringing in pollen indi- cates that the honey is also obtained from some plant. If you can investigate the mat- ter, and give us a report, it will be interest- ing to know from whence we get the first honey. Your questions are connected with a valuable report, and such we are always glad to receive. Yes; insert empty combs. QUEEN NURSERY; HEMP FOR HONEY. I started last spring, with 27 stocks, increased to 70, and took 2,700 lbs. of honey. I have contracted my honey for this year at 10c. per lb., the party buy- ing to furnish the bbls. Can they be used without waxing? I did not make a success of the queen nursery, and think 1 will get a lot of artificial eggs, made of tin or earthen, with an opening in them, and put the scaled queen cells in them, and set them under hens (we always have plenty of them in the hen house), or in the nursery. In tkis way, you see, the first queen hatched cannot destroy the rest, as they did in the nursery. Now, I must tell you of my discovery. I will claim it, until I hear from you, and then I know I shall find out that it is an old discovery; but neverthe- less, I don't recollect seeing it stated anywhere. The best honey plant in existence (so far as I know) is the common hemp, such as we feed canary birds. Several plants came up around our door, and 1 nev- er saw such a sight; they were covered from day- light until dark, every day, for weeks, with blacks, Italians, and bumble-bees. I think I will sow Y2 or % of an acre this spring. Did you ever notice it? Sandwich, 111. Alex. Wilder. Barrels can be used without waxing, but it is a little unsafe unless they are extremely well {made. I have noticed that the bees work on hemp, but here they get only pollen from it. One of our neighbors had i acre of it. I have never had one queen kill the others in the lamp nursery, but few times. ROBBING ; ANOTHER REMEDY. Your account in the last No. of Gleanings, about bees robbing, reminds me of my last season's expe- rience. Here it is. One day, I had occasion to turn up a box hive, for only about 5 minutes, but that was long enough to let the robbers in, and as the stock proved to be queenless, they went at it desperately. I took a piece of cloth like a sheet, and threw it loosely over the hive; then they attacked the adjoining hives on each side ([ had 15 standing in a row, about 2ft. apart), and I began to fear there would be a general rebellion, as they seemed determined to "'fight it out on that line, if it 't mil; id! summer." Well, I brought into the battle such weapons as sheets, table cloths, blankets, etc., and threw them loosely over each hive that showed any commotion, and in half an hour "all was qui& on the Potomac." While I was away from home during the fall, they had several spells of robbing, and my wife stopped them every time, by using the same remedy. Sim- ply cover the hive up with cloth; it need not be tied tight around the hive. The main point is to cover the entrance, and in this way, there is no danger of smothering. I would say, cover both the robber hive and also those being robbed. A. A. Fradenburg. Port Washington, O , Jan. 20, 1ST!) I hardly think this remedy would answer for severe cases ; mild ones generally cease after a little, of their own accord. QUEENS' VOICES ; WHY DO THEY "TALK?" I would give a good deal to have one of those talkative queens of Mr. Henderson's, and must have one this season, for I am deeply inter- ested in their little voices, especially, that "zeep;" I have never heard it. Mr. Langstroth, Mr. Quinby, and some others have it "peep," and say you can al- ways hear it before swarming. There is another voice or sound, of which the bee journals speak, as "Tua— Tua," and say it is the young queens calling for food when hungry. Now, t have heard that sound very plainly, but think the call is made from a different motive. I think it indicates fear or dis- tress. You listen at the hive, and hear the 2 queens call "Tua-Tua," and on examination, you will find them either surrounded by bees, or in a cluster or ball, the 2 being kept at bay. 1 have picked up a queen between my fingers, the wings being held fast, and she would sing out "Tu-Tu-Tua." Another fact which establishes this idea, in my mind, is the following: I had a very line Italian queen that came off with a swarm. The swarm acted very strangely, settling along on the hives in litfle knots and bunches, and some being on the ground. I concluded that she could not fly; sol hunted for her all around, but to ; no purpose. Seeing by the drift of the swarm, that she had followed a row of hives. I suspected that she must be inisde of some one of them, so I began to listen lor this note of distress, commencing with the first hive next to her own. I kept on to the 12th or 14th, and found her calling "Tua-Tua" very mourn- i fully. She was balled. I took her out and present- j ed her to her swarm, which accepted her; even a good many that had gone back came out, and crawl- ed into the new hive, for I set it on top of the old ! one, to see what effect it would have on those inside the old hive. Now, I think here iswhere the "zeep" | comes in; it's a call for her bees or followers, like I the old hen's cluck for her chickens. Who knows ? I Santa Barbara, Cal., Jan. 28, 1879. J. N. O. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 105 A CONVENIENT HORSE-POWER. PMIIE American Agriculturist for Feb. gives I ;i rut of a home-made horse-power, — ' built from the parts of an old, worn out, Buckeye mowing machine. As something hasbeen said of such arrangements before, in Gleanings, we have copied the cut. 1IORSE-POWEK MADE FROM AN OLD MOW- ING-MACHINE. The axle, with the beveled cog-wheel, is set on end, and the latter geared to a cones- ponding wheel in the drive-wheel of the mower, which in turn is attached to a long shaft, as represented in the engraving. This shaft is bedded in blocks of timber, and car- ries a belt-wheel on its other extremity, as shown. A pole is fastened on top of the up- right shaft, for the attachment of the horse. The whole apparatus is sunk in the ground beside the door of the shop, so that only the upper halves of the wheels appear above ground. — »»♦» UIOKE ABOIT FOOT-PCV.ER SAWS. ^fAVING read your description of H. Smith's »["" "J foot-power saw, I accepted an invitation from s»-!J him to examine his saw. and test its working power. So, to-day, we went to work to see what we could do. The saw is not the one illustrated in your last (Dec.) number, but the mote recent invention no- ticed in your magazine in Nov., 1878; and. as he (Mr. Smith) says, it entirely eclipses the one mentioned in Dec. No. I have tried both, and can speak with certainty. In your notice of it. you stated that no saw could be made to beat the Barnes foot-power saws. Now, I do not know what you can do with the Barnes saw, but if you can beat to-day's record, it must do much more than is claimed for it (8 ft. of inch stuff per minute). I am a person that has not done enough work for 12 months to keep my muscles in trim, but notwithstanding that, after a few trials, I succeeded in cutting 18 ft. 9 in., in one minute, by actual time; 12 ft. 6 in. and 13 ft. were repeatedly cut by others, in the same time. The stuff was plump inch, pine lumber. I am confident that, with the saw in the very best of trim, 10 feet could be cut per minute. Now, if you, Mr. Barnes, or any other man can beat that, I should like to hear from him. I know that this saw will cut at the rate of 8 ft. per minute, without fatigue to the operator, and would cut sec- tions at a very good rate. The simplicity of this machine, combined with its superior working qualities, should recommend it to every bee-keeper, as the manufacturers inform me that it is public property. As I am the owner of the original foot-power saw, illustrated in your magazine, I noticed that your di- mensions were not correct, in every part. The 2 wheels on the counter-shaft should have been 6 and 12 in., instead of 6 and 24 in. If made as you de- scribe, it would do well for horse-power, but would be entirely useless as a foot-power saw. Those in- tending to make a foot-power saw would do well to notice this. QUEEN REGISTERING CARDS AND THE WEATHER. Could you not get up something better for regis- tering cards? Even when put on with galvanized tacks, they get so dirty and unsightly that I am ashamed to have them about. Would not some kind of varnish, enamel, or possibly soaking in par- atine, overcome this difficulty? .1. <). Facev. New Hamburg, Ont., Can., Jan. 1, 1879, I am very glad, my friend, to hear of your success, but I fear others may not succeed so well, with the simple, slow motion saw, for many of nearly the same kind are now in use. 1 think your 8 in. saw must have been in extremely good order, and I guess, as you were simply trying what you could do, that you would not be able to do the same thing day after day. Please send us a drawing or rough sketch of the machine. Our registering cards look very well, for a year or two, and then we tack oh new ones. They are so very cheap it is not much ex- pense. I know of nothing so absolutely proof against the weather, as the little slates. -«► •©. » TRIALS OF CEEEAR WINTERING. Yf? AM in a quandary as to what to do with my |c|j bees. I kept them out on the summer stands s=l until the sever.' cold weather in Dec. com- menced, then took them into the cellar, and piled I them up 15 and i tiers high. The warmth of the cel- I lar, I suppose, made them uneasy, and they tried to i get out; so I tried to fasten them in, by placing blocks with wire cloth, before the entrances, to keep them in the hives. Some 3 weeks ago, I found a good many, on the cellar bottom, dead, and swept out several quarts. j As some of the honey boards had warped so that the bees could get out, I supposed they came from j those hives, and that nothing serious was the mat- ! ter; but the Jan. No. coming to hand Saturday evening, and being perused, 1 saw that others are having trouble with their bees, which induced me to take a peep into the cellar; and, lo! the cellar bottom was completely covered with dead bees, and some were alive and crawling around. Where they all came from, I cannot tell; but they must have got out of the hives some way. For some time after I put them in the cellar, I could hear them making almost a constant hum- ming, night and day, as my bedroom is directly over them; but, for a week or two past, they have not made as much noise as before. The weather is yet cold, and the ground yet covered with snow, and I cannot place them where I want them to stand all summer, on account of the snow. If 1 carry the hives out doors, to examine them, bees will perish, and I am afraid those fastened in the hives will die. If I open the entrances now, I should think they would come out and never find their way "back. What would you advise me to do? Galva, 111., Feb. :s, 1879. D. Norton. Make the cellar perfectly dark; if that don't do. let in cold air without light, until it drives them back into the hives; then, when warm enough, set them on summer stands. If you carry them out in the win- ter, and then set them back again, it will not matter where they are placed. I think out door wintering the safest, at least for an in- experienced hand. We have received a sample of fdn., made on Mrs. Dunham's now machine. The base Is so thin, on the small piece sent us, as to be transparent like glass, but the walls are more than ordinarily thick. Of course, it costs more per square foot than the kind we furnish, but if it really prevents sagging, and such may be the case, it may prove of much value. I think, from experiments 1 have made, that the bees will work it out more slowly, but it will proba- bly have a thorough test, as soon as it is warm enough. 106 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Mak. GLEANINGS JMBEE CULTURE. J±. I. ROOT, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, MEDINA, OHIO. TKKITIS: $1.00 PER YEAR, POST-PA1U. iDvgEIDIISrA, IMIAIR,.. 1, 1879. And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, I nit walk contrary unto me; then I .\*U1 walk con- trary unto you also in fury. Lev. 20: 27, 28. ■ — — » i«i m We have 3,939 subscribers, and it is only Feb. 28th. We have sold 85 mills for making fdn., and, so Ear as I can learn, every one of them is doing- a good business. The Northeastern Bee-Keepers' Association will hold its annual convention in City Hall, Syracuse, N. V., on the 11th, 12th and 13th of March next. There, that is just my luck! The Jan. Nos. are nil gone. If you will sell yours, I will give you 10c. for it. Very 'likely I shall have to give :20c. before the year is out. Mapi.e sugar, with ^ flour, stirred until it grains, makes beautiful candy for bees to start brood rear- ing'. By the use of it I verily believe a colony may be made to swarm in April. Evrrv one of our advertisers, 1 think stricliy re- liable. If you do not find them so, it is a mutual agreement that you are to report to me. Are we not all agreed on this, boys? We can furnish you a double edged, (18 in.), prun- ing saw for cutting limbs in swarming time, such as is shown on page 98, for 75c. A larger size (20 in.) for 85c. Either will be sent by mail for 15c. extra. These are the celebrated Boynton, lightning saws. Friend Nellis has been considerably delayed on the first No. of the Kxchanga, but we now look for it daily. Three other bee journals are already started, or are to lie started, this year. As sample copies are ottered tree, the public can judge i)l' their merits without the investment of any mohcj . We were very much delighted to receive two spec- imens of Air-Plants from Geo. Wolfe, of Jackson- ville, Florida. To us Northerners, who have always been accustomed to the orthodox kind of plants which draw nourishment directly from the earth. these Air-Plants are simply wonderful. When I closed the Feb. No., 12 colonies had died. To-day, Feb. ~'7th, 15 more are dead. All were weak colonies, in Simplicity and L. hives, with plenty of stores. None were old strong stocks, and none were in chaff hives. It is a "burning shame," neverthe- less, to be writing bee books, and letting the bees die. We clip the following from the circular of W. F. & .Too. Barnes : "Bead what the largest honey dealers in the world say: 'Comb honey in one pound caps or box.es, measuring 4' £x4] ^x2 not glassed, packed 24 in a neat crate, sell more readily and bring better prices than in any other shape. H.K.& F.B.THURBBR & Co., X.V.' " sizes, in proportion. I can hardly aff ord to make a rebate on those I have sold this season, yet 1 will do so, if you think it right that I should. The prize sections are just such as Boolittle and BetFinger have sent out, unplaned. They will be planed for $1.00 extra per thousand. "the blessed bees." Were I desirous of making all the money possible out of my business of manufacturing bee-keepers' supplies, without regard to what became of my cus- tomers, I think I would purchase 10,00(1 copies of the above little book, and distribute them, gratis, to all who were getting the bee lexer. 1 am sure they would sit up all night reading it, and then borrow money if they possibly could, to invest in bees. hives, etc. Hut. alas', in less than a year a wail of "blasted hopes" would come up, such as the world has never heard before, and 1 should not sleep peacefully. Is it full of truth? Yes; and that is where the trouble is. n^d the author dated it on the moon, or at the north pole, our ARC class would have known how to take him; but, on the contrary, he has start- ed out by linkinar himself with Prof. Cook, and the Agricultural College, in such away that T cannot, even now, decide whether he means to claim his most incredible statements as facts, or only pure fiction. He, fresh from a couple of years' study in college, a boy of onlv 17, without having ever seen 1 he inside of a bee hive, starts with 3? colonies in box hives, and obtains over $3.50 > cash for the hon- ey produced by them the first year, besides increas- ing them to 97 stocks of Italians. He obtained 2.500 lbs. of box honey from maple and apple tree blos- soms. The worst feature about it is that the book is be- ing reviewed right and left, as a truthful story. He very gravely states he has now colonies byihethon- sand. Why could not a writer of so much talent be satisfied with a statement frank and truthful, in- stead of one that will craze the brain of our youth with the idea of sud leu wealth to be obtained In- going into a business, already entrancing enough, even without the money to be obtained by it? To be sure, he tells how he did it. and very ingenious are the explanations, [shall be glad to send you the book, but this very caution mu-t lie p rsted in- side of every copy I sell. Price $1.00 postpaid. We have made two fdn. mills, that make the flat bottomed cells; we can make them from $1 to #3 cheaper than the usual kind. After a careful exam- ination of some combs built on this kind of fdn. furnished by Mr. Nellis, I found that nur bees, after (Hi, leave the greater part of the cells Hat at the bot- tom when the comb is worked out. With such comb, the bees cannot cluster as compactly, nor can they use the wax with as much economy, and I can- not therefore, at present, recommend them. GREAT REDUCTION IN THE PRICE OE SECTIONS. In consequence of lower prices on lumber, im- provements in machinery, and because other folks were underselling us, we have decided to make the 4?4 by 4J4 sections, for $6.00 per thousand; the so called prize sections, for $5.00 per thousand; other FEEDING IN MARCH. Main colonies will probably require food during this month, and those who wish to forward brood rearing as fast as possible will be likely to make much better progress, if they feed in the right way. Unless you are pretty careful, you will make mi-- chief if you undertake to feed liquid food; 1 would use nothing but candy. In the spring, before pollen can be used, I would by all means use the Hour candy, made as described in the A B C Part I. The point I wish to touch is about the manner of feeding. In warm weather, the candy slab in a frame is just what we want, and a single frame of candy might do no harm in cold weather in a very strong colony, but a whole slab hunt;' in tin' center of a weak colony would divide the cluster like a cake of ice, and would be sure to kill them outright. My attention wa«n called to this by a correspondent who hung slabs of grape sugar in his hives for win- ter food, alternating them with frames of comb. During the past year, I have almost constantly warned our readers against depending on grape sugar for winter stores, and in our printed direc- tions given in Nov., and sent with every box sold, I took especial pains to make the matter plain. In cold weather, the candy or sugar must be given in small lumps, placed directly over or in the cluster. so they can thoroughly warm it up, or it will be of no use to them. Again; if you place these lumps in carelessly, so that they leave openings in the quilt, to let out the warm air, this alone will often kill a weak colony. Now if you till a table spoon with candy, so as to make a cake Hat on one side and rounding on the other, yon can put this over the cluster, flat side down and have your quilt tit closely over it. This would last but a little while, so we have made a tin dish with a rounding bottom, somewhat like the spoon, and about 8 it . long. A cake of candy made on this is just right to lay over a 3 or 1 frame nu- cleus, and it will last them 2 or 3 weeks. After it is put in place, and the duck or burlap pressed closely over it, we cover the space above and at the sides closely with chaff and chaff cushions. 1S79 GLEANINGS IX BEE CULTURE. 107 Mr cilmm> We have made a covenant with death. ;m'l with hell are we ;it agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass thronarh, it shall not come unto us; forwehave made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we birl ourselves. Isaiah. 23; 15. MY friends. I am aware that many will object to the subject I am about to ~ take up. ami those who have objected to my speaking so much about myself will. perhaps, object vehemently. Perhaus all such would better stop right here, and read no farther. You can cut out these two leaves, and burn them up, if they annoy you. and your bee journal will be full and com- plete without them. I write thus, because I know, by ]>ist experience thai it is in tins way I have been mast successful in reaching the hearts of those who. tempted like my- self, have been led to the feet of the Savior, by these same Home Palters. I was carefully brouarhi up. by kind Chris- tian parents, and until I was. perhaps. 13 or U years old. attended Sabbath school regu- larly, and enjoyed it. Asnearh as I can make out. I strayed away from these things first, through reading sensational fiction. The N. Y. Ledyer. perhaps more than any other one thing, led my thoughts in a wrong chan- nel. I well remember the first number that came out. In my youth. I was a greal read- er, and read everything; I can remember hunting over everything in the house, and devouring even the spelling book and dic- tionary. Once when on a visit to my aunt, a neighboring woman who called in. com- plimented me on being so studious. My aunt expressed anxiety in regard to what it was that was read. The woman replied, ••oh. ["don't think it makes much difference what they read, so long as you keep them reading." I was, at the time, reading a sensational novel, lam afraid too many parents think their boys of 14 years old safely employed, providing they are reading sorrwthiny, as did this woman. From my earliest childhood. I believe I 1 a 'e always shown a preference lor the oth- er sex. In my plays. I generally chose girls for my mates, and I believe I was generally a favorite with them. There is nothing wrong in this, and I believe a young man who mingles freely with young women of his own age, safer, as a general thing, than one who does not. I believe one great reason why we lack charity for each other is because our pecu- liar temptations are so unlike. One who is naturally truthful, who does not talk a great deal, and who has little temptation to exag- gerate things, or to make large statements, would be very likely to have little patience with one who. like myself, is a great talker, and has to light continually, against the dis- position to give a very erroneous view of matters. One of us may have a besetting sin of penuriousness. and another, looking on, may wonder how it is possible that a man can be so "little and mean."" just because he can not understand that the man has a constantly besetting temptation in that di- rection. Of late, when I hear a man called stingy and small in deal, I always want to take his part, not because I am tempted that way. hut because I am tempted in oth- er ways, to sins so much more heinous in the sight of God, that I feel for him. The outgrowth of my novel reading led me into a way of trifling with the other sex, of thinking it a smart thing to Hatter them indiscriminately, and of studying to do it so adroitly that even those who were older and wiser than myself, were misled by me. That is a pretty hard accusation I know, and those who have no temptations of the kind will hardly know how to excuse it. At that very time, had thousands (if dollars been entrusted to my care, without the owners knowing anything about bow much he had given me, I think I should have had no temptation at all, to appropriate a copper of it; very likely the idea would never have entered my head, that it might have been done. We may be scrupulously honest on all points except one. and yet on that point may be as callous as the most hardened rep- robate. And still be a Christian'!1 By no means: you can not be a Christian, so long as you are willfully breaking a single one of the commandments. ••(Jive me a clean heart. O God," is the prayer of him who is accepted of Christ, and where one is con- scious of willful transgression in any one respect, von may be sure the subject of re- ligion will be to him a distasteful one. Of course. I began about this time to find the Sunday school uninteresting, and pretty soon, religion was a piece of old fashioned superstition. I did not quite like the socie- ty of infidels at first, and when I came across Universalism, I took a strong liking to that. I wanted a kind of half way ground, where I could have freedom or thought and action. I remember having some compunctions of conscience, at differ- ent times, but in talking the matter over with some of my new associates, it was de- cided that "girls were expected to take care of themselves; it was their business, of covrsi ." With such a doctrine, r fur. \n\J\JBJ VIWA/M VAAJJXX& ■ According to quantity bought at one, time. For fur ther particulars, see our Illustrated Catalogue, mail ed on application. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. QUEENS WANTED. I will pay $1.00 for all the young Italian queens our Southern friends will send me during the month of April; May. 90c; June, 75c; and after July 1st, 60c. The above prices are for queens delivered here, and you are expected to guarantee safe delivery. The only requirements we make are, that the "Dollar" queens be daughters of imported mothers, and fertile, laying queens of this year's raising. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. Having fitted up a shop wirh suitable machinery, we are prepared to furnish Bee Hives, Section arid Prize Boxes, Frames, Shipping Cases, &c., &c, as cheap as the cheapest. Price List, Sample Section Box and Comb Foundation, free. Send for them. 4 EDWIN THEW, Morrisonville, Clinton Co., N. Y. ECCS. ECCS. FOR HATCHING, Packed for any distance, from 1st premium Brown Leghorns and Black B. R. G. Bantams. Pens mated for me by I. K. Felch and purchased of him, who says they are as good as money can buy of him. A fair hatch guaranteed or order duplicated. Eggs, 82.50 pr 13. or $4.00 pr 26, in new baskets. C. W. CANFIELD, 4-»d Athens, Bradford Co., Pa. BEE KEEPERS ! Send 5c to A. J. King & Co., 61 Hudson St., New York, for a copy of their Journal, and Price List of Extractors, Smokers, etc., etc. Grand Inducements to Lice Agents. 4tf ITALIAN QUEENS AND BEES! Send for price list of full colonies, 4 frame nuclei, Queens, Comb Foundation, and Apiarian Supplies. Safe arrival and satisfaction guaranteed. 4tfd H. H. BROWN, Light Street, Columbia Co., Pa. GOLDEN ITALIANS^ We have them in their puritv. Circulars and Price List Free. J. M. BROOKS & BRO., 4-9d Columbus, Ind., Box 64. 120 GLEA^IKGS IN BEE CULTURE. April We are glad to inform our friends that our new shop is now arranged and we are ready for business. Our facilities are unsurpassed for doing good work cheaply and quickly. OUR NEW MONTHLY, The Bee-Keeper's Exchange, Is already popular, and its success is established. Its low price, 75 cents per year, brings it within the reach of all, and we propose to make it so useful and entertaining that no bee-keeper can afford to be without it. Sample copy free. COMB FOUNDATION. DRONE OR WORKER CELLS. We wish our friends to realize that we are abso- lutely headquarters for Comb Foundation. We produce the most and best Comb Foundation of anyone in the United States. We have testimonials from many who have tried different manufacturers and our Foundation is pronounced the best. We now have over 9,000 pounds of wax on hand that we paid a round price for, as we buy the best that can be obtained, and have it selected especially for us. PRICES FOR 1879. If we supply Foundation in odd quantities, or if cut to any size wanted, prices will bej 1 to 25 pounds, per pound 55c 25 to 50 " " 53c 50 to 100 " " 52c 100 to 500 " " 50c 500 to 1000 " " 48c 1000 pounds or more, " 45c If we get orders for foundation in 5, 10, 15, 25, 50, or 100 pound boxes, of 8x16% or 12x21 size, we will allow ten per cent discount from above prices. The above quotations are for the old style or lozenge shaped cells. FLAT-BOTTOMED FOUNDATION Is a grand success. The thin without wire is war- ranted to average ten square feet to the pound, and I will not leave a "Ash bone" in box honey. It is too thin for the brood nest. The flat bottomed f ounda- ; tion, with wirejincorporated, will average six square feet to the pound, and absolutely prevents all sag- ging and can be given to large swarms, or can be handled very roughly after it is built out. Flat bot- toms are not an experiment, but have been thor- oughly tested. The bees accept of this foundation just as fast as they do the old style. We hereby inform the public, that the wired foun- dation is subject to two patents, and the thin flat bottomed is subject to one patent. We have full privileges to make and sell this foundation and shall handle it in large quantities. We propose to keep the wired foundation in stock in'following sizes: Sheets are 10x16, lOxlS1^, 8%xl6!4, 10&14, 11^x12, and ]2xl9. The New Thin, for boxes, will be kept in sheets 12x12. Both kinds will be sold at following prices: II to 25 pounds, per"pound 70c 25 to 50 " " 68c 50 to 100 " " 67c liiO to 500 " " 65c 500 to 1000 " " 63c 1000 pounds or more, " 60c HONEY BOXES. Probably no one in the United States has better facilities than we, for making boxes rapidly and neatly. We can turn out 100,000 boxes a month without difficulty. Our specialty is the Prize and Novice or 41ix45i dovetailed box. These we will keep in stock. We plane all our boxes on the edges and on one side, and guarantee the work to be first class in every particular. Our aim is to "excel, not undersell." Send for our samples before you purchase. PRICES FOR 1879. Prize boxes to take 5x6 glass, either tall or low. Per 1,000 boxes $ 6 50 Per 5,000 boxes 31 25 For 10,000 boxes 58 00 Parties must be very particular to give exact out- side dimensions of their boxes, when they order. Dovetailed sections 4,ix414 will be supplied at ex- actly same prices as above. For prices of everything needed in the apiary, write for our new price list, just out. 4tf Address J. H. \ ELLIS, Canajoharie, N, Y. FOR SALE CHEAP. 200. COLONIES ITALIAN BEES. Having over 450 colonies of Italian Bees, I will sell 200 in lots of 25, 50, 100, or 200, at $5 delivered on board of any Mississippi River steamboat. All the queens are daughters of Imported mothers from two districts of Italy. All in newly painted movable frame hives. PAUL L. VIALLON, 4tfd Bayou Goula, La. STILE THEY COME! Another Supply Dealer to the Front, with prices extremely low, quality of goods and workmanship excellent. Send postal card for prices of the Lang- stroth, Standard, and other Hives, Frames, Tin Sep- arators, glass for boxes, &c, &c. Address 4 W. D. WRIGHT, Knowersville, Albany Co., N. Y. UCAQINfi RESTORED. Particulars nCHItBllU FREE. Ven-y&Hari)er, Madison, Ind. BINGHAM'S New Cotton Burning, Cold Smoke Smoker. Send for Circular, to T. F. BINGHAM. 4d Otsego, Mich. SMOKERS AND HONEY KNIVES. If you want the best, send card for circulars to BINGHAM & HETHETINGTON. 4d Otsego, Mich. BEE KEEPERS' SUPPLIES. 4d F. A. SALISBURY, Geddes, Onon. Co., N. Y. BEE KEEPERS. All kinds of Hives, Frames, and Section Boxes cut to order. Prices as low as the lowest. 4 D. T.DAVIS, Pana, 111. FOUN DATION. 25c 10 to 501bs., 50c per lb. Wax worked at 20c. per lb. paid in trade, for yellow wax. 4d F. J. FARR, Independence, Mo SECTIONS $5.00 PER M. 9 H HMink*?; HVi; «Va» S'HOFOZt.TXONALL'Sr LOW. W. T. FALCONER, Jamestown, Chaut. Co., N. Y. ITAILIAJV BEES FOR SAI^E. I will sell, after April 1st to June 15th, 3 frame nuclei with tested qneen ft 00 Each additional frame with bees and brood 50 Single tested queen 2 50 All queens are raised in full colonies. 4 JULIUS HOFFMAN, Fort Plain, Mont. Co., N. Y. OIl: VOTED TO BEE« A1SD HONEY, A1VJ3 HOME INTERESTS. Vol. VII. APRIL 1, 1879. No. 4. A. I. ROOT, ) Published Monthly. (TERMS: tl.OO Per Annum in Ad' Publisher and Proprietor, \ < vance; 3 Copies for $2. 50; 5 for $3. 75; Medina, O. ) Esta,t>lisliecl in 1873. (.10 o? more, 6(te. each. Single Number, lOc. SCRAPS AND SKETCHES. NO. 1. MY CHIP BASKET. ■■'r^ UNNING a foot-power saw, when the saw is tsy 'dull, or the machinery needs oiling1, is a loss — ^ of time, temper, and treading. WHERE TO KEEP FUEL FOR SMOKERS. Let me suggest the putting of another drawer un- der friend Valentine's queen stand, described on page 253, Vol. VI, of Gleanings, to hold fuel for the smoker, and a piece of thick cloth with. which to handle the top of the smoker when it is hot. LAMP NURSERY FOR ISREAD MAKING. Here is a "chip" that will interest the ladies. The lamp nursery is a splendid place in which to raise yeast. Make the yeast in the evening, leave it in the nursery all night, and you can stir up the "sponge" early in the morning, and get your liread all baked before dinner. HOME MADE QUEEN CARDS. Mrs. H. made me some queen registering cards out of a paper flour sack. She did the "printing" with her pen, and it took her only two evenings to make a hundred. Of course, she saved only 50c, but that is enough to pay for Gleanings for six months. FUEL FOR SMOKER. Dry, rotten, elm wood takes fire very easily, and never goes out in the smoker; I think rotten bass- wood burns longer than elm, but corn cobs will out last either. If you have any difficulty in getting cobs to burn, put them in an old pan and dry them in the oven, and your trouble will vanish like smoke. CUTTING 2 INCH STUFF BY FOOT-POWER. When you are cutting up 2 inch stuff with your foot-power saw, as section boxes for instance, set your table so that the saw will cut half way through the work, then lower the table so that the saw will finish the work, and run it through again. You can do the work quicker, and a great deal easier. The saw must cut true, or there will be a little jog in the middle of the stuff. BEE VEILS. If you must have a bee veil, buy V2 yard of black tarlatan, or, what is better, 1J4 yards of grenadine; get your mother, sister, wife, or sweetheart to make it into a veil by sewing two of the edges together— thus making a sort of bag without a bottom— hem- ming it around the bottom, and putting a "pucker- ing string" around the top. You can slip this over your hat, tuck the bottom inside your shirt collar, and you are ready for "bees— iness." CONVENIENT HIVES. When you have only a few bees, and your hives are new, you may get along very well with a com- plicated hive; but, as your bees increase in numbers, you will find that the management of a large apiary is somewhat different from that of a small out. You will sometimes be hurried, yes, fairly driven with work, and would welcome with delight any quicker method of management. Then you will discover that a complicated hive, with the frames and "rigging" all stuck up with propolis, is about the meanest thing thy.t was ever invented. TAKING A BEE JOURNAL. "Good morning, Mr. Beekeeper; wouldn't you like to subscribe for a good bee paper?" "No, I guess not; can't afford it; a good many of my swarms went to the woods last summer, and the rest of them may die this winter; if they do, I shan't want any bee paper, so I guess I'll wait and see how they come out. "But, say, hold on Mr. H.; don't be in a hurry; I want to talk with you a little; you seem to be pretty lucky with bees — how do you prevent swarms from going to the woods? and how do you keep your bees from freezing during the winter?" W. Z. Hutchinson. Rogersville, Genesee Co., Mich. Thanks for your valuable hints, friend II. Your last point is one I have often had cause to notice this spring. Quite a number have sent in orders for goods, saying they were too poor to take a bee journal. Many times they have told how badly they wanted one, but that it was out of the question. These good friends have almost invariably ordered something with their money that was out of date, or superseded, and they almost always send more money than required, because the goods have declined in price; to be sure, the amount is placed to their credit, but their goods have gone and they are obliged to send again, and pay an additional express bill, which is almost always more than the price of the journal. You may think I have a selfish motive in it, but I cannot help say- ing, before you pay out a single cent for sup- plies or anything else for the apiary, take a bee journal. You may be able to get along without everything else, but you cannot get along without that, if you are going to keep bees. In the matter of keeping you posted on prices alone, it will pay you. ^ ■•■ ^ CHAFF HIVES, ETC. Iff N Feb. No., you ask for reports in regard to chaff Ji| packing; therefore I will give you mine, lwent ~-«J into winter quarters with (53 full stocks, and 3 nuclei; 2 of the nuclei were on 4 frames, and 1 on 2 frames; all were on their summer stands, and packed in chaff, in various ways. Some were packed inside the hive and some on the outside; a few had nothing but cushions on top of the frames. Twenty-two are in L. hives, 2 in chaff hives, and the balance are in hives 2 ft. long by 13 in. wide, with the frames hanging the short way. For those packed inside, I made chaff cushion di- vision boards, by making frames of lath 1J4 in. wide. On each side of these I tacked Indian head muslin, and tilled them with wheat chaff, then laid them on a board with another board on top, and pressed them flat and smooth. This makes what I call a No. 1 division board for wintering. These I set close up to the bees, and filled the space between them and 122 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Apkil the sides of the hive, with loose chaff. For those packed outside, I made a rough box and filled the space between the hive and box, with chaff. All had cushions on top of the frames. 1 have not lost one yet, and we have had a severe winter for this country. The thermometer ranged from 12° to 22° below zero, for 4 weeks. My bees did not fly from Nov. 28th, until Jan. 21st. Some of those packed on the outside lost a good many bees; frost and ice would accumulate on the inside of the hive, and through the day it would melt, run down, and freeze on ihe bottom board, and close up the entrance. I had to watch them very closely, and had to bore holes in some of the hives to give them air, the entrance being frozen up. Those packed inside had no ice in them, but were always nice and dry, and lost very few bees. Those in the chaff hives lost less bees, according to the size of the stocks, than any I have. I think chaff packing is a perfect success, and I have learned just how it must be done. Packing on the outside is just as you say, like hanging the bed quilts over the top of the bed posts on a cold night. 1 have no more fears about wintering bees, if I can get plenty of dry wheat chaff. I consider the chaff hive ahead of anything I ever heard of, both for summer and winter. It is not very expensive, and most any one can make them, and it saves a good deal of fussing in the fall; as they are all ready packed, there is nothing to do but to take the surplus arrangements out, and put the chaff cushions on. I am making all chaff hives this winter. Not hav- ing a 50 horse power engine, saws, planers, &c, 1 go to the lumber yard and buy ;'« ceiling, which costs $20 per M. For the corner posts and rim I get barn boards at the same price. Instead of sawing the corner posts, I dress two pieces and nail them to- gether. The ceiling costs more than rough lumber, but it saves machinery and labor, and it makes a good hive and a nice one. When they are finished up and painted, they look real "sniptious." If I had only one stock of bees, I would have it in a chaff hive as soon as I could get it there. Bees in these hives don't hang out so much in hot weather, and I don't think combs will ever melt down in them, even if they do stand in the sun. I am also done with black bees. My Italians, or rather hybrids, did twice as well as the blacks last season. My best hybrid stock gave me 3 swarms and 190 lbs. of honey in sections, while my best black one only gave 65 lbs. of honey and no swarm. That is too much difference with equal chances. This season I am going to try some of Oatman's queens —the ones that make a feller's pockets jingle— and Italianize my entire apiary. Now, friend Novice, if you can find a corner in Gleanings you may publish this for the benefit of our ABC class, as I consider myself one of them. I want to try and keep somewhere in sight of that one that grows so fast, and not let him get too far ahead. I will not bother you with questions, for I generally go to the bee books and journals, with them. ' M. M. Stover. Table Rock, Neb., Feb. 12, 1879. PROPOLIS AND HOW THE BEE UN- LOADS IT. /ip% N page 34, A B C Part 1st, you mention the II iv) Pranl£S °f the young bees when they bring in ^if their first loads of pollen. You should have gone a little farther and explained how they unload it, and as propolis is also carried on their hind legs in their baskets, how they get rid of that too. I have heard it remarked that their manner of de- positing pollen is to thrust their extremities to which it is attached into the cell, and push it off f rem the one with the other, and pack it in. Since propolis is never stored in cells as is pollen, the manner in which they get rid of that may also be of interest to many who have never witnessed the in- terior workings of the inmates of a bee hive. 1 have observed, through glass, their pranks and jostlings when they had entered the hive with their loads of propolis, and never had an idea that they cut up those manoeuvres because they were proud of what they had done, but to attract the attention of the other bees to assist them in getting rid of their burden. Propolis being a tenacious substance, I very much doubt if the bee that gathers it ever rids itself of it; at least, I have never as yet been able to discover it. When a bee enters with its load, and gets up among its fellows, a jostling, whirling, or shaking is seen; some of the bees nearest to it seem to understand for what it is done, take notice of the actor, follow it up, and when it gets a little more reconciled, one, and then another, will take off a bit with their man- dibles, and carry it to where they use it, and apply it to sealing up cracks, and working it over rough surfaces. I have often thought if bees vould not fuss and spend so much time working with this disagreeable stuff, but instead, devote the same time to other more necessary duties in the hive, they would be a better source of revenue to the keeper. Therefore bee-keepers making hives and fixtures should guard against offering too much temptation to bees, to have them do so much unnecessary work. The smoother the interior of the hives and surplus re- ceptacles, the less time will be wasted. Query: I wonder if the bees^willj not be inquisi- tive and examine your new wooden cover made of sti-ips, and try to improve on it by closing up the narrow spaces between the strips, where the twine crosses? You know the instinct of the bee leads it to close up all such appertures where they cannot pass through, and then if they should behave so badly, probably they would keep it up, and every time you had occasion to roll it up and mar their work, they will be likely to repeat it. G. J. Flansbtjrgh. Bethlehem Centre, N. Y., March 10, 1879. Under the head of pollen, yon will find I do go a little farther, friend F. I have no doubt but that the bees jwill close up the cracks in the mats with propolis, but I do not think this is going to mar their utility much, after all. If they close the hive so that not a bee can even push his head out, and at the same time admit of contracting the hive to 2 frames, if need be, they will be ahead of anything we have yet had for the purpose. m& i|i w CALIFORNIA. 5njSj$i.OES it occur tot'you, while shiveringHwith the J»l J» cold of early February, that there are bees at £a~d' work gathering honey in the United States? We, in southern California, have not escaped the cold weather, and I do not think we feel it any less than you do, for our blood gets thin, and when the thermometer gets down to 27° of a morning, and we see a bit of ice }s to H inch thick, we feel the cold. Our first rains came the last week in Dec, and to date, we have had only 554 in. All anxiously watch for rain now, for unless we get more soon, the sea- son will prove a failure. The&first honey brought into my apiary came ten days ago from manzinita.| &That shrub is now in full bloom, and furnishes large quantities. Stocks are growing strong very fast— so fast that I shall look for swarms in a week. [ had occasion to transfer several stocks this week, and found ;f rom 5 to 7 frames of brood in each hive. The first section boxes were put in on the 16th, more for experiment than anything else; but, to- day, the bees are building comb and storing honey in them. The season is 4 or 5 weeks late, and we are very anxious;to go through the ibrood chamber on our annual hunt for drone comb to cut out, but dare not touch them without more rain for fear of starving next fall. With 3 or 4 inches more of rain, we would be reasonably sure of a good ▼ear. Last winter we had heavy rains and very good crops of honey. I began a vear ago with 200 stands, increased to 475, made 21,000 lbs. of comb honey, and 15,000 lbs. of extracted; but our profits go to pay freight to get the honey to America or somewhere else in the world. Heavy shipments werelroade last fall to] Germany and England. If these ventures prove satisfactory, it will be the means of turning our attention almost exclusively to the extractor. I now have 200 two story hives, with full sets of combs built ready for the extractor, all filled last year. After disposing of a portion of my apiary, I begin this spring with 290 stocks; shall increase just as little as possible and make what honey can be had. The great trouble now is to avoid increasing our 1S79 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 123 apiaries. Every one has bees enough. You can hardly sell an apiary for as much as it would cost to buv as many new. empty hives. A new, 2 story, ex- tracting hive is uow offered in the flat at $1.00 each, which price has changed the minds of some who contemplated putting swarms into boxes to bo brimstoned next fall. Many of us packed our section boxes last fall in cases with slides to show the honey, putting only about 30 lbs. in a case. This has proved a great mis- take, on account of the additional freight we have to pav. We will have to hold on to the old 4 box case of 60 Ins. of honev, the tare of which is only 7 lb*., so that the freight shall not take the honev. When can you send off imported queens? What is the express charge to San Diego? G. F. Merriam. San Luis Rey, Cal., Feb. 20, 1879. We can send imported queens now, if you wish, friend M. The express charge to San Diego, Cal., is 95c. Four or Ave queens can be sent in one package, as cheaply as one. TOWNLEY, AND CHAFF HIVES IN THE PAST WINTER. ALSO HIS OPINION OF MY LOSSES. m CCORDIXG to Gle aninos for March, you have L\ lost 27 stocks of bees. Could not every one of — ._ those stocks have been saved, if they had been well protected on all sides with chaff, and with a di- vision board, the hive being- contracted to suit the size of the swarm? And, if saved, would they not now have been worth more than enousrh to pay for chaff hives for every unprotected stock you under- took to winter? Friend Root, why will you persist in trying to win- ter bees without protection, when you know that in a severe winter they are liable to be lost, and that good protection will save them? March 3d, bees here had a good fly for the first time since Nov. I commenced the winter with 85 stocks in my home apiary, and 37 in the apiary 3 miles from home, all in chaff. All are alive now— not a stock missing, and. with the exception of per- haps half a dozen colonies, there is no perceptible loss of bees. Young bees were flying from many of the hives to-day, March 6th. I can see nothing but carelessness on my part that will cause the loss of a colony now. J. H. Townley. Tompkins, Mich., March 6, 1870. If not right, friend T., you are pretty near- ly right. Instead of 27 colonies, we have lost 40, out of 161, and but one of the whole number was in the chaff hives; that one was very weak, and not properly protected. I have no doubt but that .50 more chaff hives in my apiary would have saved more in bees than the cost of the hives. There are two other points to be noticed. The bees that died so badly had been used for queen rear- ing, and were united so late in the fall, that they had no opportunity to get into good shape as were those in the chaff hives which had been used for box honey, and had not, as a general thing, been divided. The other point is that they were not, as a gen- eral thing, as strong as those in the chaff hives. Many imported queens were win- tered in Simplicity hives, but they were doubled up very strong, and fed in the fall. The hives that were fed, in order to get them to fill sections late in the fall, were the very best of any in the spring. One colony in the house apiary was found dead, which seemed in perfect order in every respect; sealed honey was in all the combs, and there were plenty of bees. An exceedingly pow- erful colony out doors in an American hive which I had purchased late in the fall, was also dead. The hive contained more than 50 lbs. of sealed clover honey, when they were found dead. I think it very likely that powerful colonies in chaff hives, fed bounti- fully until late in the fall, would never die. If the queen died, there would be bees enough left to rear another, if they were given a chance in the spring. Next winter. I will try and have my apiary composed of only such, and I wish you, friend Townley, would remind me to turn to this page about next Nov. If you will do so, I will send you Gleanings tor 18S0. SI DE STORING SECTIONS, INTRODUCIN ti UUEENS, ETC. 5fjjJJ AST spring I had 13 colonies of bees, have now j»r. ii 23, and made 800 lbs. of comb honey in section s-La| boxes, mostly by side storing. I find that my bees build straighter combs in side sections, than on top, without separators. 1 also find that bees are more apt to build straight combs in narrow top sec- tions than in wide ones. I packed and sent some honey, by freight, to Bal- timore, which was received sound. The first lot net niG 13c per pound which is low for comb honey, but we must remember that almost everything is low in price at this time. As favorable reports of side storing are so rare, I immediately wrote friend Larkin for further particulars, which he gives below. My section boxes are of two sizes; one is 5x0 in., and' 6 sections, arranged 3 in length, and 2 in height,, constitute one row, and come up level with the tops of the frames. I had in some hives 36, atid in some 42, and even more according to the strength of the colony, etc. My other size of sections, was made to fit inside of broad frames, of the same size as the other frames. The sections were made of pine and nailed together; the tops and bottoms are J4 by 1 ■''.,', the ends, Js by 2. I put my section boxes on each side of the larvae department with a tin separator between. Some hung in frames, as described above (6 in a frame), and some were placed on the bottom board, without frames, and generally without separators, except between the first row and the brood frames. Most of my swarms, I put into two story Simplic- ity hives made from your directions in Gleanings. Iii those, I made surplus honey in sections on top; some made 36 sections, averaging about l^lbs. to the section, and 8 to 10 lbs. to the frame. I have one frame that weighs 10 pounds. The honey built on top was very nice and white, but the sections in the side storing hives were built straighter than those on top. For top storing sec- tions, I think the top and bottom pieces should not be more than 1J4 in. wide. You will perceive that I had only new swarms in the two story hives; therefore I had not a fair chance to test top and side storing. I will have a better chance this year, if nothing happens to prevent. I have 10 pure Italian colonies, and the balance are hybrids. They carried considerable honey from red clover. I have purchased 4 dollar queens, and one warranted queen, and all of them proved pure. Before closing, I must tell you HOW I INTRODUCE MY QUEENS. I received them about noon. I opened thejhive in which I wished to place a new queen, caught and de- stroyed the old one, parted the frames, placed the cage containing the new queen between, and closed them so as to hold the cage from falling to the bot- tom of the hive, closed the hive, and went to my work. At sun set, I went to the hive and smoked the bees well, with tobacco smoke, and turned the new queen loose. So far, 1 have been very success- ful. I know you will say, it is a. cruel way of intro- ducins", but it certainly answers and the bees are all right by morning. < >f course, in a few days I look to sic that she is all right. John S. Larkin. Lander, Md., .Ian. 6, 1879. My bees have wintered well in the Simplicity hives; I have only lost 2 out of 28. The bees have been bringing in pollen for 2 days, from elm and ma- ple. Mercury is 76° in the shade at noon: how is that for "high?" I have not had to feed any. Jonesboro, 111., March 8, 1879. W. J. Willard. 124 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. April COMMON SENSE APIARY. SHADE FOR HIVES. f NOTICE that in iilmost every No. of Gleanings \ some mention is made of the necessity of shad- : _ ing bees. I believe all agree that some shade is ; absolutely necessary. The shade of large trees is i positively detrimental, as experience has taught me. To cover with loose boards is expensive and troublesome, and the shade inadequate. I settled the difficulty, as some others of your readers can, \ who do not own the premises which they occupy. For them, as for me heretofore, the propriety of setting out grapevines and trees for shade might be questioned, in view of the natural uncertainty of their tenures. I prepared stakes 5 ft. in length, which were firmly driven into the ground, 2 feet apart, on the south side of each hive. To these stakes, pieces of lath were nailed, one at the top and two below, at equal distances apart. In front of these, were planted either lima beans or toma- toes, and sometimes corn. As they grew up, the young plants were firmly twined around and be- tween the lath, and being planted early in the sea- son, afforded an excellent shade. The land was thus utilized, and a splendid crop of vegetables gathered therefrom. The cultivating was clone ear- ly in the morning or at dusk, without the least trou- ble or annoyance from the bees. The lath will cut to best advantage (being f ft. long), if your stakes are set at a distance of 2 ft. apart. For 3 years I have followed the practice of thus shading my hives, with satisfactory and profitable results. feeders. Without aiming to boast, I feel like affirming that I have perfected the feeder of all bee feeders. As described in Oct. No. of Gleanings, it consisted of a frame to suit the hive, made of ordinary lath. To each side of this was firmly and tightly nailed a sheet of tin reaching to within an inch or so of the top bar. Into this, the feed is poured, and from it, while hanging as an ordinary frame in the hive, the bees take the food. Of course, a "float" of cork or wood, about the size of the feeder bottom, must be made to fioat within upon the liquid sweet, and de- scending with it (as the bees sip the same), to pre- vent the little chaps from drowning. About a year ago, I fed many gallons of syrup and honey with feeders made after the above descrip- tion. As improved, it has a sheet of tin tacked to the under side of the top bar, and extending nearly to the bottom, through the center of the body of "feed." Floats half the width of those mentioned above should be used. Thus made the bees do not attach bits of comb to the top bar, as they some- times do when the dividing tin is absent. Such feeders are extremely convenient to handle, occu- pying but little more space than an ordinai-y frame, are readily filled, can be made cheaply, and are ca- pable of holding nearly 1 gal., of which advantages, the latter is sometimes no small item. AIDS FOB TRANSFERRING. With quite an experience in transferring bees, it may interest your readers to know what I consider the Si ne qua mm in expediting that little operation. I refer to small sticks split from straight grained board, and y2 inch taller than my frame. These should be previously prepared with very small wires wound around each end, and cut off 2 inches from the same. Place from one to three of these sticks under the frame, lay on the comb, and place a plain stick or sticks opposite the wired ones. One motion of the hand, and they are fastened at top, and again, at the bottom. My apiary will number about 100 hives with which to commence next season's operations. W. G. Phelps, D. D. S. Galena, Md., March 5, 1879. Your idea of using these garden plants for shading the hives is excellent, if the owner will only keep them in neat trim, hut there is where the trouble comes ; so few of you will take the care and pains to keep every- thing absolutely neat and tidy, both inside and outside of the hives, at all times. One of the objections I was going to raise to your feeder was that the bees would build a comb in it, but your tin partition fixes this very well. Now your floats, when they get to the bottom, will often stick, and when you fill up you will drown your bees. You are obliged to open the hive to use or fill the feeder, which seems to me quite objectiona- ble when we have a large number of hives. Suppose you make the feeder in the front end board of the hive, then it would always be in place. Your transferring sticks are a very old device, but for all that, they are many times quite convenient. FKIENB WIEKIN AND HIS VISIT TO THE OLD WOULD. MID-OCEAN, EN ROUTE FROM EUROPE TO CALIFOR- NIA, FEB. 12, 1879. M FTER a two days' storm, which tore away our JMh sails and made many of our fellows feel that «=*j they surely would never see Yankee Land, we now enjoy a delightful calm, and have just passed two steamers laden with goods and passengers from our country, on their way to Europe. I conclude that being at sea without a storm, like being in the army without a battle, i.s rather monotonous. Having spent most of the two last months of 1878 in meandering from southern California to New York, calling at the Capital to shake hands with our President by way of encouragement (queens seem to enjoy a touch of recognition by their subjects), and look into Congress and the Treasury to see that all went on well there, I concluded that we have a great and interesting country to manage. I then set sail for Europe, to see if we could do anything to help the sale of our great stores of hon- ey. Arriving there, I was surprised to find such vast amounts of varied American products in these countries. Such a center of trade is London that it seems as if all countries, when over stocked, send their surplus to her; so much so that many things are purchased cheaper there than where they are produced. California oranges sell there for half the price charged in California, and bread made from California wheat sells for a penny a loaf less in Lou- don than at home. I now return home with feelings of humble grati- tude for the many hearty expressions of kindly feel- ing and high estimation for America, everywhere met with in Great Britain. Their leaders proclaim that to America they must look for their own pros- perity, and the great honor everywhere bestowed on General Grant is because he has been President of the United States. While in England, I called on a number of bee men, including the editor of the British Bee Journal and Marriott who keeps bees in the Crystal Palace. They entertained me kindly, and showed me some- what into the English style of bee-keeping. They seem to us rather to be experimenting and seeking pleasure, than getting their living from their bees. When honey comes abundantly, the small fixtures are mostly iaid aside. England can never become a great honey producing country. Straw hives are still sold in the Crystal Palace. But I think you will open your eyes in wonder, when you read, in the copy of the London Times which I mailed you from Liverpool, the article on "Honey and Bee-Keeping in America." One feels as Gravenhorst of Germany did, when writing me a few years since in reference to Hosmer's notorious proposal, to take 10,000 lbs. of honey from 10 hives in one season. He exclaimed, "How is it in Ameri- ca? does it rain down honey? If Hosmer do all he say, then I sell all I got and come to America." If it were not in the London Times, and quoted from it- all over England, I could hardly have believed that we apiarian students and readers of bee journals could yet be so ignorant of the extent of the bee business in our own country, and the modes of con- ducting it. Just think of the vast numbers of bee-keepers in America with their thousands of hives of bees farmed out on shares, one of them selling his one season's crop of honey for double the amount of the President's salary ! Even business men in the cities forced by the great, tempting profits of it, to invest in it! Thurber & Co., for instance, having 12,000 hives ! I would have been surprised to have learned that they had 50 hives. I think, too, it will ruffle your plumes a little to 1S79 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 125 learn that it was the honey agent of this firm who developed the fdn., and made it a practical thing in America. He is also said to have been successful in perfecting plans for the safe shipment of comb hon- ey to Europe; although a prominent honey dealer in Liverpool told me that this agent had just landed a large lot of honey, so mashed up that he thought they would not be likely to undertake another ship- ment of comb honey soon. However, 1 hope he is mistaken in this, and from the amount of section boxes of nice comb honey, evidently from the State of New York, which 1 saw in the shops of England and Scotland, I think he has at least made a partial success of it. But the fact that Hoge, Thurber's agent, was in ! Londoii, selling honey, at the time this remarkable ! paper appeared in the Times, accounts for its ap- pearance. The Crystal Palace honey dealer is selling broken j pieces of English made honey, on plates, at 2s. 6d. (tit) cts.) per lb. When I showed him a pound of hon- ey in a Novice section, he seemed to think there could hardly be anything so nice for the trade, and! wanted some of mine, of which I had sent a small lot with my extracted honey around Cape Horn, to test how it would carry without special care in hand- ling. My 40 tons of extracted honey being consigned to an agent in London, and being not likely to land there until late in the season, when my bees would be swarming, I left it to the chances of the market. Our agent, learning that it was insured at 5 to 7 cts. per lb., expressed the hope that it might sink, think- ing that we would be better otf than to incur the ad- ] ditional expense of securing a sale for it, which at the best would be slow. I found small quantities of honey in the English market, from almost all the states of Europe— Greece, Italy, Portugal, France, Belgium, Scotland, and England. The honey from England and from Narbonne, in France, is the most highly esteemed. For, while West Indian, Chilian, and California hon- ey is selling by brokers at 30 to 50 shillings per cwt. (112 lbs.), about 6 to 10 cts. per lb., English and Nar- bonne honey is selling at 60s. to 65s. per cwt. The honey from both these countries is good, but dark, and candies or "sets," as they call it, very hard. The English honey is valued because it is English, and the Narbonne because they have learned that it is good. English people do not wish to be bothered with a change, even if the new article is probably the better. They are not so fond of novelties as the Americans; besides they value their honey on ac- count of its being in the familiar, little, 1 lb., red or gray, earthenware pots, that they can set on their tables, which seems to them more appropriate than a 2 lb. tin can. Foreign honey must, for a time at least, be sold at a discount. They value California honey above West Indian or Chilian honey, but there has already been so much inferior Calif ornia honey sent to their market, that they begin to be shy of it; besides, they think that in trade they can hardly keep even with Americans. In Parii, I was shown a bbl. of honey from Cali- fornia, from which the merohant extracted a sam- ple already well candied; he smelled it and pro- nounced it sour; it was of no use trying to sell it, so there it lay. I am sorry that the wet, foggy weather of last sea- son, in California, prevented the proper ripening of honey, and for the unwise extracting of it while yet raw, thin, and unsealed, causing it eventually to be- come slightly acid, and to lack the rich, heavy body, and the fine flavor necessaiy to the best of honey. When an Englishman has yielded his prejudices enough to try some of this far famed < 'alifornia hon- ey, and finds he has got a lot of this inferior grade to lie on his hands unsold, it is impossible to get him ever again to try an article from such a questiona- ble source. He decides that it is adulterated in some way. Thus it is that our trade is already injured there, and will forever fail to assume the great magnitude, at the price of good honey, which our locality ought by all means to command, unless we extract our hon- ey only when fuUy ripe, ami use a uniform brand for all fbirsl dose honey, being always positive that nothing In- ferior is ever sold under thai brand. Do with half the amount of honey rather than spoil our trade. While the taking of honey by the use of the melextractor is really the scientific mode, yet it largely increases the liability of getting thin honey. The honey market abroad, as at home, is very un- settled. Dealers will not engage large quantities at once; for, say they, before you know it, these Amer- icans will send on a flood of honey to be sold at once, for what it will bring, causing them, as competitors, to lose on their large purchases; hence the honey is nearly all bought at brokers' auctions, in lots of 500 or 1,000 lbs. each, just as they need it. This, of course, helps keep up the price, but makes the sales very slow. As it looks to me, last year's crop will not be sold until the new one is on hand. Italy, Switzerland, and Germany seem to use more honey than the oth- er states, it being very commonly kept on the table at hotels. Perhaps the Germans, so fond of beer and sour-krout, may fancy our sour honey. I am glad such a large proportion of it has been forward- ed to Hamburgh. As C. Dadant told us years ago, the French people must have their honey candied; also the English people usually prefer it so, and the harder it is, the better; for it carries better and is more like their own honey. This suits us, as we can hardly get it there without being candied, and our merchants at home discount it 2c. a pound as soon as it is candied; but European merchants prefer to get their honey while fresh and liquid, to be filled conveniently into their small pots and left to harden. Some like the honey shipped in 2 lb. tin cans, as it saves them the trouble of repacking; yet a promi- nent firm in Liverpool, in selling out a large lot put up in this way by a San Francisco canning Co., found they had been selling under the same label ("Orange Blossom Honey," that probably had never seen an orange blossom), some of the poorest and some the best of honey. He could hardly be induced to try to sell more honey. The larger number prefer it in bulk to repack to suit themselves. A large number prefer the 60 lb. tins, and barrels of 1 cwt. (112 lbs.), as such packages are in much demand among druggists and small gro- cers. Large barrels, although most economical to the producer, are not so favorably received. For shipping abroad, I at present feel most in- clined to use 2 lb. tins, 60 lb. tins, ten gallon (112 lb.) barrels, and perhaps some 25 gal. (300 lb.) barrels; also 1 lb. comb sections, as carrying safest and suit- ing the growing demand for very small packages. Uniformity in size of package is Arery desirable; it saves the expense and loss of emptying the honey to get the tare, besides a dealer, when a package is named, knows just what is meant; it is just the kind he had before. It is economy for the producer to give full weight; if he puts 59 lbs. 14 oz. in a can, when it is weighed in port, it is counted 59 lbs., the owner thus losing 14 oz. If he puts in 60 lbs. and 2 oz., it is called 60 lbs., the owner losing only 2 oz. I was not aware, until I learned it in England, that large quantities of rather good honey are exported from Chili. Who can inform us on bee-keeping in Chili? It looks to me that we need one or two good busi- ness men, constantly employed in Europe, to look after the interests of American honey until a ti-ade is built up. It is not the work of a few months. San Buenaventura, Cal. R. Wilkin. Thanks, friend W., for your excellent . sketches. I do not fear for my plumes, for j I am petting all the credit I deserve, and ^ perhaps more. Mr. Hoge, under the name of John Long, did do very much toward de- i veloping the fdn. business. The "bee-farm- ing" story, sounds as if by a newspaper re- porter. Perhaps like the confiscated cargo of honey, he lacked material, and was a lit- tle unscrupulous. I agree with you exactly in regard to extracting unripened honey, and I fear more from this source than I do from adulteration. I am very glad to see South America developing. We have now one subscriber in San Domingo, and one in Buenos A vies. Who will start a cabinet, containing samples of honey from all these countries friend Wilkin has mentioned, in the different parts of the world? We have had plenty of the thick honey from Italy, with the imported queens, but it was not very good honey to eat. i26 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. April $ch§ and %mm§> BAGGING A SWARM, "BLESSED BEES," ETC. ^grSfeLEASE let me know if a net of some kind, Jlr claPPe(l over the mouth of a hive as soon as a '■as swarm begins to issue, and kept there for a few minutes till a hive is got ready, would prevent swarms from rising in the air, and going off or clus- tering together. 1 lose too many queens by clip- ping wings, and shall give that up. If something could be devised to place over the front of hives when a swarm issues, what a trouble would be saved ! I hope you will get at the truth or falsehood of that book, the Blessed Bees, and let us know. I. C. Thokn, M. D. Garafraxa, P. O., Ont., Can., March 10, 1879. [No doubt, a swarm could be "bagged" in the man- ner you mention, if you were on hand at the exact moment when they commenced to issue, and had your bag ready to hold over the entrance, but how will you be able to do this? I have written the au- thor of Blessed Bees, asking him for a truthful state- ment of what he did do. His name, John Allen, is fiction, his locality. Action, and I should call the greater part of his statements, not only fiction, but utter impossibilities. If any one has ever succeed- ed in feeding back extracted honey as he did, I should be pleased to hear from them.] WATER FOR BEES. I kept water by my bees last summer, but they persisted in going to my ^neighbors', who complain of them. How shall I stop them from going else- where for water? John Newton. Westville, Conn., March 10, 1879. [Fix a place at home, where they can always find water, without any danger of getting drowned, and they will, in time, become so attached to it, that they will seldom go to other places. Such an ar- rangement will soon be described in the ABC pages.] SWARMING OUT IN EARLY SPRING. Being a beginner in the bee business, I am full of wonder at the whims and notions of the little crea- tures. Yesterday, about 3 p. m., I had a swarm come out as in swarming time, which finally settled over and on the hive (an old fashioned box hive). I soon discovered the queen on top of the hive, and attempted to catch her, but she got away from me. I cannot tell whether she went back to her home or not. At night the bees settled down into the hive. There seemed to be enough honey. Why did they come out? I cannot comprehend it. Five Corners, N. Y., March 10, '79. C. G. Barger. [I should think it very probable, from the account you give, that they swarmed out for want of food; if you know such was not the case, it is a phase of the absconding mania. See absconding in A B C] About Vi of the bees in this part of the State are dead. Mine wintered full better than the average. Delaware, O., March 13, 1879. Dr. A. V. Conklin. ABSCONDING TO THE "NOTRHEAST." My bees all left me last summer; that is, all the young ones. I have 3 good strong stands. Now what shall I do to keep them this summer? They never would settle, but rose very high, and all went one course, northeast, and went" so fast I could not follow. S. D. Smith. Mercer Co., Pa., March 13, 1879. [I think, my friend, that there must be much bet- ter pasturage somewhere in the direction you name, and that your bees decamp for that locality to save so much travel. See absconding in ABC. Of first swarms, keep the wings of the queen clipped as a preventive.] I have 14 colonies of bees, in two-story Simplicity hives, all packed with chaff as you direct. I have the lower story entirely covered up with saw dust, except a small entrance in front. They have win- tered to date without loss; not more than a pint of dead bees among them all. Some colonies would not cover 2 L. frames, when packed. During Dec, they did not fly, and not in Jan. until the 22d. They have consumed but little honey. Wm. Parmelee. Bean Blossom, Ind., Feb. 11, 1879. THE COLD BLAST SMOKER. That smoker is a little daisy. W. M. Gifford. Jolietsville, Ind., March 1, 1879. I received the smoker you sent me, in good order, 2 or 3 days ago. I am delighted with it, and so is every one to whom I have shown it. Hillsboro, O., March 10, 1879. Chas. Bowles. I received the smoker the 15th, and it came through all right. I could hardly wait until I could try it, and then what a smoke! Now, you cross bees, look out ; for I have a boss smoker, and you may get smoke in your eves. O. P. W. Twin Grove, Wis., March 18, 1879. I received the 0 in. rip saw you sent to my address, and have made a foot-power machine, to rip stuff for beehives. I had the frame made when the saw came, aud got the mandrel made the same day I got the saw. The mandrel cost $1.50, and my machine cost me $4.87, for bolts, saw, mandrel, etc. It works tiptop. I can rip 12 to 15 ft. per minute. Any child can run it. I had one stock of bees which smothered. They were 4 miles from home, and the sleet and snow closed the entrance of the hive. I have 3 stands packed in fine cut straw. W. W. Edington. Bluffton, Ind., Jan. 4, 1879. [We find it quite difficult to get up a good steel mandrel, with boxes and all complete, for a foot- power saw, for even $5.00; but it seems our friends manage to get up something that answers, for a very much less amount. I hardly think the cheap mandrels run as easily, are as durable, or give as ac- curate work, as those we make, yet I may be mis- taken. If you can rip the amount you say, even with one of the best machines, I think you must be a pretty stout man. If your bees that died were packed in cut straw, they certainly could not have smothered, simply from having their entrance closed.] I am well pleased with my progress; from the col- ony of Italians procured of you in April last, I have increased to 3, by artificial swarming. I have adopt- ed your hive and plan of management throughout, and now have 12 strong colonies, snugly packed in sawdust, and chaff cushions over frames. I took 56 lbs. of beautiful sections from 1 colony, made in 14 days. Sam G. Hillis. Concord, Xy., March 4, 1879. HOW TO WORK FOR RAPID INCREASE. I have 4 swarms of Italian bees in L. hives, all in apparently good condition. I would like to in- crease, either by natural or artificial swarming, this coming season, to 12 stands. One of your ABC class, C. B. Woodman. Johnson's Creek, Wis., Feb. 23, 1879. [It will be quite risky for an A B C scholar to make 4 colonies into 12, in a single season. You can do it easily enough, but to build them all up strong enough to winter safely is where the trouble comes in. You might have no more than 4 again, by the next spring. If your colonies are strong, you can commence rearing queens as early as May, and when these queens get to laying, build them up with frames from the others as given in the ABC. To increase to 12, you would have to feed liberally, at all times when honey was not coming.] WHEN TO TAKE OFF THE CHAFF CUSHIONS. Is it safe to leave the chaff cushion on top of the frames through the summer or not? [The chaff cushions are beneficial until they must be removed to put on the boxes.] RICE CHAFF. Will rice chaff do for making these cushions, and for packing bees in the winter? [Any chaff that is soft and warm, and absorbs moisture, but dries out quickly afterward, will do.] transferring. I am about through transferring 25 colonies, and I tell you it is a bad business. 1 am very tired of it, I assure you. ABSCONDING DURING TRANSFERRING. In transferring one strong colony, I found plenty of brood, but did not see any queen; and in an hour after the transfer, the bees left and settled, and finally went into other hives as if they were queen- 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 127 less. Was the queer killed or lost in the transfer? [I should think the queen was probably lost; but it is a very singular thing for the bees to desert their combs and brood, even if she was.] I want to increase gradually till I have 100 or 200 colonies; will it pay me to buy a Barnes saw to make my hives? [I should think a Barnes saw would pay anyone who had 25 colonies.] HOW TO ARRANGE THE COMBS IN TRANSFERRING. In transferring, I placed the combs side by side; should I have placed an empty frame between each two combs? [No.] Or all empty ones at one side? [Yes.] The latter was the way I did it. [Put the combs of brood close to each other, ex- actly as they were before transferring, or there will be much danger of the brood's being chilled; espe- cially, if it is early in the season.] BOARD COVERS FOR SHADE. In shading hives, how would it do to make a'wide cover of boards, say 4 or 0 in. larger every way than the hives, and just place 2 bricks on top of the hive, and place these boards, or covers, on the bricks? [Such a cover for shade answers very well, but is in danger of being blown off by the wind, and is apt to be unsightly. It also makes more trouble in opening hives, than where we have some kind of a plant or vine for shade.] WILL BEES SWARM BEFORE THE HIVES ARE FULL? My bees have only about 4 to 5 frames filled with comb. Will they "fill the empty frames before swarming time? [They will probably fill out the other combs before swarming, although they do not always do so.] WHEN TO PUT IN THE SECTIONS. Shall I wait until nearly swarming time before I put on upper stories, containing 56 empty section boxes? [Yes; or rather wait until they have got every- thing below filled with bees, brood, and honey.] Bees have wintered hero spleudidlv. B. C. Taylor. Wilmington, N. C, March 13, 1879. ABSCONDING IN SPRING. I hear a great deal of complaining among my neighbors, about their bees leaving their hives and joining others, and, in some instances, going to the woods. In every instance, they report honey in the hive deserted. We cannot explain; can vou? Evansburgh, O., March 18, 1879. L. B. Wolf. [If you examine these hives closely, I think you will find something that is wit all right. See ab- sconding in A B C] Bees have not wintered well in this locality; the old fashioned bee disease, or dysentery,';has raged fearfully, caused by a honey dew that we had last August. Now, Mr. Root, if I should tell how I know so much, some one that kept 3 or 4 swarms all last season would contradict me, so I will keep still. I wintered 214 colonies all in the cellar, except 12 that I tried out doors. I lost one swarm out of the 214, and found several weak. We are having very nice, warm weather for the season, just what we most need for the unfortunate. Hiram Koop. Carson City, Mich., March 11, 1879. CHAFF HIVES VERSUS COMMON ONES. I have only lost 6 out of 55 stands this winter. I use Langstroth frames but about 10 in. deep, and chaff hives, which I think are just the thing, as my neighbor lost 30 in inch board hives and American frames. R. I. Osborn. LeClaire,'Iowa,iMarch 10, 1870. GREASING FRAMES AND.RABBETS TO OET OFF PROPO- LIS. Will you be kind enough to tell me how it will do to dip the ends of all wood top bars in hot tallow, and grease the bearings of the hives with the same (rubbing all off with a cloth), to prevent bees from daubing on so much propolis? S. T. Pettit. Belmont, Ont., Can., March 14, 1879. [It will do first rate; for, if tlir> bees do daub it with propolis, the propolis will readily slip or peel off, when pushed with the finger. The trouble of fixing all the frames where you have a great many hives is the only objection that I know of.] I had 4 colonies last spring, increased to 8, and made 400 lbs. of extracted honey. They are under the snow, and I want the new smoker before the snow goes away. S. Wood. Nottawa P. O., Ont., Can., March 10, 1879. My bees are working on rye flour nicely. Have lost 4 nuclei and 2 full colonies to date. Columbus, Ind., Feb. 4, 1879. J. M. Brooks. SWARMING OUT IN THE SPRING. I have lost just 2 stands of bees out of 24. I win- ter in a cellar with the door open. Some of my neighbors who wintered on summer stands lost halt', or two-thirds. One of my colonies came out last Saturday (March 8th), and settled on a hive about 2 rods away. They had honey, eggs, and bees just hatching out. The hive was all right, and in good shape every way (except it was an American). Can you tell me the cause of their swarming out? Wyoming, 111., March 15, 1879. W. P. Turner. [Bees are more apt to swarm out thus, when win- tered in doors. I think the colony must have been weak in numbers, and very likely their hive was open and cold; hence they left it.] I received my smoker all right and was glad, too. Oh ! how nice it is! I am much pleased with it— very much pleased; it was packed all right, and works ail right. It makes lots of smoke. My hybrid bees are afraid of it, "you bet." Ben Mullikin. Brighton, 111., March 19, 1879. I am glad to see that you have applied a cover to your feeder. I was somewhat surprised to see H. W. Shuck's advertisement stating that he had pat- ented the feeder. I think any disiiiterested person will say he has considerable "cheek" to claim it as his. [The above seems rather hard on friend Shuck, but I can but feel that the rebuke is a just one. He who would take out a patent, and claim as his in- vention, an implement so well known to be the joint efforts of many, must have a good deal of hardi- hood.] I hope your inventions and improvements will continue. Although we have never thought favor- ably enough of more than 1 in 10 to adopt them, nev- ertheless we value Gleanings for these same in- ventions. We are glad to see the number and quality of the wood cuts on the increase, and trust your subscrip- tion list will encourage you to continue them. A cut is easily read by almost any mind. GERMAN ICE SCALE. We are in want of a cheap scale and looked for the cut of the "German Ice Scale" which you proposed giving. [We ordered some of the German ice scales, but the manufacturers assured us that they were very unreliable, and we did not get them; they might do for weighing bees for winter, for all that.] As a general thing we can agree with your views and sentiments; but on the glucose question we think you are on dangerous ground. We would ad- vise all bee-keepers to adopt the motto, "Touch not, taste not, handle not." Could you see some of the honey offered for sale in the Boston markets, you would decide that a stringent law against adultera- tion is needed. Its sale can not be stopped until there is a penalty attached. [Put me on track of those who are offering adul- terated honey, and I will put them in the Humbugs and Swindles without hesitation. Give us the strin- gent laws and we will vote for them to a man.] FDN. 4's CELLS TO THE INCH. We shall use considerable fdn. during the coming season, but do not want more than i'i cells to the inch. Combs with this size cell, built in 1876, have never contained drone brood, and they produce the largest bees. [Our mill for making fdn. 4'i cells to the inch has been made over into the smaller size, but we have a little of the fdn. on hand, that we shall be glad to sell you. I am inclined to agree with you, that such comb does raise larger bees.] We do not take much stock in your new wooden quilt. We use rubber cloth and find it answers well, although rather costly. Bees carried in rve meal yesterday. C. W. & A..H. K. Blood. Quincy, Mass., March 11, 1879. 12$ GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. April Zllfi "#|*/%1," This department was suggested by one of the clerks, as an opposition to the "Growlery." Ithink I shall venture to give names in full here. pnjsJHE goods forwarded on the 22d reached here g|J to-day. Express was only $1.21. Goods were ^J all that could be desired. The knife is a beau- ty; also the rule. Section frames complete are just the thing. Some of the fdn. came down, but they carried as well as could be expected. Many thanks for samples of honey labels. I had just got a thou- sand, which are not near as nice as yours. We mav want some jars with those fancy labels: if so, will know where to get them. The white fdn. looks splendid: if the bees are as well pleased with it, all right. We have now in the cellar 45 swarms, all do- ing well so far as I know, and I hope we may be blessed with a bountiful honey harvest the coming season. M. E. Bullakd. Burns, N. Y., March 5, 1879. HOW TO SEND THIRTY CENTS IN SIL- VER BY MAI E. BINCE the disuse of fractional currency, most persons and firms accustomed to receive small sums of money by mail have been much annoy- ed by having so large a proportion of it come in post- age stamps, especially, in stamps of inconvenient denominations. Not one person in a dozen seems to know how to send silver in a letter. To the good work of removing this benighted condition of hu- manity, this article is devoted. The difficulties to be overcome are these. Coins are slippery, and will rattle about in a letter, in a manner which is unpleasantly suggestive. They are also somewhat liable to break through the envelope, and steal away. They can be kept "as snug as a bug in a rug," and sent to the amount of 30cts.. or even 40cts., for one rate of postage, by observing the fol- lowing directions. &g E 3%B M 3lg I \ ruu Take a light envelope, and half a sheet of thin note paper. Write your order close to the top of the sheet, leaving at least an inch and a half of the bot- tom blank. Fold upward a little strip of the bottom of the sheet, just as wide as the diameter of the coin or coins you wish to send, and lay them side by side in the little gutter which is thus formed. Fig. 1 repre- sents your letter and dimes at this stage of the pro- ceedings. Referring now to Fig. 2, which represents the lower portion of the same letter, cut 2 little gashes in the paper, one from a to b. and one from dtoc. The strips which are partially severed are now to be folded over upon the coins, and rubbed down tightly. Fig. 2 shows them thus. It might be well to mark the lines a-b and e-d with a pencil before cutting them, in oi-der to get them just the right length. It is evident that the coins are now closely confined in every direction but one. They can still slip upward. Now fold this pocket- like package upward upon the rest of the sheet, and this door of exit is closed. It is not necessary to do anything more, other than to fold and inclose the letter as usual. The coins cannot get loose until the pocket is turned downward; and the pocket cannot turn downward while in the envelope. The job looks a little more complete, however, if you continue to fold upward until you have turned one or two folds in the uncut portion of the paper. The lower end of the sheet will then look as shown in Fig. 3. Now fold to proper size, and enclose. Just try this little device as an experiment once, and you will be surprised to see how snug and how handy it is. Give your envelope all reasonable sha- king and rough usage, and see how immovable the coins are in their paper nest. They are fastened to the substance of the letter itself. Should'nt wonder it you should feel so grateful to Gleanings for the information, that you would at once extemporize an order for 30 cents' worth of little traps. A half ounce of dimes and half dimes is 55 cents, very nearly. If you can make your envelope and sheet weigh the same as a dime and a half, you can inclose 40c, without having to pay extra post- age. This is perfectly possible, but should not gen- erally be attempted, unless you have a balance at hand to weigh the letter. Gleanings furnishes electrotype copies of its cuts, and for 60 cents, will send these figures to any paper desiring to republish this method of sending money. It occurs to me, friend Root, that, sometimes, when we send a small order to a person in whom we have perfect confidence, it would be most conven- ient to send a dollar bill and have the change re- turned. Would it not be well to make your patrons some offer of this sort? E. E. Hasty. Bodley, Ohio, Jan. 31, 18T9. Pertaining to Bee Ciiltui'e. [We respectfully solicit the aid of our friends in conducting this department, and would consider it a favor to have them send us all circulars that have a deceptive appearance. The greatest care will be at all times maintained to prevent injustice being done any one.] C. MITCHELL has one victim here, a man by the name of Bushnel, of Gustavus, Ohio. He sent $5.00 for a right to use the hive that Mitchell sells for $1.00. He also sent, last fall, $20.00 to Mrs. Cotton, of West Gorham, Me., for a swarm of Italian bees, with instructions how to make $50.00 to a swarm, and he has received nothing yet for his money; $25.00 out by not taking Gleanings. C. M. T. I have taken pains to ascertain who Mrs. Lizzie E. Cotton is. She is a man ! Her name is C. B. Cotton, alias Lizzie E. Cotton. Post that scoundrel in Gleanings. C. B. Cotton is the villainous hus- band of "old Liz." I know it to be so. Malcom, la., Feb. 10, '79. Wm. Clements. Under this head, will be inserted free of charge, the names of all those having honey to sell, as well as those wanting to buy. Please mention how much, what kind, and prices, as far as possible. The prices quoted in our cities for honey are, at present, too low, to make it worth while to publish them. As a general thing, I would not advise you to send your honey away, to be sold on commission. If near home, where you can look after it, it is often a very good way. By all means, develop your home market. For 25cts., we can furnish little boards to hang up in your door yard, with the words "Honey for Sale" neatly painted. If wanted by mail, 10c. extra for postage. Boards saying "Bees and Queens for Sale," ;ame price. HONEY MARKETS. Chicago.— Hanoi— Choice, in single comb boxes, 10@13c. Extracted, 6@,10c. Bees-wax.— Choice, yellow, 23 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. April excess, I presume pure candy would be better for them. In my Oxford home, I have always found it a scarce article. I send you for publication, a contribution to the London Journal of Horticulture, by an English bee- keeper residing' in Algiers, who has been experi- menting this last winter, in the same line with Mr. Raitt and myself, but under much more favorable circumstances. By referring to Blodget's Climatology, I found that in Algiers the mean temperature for Dec. is 55°, 1, Jan. 52°, 9 , Feb. 54°, 8 ; mean of the three winter months, 54°, 3 . Mean of these months in New Or- leans, 56°, 5 . The mean of the three spring months in Washington and Cincinnati is the same as that of the winter months in Algiers. It will also be seen that the winter months in Algiers vary but little, and therefore are much more favorable to bees than our climate, even in spring. Oxford, O. i-.. L. Langstroth. NITROGENOUS DIET FOR BEES. Now that spring feeding will shortly commence, what to feed— syrup, candy, honey, the various kinds of flour, &c.— will be the anxious thought of many. After the severe winter ordeal that British bees have gone through, my experience thus early in the year of a course of nitrogenous diet may be useful to your readers. "Keep your stocks strong" is a cardinal principle in bee-keeping; but suppose that from any cause your stocks have dwindled to very weak ones. Hav- ing those weak stocks, but healthy, and queens of known value, what would you do? Buy up stocks to fortify them with? Of fifty stocks by uniting make twenty-live? No; that has not been my plan. In the first place you may not easily find colonies for sale, and price may be an obstacle. In the sec- ond place, having fifty stocks you want to meet the harvest with that number if possible. So we come back to the only solution of the question -viz., care- ful feeding-up. "What new nostrum now?" 1 imagine I hear your readers exclaim, seeing we have lately been reading of Mr. Raitt and his bannock soaked in honey, and not long ago I saw a description of a garden plot of gigantic paper crocuses constantly supplied with artificial pollen by the careful bee-master. Well, my nostrums are milk food and egg food, with a condiment to assist digestion; and my experi- ence is that of December, 1878, January, and part of February of this year. I wanted to make my stocks strong, and that quickly, so 1 read up the subject of feeding and pon- dered it over, coming at last to the conclusion that it was that kind of food which in a small compass contained the most highly essential ingredients for forming animal tissue that ought to be given. Whether pollen forms the slices of toast a bee takes with his coffee of a morning or not I do not know; but I do know that vast quantities of pollen go into the hive if the weather is favorable and a supply at hand. I believe it goes in to feed both young and old bees from one simple consideration, that in the pollen is found that which is necessary for the formation and maintenance of all mus- cular tissue. I refer to nitrogen. Water 12-74 Ash 272 Albuminous 21 75 Sugar 26-60 Artificial nitrogenous organic sub- stances 36-59 100-00 Here we find albumen and nitrogen predomin- ating. A French authority writes thus: "We distinguish in pollen— "First, the waxy matter which holds the grains to- gether; "Second, the matter which forms the walls of those grains; "Third, the matter contained in those grains. "First and second contain only carbon, hydrogen and oxygen; but the third when analysed gives— car- bon, 052; hydrogen, 07; nitrogen, 0*11; oxygen, 0.30." My authority goes on to say it is these nitrogenous parts of the pollen that are the nutritive portion for the bees, and the most important to consider. This interior portion of the grains of pollen is the only part which contains nitrogen, that body indis- pensable to the nourishment of larva3 and bees. Now we know that no muscular tissue can grow without albumen which contains nitrogen, and that certain articles of food are richer in nitrogenous compounds than others; and we find in milk and eggs two notable examples. In milk we have all classes of simple alimentary substances together, it being composed of water, compounds of chlorine salts, caseine. fat, and sugar, whilst the egg contains six of the alimentary prin- ciples—vis, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sul- phur, and phosphorus, all easily soluble and assimi- lable. All concentrated foods are difficult of digestion and so we supply a condiment to assist digestion in the shape of common salt placed in their drinking troughs. Having, therefore, decided upon articles of food, I have tried them,and with such a measure of suc- cess that I hope my experience thus early in 1879 may be of use to induce others to follow on the dietary and report results. The milk food I prepare thus: It is first boiled soon after being milked, the clot removed, and then if sugar be used to sweeten it a pound of sugar is dissolved in a quart of milk. If honey be used the milk must become cold before the honey (a pound to a quart) is added, and must not be warmed again. Boiling prevents souring; and as skimmed milk is most easily digested, the clot which is caseine is re- moved. In the milk of asses we find a poverty of fatty matters and an abundance of sugar. Those who keep these animals will, I hope, take the hint, and feed their bees with their milk, letting us know the result. [Some of your readers who are of the doubting kind, and others who are fond of ajoke, will perhaps say that all milk fed to bees, come from where it will, can be no other thanthe milk of asses.— L. L. L.] The egg food I prepare thus: When a sufficient number of eggs have been broken into a basin they are well whisked, and honey added in the proportion of double weight of honey to a given weight of egg substance. To eggs I have likewise added a sugar syrup made of 7 lbs. of sugar to 4 lbs. of water. This milk and egg food I give at night in little tin trays either placed inside the hive or outside on the doorsteps, tne quantity being regulated to the size of the stock. The milk food I give every night, and can see no ill effect. The egg food I give for two nights, and allow the third to pass mimus food. At each feed I give what I consider adapted to the strength of the colony. As the hive grows in strength so the quantity will have to be increased. If I notice that they are storing it away too rapidly I slightly diminish the supply. This refers to milk diet, bu t with egg food I am careful to give only what I feel sure will be consumed in the night. If 1 find any left in the trays next day I remove it and let another hive finish it at once. The results are simply these; by the abovemeans you can start the queen' laying at any moment, and as fast as the bees hatch out strong enough to cover the brood every cell of a fresh frame of empty comb you insert will be found to contain a freshly laid egg. 1 have one hive now fed on milk only. Six weeks ago it contained simply a queen and a handful of bees. They now cover four frames (Woodbury size), having built out theircomb from Raitt's foundation, and are now busily engaged on a fifth. One notice- able fact is that whereas those particular bees were weak and puny, never showing fight, the present generation are large strongly developed bees. Let us consider the enormous waste of muscuiar tissue per diem in every hard-working bee; and re- membering that sugar in any form, being devoid of nitrogen, is contributing in no degree to the suste- nance oft hat muscular tissue, I think that we can on- ly come to one conclusion, and that is that bees do eat pollen.— Arthur Todd, Algoia. I have no doubt but that the milk and eggs diet will give excellent results, but it is a deal more trouble than the flour candy, and I can hardly think has any decided ad- vantage. If I am correct, the same facts were given in the Bienen Zeitung, some time ago. One of our German correspondents A. Gottman, No. 1, Bertram st., Brunswick, Ger.. sent us a translation of the article, but we did not And room for it. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 133 [Concluded from last month.] DO BEES CHOOSE A LOCATION BEFORE SWARMING? We have ample proof that they sometimes do, but whether such is always the case or not, we have no means of determining posi- tively, so far as I can see. It is my opinion that, although they usually do so, there are many exceptions. When a swarm of bees catches the fever by hearing the swarming note of a neighboring colony, it seems diffi- cult to understand that they could have se- lected their tree, and made the same provi- sion for housekeeping that the first one may have done. The proof of this has been giv- en many times through our journals. A neighbor of ours once saw bees going in and out of a tree, and supposing of course that it contained a colony, went with his boys the next day, and cut it down. It contained no sign of a bee. While they were standing still and wondering at this strange state of affairs, the boys doubtless joking their fa- ther about his seeing bees where there were none, lo! and behold! a swarm appeared in the air. They came to the very spot where the now prostrate tree had stood, and seemed as much astounded as a colony whose hive has been moved away. After some circling around, they clustered in a neighboring tree, and were hived. They had selected this as their home, it seems, and an advance party had gone ahead the day before, to clean out and fix the hollow ready for the swarm, and it was these house cleaners that my friend saw at work. I gave the above in Glean- in* is a year or two ago, and a large number of corroborating instances were furnished by our readers. The number of bees that go out to look up a location is not usually great, but they may often be seen about swarming time prowling about old hives, and hollows in trees, as if they were looking for some- thing. After awhile, swarms come and take possession of these places, if they seem suit- able, and of late, a hope has been expressed through the journals, that we might take ad- vantage of this disposition and fix hives so attractive, that the bees will come out, se- lect the "house and lot" that suits their taste best, and then, when they get ready, "move in." When this is accomplished, we shall have automatic swarming. DECOY HIVES. Many of the friends have followed out the idea given above, by locating hives in the forests, in the trees, and such hives have in many cases been quickly accepted and ap- propriated. I believe we are indebted to Mr. J. II. Martin, Hartford, N. Y., for first sug- gesting the idea. Hives left standing on the ground in the apiary, have many times been selected by swarms, and, if I am cor- rect, the bees, in such cases, often come out of the parent hive, and go directly to these hives without clustering at all. I have sug- gested, through our journal, the possibility that hives could be so arranged that the bees would be attracted by them, and use them instead of going for the woods. When this shall be successfully done, I think it will be a great achievement, and even if we succeed in securing only half of the run- away swarms, it will be no inconsiderable item. AUTOMATIC SW ARMING. From what has been said, it will not take much of a jump of the imagination, to con- ceive of a hive so arranged as to swarm it- self, mechanically. We usually keep a hive suspended on a spring balance, with the white dial so placed that the amount of hon- ey gathered each day can be seen at a glance, even when only passing near the apiary. On coming to dinner one day, the dial showed that the hive had lost instead of gaining, and the loss amounted to exactly 8 lbs.; you see, this was the weight of the swarm which had issued during the fore- noon. Of course, the hive rose an inch or two. after having been lightened so much. Well, the same idea has been used in con- nection with Quinby's queen yard for auto- matic swarming. The hive must first be made double ; that is, an empty hive is fastened to the one filled with bees, and the two are balanced on a pivot. A weight is added to the empty one each morning, and suitable slides are so arranged that when the swarm goes out, the hives tilt, opening an entrance into the new hive, and closing the old one. The queen, having her wings clipped, is confined in the queen yard ; the bees rush back on missing her, and their old entrance conducts them right into the new hive, the queen following in with the rest. I believe this machine has been brought into shape so as to work in practice, but, like many other things, the amount of machinery required for each hive, and the labor of adjusting the weights each morn- ing, on every hive, more than balances the trouble of hiving, and the possible loss of swarms which issue in the old way. Another automatic swarmer has been in- vented and brought into practical use, by 1). A. Jones, of Beeton, Ont., Canada. This is based on the principle, or rather the pecu- 134 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. April liar habit which swarms have, of alighting on the same spot or limb, on which other swarms have alighted before. Where many hives of bees are kept, it is well known that after one swarm has clustered on a certain limb, others are apt to choose the same spot, and often, nearly every swarm of the sea- son, by some strange instinct, will take to that very limb, as soon as they leave the hive. After having watched a great many times to discover the cause of this queer behavior, I decided it came about thus: as soon as a swarm issues, straggling bees scatter about in every direction, and while the air is full of them, you may see individual bees scan- ning and hovering about all the twigs and shrubbery for rods around. Well , if a swarm has clustered on one of these twigs or limbs, and a bee should come very near the spot, he would catch the scent of the queen, from her having rested on the spot, even were it a week before. See odor of queens. Well, as soon as he catches this, he gives a call, and other bees rush to the spot, and the probability is, the whole swarm will soon be clustered on this very limb. After this, the chances are double, that the next will alight there, and so on. Aside from the odor of the queen, the limb almost always has bits of wax fastened to it by the bees, while hanging there, even if they hang clustered not longer than 15 minutes. Our friend Jones fixes something like an old fashioned well sweep; that is, a pole bal- anced in a fork, so that its smaller end is high in the air, while the other rests on the ground. On this heavy end, is fixed a box to contain stones for ballast. At the other, is what is sometimes called a bee-bob. This may be a bunch of hay, or a bunch of green leaves. I have heard of using a black stock- ing on a pole, to cause the bees to light on it. Mullen heads dipped in ink, so as to imitate a swarm of bees, are also recommended. Perhaps the best thing is a ball made by stringing dead bees on a string with a nee- dle, and then winding it about some sub- stance about the size and shape of a swarm, letting some of the strings hang down. Well, suppose you put stones in the box, un- til about 5 lbs. on the bee-bob would cause it to sink with a moderate speed. If a swarm should cluster on this bob, it would be let down automatically, as soon as the weight was sufficient. A stop is arranged at the proper point, to stop the pole and shake off the bees, and, as a matter of course, ahive is set right at the proper point for them to run into it. If they go back to the bee-bob, it will let them down again; and so on. Further more, our ingenious friend has a bell and pistol fixed to the post, so that one is rung, and the other discharged, to let the apiarist know that his bees are safely in the hive, ready to be placed where he wishes. Many of these machines have been put up, but I believe few succeed with them, as does friend Jones, principally for the reason that the first swarm can not be made to use the bee-bob, in preference to some place suiting their own fancy. I give these plans, that you may know what lias been done. RINGING BELLS AND BEATING PANS TO BRING DOWN A SWARM OF BEES. The books, of late years, have seemed to teach that this practice is but a relic of su- perstition, and that no real good was accom- plished by the "tanging," as it is often called. Perhaps it usually has no effect in causing them to alight, but from watching the habits of swarms, I am inclined to think otherwise. Those in the habit of seeing queens on the wing are generally aware that the note they give when flying is quite dif- ferent from that of a worker or drone, and many times, when a queen has escaped while being introduced, I have detected her where- abouts by the sound of her wings, before I had any glimpse of her at all. With a little practice, we can distinguish this note amidst the buzzing of a thousand bees flying about, so as to turn our eyes upon her when she is quite a distance away. Is it not likely that the bees composing a swarm know this sound as well as we do, or much better? Again ; a swarm of bees usually has scouts to conduct them to the tree, or other place of their chosen abode, and it is quite likely they follow these scouts and know of their presence, as they do their queen, by the sound they emit from their wings. A noise, if loud enough, would be likely to drown these sounds, and thus produce disorganiza- tion. Throwing dirt or gravel among them will bring them down generally quite speed- ily, and I suppose it is because it produces disorganization much in the same way. Throwing water among them is thought to be more effectual than either the sounds or the dust, and it has been suggested, that it is because they think a shower is coming up ; but I am inclined to think it is more the dis- organization, and perhaps also the wetting of their wings, that makes them hurry to cluster on the nearest object. If a pail of water is near the apiary, and a dipper handy, swarms that do not seem inclined to cluster 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 135 may usually be made to do so without trouble. As it is difficult to throw water with a clipper as high as swarms often fly, and in the line spray that seems most ef- fective, a small, hand, force pump, or fire engine, has been used, ami seems to answer the purpose most effectively. With a pail of water on your left arm, and the fountain pump, as it is called, in your right hand, you can chase after a swarm if need be, and with the attachment for giving a tine spray, you can wet their wings, if they threaten to be stubborn, so that they must come down. As this fountain pump is a most valuable implement to have around for a great varie- ty of other purposes, to say nothing of fires, I think the investment a very judicious one for the bee-keeper. In one case, our honey house took fire from the stove pipe, after we had been making candy, and a fountain pump saved the building after the fire had burst through the roof. The whole apiary would have suffered much, and much of it been entirely destroyed, had not the fire been extinguished in the building. Many claim that absconding swarms can be stopped by Hashing across them the re- flection from a looking glass. This has been explained by saying they take it for lightning, and stop, thinking that a storm is coming. I am inclined to think the true solution of this and other moans used to bring down swarms is that it disturbs and disorganizes the body, tints causing them to alight. In concluding the subject of swarming, I would ask the reader's attention to some ex- cellent articles on the subject, written by G.B.Peters, of Council Bend, Ark., and found on pages 241 and 266, of Vol. IV. TEASEL {Dvpsacu.8). TheGreeknaine of this plant signifies to thirst; because the beads, after flowering, are of a porous n ture. and "drink" large quantities of rain water. On account of this property, the heads are often used to sprinkle clothes, before iron- ing. They take up the water, and, when shaken, throw it out in a spray. teasel (Dipsaeus FuUonum). The variety that produces honey is the one used by fullers in finishing cloth, and hence its name, 1). FuUorum, or fullers'1 teasel. This plant, like the buckwheat and clover, is raised for another crop besides the honey, and therefore may be tested by the acre without so much danger of pecuniary loss, should the honey crop prove a failure. Our friend, Doolittle, pronounces the honey re- markably white and fine, but some others have given a somewhat different opinion. From what I can learn, I am inclined to think Teasel does not yield honey every year; it grows in considerable quantities by the road sides and in waste places in our lo- cality, but I seldom see bees on it, at all. Perhaps acres of it under high cultivation might make a great difference, as it does with any other plant. On page G, of last year's Gleanings, will be found a very full account of the method pursued in its culti- vation. TOADS. These, without question, are an enemy to the honey bee. They usually plant themselves before the entrances of the hives about night fall, and, as the heav- ily laden bees come in, they are. snapped up with a movement that astonishes one who has never witnessed it. His toadship sits near the alighting board, with an innocent, unconcerned look, and, although you see a bee suddenly disappear, it is only after you have repeatedly witnessed the phenomenon, that you can really believe the toad had any- thing to do with it. By observing very closely, however, you will see a sort of flash, as the bee disappears, accompanied by a lightning like opening and shutting of his 136 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. April mouth. The bee is taken in by his long tongue, and I should judge that he is capa- ble of striking one with it, when as much as two inches distant. I do not know how many bees it takes to make a meal, but I do know that toads will often become surpri- singly thick about the hives during the hon- ey season, if they are not driven away by some means. I have been in the habit of killing them, but I must confess, my feel- ings revolt at such severe measures, and I much prefer the plan a pleasant friend gives on page 145 of this No.; viz., carrying them off to some distance, where they may live without doing anybody or anything any harm, if such a place there be. WINTERING. The following are the extracts spoken of by Mr. L.,last month, from his first edition of The Hive and Honey Bee, published in 1853. I specially invite a careful perusal of this chapter, as the subject, though of the very first importance in the management of bees, is one to which but lit- tle attention has been given by the majority of cul- tivators. In our climate of great and sudden extremes, many colonies are annually injured or destroyed by undue exposure to heat or cold. In summer, thin hives are often exposed to the direct heat of the sun, so that the combs melt, and the bees are drowned in their own sweets. Even if they escape utter ruin, they cannot work to advantage in the al- most suffocating heat of their hives. ******** As soon as the temperature of the hives falls too low for their comfort, the bees gather themselves into a more compact body, to preserve to the ut- most, their animal heat; and if the cold becomes so great that this will not suffice, they keep up an in- cessant, tremulous motion, accompanied by a loud humming noise; in other words, they take active exercise in order to keep warm ! If a thermometer is pushed up among them, it will indicate a high temperature, even when the external atmosphere is many degrees below zero. When the bees are un- able to maintain the necessary amount of animal heat, an occurrence which is very common with small colonies in badly protected hives, then, as a matter of course, they must perish. Extreme cold, when of long continuance, very fre- quently destroys colonies in thin hives, even when they are strong both in bees and honey. The inside of such hives is often filled with frost, and the bees, after eating all the food in the combs in which they are clustered, are unable to enter the frosty combs, and thus starve in the midst of plenty. The unskill- ful bee-keeper who finds an abundance of honey in the hives, cannot conjecture the cause of their death. ********* I must notice another exceedingly injurious effect of insufficient protection, in causing the moisture to settle upon the cold top and sides of the interior of the hive, from whence it drips upon the bees. In this way, many of their number are chilled and de- stroyed, and often the whole colony is infected with dysentery. Not unfrequently, large portions of the comb are covered with mold, and the whole hive is rendered very offensive. ******** When bees, in unsuitable hives, are exposed to all the variations of the external atmosphere, they are frequently tempted to fly abroad if the weather be- comes unseasonably warm, and multitudes are lost on the snow, at a season when no young are bred to replenish their number, and when the loss is most injurious to the colony. Erom these remarks, it will be obvious to the in- telligent cultivator, that protection against ex- treme! of heat and cold, is a point of the very first importance ; and yet this is the very point, which, in proportion to its importance, has been most over- looked. We have discarded, and very wisely, the straw hives of our ancestors; but such hives, with all their faults, were comparatively warm in winter, and cool in summer. We have undertaken to keep bees, where the cold of winter, and the heat of sum- mer are alike intense; and where sudden and severe changes are often fatal to the brood; and yet we blindly persist in expecting success under circum- stances in which any marked success is well nigh impossible. ******** It will not be without profit, to consider briefly under what circumstances wild colonies ttourisb, and how they are protected against sudden and ex- treme changes of temperature. S-nugly housed in the hollow of a tree whose thick- ness and decayed interior are such admirable ma- terials for excluding atmospheric changes, the bees in winter are in a state of almost absolute repose. The entrance to their abode is generally very small in proportion to the space within; and let the weather out of doors vary as it may, the inside tem- perature is very uniform. These natural hives are dry, because the moisture finds no cold or icy top, or sides, on which to condense, and from which it must drip upon the bees, destroying their lives, or enfeebling their health, by filling the interior of their dwelling with mould and dampness. As they are very quiet, they eat but little, and hence their bodies are not distended and diseased by accumulated faeces. Often they do not stir from their hollows, from November until March or April; and yet they come forth in the spring, strong in numbers, and vigorous in health. If at any time in the winter season, the warmth is so great as to pen- etrate their comfortable abodes, and to tempt them to fly, when they venture out, they And a balmy at- mosphere in which they may disport with impunity. In the summer, they are protected from the heat, not merely by the thickness of the hollow tree, but by the leafy shade of overarching branches, and the refreshing coolness of a forest home. The Russian and Polish bee-keepers, living in a climate whose winters are much more severe than our own, are among the largest and most successful cultivators of bees, many of them numbering their colonies by hundreds, and some even by thousands! They have, with great practical sagacity, imitated as closely as possible, the conditions under which bees are found to flourish so admirably in a state of nature. We are informed by Mr. Dohiogost, a Polish writer, that his countrymen make their hives of the best plank, and never less than an inch and a half in thickness. The shape is that of an old-fashioned churn, and the hive is covered on the outside, half- way down, with twisted rope cordage, to give it greater protection against extremes of heat and cold. The hives are placed in a dry situation, direct- ly upon the hard earth, which is first covered with an inch or two of clean, dry sand, ('hips are then heaped up all around them, and covered with earth banked up in a sloping direction to carry off the rain. The entrance is at some distance above the bottom, and is a triangle, whose sides are only one inch long. In the winter season, this entrance is contracted so that only one bee can pass at a time. ******** We are now prepared to discuss the question of protection in its relations to the construction of hives. We have seen how it is furnished to the bees in the Polish hives, and in the decayed hollows of trees. If the apiarian chooses, he can imitate this plan by constructing his hives of very thick plank; but such hives would be clumsy, and with us, ex- pensive. Or he may much more effectually reach the same end, by making his hives double, so as to enclose an air space all around, which in winter may be filled with charcoal, plaster of Paris, straw, or any good non-conductor, to enable the bees to pre- serve with the least waste, their animal heat. *■*-*#**#■* I have been thus particular on the subject of pro- tection, in order to convince every bee-keeper who exercises common sense, that thin hives ought to be given up, if either pleasure or profit is sought from his bees. Such hives an enlightened apiarian could not be persuaded to purchase, and he would con- sider them too expensive in their waste of honey and bees, to be worth accepting, even as a gift. Many strong colonies which are lodged in badly pro- tected hives, often consume in extra food, in a sin- 1879 GLEAKINGS IK BEE CULTURE. 13? gle hard winter, more than enough to pay the differ- ence between the first cost of a good hive over a bad one. In the severe winter of 1851 3, many cultiva- tors lost nearly all their stocks, and a large part of those which survived, were too much weakened to be able to swarm. And yet these same miserable hives, after accomplishing the work of destruction on one generation of bees, are reserved to perform the same office for another. And this, some call economy! To all of the above I most heartily agree with Mr. Langstroth. Before making the chaff hive. I tried hives of 1 inch, and f , but, even in summer time, I found the bees much more averse to building combs next to the sides of these hives, than they were in hives made from inch boards. Very likely plank would give still better results, as Mr. L. states, but I think not nearly equal to the porous walls of the chaff hive. TIf Is PLANT THAT BEARS A HALF GAL- LON OF HON FY A DAY. ffr-ERE it is, boys. fll Yankees woult Did I not tell you we on Id be going right down ' there after it? Who wants to buy seeds? It may not blossom for a hundred years, but who cares? "When we are after a good thins, we can wait a hundred years, just as well as not. Well, you see, I have a brother, now in San Diego, Cal., who has formerly been in Xew Mexico, and after reading that account last month, from friend Metcalf (page 100), I wrote at once to my brother, asking if it was really not over stated. He said it was not, and sent a photograph of the plant. Here it is. The foliage much resembles the century plant we have in our parlor windows and green houses, but it may be a different vari- ety. The blossoms were so indistinct in the photo, that our engraver had difficulty in giving a fair idea of them. Will those of our readers who can give further particulars please do so. YUCCA, OR SPANISH BAYONET- My brother very kindly sent a photo of this plant also. You will remember that this does not bear a pint to the blossom, but only a teacupful. Sad. is it not? But we can console ourselves somewhat, for there are several dozen flowers on a stock. It is too bad that the ^Blessed Bees" man did not know of these plants before he wrote his book. I presume the name bayonet is given it on account of the sharp, spine like leaves; I suspect they are to prick folks when they try to get those teacupfuls of honey. There is no rose without its thorn, you know. There! I almost forgot to tell you that I have order- ed, from a nursery man, one of these plants in full bloom. Next month, I hope to be able to tell you more about it. Pints and teacupfuls! And here we have been fooling away our time all these years past, with clo- ver heads, and just little drops of honey. our friend Viallon, of Bayou Goula, La., has pur- chased the apiary of Wm. H. Ware, consisting of 450 colonics. As he has plenty of imported queens, I expect him to give us a "big lift" in supplying you with early queens during the coming month. THE HONEY BEARING CENTURY [AgaVi Shmrii], PLANT "There! I told you so," as the obi lady said, when her son gravely informed her that the cow had gone and eaten up the grtndatane. I offered you 10c for the Jan. No., but only about a half dozen would sell them for that. Now I offer you 15c each, and those who want to buy them must pay 20c. I shall have to charge the same for the Feb. No., for they, too, are all gone but a dozen or two. 138 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. April GLEANINGS IJMJEE CULTURE. .A__ I. ROOT, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, MEDINA, OHIO. terms: $1.00 per year, post-paid. MEIDIIT-A., -A.IPie,- 1, 1879. I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall Hot walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 8: 12. There are 62 of us now at work, little boys and all. ABC part IV is all in type, and it will be put right on the press as soon as this number is out. • — «■ — • Thf Western Honey Bee is the title of a new jour- nal published at Lebanon, Mo. If I am correct, sample copies are mailed free of charge. The Bee Keepers' Exchange, for Jan., is at hand, and is a lively and valuable contribution to our ranks. The other Nos. are to follow shortly; so f riend Nellis says. It is an inconvenient and trying thing, friend N., we know by experience, to be so much behind, especially, when first commencing. You have our sympathy. It is hard to tell old subscribers that they cannot have Jan. and Feb. Nos. for less than 20c. apiece, simply because they were a little behind in renew- ing, but as I cannot foresee these unusual demands, how can 1 help it? The journal you are reading this minute, that cost you 8c. or less, I may offer you 20c. for, a month or two hence, after yon have read it ami had the full use of it. 1 am in receipt of a pleasant letter from the au- thor of "Blessed Bees," regretting that any one should have taken the book to be a narration of facts, and promising to have my criticism, in the March No., sent out with every book. I regret that he has not thought proper to give in a brief, con- densed form, the exact truth of what he has suc- ceeded in doing with bees pecuniarily. It has been suggested that grape sugar killed my bees, but, as I told you last fall, I had fed the col- onies containing imported queens, profusely with it, to start the queens to laying, and these have lived, while others have died. Again; bees pur- chased late in the season in box hives, have died with dysentery badly, and they did not have a par- ticle of grape sugar. The demand for the cold blast smokers seems as- tonishing. Although a room full of hands are work- ing on them constantly, we have hardly been able to keep up with the demand. As every room in our large building is occupied, it looks now almost as if we should have to build another in which to make smokers. There is a steady stream of orders for dozens and half dozens, from those who have bought samples. About the middle of Feb., Mr. J. Y. Detweiler, of Toledo, O., paid us a visit, bringing some sheets of tin foil. These were dipped in wax, and rolled in fdn., which, he now assures us, is a perfect success. I have no doubt but that beos will build combs on this, but I do not quite like the idea of metal at the bottoms of the cells, and the extra weight it gives. It is, of course, proof against sagging. I shall have to caution those having mills against such experi- ments, for it will spoil or injure rails of any softer metal than copper. — »«>■ — Mr. A. G. Hill, of Kendallville, Ind., made us a pleasant visit a few days ago. Friend Hill has a bee- hive factory, but he only makes one kind of hive, and makes that only set up and painted. It would be a very pleasant thing, to run a shop in that way, and I think we might make the one kive very cheap. Friend Hill has a patent on the farmer's honey box I illustrated last month and so I have decided not to make them. The patent is only on the idea of separating the box into sections. He has a patent on his hive also, but is very frank in saying he would have been better off, had he never had any- thing to do with patents. foundation starters for comb honey. A feav days ago, I found a thick hard piece of fdn. in some comb honey on the table. I cut off the honey, washed the fdn., and found that it was some of our thinnest drone fdn., and the bottoms of the cells, were thinned down as thin as where there was no fdn. at all. The wax that made it cut hard was in the walls, which were nearly, if not quite, of their original thickness and color. The bees, in this case, had only attached the honey to it, and left the walls •without drawing them up. The section was one of a lot that were filled by feeding clover honey in Oct. ; the weather was so cool that they evidently had been unable to work the wax. To guard against the pos- sibility of such work, we are making both the bases and walls very light; fdn. for brood combs must of course be heavier. A great many are going into the business of fur- nishing bee-keepers' supplies, and while I am glad to see it and am willing to extend a helping hand, I am really afraid some of us will get into trouble. Prices have been cut down until I find it next to impossi- ble to give a discount further than that given on our price list. These hive-making establishments are an excellent thing, to furnish supplies for a neighboi-hood, and thus save expensive freights, be- sides giving the masses of people the beneiit of low prices. Let ua be civil and pleasant even if others do agree to work for less pay than we can affoi-d to. We cannot all of us agree to sell lower than anybody else, and so I think it will be well to stop before we get down to a price that is ruinous. We do not want to see other's in the same line of business with ourselves get into trouble; do we, boys? Weaving wires in a frame, to support the fdn. (as given in Oct. No.) can be done rapidly and at a small expense. Fdn. can also be pressed onto the wires with but little trouble, but on one side of the finished comb, there will occasionally be found im- perfect cells over the wires. If we had a pair of plates as large as the inside of the frame, we could imbed the wires with but little trouble. Mr. Wash- burn and I talked the matter over several months ago, and decided to make some experiments in due time. I see, by the April A. B. J, that Mr. D. S. Given, Hoopeston, Ills., hat put the idea in practice, and I really hope he may make it a success. If I am not mistaken, he will require a very pow- erful press, to work a pair of dies the size of a frame, and even then, I fear will use so much wax, that his sheets will be rather expensive. Sewing the wires through the frame, I very much prefer to Hetherington's plan of putting in the fdn. with glue. 1S79 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 139 ACHAPTEK FROM KEAE LIFE. ILLUSTRATED BY OUR SPECIAL ARTIST. MR. MERRY RANKS, having read "Blessed Bees1', has become enthusi- — ' astic on the subject of bee culture. As he has all his life considered that "the best is the cheapest,1' he decides to have nothing to do with "'dollar queens,'1 but he sends $7.50 for an imported queen in the month of April. She comes to hand all right, and he contemplates her markings and gen- eral appearance with much satisfaction. MR. MERRY BANKS CONTEMPLATES HIS QUEEN, RIGHT FROM SUNNY ITALY. He goes to his apiary (consisting of one hive), and proceeds to introduce her. While making the necessary preparation, he builds some air castles Idled with imaginary swarms of bees, the progeny of this same golden queen, and pictures to himself the satisfaction he will take in seeing them in- crease and prosper under his indefatigable care. He also thinks of the pride he will take in showing his queen to his friends, Brown and Jones, when they come round some evening to see how his strawberries, tomatoes, etc., prosper. After the lapse of 4b hours, he proceeds to open the hive and release her, but, to his dismay, instead of going down among the combs, she takes wing and soars aloft in the balmy air. He also thinks of several other things, and wonders if it would not have been well to have used a cheaper queen until he had had a little more practice, and resolves that if he ever gets hold of her again, he will take the scissors and spoil her "dying apparatus," even if it does spoil her "fair proportions" somewhat. » ♦ 9 SMITH'S FOOT POWER BEZZSAW. SO many questions have been asked in re- H| gard to this, since the notice on page 105 • of last month, that we had friend Smith furnish us the following views and measure- ments. In the drawing below, we have a sectional side view, tig. Ill, a sectional end view, fig. I, a sectional top view, tig. II. AS HE SEES HER RISK lllUlIi^K AND HIGHER AT EVERY CIRCUIT SHE MAKES. HE THINKS OF HIS S7.50. SMITH S FOOT POWER BUZZ-SAWT. The frame is 3+ ft. high, 3ft. long, and 2 ft. 8 inches broad. The diameter of the tiy wheel is 3 ft. 2 in., and its weight 100 lbs. The size of the pulley on the saw mandrel is 3 in. The belt is 2 in., oak tanned, and cost him 15c. per foot. The shaft to the bal- ance wheel is prolonged, and carries a pulley, 1), 9 inches in diameter, for attaching power. Fig. IV is the treadle. I presume a me- chanic will readily understand the other parts by the drawings. The frame is to be made of some hard wood, and the dimen- sions of the stuff are not at all important. This saw is one of the slow motion saws. A large saw, w in front of their hives during warm days, when there is snow on the ground, so that the bees can rise from it and not be chilled by the snow. Do you think there is any advantage in it? Why do you wish to make bees eat salt? H. P. Nichols. Bridgeport, Conn. I do not think there is any especial advan- tage in it, and I do not like the straw lit- tered about the apiary. We do not make the bees eat salt ; Ave only allow them to satisfy their natural craving for it. like horses, sheep, and cattle. The evidence lately fur- nished seems to indicate that they, as well as the animals mentioned, thrive better when given access to it, and it may be they suffer for the want of it. I have just been thinking of putting a judicious pinch of salt into our flour candy. There ! no one can get a patent on that now. TOADS AND WHAT TO PO WITH THEM. I will now write you a chapter on toads. During last season, I noticed large numbers of toads hop- ping about my apiary, and having often seen them eat bees, I devised a plan to dispose of them as fol- lows: I made a pair of wooden tongs, and with a deep tin pail, I went into the apiary just after sun- down one evening, and in a short time, picked up, with the tougs, 32 toads; and jt was not a good day for toad hunting either. Well, what should I do ■with them? I did not really like to kill them, so I took them on to the bridge and dumped them into the Tuscarawas river, telling them to swim for life. About a week after that, I disposed of 16 more in the same way. Who is next? A. A. Fkadenburg. Port Washington, O., Nov. 3, 1879. Thanks, friend F.; I commend you for your humanity, as well as for your ingenui- ty ; that is, if you are sure the toads couhl swim for their lives. Our friend, Prof. Cook, would have ignored yonr wooden tongs, if I know him correctly, and would have taken the toads in his hands with as little scruple as he would newly hatched chickens. WHAT ONE COLONY DID IN 7 YEARS. Tn 1872, 1 bought one hive, and have made no ef- fort at increase, but have in the last 3 years sold 30 hives at from $7 to $10 per hive, and now (March 3d) have 40 good hives. We have had all the honey we could eat, and sold a good many dollars worth, and still my bees are only secondary to my farming. Last June, my wife's help or that of some of the boys was not refused when I had 3 swarms in the air at one time, and yet I have never but once let 2 swarms get together; but it is lively sometimes. I have sometimes divided. I. N. Cotton. Traders Point, Ind., March 3, 1879. BEES AND HONEY ACROSS THE WATER; HONEY FROM THE HEATHER. O. E. Wolcott gives, in Feb. No., a poor idea of bee-keeping in this "land of brown heath." True, there are millions of acres of it, but there are mil- lions of bees working on it too, and the honey is generally voted the richest in the world. The trou- ble is that almo-t universally the ancient skep and brimstone system prevails with its miserable re- sults. Besides, those of us who know better have two great difficulties to contend with— the lateness of the heather season (middle of August to Septem- ber) throws us into the short days and early frosts with frequent rain, and the trouble of extractipg the honey when gathered. No extractor yet made can be warranted to throw it out; it is too rich for that. I hope to get a chance of sending you a sam- ple. BEES LOST ON SNOW. Sow sawdust for a considerable space over the snow and not half will be lost. Their "poor feet" are very sensitive. FUEL FOR THE NEW SMOKER. Our favorite fuel is old corduroy or moleskin. It never goes out nor tlames up like other rags, and its pungent smoke subdues the wildest "high breeds," as a foreign friend calls them. Do try it. Blairgowrie, Scotland. W. Raitt. Thanks, friend Raitt. I should like to try my hand on throwing out some of that thick heath honey. If the weather, or the room, was sufficiently warm, and the honey not too old, I am inclined to think we could make it come. CHEAP HIVES. As you (very unexpectedly to me) published a for- mer letter of mine, in the Feb. No., in which I stat- ed that I could buy Simplicity hives in the flat in St. Louis @ 30c, will you have the kindness to state in next month's Gleanings the following, as I am in receipt of postals every day, from all over the coun- try, asking information concerning it. The firm in St. Louis who offered to make Sim- plicity hives in the flat. @ 30c each, is Philibert & Johanning, mill men, S. W. cor. of 15th and Market Sts. They are not manufacturers of hives of any kind, hence persons ordering will have to furnish a sample hive, or so much, in the tlat, as is necessary to work by, and also order in lots of not less than 25, to secure them at this price. lam afraid, friend Root, that this looks like tak- ing business out of your own hands, but I should not mention it were it not from the fact that you "brought it upon yourself," by publishing my let- ter, and because I am confident that, in so doing, you were looking to the interests of your patrons "themselves and the community at large, and not your own. By so doing you will lose nothing from me, or my small influence, and 1 think not else- where, in the long run. I have several things that I want to talk to you about. I feel as though I was acquainted wiih you and not a sti anger as 1 am, but I have already in- truded upon your time too long and will close. For- mer hives ordered of you are ready to transfer ray bees into, painted 2 coats inside and 3 outside, with white lead and linseed oil. N. H. Allen. Kirkwood, Mo., Feb. 11, 1879. If anything I sell can be found cheaper than I can furnish it, I hope, friend A., I may always be ready to give you all the ben- efit of such knowledge. "We shall not suffer in the end. by considering the good of oth- ers, even if we do lose temporarily. I have sometimes hesitated about advising hives that were offered cheaper, for fear they might not be good ones. TRANSPOSING LARV* FOR QUEEN REARING. Queen cage is received. Last fall 3 out of 4 of all the larvre which I put in dry cells were removed, even when there were no other eggs or larva? in the hive. It might be more successful earlier in the season. Nearly all succeeded when put where oth- ers had been. Italian drones were out the 12th. We have a few sealed queen cells. C. R. Carlin. Shreveport, La., Feb. 15, 1879. 146 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. April A REPORT TN FAVOR OF CELLAR WINTERING. Nov. 25, 1878, I put into winter quarters, in my cel- lar, 93 colonies of bees; 21 in box hives, and the bal- ance in Simplicity and Standard hives, and did not move them to their summer stands until March 8th. I have kept bees 7 years, and never had them winter better. Two colonies only have died, and those of starvation. The rest are strong and in a splendid condition. I wintered one colony out doors in the chaff hive you sent me last year, and it also came through the winter as strong- and healthy as those in the cellar. More than 50 per cent of bees win- tered out doors in this section are dead. Norwalk, O., March 10, 1879. S. F. Newman. MELTING DOWN BY CONFINEMENT; SEVEN SWARMS IN ONE, ETC. I am just a beginner in bee culture. I commenced 2 years ago (1877), by finding a swarm of Italians in a tree. I put them in a L. hive, and increased them to 3, that season. They wintered all right, and in the spring of 1878, I bought 9 more, making 12 in all. I carried one into the cellar to keep it from being robbed, and it being closed up, the combs melted down and drowned the whole colony. Well, I had 11 left, and was a little wiser. I increased them to 32, and extracted 12 gal., and took 8U0 lbs. of comb hon- ey. I put the 32 in the cellar for winter quarters, Nov. 23, 1878; took them out of the cellar the 6th of March. They came out lovely, without the loss of one. One man in this neighborhood lost 18 out of 67; he had them in a cellar. There are a good many bees in tkis neighborhood. One neighbor, with old fash- ioned box hives and gums, had 7 swarms come out at one time, last summer, and all settled in one pile. He told me he never saw such a pile of bees in his life. He could not do a thing with them. They finally rose and went off in every direction, so he lost all. So you see at this date, I have 32 to start this sea- son's work with, and I intend to do my best with them. Geo. W. Penn. Colfax, Iowa, March 8, 1879. GETTING THE BOXES TOO FAR FROM THE BROOD, ETC. In the spring of 1871. 1 bought one hive of bees; that is, I made a Quinby hive "old style," and had a swarm put in it the summer before. I knew but lit- tle about bees, except that my father had kept a few since I could remember until the moths de- stroyed them. I bought Quinby's Bec-Keeping, and with my one hive launched into the business. My object was to have plenty of honey to eat, but my bees increased and we could not eat it all, and peo- ple said "What luck Cotton has with bees!" Now there is one thing that experience has taught me, and that is, that the distance from the hive to the honey boxes is too great in the old Quinby hive, and I am seriously thinking of changing to the Sim- plicity. Last year, I took the top and honey board from one hive, put on a large box, and took it off in August with 80 lbs. of honey, leaving plenty for win- ter. I. N. Cotton. Traders' Point, Ind., March 17, 1879. I agree with you, friend C, but the Q. hive is not as bad as some others in the re- spect you mention. The Am., Gallup, and other deep frames are still worse, although side storing may be so employed as to very much help the matter. Our swarming time now begins. There are plenty of drones flying now. Clara Slough. Daytona, Fla., Feb. 3, 1879. HOW TO TELL WHEN BEES ARE ROBBING. I am one of your ABC scholars, am keeping bees, and have been reading Gleanings, fee., trying my best to become an adept in bee culture; but now, I guess you will have to put me in the "Growlery" or "Blasted Hopes" department, just wherever you think I belong, for I am discouraged, and afraid I can't keep up in my class; not, however, because my bees have not been doing well, for they have withstood the severe winter well so far, and appear to be in good condition. But I will tell you why I am discouraged; in Jan. No., under the heading of "How to Know Robbers," we have the following instructions: "A robber bee, when he approaches a hive, has a sly and guilty look." Further on, we have "hurried and guilty look." Now that may do for some of you amateur bee-keepers, with skillful and experienced eye, to tell by the countenance of a bee whether he is a robber or not, but, for a beginner like myself, it is drawing it a little too fine, and I despair of ever be- coming able to distinguish the difference between the looks of guilty and innocent bees. After carefully reading the instructions on "How to Tell Robbers," I am sometimes as much at a loss as ever, to know whether the bees are robbing or having a frolicsome play. If you can help me out of my trouble, I will be much 'obliged to vou. Mogadore, O., March 18, 1879. Wm. P. Myers. It would be strange, friend M., if I would not come to the help of one who lives in the town where all my childhood days were passed, and where fond recollection goes back every time I see the postmark, Moga- dore. I did not mean that you were to look a bee square in the face, and try to read in the lines of his countenance, whether he is given to dissipation and loafing, as you would that of a young man, but that you are to judge by his actions and behavior. If he approaches the bees around the entrance cautiously, and jumps back when one at- tempts to pass the compliments of the day by extending his antennae, you may judge that he is guilty. If he gets grabbed by the wing, and spins around in his efforts to get away, or is '•'wheeled1' back and forth, as it were, in front of the hive, you may know he is a robber. If he stands his ground and seems lost and troubled, but does not try to get away, while the rest gather around and bite and pick at him, you may know he is a young bee that has got to the wrong hive by mistake, which often happens when they tirst fly in the spring. Where a colony will not defend itself at all, as is sometimes the case, you will see nothing of this ; simply plump heavily laden bees darting off hastily, after running' up the sides of the hive as I have explained. A few days ago, on going to dinner, I told Will the bees were robbing. He was sure they were not, but I knew they were, by the high key note of the bees that were buzzing about. It was a colony in the house apiary; they were just about as busy as the rest, and the bees were going in and out just about the same. The only way I detected it was by seeing bees crawl up above the auger hole before taking wing. On going closer, I saw that each bee was podded out with honey, until he could con- tain no more. The next Sunday, I declared that bees were robbing again, but on look- ing I saw there was no robbing from our hundred hives and over. Next morning, a man had his hand badly swollen ; was it a felon? No ; it was a bee sting. I looked to his sister, who kept bees, for an explanation. They were not hers, for hers were all dead ; but other bees were there robbing the hives of their honey all day, and that was what I heard in my apiary nearly a half mile away. Although she is the proof reader of Glean- ings, she had not gathered that any particu- lar harm would ensue from allowing the hives to remain thus open. I wonder that all the people in the neighborhood were not stung. Thus you see that we judge from actions, sound of their wings, and general deportment, as to whether thieving or hon- est labor is going on. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 14 DEPOSITORY OF Or Letters from Those AVlio Have Made Bee Culture a Failiare. drhF 127 colonies, [the 163 reported in Feb. mffl No., Will now discovers to have been a ^-"^ mistake ; he counted the SB in the house apiary hcice.] I have lost and doubled up un- til I have only 87 left. I am not discour- aged, or ready to give up, but am going to make the 87 "climb,"' through the influence of careful protection during the spring months, and judicious feeding. The above report is rather disgraceful to one who is teaching bee culture, but whenever the truth will kill me, let me die. USING COMBS FROM COLONIES THAT HAVE DIED WITn DYSENTERY. I guess you will have to put mo into Blasted Hopes. Out of 70 stands, I think I will have only about 25 It-f i, c msed, 1 suppose, by dysentery, bad honey, and long spell of cold weather. I wintered in Am. hives, on summer stands, well packed. I am going- to make chaff hives after this, brood frames to hold 6 Simplicity sections crosswise, 8 sec- tions lengthwise Las mentioned in Feb. No. — Ed.], with open top bars. 1 have got enough of closed top bars. I would like to know if I could use these combs again, by extracting the honey. Will it affect the bees? If not, I shall h.ive to get an extractor. 1 have 40 good set of combs, and can build up fast, if I can use them again. Don't you think so? Would you take the honey out of the outside combs, when you give them to a young swarm? Stephen Hill. Port Huron, Mich., March 10, 1879. To be sure, you can use these combs again, and do not, for anything, think of extract- ing the honey. It is in the very best shape possible for feeding and for new swarms ; for all you have to do is to hang these combs in the hives, where food is wanted. If you wish to hasten breeding and comb building, just slice the caps off the combs. It has been tried a great many times, and the combs from colonies that have died seem to answer just as well as any, when warm weather comes, and even when used for win- tering bees the winter after, they seem to answer just as well as any. I commenced keeping bees in the spiing of '68, and had about 40 colonies. In the fall and winter of '78, I lost 39 colonies. The next winter, 1 lost 29. You see I could not let them alone, and had pur- chased more; but the third winter killed the last colony. I however purchased again, and last fall went into the winter with 70 colonies, of which we have just 48 left; they are, however, all in good con- dition, and we mean to try it again. The yield of clover honey last year was the best I ever knew. Seven colonies of hybrids, in Conklin's Diamond hives, gave me 1,000 lbs. of honey, part being ex- tracted and part comb honey. C. E. Bulison. Flushing, Mich., March 12, 1879. MOVING HIVES CLOSE TOGETHER FOR WINTERING. My trouble is this: I thought of wintering on summer stands, with chaff cushions, &c, as I had 0 strong colonies in L. hives. They were all young, but one, and unusually strong in stores, as I only took off one 5 lb. box of honey the past year, it hav- ing been a very poor one for honey. When our coldest weather came, in Jan., mercury down 10° to 25° below zero, I thought my bees needed some pro- tection; sol moved them to the south side of a small building, and stored them side by side, pack- ing them closely with chaff all around. They had previously been scattered all around through the yard, under tr^es. The above you will see is contrary to your oft re- peated instructions. Now for the result. They wintered finely so far as consumption of honey is concerned and are strong in numbers, but the first warm days in Feb. and in this month, they have spent their time in fighting more or less. I scattered them to-day and overhauled them. I find I have two queens left in the six colonies, 4 queens having been destroyed. Now, what ought I to do? I dislike to unite them, because that would put 3 swarms to a hive; they are all very strong. Wm. H. Graves. Duncan, 111., March 8, 1879. Give them some eggs and brood, and let them rear a queeen. If no drones are to be found when the queens are 10 days old, kill them and let them rear others, until you get laying queens. If they get weak, give them eggs from time to time, and let them rear their own bees. Reports of such disasters as yott mention, caused by moving bees around, are frequent, and it is mainly for this reason that I have devised the chaff hive, that the bees may remain undisturbed, and require no such ''tinkering," either summer or winter. RODBING IN THE SPRING. I had hoped to send you an order for some hives, section boxes, foundation, &c, at this time, but now I fear I shall have to go into Blasted Hopes, and will not need any supplies. I have kept a few "bees for 10 or 12 years, and in the fall of '76, I had 20 colonies, all in box hives and well filled with honey; but dur- ing the winter of '76 and '77, some were smothered and others died with diarrhoea, so that when the warm days of March came, 1 had but 8 or 9 colonies left. I then raised the hives from the bottom about V2 inch so as to give them plenty of air, and let them have a good fly. Well, the result was, robbers cleaned them all out. I started again, in the spring of '77, with one colony, increased to 2, and last year increased to 8 colonies, and had some surplus hon- ey. I thought, with the aid of Gleanings, my troubles were at an end; but, alas! 3 of these colonies were in Simplicity hives, 3 in American, and the other 2 in box hives. One of those in the American hives smothered, and the 2 in box hives were very weak, but the rest were in good order until the last 3 or 4 days, when robbers commenced again. Fclosed the entrance so but one bee could pass at a time, but it has done no good. They are fighting constantly, and it looks now as if they would clean out the last swarm. I have a neighbor who had 60 colonies in the fall, and has lost over half of them. E. West. Channahan, 111., March 10, 1879. I fear, my friend, you have been careless about letting robbers get a start. One of the clerks asks if you did not leave the en- trance of the hive where the bees died open? Have your stocks strong, everything snug and trim, and there certainly ought to be little trouble from the causes you have men- tioned. I will not want so many hives this spring as I thought 1 should, since I have only 2 colonies living out of 12; so you see, I have lost heavily for an A B C scholar. I had them in the L. hive, arid the hives were not very well made. The bees had the dysen- tery. The colony containing my Italian queen died, so I am left with 2 blacks; but I am not discouraged. I want to increase, but to buy full colonies is too ex- pensive, for I am only a coal digger. Times are very hard. K. Blacklock. Geigerville, Ky., March 12, 1879. I am a new beginner in handling bees, and have lost very heavily this winter. I had 60 swarms last fall, and they are all dead but 6. James McClenohan. Clyde, O., Mar. 17, 1879. 148 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. April BEE BOTANY AND ENTOMOLOGY. SEND herewith, leaves, bloom, and pod or seed of a very singular and beautiful plant, or shrub. It is a stranger to me and to everyone who has seen it, and it seems to have got among us myste- riously. Miss Mollie Heath, the daughter of quite an extensive apiarian of this county, Mr. Henry Heath, procured the seed among other flower seeds, and planted them, late last spring, in the front yard at their residence. This plant came up with the rest, but did not at- tract much attention until the last of August, when it commenced to bloom, and all other flowers were gone. Then every passer by stopped to admire it. There have been some 25 or 30 branches of bloom, with from 50 to 100 blooms each. It is about 3 feet high, with quite a large top. It is yet in full bloom, and looks, from the number of buds yet unopened, as if it will bloom until New Year's. Cold weather and frost don't seem to have any effect on it. Not one of its many visitors has been able to name this stranger; so we have concluded to get you to do so for us, if you can, and tell us whether it is an annual or semi-annual plant, and where we can ob- tain seed of the same. I don't think any seed will ripen on this one, this season. The bees have worked on it all the time, and are working on it to- day. G. W. Snider. Denison, Texas, Nov. 23, 1878. We sent the plant to Prof. Beal, who re- " as follows : This is some species of Ptyinciana, a woody plant closely related to the acacias. These belong to the order Leguminosse, an immense order of 6,-00 spe- cies. With more time and better specimens, I might make out the plant more certainly. W. J. Beat,. Agr. College, Lansing, Mich. plied MISS MOLLIE HEATH'S HONEY PLANT. As Leguminosse is the family to which the locust, pea, and clover belong, it is nothing strange that this should be a honey plant. It is a plant of rare beauty, as you may see from the cut our engraver has made. The flowers are yellow. .Friend S., we are much obliged, and if seed can be procured, we all want enough to give it a trial. CHICKEN CORN. I send you enclosed some kind of chicken corn (name unknown). 1 wish you to distribute it among some of your bee-educated friends. It is the most productive crop of any grain I ever cultivated. It should be planted and cultivated just the same as sorghum, which it very much resembles in size and growth. It remains in bloom 3 or 4 weeks, and bees work on no other plants while it lasts. I had buck- wheat in full bloom along with it, and though I no- ticed closely, I never saw a bee on the buckwheat blooms while the corn was in bloom. I would like to have some bee-man's experience of what benefit it is to the bees, that makes them so fond of it. Birds and fowls are equally fond of it when ripe, and will soon devour the whole patch to the neglect of all other grain equally convenient, if it is not gathered soon after ripening. In your climate, it should be planted very early, as I notice that late planting here fails to form grain. Fred Battle. Withe Depot, Tenn., Feb. 23, 1879. Thanks, friend B. We sent samples of the seed to our seedsmen, and also to the O. Judd Co. Their replies are given below : We are not acquainted with this particular vari- ety, but, judging from the seed and your descrip- tion of its growth and habits, we should pronounce it one of the numerous Impliees, all of which, even if the seed should not ripen in our latitude, make good fodder when cut up and properly cured. Very early planting would not be advisable, but it should be planted at corn planting time, as the seed would not germinate at a low temperature. Cleveland, O., Feb. 27, 1871). Stair & Kendel. The seeds are evidently one of the Sorghums; but it is not possible, so many varieties are there, to say which one. In size and color, they are more like those of one of the sugar sorghums than those cul- tivated for their grain. I do not know how you can ascertain the name. I have, among the many kinds sent us, seen none just like this. George Thurrer, Associated Editor of American Agriculturist. 245 Broadway, N. Y., March 1, 1879. As our bee men are all "educated" or sup- posed to be, I will send a few seeds to try to any one who applies. If I get out, as I ex- pect I shall, friend B., you will have to send me another little bag full. pvenile Qjep/irinieiih WE have got 5 swarms. One swarm is dying off quite fast. The bees come out when it is very cold, and fly a little, and then they fall and freeze. I put a stick before the entrance, but still they would try to get out; they would crawl out and I would poke them back; but they were bound to stay out, so I let them stay out and went away. The other 4 swarms don't die off so fast. What is the matter with the bees? Is there any remedy? One night, the door was open and about half of them froze. Some die and stick fast to the glass. I hope you will read my letter and put it in the bee book," Gleanings in Bee Culture, for I am a boy 11 years old. (I want pa to see it; he don't know that I am writing.) Lonson G. Barger. Five Corners, N. Y., Feb. 24, 1879.. To be sure, I will read your letter, friend Lonson, and I am very glad of the privilege of putting it in Gleanings. Your bees have the bee malady that has prevailed so universally, and I know no better advice than what I have given in the past few months. The warm weather has doubtless cured them, if they lived till it came. I hope your "pa" will smile, when he sees this letter*. I am a boy 10 years old. My grandpa gave me a nice hive of bees, and I want to learn all 1 can about them. Ogie Dudley. Austinburg, O., Feb. 8, 1679. Glad to hear from you, Ogie, and I hope you will please your grandpa by letting him see how much you have learned about that fine hive of bees. Cleveland, O., en route for California, Feb. 20, 1879. I cannot call, but greet you as I pass. I saw D. Quinby, Thorn, and Cap. Hetherington, in N. Y. Our country looks cheerful notwithstanding it is covered with snow, and our people seem hopeful. R. Wilkin. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 149 The contents of this leaf and the one following are not directly connected with the subject of bee-culture. On this account, I make no charge for them; and, if you choose, you can cut them , and under which we shall all of us have plenty to do, so long as we are faithful. In consideration of receiving employment in this establishment, I agree — First: To respect and reverence God and his laws. Secondly; To forbear taking His name in vain. Thirdly: To remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, and that I may do this, I agree to attend some place of public worship twice at least every Sabbath. (A Bible class, Sabbath school, or prayer meeting is considered a place of public worship.) Fourthly: To abstain from the use of every drink that will intoxicate, from the use of tobacco in every shape, from card playing and billiards, or at- tendance at public dances; not only that I may shun every appearance of evil, but that I mayr not encourage others who may be more harmed than myself, by the force of my example. Fifthly: To be courteous, pleasant, and civiltomy shop mates, even though they be uncourteous and uncivil to me. Sixthly: Whenever I find myself unable to com- ply with the above requirements, I agree to yield my place pleasantly, to some one else. Signed Applicants need bring no references or recom- mend. It matters not what your past history may have been, what your age, sex, or condition. The only question is, are you willing to commence a work of reform ? A. I. Root, Medina, O., March 22nd, 1879. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 155 j, i worn mmm wm m Patented May 7th, 18T8. < K Also price list of Queens, C >mb Foundation, both old and new style. Section Boxes, and Glass. 4d Sawing off a Log. This SAW MACniNE is a wonderful in- vention. The weight of the man who is sawing does half of the work. It saws logs of any size, and will saw off a 2 foot log in 2 minutes. Circulars free. Address, Win. GILES, C96 W. Cth St., Cincinnati, Ohio, You can not look over the back No's of Glean- ings or any other Periodical with satisfaction, unless they are in some kind of a Binder. Who has not said— "Dear me, what a bother— I must have last month's Journal and it is no where to be found." Put each No. in the Emerson Binder as soon as it comes, and you can sit down happy, any time you wish to find anything- you may have previously seen even though it were months agro. Binders for Gleanings (will hold them for two years), gilt lettered, free by mail for 50, 60, and 75c, according to quality. For table of prices of Binders for any Periodical, see Oct. No., Vol. II. Send in your orders. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. BEES 1879 BEES Full Colonies, Nuclei and Queens cheap. Supplies furnished. Satisfaction guaranteed. Writeforpar- ticulars. S. D. McLEAN & SON., 2-7inq Culleoka, Maury Co., Tenn. Ayer & Son's Manual contains more informa- tion of value to advertisers than any other pub- lication. Sent postpaid on receipt of 25 cents. Ad- dress N. W. Ayer & Son, Advertising Agents, Times Building, Philadelphia. BEFORE Purchasing Colonies with Imported Queens, or Home Bred Queens, Italian Queens, COMB FOUNDATION, and Implements in Bee Culture, write for circular with prices and sample of Comb Foundation free. ."id good colonies of common bees in box hive3 at •53 50 each. 3d CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, 111. WARRANTED QUEENS. 1 warrant, as properly mated, all "Dollar Queens" sent out by me this season. My Queens are all bred from best imported stock, and I promise safe arri- val and perfect satisfaction. Prices in M.iy, $1 50; in June $1 25; after June $1 00. 3-4d E. M. HAYHURST, Kansas City, Mo. Names of responsible parties will be inserted in either of the following departments, at a uniform price of 20 cents each insertion, or $2,00 per year. $1.00 Queens. Names inserted in this department the first time with- out charge. After, 20c each insertion, or $2,00 per year. Those whose names appear below agree to furnish Italian queens for $1,00 each, under the following conditions: No guarantee is to be assumed of purity, or anything of the kind, only that the queen be reared from a choice, pure mother, and had commenced to lay when they were shipped. They also agree to re- turn the money at any time when customers become impatient of such delay as may be unavoidable. Bear in mind that he who sends the best queens, put up most neatly and most securely, will probably receive the most orders. Special rates for warranted and tested queens, furnished on application to any of the parties. Names with *, use an imported queen mother. If the queen arrives dead, notify us and we will send you another. *E. W. Hale. Wirt, C. H. W. Va. 1-12 *A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. *H. H. Brown, Light Street, Columbia Co., Pa. 7-9 *E. M. Havhurst, Kansas City, Mo. 1-12 *J. M. C. Taylor, Lewiston, Fred. Co., Md. 1-6 *Paul L. Viallon, Bayou Goula, La. 8ttd *R. Sterile, Marietta, O. l-6d *J. Oatman & Sons, Dundee, Kane Co., 111. 2-ld *J. E. Walcher, Millersville, Christian Co., 111. 3-8 *S. M. Hitchcock & Co.. Warthen, Wash. Co., Ga. 3-8 *.I. B. Keeler, Carlinvttle, 111. 3-8 *.T. Mattoon. Atwater, Portage Co., O. 4 (free) *Newnan & Baker, Norkalk, Huron Co., O. ' 4-6 *J. R. Landes, Albion, Ashland Co., O. 4d Miller & Hollam. Kewaskum, Wash Co., Wis. 4-4 *D. A. McCord, Oxford, Butler Co.. O. 4-9 *J. T. Wilson, Moxtonsville, Woodford Co. Ky 4-4d Hive Manufacturers. Who agree to make such hives, and at the prices named, as those described on our circular. A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. J. H. Nellis, Canajoharie, N. York. 5-4 F. A. Salisbury, Geddes, Onon. Co., N. Y. 12-5 A. A. Fradenburg, Port Washington, O. 2-6 R. R. Murphy, Garden Plain, Whiteside Co., 111. 2-4d C. H. Dean, Mortonsville, Woodford Co., Ky. 3-6 F. A. Snell, Milledgeville, Carroll Co., 111. 3-7 H. Scovell, Columbus, Cherokee < Y>., Kans. 4-3 Newman & Baker, Norwalk, Huron Co., O. 4-7 CLUBBING LIST. We will send Gleanings— With The American Bee Journal ($2 00) $2 25 " The Bee-Keeper's Magazine (150) 175 " Both the above (Bee Journals of America) 3 00 " American Agriculturist ($1 50) 2 25 " Prairie Farmer (2 15) 2 90 " Rural New Yorker (2 50) 3 25 " Scientific American (3 20) 3 90 " Fruit Recorder and Cottage Gardener (1 00) 1 75 {Above rates include all Postage.] 156 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. April STRONG, THH.ITTY, CONCORD GRAPE VINES, FOR SHADING BEE HIVES. 10c each or $1.00 per doz. If scut by mail, double above prices. These vines are the best to be had, and are just such as we have planted in our new grounds for shading the hives. A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. "Quinby's New Beekeeping." A revision of "Beekeeping Ex- plained," with much new matter, and practical illustrations. Fully up to the times. Price $1.50. Qiiinby Bellows Smoker. Patented and much improved. The best in market. Three sizes, by mail, $1.00, $1.50, and $1.75, Send for circular of new supplies to L. C. ROOT, 4d Mohawk, Herk. Co., N. Y. ITALIAN QUEENS, FULL COLONIES, AND NUCLEI' AT REASONABLE PRICES. I am prepared to furnish early Queens, bred from imported and select homebred mothers, warranted to be as pure as any in the U. S. Also Albino Queens. Safe arrival guaranteed. Also Hives and Apiarian supplies. Send for price list, &c. Address S. VALENTINE, 4d Double Pipe Creek, Carroll Co., Md. Alsike Clover Seed. A fine new lot of Alsike clover seed, very clean and raised near us. Price per lb., 22c; per bushel, (60 lbs.) $12.00; y2 bushel, $6.00; peck, $3.00. If want- ed by mail add 18c per lb. for bag and postage. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. ITALIAN QUEENS. All bred from imported mothers of my own im- portation. Dollar queens, $1.00; ready in April. Tested queens before June 1st, $3.00; after, $2.50. Full colonies of Italians from $7.00 to $.10.00. Four frame nucleus with tested queen, before June 1st, $5.00, after $4.50. Comb Foundation, Bee-Keepers' Supplies, &c. 3-8d PAUL L. VIALLON, Bayou Goula, La. Comb Foundation MachineS $22.00 TO $100.00. SAMPLES OF FOUNDATION WITH OUR ONE POUND SECTION BOX BY MAIL FOR FIVE CENTS. For illustrations see our Illustrated Catalogue of Apiarian Implements and Supplies, mailed on ap- plication. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. (.ANDES' BEES AND POULTRY. For Italian Bees, Full Colonies, Nuclei or Queens, and Pure Bred Poultry, including Land and Water varieties, Address JNO. R. LANDES, 3tfd Albion, Ashland Co., O.g 9MHmftT GLUinANMM CO, MANUFACTURERS OF SUPERIOR DOUBLE REFINED GRAPE AND MALT SUGAR, CRYSTAL GLUCOSE SYRUP. Superior Double Refined Grape Sugar for feeding bees, at 3^c per lb. in barrels of 375 lbs., and 4c in boxes of 50 or 110 lbs. Crystal Glucose Syrup 5c per lb. by the barrel. Samples of the Grape Sugar will be sent by mail on application. lltf LOUIS P. BEST, Sup't, Davenport, Iowa. Am, Silver Watches For $9.50 In all my experience in the Watch and Jewelry Business, I have never before seen a good Silver Watch for the low price of $9.50. I have just suc- ceeded in getting, of the American Watch Co., a good strong SILVER WATCH, WALL REGULATED, AND INJ89 That I will mail to any address for the above price; and if it does not please you, you may return it within 10 days, and get your money. Or [ will send you the Watch, for 20 subscribers, at $1.00 each. You can have either hunting or open face, and such a Watch, for a present, ought to make any boy (or man either) happy. A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. PURE ITALIAN QUEENS and Colonies for sale for 1879. The best is the cheapest at any price. Circulars sent free. Address D. A. PIKE, Box 19, 3-5 Smithsburg, Wash. Co., Md. 1879. 1879. REV. A. SALISBURY & HAYES. CAMAEGO, ILL., Breeders of Pure Italian Bees and Queens, from Im- ported and Home-Bred Mothers, ami Manufacturers of Hives, Prize Boxes, Comb Foundation, and all general Apiarian Supplies. BEES. Reserved and Early Tested Queens $3 00 July and September " *' 2 50 Colonies of 10 frames 9 00 "12 " 10 00 Nuclei — 1 frame, fine queen 4 00 Comb Foundation, lOlbs. and over, per lb : 50 Wax cleansed and worked for 25c. per lb., or on one-half shares. ^"Send for Circular. 4-inq PRICE OF ITALIAN QUEENS D. Tremontani, Cremone, Italy. April, May and June 12 francs in gold. July and August 10 " " Sept. and Oct 7 " '" Price for California and Australia, 2 francs more than above. No order for less than 8 queens is accepted. If any queens die in the trip, they must be sent back in a letter to have the right to an invoice of compensa- tion. If anyone should refuse to accept the invoice, all right to a compensation shall be lost. [The value of a franc is 18% cents, gold.— Ed.] D. TREMONTANI, Cremone, Italy. DXaVO'TJBD TO BEEH ATS D HONEY, ATVI> HOME INTERESTS. Vol. VII. MAY 1, 1879. No. 5. A. I. ROOT, Publisher and Proprietor, Medina, O. Published Monthly. Established In 187 3 (■TERMS: Sl.OO Per Annum in Ad- i vance; 3 Copies for $2.50; 5 /or $3.75; ClO oi more, 60c. each. Single Number, lOc. SCRAPS AND SKETCHES. NO. 5. A HOME-MADE LAMP NUKSEHY. fDID think of ordering- the $1.00 soldering imple- ments, and trying- to make a nursery myself; J but as I bad no machinery for cutting or fold- ing the tin, and no experience in the business, I con- cluded to give the job to our village tinner. I took a frame from a hive, carried it to the tinner, and had him make a tin box '2 in. deeper than the frame, and large enough, each way, to bold the frame. After this box was finished another was made just like it, only it was » in. broader, each w-.y, and 1 in. deeper. Inside the larger box, at the low- er corners, were soldered pieces of tin, which kept ihe smaller box— when it was placed inside— just an inch from the bottom and sides of Ihe larger one. Outside the smaller box, near the centre of each side, was soldered a sort of prong, made of tin, which projected downward; and when this box was placed inside the other these prongs slipped into fin loops, or staples, which were soldered inside the larger box, and thus the sides were prevented from bulging. The bottoms were not fastened together, and bulged some; but as the nursery was lA in. deeper than the frames, it did no harm. Four strips of tin, each l'» in. wide and as long as the width of the nursery, had 1.i in. of their edges turned up so that they resemble long, shallow troughs, 1 in. wide, and % in. deep. These troughs were turned bottom side up, slipped on over the upper edges of the 2 boxes, and soldered fast, thus forming a sort of tin "binding", which fastened together Ihe outer and inner walls of the nursery, and held them firmly in place. Near one corner of the nursery, a 3.1 in. hole was cut through the tin "binding", into which to in- troduce a tunnel when the nursery requires filling-. Inside the nursery, near the top, were soldered strips of folded tin upon which to hang the frames. The nursery was made of the best roofing tin. if you will tell your tinner just what you wish for, explain the "why's" and "wherefore's", and let him read ihis description, he ought to be able to make you a nursery; and if he can work as cheaply as our tinner, he will charge you only $2.00. A tall box was next made to put the nursery in, and blocks were nailed inside, at the corners, for it to rest upon. When the nursery was put in place, ihere was 54 i»- space, all around between it and the box, and the top of the nursery was Level with the to]) of the box. To keep the nursery in place, and in prevent the heat from escaping, strips of wood ' i in. square, were put in between the upper edges of the box and nursery. For a cover, I used a wide hoard which was oleated to keep it from warping-, and strips of woolen cloth were tacked around the upper edge of the bux, to make the cover tit close and snug. I used an ordinary hand lamp, lifted with a burner that allowed the lamp to be tilled while burning. The bottom of the nursery was a foot from the top of the lamp chimney. A door was made in one side of the box, near the bottom, through which to put the lamp. Upon trial I found the box was so close that the lamp would not burn, and I had to bore some holes in the sides to let in the air. The nursery was kept in doors, and in very warm weather the lamp could be turned down so low that very little oil would be consumed. W. Z. Hutchinson. Rogcrsville, Genesee Co., Mich. m» Igl «m SPRING DWINDLING. A REPORT FROM THE BATTLE FIELD, BY AX "EYE WITNESS." fp O-DAY is the 15th of April, and scarce- Jj^ ly a bit of pollen 1ms been gathered. The buds of the soft maple are open, but for some reason which I cannot give not a bee is to be seen hovering near them; the slippery elm is also in bloom, but, strange to say, not a bee hums about it either. The weather has not been very warm, and there is a cool north wind which may account in part for the seeming indifference of the bees to blossoms. Last month, I reported S5 col- onies left. Since then, one after another, they have been dwindling down, in a won- derfully short space of time, and stocks that were called fair, having brood on several combs a week ago, are now found with only a handful of bees, the brood dead by expos- ure, the unsealed larva' starving and drying up in the cells, and a general air of discour- agement all about the hives. Some colonies bring in a little pollen now and then, but the greater part of them seem to have sus- pended work, and the bees are loafing idly about on the combs. Usually, we find a row of cells of unsealed honey around the young brood, but now the heavy combs of sealed honey remain untouched, and not a cell of honey is placed close to the brood for imme- diate use. and ev< r\ bee seems to have stop- ped work. When we open hives, there is no need of a smoker, for the greater part of the bees seem too listless to care to show fight. Some cases seem to indicate that the black bees are less affected than the Ital- ians; but. again, we find heavy stocks of blacks, in box hives, bought of one of our neighbors, all at oner reduced to a handful, the queen gone, and the whole establish- ment an easy prey to robbers, if the robbers had energy enough to appropriate it. The dwindling is not in my apiary alone, but is also lessening the stocks of the farmers and other bee-keepers in our vicinity, and, in fact, all over OUT land, as you may gather from the reports in this No." Not that every body has lost thus, for many whole apiaries 162 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. May seem to have wintered as well as they ever did, but the losses seem to extend so widely, that it is almost impossible to ascribe it to any special locality, or kind of stores. The chaff hives, it is true, were all right when the others were dying off at a rapid rate, but within the past week they, too, have begun to follow the rest, at a rate that is alarming. The house apiary, somewhat to my aston- ishment, seems almost unaffected, only that they are making very slow progress in brood rearing, and a very few stocks show signs of the universal dwindling. Even the flour candy seems to have lost its potency to start brood rearing. I have had experience in this same line before, and it seems to me that nothing but new honey and new pollen can revive the drooping courage of our little pets. I need hardly add that grape sugar lias nothing to do with it, for apiaries where it has never been used are just as much af- fected. The bees have died close up to combs of sealed clover honey. No symp- toms of dysentery are to be seen. Meal has been given them in tine weather, but their zeal for it has been nothing like what it is usually. There are now 55 "hives with bees in them," in our apiary. Perhaps a dozen of these have queen cells, instead of queens. Four whole colonies, 9 nuclei, and 35 queens (48 in all) have been sold. I am thus partic- ular in giving these details, because I think all who embark in bee-culture should have a fair view of the obstacles they may have to contend with. It is not often that I disobey orders, butthe following describes so vividly the condi- tion of my bees, except those in the house apiary, that I 'have concluded to run the risk, and give it. It may make some poor fellow feel better, friend Bray, for you know that misery loves company. Well, I wont into winter with about 130 colonies of bees. Today I think I can house all I have left in a M bushel measure— yes, I believe I could put them in a peck basket. Don't publish this. It would cost me about $500. to replace them. What's the matter? However, I shall not give it up. Can you offer me any consolation? I hope you have had better hick than 1 have. J. B. Brat. Lynnville, Ten., Mar. 23, 1876. April. 2oth. — "We have now had nearly a week of beautiful weather, and the troubles are all over. The bees are at work on the maples, and under the influence of new hon- ey and pollen, everything is promising. The weak colonies have still quite a propen- sity to swarm out, and for some strange rea- son, our queens most unexpectedly turn up missing every day or two. This trouble seems mostly confined to the black queens in hives I have purchased, so we cannot well ascribe it to any artificial ways of man- aging. The farmers in the country round about us have lost most heavily. Our neighbor Shaw, of Chatham, strange to tell, has come through again this winter, without the loss of a single colony. His hives are not chaff packed, but are double, with a dead air space between the walls. Those of our neighbors who reared queens for sale last season have generally lost badly. Our en- graver, who had quite a fine little apiary in the fall, has now but two colonies left. His imported queen went with the rest, and it was perhaps his sad experience that promp- ted our cartoon for this month, which I may as well give you right here. AN EXPERIENCE THAT "BLESSED BEES" DIDN'T TELL OF. For some little time past I have talked to the boys and girls at our noon-day prayer meeting, of the blessings that many times come in the guise of troubles. If we suc- ceeded in every thing without trying hard, we would never develop much strength of character, or power of mind or body. Still farther, if we take- troubles aright, they al- most always do us good, in the end. Well, what good' is to come from having our bees all die, as they have done during the past mouth or two i That is a question I have been asking, and I begin to think I see a lit- tle daylight ahead. I have nearly a ton of nice sealed honey in frames, just right to build up new colonies. I can buy nice young queens, very soon now, from our Southern friends, at a low price, and with the thous- and or more nice combs stored away in the honey house, I could build up an apiary very quickly, if I only had the bees. Where shall we get bees? If I buy, they must come by express, and are almost invariably in some great heavy awkward hive that I have to hire a man to make into kindling wood, after pay- ing several dollars express charges on it. The combs, too, are crooked and not to be compared with those we now make the bees build from the fdn., but I have to pay the express charges on these too, just to get the bees. The apiary, at present, furnishes only three commodities ; honey, wax, and queens. Why not make a fourth by selling bees V A quart of bees would be worth to me during the month of May, a dollar, without any question, and you 'who have plenty of bees, without doubt, could make a nice thing of it, by furnishing me and others who have plenty of empty combs and stores, at the price mentioned. The express charges on the bees alone, will be but a trifle, compared with that of a great hive, and now I will tell you how I have been "walking round the stairway," with a view to helping you all. 1S79 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Get a wire cloth screen such as is used to cover dishes to keep the tiies away. They can be had of any tinsmith, for a few cents each, and can be had of different sizes. Cut out a piece of hoard so as to just fit inside, and then make a large hole in the center of the hoard, so as to leave, in fact, only a ring of wood. Tack a piece of tin on the bottom of the board to cover this hole, and then fas- ten a low. Hat bottle in the center of the hole. A couple of wires twisted around its neck, with the ends tacked into the^wood, will hold it. Now the space between the wood and bottle is to be rilled with candy. The candy must not be put in until it is nearly cold, or it may break the bottle. Eill the bottle with water, put in a large wick, and the bees will have pure sugar, pure wa- ter, and plenty of pure air while on their journey, and the shape of the package is such that the expressmen will not -be likely to tip it over, or to throw anything On to it. The engraving below will show the arrange- ment. p;. CAGE FOR SENDING I5EES BY EXPRESS. If you can devise a cheaper and lighter package for sending bees alone, by express, I shall be very glad to have you do so. Per- haps a light pine box with a comb or two of honey in old, tough combs, may answer as well as the arrangement I have described, but if you do not want the bees to die, you would better have wire cloth on at least two opposite sides, and some arrangement for giving them plenty of pure water. Pure wa- ter and pure sugar enables bees to stand confinement much better than honey, so far as my experience goes, and if you want simply to confine bees, without having them rear brood, I would not put any flour in the candy. The price I have mentioned is for live bees delivered at our express office, and if they smother or starve, it will be your loss. A good swarm of bees will often fill a peck measure, and at the price I have given, would be worth S8.00. without any queen. If you choose to send a queen with them, I will allow you the usual price for her. How many bees make a quart V Well, I have just been to the apiary and counted out 100 bees, and found that they weigh i oz., and mea- sure 1-10 of a pint. This would give the weight of a quart of bees at just about lib. These bees were picked from the combs with their heads in the cells. I think a dollar a tt> will be a very fair price in the spring, or be- fore the honey season. Weigh your box with the requisite provisions etc., before the bees are put in, and then again afterward, and you will have their exact weight. Now who will help get this new product of the apiary into working shape? I suppose you know that if you have one stock of bees left, from which to get brood, you could soon replenish all your hives, even 'if you had no queens at all, for a pint of healthy young bees will raise a queen without trouble, if given a bit of brood during the month of Majs THE MARKET PKIL'E OF A BE^' There are 3200 bees in a It)., so you se? market price of bees to-day is about two doz- en and a half for a cent. Who wants to sell V And who will buy ? Next month I will open a department, and will publish the names of all who will sell or buy at these figures. Names inserted first time free. Now am I not right in saying a good lesson may he gained from all our troubles, if we only look at them aright ? HOME MADE Bl/7, SAWS. ^fp NOTE, in April No., that you give a plan of a Jr|| foot power buzz saw, almost like the one that I =si have been using- for two years; but I use two treadles instead of one. I also have a seat to rest my weight on, when the sawing does not require my entire weight on the treadles. The shaft, A, with the fly wheel, turns on steel points, as also the saw mandrel. It runs much easier and very true. I also have two screws, B, to set the table high or low. The fly wheel is i ft. in diameter, and the pulley, '.} in. The fly wheel sets back so as to give more strap on the pulley. I use a mandrel for each saw. They are easily taken off and easily put on, by turning the one steel point. I never take the saws off from the mandrel when filing or setting, because they are very troublesome to get true. carpenter's double treadle foot power BDZZ SAW. T made the frame. It cost $3.00. The mandrel and all the irons and two 6 in. saws cost me $5.00, making the whole cost $S.00. I like it much better than any single treadle I have ever used. Polo, 111. H. F. Carpenter. ( )ur neighbor, Dean, of Eiver Styx, has a saw on a similar principle, with double tread- le, wdiich he has used for years past with excellent satisfaction. The power obtained by using both feet is quite an item, but with- out some practice the swaying of the body while at work is a little annoying. Friend Dean saws out hives and all kinds of frame stuff, with wonderful rapidity; but in sawing thick stuff for sections, I believe he usually attaches a horse power to the saw. One who is expert with the double treadle will make the sawdust fly, and his appearance, when making both arms and feet go like a small threshing machine, gives me a vivid idea of a man who is trying to fly. So many losses are reported in sending money by mail this spring, that 1 do not see but that I shall have to advise sending all sums of more than $1.00, by postal order or registered letters. Sums less than $1.00 may be sent in postage stamps. One's and two's preferred, as we have a great quantity of three's on hand. 1(54 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. May BICE CARTS FOR THE APIARY, MAR- KETING IIONEV, ETC. tHAVE received inquiries in relation to bee carts or carts tor the apiary, and thinking- the J plan might be of interest to you, I send a dia- gram of the one I use. The wheels are 20 in. in height, wiih an axle 4x2 in. The length of the platform is 4 ft., the width 2 It. The platform is just the right height to form a seat ns you wheel it from one hive to another fur exam- ination. It is handy to wheel hives from one posi- tion of the apiary to another, or a box can be at- tached, as shown by the dotted lines, and any thing can be carried. In the extracting season a whole load of frames to be extracted can be gathered and wheeled to the house, or a load of sections can be collected in the same manner. j. h. martin's bee cart. 1 mounted a covering of mosquito netting over it, one season, placed the extractor upon it, and ex- tracted honey from each hive. It all went very well while honey came in profusely, but as soon as there was the slightest let up, the bees came for the cartin swarms, and would get in in spite of ns. The place for putting the frames through had to be kept so close that in passing and repassing full and empty combs, more or less honey would get stuck around the edges, and the robbers would hold a glorious old jubilee around it. I now prefer to ex- tract in the house; it can be done just as fast, with perhaps a few more steps. Can you tell us how Mr. Blakeslee's car and K. K. track worked? By the way, what has become of Blakeslee and also of friend Bonn? It seems a long lime since we heard from them. I want to know how bees wintered, packed as no- ted on page 375, Nov. No. of Gleanings, 1S78. I think we ought to have more room under the frame in ehatf hives; furthermore, our entrances are quite low; if the bees could be packed in the upper story, with an entrance at a greater distance from the ground, it would be better, I think. 1 have been in hopes somebody would invent a chaff hive that could be used both single and double story; there is no plan equal to the Simplicity for manipulation. Now, Ithink I will close this epistle with a "growl". Your honey knives get loose in the handle. My own soon got loose, and a neighbor also has one that wiggles around. We don't claim damages, but see that they are manufactured so as to be linn. I will hurry to the P. O. with this, or I rimy think of somethingelse. I shall loose several swarms in the house; winter lingers— lingers; 4 dead out of 20 in chaff; chaff not so much to blame as other causes. Hartford, N .Y. J. H. Martin. The honey cart, without doubt, will prove a very handy implement in the apiary. We have used alight wheel barrow, but your ar- rangement has many decided advantages. Our neighbor, Blakeslee, used his railway apiary and car for several years very suc- cessfully, but while making some changes in his apiary it was temporarily removed. Since then," and for the past 2 or 3 sea- sons, while working for comb honey, he has not used it. The sheet of burlap for wintering, de- scribed on the page you mention, seemed to answer very well for protection, as far as it went, but the bees packed in that way did nothing near as well as in the chaff hives. During a milder winter, they would doubt- less have done well, but the chaff hive has so well demonstrated its advantages, that I shall, in future, use them entirely, for win- tering. I have thought of a higher entrance to the chaff hive, but as we must have one also on the level with the bottom board, for the convenience of the bees in removing tilth, etc., it would necessitate two entrances, and this would be too much like the cold ar- rangement we have many of us tried with the American hives. After the experience I have had with them, I feel as if I never more wanted an upper entrance. Thanks for your criticism on the honey knives ; it shall be seen to at once. RED CLOVER AS A HONEY PLANT. 5gj5TS! HEN reading your reply to Jacob Child 8, on ffJL. •Jill * (3 ts-'cl^ rre mm This department was suggested by one of the Clerks, as an opposition to the "Growlery." I think 1 shall venture to give names in full here. jpvpJlHE 4 hives shipped by you on the 18th inst. Jp||_Jwere received yesterday. They are the first ■■"I complete L. hives I ever saw, and I am more than pleased with them, they are put up so nicely and lit so exactly. Unless the person ordering is a first rate mechanic, he should never order in the Hat. The oc. bee cage is such a beauty, I am sor- i v I did not get more. L. A. Alderson. Atchison, Kans., March 20, 1879. I am entii led to receive Part Third of ABC, and from what I see in Gleaninos, I infer that it has been out some time. Now. I am not going to get mad, tear my hair, and write you a hasty letter brist- ling all over with lightning and such things, but I will just say that 1 am satisfied the delay is the re- sult of an excusable oversight, during the bustle of business. I know bow to sympathize with you. Washington, Ind., Apr. 3, '70. MlLEARD BEURV. Well, I declare, friend Berry, I just drew along breath when I got to the end of your letter, and if 1 could see you. I would like to take you by the hand and tell you how much I appreciate that concluding remark. I am afraid I do not deserve so much. but it gives me a kind of feeling that if you are merciful and charitable toward me, you will be toward others also. Inasmuch' as there arc a great many careless people in this world, is it not a blessed thing that there are, at least now and then, those who are inclined to be merciful and long suffering before they com- plain? You have taught nie a lesson, and while I am determined to work even harder, to prevent the clerks overlooking any of your orders. I will try to show the same kind and forbearing spirit you have shown. WINTERING IN MINNESOTA. I do not think of going into the column of "Blast- ed Hopes" this year. I put 50 swarms of bees into winter quarters Nov. 12th, and took out the| same number Apr. 7th, all alive and in fine condition. You would better come to Minn, where we have such nice pleasant winters thai bees cm be winter- ed without much if any loss. J. L. Gray. Brockway, Minn., Apr. is, 1879. DOVE-TAILINli MACHINE. P sends us a machine for making dove- tails for honey boxes, or other purpo- ses. The peculiar features of it are its small size and simplicity. I think the cut below will make it all plain. KIMMEL S DOVE-TAILING MACHINE. The iron plates seen at the right, adjusta- ble by the bolts, are the stops against which the sections are to be placed. After these plates are adjusted at just the right point, the pieces that are to compose the section? are placed, one at a time, against these stops, and the gate is then brought down, by strik- ing the round top of it with a mallet. The arm shown at the left draws this gate up, with its gang of chisels, by means of the coiled spring. Any blacksmith can make the chisels and the other iron work ; a car- penter or the apiarist himself should be able to make the wood work, which should be of some solid, hard wood. The model sent us was made of apple tree wood. EXPERIMENTS ON FLOUR AND CANDY FEEDING. CONTINUED FROM LAST MONTH. N the April No., page 131, I spoke of egg laying and rearing of young larvae as having nearly ceased, after the bees had consumed nearly all their pollen. Suspecting that the candy which I purchased of Mr. Hoot contained little or no Hour, I found by analysis that the frame given to my bees had none, and on inquiry learned that part of the candy sent me was without Hour. I was now con- firmed in what I had previously conjectured; viz., that pure candy, where there are pollen supplies in Iho hive, stimulates breeding. What I lost by the interregnum of breeding was more than made up to me by this discovery. Estimating the loss at -say two thousand young bees, it is evident that it told upon the progress of this stock in a compound ratio, and I judge that it has not now over half the popula- tion it would have had, but for this check. 1GG GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. May The rate at which successive hatchings enable the bees to spread their brood reminds one of the boy's game of rolling snow-balls; the increase in the size of the ball is at first very slow; but the few hist rolls swell its dimensions out of all proportions to the previous ones. Notwithstanding all these de- ductions, this trial hive has more brood and young- bees, and works muc*i stronger than any out of 48 colonies, many of which had more than double its population, when the bees went into winter quar- ters. Neai'ly all the stocks with which I compared it stopped egg-laying last season by the 1st of Sept., and as nothing was done to stimulate the bees, they went into winter quarters poorly off fer young bees. This particular stock had been taxed, during the whole of September, in building foundations be- tween patterns, during which lime no eggs were laid. I doubt whether one in ten of the old bees is now alive, and, making all due allowance for the extra loss of old bees, caused by such frequent dis- turbances as my experiments compelled, and by the extra demands of such early breeding, I believe, if left to itself, it would have fared no better than many near me. Some of these have died and others are very weak. The weather f .^r the last four weeks has been un- usually unfavorable for breeding. Severe freezing (8° above zero) destroyed all the early pollen buds. The number of hours when the bees have been able to fly at all would not exceed what they often get in four pleasant days in this latitude. They have gath- ered very little pollen, but have worked greedily in the flour boxes. But for this, our stocks would have bred very little. Those which have had to depend upon what flour they could gather abroad have made small progress compared with those well sup- plied at home. A bee-keeper in this vicinity who has fed no flour informs me that his bees have fairly swarmed upon an open sack of oil meal flour (made from flax seed oil cake), to which they gained access in his barn! To-day, my bees have worked well on this oil meal. Has this been tried before? The following extracts from a letter from Mr. Frances Dunham, of Depere, Wisconsin, will inter- est your readers: "In Oct., in fixing my bees for winter, I found a great want of pollen in almost all the hives, prob- ably from its having rained almost steadily for three weeks, in September. In thinking what was best to be done under the circumstances, it occurred to me that I would give them flour: so, taking out a partly filled comb, I pressed flour, with a spoon, into the emptv cells. I gave forty colonies about halt' a cup full apiece, thinking they could do no worse than throw it out. I use the Langstroth hive, and 1 put wire over the portico, and wintered in a hou e that never went below 35°. The bees never threw a particle out, and came out of winter quarters so strong that several are almost ready to swarm (April 11th). I lost only four out of forty, while many in Wisconsin have lost from 50 to 75 out of 100, and one person has lost 95 out of 100. Five of my hives had some flour in the outside of the outer frame, as well as in the centre frame; the others had flour only in the centre frame. All in the cen- tral frames was consumed, while that in the outer ones was untouched, and had molded. I would say, give the bees plenty of flour in the central frames, where they can keep it dry. Towards spring, I threw a little water into the entrance of each hive with a table spoon. These experiments were on 40 stocks." Our friend, Arther Todd, of Algeria, whose inter- esting experiments were given in the April No., h.'is an article in the London Journal of Horticulture, for April 3d, from which I make the following ex- tracts: "The Germans seem to have decided that there is an advanta?e to be gained by feeding the bees with artificial pollen, not out in the open air, but in the interior of the hive, basing their calculations upon the laws of natural nutrition. Taking chemistry for their guide, and learning therefrom that every animal body is composed of albuminous matters, fatty matters, and salts, they have studied the bee, and find it no exception to the rule. The bee draws these matters from its food, which consists of honey, pollen and water. It appears that, acting on an appeal from the eminent Baron Von Berlepsch, extensive experiments have been carried on in Germany, during the past year, to determine the question, and at a meeting of the bee-keepers of Nassau, in August last, a report was presented favorable to nitrogenous feeding, as applied in the interior of the hive. Mr. Weygand reports having obtained the most favorable results, and states i hat, in his neighborhood, such was the miserable weather (the cold weather &c.) that not ten per cent of swarms was reported; yet those (including himself) who fed the bees with flour inside the hives, in- creased their colonies fifty and one hundred per cent, and made very good harvests of honey. Anoth- er great German' bee-keeper (Herr Gravenhorst) reports having obtained the most satisfactory re- sults. This all refers to the spring of 1878. Mr. Weygand prepares his food thus: "Take one lb. of wheaten flour, adding thereto some salt or a little wine (?), then, with water, make this into a batter, by mixing carefully to avoid lumpiness. In another vessel, put two lbs. of sugar (or if honey, one and a half lbs"), and mix this up in one or two quarts of water. This is now intimately blended with the batter, M'hen it is ready for feed- ing. This mixture keeps good for several days if necessary. Mr. Weygand states that new milk as well as the egg food is improved by mixing- flour therewith, and strongly advises that all feeding be done at night." More than ten years ago, at the suggestion of Mr. Samuel Wagner, who got the idea from our German friends, I used flour syrup, with great success, for stimulative spring feeding. I would now suggest for trial on a small scale, where ample stores of pol- len are not gathered, the feeding in September, of sugar syrup or honey, with a moderate supply of flour incorporated in it and in such quantities that it will be stored up by the bees to be used both in winter and early spring. A little experimenting will show how much flour can be safely added. With the great attention which has been given to the subject of nitrogenous food for bees, I believe that we shall soon reach results which will prove that the full value of pollen or its substitutes, in the economy of the bee hive, has been greatly over- looked. L. L. Lanostroth. Oxford, O., April 18, 1879. I am well aware of the value of flour for promoting breeding, and I tried faithfully, years ago, putting flour into the cells of the comb to get the bees to take it, but I never succeeded. They left it until their brood had increased so much, that the flour kept them from using the cells, and it was finally, as nearly as I could make out, cleaned out and thrown away, by much labor and pains. It is quite likely, however, that I tried the experiment when natural pollen was to be obtained, and that different results would have followed its use in the winter or early spring. I used oil meal for spring feeding, several years ago. while experimenting with a great variety of other kinds of meal and other substances. If I am correct, I gave a report of it in Gleanings at the time. The bees, although they worked on it. seemed rather to prefer the rye and oats. SPEED FOR SAWS AND EJIFRY WHKFLS, AN1> L,HV«.TH OF SAW-1MANDK1 L.S. HY don't you send or publish a table of speeds at which emery wheels should turn? Neighbor Neal got two 3 in. wheels of you, and wore out one on 3 or 4 teeth of a cress cut saw, before he found out that he had not speed enough. Yes, he was giving you "fits" because you sent him soft, worthless wheels; but when he increased the speed to about 7000 revolut ions per minute, he cut the saw without spoiling his wheel. A 3 in. wheel should revolve about 7200 times per minute; a 4 in., 5400; a 5 in., about 4320; a6 in., 36(0. Then not one in a dozen knows how fast a circular saw should travel to be most effective, with the smallest ex- penditure of power. I make my saw teeth go about 120 to 150 miles an hour. A list of speeds would ac- commodate some of my neighbors, and perhaps others, if given in Gleanings, so they could have it for reference. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 167 Many fail in foot-powers, because they do not get speed enough to make a clear and smooth cut. Again, why don't you make your saw mandrels longer? Don't you know that a longer mandrel is less liable to get out of line with your gauges than a shorter one? It is almost impossible to re-babbit a short mandrel, and leave it exactly perpendicular to the gauge; a It inch mandrel, it one box moves 1-64 of an in., would be twice as much out of line with a gauge as one 28 inches long, and 3 times as much as one 42 inches long. Make them as you please, though, for I shall not send for any as long as I can get them at home for '» the money you charge, and save freight. Well, if you ever come over the Terre Haute, Yandalia, and St. Louis K. K., stop and see me, and we will talk over all these little differences. 1 make a few hundred hives for my neighbors, but won't advertise as a hive maker yet. I have an 8 horse power portable engine, doing most of the work. I make my frames out of green white oak, and they don't pull apart worth a cent, after they have been nailed 24 hours; try one and see. Jno. L. Lafferty. Martinsville, Ills., April 15, 1819. Thanks for your suggestions and criti- cisms, friend L. There is so great a latitude for the speed of circular saws, I have never thought it worth while to give a table of the speeds. Emery wheels, 1 know very well, must have about such an amount of speed, or they are comparatively useless. It used to be the custom, to give the proper speed on a label pasted on the wheel ; but of late this has been abandoned. As it is a little diffi- cult to measure the speed of machinery, it has been often the custom to increase the speed until the saws or emery wheels cut satisfactorily, and I do not know but this is about as quick a way of getting at it, as any. Many have complainedof the prices of our mandrels, but, although I have made many inquiries, I have not been able to rind any body who could furnish a well made mandrel any cheaper. Dealers in wood working ma- chinery have their prices usually much higher. THE ABC CHILD THAT GREW SO FAST. WHERE nE IS BY THIS TIME. M S I have received private letters from parties vHSV asking me to report to Gleanings my suc- ss5=a cess in wintering, 1 will say, I went into win- ter quarters with I! swarms, and tried straw pack- ing in large boxes on their summer stands, but found it no protection at all. I lost one the 1st of Jan., and nearly half Ihe bees of all the rest, by frost and ice inside the hives. I moved them into my cellar. The ice thawed out, leaving the combs wet and they soon molded. I bought 3 swarms in box hives making my number 8, all of which got along well until March 8th, when I set them out. I experimented on :» with rye flour candy, as given by Mr. Langstroth. They bred up well on it, but on be- ing taken out. they chilled and the brood turned black. Two of them swarmed out ; one entered the hive containing my Italian queen which you sent me (she had done nicely and filled the hive with the 3 banded bees), and killed the queen and nearly all the bees, and took possession. The other one dwin- dled all away, and died gradually. All that were fed flour candy, and were the strongest in bees, dwin- dled badly, and are now weak. Those not fed arc strong, and are bringing in pollen lively. I consider the flour candy feeding a bad plan when fed in the cellar. The weather is cold and backward yet, with heavy freezing every night; no buds or blossoms have started. I am not discouraged, as you predict- ed, but am going into it this summer in good earnest. I have got 1 pk. of Alsike clover seed, $15.00 worth of fdn., and have sent for 2 imported queens, and believe I know what kind of treatment bees need in this locality for wintering: 1st, strong swarms; 2d, double packed hives, with chaff cushions at each side and chaff pillow on top; winter on summer stand, with large vent hole at the bottom, and hives tipped forward to all water can run directly out, and t» frames of sealed honey in each. If put in a cellar, it must be dry, and very dark; no screen will be needed to keep them in, if dark, and no packing is needed. Ninety-five out of every hundrtd stocks arc frozen to death here. They were mostly wintered out. Ccmb honey is worth 25c here, extracted, 20c. E. A. Morgan. Arcadia, Wis., April 19, '79. BEE CATECHISM. Q. What is the chief end of bees? A. To get out patent hives. Q. What is the greatest hindrance to bee cul- ture? .1. Ignorance and patent hives. Q. What is the best patent hive? A. The best hive is not patented. (J. Is there any hive that will keep the moth out? A. Yes, if tight enough to keep the bees out. Q. Can moths go wherever bees can? A. Yes. 0. But don't some of these patent hives fool the moth? A. No; they fool the men that buy them: moths know better. Q. What patent hives are most useful? A. Those in the barn with hens' nests in them. Q. But is there not more money in patent hives than in bees? -1. So the patentee thinks. Q. But how are we to know a poor hive? A. By the number of drawers and hinges and slides ami wires and angles and crevices and hiatuses and hiding places and moth catchers and ventilators, besides several other cunning contrivances to make it sell. Q. But when the moth eats up everything, what shall we do? A. Get a kind of bee that will eat them up. Q. How are we to prevent bees from going off? A. Give them plenty to do at home. Q. Who are the greatest bee savans of the coun- try? A. The men that don't use patent hives and don't care for moths. Chillicothe, Ohio. J. H. CreigbtON. —»•»•<»- FASTENING FOUNDATION IN THE BROOD FKAMES. j^r^UR friend, A. Leonard, of Oneida, |LJj) N. Y., sends us a plan for fastening ^^^ fdn. into frames, which, although not strictly new, may prove convenient for those who have failed in getting them in as secure- ly as they could wish, by the plans we have given in our circular. Mi LEONARD'S PLAN FOR FASTENING IN FDN. Our engraver has told the whole so well with his picture, that one unconsciously looks about for a hammer to drive down that nail. 1 thought of the same plan a year or two ago, but, as it would be cheaper, I deci- ded simply to plough a wide groove as we do for the wood comb guide, and then crowd in a strip of wood, fitting so closely that a very few brads would hold it and the fdn. secure- ly in place. I never adopted this, however, because we succeeded so well in simply rub- bing the fdn. into the wood in our usual way, and because it would necessitate mak- ing two kinds of top bars. 168 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. May ANOTHER FEEDER. (rjoMK time ago, I told you about the Ol feeder I ••studied up" while going to "^ meeting one Sunday morning (dipping a comb into a comb carrier full of syrup) and that it did not work because the syrup wouldn't run into the cells. A few days ago. I thought of plowing a lot of grooves in a board put inside of a frame, and dipping this in the syrup. I told Mr. Gray about it. and the next day he marched into the office with a feeder of his own invention, which is shown below. gray's feedkb. The troughs are made. as you will observe, precisely as we make the corner posts of the chaff hives. After they are bradded inside the frame, each end is dipped in melted wax and we have a feeder that will hold a quart. To use it. just till your comb holder with syrup, set it on the edge of the hive to pre- vent waste by dripping, immerse the feed- er, set it in place of a comb, close your hive, go on tothe next, and so on. There is no possible drowningof bees, and it is perhaps the most rapid feeder in existence, and will feed any kind of syrup, or even pure water. If you do not want to fuss to make syrup, just till the troughs with sugar, and then pour on a little water. If you want to \i^^\ Hour, mix in some flour with the sugar, to he sure. Now who can beat this for simplicity. They can easily be made, for 15 c, or V2 c. in the flat. Troughs cut to lit any frame. 1 c. each; by mail, 2c. each. -r-' n 1j?N the spring of '78, I began with 5 colonies of IN Italians and one of hybrid bees. The latter *=s 1 Italianized. I produced from them 22 new swarms, and besides these, :S swarms left us. I realiz- ed i iver 200 lbs. of extracted honey, and but very little comb honey, as I wished to increase my stock. I wintered in' the cellar, and they came through nice- ly, not losing a swarm. April 7th, I had them taken out for the summer (they had a fly in March), and found them with plenty of bees, honey, and brood, and in good condition. Do you consider this a good yield V Delta, Mich., April 10, '79. Mrs. J. W. Garlick. THE TRIALS OF USING HIVES OF ODD SIZES. You said any one that tried to use things on all sorts of hives, or change them to lit the hive they used, "would get into deep water." I've tried it, and that's where I find I am. Every thing hangs too high or too low, nothing goes in or on or over, as 1 want it to, and just now I hate bees. But one step necessitates another, and to use the sections I've got made, 1 shall have to nave a different crate, etc. Brocton, N. Y., April 8, 1879. MARY Simons. I very well know how to sympathize with you, friend Mary, for I have had the same experience, even to hating the bees; but after I had meditated a little, I concluded I hated the awkward "fixings" my bees were in, and not the innocent bees themselves. Perhaps I have had more trials of that kind than most people, in consequence of my un- governable propensity to have some new improvement everyday. When every thing works right, when hives are exactly alike and each operation can be quickly and easily made, without any stings or killing and crushing of bees, I love the bees; aye, and the bee hives too ; and I am firmly persuad- ed we are getting nearer that golden mean each succeeding year. BEE SETTLEH. K TOOK an old honey box made for an American hive, 2 ends and one side wood, with 2 corner _ posts, intended to have three glass sides; one of the ends had a round 2'i in. hole in it. I covered the three op 01 sides with wire cloth, hinged a door to the hole in the end, and lined a '< in. hole in that end, near the bottom (the wooden side for bottom), for an entrance, and fastened it to one end of a 12 ft. pine pule, with screws. I then made a cover to fit the box, by nailing together three boards 5x6 in, which would tit closely over the box, covering all the wire cloth. The 15th of May, I put in it one piece of comb full of honey, one piece of comb filled with eggs and brood, a hybrid queen that had been removed to make room for an Italian, and a pint of bees; I closed the door, put on the cover, and closed the en- trance for three days. At the end of that time I Stood the pole up on a limb of a pear tree, where it would be shaded and at the same time not hid from view, opened the entrance, and the bees went to work; a part of them probably returned to the par- ent hive. When 1 thought it was swarming time, and the day was fair and warm, I corked up the en- trance and took the box cover off in the forenoon, and every swarm that issued in that part of my apia- ry settled on the imprisoned ami buzzing bees. It mattered not whether their queen was with them or on the ground, unable to fly. they would always go to the box. Any experienced bee-keeper can eas- ily manage to keep the "settler" stocked with bees. and I would advise all inexperienced ones to let them settle on branches of trees, and by that plan of hiv- ing to get their learning, as we all have done. Windsor, 111., April 12, 1879. S. I am inclined to think, friend S., that your experiment is a very important step in the right direction. Mr. Langstroth suggested something similar, at the time when D. A. .Jones' automatic swarmer first came out. If your bee settler was located on the end of the pole, the bees would be dropped into their hive as nicely as could be without any intervention of the owner whatever, unless, forsooth, they should cluster, as you men- tion, without a queen. Even this' difficulty could be managed, by keeping in the hive a small piece of comb containing unsealed lar- vae. Now boys, you that are troubled with incessant swarming can develop this idea. Our apiary looks, at present, as though swarming would not be a thing to be worried about very speedily. ^»«+*^— FIRST EXPERIENCE IN BEE-KEEP- ING. anovklhi\'ej— adood hive for farmers who want no trouble with honey bees, and want to get cheap honey. f1 obtained my first bees, by nearly running into a swarm, while hunting my cow on horse back. i If I had dislodged them, and enveloped myself and horse with bees, it doubtless would have prov- ed a serious matter. Knowing nothing about bees. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 160 I got a man to find a box and hive them, giving him 'i interest. Moving out of the village onto a farm. I bought him out, took the bees with me, and set them in the back yard. I got next season one more, and made out to hive them, by putting- on a hat and veil. Next season, I got one or two more, hiving them in the same way, and letting them stay out as farmers generally do, paying little or no atten- tion to them, only to hive them", when they came out. Xext, I bought another swarm that had been stand- ing for several years, in a little 6x4 house, on a shelf. Ti.eowner expected to get surplus honey in that way, but did not succeed. On my way home, I bought a large dry goods box, 2% x 24 x 3li , planed inside and out, and matched tight. Borrowing the idea from the man who had formerly kept them, I Ihought I would try it on a smaller scale. I fitted the lid of the box tight by putting stops nil around, hung it on hinges and fastened it with a button. Ithenfasten- ed slats on the inside just high enough from the bottom to set my hive on them, and have its top nearly touch the top of the large box, with no bot- tom to the hive. I stood my large box endwise about lli; ft. from the ground, and made a shed for it, leaving off one board on the back side. The large box was close to the back side of the shed, aud I cut a slot in it, about -tin. long and V»in. wide, just opposite the bottom of my hive. I set the bees in and closed the door. The bees went to work and tilled one side, down to the floor of the large box, with honey that season, and I took off as much beautiful, white, comb honey, as 1 dare in the fall, and leave them plenty to winter on. The next season they increased so as to fill the large box about lA full, from which I took all except what 1 thought was enough to winter on. We had all we wanted that season, and a little to spare of beautiful, white, comb honey, cut off in large cards. The next sea- son they tilled the box so full as to join the comb on to the door, so that, on opening the door, 1 had to break the comb, leaving- comb and honey sticking to the door. I took a large dish-pan full of large beautiful cards. About the time I had filled my pan the bees began io make their appearance and I quickly closed the door, and went to the house rejoicing with my prize. In a few days I looked in and found they had cleaned up their house of all dripping-and everything was clean and neat. Afterwards, I repeated the same opera- tion in the same manner, and took another large dish pan of honey in long and nice cards, tilled with beau- tiful whitehoney. Having sold my farm, and be- ing about to move into the village again, the ques- tion was, what should I do with my bees? I brim- stoned my box hives, except the large dry goods box , and took all the honey out. About that time came along a man with a patent hive, selling farm and town rights, who pretended he could divide my large box into several swarms; but who knew noth- ing about bees more than I did. I foolishly let him the job, and soon saw that he was wasting and de- stroying my bees. The results were that the queen was lost and the bees all dwindled away to nothing, although I tried to save them. So endeth the first chapter. A. M. Seymouh. Mazomanie, Dane Co., Wi3., Jan. 18, 1878. A COUPLE OF A B C SCHOLVUS. MY brother and I started last springwith 18 col- onies and increased to 47, by dividing. We — i made somewhere between 13 and 1500 lbs. of honey, mostly comb honey. We put surplus boxes on in July. A GBEAT YIELD OF BUCKWHEAT HONEY. Along the last of Aug. and through Sep., the buck- wheat honey was so "numerous" that it created quite a swarming fever among our bees. We no- ticed 7 strong swarms that struck out for some oth- er locality: likely where milk and honey flows. The probability is, more absconded of which we have no account; for we paid very little attention to them at that time. We have some Sept. swarms in a g 1 condition. One of my neighbors has a late Sep. swarm in a hive containing nine, 12x12 frames, jam- med full. We also had some in the fall of '77, that issued about the 20th of Sep., and were among some of the best in the spring of '78. We use :> kinds of hives, all of different sized frames, to which you no doubt object vehemently, and so do we, but will try and "wiggle along" the best we can, until we get to a uniform frame. Our bees are all in good shape except 3 colonies. One absconded for some cause unknown to us; perhaps you can tell why. It had lots of capped honey and a number of eggs. The combs were bright and the hive was clean. One got robbed in spite of all the ing-enuity that I could use. SOMETHING ABOUT BOBBING. I first dosed the entrance a short time entirely ; to this you object, I know, but I have done it fre- quently with no bad result. I got them checked in this manner, and then opened the entrance large enough to let but one bee pass at a time; but the robbers soon made a raid on them again, and their numbers kept increasing. I next covered the hive with cloth, but to no effect. Finally 1 moved it from its old stand some distance away. That checked them for several days, but at length they got trace again of the rich stores on which they had previously enjoyed themselves so well, and played havoc with the whole business. The colony rob- bed was black, and when I lirst noticed them, the robbing was done entirely by blacks; the weather was rather cool, and no Italians were outside of the hives. Are the blacks more rougish than the Ital- ians? Can you tell? When the battle was pretty nearly won, some of the hybrids and full bloods turned in and helped, as though their conscience didn't allow them to take part in the beginning. This is the way the one colony went, and one died for want of a queen. We knew it was queenless last fall, but thought it might go through, and be strong enough to buiUl up in the spring. So you see, we have had pretty good success thus far. Wc got a tested Italian queen from Anderson, Tenn., in the spring of '78. It was a tine one, ami we had g od success in Italianizing. If I am not mistaken, you don't approve of extracting from the brood comb. If so, what is your objection. Morrisonville, 111., April 0, '79. A. D. Stutzman. Your account of your buckwheat yield, friend S., is quite exciting to me. I do not know that I ever saw such a yield here. If 1 had so many different sized frames in one apiary IthinkI should "wiggle" them down to one kind, in about one afternoon. The stock you speak of, that would not repel robbers could have been saved very quickly, by giving them one frame containing your Italians just hatching out. As soon as they were a few days old, they would have shown the robbers where the door way was located. My objection to extracting from the brood combs is that there is always a risk of bees starving, if the honey yield happens to cease suddenly. The sealed honey nearest the brood neet is always in just the best shape for winter, and I have not found it good policy to disturb them after they have it all around the brood, just as they are most apt to need it. You and your brother have done well very indeed, for beginners. I do not object to closing the hive to prevent robbing, unless the number of bees inside is very great, and the weather very warm; in this case, they often smother and melt down the combs. The blacks are certainly worse to roll than the Italians. A LARGE COLONY OF BEES AND WHAT < AME OF IX. tpjSjj KL1EVING that the following stould be put lljiH on record, I write you. Among various col- r — i> onies of bees I sold last year, I sold one to neighbor T. In May last, he put the colony in a hive 6 ft. long, filled with frames of combs, each 103.i by 12 inches. His plan was t>> prevent them from swarming, and extract the honey. In the course of time, his hive became so filled with bees and brood and queen cells, that he destroyed -the queen cells anil put on a second story of like size, supplying them with .".:.' frames of comb, and enough more empty frames to fill both stories of this ti foot hive. About the middle of July, at the close of the white clover yield, he reports to me, that he found 36 of those cards of comb entirely filled with brood in 170 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. May its various stages of development, and not 5 lbs. of honey in the hive! As the hive already contained an enormous mass of bees, he thought all bees and no honey would be unprofitable; and to prevent more honey from be- ing-consumed in brood rearing1, he killed hit queen. When he told me of this fact yesterday, 1 replied that such a queen was worth at least trn doUars; and he still insisted that she was not worth ten cents! For several years, I have thought my breed of bees more than usually prolific, and when properly man- aged, profitable in like ratio; but I have no figures to prove that I have ever had any other queen as pro- lific as that. Estimating 100 square inches of brood on each surface of each one of the 36 combs, we have a total of 7200 square inches of brood, which, at 25 bees for each square inch, gives 180.000 eggs which must have been laid by the queen in three weeks, the period of incubation. This would be at the rate of 8571 eggs, laid by one queen, during each 21 hours, for a period of 21 days at least ! To me, such figures seem almost incredible, and yet I have not the least reason for doubting neighbor T's word, and I know that he has handled bees long enough to be qualified to distinguish brood from cap- ped honey, and to make such observations correct- ly. St. Johns, Mich., Aug. 19, 1878. G.'E. Corbin. I am well aware that a queen is occasion- ally found that will lay enormously, and a brother-in-law of mine had a queen one fall, that reared such an amount of brood, his wife begged him to slice their heads Pofl, in the way they had drones in July. I paid $10.00 for the queen and bees after taking a look through the hive. The bees were hybrids, and as the queen did not prove more than ordinarily prolific the next season, I put an Italian queen in her place. It would be in- teresting to know whether such queens would transmit their extraordinary qualities of fertility. " • — ♦ ♦ VERY THICK COMBS FOR THE EX- TRACTOR. ARE THEy ADVISABLE? -HEN I read your plan for a chaff hive, the lower frames of which were to be smaller than the upper, and considered the fact that the queen could be kept below by having the combs built very thick, I exclaimed "Eureka, at last !"Now I do not want to exchange frames with the lower story, if I can exclude brood from the upper frames. Before using the upper frames, which in my locality would not be before white clover blossomed, I would spread the brood and give the queen achance to con- trol all the room she desires below. Then most of the honey would be stored above, where the bees seem to want it, and where it is most convenient for us to get to and remove. But your answer to my postal has given me a ''set back." Such thick combs, you think with Muth, may be at the expense of honey. I want nothing in the way of that, for I see that honey should bo sold near home, and when home is near poor people, it must be sold cheap, and to make it pay, must be sold in large quantities. Now while I think of it, why educate people to buy it in small quantities? Why not offer it by the gallon, in tin pails, enough cheaper than in small jars, to in- duce people to buy more and use more? It is diffi- cult here, in our small towns, to get 15 cents for comb honey in small packages. People want only a little for a treat. Eight cts for extract cd honey orfl.00 per gal., is better in a locality like this, far away from large cities, and it seems to me, it could be made a more common article in the homes of all. if sold in larger quantities, say by the gallon, $1.00 or $1.25 per gal. By extracting, we also have a much better chance to control swar- ming—no small item when you have bees enough andean not sell them. But I am getting away from the subject of thick combs. Before I resume, I must say I want the most convenient arrangements for extracting honey that I can get— a hive which, if I wish, I can also run for comb honey, for those who must gradually be broken off from eating beeswax, or for those who want it to set off the table; but such must pay for it about twice what! sell ext. honey for,and I would not try to sell in large boxes. Mrs. Axleil sajs she is Iroubled very little with brood in upper frames, when she moves Hum a little farther apart than she has the lower ones (see page 80, gleanings). Tell me what you think of it. Will a distance less than 2 in. exclude all, or most, of the brood from the frame 1 am using (frames run- ning crosswise of a simplicity hive;? Would the same thickness or depth of cells in drone comb ex- clude brood? The cells being larger than worker cells, [ thought it might be easier for the bees to store and evaporate in large cells, but it might also be easier for the queen to lay a lot of drone brood there. I fear these thick combs may be more ob- jectionable for the extractor than boxes, as bees can and do store honey in new comb before it is comple- ted, but when returned tolhem fr< m the extractor, they must work in the completed cell. From what Doolitlle says about evaporating honey, it may be nearly as much work as gathering and storing. Waverly, Iowa, March 22, 1870. J. B. C. THE SWEET PEPPER. M N engraving of this plant appears on Jrj%\± the page opposite. I have never seen -1 the plant, but have been induced to give it a place, from the favorable notices it has of late received. I have ordered some plants and hope to give them a fair test on our own grounds very soon. Mr. A. Parsons, of Flushing, N. Y., gives the following ac- count (if it in the A. B. J. for Feb. Here on the Atlantic coast, if bees winter and are strong, swarming occurs in June, and again in Au- gust, when the sweet pepper bush comes into bloom. Our people and the school children call it honey dew, from its delightful odor; in fact, the plant is known here by no other name. It grows wild in the greatest abundance in the swamps and wet places, and I never knew it to tail from any cause whatever. Dry seasons do not af- fect it, because its home is generally in wet places; and again, no cold appears ever to harm it. The honey is about white, thick, and of fine flavor. We extract the following from the cata- logue of the nursery man, Mr. J. W. Man- ning, of Reading, Mass., who furnished us the cut of engraving, and who will furnish plants. Its leaves are light green; flowers are pure white, in spikes 3 to 6 inches long. A group of this Clethra in bloom will perfume the air for 20 rods around; a handful will fill a room with its delightful fra- grance. It blooms from July 1st to September. Its cultivation is simple, as it grows to perfect ion where i he lilac will succeed. It never fails to bloom after a hard winter. Its effect is impressive when grown in large masses, as produced by a dozen or more plants set in a group. It has never been so well shown to the public as in Central Park, Now York. Immediately after the February number of the American Bee Journal had appeared, numerous let- ters came to us from New England to California, and from the Oulf to the Lakes, and beyond, to learn of the supply, culture, price, &c. We have to say that it grows to perfection in our grounds, on what was cold, springy land now under/drained. It is readily increased by suckers and layers, as freely as the old Purple Lilac. A strong plant in fertile soil can be made to increase in three years, by suckers alone, to at least one hundred plants. It is safe to claim that in a few years the planter of a hundred plants will soon cover many square rods, and the planter of a thousand plants can extend its culture to acres of the most profitable forage it is possible to provide for his bees. It blooms on plants 1 to 8 feet high, according to its age or strength of soil to produce vigor of growth. In Hie West it will doubt- less succeed to great perfection where the hazel bush delights. It will grow where corn will, or in the shade of higher trees. The Clethra will grow and afford rich pasturage to the bee wherever it may toil for honey. It puts out leaves late in spring. We plant it here till May 15tb, and from October to December. To plant for ornament we have advocated it for 20 years. To plant it largely for bees is not a doubtful experiment, nor is it an expensive one. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 171 < LETHRA AEXIFOLIA, OR SAA'EET PEPPER. 172 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. May Pertaining to Bee Culture. [We respectfully solicit the aid of our friends in conducting1 this department, and would consider it a favor to have them send us all circulars that have a deceptive appearance. The greatest care will be at all times maintained to prevent injustice being- done any one.] IRfNCLOSED, y°u wil1 Please flnd one of N- c- •frlii Mitchell's cards. The postmaster handed it s-^yJ tome. I thought he had been ventilated so thoroughly in Gleanings that he had quit. Hugh Harris. Moundsville, W. Va., Mar. 15, 1879. Post Master:— If you will send us a postal card with the names of bee-keepers who got t'aeir mail at your office, we will send you a copy of the Bee Keepers' Directory free. If you do not wish to com- ply with our request, please hand this card to a bee- keeper and oblige Yours truly, N. (J. Mitchell,. Indianapolis, Ind., Feb. 27, 1879. I give this to show how Mitchell gets hold of bee-keepers to push his system of black mailing, and to guard you against giving him a cent of your money, or paying any at- tention to his threats. The following excellent piece of advice for ministers and other folks comes from our energetic friend of the Prairie Farmer, Mrs. Lucinda Harrison. another humbug. Silver Run, Ala., Feb. 17. Mrs. L. H.; 1 see your initials connected with bees, hence I write you a few lines; hope you will take an inter- est in and publish my note below in relation to bees, and very much oblige a poor old preacher. Yours truly, J. G. Jenkins. By close observation and experience I have learned how to prevent the moth or fly from inter- rupting the bee hive. Any one sending me $5, or handing this to an editor for publication, and lie sending me a copy containing publication, I will in- form, name and post office being plainly written. Well, well, my observing friend, you are behind the times with your invention; for moths in bee hives are out of date. Italian bees are in fashion, and they are death to the "varmints;" a teacupful of these bees in a hive will keep out the moth* from the combs; and if combs containing worms are in- serted in an Italian colony, these gentlemen are rolled out on the double quick. You say you arc "a poor old preacher." You can- not help being old, but if you are a preacher you ought to be a good one, and if you sell your ideas on religion as dearly as those about bees, you ought to be rich. We are a liberal people in Illinois, and you can't flnd a bee-keeper that will not rejoice at the opportunity to show his hives and bee-traps, and will tell you all he knows about bees, putting your horse in the stable, and feeding you on "milk and honey." If you are a Methodist preacher you would get a "yellow legged chicken," to boot! -all free gratis, with an invitation to call again, that the "latch-string hangs out." Five dollars invested in bee-books will let you into all 1 he secrets that are behind the curtain. "Away down in Alabama" wouldbe a good place for Mrs. Lizzie E. Cotton (I'm happy to say that she is a man) to have her adver- tisements circulated. She, or rather lie, doesn't sell hives and bees, but bugs— bugs that hum. Peoria, 111. Mrs. L. Harrison. While I sincerely hope that the above may strike home deeply, to ministers who are lending themselves to the sale of patent hives and receipts, I feel like begging for a little charity for that very class. Ministers, like editors, bee-keepers, and other folks, some- times allow themselves get into queer ways of thinking, and could we know them inti- mately, we might see, at once, that they are more deserving of pity, than censure. While the public good demands that they should be shown up unsparingly, let us try to have a broad charity for the erring. If, as is likely the case, the man is no minister at all, the case is quite a different one, reflecting not on ministers but on those who pretend to be ministers for the purpose of gain. f> AM only 16 years old, and yet I am "a bee-man." Last fall, father bought and gave to me 2 "old gums;" we left them out in the cold all winter without losing any. This spring he bought two more which he also gave me. The first he gave $2.00 apiece for; the last he gave 50 cts. for. We have just finished transferring the last two into the Langstroth hive, therefore, you see, we need fdn. Now listen! the oilier night, while we were using the smoker (Simplicity), the damper got stuck to the bottom of the smoker. Now I think you ought to make some kind of an improvement on it; such as burning the damper and bottom of the smoker well, before you put it together. I have no doubt but that a good many of your readers have had a like experience. Davtd S. Bethune. Snyder, Ashley Co., Ark., March 23, '79. Thank you, friend B. I think you will rind no such trouble with the cold blast smokers. I am glad to hear that you succeeded in transferring. You are starting in the right way, with a few colonies purchased cheaply near home. It is your business now to build them up so they will be worth $10.00 apiece, instead of from 50 c. to a couple of dollars. GETTING Q VEENS TO LAY IN QUEEN CELLS, ETC. WHEN I received my queen I put her in a nu- cleus that had been queiuless about four days. They had queen cells started and some of them contained larvse. 1 didn't destroy the cells but removed the larvae. A couple ( f days after, 1 opened ihe nucleus and found that she had com- menced to lay and had deposited an egg in one of ihe queen cells. 1 immediately cut 1 his cell out and inserted it in another necleus, thinking that (-he would deposit eggs in the rest of 1he queen cells, but she would not do so. The idea then occurred to me that it was because they had confined larvae. So to test the matter I got some cells that contained larva? and some that didn't, and inserted them inthe nucleus. She very soon deposited egy in 1bose that had not contained lar\a?, so I cut iliese c< lis out and inserted them in other Ik xes to be matured, and kept on inserting 'cells until I got enough. I fed them liberally every night. Now maik the re- sult of my operations: 1 obtained a lot of the nicest queens, and 1 believe, as large ones as I ever saw. They were uniform in size and color, being larger and yellower than 1heir mother— the queen I bur- chased of you. Now, a word about artificial queens. Some think they are inferior to queens reared nat- urally. I think that the method I have described is natural with one exception, I could not get them to build the cells, but I ennot see how this would affect the matter any; if the eggs were laid in the cells it would matter not what bees built them. My experience does not prove to me that artificial queens are inferior to natural ones, for more than one-half the queens in my apiary are and have been for 3 years artificial, and I can see no difference in their prosperity. As good a queen as I have, was reared from brood that I obtained several miles away. She is but very little larger than a worker, yet she is very prolific. Lekoy W. Vankihk. Washington, Pa. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 173 PREVENTION OF SWARMING BY THE USE OF THE EXTRACTOR. Without doubt, the greatest reason for swarming is that the bees have got their hive full of honey, and there is no more room for them to labor to advantage ; ac- cordingly queen cells are started, and other preparations made, and they get, as we say, the swarming fever. Now, if their honey is taken away, and more room given them, be- fore they have begun to feel cramped for room, they will seldom get this swarming fever. This room may be given by taking out combs tilled with sealed honey, and substituting empty combs or frames of fdn., or it may be done by extracting the honey. This latter plan, I believe is most effectual, for almost every drop of the honey can be taken away by extracting. We extract from the brood combs as well as from the rest, and this can be done without any injury to the brood, if we are careful not to turn so fast as to throw out that which is unsealed. I would only do this, however, in extreme cases, where the bees will not work, and are determined to swarm. The honey around the brood is generally needed there, and would better not be removed. It should be remembered that this remedy to prevent swarming is not infallible, and I do not know that any one is, at all times. I have known a swarm to issue the day after ex- tracting all the honey I could get from the hive, but they had probably got the swarm- ing fever before any extracting was done. At another time, the bees swarmed while I was extracting their honey. HOW TO MAKE A COLD BLAST SMOKER. Both kinds are made of two sizes. The boards for the bellows of the common size are I by 5£ inches ; for the large size, 5 by 0 inches. The thickness is about f , or as thick as you can plane them up nicely when two are got out of an inch board. The lumber usually preferred is basswood, because it is light, and not apt to split. Where smokers are to be made by the quantity, I would cut the inch boards into lengths of Gor8 ft., split them up 4 or 5 in. wide, as the case may be, split them edgewise, and plane the pieces on both sides. We put them in bundles pre- cisely as we do the stuff for our section boxes, using the same iron clamps. Before clamping them, however, a groove is to be ploughed in half of the boards, to hold the spring for opening the bellows. Thisgroove is exactly in the middle, I in. wide and 1-16 in. deep. When clamped, bolts are to be cut off (as in making sections) with a saw large enough to go through. If no such saw is at hand, they may be cut in from each side. After the bolts are cut, a corner is to be taken off as shown in the cut below. BOARDS FOP. SMOKER BELLOAVS. This corner is taken off, that we may have the leather all bulge outward, when the boards are closed together; that is, we wish the whole to be so made that the boards may be pressed tight against each other, expell- ing every bit of the air, the spring being made to lie in a groove for this purpose. When the corners of the bolts are off, the whole bolt is to be nicely sand-papered, and the edges of the boards planed, so that each board is finished nicely when taken out of the clamp. Just half of the boards are to have an inch hole bored in them, to put in the blast tube, and the other half are to have f holes for the two valves, to admit air. By far the cheapest way to bore these holes is while the boards are clamped together. Have a long bit that will bore clean and smooth, and decide, by measuring, when it is through just half the boards. In this way, it takes but little time to get the boards ready for a thousand smokers, for they are never handled singly at all. For the leather, you want some soft, smooth, sheep skin, and the piece needed for the medium size is 19 in. long, by 2i wide, in the middle, and gradually tapers to only I in. in width, at each end. For the large bellows, the length is 23 in., the width, in the middle, 3 in., and i at the ends. You will also want some strips i in. wide, and as long as these pieces, for a binding, when the leather is tacked to the boards. The whole of the leather for a smoker should not cost to exceed 10c, for we can get a whole piece large enough to make 8 or 10 smokers for only £0c. To have the leather bulge out- ward, as I have before explained, it should be stretched in the middle, and pressed out- ward before being tacked on, and when the bellows isTirst closed, the leather must lie pulled out; when once it gets the habit of folding right, it will do so ever afterward. Besides the tacks, the leather should be fastened to the wood with glue, to get an air tight joint. The valves are simply pieces of softleather tacked over the holes ; for a f hole, you want 174 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. May a piece of leather abo at H by 3|, putting a tack in each corner. In making bellows, there will be fragments of leather left, that will do for nothing else. Such valves work beautifully, are absolutely air tight, and I hardly know how they can get out of order. The blast tube is made of tin, tapering like the spout to an oil can. It is made just as large, at the large end, as it can be, and be driven into the board ; \ inch from the end, a rib is raised, to prevent its being driven in too far, and the inside is then burnished down hard and close to the wood, making it firm and air tight. The short tube in the cone is made and attached to the cone, in much the same way. MAKING THE BELLOWS. The springs shown in the figure above, are made of bits of clock spring, to be had of any jeweler. You can get a whole clock spring for 20c, which will make 6 smoker springs. Bend the springs to the shape shown in the cut, and rivet the end to the wood, by two secure rivets. Steel springs sometimes break, it is true, and you can use similar ones made of brass if you choose ; these never break, but they al- most always lose their elasticity sooner or later. For my own use, I prefer the light springs called alarm springs, because they are softer, and it is easier to work the bel- lows. As others generally prefer a stiff spring, those we sell are made that way. Bend your springs so that the boards will come up promptly, as far as the leather will allow. To make a neat job, you should put on the leather with tinned tacks, about 7-16 in length. Put the boards closely together at the end where the hinge is, and tack one end of your long piece of leather. The boards should be separated at the other ends, as far as the width of the leather will allow. Draw the leather close up to the wood, and tack at intervals. Now tack the i inch strip on for a binding ; if you wish a pretty job, use red morocco for this last. When your tacks are all in— I would drive them a little more than i inch apart— you are ready to pare off the surplus leather with a very sharp knife. Finish off everything neatly with sandpaper, and your bellows is done. The leather has cost us 10c, the two boards, possibly 5c, and the spring 5 more. Allowing 5c for your time in tack- ing on the leather and sand-papering, and you have a good bellows for 25c For this price, it should be as good as anything in the market. The tin cup shown below, is 4 inches in diameter, and 2A- high, and the nozzle is made to shut closely over it. I prefer about a i inch tube for the exit of smoke. Now I take considerable pride in telling you howl attach the whole to the bellows, damper and all, for I consider it quite an invention in the way of cheapness, strength and simplicity. SMOKER '"DISSECTED. " Fig. 4 represents the bottom of the smoker cup. The large hole in the center is to allow the blast tube to come up through, and the smaller ones are for 4 common screws that attacli it to the bellows. Now we cannot screw the fire recep- tacle directly on to the wood, because it would burn it; but I have found by ex- periment that 1-4 inch space between the bottom and the wood is all that is needed, if the wood is first covered with a sheet of tin. Accordingly, we cut another plain piece of tin, exactly like Fig. 4, holes and all; between the two, we put short tin tubes, made by roll- ing up short strips 1-4 inch wide. These short tubes, shown at Fig. 6, are made so that a screw will just go through them. With the old Simplicity smokers, much complaint has been made about burned fin- gers, when getting the top off to replenish the fuel. You will observe in this that we have made a door, with a slide to close it, and this slide also opens and closes the damper. It is simply a ring of tin, sur- rounding the first receptacle, having a wood- en handle to turn it by. Should this ring ever turn too hard, the screws may be taken from the handle, and a piece of pasteboard inserted so as to make it a little larger. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 175 SIMPLICITY COLD IJLAST S3IOKER. The tin cup will probably cost you, at a tin- smith's, about 5c, and the funnel probably as much more. The damper, short tubes, etc., will cost about another So., and this will make your smoker, complete, cost about •40 cents. Good strong boxes for mailing will cost about 5c, and this leaves us 5c. profit on each when they are sold by the dozen. Any dealer in bee-keeping supplies should be able to make them at the above estimate, and if machinery is employed, they may be made for a less amount. CLARK S COLD BLAST SMOKER This differs from the Simplicity, in hav- ing a fire pot made of a single piece of tin, with tapering sides, like an oil can. The engraving given below will make the tin work plain to any tinsmith. The bellows is precisely the same as the Simplicity except that the hole for the blast is near to one end. The blast of air is brought through the screw that attaches the can to the wood. This screw [should be 1 inch long, and 3-8 in diameter. Drill a hole through it, length- wise, as large as can be made without break- ing the thread. This screw is to be solder- ed with its head inside of the small cone ; the small cone is then put in place inside the large one, with that portion of the screw containing the thread projecting through both of them ; the screw is soldered to the large cone, and screwed fast into the wood of the bellows, the can being held a pro- per distance away from the wood, by the short tin tube, as in Simplicity. The lower* part of the tin can is now attached to the bellows by two smaller screws in a similar way. You will observe that after the screws are all in place the solder is not needed, and if it melts off it does not matter. Many think this style of smoker more conveni- ent, but I confess, after having so long used the Simplicity style, I rather prefer it. Both are put together with screws, in such a way that they can easily be taken to pieces for repairs, or for renewing the different portions, if need be. SAGE (Salvia). This plant also belongs to the great family of Labiatce, or the mint family. Labiate means lip shaped ; and if you look closely, you will see that plants be- longing to this family have blossoms with a sort of lip on one side, something like the nose to a pitcher. Many of this family, such as CATNIP, MOTHERWORT, FIGWORT, GILL- ovER-THE-GROUND,have already been men- tioned as honey plants, and the number might be extended almost indefinitely. The sage we have particularly to do with is the white, mountain sage, of California; audi do not know that I should be far out of the way, in calling this one of the most impor- tant honey plants in the world. The crops of honey secured from it within the past ten years have been so immense, that the sage honey is now offered for sale in almost all the principal cities in the world, and a nice sample of well ripened California honey, whether comb or extracted, is enough to call forth exclamations of surprise and delight from any one who thinks enough of some- 17(3 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. May thing good to eat, and pleasant to the taste, to commit themselves so far. I well remem- ber the first taste I had of the mountain sage honey. Mr. Langstroth was visiting me at the time, and his exclamations were much like my own, only that he declared it was al- most identical in flavor with the famed hon- ey of Ilymettus, of which he had received a sample some years ago. Well, this honey of Ilymettus, which has been celebrated both in poetry and prose for ages past, was gath- ered from the mountain thyme, and the bot- any tells us that thyme and sage not only be- long to the same family, but are closely re- lated. Therefore it is nothing strange, if Mr. Langstroth was right, in declaring our California honey to be almost, if not quite, identical in flavor with the honey of Ilymet- tus. This species of sage grows along the sides of the mountain, and blossoms success- ively, as the season advances ; that is, the bees first commence work on it in the val- leys, and then gradually fly higher up, as the blossoms climb the mountain side, giving them a much longer season than we have in regions not mountainous. Below we give a cut of the plant. CALIFORNIA WHITE MOUNTAIN SAGE. One striking peculiarity of this honey is, that it does not candy, but remains limpid, during the severest winter Aveather. I have taken a sample so thick that the tumbler containing it might be turned bottom up- ward without its running at all, and placed it out in the snow, in the dead of winter, and failed to crystallize it. This is a very valua- ble quality of it, if it is invariably the case ; for we all know full well, that the candying tendency is a great drawback to the sale of extracted honey. I presume the honey should be fully ripened in the hive, to have it possess this property, as it is well known that perfectly ripened clover honey will often possess this same property here, while un- ripened honey, of any kind, is much disposed to candy at the approach of cool weather. I believe some effort has been made to culti- vate this plant; perhaps a soil that raises pennyroyal naturally, would suit it, as they are nearly allied, and I have been told that pennyroyal yields considerable quantities of honey, on the waste lands of Kelley's island, in Lake Erie. It has been said, that one soon tires of this beautiful aromatic flavor of the mountain sage, and that, for a steady diet, the white clover honey of the Western Reserve far out- rivals it. This may be so ; for, as a general thing, I believe people usually tire of these strong and distinct flavors in honey, like those of basswood and mountain sage. For all that, dear reader, if you have never tast- ed mountain sage honey, and are a lov- er of honey, there is a rich treat in store for you, when you do come across some. Since I have been writing about the sage, L have concluded to have a bed of it on my honey farm, where it will be a curiosity to visitors, even if it does not yield honey here as it does in California. Now let us see who will have the nicest flower garden of honey plants. Not a patch all choked up witli weeds, and scattered about in wild disorder, but a real pretty little garden. You can roll up your sleeves and set to work at it this very minute, if you wish. TUR37XF. The turnip, mustard, cab- bage, rape, etc., are all members of one fam- ily, and, if I am correct, all bear honey, when circumstances are favorable. The great enemy of most of these in our locality {especially of the rape), is the little black cab- bage flea. The turnip escapes this pest, by being sown in the fall, and were it not that it comes in bloom at almost the same time when the fruit trees do, I should consider it one of the most promising honey plants. In the summer of 1877, Mr. A. W. Kaye, of Pewee Valley, Ky., sent me some seed of what is called the "Seven Top Turnip," say- ing that his bees had gathered more pollen 1S79 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 177 from it, in the spring, than from anything else. I sowed the seed about the 1st of Oct., on ground where early potatoes had been harvested. In Dec, they showed "a luxuri- ance of beautiful green foliage, and in May. following, a sea of yellow blossoms, making the prettiest "posy bed.*' I believe, that 1 ever saw in my life, and the music of the bees humming anion;' the branches was just "entrancing," to one who has an ear for such music. I never saw so many bees on any patch of blossoms of its size in my life, as could 1)2 seen on them from daylight until dark. Friend K. recommended the plant partic- ularly for pollen, but, besides this, I am in- clined to think it will give more honey to the acre than anything that has heretofore come under my notice. We have much trouble here in raising rape and mustard, with the small turnip beetle or flea, but this turnip patch has n jver been touched; whether it is on account of sowing so late in the fall or because the flea does not fancy it, I am un- able to say. The plants seem very hardy, and the foliage is most luxuriant, much more so than either the rape or Chinese mus- tard, which latter plant it much resembles, only having larger blossoms. As our patch was sown after the first of Oct., and the crop could easily be cleared from our land by the middle of June, a crop of honey could be secured without interfering with the use of the land for other purposes. Friend K. also recommends the foliage for "greens," and says that he sows it in his garden for spring and winter use. We tried a mess of greens from our patch, in Lee., and found them excellent. Our seed was sown in drills about 1 ft. apart. If I could get a 10 acre lot covered with such bloom during the month of August, I should not hesitate an instant to hand over the money for the necessary expenses. If we cannot get the blossoms in August, we can certainly have an abundant supply be- tween fruit bloom and clover. WINTERING. My friends, it you have been over faithfully, what I have writ- ten in the preceding pages, you are nearly ready to sum up the matter of wintering with me, with but few additional remarks. Under the bead of ABSCONDING swarms, in the opening of the book, I cautioned you against dividing, and trying to winter weak colonies. See Absconding in Early Spring, under the head mentioned. Also sec House Apiary, under head of apiary. In regard to keeping bees warm through the winter with artificial heat, see that head. In regard to the effect of different kinds of food or stores on the welfare of bees during win- ter, See DYSENTERY, FEEDING AND FEED- ERS. CANDY FOll BEES, and HONEY DEW. In regard to fixing the size of the entrances to hives and keeping them from getting clogged with dead bees, see entrances to hives, ventilation, and PROPOLIS. In regard to starving bees, and taking away their sealed stores, allowing them only un- sealed, late, fall honey, see EXTRACTORS. For a consideration of the different sizes and shapes of frames for wintering, see NU- CLEUS. After you have gone over all these, I think we are ready to consider wintering intelli- gently. WHEN TO COMMENCE PREPARING THE BEES FOR WINTER. If either bees or stores are lacking, they should be supplied during warm weather, so that all may be quiet and ready for the win- ter doze which nature intends them to take, long enough before winter weather has act- ually set in. In this latitude, I should ad- vise examining all hives the first of Sept. In the first place, be sure that you have bees enough in each hive to winter; if you have not, unite until every colony is strong. I would not undertake to winter any colony, unless it would cover well, as many as 4 L. frames. If your colony has not as many as 4 good combs, they must be supplied with bin., and made to build them out. If they are to do it in Sept., you and the bees both must stir yourselves, I tell you. There must be no forgetting them, and you must be at home every day, to attend to it. ( 'lose the space up by chaff division boards, until there is just comfortable room for the 4 frames, put in your fdn. where the combs are lacking, and then feed them every night, from a half pint to a pint of food. ( )pen the hive every day or two, and see how things get along. You want a good queen and lots of brood started. Make them prosper, and build up. You will soon learn to know what prosperity means. They should be rearing brood, building comb, and getting full of bees, precisely as they do in June. For winter stores, I would use coffee sugar (see FEEDERS AND FEEDING); feed them about a half 11). every night, until their combs are full. If you have the 4 combs average about 5 lbs. each, you will be on the safe side. If your colony is heavy enough to 178 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. May cover 6 combs, clear out to the ends, during a cool night, they will perhaps need G combs rilled so as to average 5 lbs. each. When you get the bees, and the stores, with the chaff cushions on each side, they are all ready to winter, by simply putting a thick chaff cushion over them. This arrangement is not as good as a regular chaff hive, but it has answered for several seasons past, quite well. If the winter is very severe, a colony that would cover densely 5 or 6 combs would be much safer than a smaller one. The main points are, a brood apartment closely packed with bees, and plenty of good sealed stores. With these two conditions alone, the bees will generally winter all right, even in a hive made of inch boards. If the bees are not enough to fill the hive, reduce the size of the apartment until they do fill it. This is usually done by a division board. If the walls of this wintering apartment are made of thin wood, the bees will then keep the thin walls of the hive, as well as them- selves, warm all winter, and we shall then avoid the loss that often ensues by bees con- tinually freezing in the outside combs. This is the purpose of the chaff hive ; it is of about as much use to put chaff and straw over the outside of great heavy hives, as it would be to put your bed clothes on the roof of your house, instead of next to your body, on a cold winter night. VENTILATION AND ITS RELATION TO FROST AND DAMPNESS. I think the subjects of chaff packing and ventilation are not clearly understood. Bees become damp because the walls of the hive are so cold as to condense the moisture from their breath. If these walls did not become cold, no moisture would condense on them, and no dampness would accumulate in the hives. On a cold winter night, frost some- times accumulates on our windows until it may be i inch in thickness. The amount of ice depends on the difference in the tem- peratures of the air on the two sides of the glass. If the air outside should be below zero, while that inside is 70 or 80, and at the same time is fully charged with moisture, from the kitchen perhaps, as is the case fre- quently on washing days, or even from the breath of many persons, the accumulation of ice on the glass will be very rapid. If the room is kept warmed up the ice will melt, and the water will run down, until the floor becomes quite wet. While running a small engine one winter, in a room having large glass windows, the water accumulated so rapidly on the glass that we had to attach a tin trough to the window sill, to catch it, and in a little time we caught a pailful from the end of the spout. The cause is this; warm air takes up and holds in solution a large quantity of water. This water is of course invisible, and we have scarcely any means of detecting it so long as the temperature of the air is unchanged by coming in contact with colder substances, or currents of air of a lower temperature. If the walls of the room are kept warm, there will be no per- ceptible dampness. Let them be chilled, as in the case of the window pane, however, and we shall have the warm air dropping its water the very minute it comes in contact with the cold surface, in exactly the same way that dew is deposited, on a hot summer day, on the outside of a pitcher containing cold water. The process with the window goes on, because currents of air are started both on the outside and inside of the glass, by the heat that passes through the glass. To make this plain, let A, in the cut below, represent the pane of glass. a The arrows represent thej^ourse of the currents of air. The great- er the difference in temperature between the outside and inside, the more active are these currents, and the greater is the disposition of dew or ice, on the surface of the / glass on the inside. § HOW BEE HIVES BECOME DAMP. In the warm room you will see that the air is chilled as it strikes the window, and then falls because it is heavier ; this gives place to more warm air, and keeps up the circulation. On the outside, the cold air next the window becomes warmed, and ris- es on account of being lighter, and this keeps up a similar action on the outside, the direction of the currents being reversed. Thus you see how the water from the air is condensed on the windows, and goes down into the pail. The air in the room would soon lose its moisture, were not more sup- plied from the breathing of living persons, or from the kettles on the stove, from damp air rising from the cellar, or from something of that kind. I need hardly state that the same operation goes on in the bee hive, es- pecially, if the walls are thin, and the hive at all tight. If the top of the hive is a thin honey board, with cold air above and warm air below, ice will be sure to collect over the cluster, and when it melts will dampen the bees. The sides of the hive will be covered 1S79 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 179 with frost, and perhaps a heavy coat of ice, by the circulation of currents of air as I have explained. Now let us go back to the win- dow, and place one of the chaff cushions I have advised for wintering, close against the window glass, on the outside. This will stop the outside circulation, and the light of glass will soon become warmed through to such an extent, that no ice, or dew either, will condense upon it. To make a further protection, suppose we put glass or boards on the outside of the cushion, or, in fact, make two walls, with chaff between them as in the chaff hive. A good colony of bees would warm up the thin walls next to them, sufficently to prevent either frost or mois- ture from accumilating on them at all. Now, if the walls all around the bees are thus protected with chaff cushions, they can not well get frosty on the outside, and thus accumulated either moisture or dampness on the inside. As a proof of this, I have win- tered a colony nicely, with a covering of en- ameled cloth over them, that was almost ab- solutely impervious to air. To be su.xe, a tick chaff cushion was over this enameled cloth, or it would have been wet very quick- ly with the condensed mossture; In fact sev- eral colonies bedame puite wet, during fros- ty nigsts in the fall, before the chaff cush- ons were put on. Now, if the bees are to keep these walls about them so warm that moisture cannot condense on them, the walls must be close to the cluster of bees, and cer- tainly the material for them should be a non-conducter of heat, and they should be so thin, that they will readily warm through. Although it may not absolutely necessary that the walls and covering should be of some porous material, which will absorb any chance moisiure form the breath of the bees, it will perhaps be better that they should be so, and many experiments seem to indicate that straw or chaff is the best material for this purpose. For the reasons I have named the old fashioned straw hive, which has for ages been enblematical of the honey bee, seems to be very nearly what is wanted to protect them in the way they seem to de- mand. The straw neut to them is warm and therefore proof againt conensation; it is thin and hence easily warmed; is a non-conduc- tor of heat; and while it may permit the air to pass thought the porous walls slowly, it does not admit of a dralt of cold air through the hive, as does a badly made wooden hive or one that has cracks (r fissures. STRAW HIVES. Ever since the advantages of straw hives for wintering have been fully demonstrated, attempts have been made to make hives of straw, to hold the moveable frames iu com- mon use. Such hives have answered the purpose very well, but they are convient, un- tidy expensive to make, and notduable after they are made. As they cannot well be painted, they are soon pestroyed by the weather; and if we make an outer sheel to proteci the straw, we have, virtually, a chaff hive, such as I have described. It is true, we might have straw next to the bees, but straw does not presen, a clean, smooth sur- face such as we wish to have next to have them built true, and I cannot discover by ex- periment, that the straw is any the less ef- fective, with a thin board interposep be- tween it and the bees. Straw mats for* cov- ering the frames have beed in use for many years, and with good results, but I have found it a difficult matter to have them fit so closly over the cluster as do the chaff cushions, and they are not so neat and tidy. The mats will always have more or less loose straws pulling off. For the reasons I have given, I do not think a hive with the straw exposed either to the bees inside, or to the weather outside, will ever come in vogue ex- tensively. After having tried many differ- ent plans of covering the frames for winter, I have adopted the mat made of slats, as de- scribed in hive making; but this covering is intended only to keep the bees down, and to keep them from soiling and biting the cushions, and not to furnish protection from the weather, unless it should be during the warmest summer weather. Over this mat, the chaff cushion is to be laid. Will bees work on comb foundation with Hat bot- tomed cells as well as on the concave bottom? Hamilton, O., Apr., 9, 187!). S. L. Beeler. [Our bees do'not work the flat bottomed fdn. as fast, nor is the finished comb made concave at the base like the natural comb. It cannot, in my opin- ion, be as good economy for the bees, although it will, nevertheless, answer very well, and may be used eventually, on account of its cheapness.] HIVE MAKING WITH THE 1SAHNES FOOT-POWER SAW. I think I have made an improvement on your way of cutting' the bevels on the Simplicity hives. Fast- en your beveling table to the sliding side of the saw table, pat on the cross cut bar, and when proper- ly adjusted, you are ready for business. With the table as you described, I was troubled by the lumber's crowding down against the saw, and pinch- ing it. M. L. Hudson. Charle3 City, Iowa, Mar., '79. My bees have not behaved well. I enclose 10 cts., for which please send me the March number of "Gleanings"; perhaps it will tell me what occa- sioned the trouble. Parkman, April 7, L879. L. M. Burt. [I am afraid yours are not the only bees that have not behaved well, friend B., and I am also afraid that neither the March No., nor any other, will be able to tell you all about the "trouble".] 180 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. May DEPOSITORY OF Or Letters from Those Who Have Made Bee Culture a. Failure. fJIHB. Bible says that in the last days there shall be weeping1 and wailing- and gnashing' of teeth; —i I tell you that there is a wailing- cry ascen- ding- from our part of the country, this spring, over the great loss of bees during the past winter and spring. I think, without over estimating it in the least, that fully!) colonies out of 10 are gone over the dam. This was getting to be a great bee country. I know of quite a number of men that had from 7") to 175 colonies in the fall, but the winter lias whipped them nearly all out of existence. I started in the winter with 43 skips, and, if I get through with 5 I will do better than I think I will. One of my neigh- bors had 175 swarms in the fall, and he has only 6 colonies left now. I have watched and studied pretty closelv for the cause of their dying, and I think that it is to be attributed to their long ■ionflnement during the winter. During more than 3 months, steady stretch, they could not fly, on ac- count of cold weather. We have not had a very severely cold winter, but cold weather was so very steady that there were no warm days when The bees could take a flight; therefore they had to empty themselves in the hive, and it gave them a disease that is called in these parts, the bee cholera. Is there any help for this complaint? and what can we do for the colonies afflicted with it now? A great many are discouraged, and say that they will never try to raise bees again; but I am not discour- aged yet, although it has been a very great loss to me. I hadmade quite extensive preparations to supply this county with hives and bee supplies in general. I am going to try again, thinking that if I had un- derstood their natures better, I could have had bet- ter success. I have made bee culture a study and a specialty for a few years past, but the present state of affairs has rather put a check to my opera- tions. Never daunted, however, I shall look ahead with the firm expectation that success will crown mv efforts at last. Caro, Mich., March 3j, 1879. J. S. Kitchen. Now for my report on the past winter. I would much rather leave it blank, for I fear you will chuck me in Blasted Hopes, at once; but as lam always glad to hear the reports of others whether they be good or bad, I suppose it is but fair that I should give in mine also. Well, last August I could count 68 hives from which bees were flying, and all but 4or 6 I considered vei-ygood. To-night, April 7th, I can count but 23 and not more than % of them are even fair. Thisiswhat has become of them: a few were robbed out last fall, during the 4 months when I was in Pennsylvania: some froze during the cold winter; a large number had the dysentery and died badly; a few starved; and lately they have been dwindling, and swarming out day after day, and, in the latter case, have almost invariably left brood and plenty of honey. To-day, 3 colonies have swarm- ed out but T have hived them all together in one hive. Swarming out is very general through this section. However, lam not going to let them be at me yet; for, with all the combs I shall have, I will make them "pit up and git" when they do settle down to business next summer, and if I do not have so many swarms to hive, I will have the more time to attend to customers who may want hives and sections. Port Washington, O., April 7, 1879. A. A. FRADENBURG. I bought one hive of bees, 4 years ago this spring. In 3 years (that was last year), I had at swarms, all rich in stores and mostly strong in bees. They are all dead but one, and that is very weak. Four-fifths of all the bees in this neighborhood are dead. Those who have fared best are those who took the least care of their bees, apparently. Some who housed, and others who put their bees in cellars, lost all their stocks. Some who left them out in all the weather without any care saved nearly all. I packed mine nicely with straw, with the result above named. D. D. Lightneg. Hobart, Ind., Apr. 9, 1879. It is true, that many colonies have been reported dead, when every thing seemed in proper si rape so far as we know, but by far the greater number of reports indicate plain- ly a decided advantage in proper protection. When we come to get at the full facts, we And as a general thing, that those who have lost so badly did not have them well taken care of. Now, friend L., was your straw packing close up to the bees, and were they closed down into a small compass for win- ter, as I have so strongly urged? I, too, lost powerful colonies, but they were in large hives, with 4 times as much' honey, as they could possibly need. We have a fearful loss of bee? here, and more among the Italians than any thing else; mine are about all gone. John Meruit. Pittston, Pa., April 9, 1879. It has been a very hard winter for bees in this sec- tion. I know of several that have lost all they had, and I have lost 29 stands myself, but I don't want you to say anything about it, for I am perfectly ashamed of it, and I don't mean it shall ever hap- pen again while my name U Ed. Tucker. Marengo, Iowa, April 9th, 1878. FEEDING BEES MASHED UP HONEY AND DIRT, FROM BEE TREES. I have lost all except 2 colonies out of 12, includ- ing my tested and imported queens. 1 am going to advance an idea as to why I lost them. Two years ago last fall I had two colonies, one weak and one strong. I cut a bee tree, and fed the weaker swarm, in the hive, all the crushed products of the tree, con- sisting of bark, worm dust, &c, and had them packed just like the other hive with thoroughly dry saw dust. I fed the strong one nothing. They came through all right, but the one fed was attacked with dysentery and died in a few months, leaving me but one. This I increased to 5 the following summer, and not having time to cut any of my trees I fed the weaker ones, and packed all nicely in chaff and cut straw. All came through nicely. Last summer I increased the 5 to 12 giving them 6 Italian queens, and packed them just as they were packed the winter before. Late in the season, I cut 2 bee trees, and to economize (?), 1 fed all the "hashed" honey, bark, dust, dirt, and all, to my bees at large, placing it in front of hives, on boards, &c. I was careful as to ventilation, &c. All had well stored hives, but in a few mouths I saw the hives be- smeared just the same as my first one, and 4 were dead in a few days. I moved them into the barn, packing them up there, but still they died. When [ saw your answer to some one who had done simi- larly, I removed the remaining four outside, and protected them by packing. In a few weeks 2 of those died, leaving but 2. It was a noticeable fact that all black bees died first, with one exception. I now have one of each, and am pretty well convinced that there was something unhealthy about that dirty tree-honey. Could there be such a thing as the "worm dust's containing acid enough to induce or start the dysentery? Nearly all the hives contain enough honey yet, to winter a colony. I am not dis- couraged, by the way, and am fitting up a shop where 1 expect to make every thing in the way of hives, &c. D. M. Sharpnack. Petroleum, W. Va., Apr. 4, '79. I can hardly think it was the dirt or dust that, gave the bees the dysentery, but rather the old honey. I have many times known old, thick honey to produce just the result you describe, especially if it was dark and strong. It is on this account, that I have so many times urged that syrup made from pure white sugar "is safer than honey to feed to bees for winter. Almost anything will answer to feed them with so long as they can fly every day, but beware of using food any way objectionable, after the approach of winter. Did you not feed them so late that they did not get it perfectly sealed over? 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. lsi %&ad4 4 %foln9 From Different Fields. CHANGING LOCATION OF HIVES. ON the first of this month, I carried my bees ) (16 swarms) out for a fly, putting- them all close together, and left them out one week, when I returned them to the cellar. Yesterday, I carried them Out again and put them on their sum- mer stands, about ti rods from where they were placed on the first ot Marc'i. In the course of the day, they commenced to return to ihe place they occupied on the first of March. I then took a hive filled with plenty of comb and honey (one in which the bees had died in the winter), and placed it where the bees seemed to he thickest, and now have a good swarm of bees in it, but of course they have no queen. Now, what shall 1 do? Can I get* a queen now? and if so, at what price? C. O. Shannon. Edgerton, Rock Co., Wis., Mar. 28, 1879. Your experiment proves that it injures stocks, to change the location of their hives, even though they have been some days in the cell r. as were yours; and I fear you have injured yours, by depriving them of their flying bees when they need them most, even though you have made a new swarm. The bees in your swarm, being all, or near- ly all, old, will soon die off, even if you had a queen to give them, and so I think it would be best to distribute them around to weak colonies. QUEENS THAT TURN OUT TO BE DRONE LAYERS. In Italianizing my bees last summer, I introduced with some difficulty, a queen to one swarm, on the first of September. The bees did not like her, and tore off a part of her wings while in the cage on the frames, but finally accepted her, till they could suit themselves better, as it seemed, for they tried to supersede her all the fall, and kept building- queen cells, and went into winter quarters with drones in the hive, that 1hey had not killed. The queen did very well last fall; her bees were well marked, most of them being 3 banded; but, this spring, they have raised dnmrs. drones, tinmen, and nothing else. Eggs laid in woiker cebs came out drones. I have not been able to find any worker brood capped over this spring; it would all be bulged out into drone cells, and some of the bees, Mr. Elk- ins said, looked as though they were half drones and half worker-. I destroyed her, and put some egs-s from an imported queen in the hive, the~'9th of April, and set them to raising queen cells. Now, what was the trouble? Had the queen failed? She was young, and I introduced her as soon she commenced laying. Or were the bees the ones that did ihe mis- chief? I don't think it was the bees, but it i« a mys- tery to me. V. Page. Kennedy, N. Y., May 7, 1878. I think the trouble was all in the queen, and that the bees, by some means unknown to us, had a premonition that she would eventually fail, and therefore were bent on replacing her. Such cases are not uncom- mon. Where the bees persistently build queen cells, in the manner you mention. I believe the queen usually fails pretty soon after. ADULTERATION OF HONEY, AND MAPLE SYRUPS. In Dec. No of Glka.mngs,I notice some remarks in regard to the adulteration of honey. It has al- most ruined the sale of extracted honey in the western country. The most of the extracted honey in the market, previous to the introduction of Cali- fornia honey, was put up by Perrine of Chicago, and it is so notoriously adulterated that it is hard to convince an old mind that a pure article of extrac- ted honey exists. Perrine also puts up an article which he calls pure maple syrup lhat has but a faint flavor of the genuine article. filing circular saws. I wish to say to those having Barnes' buzz, saws that I tried every form of filing saws, but none of them would accomplish the amount of work that I thought they should, until I cut out every other tooth, and give them a large thn at. Now 1 can saw more than the warrant calls for with very much less fatigue; the saw should have a pretty good set, about 1-U'l of an inch, and the outer corner of the tooth should always be kept full. I use a small rat tail file, to keep the throat round, so the saw dust will not wedge in as it will sometimes, if the lumber is a little pitchy. Canon City, Col., Jan. 13, 1876. Chas. E. McKay. Making a "throat" for the saw dust is a very important matter I know, but is it really necessary to take out every other tooth, friend M.V Does not the saw do rough work from being made so much coarser? SETTING THE CROSS CUT BAR TO A CIRCULAR SAW. In A 15 C, No. 2, you give a plan for settiDg a cross cut bur. I have a plan that I think much more simple and easy. 1 take a scrap of board that has one straight edge or end, place this against the bar, cut a piece from all four sides, and if the last piece is exactly parallel, the bar is accurate. If not it will show* pieces as in accompanying cuts. Middleport, O., Mar. 17, 1877. A. E. Gardner. Many thanks for your very ingenious plan, friend Li. If I get the idea correctly, when the liar is exactly at right angles, the strip that comes off from the last side will have parallel sides, and your block will be exactly square; but, if there be any deviation from an exact right angle, each successive cut magnifies it, until we get clear around, and at the last cut. we have the sum of all the variations. TOO MUCH HONEY, TINKERING WITH STOCKS LATE IN THE FALL, ETC. You have met with quite a loss in bees, but ac- cording to friend Fowler, page 114, you should have saved all except the one in the American hive, and so much honey, we have been told, would kill the bees in cold winters in any hive. I would like to change my bees to the Simplicity, just for the convenience of handling (not because I ihink I could winter any better), but I can't afford it. 1 don't think I ever had a good colony of bees freeze jet; I certainly have not in the last 3 years. 1 use a frame 11 in. deep, 13 in. long, with closed top bar, 11 frames to the hive. The hive is made of 73 pine lumber. I never used chalf quilts, or any packing whatever. I give the bees plenty of time in the fall to fix up, then let them alone. I went into winter quarters last fall with 43 colo- nics all told; I left them on summer stands with no protection whatever, with a full north west expos- ure and I have not lost a colony yet, and they are all strong colonies too. Others have lost bees, but I think it caused by late tinkering. It was so cold here last winter that nearly all the peach trees in the country are killed. I lost 80 peach trees -all I had— several pear and cherry trees, and other shrubbery. I like your last improvement in your corners for Simplicity hives. Do get us up that cheap fdn. machine. I use 5 cts. worth of wire cloth, and 5 cts. worth of muslin for bee veil. A. S. Davison. Aullville, Lafayette Co., Mo., April 7, 1879. T have since lost two more colonies in the very large American hives that I purchased. ( me of them was such a very populous col- ony, that I had paid an extra price for it. It was transferred yesterday, and all I have for 182 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. May my money is 30 or 40 lbs. of sealed honey in American frames, and a lot of kindling wood. They died with dysentery. Had they been pnt on a few combs, and packed all around with chaff, I think it would have saved them; but I had an idea, that very strong colonies would do well any way, even if they were in large open hives. It may be that it was the stores they had, and I will write to- day, and see if the man of whom they were Purchased lost in a similar way. I know fussing with bees after cold weather often seems to have the effect of starting dysenter- y. but as these were shipped me during nice pleasant weather, I can hardly think that the cause, in this case. The cheap fdn. machine is in progress. "what killed 'em?" I see from April Gleanings that you have lost heavily in bees. I, too, have lost heavily, 30 out of 150, more than I have lost in the previous 16 years of my bee-keeping. I feel awfully guilty. I try to ease my conscience by saying1 to myself, "It's dysen- tery and spring- dwindling," but 'tis no such thing; it's pure carelessness. 1 took a trip off south, and the big snow came and covered the little pets all up (which was all right), and then my kind friends took it off the hives, and opened up the entrances to give them air, and they got it; and now, partly in conse- quence, 30 are dead. Had I put them in the cellar as I have done in former years, I have not a doubt but 25 out of the 30 would now be alive. The old double cased hive that I put bees into in 1868, again wintered well. I used to write you about this hive; your reply was that doubled cases had been tried and were a failure, and now you advocate chaff hives. T. G. McGaw. Monmouth, Ills., April 10, '79. FOOT AND HAND POWER SAWS. Having had some experience in making Simplicity hives by hand, I concluded that I could make them not only faster but better, with some kind of a foot- power saw; so I went to work and made one partly after the plan of Smith's and partly from Hutchin- son's (described in Nov. and Dec. Gleanings), and the rest of the ideas were my own and the carpen- ter's that helped me build the machine. The tread- le shaft has a crank on each end, and the treadle was arranged the same as the Hutchinson saw, but, as the machine was new and geared rather fast (about 48 revolutions of the saw to one of the tread- le), I concluded to apply the power in some other manner, so that one could run the saw while anoth- er did the feeding. I arranged two levers to come up behind with a cross piece framed on about breast high, then connected the pitmen two feet from the bottom, to run forward to the cranks on the treadle shaft, By taking hold of the cross piece and work- ing it back and forth, it applies the power both ways on the cranks, and is much nicer exercise than it isto tread; itanswersthe place of dumb-bells admir- adly. If all the machines run as hard as mine, and a man would pump it 3 or 4 hours each day, for a few months, it would develop his muscular powers amazingly, and cure dyspepsia too. 1 commenced wintering 10 colonies, but, alas! 8 are dead. There is, however, no great loss without some little gain; they have left me 8 sets of comb, and lots of honey, so I think I can build up to 10 again by using thrifty Italian queens, and giving them the proper care during the summer. Pierpont, O., April 10, 1879. Jessie c. Thompson. RED BUD, CATCHING STRAY SWARMS, ETC. Will it be out of place to send in another bee re- port? My bees are having a grand time on the red bud now; 'all other bloom was killed by the frost last week, I.wish you could see my R. Bud trees now, (I have several hundred of them) all covered with flowers and roaring with bees. I never saw bees work better in May, even the robbers stopped nos- ing about and went to work. If we can have a few more days of fair weather I will be able to send you a sample of Red Bud honey; I want to know what you think of it. I wrote you in my last that I had lost two olonies. A few days after that, three colonies came to me to be taken care of, and I did it. One, I doubled in with a weak one of my own; the other two, I doubled up and gave some combs of honey; now they are doing their best to repay me, so you see I haven't lost much after all. Jonesboro, Ills., April 9th, '79. W. J. Willard. ITALIANS AND COMMON BEES. I commenced keeping bees one year ago this spring. I bought 2 swarms of black bees, sent to friend Sayles of Hartford, Wis., for 2, dollar queens, and introduced them all right. One was not as good as he wished, so he sent me another; was not that liberal? All proved good. I made a nucleus with the extra queen and all are doing well. From my 2 old hives, I took 100 lbs. of nice honey. Give me Italian bees rather than blacks. Last season was my first year, but I find that side by side, Italians will work earlier and later, and make more honey, and of a nicer quality, especially in the fall; while my black bees were bringing in black honey, the Italians were making a good quality of honey but a shade darker than white clover honey. I in- troduced my queens just after swarming; is not that a good time to introduce Italian queens? Mindoro, Wis., Mar. 11, '78. O. A. Sisson. It is a very good time to introduce queens after swarming, only that you have to go through with the process with your new swarms also. AMOUNT OF HONEY CONSUMED IN WINTERING, GRAPE SUGAR, ETC. Out of the 80 stocks of bees reported last Nov. as packed in chaff on their summer stands, but 2 were lost in winter. Those contracted to 4 frames are doing equally well with those having more room. The average amount of honey consumed by them is a little less than 14 lbs. Those supplied with grape sugar in frames lived from September to the first freezing weather in December, when they died. I have experimented with grape sugar 2 years, and now I believe it to be entirely valueless to apiarians except, perhaps, for stimulative feeding in spring, and even for that it is no cheaper than other sug-ars, owing to the large quantity of water it contains. On the whole, you may record my vote against its use. J. B. Haines. Uedford, Ohio, April 12, '79. SWARMING OUT IN SPRING AND REMEDY. 1 see that W. P. Turner and L. B. Wolf have been troubled with their bees swarming out. In the spring of '74, my bees swarmed out in the same way. They had plenty of honey and brood, and I would cage the queen, and they would swarm out and leave her. I would give them new combs with hon- ey and brood, and a new clean hive, and they would swarm all the same. As for the cause, I cannot ac- count for it, unless they were discouraged and left for better quarters. The only way I could stop them was to go to some populous stock and take a comb that had some brood in it, with all the bees that were clustered on the comb, being careful not to get the queen with them, and unite them with the stock that swarmed out, and then confine them for 48 hours, being careful not to smother them. After that I never had any more trouble with their swarm- ing out. I went into winter quarters with 37 stocks of bees and now have 36 stocks in good condition. I have wintered 2 stocks in chaff hives for two winters, with good success. More than % of the bees around here are dead. G. W. Siggins. East Hickory, Penn., April 14, '79. The above agrees exactly with my experi- ence, and the remedy given is the only one I have ever found effectual. FLORIDA AND HOW TO WINTER BEES THERE. An A B C i cfaolar in Florida desires to make his re- port. Last October, I purchased, in Jacksonville, Fla., 6 swarms of Italians in the "Florida" hive. 8 frames 18x11 in. The frames were then partly filled with comb, but there was not a pound of honey in the 6 hives. During the winter, whenever the weather was favorable, the bees would be out gathering- stores. On examining my hives I now find that the frames are nearly all filled with brood and hon- i879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 183 ey, and I will soon be able to divide or swarm them artificially, as I shall try more tor bees than honey this season. Now, I would like to ask you if there i3 any state north where, if your bees had no honey in October, they yet could go through the winter successfully, without feeding! Hogarths Landing, Fla., Apr. 12, 1879. A. S. Areson. The smoker and fdn. arrived all safe, and give perfect satisfaction. Accept thanks. It has been a hard winter on bees, and about Vi of the bees in old fashioned hives have died; but those put up with cloth cushions on top have come out well. It pays to take care of bees as well as cattle. Watseka, 111., Mar. 24, 1879. W. H. Shedd. My experience teaches me that the queen is more apt to lay in the sections in drone comb, than in worker comb. K. B. Rian. Yoik, N. Y., Nov. 22, 1878. HOW THEY SWARM (AND GO OFF) IN MISS. Six months ago, I could not have said with certain- ty that I had ever seen a bee-hive, but. now I think I could "run" an apiary myself, under the directions to be found in your A JJ C. In Jan. last, we moved to a new farm, where bees were kept, and were induced to buy n co'onies in old box hives. One swarm died, and 14 new s.\ arms went to the woods in March and April, some without stopping to cluster, others alter being hived in new box hives, however I have increased to 14 and expect to go into bee keeping in earnest next year, if I can save enough to buy hives, extractor, etc. How many hives can one person take care of, on an average? Como, Miss., P. J. McKenna. If you allowed 14 to goto the woods, and then' had 14 left from only Tin the first place, you must certainly have a wonderful bee country, friend M. I do not know how many colonies one man can care for until he has made a trial of it to see. An experienced hand should have about 100 on an average, to keep him fully employed, and I think a man ought, if he devotes his whole time to the business, to be able to do all the work for that number. KEEPING THE GROUND CLEAN 1 N THE APIARY, LUM- BER FOR HIVES, AND HIVING SWARMS ON SUNDAY. I got the "bee notion" last summer, subscribed for Gleanings, bought parts i and 11 of A B U, and have been studying them ever since, with pleasure. 1 purchased 37 colonies of bees this spring, in the American hive, and as I am one of 1he ABC class, of course, I must transfer. Now a few questions. Do you keep the sod cut away from between your hives? If so, is'nt the ground "sticky" after rains? In making hives, do you use lumber that is entirely free from knots? Is it wrong to hive bees on the Sabbath day? If not, why is it wrong to haul sugar water on the same day? As there is a great deal of sugar water hauled here on the Sabbath, a little ex- planation why bees can be hived by Christians, while the man who hauls sugar water is condemned, would be of interest as well as pro! it. Mingo, Ohio. Burleigh R. Parson. In our old apiary we keep the sod all off, and hoe down the weeds, and then sweep the ground clean with a broom. As the ground is thoroughly under drained J it is sticky but a very few hours after a rain, and I very much prefer a clean space in front and around each hive. In our new apiary I have decided to let the sod remain, on account of the labor it will require to keep so large a plat entirely clear of vegeta- tion. For hives, we use lumber that has no loose knots; knots do no harm, if they are sound and will not get loose by the action of the sun. Should I tell you it was wrong to hive bees on the Sabbath day, do you think you would be perfectly satisfied to follow j my opinion on the matter? If I should say it was right to haul sugar-water on Sunday, would till church members agree with meV ( )n these points where honest opinion may differ so much, shall we not let every one who is trying to do right, decide for him- self V If you wish to do what is right, and your conscience lets you feel satisfied with what you have done, I have no fear but that God will be satisfied. I do not think so much of what we are doing, as of the spirit we have while doing it. I should feel per- j fectly happy and contented while hiving a swarm of bees on Sunday, but I should not I feel happy if I sat on tfie fence afterward ' and talked bees with a neighbor for a half- hour. There are two extremes in this mat- ter, and if you read your Bible carefully, I I think you cannot go very far astray. Jesus reproved for doing business on the Sabbath, and he also reproved those who found fault with him for healing the sick on the Sab- bath. COVERS TO HIVEj. In Feb. No. you say that a hive cover made of narrow lumber matched together will leak sooner or later. Last season, I made some in that way, and run a I'-lti bead on each side of the joint, and put the joint together with paint, and they have not leaked yet. A small V shaped groove, cut with a saw or a cutting tool made on purpose, would an- swer nicely, thus: The V grooves prevent the water from running into the joint. A. Fradenburg. Port Washington, O., Mar. 31, 1879. The idea is quite an old one, and with nar- row strips, say 4 or 5 inches wide, it does very well while well painted. The roofs that have troubled me were made of 2 boards only, with such a joint in the middle. If the hives are set sloping a little, they leak less, but, for many reasons, I prefer it hive set exactly level; and a flat roof, made of strips in the way you mention, I think would, in time, be sure to leak, on a level hive. UNITING NEW SWAHMS. We had some visitors when the swarming fever was contagious, and a second swarm issued. I told one of them (an old bee-keeper) that 1 would unite the said swarm to one previously issued. "Oh, my! you must not do that; you will spoil both of them," said he. "Well," said I, "it must be returned or united; I guess I'll take the latter move," and so I did. This proceeding took place in the fore-noon, and before they left us the bees were working with their whole force. "Well, I never before saw such a thing done in my whole life," said he. "I always hive second swarms separately, and if any lack stores, 1 put brimstone under their noses, and that finishes them." I told him that was too cruel a way for our little pets. Don't you think so, Mr. Koot? Preston J. Kline. Hoopersburg, Pa., April, 1879. Swarms that have issued on the same day can always be united without trouble, so far as my experience goes, and they will almost always unite peaceably, even if one of them is a tew days or a week old. In the latter case, it would be well to watch them a little, and use the smoke if necessary. A new swarm, laden with honey, as a general thing, will be well received in any colony, but swarms that desert, or are driven out by starvation, will almost always be stung, when they attempt to enter another hive. 184 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. May drones; color and markings of. Are the drones of an imported queen always of uniform color? If they are, I am inclined to think that the fertilization of the queen does effect the drone progeny. I raised queens from the larvae of an imported queen. The queens were mated with black drones and their progeny of drones vary as much in color as their worker bees. About the best proof we have of anything1 is that which we see with our own eyes, instead of using- a lamp nursery, I cut out queen cells when sealed, place them in wire cages, same side up as when in the comb, then place them on top of the frames, under the quilt, among the bees of any good colony. I examine often, and introduce as soon as hatched. F. C. White. Euclid, Ohio, May 13, 1878. I believe the general decision is that no de- pendence can be placed on the color of the drones from any queen, they vary so much. Are you always sure of a thing, friend W., when you do see it with your eyes? Your wire cage for hatching queens is quite an old idea, but does not seem to be much used. FDN. IN EVERY OTHER FRAME, FDN. FOR NEW SWARMS, AND SPACE REQUIRED FOR COMBS. I have used fdn. in honey boxes and it works like a charm. Now about the brood chamber; if I put the fdn. inevery other frame will they build the* cards between the fdn. in good shape? or have I got to put it in every frame? I saw in some book that it would not do to hive bees into a hive filled with fdn. and nothing more. Do you think that the fdn. will sag in my 13 by 13J4 racks that you make? My hive is 13 in. wide by 13 in. long. I put in 8 frames to the 12 in. ; do vou think this enough? Springfield, N. Y., Dec* 27, 1878. S. E. Glazar. If you put the fdn. in every other frame, they will build in the empty ones all right, but you will find the natural combs will get along much the slower. I have hived a good many swarms on fdn., but have had no bad results. There would be a greater liabili- ty to sag with your deeper frames. Eight frames will do very well in a 12 inch hive, but, if they are all built on fdn., so as to be perfectly straight, you could get along very well with 9. ARTIFICIAL HT5AT AS A REMEDY FOR DWINDLING. Bees have wintered very poorly in this part of the state. Very few of our small bee keepers will get any through alive, and all have lost some. I had 40 stands last fall, and have lost 10. They had the spring dwindling. About Vs of the rest were very weak before I noticed Ihem; they seemed to dwindle so quick. As soon as 1 noticed 'them I took them into a dark room, and am keeping a Are day and nisht. They have been in about 2 weeks and seem to be doing well. Hart Barber. Adrian, Mich., March 28, 1879. Many attempts have been made to stop the dwindling, by the use of artificial heat, but I do not know as we have had a report of a successfull experiment without the in- tervention of weather that would allow the bees to fly. Will you tell us how your ex- periment succeeded, friend B.V old hives and frames, we can just boil the wood in our ley, and throw it out after the gum has all disolved from it. Unless, how- ever, as with honey vinegar, we get some- thing very superior, we can hardly hope to make much money by it, for common rosin is sold so cheaply, that propolis could hardly be gathered up at the price of it. Perhaps the propolis is superior to rosin for this pur- pose; we hope so. SOAP FROM PROPOLIS. Mr. M. W. Chapman would confer a favor on your readers by giving us his mode of making soap with either propolis or rosin. The fact is, in our "wooden" country, we have the materials in abun- dance for making soap, but don't know how to com- bine them so as to make a soap that will not en- danger the skin when used on the hands; but we make a soap said to be just jolly for house work. Whitleyville, Jackson Co , Tenn. H. W. Rehorn. 1 hope we can make the soap business work, friend R., for it will make another product from the apiary. Instead of being obliged to scrape the propolis off from the A FEEDER FOR FEEDING DRY SUGAR. I see by your lust th it you wish a f ed ;r that will feed sugar just as taken from the barrel. I have used such a one for some time, and think it far ahead of anything I ever saw. Bore 2 holes in the bottom of a Simplicity feeder, and draw rags through them. Let the rags be not very tight, but just close enough to allow the water to ooze through them slowly. Nail this close underneath the top-oar of a frame, and bore a hole in the top-bar to till it through. Then, on each side of the frame, nail thin boards, wide enough to reach within one inch of the water trough. Fill the sugar box with sugar and the water trough with water, hang in the hive and I will warrant you it will be all gone before you know it. If you prefer, you can place the water trough down from top-bar far enough to let the bees get to the water, and not bore holes in the bottom of the feeder; but, accordingto my experience, they will not use it as fast in that way; for, if the bees do not take the water as fast as it oozes through, it will drop on the sugar and they will t hen soon lick it up. Pei haps the water trough would be better if made of tin, but it works well now. Plainfield, Mich., April 8, '70. F. L. Wright. I do not know where this idea of water and sugar is to end, but from the number of communications on the subject, I feel that something superior to any feedernow in use is to lif the outcome of it. The demands of the case sppiu to be something to furnish sugar in a considerable quantity, just as it conies from the stores, in such a way that it will not lie wasted. If water is to drip on it, it is to he tight enough so it will not leak, and we are to guard against any sort of daubing. The utensil to hold the water should lie wood or glass; anything made of ' metal will rust in time, and proove unsightly, even if it is not unhealthy for the bees. It i ought to be so made as to be used without opening the hive, and then there will be no escape of the heat of the cluster. Placing it at the entrance, like the Simplicity feeder, seems to be the readiest plan. The water trough can lie open as well as not, that it may be the more readily filled; and if a Sim- plicity feeder or something equivalent is used, robbers can be given to understand that they are quite welcome to all the pure water they wish. I would much prefer that all feeding should be done in the night time, when the weather is such that bees can fly. for I think it very bad policy for bees to be fussing with a feeder, when' they might be at work out of doors, getting their own feed. Who will make the nicest feeder to feed dry sugar at the entrance? Many thanks, friend W., for your idea of letting the wtiter drip on the sugar. I am an A I? C scholar, who started a year ago with one colony; in addition, I found one in the woods in May, and increased to 9, and secured over 200 lbs. surplus honey. I wintered in Langstroth hives, with clover chaff, a la Cook's Manual. All are now strong except the first swarm from the old hive which is queenless, and very weak. The bees carried the first natural pollen yesterday. I am so well pleased with chaff, that I have purchased a 1S79 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 185 saw, and am going- to mike th" "Simon pure" chaff hive. Many bees have been lost in this vicinity. One "old bee man" now has + stocks left from over 50. Geo. W. Jones. West Bend, Wis., Apr. 8, 1879. I began the summer of '78 with 11 good and 6 lig-ht swarms, increased to 2">, s >id 2 and took 1100 li> -. comb and 200 lbs. of extracted h >ney. 1 h i ve whit ered suc- cessfully again in my Ion? b >x, s > the bees are all in good shape, packed with chaff. They commenced work on flowers on the 2.ith of Mar. Do yon think we can afford to lose the good reputation of our honey, .iust for th:' sake of using a little cheap, grape sugar? 1 do not think th it any of it gets into the honey, but neither you n >r any on i el3e can make the public be- lieve it. a< I mar a3 it is u s id to feed bees with. Bl00mingd.il:?, Mich., Apr. H, '79. John crowfoot. I shall ba sorry, friend C. to be obliged to gauge my work by what people may say, even while I am conscious of having done no wrong, but if I am obliged to succumb I will try to do it with a goad grace. The sama reason will apply to cans sugar; can- not we use that for feeding either, even should it prove safer than honey? DIFFERENCE IN COLOR OF (1RAPE SUGAR. Somebody remarked that the grape sugar sent out of lite by the Davenport Co. was whiter than formerly. We wrote in re- gard to it, anil received the following: As tothe difference in color, we would say that we have been, and are, continually trying- to improve, and want to furnish an article that cannot be sur- passed. All the purifying- is done now by animal charcoal, no bleacher or ehemic il of any description entering- the process for producing- appearance. The animal charcoal removes the color and all im- purities, and cannot leave any thing- in the sugar that can make it unhealthy. It is in this filtration that we have improved, and hence the chang-ed ap- pearance. Lours P. Best, Supt. D.ivenp>rt, Iowa, Feb. 1879. MAKING COLONIES WEAK NOT A PREVENTION OF DRONE REARING, IN THE SOUTH. As far c.s this section is concerned, you are incor- rect when, in last Glvaninqs, you say that one way to prevent raising1 drones is to weaken the stocks by dividing-. I had drones hatched by the 12th of Feb., in weak 2 and 3 frame nuclei, by queens hatched and fertilized last Oct. and Nov. MAKING FDN. THICKER TO PREVENT SAGGING . I had from 800 to 1030 combs, built last summer, to melt over on account of sag-ging- and drone raising- in them. I shall make the base thicker hereafter, as the thick fdn. does not sag- so much. TINNED WIRE FO R FDN. NOT A HINDRANCE TO BROOD REARING. You suggest 1 hit a thick base of wax is nec- essary for wired fdn., but I fail to se • the object, as my bses clean the wax off from the wire on both sides, and queens lay eggs touching the wire at the side, and I find ^ome eggs laid on The wire. From whit I read, I think Betsinger did not mean to say, as you give the impression in Gleanings, that his copper rolls had anything to do with the bees not accepting the wired fdn., but it was tin wire that affected the brood after the fdn. was built out. With me, so far, tinned wire is a success. Bees hatch as well in cells over the wire as in any of my combs, and the cells are used again as well as at first. Bees hatch all right even when the egg is laid on the exposed wire. If the wired combs can be kept in this season without affecting the wire, 1 shall consider the test complete, and shall use wire in the brood chamber til.- all my Combs. ESigbl wires to the frame is all 1 want, which takes about 7 ft. of wire lor each frame. Shrevep irt. La., Mar. 17, '79. ('. It. Cari.in. his patent and read over with a good deal of confi- dence his right patent, and the protection which the law gives him ; but it seems that lie found me a little better posted than he expected, as he did not stop l Hi1.:' to talk bee interests with me, but got in a dread- ful hurry, gathered up his papers ami models, and "lit out." I t ild him th it A. 1. K >ot. of Medina, was infring- ing upon his right, and asked why he did not g-o for him. He said a judgment against him would be worth nothing. I told him he edits a paper, keeps I >t> of b »e3, employs a great many hands carries on a large business &c , and asked in whose name he d >es b i ss if he is n >t responsible. He had no more t> say. I stoppad him at the door to engage some Italian queens pure from Kelly's Island. He replied that he bad found th it raising queens did not pay, and had quit th it business; so you see 1 got no in ore satisfacti in from the interview than he did. Orangeville, Ohi >, April 14, '79. N. Case. WIRES FOR THE PREVENTION OF SAGGING IN FDN. I found the p ist su timer, that one wire stuck into the top bar with a square awl, and rolled into the fdn. with a roller the thickness of a cent, would stop sagging, and the bees worked over it well. They raised brood and stored honey seeemingly as well as though it was not there. The wire was very fine, such as used for hair flowers. I think 2 wires would be bet- ter, thus: I have tried th?m across, but they don't do as well; the bees throw or work it out. James McLay. Madison, Wis., Feb. 3, 1879. Your idea, is a good one, friend M., and since having my attention called to the mat- ter, it has occurred to me that narrow strips of tin foil will answer the same purpose; they c in b ■ easily rolled in the fdn., but I fear it will injure the mills, unless it is those that make the flat bottomed fdn. If we want combs more secure for shipping bees and for extracting, it will be better to have them extended clear across to the bot- tom bus, on the plan I have given. AGE OF DRONES. Ttvo or three years since, I had a colony which was qucenless in the fall. Drones were plenty in that hive during the winter, and even in Mar. As we seldom have brood of any kind here in Oct., the drones must have been aim )it, if not fully, six months old. Last year. I took nearly 700 lbs. of honey, mostly extracted, from 11 stocks, and sold it at 12' ; cts. Acton, hid., April 15, '79. W. C. Hutchinson. MACHINE FOR PUTTING TOGETHER SECTIONS. I enclose a drawing of a machine I had made for pressing sections tog-ether. I find I can work faster with it than by hammering the dovetails together, es- pecially, if they are a little tight. 11 is a piece 2% in. square and exactly 4'4 in. long, mortised into A;D is the same length and mortised into C; C is hinged at E;Fisaw len spring-; G, a strap of leather. Stick the section together just so they will hold, place as shown at H, press on the lever, I ', and your box is done. Try one of these clamps and I think you will like it. They are very easily made and "no pat- ent" Cyrus McQueen. Buena Vista, Apr., ]S79. MITCHELL. 1 had a c ill from N. C. Mitchell, and learned from him, and from some others sine-, that he has sold about lure some 3 or 4 farm, and one county, rignt for his hive. After introducing- himself, he took out BEES ATTACKING THEIR QUEEN. Looking- at one of my hives of bees, on the 8th, I noticed that they were killing the queen, which had been introduced last summer. They were picking her out of a ball of bees. Three times I had to smoke them with tobacco smoke before I could get them 186 GLEAKtNGS IN BEE CULTURE. May stopped. They had plenty of brood. I don't know the cause of their killing' their queen unless it was the robbers, for they were Hying- around very thick- ly. Looking' at them on the 15th, I found them all right, and would like to know the cause of their be- havior. Spencerville, Md., Apr. 18, '79. H. V. Black. I have had several cases of bees balling their own queen, but it was usually during a time of scarcity. Where the hives set very close together. These paracidal attacks, as they have been called, are made I think by strange bees that have got into the hive by accident, and finding a queen unknown to them, ball her much as they do when we attempt to introduce strange queens. You did the proper thing, in smoking them; robbers might have been the cause, in your case. THE "25C" MACHINE FOR MAKING FDN. ALSO SOME- THING ABOUT PATENTS ON BEE IMPLEMENTS. Enclosed find a piece of fdn. made from wooden dies, the dies having- been made by a brass door key, hied the rig-ht size and shape, and then cut out in the middle so as to make a whole cell, at every clip of the hammer. I use boxwood for dies, stamped on the end, and soaked full of oil; then it can be soaped to prevent sticking-. I can now make my own fdn.; thanks to Wm. L. King for the idea. The bottom of the cells is flat, but 1 guess the bees will work it. W. Reeger. Binghamton, N. Y., April 19, 1879. The sample of fdn. sent has beautiful, reg- ular cells, and will work satisfactorily, with- out a doubt. As these improvements are handed in, I cannot help feeling, my friends, that the finger of God is plainly to be seen in all this, and that he has intended it as a re- buke to those who will persist in trying to patent these things which are so evidently the work of the people, and of no one indi- vidual. Fdn. with fiat bottomed cells, made by home-made machinery like the above, seems destined to be as common as movable frames, and a patent is just about as ridicu- lous on the one as the other. You are wast- ing your money if you take out a patent for such things. God's hand is against you, and he is showing you your helplessness, through the voice and inventive genius of the multi- tudes of our people. See how futile these efforts, one after another, are proving to be. Give it up, my friends, I beseecli you, and devote your energies to a better, a worthier, and a more profitable cause. CORN HUSKS VERSUS CHAFF, SHINGLE COVER FOR CHAFF HIVES, AND MATS FOR COVERING THE FRAMES. About half the bees in this vicinity are no more. I got one colony last year, but they are gone. I have bought two more this spring, and being a worker in wood, have made X chaff hives, all but the chaff. There being no suitable chaff to be had, at this time of the year, I have used corn husks; why will they not be as good as chaff? They will not de- cay so soon, I think. I had finished 2 bodies before concluding how to make covers. Just then it "pop- ped" into my head that a lot of nice shingles had been over-head in the wood-house a year or more. So this is the way to make covers by hand:— Mitre gables and sides together, cut and nail in ridge piece, nail on a double course of shingles on each side, planing the outside of upper ones, then get out an upper ridge piece, lay it inverted on the bench, turn down the cover upon it, and drive fin- ishing nails through the inner, and into the outer piece, and "old Sol" can't "see the point" of a single nail, nor the heads of the upper course of shingle nails. For mats, or covers, to lower story, 1 shall try this plan: make a frame large enough to lap on to the ledges all around, by mitering together stuff of suit- able size, with a piece across the middle both ways; draw cloth "taut" over what will be the under side, tack it over the edges, and if necessary, to the cross pieces of the frame; now, nail a strip of tin— say 1J4 in. wide, around the edge, over the cloth, letting the lower edge extend 5-16 or :ia below it, to rest on the ledges, thus holding the cloth above the frames, and affording the "blessed bees" a free passage over them. After this, should they still persist in gnaw- ing their covering by reaching up over head to do it, they should be voted— gnaw— ty— bees. Division boards could be made to reach up to the cloth. Memphis, Mo., Apr. 21, '7). Stephen Young. I have often thought of corn husks, and have no doubt but that the soft portions would answer excellently, the labor of pre- paring them being the greatest objection that I know of. Your shingle roof, with the upper tier of shingles planed and painted, would be a very good arrangement, and we may soon make use of the idea. Many thanks, friend Y. Your substitute for a mat has all the objections of the old style of honey board If a space is left above the frames, even of i inch only, the bees are sure to build bits of comb from the frames to the cloth above, and then you are liable to raise the frames when you lift the mat off, and whenever it is replaced, you are almost sure to crush bees with these bits of comb. It is true, you may get along by scraping these bits of comb from the tops of the frames and honey boards every time you open the hive, but this makes much work for both yourself and the bees. Something like our hew mat, to lie close to the top bars of the frames, and which can be put down without killing any bees, I think will obtain the preference in the end. Cloth about bee hives needs replac- ing so soon that I am almost inclined to abandon it. The bees sooner or later, bite into every thing of the kind I have ever us- ed. PERSISTENT SWARMING OUT. Mr. Root:— As the ABC children are in the habit of running to you for information, you will please bear with me, an Arkansaw hoosier, who is not ex- pected to know anything, when I come with my query. Some 3 weeks ago, having bought 2 stands of bees in old gums, we carried an L. hive down and transferred them. They were left there about one week and were working beautifully when we brought them home on a wagon which gave them very rough usage. Next day my son interviewed them and found the frames badly jostled about. About 2 hours after making all things right, the bees in one of them concluded to *ira/7?i. and made off im- mediately. My sons following, the bees settled in woods a half mile distant. They procured a hive and when trying to get them in, they made the second move. Away go the boys after, for another half mile run. This time the bees settled on a peach tree at one of my neighbor's and within 10 feet of his gums. The L. hive was brought up, and after some time they were caged, and left there to be brought home in a day or so. Mr. A. came overthe next day. to tell us our bees had swarmed atiain. Being unwell and my boys absent. I told Mr. H. to do what he could with them and take bees for pay. He says he worked in trying to get them to accept of different hives until worn out; they insisted on hanging to the tree; and at this writing, 8 days since they left us. they are still hanging- on the' tree. WThat is the matter? We gave them their brood when we transferred. Was the queen killed in transferring or on the rough ride home? Did going into the hive at noon to set things right cause them to take that uncontrollable abscon- ding fever? This seems to be a trifling matter, but it has troubled me no little and I woidd be glad to hear from you. R. A. Bethune, M. D. Snyder, Ashley Co., Ark., April 19, '79. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. is? It is a rather hard matter, friend B., to say why the bees so persistently preferred hanging on a tree, instead of going into the hives furnished them. Perhaps the bruis- ed and mashed combs had so disgusted them that they preferred taking a new start somewhere else. Had your neighbor have given them a comb containing unsealed larvae from one of his hives, I think they would have stayed without trouble. I have known bees to hang out over night, but I never knew them to hang several days, unless they built combs and seemingly considered their airy situation a hive. I think you will find combs, by this time, and that if you transfer these to a hive, all will be well. GLEANINGS INB_EE GUITUBE. J±. I. ROOT, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, MEDINA, OHIO. li;iMI>: $1.00 PER YEAR, POST-PAID. ZMHEIDi:iNr.A.3 IsAU^^r 1, 1879. And I will bring- the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them. —Isaiah 42: 16. I am very glad to announce that a considerable in- duction has been made in both freight and express charges by the K. R. and Express Co's. ^~.#«-^ I have decided to make no more of the covered Simplicity feeders shown on page 32, March No., be- cause it comes so near being- a copy of Shuck's "Boss Feeder." 1 am not sure that 1 have done right in g-iving- way under the circumstances, but I thought best to err on the side of charity, where there was danger of being in error in one way or the other. I will pay 20c each for Jan. and Feb. Nos., and those who want them must pay 25c each. While I am glad for those who have them to sell, I am sorry for those who are obliged to buy. Please do not scold because I was not wise enough to foresee the extraordinary demand and have more printed. Now, when you send us a No., please put your name on the wrapper. Bay "from," and then put your name and address. You have a perfect right to put so much on any mail matter. Whenever you send me anythiny, put your name on it. — i|i ^ I have been working on a plan of making fdn. at one operation, without dipping sheets at all. Wood blocks were made, as given in another col- umn, and the faces of both were dipped in the melted wax at once. Before the wax had time to cool, these faces were quickly pressed together, pressing out all surplus wax. With small blocks, fdn. can be made in this way that will answer very well, but there are ditlicultiesin handling boards large enough to make sheets to till a frame in this way. This process will be nice for putting it in the wired frames, for the wires would then be covered com- pletely with wax. Perhaps some of you will work it out before I do. — ■ *»» nd c ilony, probably, let their brood chill, when they were at the point of starvation. There are no indications o" foul brood, or anything like it, as I understand the case.] THE "ARTILERY" SMOKER. As my old mustang took to bucking yesterday and threw me, giving me a tremendous jar, I had some- what of a restless night; and, in imagination, peep- ed through the key hole of your sanctum, to see if anyone was promenading around the stairway; but "nary". All was quiet so I delavcd a little out- side and wondered if the old man of CO years hadn't matured, in mind, something that may be utilized to advantage by bee keepers: A telescope adjustable smoker sliding up and down, for any desired elevation on a rod, or its equivalent, thrust in the ground, with a swivel like attachment to turn at any angle of elevation. I deem it here unnecessary to point out the ad- vantages, as they are numerous and will readily be comprehended. Now, if you approve of the idea and feel disposed, please test it by actual application and report. "O praise the Lord for all his benefits", and particu- larly for the falling rain, which we think is very much needed. Tustin City., Cal., April 4, '79. S. D. Haskin. [T am not sure, friend H., but that your idea is a good one. The smoker would not have to be laid down and picked up, and as the stake would be equivalent to one hand, it could be worked with much less power and fatigue. To facilitate sticking the staff firmly in hard ground, with but little troub- le, I would say, get a stirrup to put the foot in, in forcing it down securely. Who will work out the idea?] "BOY POWER" VERSUS FOOT POWER. I have rigged a crank attachment to my Barnes saw, by putting up a counter shaft on blocks, at the foot of the machine, running it by a belt from a 3 ft. wheel set in a frame about 7 ft. away. The shaft on which the wheel is hung is set on rollers, and there is a crank at each end. My two boys will just make those saws hum. Besides, I can also run the foot power in connection with it. My thick saw troubles j me a good deal, by the teeth Ailing up. making it run i slowly and hard. Would it not be better to take out I every second tooth, thus giving more space between theni? [Yes, I think it would. See answer on p. 181.] ' At water, O., April 8, '79. J. Mattoon. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 189 Last summer I had 14 swarms to work with, in- creased them to 30, put them up for winter, and lost one by mice and one by robbing-. 1 sold last sum- mer $95.00 worth of honey, besides having consider- able on hand at present. I used your sections. Jackson, Mich., April 17, '79. John W. Wood. I have tried the smoker, and it works like a charm : nothing could do better. I have lost heavily in bees, 16 stands; but 2 stocks came to me to help make good the loss. 1 feel discouraged this spring; the bees do not act as in other springs. Kobbers have troubled me. J. N. Mooriiead. Guilford, Mo., Apr. 17, '79. The bees are behaving badly here, this spring. A great many have left their hives tilled with brood and plenty of honey, and come out as they do whore they swarm, and gone into other hives. THis is a general complaint all through this section among bee keepers. On opening the hive every thing looks all right, young bees are hatching and brood is plenty. They were never known to do so before. Can you or your correspondents tell the cause, and the best treatment under such circumstances. Fully '.t of the bees died last winter, in thiscountv. Watseka, 111., Apr. 18, '79. W.H. Shedd. [See answer to other similar inquire?.] I cemm' rcrd last year with one swarm, and in- creased to 4. ui.ci get 39 lbs. of honey with the old box hive. Is not this well for a "greenhorn"? Montrose, Pa., Apr. It, ls79. II. G. Hoiiton. nUMBUGS AND SWINDLES. I was pleased to notice, under the head "Humbugs and Swindles", a complimentary notice(?) of Mrs. Lizzie E. Cotton. She (or he) deserves it. Several of us have been swindled. We ought to have known better, but we supposed the person to be a lady, and corresponded with and trusted her as such: but we were suhl. H. H. Barnes. Lowell, Mass., Apr. 16, 1879. My 15 colonies of last spring increased to 31. They are all packed in chaff, and have wintered very well so far, except one late second swarm which died a few days ago. It had the dysentery. lam located in a valley, at the foot of the hills, which protect me from severe winds. I run my saw by horse-power; when cutting stuff for sections, I put on two horses. This goes better than foot-power "you bet." Henry lippert. Meadville, Pa., Apr. 11, 1379. My first natural swarm came out this season on 2nd of April. I have the 7th out to-day, besides hav- ing made t artificial swarms. The honey crop was certainly cut short some by the freeze on the 5th id' April. Many flowers were cut off by it. Among the honey yielding flowers that were injured, is the hol- ly; its bloom buds were just visible. Also the China berry tree, Melia Azedarach; it does not grow north of Va., and is not generally known as a honey yield- ing tree; but I have observed it to be so, for a num- berof years. Please answer this question: do bees die from poison honey of any plant? Dr. B. says he los- es many from the poison honey of yellow jasmine. Do wild cherry flowers, likethe fruit, contain prussic acid, and cause the death of bees? W. K. Nelson. Augusta, Ga., Apr., 14, 1879. [We have had reports of plants of which the honey poisoned the bees, but I do not know of any that ate well authenticated. 1 do not think the small por- tion of prussic acid contained in the wild cherry, or peach either, sufficient to do any harm to the bees.] ITALIANS AND DWINDLING. I have been bragging about my bees wintering so well. I had 14 to start with in the winter, and now I have 15 all in good order, and drones flying- every day from nearly every hive. A swarm came to me on the 15th, and lit on a peach tree right in my api- ary. I put them in a hive, killed their black queen and gave them Dalian brood, and now they have y% -dozen queen cells started. Is this not a good re- port? My bees are all strong, and in place of dwin- dling, as so many claim the Italians do, they are get- ting stronger every day. I cannot believe they dwindle any worse than the blacks. I know of 6 men using the Simplicity hives in this part "of the country, and they nave not lost one swarm in win- tering, while I know of 2 men in our county seat 'hat have lost 200 out of 300 in the Am. hives, for thpy told me so themselves. James Pakshall. Union Valley, Mo., April 15, '79. Send me a cold blast smoker, quick! had a bee on my stocking! Oh! James Huddelson. Victoria, Iowa, Apr. 18, 1879. BADLY DEMORALIZED, RUT BOUND NOT TO GIVE IT UP SO. Bees have wintered badly in Wisconsin. Ac- counts reach me from every side, that 50 per cent of the bees put into winter quarters have died. Not even chaff hives saved them. My loss has been about the same, although a new beginner; 15 out of 28 are lost and a few more are yet to be heard from. A. W. WlLLWARTH. Embarrass, Wis., Apr. 17, 1879. HOME MADE MANDRELS. The way 1 made a mandrel was this: Igot a Buck- eye Mowing Machine pitman. % of an in. in diame- ter, cut out a piece about 14 in. long, got threads cut on one end, and got two, eight square nuts, and put the saw between these two nuts. My expense for blacksmithing was $0.15; the balance I did myself. The saw works nicely. It is a hand ripper. Bees have suffered badly. Bee-keepers of this section do not use any chaff about their bees or any thing else. Very few of them hnveever seen a smoker in their lives; a great many have not even heard of one. I have 3 stands of bees out of 11, but I won't go into Blasted Hopes yet, but will try again. Three cheers for Corey and CI irk. T. J. COOK. Newpoint, Ind., Apr. 15, '79. Spring is backward. A great many bees died last winter. One man lost 30 stands, all he had. I win- tered 7 out of 10, thanks to GLEANINGS. Keesville, O., Apr. 14, '79. H. C. Johnston. THE BEE MALADY. Several bee-men have suggested that one cause of the great bee malady the past winter was owing to a scarcity of honey during the fall months, which mostly stopped their breeding, and consequently the bees that went into winter quarters were mostly old ones; but where I was last fall, there were many large fields of buckwheat; so, hist week, I wrote to a man there who had 150 stands, and asked for his report. He says he has lost -,, of them; he also says he thought himself secure to winter in any hive. He thinks he was too tender of them, and bundled them too close. Many of them moulded. A. A. Fradenburg. Port Washington, (>., April 21, 1879. [A great many explanations have been given, but the facts brought forward seem to overthrow most of them. I am decidedly in favor of fall feeding' for heavy stocks. I have never lost one of the colonies I have used late in the fall to till out sections by feeding, nor have I ever known such a one to dwin- dle.] . WINTERING IN DOORS, AND WINTERING OUT DOORS. I uncovered my bees (they were under the ever- greens) last Monday; I found them all dead, with that common comphtint, dysentery. I never will try to winter on summer stands again. Our winters are too long and cold. There has been no time since last November suitable for giving- my bees a fly, till this week. You may as well put me in 'Blasted Hopes. I lost 11 out of 12 colonies in my cellar 2 years since, iind I am now satisfied that it was all owing to want of proper ventilation, as my cellar is not what would be culled damp. C. BUTMAN. Plymouth, Maine, April 18, '79. [If T am correct, my friend, your eiergreens were just the wrong kind of protection over the outside of the hives. I feel sure, that ventilation is not your trouble. In some cases, cellar wintering seems to have resulted more favorably this last winter, but in others the losses seem equally as great. Our neighbor, ISlakeslce, who has for years considered his cellar .sure, has lost heavily by the dwindling.] SUGAR, WATER, AND FLOUR. I have been experimenting since I received the April No., with water, sugar, and Hour, to be fed inside the hive. I find it will work; the only troub- le is, the bees will soon have all the water out of 190 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. May the bottle. I made a ease of tin, about 5 in. high, and so large that it would just fit inside of a brood frame. Over the top, I placed a box to hold the sugar and flour. I have a hole through the top of the case for a lamp wick, and a larger hole to till it by when empty. It can be filled without taking it from the hive, and will last the bees for several days. J. R. Anderson. Washington, Ky., Apr. 15, 1879. THE FRUITING YUCCA. THE PLANT TH.VT BE \RS "TEA- CUPFULLS" OP HONEY. Enclosed you will find speds of the fruiting yucca, mentioned on page 100 of March Gleanings. I ate the fruit the day before I received Gleanings for March. If I can get more fruit, I will send you some, as I suppose it would be quite a novelty to yon. The yucca does not grow wild here, but 80 miles south of Palestine it is often seen. James G. Smith. Palestine, Texas, March 8, 1879. [Many thanks, friend S. The seeds have been planted, and, in due time, we hope to have seeds to give you all. I should be very glad indeed to re- ceive a specimen of the fruit. 1 FRIEND J. P. MOORE S OPINION OFTHE BEE MALADY. Snow is now about 3 inches deep this morning, and still coming. Chaff packed bees are all in good shape, but many are dying in cellars and bee repositories. Having studied the causes of dysentery, of bee chol- era, or spring dwindling, for several years, I have arrived at the conclusion that the cause is always to be found in the diet, aggravated by confinement in the repositoi'3r, or by want of protection on the sum- mer stand. J. P. Moore. Binghamton, N. Y\, April IT, 1S79. OUT DOOR VERSUS CELLAR WINTERING. I am pretty well posted in regard to bees in 1 his vicinity, and they average ?3' dead with prospects of more dying. Some have lost 9-10 now. I wintered 23 stands out doors, all of which are very strong. I also wintered 90 in bee repository, and lost some, while some are so weak that I am afraid they will go up. Others are very strong. I have experimented on some swarms every winter for 22 years. I put up some in a different way each winter, and I find, when properly put up out of doors, that there is less danger in wintering them than in wintering sheep or cattle. W. H. Balch. Oran, N. Y., April 15, 1878. ONE OF MANY. Send me an Italian queen right away. A queen- less colony has lit on a fence post. I do not know where they came from, but they act as if they would like to live with me. It has been a bad spring here for bees, and many have died. Send her majesty as soon as you can. Clark D. Knapp. Albion, N. Y., April 25, 1879. [From letters like the above, and we have many of them, it seems that our apiary is not the only place where queenless stocks are to be found, since this spring dwindling and swarming mania have gone over our land. In trying to supply our customers, we have made our apiary nearly queenless. It is a very difficult matter to supply queens in April, es- pecially during a backward spring, and I am very sorry we can not get up queens to order, at any sea- son of the year, as we do smokers and other things. There is no way, my friends, that I can see, but to wait patiently until the new "crop" comes, even though swarms do hang on the fence post queenless.] LOSS OF QUEENS DURING THE '•DWINDLING" SEASON. Now, tell me, in May No., why [ should lose 18 queens, out of 59 swarms, each hive being packed in ti in. of chaff all around except in front, on summer stands. Bees all came through the winter but 3 swarms; one of them was queenless, but full, and in the other two, the combs broke down in the winter and drowned the bees in honey. The hives were clean where the queens were dead, and most of them showed by the brood that the queen had not been dead long. They had plenty of honey, and most of them plenty of bees. There is a loss of about % to v2 of the bees in this part of the country. Holstein, Wis., April 21, '79. A. A. Winslow. [Your queens died precisely as in our own hives. They would be all right, combs containing both brood and eggs, but when the hive was opened a week after, we would find nothing but sealed brood, and a search for the queen showed her to he missing. At first I thought they might be killed by handling the combs carelessly; but in transferring box hives, we found precisely the same state of affairs. One feature that I cannot quite understand is that many times no queen cells are started. This is so very un- usual, that I can acccount for it only hy thinking it in some way connected with the dwindling troubles.] THE BEES THAT "REPENTED." Mr. Taylor, of this place, has a colony in an L. hive. On the 7th of last month, the weather being rather warm here for the season, they swarmed, leaving an ample stock in the hive. They were fol- lowed some distance, but were lost. On the 29th (22 days after), 1he rest left the hive. Mr. Taylor then examined and found 15 lbs. of nice honey in comb, and the hive in good condition. The weather was then quite cool; the hive was swept out. and honey left. On the 5th of this month, 8 days afterward, the bees returned and are now in fine condition and working splendidh-. Now tf 11 us why should they have acted so strangelv? J. B. Cooper. Coles Station, 111., April 22, '79. [Is your friend sure the bees that returned were the ones that went away? It would be nothing strange that a swarm should desert a hive, and another come and take possession a few days after. Still, it may he the same one came back; the honey they could carry away might last them 8 days, and after that was exhausted in living in some old tree, or other cavity, they might, like the prodigal son, remember the plenty they had left, and return. I have known them to come back next day, but never before after they had been gone so long a period.] Mr. Root, I have seen it stated that yon have some very choice queens that yr u would not take $50 for. Buchanon, Mich., April 4, '79. Wm. Blake. [The statement, I think, was made by one of the friends while arguing against dollar queens. I have not now, and have never had. a queen I would not sell to any one who paid the price published in price list. Our young man who has charge of the apiary, has never had any instructions to reserve any queen. Our highest priced queens are simply dol- lar queens that have been tested, and nothing more. All are reared precisely alike.] %ew$ %dnnin. Under this head, will be inserted free of charge, the names of all those having honey to sell, as well as those wanting to buy. Please mention how much, what kind, and prices, as far as possible. The prices quoted in our cities for honey are, at present, too low, to make it worth while to publish them. As a general thing, I would not advise you to send your honey away, to be sold on commission. If near home, where you can look after it, it is often a very good way. By all means, develop your home market. For 25cts., we can furnish little boards to hang up in your door yard, with the words "Honey for Sale" neatly painted. If wanted by mail, 10c. extra for postage. Boards saying "Bees and Queens for Sale," :ame price. Chicago. -Honey— Choice, in single comb boxes, 10@13c. Extracted, 6@8c.- Bees-wax.— Choice, yellow, 23@25c. Darker grades, 16@18c. New York.— Hone y— Best comb, 12@l,"c. Extract- ed, 7@llc. Bees- wax. —Choice, 25 to 30c. Cincinnati.— Honey— Best, in single comb boxes, 10@12c. Extracted, 8@10c. California.— Honey— Comb, E@llc. Extracted, 4&@6c. Bees-wax.— Best, £0@31c. For darker colored, 20@221/2c. New Jersey has a law against the adulteration of honey, which, if enforced, will wind up the business most effectually. Good for New Jersey. I will give the law next month. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 101 The contents of this leaf and the one following are not directly connected witii the subject of hee-cutture. On this account, I make no charge for them, and, if you chuose, you can cut them nut without reading. ' uv Hams. For as I passed bj*, nnd beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription; TO THE UN- KNOWN GOO. Whim therefore ye ij,-norantiy worship, him declare I unto you.— Acts 17; 23. The next day, which was Saturday, seem- ed such a quiet and still day! I presume I shall always rememher it. I felt that I had "enlisted," but as yet there was nocommand to "march." I was so mild to the hands, that several of them looked at - me inquiringly, and I believe one of them asked if I was well. How I did long for evening. Do you know why? It was because I wanted to get that Bible all alone by myself, and drink more of those waters of lite. Eight o'clock came, and I felt that my work for the day was over. My partner had not been there that day. I closed the store, and started for home with hasty strides. I knew where the Bible lay, and I opened the door with the purpose ot going straight for it. Company was there; it was a skeptical friend and his wife. I stopped abruptly; then, thinking it would not do to follow out my plan while he was there, I sat down in a chair near the door. My orders to march cime with a voice that was startling. "Are you keeping your promise? is this the kind of soldier you are going to be?" I started to my feet, and said pleasantly, I had come home thus early, to read the Bible. My friend arose then, and said, as nearly as I can recall it,- — "Hallo! has our main prop gone? You read the Bible?" uYes; I think I ought to read it." "What are you goin™art™th anguish, but 8l»e could looE e?en .°v£rhert^' and thank G°a thatnot about' ifefnusband"1 ^ f WaS left n0W' I told my wife in despair, that 1 could not believe what seemed to me such arrant nonsense. She, dear woman, had far more faith than I, and, after a little study, told me to go down and see that young minister about it. "But it is after i) o'clock, and he will be gone to bed." "■Never mind," said she, "he will be glad to see you, even if he has. Go right along.' How often I have thought of this little in- cident since. I wonder how many of my ministerial readers would hesitate at getting up under similar circumstances. It seems to me I could not only get up, but go miles in the night, if need be. to help one who was in the same trouble I was at that time. What inconsistency! A legion almost of devils had just been banished from myself, but when I came to read about them, just because I did not understand it all at first sight, I was tempted to throw down my Bible in disgust. The minister had not re- tired. How kindly he spoke to me, when I attempted an apology! I explained the trouble. "Why! Bless your heart, Mr. Root! and did you think you were the first person that had been stumbled at that passage?" "Has it really; then,' ever troubled any body else?" said I, beginning to take a lit- tle hope. He smilingly took down a large book, enti- tled, I think, jDemonology, and told me to take it home and see what great and good men had to say about it. He is a very pleasant man, and there is a vein of rare humor in his make "IN which twinkled in his eye as he asked me which book I thought was written first, the Arabian Nights, or the Bible. We knelt down and as he prayed that God would guard me trom the temptations of skepticism, how near he seemed to God! He talked to him, The tears and'confessinn^ n™ nil ^u almostas if he were talking to some visible ^farasthey^mTnnd& person in the room. My faith had come I have no fear but th it Tm, J w*ESltheft kck' e,ven before l read the book, and he have accepted me\utwor^ and I was to be called hTtn %nl L ™e' I at1anyJ time l miSht care to have his coun- than I exnPPtPc? tV, iS™L.^Sn« so^ner i sel?nd advice. How different he seemed now iiguiejfwTestarnfh^3 £e' '? fome. ,way'to the s»PP°rt of a mini3; as I had* been throoin Tthe dS? i niSFfc ' ?* 1 d ' wl h,m bette1"' for God al™*s takes care so. I used to be a great reader of the A ,7. ! K !as ie.rvants have wisdom given them, grtai reaaer of the ^lrn- 1 in proportion to the demands they may have 1879 GLEANINGS m BEE CULTURE. 103 for it. If all of the people would keep this . friendly relation toward their minister, and ask his counsel on matters of this kind, lam quite sure lie would he in little danger of guiding into error. v On Monday morning, as I went to my work, 1 began to feel most keenly the diffi- culties that I should have to contend with in leading the new life, in the way I had promised my Savior I would do. ■ If I recol- lect right, my partner was there hefore me, and I saw in her only the woman I had first met perhaps ten years hefore, and my feel- ings toward her were just the same as if those years had not passed, or as they were towards any the rest of the girls. I told her that I had resolved, from this day for- ward, with God's help, to he a Christian. She said at once, that she was glad of it, and I am sure she spoke honestly, for, from that moment to the present time, neither by word, look, or action, have I had aught but encouragement in the new life I have been trying to lead. Almost in the very hour of my change of purpose in life, God, by a power that seem- ed almost miraculous, obliterated the past, and raised a great wall, as it were, that seem- ed at once to cut off the old life from the new, and I have every reason to think she held this sudden change in my life, as sa- cred as did I myself. Shortly afterward, the business was put in my own hands by pur- chasing her interest,and the matter was dis- cussed in regard to the expediency of her remaining in her position as book keeper and general manager of the business she had been so many years engaged in. My wife insisted that she should, if she chose, remain, and goon with the work as if nothing had happened. On submitting the matter to the minister, he said if we all three knew our hearts were right in the sight of God, his advice was for us to go along with our busi- ness as if nothing had occurred. I am aware that many will object to such advice, and an own sister of mine objected strongly, to such a course of action, saying it was more than humanity was equal to, and that it was not right to be every day expos- ed to the temptation of going back to my old life again. I grant you that it is more than human, and that is just why the religion that Jesus taught is needed by stumbling humanity. You have all known instances, I presume, where intemperate men have, by conversion, had the appetite removed, as if by a miracle, so effectually, that there was left not even a desire for the drink that had for years bound them as by fetters. Cases where men have had the desire for tobacco removed in answer to prayer are f requent,and in our town, we have had several such cases, after the men struggled weary months alone and finally went back, slaves to the appetite. The transition, in my case, was so perfect and complete, that when some relative advanced the idea to my wife, a few months after, that there might be danger, she laughed merrily, at an idea so ridiculous, knowing as she did the complete change there hail been in my life, through and' through. Had I dropped my Bible and gone back to skepticism, there would assuredly have been danger, but none so long as I was earnest and full of sympathy for my Savior and his work. I wish here to speak of one strange feature of this new life. In my dreams, for months afterward, I was the same old self still, and on waking, and feeling my Savior near, the change was so great, that I again and again broke out in words of thanksgiving and praise. I used to wonder why it was, that in my sleep, I never dreamed of God, or of calling on him, Avhile battling against temptations that were sure to prove too much for me in my dreams, hue it seemed to be something that my imagination, while reason slept, could not comprehend. It was just about a year and a half after my conversion, that I began to dream of praying, and I remem- ber well the first time. I dreamed of being in a fury of anger, as in the olden times, and that weird beings were inciting me to push ahead recklessly, as I used to do. Finally, in my dream, I thought of prayer, and as I mentally called for that great Friend that had shielded me so much, these images of my dream, began backing away with up- lifted hinds, and I heard one of them say distinctly, " Behold, he prayeth!" seeming to indicate that they knew even my thoughts. Ever after this, when these bad dreams came up, I, even in my dreams, prayed, and' in a few weeks they vanished from me com- pletely. Xo more do I dream of uttering foul oaths, or of giving way weakly to tem- tation as I used to in times of old. The old life lives in memory, to keep me humble and to help me feel for others who are weak, but no farther. A few words in regard to my partner. She is still at work among a great number of other clerks, is interested, like all the rest, in the growth of the business, and the mission work that has sprung up along with it. It was she who first originated the name Glea- nings in Bee Culture, and for the first few years, she had much to do with the general supervision of the paper, doing all the proof reading, etc. "Within the past ten days, we have had almost the only serious disagree- ment between the hands and myself, and when a great part of them were on the point of leaving what has become to them almost a home, she came in among the troubled elements and restored peace and tranquility, by the suggestion of a brief noon day prayer meeting, or rather perhaps, Bible class. Hands that would have declined an invitation to take part in such an ex- ercise, from almost any one else, came, in a body, at a request from her, and now it is a permanent feature of our institution. Cannot God's power save us from our sins? would it have been better that she should have been driven away from her place of work, where so great a part of her life had been spent, simply because I had all along been a bad man, while pretending to be a good one? Now, mv friends, I feel as if I could talk to you. You know all of my past life, and what I have passed through ; how I have been raised up, not in my own strength alone, but by the strength of a mighty arm that never fails, when we go to Him with a 104 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. May sincere and earnest wish for help, and with a disposition to do right. When I try to tell you in my earnest way that God's love is not a thing that is to be talked of only on Sun- day, and at arms length, as though it were a subject that could not well be spoken of without embarrassment, you know just what I mean, and why I speak thus. When I talk to husbands and wives as I am now going to speak, you "will listen to me, because you know that I am on familiar ground, and am not speaking of things I know only by report. I have written on temperance, and with God's help have done good ; but you can now see why it was that, all the time, I was thinking of an evil that, since my conver- sion has been regarded by me as Satan's child, twin sister to intemperance ; it is the Devil's work, in the one case as in the other, and in both, he will persuade the poor victim until the very last moment, if possible, that he is doing right, and that there is in this vast universe, an excuse for his wickedness, and for his wrong doings. A short time a- go, a reformed intemperate man confessed to me that, after he had been a sober man for years, he had allowed a feeling to get possession of him, that he needed a little stimulus to tone him up, because he was not feeling quite well. He dwelt on it, until the idea seemed reasonable and right, and the poor man. might have gone down to ruin, had he, not decided to tell his wife of this notion before procuring anything. She, poor woman, with her free and undimmed faculties, recognized the cloven hoof at once, and at her suggestion, they both went down on then- knees, and implored the great God who had saved him before, now to open his eyes, that he himself might see the Evil One tnrough this thin gauze so transparent to every body except the poor victim. He told me this himself, to illustrate the danger of one who has once fallen. Well, within the ' Keeli' *?m?,n» 2reat numbers of letters in regard to these recent home papers W PhHerr0m a married woman, a profess- ing Christian, and a member of a church confessing that although she had a family mor?°t^nU»F cJiwKren "she loved anotiK wfi 0?n her husband, and more than she npnlne> °^ We- She tola »»s, and la- SSH? ™thh'13 foul 9i»> that Satan S tfe uS Hetuunifern^,!<»lenCe aml ^router" would 52HUS?S; the very gates of Heaven., and SJSKiJft v'ctim alt the time that he is m» ™,i ™ t0 th.e Ce\«*tiat City. Rouse ye wK ^hS?«l!LyfC.50. I have Just suc- ceeded in getting, of the American Watch Co., » good strong SILVER WATCH, 6TALL REGULATED, AND IN-© Running Order, That I will mail to any address for the above price: and if it does not please you, you may return » within 10 days, and get your money. Or I will sena you the Watch, for 20 subscribers, at 1 1.00 eacn/ ^ on can have either hunting or open face, and sucn a Watch, for a present, ought to make any boy Lewis" Honey Boxes, and Dovetailed Honey Box- es, very cheap. All excellent material and work- manship. Send for Price List. LEWIS fit PARKS, *jjj WATERTOWS, WIS. SECTIONS $5.00 PERM. ALSO HIVES, FRAMES, SO., &C, . P».OPOB.TIONAliI,"Sr LOW. W.T. FALCONER, s _^ Jauxstowjt, Chact.Co., N.Y Before Purchasing1 2^EMn* "e*hJ»™. for our Illustrated Cireu- ana Lotnb Foundation, made on the Dnnhnnt ' SmJ'?!! Machine, which is the late" ffiv™ orterTbemVrVe *jjj^ «*» Magazine, and hence TS. h«™ ."l!!91 gSDd. J'0"r name at once. «wi ~ w* ha^« 'ecurcd the general agener of th<» V ' Hartford, Wis. Cash folBiswaxi •SBasss^^tsaais* of °^ clean :# > much *« ^^^.SffiRJ^SSK CIllSAI* SECTIONS. Prize Boxes, sawed smooth $1.00 dressed S3.00 per M " " " 0x6 4.50 " 5.50 Dove-tailed " " 5.00 " 6-00 ' If grooving for holdinsr fdn. is omitted, 25 cts. less. Every thing we manufacture, very cheap; best 01 material and workmanship. S. D. BUEI.L & CO.. ■, 5d Union City, Mich. is entirely hard v, grows where corn will ; dpscrl^r andillustratcd In circular, sent free by mail. Also the Reading Nursery Catalogue r.f C6 pages uescnD- ing hundreds of fruit trees nnft shrubs, with 30 cuts illustrating fruits, trees, and Rowers. We nave x varieties of Evergreens 1 to 6 ft. high. Scotcn Larch, White Ash, Cuthbett Raspberry, Large ana Small Fruits, etc. Address v 5 JACOB W. MANNING, Reading, Mass. FOR full description, with engravings, of the Latent, Sinusal, and Bat Simplicity hive ever made, send 8 cts. for tho May number of the f*» Kerpe rs' Exchange, or only 75 cts." for a full years subscription. Address J. II. NEIAISj >- Canajoharie. N, »• - 5d CASH WILL BUY Section Boxes and Comb Foundation at the lowest prices going. Try me. Special prices on large or- ders. Satisfaction guaranteed. n o Address R.~»TEHLE, Marietta, Wash. Co.."- Hale's PmlList. ;: vSe?^ ~*or ™ J" TPrice list" ok CoIorSe*,- Queens, -., Nuclei, &c., for 1870. -4 w *.-. ■-■:■% ,-.'- : \ _ EARLr "QUEENS. . ,r ^'" I shalfctake EspecialPains to raise ajarge number , of Queens to Ship Earlj-in the season; jnrtc. g gggj ' : v Addr*" * w- BA^mi Early Queens. J. P. n. BROWN, „. and breeder of Italian queens, and dealer In Bee-; f^pier?u "uPPNe*. Queens bred a month earlier than in the North. Low express rates. Packages- 01 nve or more queens sent free of express charges toany parto'*' — «■-■»-•-.-.. and Oregon. » •_ — ■-«.■= 'lucriis eeni iree 01 express uuniis-;~ o any part of the United States except California l Oregon. ■ , , „ .: V lltW 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 201 IMPLEMENTS FOE, BEE CULTURE ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED. For description of the various articles, see our Nineteenth Edition Circular and Price List found in Apr. No., Vol. VJI., or mailed on application. For directions How to Make all these various arti- cles and implements, see A B C of Bee Culture. This Price List to be taken in place of those of former date. Mailable articles are designated in the left hand column of figures ; the figures giving the amount of postage required. Canada postage on merchandise is limited to 8% oz., and nothing can be sent for less than 10 cents. 15 See ABC, For prices Alighting Board, detachable Part First Basswood trees for planting. see Price List Balances, spring, for suspended hive (60 lbs.) Barrels for honey 2 50 " " , waxed and painted... . 3 50 Bees, per colony, from $7 to $16, for partic- ulars see price list Bee-Hunting box, with printed instructions 25 Binder, Emerson's, for Gleanings f.0, 60, 75 Blocks, iron, for metal cornered frame ma- king 15 One of the above is given free with every 100 frames, or 1000 corners. K) en 10 111 Burlap for covering bees. 40 in. wide, per yd Buzz-Saw, foot-power, complete; circular with cuts free on application. Two saws and two gauges included 35 00 0 | Buzz-Saws, extra, 85c, to ¥3.50. See price list. Tke above are all filed, and set, and mailed any where 60 Buzz-Saw mandrel and boxes complete for 6 inch saws. No saws included 5 00 The same for 7 and 8 in. saws (not mailable) 7 00 Cages for queens, wood and wire cloth, provisioned. See price list 10 " " " per doz 100 Candy for bees, can be fed at any season, per lb 15 Cards, queen registering, per doz 06 per 100 40 Chaff cushions for wintering (see Nov. No. for 1877) 30 " " without the chaff 15 Chaff cushion division boards 20 Cheese cloth, for strainers, per yard 10 Clasps for transferring, package of 100 25 Climbers for Bee-Hunting 2 50 Comb Basket, made of tin, holds 5 frames, has hinged cover and pair of handles 1 50 | Comb Foundation Machines complete f 22 to 100 00 20 Corne-s, metal, per 100 50 20 " " top only, per 100 60 15 " " bottom, per 100 40 On 1,000 or more a discount of 10 per cent will be made, and on 10,000, 25 per cent. The latter will be given to those who advertise metal cornered frames. I Corners, Machinery complete for making $ 250 00 Duck, per yd . Enameled cloth, bees seldom bite and prop- olize it. Per yard, 45 inches wide, 20c. By the piece, (12 yards) Extractors, according to size of frame, |6 50 to 10 00 " inside and gearing, including honey-gate " Hoops to go around the top. 20 IS 5 00 50 per doz 5 00 Feeder, Simplicity, (see price list) 1 pint 05 Feeders, 1 quart, tin, 10 The same, half size, 05 The same, 6 qts, to be used in upper story 50 Files for small circular rip saws, new and valuable, 20c; per doz. by express... 2 00 " The same, large size, double above prices " 3 cornered, for cross-cut saws, 10c; doz 1 00 Frames with sample Rabbet and Clasps... 10 Galvanized iron wire for grapevine trellises per lb. (about 100 feet) 20 Gates for Extractors tinned for soldering. . 50 Gearing for Extractor with supporting arm 1 25 Gleanings, Vol's I and II, each 75 Vol's IV and V, each 100 Vol. Ill, second-hand 2 00 " first five neatly bound in one... 5 00 " " " unbound 4 00 Hives from 50c to $6 25 ; for particulars see price list Honey Knives, straight or curved blade... 1 00 V2 doz 5 00 " " M doz by Express 4 75 Labels for honey, from 25 to 50c per 100 ; for particulars see price list Lamp Nursery, for hatching queen cells as built 5 00 Larvae, for queen rearing, from June to Sept 25 Leather for smoker bellows, per side f-0 Lithograph of the Hexagonal Apiary 25 Magnifying Glass, Pocket 50 " " Double lens, brass on three feet 75 Medley of Bee-Keeper's Photo's, 150 photo's 1 00 Microscope, Compound, in Mahogany box 3 00 Prepared objects for above, such as bees' wing, sting, eye, foot, &c, each 25 Muslin, Indian head, for quilts and cush- ions, pretty stout, but not good as duck, per yard 10 Opera Glasses for Bee-Hunting 5 00 Paraffine, for waxing barrels, per lb . Photo of House Apiary and improvements 60 I Pump, Fountain, or Swarm Arrester. 15 25 25 50 0 Queens, 25c to $6 00. See price list 1 Rabbets, Metal, per foot 02 Salicylic acid, for foul brood, per oz 50 10 Saw Set for Circular Saws 75 0 | Screw Drivers, all metal (and wrench com- bined) 4% inch, 10c; 5 inch, 15c. Very nice | for foot-power saws 0 j Scissors, for clipping queen's wings 40 6 I Section boxes, fancy, hearts, stars, crosses, | &c, each 05 Section Honey box, a sample with strip of fdn. and printed instructions 05 Section boxes in the flat by the quantity, $6 00 per thousand and upwards, accord- ing to size ; for particulars, see price list. Case of 3 section boxes, showing the way in which the separators are used, suitable for any kind of hive, see price list 10 Seed, Alsike Clover, rained near us, per lb. . 30 " Catnip, good seed, per oz. 10c ; per lb. 1 00 " Chinese Mustard, per oz 15 '• Mellilot, or Sweet Clover, per lb 35 " White Dutch Clover, per lb 35 " Motherwort, per oz. 20c; per lb 2 00 18 " Mignonette, per lb. (20c per oz) 1 40 Simpson Honey Plant, per package 05 " " " peroz 50 18 " Silver Hull Buckwheat, per lb 10 " " " peck, by Express 75 Common " per peck 50 18 •' Summer Rape. Sow in June and July, per lb 15 A small package of any of the above seeds will be sent for 5 cents. 5 | Sheets of Enameled cloth to keep the bees | from soiling or eating the cushions 10 I Shipping Cases for 48 section frames of honey 60 [ The same for 24 sections, half above I prices. This size can be sent by mail in I the flat, for 75c 1 Slate tablets to hang on hives 01 [ Smoker, Quinby's (to Canada 15c extra)l 50 & 1 75 5 " Doolittle's, to be held in the mouth 25 Bingham's $100; 150; 175 25 " Our own, see illustration in price list 75 2 I Tacks, tinned, per paper, (two sizes) 05 5 | Thermometers 40 0 Veils, Bee, with face of Brussels net, (silk) 75 The same, all of grenadine (almost as good) 50 Veils, material for, Grenadine, much stronger than tarlatan, 21 inches in width, per yard 20 Brussels Net, for face of vail, 29 inches in width, per yard 1 50 Wax Extractor 3 50 Copper bottomed boiler for above 1 50 Wire cloth, for Extractors, tinned, per square foot 10 Wire cloth, for queen cages 10 Above is tinned, and meshes are 5 and 18 to the inch respectively Painted wire cloth, for shipping bees, 14 mesh to the inch, per square foot All goods delivered on board the cars here at prices named. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. 05 202 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. JUNE at prices to suit the times. Send for prices. Will spare some three frame nuclei with dollar queens, if ordered now, at $:? 00 each, or six for $17 00. 5<1 J. M. C. TAYLOR, Lewistown, Md. QUEENS ! Untested queens, from imported mothers, during the month ot June, for $1.25 eaeh. A ease-almost a little hive— 3x4x5 inches, will be used, thus giving sufficient, room, and bees enough to insure safety to the queen. Directions for introducing will accom- pany each. Safe arrival guaranteed. MISS MEROA ANDREWS, Medina, Ohio. Scovell Valve Cut-off Smoker. Friends, if you want the handsomest and best in the market, send for the "Scovell Smoker." The tire barrel of my smoker is made of heavy tin, and is 2*4 in. in diameter. The bellows is hinged at the back, making the strongest and most sensible joint in use. The boards are painted a beautiful vermil- ion red, and are nicely varnished. It burns all kinds of fuel, and will hold tire for hours. Price by mail $1.15. Manufactured by H. SCOVELL, 6_8a Columbus, Cherokee Co., Kansas. ELECTROTYPES ! One Queen like this, postpaid by mail. 85c. A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. BOOKS for BEE-KEEPERS and OTHERS. Any of these books will be forwarded by mail, post- paid, on receipt of price. In buying books, as every thing else, we are liable to disappointment, if we make a purchase without seeing the article. Admitting that the bookseller could read all the books he offers, as he has them for sale, it were hardlv to be expected he would be the one to mention all the faults, as well as good things about a book. I very much desire that those who fa- vor me with their patronage, shall not be disappoint- ed, and therefore, I am soing to try to prevent it by mentioning all the faults so far as I can, that the purchaser may know what he is getting. In the fol- lowing list, books that I approve, I have marked with a*; those I espsctoBy approve,**; those that are not up to times, t; books that contain but little matter for the price, large type and much space between the lines,*; foreign, §. BOOKS ESPECIALLY FOR BEE-KEEPERS. A B C of Bee Culture, Part First, Second, Third or Fourth 25 A B C of Bee Culture. Parts 1st, 2d, 3d, & 4th in one Vol SO Quinby's New Bee-keeping** 1 50 Cook's New Manual** 1 25 The same in Paper " 1 00 Langstroth on the Hive and Honey Bee**+ $2 00 Bee-keeper's Text Book*.. Revised, Muslin... 100 " " *.. " Paper 75 A Manual of Bee-keeping, by John Hunter*§ . . 1 25 Dzierzon Theory** 20 How I made $;>50 a Year with mv Bees+S . ! .' . . .' .' 25 "Blessed Bees"* A fascinating book, but it is fiction and not facts. Price 1 00 Putnam's Sons Honey as Food and Medicine 10 Art of Saw-filing** 75 Fuller's Grape Culturist** 1 50 MISCELLANEOUS HAND BOOKS. Ten Acres Enough** 1 00 Five Acres too Much** !.'!!!! 1 50 32 pages, a Colored Plate In everv number and many fine Engravings; price 51.25 a. year; live copies ior $3.00. Vice's Floral Guide, mo pacts, one Colored Plate— 300 Illustrations. Price only 5 cents. PUBLISHED BIT JAMES V1CK, ROCHESTER, NX EVERETT BROTHERS, 107 Monroe Street, Toledo, 0. Addition to Chas. Dadant & Son's Advertisement. TESTIMONIALS. The sample of fdn. is the nicest I have ever seen, taking all points together. D. M. Doolittle, Borodino, N. Y. Your fdn. received. It is O. K. It looks brightest of them all. Send me 200 lbs. more Chas. F. Muth, Cincinnati, O. We have more of similar praises. Send for Circu- lar. CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, 111. 1S79 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 203 couhneo mm and scroll sat, fos m m m tm mm, J. s. Woodburn, Newville, Pa., after two years' use. says: I find myself quite equal to cutting out from 12 to 15 hives per day. Am now engaged on a job ol" 100 hives, 1000 frames, 5000 sections and 500 broad frames, and expect to ac- complish it all on the Combined Circular and Scroll Saw." The following cut shows a thin board H inch thick placed on the table with a rib fastened to it with brads. This rib is of the same width as the cutter and is placed from the cutter the width of the cut- ter. This rib and board are so easily made that we do not furnish them unless especially ordered. The price of them is 75 cents. If different width cutters are used, a board with corresponding rib can be made for each cutter. This way of making- the joints for boxes is largely used by Bee men, Fruit men and many articles of manufacture in different lines of trade. When ordering- cutters for this box-work, please mention for what use they are wanted, besides giv- ing- width, and we will send those that are most suit. able. This is a cheap, effective machine, and, with its Attachments, combines all that is wanted by the apiarist to successfully and economically manufac- ture all his supplies in hives, boxes, frames, etc. Hundreds of bee-keepers are now using them suc- cessfully. We will ship them On Trial it" Desired. On receipt of $5 with the order, we will ship this machine on trial, the balance of the bill we will send to your express agent for collection, with instruc- tions to hold the money until ample time is had to test the machine. If the machine is not satisfactory, he will return the money when you deliver to him the R. R. re- ceipt, showing reshipment, with no back charges. We will then return all of the §5.00 not used to pa}' freight and collection charges. Strangers to us and our machines, ordering on these conditions, ran by risking a small amount, se- cure to themselves the privilege of returning the machine should it not merit their approval. By trial we do not mean simply an examination at the freight or express office, but you may take the Machine to the workshop and test it fully. Above cut shows the Combined Circular and Scroll Saw. The cut below shows table arranged for box and frame work. Price of the Circular and Scroll Saws combined $40.00 " Boards with gauges for frame and box work .75 " Cutter Heads, each 1.50 " Circular Saw without Scroll Saw Attach- ing nt 35.00 Showing the Combined Machine, Arranged with a Cutter Head for Making Tongue and Groove Joints for Boxes, Drawers. Frames. Etc., Etc. Address W. F. & JOHN BARNES, ROCKFORD, WINNEBAGO CO., ILLINOIS. 204 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. June! Contents of this Number. Scraps and Sketches. No. 6. Queen Rearing 205 Wintering-. Saw-dust as Good as Chaff 205 Tight Fitting Sections; New Swarrns on Fdn.; Swarms Alighting on the Same Spot 206 Reports on Wintering 206 Selling Bees for a Dollar per Pound 208 Cages for Sending Out Queens 209 Transferring. The Experience of an A B C Scholar 211 Smokers and Transferring Clasps 211 One Story Chaff hives 212 Arrangement of Bee Hives in Large Apiaries 213 Fixing Entrances to Hives 214 After the Battle. Some Good Suggestions in regard to the Losses 215 The Toad Question 215 Wintering. Burlap versus Enameled Cloth, The Best Kind of a Feeder, &c 216 Gallup. Where He is, and What He is Doing by This Time 216 Transferring 217 Uniting Bees 220 Veils 221 :.';.". i Ventilation Vinegar The New Jersey Law in regard to Adulterating Honey Our Cartoon for June. Cautions in Transfer- ring 230 Shading Bee Hives 230 Foundation on Wires, Foundation Wire Inserter.233 A House Apiary for Twenty Hives 234 Foot-powers with Slow Motion, Improvement in Barnes Foot-power Saw 224 & 226 THE QROWLERY. 207 BOX HIVE DEPARTMENT. A Box Hive Bee-Keeper Who Uses Fdn 208 THE SMILERY. 212 HONEY COLUMN. 215 HEADS OF GRAIN. Division Boards; The Sugar and Water Feed- er; An ABC Scholar's Experience; Three Swarms in Three Consecutive Days ; Trans- ferring and How to Keep Robbers Away; Where to Plant the Grape Vines for Shade — 225 Chaff Hives for Wintering in Wisconsin; Spring Dwindling; Chaff for Wintering, Mats, etc.; Salt to Keep Away Moth worms; Smoker Fuel, &c; Bingham's Patent on Smokers 226 Fdn. with Square Cells; Bees by the Pound; Chaff for Wintering; Mr. Langstroth, Send- ing Queens by mail, &c. ; Combs Built Crosswise, What to Do, Basswood Lumber for Hives, Honey from Peas; Wintering, Thickness of Chaff, A Hive in Doors, &c 227 Report from an A B C Scholar, Putting a small Number of Colonies in a Special Repository ; Smokers, Mats, &c; A Good Report from Mitchell's Hive; One of theABCClass; Will Two Queens Cause Bees to Abscond? About Feeding When Bees are Getting Plenty of Honey and Pollen, Mats for Cov- ering Frames, One or Two Tiers of Sections. . .228 Raising Bees in Drone Comb to Make Them Larger; Trials of an A B C Scholar; 229 NOTES & QUERIES. Prussic Acid in Wild Cherry; Gray's Feeder; Wheat Bran as a Substitute for Pollen; Im- portance of Skill and Care in Handling the Combs; Tenement Chaff Hive; How to be- come an A B C Scholar; Why so Many Queens Die in the Spring; California; Spi-inkling Sulphur on Wild Bees to Find Their Tree; Giving Bees a Fly; Black Hats Objectionable to Bees 232 Good for the "Blackvs" ; Patent Hives 233 Flat Bottomed Foundation ' 234 Names of responsible parties will be inserted in either of the following departments, at a uniform price of 20 cents each insertion, or $2,00 per year. EDITORIAL. Mitchell and Mrs. Cotton; Quinby's New Bee- Keeping; Nellis' Price List. Improvement in Cup for Melting Wax for Fastening Fdn. Bee-Keepers' Exchange .231 .233 $1.00 Queens. Names inserted in this department the first time with- out charge. After, 20c each insertion, or $3,00 per year. Those whose names appear below agree to furnish Italian queens for $1,00 each, under the following conditions: No guarantee is to be assumed of purity, or anything of the kind, only that the queen be reared from a choice, pure mother, and had commenced to lay when they were shipped. They also agree to re- turn the money at any time when customers become impatient of such delay as may be unavoidable. Bear in mind that he who sends the best queens, put up most neatly and most securely, will probably receive the most orders. Special rates for warranted and tested queens, furnisned on application to any of the parties. Names with *, use an imported queen mother. If the queen arrivf s dead, notify us and we will send you another. Probably none will be sent before July 1st. If wanted looner, see rates in price list. *E. W. Hale, Wirt C. H. W. Va. 1-12 *A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. *H. H. Brown, Light Street, Columbia Co., Pa. 7-9 *E. M. Havhurst, Kansas City, Mo. *J. M. C. Taylor, Lewiston, Fred. Co., Md. *Paul L. Viallon, Bayou Goula, La. *R. Stehle, Marietta, O. *J. Oatman & Sons, Dundee, Kane Co., 111. *J. E. Walcher, Millersville, Christian Co., Ill 1-13 1-6 8ttd 1-6 2-1 3-S *S. M. Hitchcock & Co., Warthen, Wash. Co., Ga. 3-3 3-8 4-7 4-4 4-9 4-4 5-10 *J. B. Keeler, Carlinville, 111. 'Newman & Baker, Norwalk, Huron Co., O. Miller & Hollam, Kewaskum, Wash Co., Wis. *D. A. McCord, Oxford, Butler Co., O. *J. T. Wilson, Mortonsville, Woodford Co. Ky *S. D. Moore, Atlanta, Ga. Sam'l Greenawalt, Cearfoss, Wash. Co., Md. 5-7 *Amos Johnson, Sugar Grove, Warren Co., Pa.5-10 H. S. Elkins, Kennedy, N. Y. 5-10 J. Mattoon, Atwater, Portage Co., O. 6-7d *F. L. Wright, Plainfield, Livingston Co., Mich.6-8d *King & White, New London, Huron Co., O. 6 JUST BEFORE GOING TO FREES. The Western Honey Bee; Five Dollar Comb Fdn. Machine; Fdn. with Square Cells 239 The Capillary Feeder, A New Invention 240 Hive Manufacturers. Who agree to make such hives, and at the prices named, as those described on our circular. A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. A. A. Fradenburg, Port Washington, O. 2-6 F. A. Snell, Milledgeville, Carroll Co., 111. 3-7 H. Scovell Columbus, Cherokee Co., Kans. 4-3 Newman, & Baker. Norwalk, Huron Co., O. 4-6 Nichols & Elkins, Kennedy, N. Y. 5-10 Bees For Sale. OIVE IDOI^LAH TEH ZL.I3. Names inserted in this depai'tment the first time without charge; afterward, 20c each insertion, or $2 00 per year. Those whose names appear below signify that they are willing to furnish bees, without hives, dur- ing the coming month, at $1 00 per R>., the purchas- er being required to bear all express charges. Safe arrival guaranteed. [Express Cos. have promised to return cages to owners free of charge, if made very light.— Ed.] A W Vaniman, Virdcn, Macoupen Co, 111 6 F L Wright, Plainfield, Livingston Co, Mich 6 E A Gastman, Decatur, Macon Co, 111. 6 C H Goodell, Royalston, Worcester Co, Mass 6 G D Adair, Talbotton, Talbot Co, Ga 6 F J Farr, Independence, Jackson Co, Mo 6 G W Gates, Bartlett, Shelby Co, Tenn 6 I S Hughes, Mt Zion, Macon Co, 111 6 S A Dyke, Woodyard, Athens Co, O 6 L W Vankirk, Washington, Wash Co. Pa. 6 J E Vanmeter, Emison, Knox Co, Ind 6 S Y Orr, Morning Sun, Louisa Co, la 6 DEVOTED TO BEES AND HONEY, AND HOME INTERESTS. Vol. VII. JUNE 1, 1879. No. 6. A. I. ROOT, Publisher and Proprietor Medina, O. •} Published Monthly. ("TERMS : $1.00 Per Annum in Ad- < vance; 3 Copies for $2.50; 5 for $3.75; Established in 1873. (.10 oi more, 60c. each. Single Number, lOc. SCRAPS AI\D SKETCHES. NO. 6. QUEEN REARING. M FRAME filled with fdn. is hung in the hive Jcf\ containing- my imported queen, and when I find the cells drawn out and filled with eggs (usually in about 3 days), I remove the frame, cut a few small holes in the comb, hang it in the centre of an empty hive, and fill up the hive with empty comb, putting in perhaps a frame or two of honey and pol" len. A strong colony is removed to a new location, and the hive containing the eggs put in its place. To furnish the new swarm with young bees, the bees from 2 or 3 brood frames of the removed colony are shaken in front of it; and to prevent getting the queen back at the old stand, she is hunted up before the "shaking" operation is commenced. Around each hole cut in the comb the bees usually build 3 or 4 queen cells (1 have had 33 queen cells built on one comb), and when they are sealed over, the comb is hung in the lamp nursery, and another filled with eggs put in its place. When a frame of eggs from the imported queen is taken from the hive, it is always replaced with a frame of fdn. The hive is opened every day, and when a comb is found filled with eggs, the date when they will hatch into queens is marked upon the top of the frame. One colony builds cells enough to supply constantly, 25 nuclei. After a swarm has built 5 or 6 "batches" of cells, however, it gets "tired" and does not build so many; then I general- ly give it a laying queen, and turn the queen cell business over to a fresh colony. My experience with the lamp nursery, and intro- ducing virgin queens, is so exactly like that given in the ABC, that I will not repeat it. Instead of making small nucleus hives, I use full sized Simplicities, putting two nuclei in one hive. Of course, the nuclei are placed at opposite sides of the hive, and have their entrances at diagonally op- posite corners. For division boards, I use the same chaff cushions that are used to pack the bees in win- ter. The nucleus hives are pretty well scattered around the yard, and over one entrance to each hive, is tacked a piece of bright colored paper; I used this method last season, and lost but few queens. For stands upon which to set the hives, I use boards a little larger than the bottom of a hive, with cleats nailed under each end to keep them from warping and to raise them a little from the ground. The hives are turned around until the opposite corners project beyond the edge of the bottom board enough to make entrances. For an alighting board, or "door-step," a small piece of board is nailed to the edge of the bottom board, % of an inch below each entrance. I find that queen rearing, like ordinary bee-keep- ing, cannot be learned entirely from books; it re- quires practice. # W. Z. Hutchinson. Rogersville, Genesee Co., Mich. I heartily concur in your directions in the main, friend II. Your plan of getting two entrances to a Simplicity hive, without any cutting or boring holes in it is quite ingen- ious. We should be very careful that the division boards are bee tight when having two colonies in one hive, for many mishaps and disappointments have resulted from the bees getting through a crack in the bottom board, or from the division board's not fit- ting quite as it should. WINTERING. SAWDUST AS GOOD AS CHAFF. f-N" 18T2, having 30 colonies of bees, I constructed a house to winter them in, with double walls 18 in. apart, filled in all around with green sawdust. I weighed each hive when I placed it in this house, and again, at the end of 102 days, when I took it out. The greatest consumption of honey by any one colo- ny was 13 lbs. ; least consumption 2 lbs. ; average, 8'2 lbs. When 1 had completed the weighing in the spring, and found an abundance of live bees and but very few dead ones in the hives, I was ready to run into the street and shout eureka. But, alas! the next winter frost crept into my model bee-house, dysentery made its appearance, and some colonies perished. The third winter more frost crept, in, more dysentery, more dead colonies. Spring dwin- dling set in, and my apiary was soon reduced to one colony. Disgusted with bee-keeping, I sold my ex- tractor, disposed of my hives, melted the combs into wax, and was prepared to retire from the business; but, when fall came, feeling sorry for that poor lone- ly colony, for I thought death surely awaited it, I de- cided to try another experiment in wintering. I procured a large* goods box, put the hive inside of it, fixed an outlet for the bees, took the top off the hive, spread some burlaps over the frames, and filled the goods box with dry, seasoned sawdust, so that there were about 8 in. of sawdust all around, and 12 in. on top of the hive. The bees were allowed to go out whenever they pleased, and were left in this box till May. When I removed the colony from its win- 206 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. June ter quarters, it was very populous and in a splendid condition in every respect. The next fall, I had 4 colonies, which I wintered in the same way, with the same success; the next fall, 11; the next, 18. After four winter's experience, I am satisfied that this plan is a success. I have lost but one colony since I adopted this plan of wintering, and that had moldy combs, and was in a very bad condition when put into winter quarters. I have never been able to de- tect any moisture about the sawdust at any time, and I should be slow in exchanging- it for any other material. By leaving the bees in their winter cover- ing till warm weather has fairly set in, brood rear- ing is not checked by cold snaps. If 1 wish to ex- amine a oolony in early spring, I remove the saw- dust from the top of the hive, and in its place use a thick sawdust cushion. Boxes with movable tops and no bottoms are preferable. Ch?.ff may be just as good as sawdust, but I cannot conceive how it can be any better in any respect. John S. Dewey. Spring Lake, Mich., Apr. 25, 1879. So many have reported succeeding excel- lently with saw dust in place of chaff, that I think we shall have to consider it good, even if it is not quite as good as chaff. One ob- jection I have had to it is that it is ordinarily rather heavier than chaff to handle, especial- ly, when made into cushions. In its favor, we can say that it lies in place better than the chaff, and is doubtless a closer protec- tion on that account. At first, I feared it would not absorb moisture as well as the chaff, but reports seem to indicate that it keeps dry, and dries out when wet accident- ally, quite as well as the chaff does. If pos- sible, I think the saw dust should complete- ly surround the cluster, without any sticks or lumber running through it, along which the frost might make its way. FROM TEXAS. TIGHT FITTING SECTIONS. jUR bees are doing finely, at present. We have had a nice rain, the bees are getting honey, and swarming has commenced. Our 1000 sec- tions are half inhabited by the bees, and they are filling them fast. We have but one objection to the sections ; they are too hard to put together. We have to drive them with a mallet and then they splinter and burst considerably. NEW SWARMS ON PDN. The first big swarm, we hived on fdn. ; one sheet pulled in two, one third the way from the top bar, and fell down. All the balance has worked nicely so far. SWARMS ALIGHTING ON THE SAME SPOT. In your "lecture" in Gleanings, last month, about bees settling on the same spot where bees have clustered before, you attribute the fact to the scent of the queen, which you say clings to the spot for weeks ; but according to my experience this can Hot always be the cause. The first swarm we had this spring came out and clustered on one of our bee bobs, and they had no queen with them ; she was a clipped queen, and I had her in my hand. She never touched the bob, but every swarm that has clustered since has chosen the very same spot. I thiuk they will no more settle after the scent of a queen that is not their own, than they will after the scent of a worker. It is a little like this ; if you are moving along the highway, and find a g?od camping place where some one has camped maybe weeks be- fore, you will generally camp on the same spot, even though it is not nearly night, and the bees do the same way. If any scent causes them to choose the same spot, it is the sweet smell of the whole swarm calling their companions while they are settling. Lancaster, Tex., May 1st, '79. E. J. Atchley. Now, friend A., those close fitting sections are like a great many other things ; when we made them loose, a great many complain- ed that they were not strong enough, and said they wanted them to drive together ; now it transpires that others were exactly pleased with them as they were at first. The same is true of the fdn. ; a good many wanted 8 or 10 sheets to the lb., but when we made them so thin, we were very soon told that the old kind, 5 or 6 sheets to the lb., was just right because the thin broke down as yours did. I try to please you all, but when I do not succeed, please be lenient, dear friends, and remember how differently we think about many of these things. Thanks for your report in regard to swarm- ing ; very likely you are right, but I confess I can hardly see how the bees should pick out a particular limb on a particular tree, just after a hard storm, simply because some swarm had rested there a week ago. MISSOURI VALLEY REE-KEEPERS' CONVENTION. ^ja^iURSUANT to adjournment, a large number of rfp members of the convention and persons in- ' terested in bee culture assembled at the Court House in Kansas City, Mo., on the 2d. ingt., and were called to order at 10 o'clock, A. M., by the president, J. D. Meador. The minutes of the previous meeting, of April 5th, were read and approved. reports. J. D. Meador went into winter quarters with 215 colonies, had reported 175 colonies at last meeting, but now has to correct his report, and say that he has not to exceed 100 good colonies in his apiary, some having dwindled to such an extent that he was forced to unite 3 or 4 into one, or lose them entirely, while others had swarmed out and either united with other colonies or left. All had plenty of honey, and most of them brood ; still they had dwindled and perished, or left. He had wintered them on summer stands, but thought them sufficiently pro- tected. Some had dysentery, others not ; while many that he had thought strong, with abundant stores, had perished outright. He was undecided as to the true cause of the unprecedented mortality, but attributed it partly to his own neglect. P. Baldwin went into winter quarters with 140 stands, and had not lost a single colony. Some of them to-day are lying out in front of hive, as if pre- paring to swarm. He wintered them in cellar, but placed them on their summer stands Jan. 25th. His bees had good fall range of Spanish needle, and kept up supply of brood till nearly winter. Not to exceed a pint of bees per hive had to be removed from his bottom boards, and these were evidently old bees. Has no chaff hives. W. P. Hogarty of Wyandotte Co., Kas., went into winter quarters with upwards of 100 colonies, and has lost li of them. He uses the chaff hive, having 100 of them, but wants no more. His bees have suf- 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 207 fered with dysentery, and great mortality has afflic- ted them without regard to age, color, or previous condition. Abundance of food, strong colonies, chaff hives, and unremitting care enabled him to report at this time only something like lA the num- ber of colonies that he had last autumn, and these only in tolerable condition. His bees had fed largely on dark honey, but several that had only white hon- ey for winter had perished also. The cold and back- ward spring had added to his misfortur es, so that many which had survived the hardest frosts had fal- len by the wayside. Added to this was the disposi- tion of good colonies to swarm out, and either leave for parts unknown or unite with other colonies. Probably half a dozen had done thus, while a much larger number had apparently first suffered their brood to perish, and then died themselves. His neighbors, as far as he could learn, had done no- better, and cannot be said to have fared much worse All alike have suffered greatly, probably to the ex- tent of one half the bees in the country. J. D. Gregg had lost over half his colonies, all his small stocks without exception, and some of his best. He had scarcely 20 alive at this time, out of nearly 50 last autumn. Very few had frozen, al- though he wintered on summer stands, with packing above the frames. They invariably left plenty of stores and sometimes brood. Spring dwindling and swarming out had left a large number of hives va- cant. He had considerable acquaintance with small bee keepers. Those persons who, as usual, had paid but little attention to their bees, have lost in many cases all their colonies. One man had 70 last fall, and nowhasbut 8. Another had 26 and now has but 3. All attribute their losses to the intense cold weath- er of winter, followed and aggravated by a cold and backward spring. Up to this time, bees have not been able to collect one particle of honey, and only very little pollen. E. M. Hayhurst went into winter quarters with 00 strong colonies, protected on their summer stands with burlap and chaff cushions. He had lost a great many bees, but had united those colonies which had suffered the most, and now had 60 stocks in good condition. He had fed them considerably to stimu- late brood raising, and already had 40 young queens in nuclei. The late cold weather, however, had caus- ed his bees to kill their drones, and he can't say when the young queens will become fertilized. Does not attribute the great mortality to the dark honey, but rather to the fact that brood rearing ceased so early last fall as to suffer but few young bees to go into winter quarters. Dysentery, which, he thinks, was brought on by the intense cold wea- ther, also destroyed many bees. S. W. Salisbury went into winter quarters with 71 colonies, 12 of which were nuclei with young queens. Had fed his bees iti the fall 80ft. of grape sugar, dis- solved in water and mixed with an equal quantity Of honey. Had fed from Root's Simplicity feeder in super of the hives, until his poorest stocks showed at least 20ft. of food each, for winter use. Had wintered on summer stands, with frames removed from the super, and super filled with fine hay after top of brood frames had been carefully covered with a piece of carpeting. Had lost none with dysentery, and but 3 had frozen or died in the winter. An unusual quantity of dead bees, however, covered the bottom boards of every hive, and the cold and backward spring seems to have favored their mortality. He was forced to unite weak stocks, sometimes placing 3 colonies to- gether in order to save the remnants. Swarming out had also been a cause of loss, no less than 5 of his stocks having disappeared in this manner. He now has but 52 colonies in good condition. Those colonies to which he fed the grape sugar have been the greatest sufferers, but they were also the weak- est to start with. Some of his strongest colonies, however, are among those that have disappeared. He attributes the great mortality to several causes combined : 1st, want of lite forage and consequent stoppage of the queen's labor at an earlier period than usual ; 2d, unusual severity of the winter, so long continued as to actually freeze that part of a colony least protected, while it caused disease to others ; 3rd, to the very unfavorable spring, often chilling and sometimes killing the brood, and other- wise apparently discouraging the bees or causing them to swarm out and leave. S. W. Salisbury. Kansas City, Mo., May 5, 1879. The above, although lengthy, is an excel- lent summing up of our wintering troubles, and gives, perhaps, as far as it is possible, the causes of these wintering losses. While chaff hives cannot of themselves be consid- ered a complete remedy, I am satisfied they go a great way towards helping the matter. I think we need to look out for all the points mentioned — plenty of young bees, a good colony, plenty of good food, and a chaff hive, or something equivalent. With such a win- ter and spring as the one just past, a house apiary is certainly ahead of a chaff hive. % •%rc •• [This department is to be kept for the benefit of those who are dissatisfied; and when anything ia amiss. I hope you will "talk right out." As a rule we will omit names and addresses, to avoid being too personal.] y'MHE hive and other articles which you sent us |P| |J came all right except the pound of fdn., 'rr'i which we do not find, but it was mentioned in your statement. If you conclude to forward it, send by freight to Bridgeport, our nearest R. R. depot. Plattsville. Conn., Apr. 21, '79. E. N. Taylor. The above letter was carried to the clerk who put up the hive, but he positively de- clared he did put in the fdn. I remonstrat- ed, and told him the man who received them would certainly know if it were there, and that, if not there, the evidence was plain that he left it out. He stoutly insisted that it was there, and concluded by declaring that he had not the faith in humanity, that I had. ktWhy B., do you think the man would say there was none "just for the sake of getting an extra lb. of fdn.?" He thought he did, for why should not the fdn. be there when he knew he put it in the hive. Now I will tell you what I think of it. and I have in these years had a deal of experience with humanity. I do not be- lieve I ever had a customer, and I often have a hundred in a daw who would write back that some particular in their bill was missing, just for the sake of getting another for nothing. I do not believe there is one so 208 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. June unkind and unjust as to wish myself or the clerks to give thern the thing, and be at the trouble and expense to pay express charges, etc. I have no doubt but that there are dis- honest ones among us, but the way in which a man writes a letter shows pretty clearly what kind of a man he is. The man who wrote the letter at the head of this is cer- tainly honest. He may be careless, or thoughtless, or stubborn, or set in his own way, possibly awkward, at times, like my- self, but he never will want anything with- out paying for it. That was my decision on reading over the letter. After a while came the following. The pound of fdn. from you, through the P. O., came all right. On opening the package, we found we had one just like it, which came with the hive complete. This mistake of ours happened from our ignorance; we supposed the former to he a chaff division board, and had not opened it. To rectify this, we send 80c in stamps to pay for fdn. and Eostage. If you had labled it fdn., we should not ave made the mistake. E. N. Taylor. Plattsville, Conn., May 6, 1879. Was my faith in humanity a mistake V Did I not read the man aright? And is it not the better way by far, to exercise charity toward all our fellows, even to those we think are' the erring ones? Think gently of the offender, my friend, before you accuse harshly. Remember how many things in this world have turned out to be mistakes, and not intentional fraud. This is a great lesson for us all to learn. I fear the clerks will take courage from this and other similar cases, to decide they are never at fault, and so leave me to pay all differences between customers and ourselves. A man sent by the mail carrier for some goods. When the goods were received, some end bars were missing, and the clerk who put them up, although protesting that he put them all in, sent some more, and paid the postage on them out of his own pocket. Months after- ward, a man told us he found a bundle of ''such things'' in the road. The mail carrier had lost them out. I do not wish to excuse myself, for I am willing to pay damages, even when I am not to blame, for the sake of peace and good will. I have done it in the years past, and God will help me to do it in the years to come ; it is not so very hard to pay other peoples debts after all, when you know God is with you in the mat- ter, and by and by, back it conies, when you least expect it, like the 80c above. '-Cast thy bread upon the waters.'1 Moral: — When you complain, do it gent- ly; remember who is above looking on. |PT is so long since we have had a letter M suitable for this department that I came — pretty near forgetting we had ever had such a one, but here comes one that does pretty well. A BOX HIVE BEE-KEEPER WHO USES FUN. 1 wintered 76 swarms in my cellar. The last day of Nov., they were juit set 3 deep, into a small room, perfectly dark, with a cement bottom, and walls and ceiling plastered, where they remained undis- turbed until the last day of March, when all came out in fine shape. I have wintered my bees in that room for 4 winters, and have never lost a swarm that could be expected to winter any where. Two very light ones starved a year ago the past winter. I use mostly the box hive, made nicely and paint- ed, having 10 one inch holes in the top. I fasten strips of fdn. in the tops of my box hives, % of an in. wide, and across the whole top. I never feed my bees, except to give the light swarms some boxes partly filled, as they were left the fall before. In the summer of 1876, I hived a swarm of black bees (I have no others), the 15th of June, in an empty box hive, and put on caps at once, and set them under an apple tree. I took off from that hive 126 lbs. of comb honey, and the hive was filled to the bottom so that they were a good strong swarm to winter, and they are working finely this day. I sold my honey that year for 20 cts. per pound. How is that "for high?" I have hived, the last 2 years, 98 swarms, and never lost a swarm by their running away. I have 22 frame hives, but I use them just as I do box hives, never taking out a frame or med- dling with them, only to get off all the cap honey I can. Last year I had 40 swarms, and sold 1812 lbs. cap honey. I have kept bees 40 years. C. A. Carpenter. Pontiac, Mich., April 26, 1879. SELLING BEES FOR A DOLLAR A POUND. M T present writing, two lots of bees have yffiy^ been sent us. One came from Ne- ■ ' braska, but our friend thought it was too much trouble to put in the bottle of wa- ter, and so he sent only a good sized cake of candy. Nearly all of the poor fellows died of thirst, after having honey-combed the candy, in the effort to extract what little moisture it contained. I gave them some water, and it was refreshing indeed, to see the survivors drink. Our friend, Viallon, sent the next lot. Here is what he says about it. I send you this day, by express, one box of bees, according to your suggestion in May No. of Glean- ings. If this box reaches you with the bees in good condition, I will send you some more, and as many as any one else may want. The box with the candy, frame of honey, water, etc., before putting in the bees, weighed 13 lbs., and with the bees, 19*4 lbs., making it contain 6% lbs. bees, net. If the bees arrive alive, you will please weigh the box after taking the bees out, and let me know, so that I can tell what amount of food 6l/2 lbs. of bees consumed in so many days. Of course you will let me know what day they were received. If it is a success you may publish my name in your new department. I did not put in any queen this time, as I wanted to see what would be the result, but next time I will. I think your price for queens is rather low ; you should pay $1. in May, and 90c. in June, then you may have some to send you queens, but I see that you have not received any yet. I think the reason is, that you offer too little, and not that queen rais- ing has been unsuccessful in the South. As for my part, I have succeeded as well as ever except since 8 or 10 days, as it is raining, etc., and so far have ship- ped over 200 queens. I make a candy for queen cages, which, I think, is better than yours, as it keeps soft, and don't melt like the candy made with honey and sugar. I take lft>. pulverized crushed sugar, y21t>. La. brown sugar, a table-spoonful of honey, and 1 table-spoonful of flour, and proceed as you direct for your candy. I have had no report of dead queens sent with this candy, while I have lost two tested queens sent out in your last cages with the bottle. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 209 Please report any defect, and any improvement that may be made, in the box I ship you the bees in. P. L. VlALLON. Bayou Goula, La., May 8, 1879. I took the poor bees from the train my- self, and they were nearly all dead. The comb put in his very neat shipping- box, was entirely empty, the "candy was partially eat- en out, and was covered so densely with dead bees, that the survivors could not get at it, and the water bottle, that most im- portant part, contained, I should think, all the water he put in from the start. A wick had been put through a hole in the cork, which had expanded so as to close the hole. Had the comb contained honey enough, I presume we should have had no trouble. Perhaps we would better rely on honey, until we can invent some surer way of supplying water. The notch in the cork seems to an- swer best for a few bees, but then there is danger if it is either a little too large or too small. CAGES FOR SENDING OUT QUEENS. One of our Medina bee-keepers, after de- ciding that, since queens must be sent by express, we might just as well give them a little more room and more bees, ordered some cages or, perhaps, nucleus hives made. The dimensions are 3x4x5, and the frame 3|, by 4 inches. The first three that were sent out, elicited the following postal cards. Received the queen on Saturday in very fine con- dition, not a bee dead. You certainly deserve credit for putting- them up so nicely, and they should go a long distance safely. J. Mattoon. Atwater, Ohio, May 12, 1879. The queen arrived safely, and appai-ently all right, this morning. Capped stores in about 4-5 of one side of comb, yet remaining. No dead bees. D. C. Spencer. P. S.— Apr. 29. Introduced all right. Charges 50c. Too much. Augusta, Wis., Apr. 28, '79. D. C. S. The queen which you sent me, arrived in due time, and in good condition. I believe there was not a single dead bee in the cage. A. C. Peavey. Epsworth, Iowa, May 5, 1879. Below is a drawing of the little hive and the remarks of^the originator in regard to it. ANOTHER SHIPPING CAGE FOR QUEENS. This cage, so far as reported, has carried without loss of even a single bee. To prepare for shipping, the comb on which the queen is found may be re- moved from the hive, the little cage frame placed crosswise in the space left, and the frames covered with the cushion or mat for a short time. All the bees needed to accompanv the queen will gather on the little frame without the trouble of picking them from other combs. The frame can be carefully placed in the cage, the queen dropped in, and they are all ready for ever so long a journey. The cage would of course require too much post- age (at the present price of queens) to be used for mailing, but I do not feel quite certain that (were it not for bee-keepers who live far from express of- fices) government did not do a good rather than bad thing, when it prohibited the sending of queens by mail, though from partially mistaken reasons. After seeing the number of queens and bees that came through smothered and starved, it almost seemed to me that some one ought to interfere, to prevent cruelty to insects, as well as cruelty to ani- mals. After being kept in a state of ceaseless activ- ity for so long a time in the little crowded mailing- cage, is it any wonder they die ? With the larger cage, we can give them plenty of sealed honey, and still have empty cells left in which the little fellows may "sit down and rest," if so disposed. We usually find most of the inhabitants of the hive stirring, particularly if we stir them a little roughly, but did you never notice, on taking out a frame, how nicely some of them seem folded away in their cells, quiet enough to be asleep ? Every bee keeper who uses sections has, in the fall, more or less partially filled ones. These an- swer nicely for the small shipping frame, and the comb may be fastened securely by tying with fine wire, as we would tie a package. The plan is the same used by Italian exporters of queens. Miss M. Andrews. Medina, Ohio, May 15, 1879. Quite a number of the queens we send out, in fact, it seems to me, by far too many, have been reported stubborn about laying. A few of the imported queens would not lay at all, after shipment, although they laid nicely in our own apiary. Well, a little hive like this, would almost give them room to lay eggs on the way, if they felt so disposed The only objection, then, is the expense. True, we can make the little hives for 10c each, or $1.00 per dozen, like the other queen cages, but how about the piece of comb con- taining, perhaps, 2 oz. of honey, and the ad- ditional number of bees to go with the queen. A hundred bees are worth about 3 cents you know, and when one sells a queen for a dollar, or less even, at wholesale, every cent must be counted. Again, if one want- ed to send me 20 or more queens in a pack- age, as they often do, it makes an additional charge, for so great a bulk. Some more "walking around the stairway" had to be done. One thing is certain, we can not af- ford to run any risks of losing queens, for a few cents extra in 1 tees, honey, or express charges. I would rather do business and not make a cent, than to have to keep up a Growlery and Blasted Hopes correspondence the year around. Cutting combs to get proper pieces to go into these little frames is quite an expense, and while thinking about this and other points, it occurred to me to use a simple sec- tion box, and have the bees build the combs right in them just as we want them. The idea is already put in practice, and we are now sending queens out in section boxes, with a sheet of wire cloth tacked over each 210 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. June side. Old, tough combs are fastened in the sections with thorns, as spoken of in trans- ferring. Our customer, when he gets his package, can see the queen without any trouble, for she must be on one side of the comb or the other, and if she is a fine queen, she will advertise your business all along the route, for who does not like to take a look at a nice queen bee. To introduce her, simply spread the combs, and place the cage (supported by a similar section under it, or something of a like nature), right in the centre of the brood nest, where all the bees in the colony can make her acquaint- ance while she promenades on her own comb, where they can not get hold of her legs and wings, and pull them off, as they often do. To get your cages filled with combs and honey, just have a hive filled with frames of sections containing fdn. clear to the bot- toms of each. To have the new combs strong, so they can not break out in ship- ping, run wires across, or use the new fdn. made on paper. The sections, for conve- nience, may have both tops and bottoms closed, and the bees may have access, by separating the broad frames a trifle. These combs being built in the brood chamber, will probably be the thickness of usual worker comb, and, if the queen should lay in them, all the better. I do not know but we might have queen cells built in them, and use them for queen cell nurseries. The cell and all can be changed from hive to hive, without any cutting of combs, and when we send off a queen in one, our cus- tomer can remove the wire cloth, and slip it into some of his frames, so we shall have no useless queen cages lying scattered about the apiary, but all will be utilized. I do not know but we had a couple of bushels of sec- ond hand queen cages lying about last year. If any of the sections should be filled with nice white honey, they can be used for the table. After a section has been a long time in the brood chamber, it may not be a neat looking package to ship a queen in, but we can fix this very quickly. Have a neat long label of some nice paper, and, after your queen is in, wire cloth put on, etc., just paste this label right around the sec- tion. A blank place will, of course, be left to put on the address nicely. I will have our engraver show you one of these nice section box queen cages ready for shipment. SECTION BOX (^UEEN CAGE READY FOR SHIPMENT. Here is a friend that wants bees at a dol- lar a pound. T will take 10 quarts or 10 lbs. of bees, as per your schedule, if delivered before the 15th of June, next. The bees must be packed according to your sched- ule in May Gleanings, express charges paid, and safe delivery guaranteed to Brighton (express of- fice). A young Italian queen, that has commenced to lay, may accompany each lb., if you choose, and I will pay $1.00 each, for the queens. Brighton, Mich., May 12, '79. C. Thomson. May nth. — Several more packages of bees have been received ; most of them in excel- lent condition. One of the shippers scuds us two packages, with the following note : I will sell 1000 lbs. of bees at one dollar per lb. New Madrid, Mo., May 16, '79. T. C. Marsh. The bees were put in a square box, with wire cloth on two sides. They were provis- ioned with sugar in a tin box, with a bottle of water over it. The mouth of the bottle was submerged in a little tin cup, like the cover to a tea- canister. Although both boxes were put up exactly alike, one box full had eaten almost none of the sugar, and had all starved but f of a lb., while the other was in a most beautiful condition, hav- ing drank all of their bottle of water, and eaten perhaps a lb. or more of sugar. They had barely a table-spoonful left. The live bees weighed just 9 lbs. Express charges were SI. 80. If friend Marsh can make them all do as well as this lot, it will be a success. As there were 3 queens in the lot, 2 of them caged, I infer he took 3 swarms to get his 9 lbs. These were black bees, which is all right, as I made no distinction in my offer. AVnile the Italians are busy gathering honey, these black scamps are trying to rob every hive in the apiary. I wonder if some of the friends did not pick out their most quarrelsome bees to send me, just to get rid of them ? If they did, it is all right, but after this month, I think I shall have to say 50c. per lb. for black bees, and 75c. for Italians. If you can send me the bees on combs in metal cornered L. frames, I will pay additional for all the combs and brood are worth. May 2ith. — There ! that is just as I expect- ed ! Friend Hayhurst has beaten us all, and has capped the climax to my invention of sending bees without hives or combs. Hear him. I hand you to-day, per express, charges paid, a one dollar queen and %fl>. of bees, for the purpose of testing your new basket. If received in good order, please accept, &c. I enclose an advertisement to take the place of the other one in case the basket of bees reaches you in good condition. I am inclined to think this method of shipping bees is going to solve the problem. I have had so much trouble in shipping nuclei, that I had discon- tinued that part of the business. I put 1V4 oz. of water, and 3£lb. of candy in the basket, and would be glad to know if this was ample for the trip. E. M. Hayhurst. Kansas City, Mo., May 19, 1879. The package came by express, without the loss of a single bee. The i lb. of beautiful young Italians almost filled the dish cover, which was precisely like the one illustrated last month. The bottle had a notch cut in the cork, through which passed a string of 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 211 candle wicking loosely. Every drop of wa- ter was used, and nearly the } lb. of candy, although they were on the trip but 2\ days. What 'makes your bees eat so much, friend II. ? According to this, l lb. of bees, on a journey, will need a II). 01 sugar and a half pint of water, for 5 days. The package, bees and all, weighed only \} lbs. A brood comb was taken from one of our hives, the bees all shaken off, one empty comb put with it, a division board put on each side, the bees in the cage shaken on, and we had a swarm that went out after pollen the next morning, and the queen began laying imme- diately. No introducing, no waiting, no transferring, and no risk to run, and we have a pretty little nucleus on our own frames, ready to give us eggs for queen rearing, at once. The dish cover holds about o pints, and the 1 lb. of bees seemed nearly to rill it. Young bees are certainly worth more than old ones. How shall we get them in the cages? Shake them in a newspaper, laid in the scoop of your scales, until they weigh a half lb. The old bees will take wing, and we shall thus have all young bees. Then shake them into a heap, and put them in the cage. Now our section box queen cage can be used nicely for sending the £ lb. of bees with the queen, and I think it will be the cheapest package we can get. A section box holds just a pint, and two of them fas- tened together (possibly 8) will make a very neat shipping package." I, too, will agree to send h lb. of young Italians, with any queen, b»r SI. 00 additional. Perhaps next month we can do it cheaper. If any body else can do it cheaper, let them send in their names for next month's issue. Problem. — If 1 lb. of bees consume 1 lb. of sugar in 5 days, how long will a lb. of honey last them under the same conditions? I will pay S5.00 to the one who sends in the best practical solution of this question, by actual experiment. ►-♦••-« TRANSFERRING. THE EXPERIENCE OF AN A B C SCHOLAR. ^yj?' WANT you to understand that I am a very IJ! young ABU scholar, never owning a bee, or 4^i daring to go within "stinging distance" of them until last tall. I then bought 9 stands in some kind of a patent hive, I don't know what it was, and put them into winter quarters by packing them all in straw. As the weather has been very cold this spring and the season backward, I let them remain in their winter quarters until April 10th, when I took them out and moved them about 50 yards to where 1 wanted them to remain. This I did at night, or after sundown rather, and without the loss of a dozen bees. The hives were of such construction, being only half inch stutf and hinged together on one side to open out like a book, that I was afraid of chilling- the bees too much and doing more harm than good by trying to examine them much, so I let them go, until about 2 weeks ago when, fruit trees being in bloom, I concluded to try my hand at transferring. Upon examination then, I found one swarm dead,- starved to death with the exception of one her, the queen. I secured her and saved her for an emerg- ency, which presently arose. Next day I began the operation of transferring, green as a gourd except from what Gleanings has told me, but with tools and implements sufficient almost to build, scrub out, and furnish an ordinary house, much more, a "bee house." I succeeded finally in transferring one stand. The job was a poor one, the wind blowing almost a hurricane all the time; the consequence was I killed about % of the bees including the queen (I know there was one present, from eggs and brood). The honey was broken and running, the combs were blown out of my new frames in which I had fastened them, bees were drowned and smoked to death, and the state of affairs bad generally. After awhile, when the few remaining bees had quieted down, I gave them the queen mentioned above, which they received indif- ferently, not seeming to care whether she was there or not. I was so disgusted with this job (in fact, I had more stocks left than I cared to begin with) that I was in hopes the others would rob them and utilize the honey, and I could distribute the brood amongst them. As if to carry out my wishes, they did this very thing, and another swarm was gone, not wholly a loss, however, as many of the bees went to other hives and were accepted, and the honey and brood were saved in the same way, by distribution. After waiting in vain for nearly a week for the wind to go down, and fearing fruit blossoms would be gone and my transferring not done, I went at it again, one morning about 9 o'clock. I cleaned out my buggy house and took the bees in there and transferred the remaining 7 swarms in that way. By half past four, I was through, and I think I did it well too. As every thing was kept clean, I had no robbing, and l-eceived but one sting. When I tell you that my bees were all blacks, and had not been handled or intefered with in any way for 2 or 3 years before 1 bought them, I think you also will consider my success in my first lesson in transfer- rins:, very good. They are now in chaff hives, and all doing nicely. All are busily at work gathering pollen, and rearing brood, but getting very little honey, as fruit trees are done blooming and there are very few flowers. Should I keep the quilt down over them ? SMOKERS AND TRANSFERRING CLASFS. Now 1 want to "grumble" a little at your wares. I could not make the cold blast Simplicity smoker burn at all, and had it not been for the old style Simplicity I had, 1 should have been in a bad fix. I tried rotten wood, dry corn cobs, brown paper, cot- ton rags and every thing else I could think of for fuel, but it was "no go." The transferring clasps also, 1 think too light and flimsy for such heavy combs as I had. Could they not be made stronger to advantage ? and what was the matter with the smoker ? N. H. Allen. P. S.— Mine is a hexagonal apiary, 7 chaff hives and 5 Simplicities, sawdust and all. Kirkwood, Mo., May 5, '79. N. H. A. Under the circumstances, you did exactly the proper thing, to take the hives into an out building. Every package of clasps should contain light ones, and stiff ones, short ones, and long ones, so that the operator may choose those best suited to his work. I will see this minute to their being put up. While the great majority have been extrav- agant in their praises of the cold blast smok- er, a few have complained about their going out. I have repeatedly tested them, and ours all burn until the fuel is gone, without going out at all. One filled with the rotten wood and set down without any blowing at all, burned from 9 o'clock until 12. A roll of rags did still better, and I cannot see where the trouble lies unless your fuel is poor. Two of our friends have pricked a hole with an awl into the central blast tube, to get a blast directly on the fuel, but I do not like this, because it blows smoke out at the draft hole. Some prefer a larger tube at the top of the cone, but I object to this, be- cause it is more apt to let coals and sparks out. We light them repeatedly while mak- ing them, but find no trouble. I will have the matter more thoroughly examined, and will pay return postage on every one that our friends can't make go to suit them with 212 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. June proper fuel. We are just making arrange- ments to send a sample of the fuel with every smoker. %\ia "imiW This department was suggested by one of the qlerks, as an opposition to the "Growlery." I think I shall venture to give names in full here. ^ijpTJST now I am feeling very comfortable. Yes- Jil terday morning, I received a new No. of ^H> Gleanings, which always gives me pleasure, and then, in the afternoon, I got the goods you ship- ped on the 23d., all in good condition apparently. I have not yet opened the box of fdn. The smokers are all right. I had been doing without one for 2 or 3 weeks, having let a friend have my old Simplicity, and I guess, if you ceuld have seen me about the time I got that box open and got one of those cold smokers out, you would have thought me a fit sub- ject for the "Smilery". Please accept thanks— many thanks. My sister (whose bees T managed last season) and I have lost but one out of 28 colonies. Somerset, Ky., May 4, 1879. M. E. Parker. Three weeks ago, a swarm came to me and settled on a peach tree in my apiary. I hived it, killed their queen, and gave them brood, and now they have an Italian queen, making me 15 stocks on the 15th of April, from 14 last fall. Don't that look like smiling? Mv bees did not dwindle a bit, as they say the Italians'do in the spring. I have no other kind but the vellow backs, and they are strong enough to swarm now. James Parshall. Union Valley, Mo., May 9, 1879. ONE STORY CHAFF HIVES. SEND you a pencil drawing of the chaff hive I am making this spring. I made the pattern last Jan., and have made quite a lot of them since. It is so made that it can be used for a 114 or 2 story hive. It is 2514 in. long, and 2114 in. wide from cor- ner to corner. The corner posts are 12 in. high and % in. thick, cut like those on your chaff hive. The frame on top is 26 in. long and 22 in. wide, made of V2 in. stuff. On top of this frame, is another just like the top edge of a Simplicity hive, that shows 14 in. on the outside. The box inside is 1814x14 14 x91s in. The end pieces of top frames are % in. narrower than the side pieces. To form the rabbet, the tin rabbet rests on the top edge of the inside box. The drawing represents a Simplicity hive set on a chaff hive. Please give your opinion of it. SMITH'S ONE STORY CHAFF HIVE. Bees have wintered very badly around here this winter ; a great many have lost from }& to % of their stock. I had 5 stands last fall, 4 in Simplicity, and one in a farmer hive. They all wintered nicely. I had one on 5 racks that were not over half full of comb and they came out as healthy this spring as any of the rest. They are building up very fast now. I used chaff cushions and division boards, and let them take out doors for wintering. The coldest weather we had, was 25° below zero ; but it did not stay that way long. It ran from 18° to 23°. I traded hives and sections for 3 splendid colonies this spring, getting the bees, combs, and queens, for $10.50. I think if they had been sold to you at $1. per qt., they would have brought $20., besides comb and queens. If I have good luck with my bees, I will have quite a lot by the time I am 21, unless they die off next winter. Lewisville, Ind., May 5, 1879. David C. Smith. The plan given above has been submitted a great many times ; the principal objection is that it cannot well be made to exclude the frost as perfectly as a two story chaff hive. Whenever there are sticks or lumber that runs through the chaff to the brood nest, or near it, the frost is pretty sure to follow. With the above arrangement, a crack or joint is left right near the top of the brood cham- ber. If I could readily have the bees just as I wanted them, I would have them with chaff on every side, for 4 or 6 inches, and not even a stick of any kind, to connect the out- er shell with the inner one containing the bees. Of course we must have a passage for the bees through the chaff, but I would have them perfectly surrounded with chaff, with this exception". The arrangement given be- low by another friend, and which has also been given a great number of times, is still more objectionable. My hive is 2114 in. long, 1714 in. wide, and 10 in. deep, with 8 L. frames in a hive, and room enough each side for a frame of sections, or for chaff cush- ion division boards for winter. Each end of the frames, C, is supported by a movable end, A, that is taken out in the fall, and division boards put in their place, m«kino- ohnfF oil nvnund. HOXIE'S ONE STOKY CHAFF HIVE. The top is about 4 in. deep with a piece of sacking tacked in the rabbet, B, and filled with chaff. The lower edge of the hive is rabbeted and fits over the bottom, which is movable. This is only for a one story hive, and side storing. I have a wind-mill with which I run my 6 in. buzz-saw, and can saw up my hive stuff pretty fast. If this is a good hive, I want to use it. D. W. HoxsiE. North Adams, Mich , May 4, '79. This amounts, virtually, to having a chaff division board on each of the 4 sides. The spaces and crevices thus unavoidably left will be a serious hindrance to a perfect pro- tection, in a winter like the last. I would rather put the bees and combs into a thin light box, and pack this on all sides, inside of a larger one. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 213 ARRANGEMENT OF BEE-HIVES LARGE APIARIES. IN WW\ WO systems of arrangement, or rather misar- rangeinent, seem to prevail almost universally in the apiaries of the country. Both tend di- rectly to the same results, the bewilderment of the bees when tired or excited, or when making their lirst flight. A bee when excited and confused, like a man in similar condition, refuses all instruction. All the rest of the universe has gone awry, and he alone persists in having things as they ought to be. Go into that particular hive which he has pitched upon, he must and will. Part of these wanderers are probably killed by the sentinels, causing so much direct loss to the apiary. A great many of them, however, become domiciled in the hives which they have got into, and form a considerable body of badly naturalized aliens in the commonwealth. It is not every bee-keeper that has any idea to how great an extent bees attach themselves to other hives than those of their birth. Last spring, the writer saw a number of hives of bees, mostly blacks, wheeled into ranks and then moved, little by little, to a new loca- tion a few rods distant. Upon reaching their posi- tions the rear ranks had nearly all the flying bees, and the front little else than young bees and brood. Late in the fall of 1877, two Italian queens were in- troduced into a considerable apiary of blacks. By the next June, every hive in the lot seemed to con- tain more or less Italian bees. No great harm ap- pears to result from such mixing while honey con- tinues plenty, and easy good-nature reigns supreme ; but by and by, hard times come ; there is nothing to do, and all hands are a little bit discontented and cross. Under such circumstances as these, the for- eigners of the hive are liable to become first class malcontents, balling the queen, and raising commu- nist mischief generally. It may be doubted whether an alien bee, down to the bottom of his heart, is ever quite loyal to the queen, or that he is ever fully satisfied wyith the scent of her children. This matter of different progeny, and different scents in the same hive, can hardly else than increase the difficulty of detecting and expelling spies and robbers. While carelessnesses the rule, robbers can take advantage of the mixed character of the swarm to get in un- challenged. When "eternal vigilance" sets in, it would be strange if the attempt were not made to expel the robbers and the foreigners both together. Do not the Italians sometimes expel the last of the blacks from the hive into which an Italian queen is introddced? The writer has seen something that looks very much like it. Probably the result mentioned above cannot be entirely prevented, where large numbers of swarms are kept near each other, but assuredly something can be done by a judicious sjrstem of arranging the hives. Place each hive so that a simple glance of the eye suffices to locate it, without any counting or surveying, and it really don't seem as though the little addle-pates ought to get lost. Of the two sys- tems of arrangement just referred to, one is the rank and file system (of which the hexagonal plan is only a tasteful variation), the other is the single file system, under which the hives, usually too close to- gether, are placed in long lines or curves. Both styles are bad, the former probably the worse of the two. Standing in the midst of an apiary of a hun- dred hives arranged in rank and file, lay a pin on one of them and walk away a dozen rods. Now re- turn and put your finger on the pin. You can't do it. You must needs count, and see what row it is, and what number in the row, and repeat the count- ing process when you return. The key of the diffi- culty lies in this simple fact; none of the brute cre- ation can count. You can teach an intelligent dog to bring you a nail, or to bring you a mouthful of nails, but you cannot teach him to bring you just three or even just two. Counting, even so many as two, is a purely human faculty. Do not ask your bees to do without counting what you yourself can- not do without counting. In a line of three objects a brute would distinguish the right, the left, and the middle ; in a line of four the right and left, and the one adjacent to the right, and the one adjacent to the left would be located; if the line contained as many as five, the middle one could probably be dis- tinguished in addition to the four as just stated; but beyond this confusion would be sure to begin. This same trouble comes up in sitting large numbers of hens, as one may see by referring to Stoddard's "Egg Farm." The plan here proposed is to divide the apiary into a considerable number of groups, with each group so arranged that a mistake in the identity of any hive could not readily be made. The following dia- gram illustrates. NORTH. OOO OOO OOO OOO oxx xxo oxx xxo OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OXX xxo oxx xxo OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO oxx xxo oxx xxo OOO OOO OOO OOO SOUTH. The positions marked x are to be left vacant ex- cept when the apiary is crowded. Without them there are places for 84 hives, and with them for 108. The space occupied is only 70x60 feet. The hives are to stand four feet from center to center, east and west, and five feet from centre to centre, north and south. The broad alleys are each ten feet clear. This wide space is mainly to make the division very distinct to the eye; but will be incidentally useful in allowing a barrow or hand cart plenty of room to pass with the extractor, or honey barrel, or hive of bees. A few feet of the dimensions named remain for border around the outside. A modification of this plan, using the same number of groups, but putting four hives in a row east and west, accommo- dates 144 hives, and uses just about an eighth of an acre of ground. A bee coming home to an apiary arranged as in the diagram will naturally first locate the group in which he belongs. Excepting two, the groups are all on the outside, and are either corner groups, middle groups, or groups adjacent to a cor- ner, and thus easy of identification. Each of the two groups not on the outside is conspicuous by standing in the centre of a hollow square formed by eight groups. One's hollow square Includes the east range, and the other's the west range. While the apiary only contains 70 hives, both the middle groups can be left entirely vacant. The group be- ing once sighted, our hypothetical bee, whether he live in north row, south row or middle row, east, west, or middle hive, need not go Insane studying 214 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. June the matter, but may just quietly go home, as a good bee should. The same principle of groups and broad alleys can be applied to the hexagonal meth- od of arrangement, if one must needs place in that form. Many modifications can be devised, to suit taste and locality, the cardinal principles being very simple, and only two in number. First, no regular, unmarked series, of either hives or groups, must exceed four, or at the utmost five, in order that each member of the series may be singled out optically, without thought. Second, the distance and arrangement of details must be such that bees will not be likely to run on foot from one doorway to another. When this matter is attended to, so that no insect would think of passing from one alighting board to another without taking wing, it probably makes little difference whether the dis- tance is three feet or eight feet. E. E. Hasty. Bodley, Ohio. I most heartily endorse your reasoning, friend Hasty, and while I read your article I could not help smiling and nodding my head approvingly ; as I thought of the many times I had experienced what you mention. I think, however, there is one point which you lose sight of, and that is the use of hives differently made. Suppose we use chaff hives in the points marked x, or suppose we make the entrances of the hives face in dif- ferent directions ; such as, east, west, and south ; or suppose we have occasionally a single story hive, while all the rest are doub- le story. I prefer the hexagonal arrange- ment, on account of the economy of space, and consequently of the steps of the apiarist. Although I assent to the justice of your reasoning, I am not quite ready to adopt the precise form of an apiary that you suggest. We have just been laying out an apiary for 500 hives on our grounds ; there are 7 apia- ries in all; one in the centre and 6 all about it. The land marks for the bees are to be made with Chaff and Simplicity hives, dif- ferently arranged. I think it is possible to have order and system, and still avoid mud- dling the bees. I am very glad indeed that you have brought the subject before us in such a happy way, friend H. May nth. — Friend II., I have had some practical experience in the matter you men- tion, sooner than I expected. In moving the bees onto our new grounds, we filled the central apiary in just the manner shown on the last cover of the ABC book. They were all in two story hives,and to have them look nicely, Will gave them all a fresh coat of paint. All were placed with the entran- ces facing the east, just as they did in our old apiary. Now I shall have to explain that our old apiary has a building in the centre, several trees scattered about, (as you may remember), house apiary, old strong grape vines, and a great variety of objects, that might give the bees landmarks. This one was on the clean, green lawn, and not an object was to be seen, but the hives and a single stake, to which the grape vine was trained. Well, what do you think ? I ex- pect /might have known what to think. If you stood in front of a hive, first you knew, all of its bees were going into the next one. A few hives that had no bees in them, had about as many bees around the entrance, as the others. Bees heavily laden with pollen, were running one way and the other, in front of hives, looking sadly puzzled because they could find no entrance, the entrances being closed up. Four hives, containing good col- onies, stood in a row ; a fifth one, an empty hive, was added, and almost before it was set down, a shower of yellow Italians, laden with pollen and honey, alighted, and com- menced going in. You see they had mark- ed their hive as the last in the row, and when another was added, of course they piled into that. Although in some trouble, I was oblig- ed to shout in merriment, to see their aston- ishment, and I pitied them so much, they were given a frame of brood, and now they are a fair colony. I hereby give notice, that this is my invention for swarming bees au- tomatically, and no body shall patent it. Just think how simple ; set your new hive down, and the bees pile into it, almost before you get it leveled up. What did we do with the beautiful hex- agonal apiary V I called Mr. Gray, who is a genius for inventions, explained the trouble, and in a twinkling, with the assistance of the engraver, we had each hive so the bees knew it, and so that you, friend Hasty, could lay a pin on any one of the 60 hives, and go to it at once. It was all fixed by turning the hives so that the entrances, instead of being all to the east, were turned to all points of the compass. Of course we had it »so that no two adjoining, were turned in the same di- rection. If you will turn to the picture of the hexagonal apiary on the back cover of any ABC book, you will readily understand it. Soppose we take the north row of hives, and turn every other one west ; we shall now have two entrances facing each other, and two backs facing each other, clear through the row. Now take the next row, and turn one entrance south, the next north, and so on through. Turn the third row, one east, the next west, and so on, as we did the first row. Now the fourth row, one north, and the next south, and so on. It is an easy matter for both you and the bees, to remem- ber which way the entrance pointed, and as it is 14 feet in either direction before we come to another similarly situated, this brings the hive into another part of the apiary, or at least so far from any one like it, that there is little danger of confusion. The plan answers the purpose perfectly, and the apiary presents an orderly and systemat- ic appearance to the eye. FIXING THE ENTRANCES. Our apiary is surrounded with evergreens as wind breaks, but as these are not yet grown up, the location is much more windy than the old one, and the saw-dust put a- round the alighting boards was blown about so badly, I was forced to think of something else. The handiest substance to keep down weeds and grass, was coal cinders from the boiler room, but these were too dark colored. As I have explained before, I want the space around the entrance so clean that I can see dead bees, should there be any robbing, or even a dead queen, should one be brought out. I can often tell when a queen is re- 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 215 placed, by having a clean space in front of the hive, for if I do not see the body of the old queen, I am pretty sure to see the imma- ture young queens dragged from their cells. Well, after we got the coal cinders nicely stamped down, we pounded up some clean, white sandstone, left after building, and made some nice white sand that we have spread over the cinders, making a door yard that will not easily be troubled with grass and weeds, and that neither sun, rain, or wind, will disturb or discolor. geneg §c(timn. Under this head, will be inserted free of charge, the names of all those having honey to sell, as well as those wanting to buy. Please mention how much, what kind, and prices, as far as possible. The prices quoted in our cities for honey are, at present, too low, to make it woi'th while to publish them. As a general thing, I would not advise you to send your honey away, to be sold on commission. If near home, where you can look after it, it is often a very good way. By all means, develop your home market. For 25cts., we can furnish little boards to hang up in your door yard, with the words "Honey for Sale" neatly painted. If wanted by mail, 10c. extra for postage. Boards saying "Bees and Queens for Sale," same price. Chicago. -Honey— Choice, in single comb boxes, 14@16c. Extracted, 9®10c. Bees-wax.— Choice, yellow, 24@25c. Darker grades, lf@<20c. New York.— Honey— Best comb, ll@13c. Extract- ed, V/MWiC. Bees-wax.— Choice, 24@25c. Cincinnati.— Honey— Best, in single comb boxes, 10@12c. Extracted, 8@10c. California.— Honey— Comb, 9@10c. Extracted, Bees-wax.— Best, 30@,31e. For darker colored, 20@22V4c. 'AFTER THE BATTLE." SOME GOOD SUGGESTIONS IN REGARD TO THE LOSSES. pp HE outlook in bee keeping is very gloomy at ffl. this time, in this vicinity. I think it safe to say that 9-10 of all the bees that went into winter are dead. I have spent several dasrs among the bee keepers of this and Erie counties, and find the loss almost universal ; I know of but two who have wintered with anything like fair success. Many have lost all. Those protected or housed have wintered best but all have suffered. Yet, who can say the result may not be favorable in the end ? It will have a tenden- cy to benefit at least in two directions : to the studi- ous bee keeper, it will be another lesson in winter protection ; it will also be a most favorable time to introduce and improve the pure Italians. In my locality, and it is true also in many other localities, the coast is char, when heretofore it has been an utter impossibility to breed queens with any certainty of their purity. There is now no need of going to "some lone isle of the sea" (or Lake) to get away from black bees ; they have got away from us. Now comes the work of building up— of reconstruction. Who will give us the best hints how to do this work ? It is easy to advise in prosperity, but it is after the hattle that we need discretion and judgment. More generalship may Vie displayed in retreating than in advancing. I had, last fall, two apiaries — one of 100 swarms, and one of 32. A portion of the bees were housed in Nov., and a portion left out until Feb. 1st. Of the smallest apiary not one poor bee remains to tell of the dire disaster. Of the other, about 35 swarms are struggling along and will probably weather the cape. Notwithstanding this poor encouragement, I have mc.de a special effort to put my bee yard (I have but one now) in good working order, having retreated inch by inch in good order. I have removed every stick, every empty hive, every stand, raked the saw dust smooth and even, and made the field of disaster look as pleasant as possible. My design is now to take advantage of the present opportunity, and introduce a queen of known purity to every swarm, and, with care, I think I may be able hereafter to keep my stocks pure, not for the sake of selling queens, but for the purpose of rais- ing honey, which is much more profitable. H. R. BOARDMAN. East Townsend, Huron Co., Ohio, Apr. 28, 1879. ^ ■•■ i THE TOAD QUESTION. fWISH to give Gleanings an account of my ex- perience with toads, and, by way of preface, J would say that they are unquestionably serious pests to bee-keepers living in the vicinity of swamps, or email creeks, where facilities for their propaga- tion are afforded. My apiary, last year, was situated near a piece of swamp land, over which considerable patches of wa- ter stood through the spring months. As might be supposed, toads multiplied ad infinitum in this standing water, and invaded my apiary in great numbers. To put a stop to their depredations soon became quite a serious consideration with me. The havoc they were nightly committing among my bees became so distressing, and the rapidity with which they were depopulating my little insect vil- lage so incensed me, I forgot the Sunday-school in- junction of my youth, "Don't harm the toad." So, calling my two little boys, and giving them suitable weapons, I told them to "smash 'em." And they did smash them, and with such a relish that I began to repent. Mr. Editor, you are aware how a little boy's fingers tingle to get a lick at a passing toad. After they had destroyed a large number, and had inspired the remainder with deadly fear, I told them that would do, and that they must not kill toads any where but in the bee-yard, and that they must not go in the bee-yard unless I went with them. I at once set about inventing some plan to circum- vent the toads. Remembering to have seen 4 toads in a hole in the ground about 18 in. deep, made with a post augur, I procured a 9 in. post augur, and bored a hole 18 in. deep, in front, and under the edge of the portico, of every 4th hive. I use the L. hive with legs attached, elevating it about 5 in. from the ground. Replacing the slanting alighting boards over the outer half of the holes, I awaited results, and had the satisfaction, next morning, of finding the holes occupied with a fair representa- tion of the toad fraternity. I allowed them to re- main in quiet possession of their new quarters, to give a welcome greeting to others that continued to come nightly. I discovered, after a few days, that they had abandoned the idea of escaping in a verti- cal direction, and had commenced to make a series of tunnels off in different directions. Estimating that they would employ their time probably for the remainder of the season in effecting their escape by 216 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Juke that means, I concluded to let them alone, and had no more trouble on account of toads during- the season. To make these holes' effective in entrapping toads, I think they ought to be at least eighteen inches in depth, and so located that the hive, being several inches above the ground, should project over one half of the hole, and the alighting board, slanting' up to the hive, should cover the remainder. If the hole is left open by removing the alighting board about sundown, it might catch toads faster, but a great many loaded bees coming in, would fall in and be destroyed by the toads on the inside. Although this article is already too long, I can not close without expressing my disapprobation of the practice of killing toads. They are a part of crea- tion, and have a humble though important office to perform in the economy of nature in the destruc- tion of insects hurtful to vegetation. Cyruston, Tenn., May 3, 1879. W. L. Moores. WINTERING. BURLAP VERSUS ENAMELED CLOTH, THE BEST KIND OE A FEEDER, ETC. [MPJ G say that I am surprised to think that you lost J' II so many bees won't express it. I begin to think bee culture a very uncertain pursuit, as I had formed an opinion that what you did not know about bees was worth but little. If possible, give us the why's and wherefore's, so we can guard against such disaster. My bees wintered well; I only lost one, and that by uniting it with another, so as to make one good swarm out of 2 poor ones. I think I have learned something this past winter. First, no more enam- eled cloth for winter; it is not an absorbent, by any means. I think burlap is the stuff by all odds, as it permits the dampness to pass off. I will state how I fixed my bees for winter. I got them all in a straight row, about 2 feet from centre to centre, and filled the upper story with a sawdust pillow as dry as it could be got. Some were con- tracted by division boards and some Avere not, all, except 3 or 4, with enameled cloth sheets over the frames; these 3 or 4 had the burlap next to the bees, and no enameled cloth. The entrance was about 3x[N page 124, of April No., friend Phelps WW speaks of shading hives with a tomato vine, trained on a trellis. Having noticed that the tomato is very easily "taught" to go in any way you want it to go, the idea at once occurred to me, of having them trained in the same way we do our grape vines, and seeing some fine plants down at my mother's, I begged one to be put under a course of instruction. That you may all try one, too, I give an engraving be- low, of how I expect it to look in a month or two. TOMATO VINE TRAINED TO SHADE A BEE HIVE. We want 2 posts, 2 slats, and 3 wires. I would have the top bar 3 feet long, and 4 feet above the ground. Make the plant throw out 4 branches, 2 on each side, and then pinch off all others. When any branch gets to the top of the stake, pinch it off. The fruit, having plenty of sun and light, will probably be very large, and very early. When you make a report of your hive, you can also make one of your tomato plant. Now, boys, who will beat me? If you will send me a photo of them when full of fruit, I will have the best one engraved. P. S.— Tie the branches to the stakes with "pink ribbons;" or if that should not be in taste, will the Ladies Department suggest a better color? If any body deserves to have trouble, it is the folks that will send bees and bees-wax, without put- ting- their names on the boxes. They generally get it too. It will hardly ever pay to send bees-wax by ex- press. Go around to your neighbors, and scrape up 100 lbs. or a barrel, and then get a special rate on it by freight. A great many, in ordering dollar queens, say "Pick me out a nice one." My friends, who do you suppose wants those that are left, that are not nice? If you order dollar queens, you must take them just as they come. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 231 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. J±. X. ROOT, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, MEDINA, OHIO. TEWHS: $1.00 PER YEAR, POST-PAID. nvriEiDinxr^, jtjjste i_ ist'9- For even Christ pleased not himself.— Rom. 15:3. The cold blast smoker business is getting- to be quite an item. About a dozen hands are employed on them, and the sales arc now something- over a thousand per month. — mt i>»-^— — Our article on transferring should by good rights have been in the April No., but as the season is so backward, the directions will be in very good time for most of the northern states. The Los Angeles Weekly Star talks about us as follows : Gleanings (May No.) contains a cut of "blasted hopes," which might serve as a portrayal of blasted hopes on the coast this season, but the face is hard- ly long enough to correctly represent a California bee-keeper this season. The face should look as if a 64 pounder were hanging to the chin to draw it out as long as an old fashioned bee-gum. Brother Root, if you did not intend it for us, it fits so well that we will accept it "as others see us." I wish to pay for all inventions sent me, of which I make use, but I have bought so many which I have never used, that I hope you will excuse me if I am a little slow hereafter, in deciding what I can pay for. I will pay friends Clark and Corry, $25.00 each, for the features in their smokers, of which I have made use, if they will accept it. Were not the profits very close at the prices for which they are sold, I suppose I should do more. I am very happy to hear that both Mitchell and Mrs. Cotton seem to be doing something to straight- en up their bad work. Whenever they make a sat- isfactory arrangement with those they owe, and do a fair and square business, I will, with pleasure, give one or both, a good advertisement free, for one year. The only candidate we have for the Humbug and Swindle Department is a "Crystal Honey" man hailing from 218 Fulton St., N. Y. It is the same slippery elm, "ambrosial" dodge I have two or three times shown up. Their receipt will not make honey or anything like it. I clip the following from an article in the Santa Barbara Press, in regard to Mr. J. Archer, one of our contributors. Last year he experimented with one colony of Italian bees, working exclusively for increase in the number of bees ; from this colony he obtained There are a few who will have it that it was grape sugar which caused the losses in bees during the past winter and spring. How about those who lost so heavily where no grape sugar was ever used ? We can make sections of beautiful white bass- wocd, ready to nail, without any dove-tailing, plan- ed on one side and both edges, Simplicity size, for $5.00 per thousand. Doohttle's size (the so called prize box, 534 wide, by 6'i high), $6.00 per thousand. These prices are for lots of not less than 500. thirty-six swarms, and from the original stock and the increase, he obtained 1576 pounds of extracted honey. Thirty of these swarms were sold at $8.00 a swarm, and the honey at 6c. per lb., making $1534.56 from the proceeds of one original swarm of bees. The feat seems to me hardly possible, and I am in- clined to think the newspaper reporters got the story a little mixed, as they often do. In the cli- mate of California, with plenty of empty combs, and by purchasing queens for the swarms, it might, perhaps, be done, but this would hardly be fairly the proceeds from a single colony. I have given the statement, because it will probably go the rounds of the papers. I have never had a complaint, so far as I know, of the Clark cold blast smoker's going out, but have had several of the Simplicity form, which is prefer- red by far the larger part of our customers. The difficulty proved to be that the tube on the end of the cone, was so small, that the blast tube too near- ly tilled some of them, thus choking the draft. To all having such troubles, we will send a new cone, free of charge, with a larger tube in it. To show you how to start them, we now fill each smoker with rotten elm wood, and all you have to do, is to hold a lighted match before the draft hole, while you work the bellows, and in a twinkling your smoker will be roaring like a drum stove. These are the only smokers that I know of, that can be set in full blast instantly, by simply lighting a match. m m m A bran new book, on a subject I am interested in, if a good one, gives me about as much keen enjoy- ment, as anything I can think of, and when L. C. Root's new Quinbt/s Ber-Kecping was put into my hands yesterday, I felt as if I could not go on with my work, until I had seen every page. It has beautiful paper, beautiful print, and is full of pict- ures ; pen pictures, too, of the author's own experi- ence with bees, hives, and honey. Somehow, I can not help regretting that friend Root advises a hive with the frame standing on the bottom board. If I am correct, he himself admits that there are but few bee-keepers who can be persuaded to use them. Truly, it takes all sorts of people to make a world. As the book has been entirely rewritten, those who have Quinby's former editions will need this all the same. I think it should be found in every bee-keep- er's library. We can mail them for $1.50. -^ ■• ■ » In Nellis' price list of supplies, which, by the way, I think it will pay you all to have, if you have got room left in your heads for so much bee literature, I notice he has made a little addition to my cup of melted wax over a lamp, as given in our price list, for fastening in fdn. The addition is a simple little strip of wood, say one of the section pieces, pressed into the cup so as to come just a little below the surface of the wax. Now dip your strip of fdn., in the melted wax until it touches this strip, and it is just right to press against the top bar of the section. To make it hold the fdn. still more firmly, use 2 parts rosin and one part melted wax, in your cup, and you may throw a section on the floor without loosening the fdn. By this plan, one girl will put in starters as fast as 3 or 4 can put the boxes together. Have your cup set in a hole in the table, and the lamp under the table, and you can do them like "smoke." We now put all of ours together in this manner. No top pieces are split, and you do not need a saw cut in it, unless you choose. 232 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. June $&$$ and §mri%§. PRUSSIC ACID IN WILD CHERRY. S NOTICE in Gleanings the question, whether the blossoms, like the fruit, of wild cherry contain prussic acid. There is no prussic acid in either the cherry or peach, any more than there is alcohol in corn or rye. Prussic acid is distilled from the cherry and peach fruit, bark, or leaves, just as alcohol is obtained from corn, by fermenta- tion and distillation. GRAY'S FEEDER. To use syrup in it, the hive must be set level, or the feeder will not hold much. It will do to wet pure sugar with water, but if it contains any Hour, it will sour very soon. That is my experience. Oxford, Ohio. D. A. McCord. LI am inclined to think you at fault, friend M. Peach stone meats certainly contain prussic acid, for a child was recently killed from eating too many of these, and an examination showed the presence of prussic acid in the stomach. I once had some honey that tasted so much like peach stone kernels, I was inclined to think it contained prussic acid. The bees that gathered it died in wintering, but you know that is not a very uncommon thing for my bees to do. You are right about the feeder.] WHEAT BRAN AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR POLLEN. Bees work first rate on wheat bran. It's fun to see them roll in it ; they just wallow around like old hens in dry ashes, and then go off with their legs full. I suppose it's an old thing, but it surprised me. Greenwood, Col., Apr. 20, '79. H. H. C. Bheece. I started in bee culture last spring, with 2 colonies. Now I have 6, and one in the woods. Collinsville, 111., Apr. 19, '79. B. G. Marcum. tenement chaff hive. The Tenement chaff hive, or 4 in one, illustrated in the Feb. No., is ahead of all others. It cast a large swarm the 25 of this month, April, which is the earliest swarm I have heard of about here. This hive now belongs to Mr. Silas, of Anderson. His bees have wintered nicely in it the past severe winter. J. M. Brooks. Columbus, Ind., April 26, 1879. HOW TO BECOME AN A B C SCHOLAR. I think I will send for your A B C in a few days, and would like you to explain how I may become one of your scholars, as I am a new beginner. I start this spring with 13 stands of bees, and will have them all to transfer, as they are all in old hives and boxes. Christian E. Rohrer. Rippon, W. Va., April 35, 1879. [The way to become an A B C scholar is to get some beos just as you have done, and commence transferring, queen rearing, introducing, Italianiz- ing, and all the other things you read about. Get into the Smilery, Ornwlery, Blasted Hopes, and every where else, except Humbugs and Swindles. I never want to see a scholar of mine in there. If you can go through it all, and keep cool and careful, proba- bly you will finally get a great crop of honey, and then will come the hardest lesson of all, perhaps. Keep cool as before, do not get slack in your work, or lazy, and by and by, you will have a class of your own, and I hope teach them a great deal bet- ter than I have done.] WHY SO MANY QUEENS DIE IN THE SPRING. What is the cause of so many queens dying this spring? I have had 6 die. Isaac Jones. Martinsville, 111., April 28, 1879. [And I have had more than 6 die. Friend J., and I can hardly say why they died either. This much I do know, that strong colonies, well protected in the chaff hives and house apiary, neither died nor had their queens die, so I conclude it is in some way connected with the spring dwindling and conse- quent demoralization of the colony.] CALIFORNIA. I will try to get you some seed of the sage this fall; it is only now commencing to bloom. I must try next spring to get a dozen lynn trees by mail from you, to plant on the banks of our creek, to see if they will not grow in California. I have had only a dozen swarms of bees yet. At the rate they swarmed last year, I would have had 350 by this time. Bees are killing their drones, and it now seems probable that Southern California will not yield more than a third crop of honey this year, perhaps not so much. R. Wilkin. San Buena Ventura, Cal., April 29, '79. I have wintered safely, on summer stands, in Sim- plicity hives, with bees on 3 frames. The hives were contracted with chaff division boards (a la Root), and the upper stories were filled with chaff. Most of my neighbors lost heavily. The two, one dollar queens purchased of you last year proved to be purely fertilized, producing finely marked workers and they are also good layera. John T. Gardner. Hamilton, Ohio, April 21, 1879. IMPORTANCE OF SKILL AND CARE IN HANDLING THE COMBS. I received your card and am sorry enough that I cannot reasonably ask you to send me another queen, right off, although I am ever so anxious to have her here. I have now three queenless colo- nies. I accidentally killed one queen the other day, while fussing in the hive ; and, by the way, Mr. Root, it does seem a little strange that I hear of no more such accidents. Why, Sir, I scarcely ever work round a hive any length of time, without kill- ing some" bees, when I am quite careful, too. Milford, Del., Apr. 22, '79. Alex. Henry. The three, dollar queens you sent me last Aug. and Oct., prove to be beauties. One raises the larg- est and yellowest bees that I ever saw. My bees came through good and strong, but three swarms having been lost; two starved, and one winter killed. I have over 50 now. H. S. Ross. Brighton, Mich., April 28, 1879. SPRINKLING SULPHUR ON WILD BEE 5 TO FIND THEIR TREE. I have a box hive with glass sides, in which I have a colony of blacks. I have given bees going into the hive, a thorough coating with flower of sulphur (see letter of Dr. Ruff, on page 381, Nov. 1878), and have failed to discover any disturbance in con- sequence thereof. Some of the bees would keep right on into the cluster ; others would stop on the inside of the hive and brush themselves with their legs, the same as if they had been rolled in meal. D. H. Kelton. Ft. McKavett, Texas, April 28, 1879. I am sorry to see that you lost so heavily in bees, the past winter. I followed your advice in prepar- ing for winter, and did not lose a pint of bees out of 10 colonies, wintered on the summer stands. One morning, the thermometer showed 22° below zero. Two thirds of the bees in this vicinity are dead. The spring is two weeks later with us, than last spring. Shamburg, Pa., May 7, '79. D. L. Oiler. [It was once Faid of a physician, that he, like a guide post, pointed the way continually to others, but never went himself. If the way I have pointed out is a good one, I will try, friend O., and go in it myself hereafter.] GIVING BEES A FLY. I went into winter quarters with 41 colonies of Italians and came out with 40, all in good condition. The other died of starvation. I put my bees in a dry cellar, in Nov., and leave them entirely alone till I take them out in the spring. Don't believe in giving them a fly. Jeremy Lake. North Easton, Mass., May 8, 1879. You should warn beginners, and all, against wear- ing black hats among bees while working with them. The liability to be stung w hile handling bees with a dark colored hat on, is much greater than it would be, if a light colored hat is worn. You perhaps have noticed this. John A. Buchana n. Holiday's Cove, W. Va., May 10, 1879. [I have never noticed that bees objected to dark colors, but that fur, or anything of a wooly nature, seemed particularly offensive to them. Would not a light fur hat be as disagreeable to them as a dark one, friend B. ?] 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 233 In that Simplicity hive I bought of you last year, I have a swarm of common black bees, for which, I have been offered $12.00 this spring, so you must know they wintered nicely. Bees died off here bad- ly this last winter, but mine are all right, and have been working hard for the past 3 weeks. D. S. BASSETT. Farnumsville, Mass., May 5, 1879. We have had a splendid flow of honey this spring. The flow during the month of April was unprece- dented, and, strange to tell, the bees were too busy to raise queens and swarm. At present writing my combs are all well filled, and I intend to have them so during the summer. W. F. Roberts. Clinton, La., May 7, 1879. GOOD FOR THE "BLACKYS." On the 16th of April, 1879, 1 transferred a swarm of bees from a tree to a Simplicity hive. They gave me 75H>s. of nice white honey, and 8 L. frames filled completely with brood. They can scarcely stay in a single story hive, and gathered from fruit bloom 25fos. of honey after they were transferred. They keep all 10 of their frames nicely filled with brood. Would you call this good work for black bees? Wm. Parmerlee. Bean Blossom, Ind., May 7, 1879. [Yes, Sir !] PATENT HIVES. An agent visited me the other day, with the "Van Horn Excelsior Hive" (moth proof). He and others seem to be selling a good many "farm rights," at $10, in this and other parts of the state. Please tell us in Gleanings, if they have a patent. W. A. McPhail. Pleasanton, Texas, April 28, 1879. [I do not know of the hive you mention, nor can I think it worth the trouble to hunt up patents. Past experience in any neighborhood in our land will demonstrate that the money paid out for patent right bee hives is worse than thrown away ; will it not ? Look about you and see.] ported only by the wires, they are embeded in the f dn. If the fdn. is too warm or if too much pressure is applied, the wires will pass entirely through. If, after the wires are inserted, the fdn. bends between them, it can be made straight again by placing the frame over a board made to fit inside and passing the roller over it. During the past week, I have filled a hundred or more frames with fdn. wired in this way, and my bees are now drawing out the cells. That you may see how little they care for the wire, I send you a portion of a frame which was placed in a hire at 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon, and taken out early this morning. You will see that it is nearly drawn out and partly filled with eggs. I also send you a "Foundation Wire Fastener." It can be used when made longer or with greater diameter, but I like the small size best, as you can get nearer the top and bottom bars. I do not fasten the fdn. to the top bar; I simply place it close to the bar; the bees fasten it. A. H. K. Blood. Quincy, Mass. Many thanks, friend Blood, for so gener- ously and promptly giving us the benefit of your little invention. The comb is certainly as perfect as one could desire, and I really cannot tell by examination on which side of the wire the fdn. was placed. Although the wires are less than H inches apart, there is not a single badly shaped cell on either side of the sample sent. Below we give a cut of the little roller. FOUNDATION ON WIRES. HAVE been experimenting for some time to in- sert wires in my foundation. After considera- ble thinking, the idea popped into my head, that if I should sew the wire into the frames, as you have suggested in Gleanings, and then place them In a hot oven, the wires would sink into the fdn. when placed upon them. I was quite sure this would work, so the next day I roasted a frame well, and placed the fdn. on the wires. Imagine my surprise to find that the wires did not sink into the fdn. enough to make a mark! The fine tinned wire (No. 36) cooled almost instantaneously, after being re- moved from the oven. This was failure No. 1. Next, it seemed probable to me that, if I should place the fdn. on a board large enough to fit inside the frame, and then heat the fdn. until soft, I could cause the wires to sink into it any depth by pressing them upon it. The heat of the sun not being suffi- cient to soften the wax, I placed it on the board in the oven. As soon as it softened, I placed a frame over it, and caused the wires to sink into it n icely. I then attempted to raise the frame, when, behold! ] out came the wires and fdn. stuck fast to the board I This, certainly, was not a success. Seeing that the wires would go into the fdn., I next tried to soften the fdn. with the wires under it. This was easily done, but I found I needed some- thing to press the fdn. onto the wires. After using various things I made what I call our— FOUNDATION WIRE INSERTER. To U9e this, sew the wire into the frames, place the fdn. on the wires, and set the frames in the sun or above a hot stove (I use the latter), until the fdn. is soft enough to sag a little between the wires, then pass the roller over the fdn., and as it is sup- BLOOD'S FDN. WIRE INSERTER. It is made of hard wood, is 5i inches long and I in. in diameter, and is held in a heavy wire frame as shown in the cut. I will fur- nish the implement for 20c, or 25c by mail, if friend B. does not object, and 1 will pay him $5.00 for his invention. Do not send any more Jan. and Feb. Nos. That offer of 20c. each "fetched 'em." ^ ■•■ ^ The Bee-Keeper's Exchange has now caught up ex- cept the March No. The name is a good one ; it is really an exchange of thought between real, live, sharp bee-keepers. Some of them may be rather young, and some of the plans given may need some remodeling, but if your humble servant is not the one to have a broad charity for such, I don't know who is. Let us give friend Nellis and the Exchange a lift, boys, for his paper is certainly worth the small sum he asks for it. ^ i»i *m • Although we have had some reports of dwind- ling with chaff packing, we have had a far greater number which point unmistakably, in favor of chaff packing. Of bees that wintered nicely in cel- lars, many suffered badly, if not packed in chaff after they were taken out. Well made house apia- ries seem to have given the best results. Although it may be hard to tell in all cases, why the bees died, it is very certain that frosty nights in the spring had very much to do with it, and I know of nothing that will so effectually remedy this difficulty, as a warm, well made house apiary. 234 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. June At this date, May 26th, nothing- has been heard from our 100 imported queens. I presume it is on account of the backwardness of the season, which extends to Italy, as well as through our own coun- try. For the same reason, very few dollar queens have as yet been sent out. Several lots are on the way, and you may expect them speedily, in our new large cages. By introducing them into these large cages, with lots of bees, we are spared the task of introducing them to hives. QUEEN REARING. I regret that I can send you no queens, at present. The very unfavorable weather has delayed the busi- ness very much, so that I am now away behind on orders. I will notify you as soon as I can supply you. I have already received more orders than I had last season by July 1st. Thanks. E. M. Hayhurst. Kansas City, Mo., May 16, 1879. Dear Friend:— May I ask all readers of Gleanings to send me any insects, spiders, etc., which may at- tack or injure bees. Send in a close tin box, by mail, and if the insects etc. are dead, wrap in cotton to prevent injury. I will figure and describe for Gleanings all sent. A. J. Cook. Lansing, Mich., May 21, 1879. HOME MADK FDN. I would like to answer through Gleanings, many inquiries, by saying I am not prepared to furnish wood fdn. machines. I gave my description so that any one could make them. I have brood now in flat bottomed cells on fdn. made from wooden dies. Conklin, N. Y., May 20, 1879. W. Ruger. FLAT BOTTOMED FDN. I have tried some of the flat bottomed fdn., and the bees will not work on it until they cut away all the side walls, and dent the bottoms of the cells, as in their own combs. I think it no better than a sheet of wax, which 1 have found to be a perfect nuisance. E. M. Johnson. Mentor, O., May 22, '79. THE 20 HIVE HOUSE APIARY. A HOUSE APIARY FOR 20 HIVES. fjWENTY chaff hives with all the inside furniture, wintering cushions, &c, cost - just $100.00. The above house apiary, similarly furnished, all painted, complete, we can furnish for the same sum. As it is made of foot boards, it is, as you will see by the cut, 7 feet wide and 9 feet long. The ceiling is 7 feet above the floor. The walls are made warm by several tbicknesses of building paper. The space above the ceil- ing is rilled with sawdust, as it also is under the floor. The ventilator and alighting boards are put on with screws, that they may be taken off for shipment. There are four rows of hives, five above, and five be- low on each side. You will observe that the end hives have their entrances in the ends of the building, the two next the centre ones having theirs as far away from the cen- tre ones as the size of the hive will allow, the bees going out from the corner of the hive. The price of the whole house, in the flat, will be $75.00. If all of the inside fur- niture is omitted, the price will be $50.00 set up, or $37.50 in the flat. You see, when your house is locked up and the key in your pocket, no one can meddle with your bees, or steal your honey. Just think how happy you will feel when you see it coming into town, on a flat bottomed car, with the stars and, stripes waving from the — the — "mast head." You know we can send you the key through the post-office. Eor $200.00 more, we will send you 20 nice colonies of Italians, to man it completely, ready to "sail." If you think you can make one cheaper, I think the ABC and the above directions will enable any good carpenter to do it. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 235 The contents of this leaf and the one following arc not directly connected witli the subject of bee-culture. On this account, I make no charge for them, and, if you choose, you can cut them out without reading. \ur Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling'. -Phil. '2; 12. MAD I decided to write, under a fictitious name, as I have written and as I am — ' going to write to-day, or had I describ- ed some imaginary character who had passed through these struggles with right and wrong, many of my friends would have far less objection to these home papers. While I have no disposition to criticise those who use fiction as a means of illustrating truth, I do not feel right in doing so myself. I much prefer to give plain facts. When you feel like protesting against my speaking of myself as I do, please bear in mind that I am throwing all personal feeling out of the question, and talking of myself precisely as I would give a history of a machine, and that I go into details, precisely as I would in directing you how to make a similar ma- chine, showing up the errors in its construc- tion, with an entire absence of any feeling other than a desire to do good, and to help mankind. I wish my personal friends to bear this in mind ; it matters far more what I am now than what I was once. I wish to go back to that Monday morning when I first started out to follow my Savior. A friend suggested while criticising these Papers, that I had pictured myself a prince among sinners, and doubtless intended pict- uring myself a prince among saints after my conversion. In telling the plain truth as nearly as I could with God's help, in the first part of my biography, perhaps he was pretty nearly right, but had I been able to say. that I was a new man so far as to be without sin. after my conversion, I should most assuredly never have written a word. That Monday morning, I was, witli per- haps the one exception I have spoken of, the same A. I. Root that I had been all my life before, only with a changed purpose. I found within an hour, almost, that pride, anger, ambition, and a host of other evil im- pulses remained very much as they did be- fore, ready to push forward at the slightest encouragement, and I began to be appalled at the fearful task I had undertaken. I gaz- ed at the world before me, and was tempted to turn back ; but, remembering the prom- ise, I could only say again and again, "Help, O my Savior, help me." Every time came the answer, 'T am near: fear not, but go on." One of the first impulses was not to say a word about it to my partner, but to let her see what a "changed man" I was. and at the bare thought came a feeling of pride; but conscience said at once, let there be no hid- ing, but let everything be plain and outspok- en. Then, when telling, tier, what I was going to do, came a disposition to boast of how I would sacrifice property and life, if need be, for the new cause, and although conscience said "Stop! stop!" if I recollect aright, I said some things winch plainly in- dicated that no great amount of wisdom had yet come with the new life. Then, in my usual haste, I was going to take back part of it, but conscience said so strongly "Keep still; let the matter rest where it is," that I began to learn the very important lesson of the wisdom of leaving things in even a bad shape many times, rather than to waste words in trying to set them right. During those first few days, I heard over and over again, "Keep still; let your actions more than your words show you are trying to be a Christian. There will be plenty of talking for you to do by and by, and you will be told when, and what to say ; but until then, keep still, and wait patiently until your orders to work come." With my restless disposition, I was a lit- tle impatient at this, but I very soon found my hands full, and in a way, too, that was not a little unexpected, as well as humiliat- ing. I was going to be a Christian, and have every thought and motive pure in the sight of God. I, who had been for years liv- ing a life of falsehood, in some respects, ex- pected in three or four days to be able to be truthful to such a degree that God, who reads one's thoughts, could see no difference between them and the words that were ut- tered to my fellow men. In trying to go through with business one day, and do this to the letter, I was utterly appalled to see what a great mountain of work needed to be done in that direction. Before nTght I be- gan to stop and hesitate at every word I ut- tered. I do not think I uttered any direct falsehoods, even if I did come very near to it a great many times ; but after a sentence had been spoken, I saw how far the impres- sion I had purposely conveyed differed from the real thought that was in my mind. Worst of all, I began to fear that it was im- possible to do business successfully, and be absolutely truthful. My customer would hold up a piece of jewelry and say, "Mr. Root, you charge a dollar for that article, and I do not believe it cost you over 75c." Perhaps the real truth of the case was, that it did not cost 70c, but it seemed to me then utterly impossible to explain to him why goods of that description could not be sold at the close figures of the necessaries of life, which were sure sale and no losses from styles changing, etc. What reply should I make? lie was watching me closely, and every word I could think of in the way of a reply was sure to convey to him the idea, that I had paid more than 75c. for the pin. Excuses for doing so came, lots of them; such as, that a great many of such goods got out of style, and did not sell at all, and that about a bushel of these goods lay in a drawer near me, that I would be glad to sell out for a tenth part of cost, and the pin, in that way, cost a great deal more than 75c. A better impulse kept saying, which is worth the more, to have that new Presence say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant," or to succeed in making a sale, by doing as every body else does? I could tell the man he had no right to ask such a ques- 236 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Juiste tion, and that I would not tell him what my goods cost, but could I say it in kindness ? Could I sell him the pin truthfully, in the same way in which I would urge him to be- come a Christian? I wish to digress a little on this point. Shortly after this, a wholesale jeweler with whom I dealt much, called on me. I knew he had been suddenly convert- ed, a year before, and had been very active in the Young Men's Christian Association. I bought a bill of goods of him. but he did not say a word on tbe subject of religion. I spoke of it, and asked him if he could go on with business and tell the whole truth square and sharp. lie rather evaded it, and finally confessed that he could not. Said he, "Mr. Root, I would have lost a sale of $800.00 worth of goods yesterday, if I had stuck to the whole truth on some gold rings. Other dealers warranted them full 18k., and he would not buy them, unless I did the same. Neither would he buy some other goods he wanted, unless he could have the rings at the price named. If other peo- ple would be truthful I could be so, too, and get along ; but a man would starve on the road, who attempted to tell all lie knew about his goods. It cannot be done." "Then cannot a jeweler be a Christian?" "I do not see how he can." "If that he the case, I shall stop being a jeweler from this minute ; but. my friend, I cannot for a moment think that truthfulness in business can be carried to such an ex- treme, as to injure the business in the long run." This man failed in business soon after, paying but a small amount on the dollar. It is a terrible thing to lose all one's property, but a far more terrible one, to me, to lose that approving voice of conscience also, that I am sure to hear after having tried hard all day to be truthful, even though I have not succeeded as I would wish. Another great fault, connected with this one, soon began pushing its hideous propor- tions prominently into view. It is an easy matter comparatively, for me to be frank and truthful when I am in an even temper ; but when disturbed or thrown off my track by a little opposition, the case is quite a dif- ferent one. When arguing or disputing, or when rudely contradicted, my usual good sense seems to desert me, and under the in- fluence of strong excitement, if I allow my- self to talk at all, I am very sure to feel af- terward, that I have gone wide of the mark, which I have set up for a standard. From the time of my conversion up to the present, I have been obliged to keep saying to myself morning, noon, and night, almost, "Look out ! look out ! look out I" Over and over again, have I been obliged to ask God to forgive me for being so care- less as to let Satan entrap me in this one way, and I have asked the forgiveness of those around me for the same offense, until I am almost afraid to ever do it again. I shall come to this again further on. It comes very natural for me to boast of what I am doing, or can do, and this, with a natural tendency to exaggerate and a sort of careless recklessness of consequences, in the course of years, had developed into a habit of making statements that might, with a very good show of justice, be denominated abominable falsehoods. Eor instance, if some one asked how much honey my whole apiary was yielding in a day, I would be very apt to say 500fts. This would make quite a sensation, and visitors coming down to view the proceeding would be pointed to a colony on the scales and told that was an average colony, and there were a hundred just like it. It would all look fair and straight, but actual weight might show a great deal less than 500ifos. Perhaps there might not be a hundred colonies, and a large number might be rearing queens and so get- ting no honey, the one on the scales also might be much more than average, and fi- nally, deducting the daily loss from evapora- tion of the honey, the weighed colony might not have gathered 5fibs. of real honey. To have it sound large, I was interested in hav- ing it as high as it could be made to seem. Now to illustrate what I am trying to get before you, suppose, for some reason, I wanted a neighbor to shut his bees up for one day during the height of the season, and should agree to pay for all the honey they would probably gather during that one day. If you please, say the number of colonies was precisely the same as mine. I should then be interested in making the daily pro- duct as low as possible. Well, how much would the difference be between the two es- timates ? By examining myself on such questions as the above, that is by standing aside, and estimating things from two stand points, I discovered myself to be a very un- reliable individual. I discovered, too, that the habit had grown to be so much a part of me, that it seemed very doubtful that I could ever learn to be as truthful and accurate as some people without such temptations are. Worst of all, when I was cornered up, and my fault was plainly shown me, the disposi- tion was so strong to stick to my first state- ment and bolster it up by all sorts of excuses, that I almost despaired at times, of ever be- ing able to come anywhere near what I felt that God demands, and which society also demands. In the little book called the Gos- pel Hymns, there are four lines that run thus : "Have we trials and temptations ? Is there trouble anywhere ? We should never be discouraged, Take it to the Lord in prayer." I had sung this so much, it had got to be almost a part of myself, and I used to go to the Lord in prayer so often with these trials and troubles, that I sometimes wondered if he never tired of hearing so much from one who, it seemed to me, made such very slow progress. I did make progress though, and I grew in wisdom's ways from the very day when I first called on my Savior to help me. It was not long before I was cheered by hearing my friends remark that I had grown so modest in my statements that I had not fairly represented things, and that I had not really done myself justice, by my modesty. Little did they know what a battle had been fought and how I had prayed over these things, thinking over and over again I should never reach my ideal of being accu- rate and truthful. What a happy, happy i879 GLEANINGS m BEE CULTURE. 237 feeling it was to look back and see that I was really making progress, and to feel that approving voice at night, when I lay down to rest. Where it was possible, I trained my- self to giving exact figures, instead of rough guesses, and some of you may remember the time, when I decided to give in each number of Gleanings the exact number of sub- scribers each month. I tried, too, to culti- vate a disposition to tell the worst side of a story, as well as the best, and to forbear tel- ling a part of the truth instead of the whole truth. After these victories, came another one that I had not foreseen. In employing many boys, and especially those I wished to help, I found those that were untruthful. The discipline I had passed through fitted me exactly, both to sympathize with and have charity for them, and to give them just the kind of help and encouragement they needed to get them to take up the task I had taken. I do not know but that Christian people, as a general thing, have just as many temp- tations as other people, and, at first thought, one might be inclined to say, inasmuch as other people, as well as Christians, fight against their besetting sins, there is little if any difference. The difference I should make" would be that unbelievers ask no help from God, and, I believe, almost, if not quite, universally try to reform themselves in certain directions, letting pet sins pass by unrestrained. I never heard of^any body that set seriously to work to reform himself in every particular, recognizing the whole of the ten' commandments, and making a clean sweep of all of his sins at once, unless he took God and the Bible to help him. Unbe- lievers are sometimes most zealous temper- ance workers, and so far as I know may ex- cel in any one of the virtues, but I never saw a skeptic who took the whole list of virtues and made it his study in life to re- strain all wrong tendencies at one and the same time. A year or two before my conversion, I car- ried a lot of bees to a neighboring swamp. Being busy through the week, I anticipated having a hue time with them on Sunday, and accordingly started early one Sunday morning to go and see them. As I should probably have to look the hives over consid- erably, I wore my every day clothes. On the way down, I met people dressed up and going to church, and as they looked at me curiously, I could not help feeling ashamed of my errand, and ashamed to be thus em- ployed on the Sabbath day. A frost had killed all the bloom, and the bees lost in- stead of gained. I tried to work with the bees and feel the interest and enthusiasm that I did during a week day, but a few days previous, but my conscience troubled me, and after deciding that there was nothing in the world that I cared for very much, just on that particular, dry, dusty, Sunday after- noon, I started for home. The people were returning from church at the different towns as I passed. I began studying on the matter, ami commenced a review of my life, something as I did at the time of my con- version. Finally, as I rode along on horse- back, wondering if there was a God, better thoughts began to come, and almost before I knew it, I began audibly to promise to live a different life. As the duties that would be demanded of me began to shape them- selves out, conscience lifted up prominently to view the one great sin of my life. I very soon took back my good resolutions, and de- clared it was no body's business, and I would do as I pleased. I did not go to bed much happier that Sunday night, you may be sure, as I reviewed the events and the work of the day, but hardened as I was, I made up my mind that I did not enjoy work- ing with bees on Sunday, when all of the best people were passing continually, on their way to church. Again ; when a man deliberately sins in one direction, he will be pretty apt sooner or later, to sin in other ways. I will illustrate it. I used, at one time in my life, to drink a great deal of ale. It was first advised by a physician, and I used to keep a keg of it in my cellar and treat visitors occasionally. My partner was very strong in her ideas of temperance, and finally I promised that I would drink no more beer. I always kept a promise made to any body else, I believe ; it was only those made to myself, that I was in the habit of breaking. I never drank a glass of beer afterward. I used to be a little proud of this, even if it did cause me to exercise some self control, and I used to tell her that I had never drank a glass since, that she might think she was exercising a good influ- ence over me. Well, one summer, we got out of honey barrels, and not being able to get any more at once, some whisky barrels were purchased. After filling a couple, it was discovered that the whisky had not all been poured out, and that some was standing on top of the basswood' honey in the bung hole. My partner touched her finger to the honey, and told me it tasted of whisky. I replied it was a little on the surface that would soon evaporate and do no harm, and knowing her antipathy to it, purposely changed the conversation. After our work was over, I went down to the honey house, after dark, cut a stem from a pumpkin vine near by, and sucked the whisky from the surface of those barrels. There was not as much as I expected, for, in fact, it was only a taste, and knowing my wife had a bottle of brandy in the house, I went and got it, mix- ed it with the honey, and drank until it was with difficulty I could walk. Had not a friend called to see me just then, I do not know where it would have ended. This il- lustrates the point I wish to get at exactly. I had given a faithful promise not to drink any beer, and I knew, full well, this promise was exacted with the understanding, that I should not get into a habit of using intoxi- cants. Because of that promise, I would not drink beer, but I did not scruple an in- stant, to evade it in the way I have mention- ed, simply excusing myself by saying to my conscience, I had made no promise not to drink whisky. One who has given a prom- ise toman is in much the same attitude; but one who has made a promise to God, and fears him, and him only, stands square- ly on a mighty rock, compared with the oth- er. Crippled by sin as I then was, my self 238 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Juke respect gone, it would have been idle to ex- pect any thing else of .me than just such conduct as I have illustrated and narrated. Do you not see why we want God in it, if we expect a man to reform, and why we want him to become a Christian rather than a member ef any temperance society ? For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.— James 2 ; 10. Once more, I will ask you to go back to that Monday morning. I had not yet at- tended any of the meetings that were then in session, but I began to feel it was time for me to take my place among Christian people. It was a union meeting. Four ministers, of as many denominations, occu- pied the pulpit. All four spoke during the evening, and, to my great joy, I discovered that they all spoke in the same way, and agreed like a lot of brothers. • How peaceful and harmonious they and their different peoples all seemed. Why it was so plain and simple there seemed no possible chance for any body to take exceptions to anything. I felt when the first one spoke that I should love him all his life, for the kind words he uttered, so exactly fitted to my case. When the next spoke, I felt the same way, and so on with them all. I tell you, my friends, the sight of all the ministers of a place joined hand and hand in any cause, is enough to move almost any body. After they had done speaking, an old gray haired gentleman made a few remarks, audi felt as if I must go straight to him and take him by the hand and thank him, for saying just exactly what I would have said; an opportunity was giv- en for others to speak ; but I sat in my seat trembling, and my heart beating so I really feared those sitting by me would hear it and know what a coward I was. It seemed to me then, that it would be an unheard-of crime, if any body should know how weak and foolish I was, and how I feared to stand up and acknowledge that I was no longer an infidel, but wanted to be among them. 1 was afraid I should blunder and not say it right. What a terrible thing that would 1 >e . to get up in meeting and talk disconnected- ly! Suppose I should burst out crying; "Awful! awful!" Satan kept Whispering, "If you should, you would never want to show your face again among these nice peo- ple," and so I obeyed him and sat still. The time passed, and meeting was about to be closed. I had not risen. Conscience began to upbraid, and bitterly did I repent. "Then Set up now." I had half decided to do this, ut Satan put in, "Why, what are you think- ing of v would you get up in such an out of place way, during the closing exercises? You will be the joke of the whole town." And so meeting was closed, and I had not so much as stood on my feet, to show that I was willing to confess my Savior. I spoke to my wife about it, while going home. "Why, you can get up to-morrow night," said she, "they are going to have meetings all the week." "But suppose I should die before to-mor- row night V" i She tried to tell me thaA God would take care of me, if I was sorrr for having been backward in my duties, but I had no peace until the next night came. I counted tire hours and minutes, until it was time to go to meeting again. I tell you, my friends, there is danger. If the individual who feels these promptings to get up before his fellows does not die, the good resolutions often do, and this amounts to pretty much the same thing. Never mind the fear and trembling. Paul knew, when he uttered the words at the opening of my chapter to day. Go ahead, and thank God that you do fear and tremble. It is a plain and sure indication that you are on the right track, in one re- spect at least, for you have an anxiety to do right. The next evening I was ready to stand up, the very minute an opportunity was given. My words, if I recollect aright, were these: "I have been all my life a busy man. I hope to be a busy man still; but I am re- solved, hereafter, to be busy in God's work first, and my own after that." The new guiding voice of conscience gave me a feeling of approval, and seemed to say I had said enough, and not too much. I did not think until after I had sat down, how much was implied in the words I had almost unconsciously chosen. It was said before my townspeople, and could not well be taken back. There was no way open but to follow it out. More than once have those words mapped out my future course of con- duct, since that night, and more than once have I been restrained from sin, by the thoughts of the words I have used before my classes and Sunday school. More than once, have the words of cheer spoken to the boys in jail lifted and cheered up my own heart. I think there is an indication of God's wis- dom in this. What one has publicly exhort- ed others to do, he is, if he be at all consis- tent, quite likely to do himself. Therefore speak out ; when a good thought or resolu- tion comes into your heart, speak it out to your fellows, and then ask God to help you follow it. One who wishes to be helped, must help others. On going home that evening with my wife, a little, rude gate stood open across the side walk. We had to turn out a little to get by it. The new Presence seemed to make a beckoning motion for me to enter. My brother lived there. I had passed that little gate at least six times a day for years, but never thought of going in. We could not agree, and there was, of late, estrange- ment between us. We wei'e both skeptics, it is true, and as we both agreed on religion, it would seem natural that we might, at least, be brotherly. 1 wonder if skepticism ever makes brothers— well, let us say broth- erly. It assuredly did not make me so. How about religion? When I was told to go into that open gateway, I objected, by say- ing that he was a skeptic, and would ridi- cule the whole of it. Said the new Monitor, "It don't matter if he does ; ridicule will not hurt you. Do your duty, no matter what others do. Tell him his brother that" 1 made up my mind to go the next morning. I went up to the door and knocked. The family were perhaps a little surprised at see- 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 239 ing me, but they all gave me a kind wel- come. Some way, as soon as I came in, my own conduct toward this brother, in the years that had passed, began to loom up be- fore me in colors that by no means contribu- ted to my tranquility. I tried to talk, but the talking machinery was someway clog- ged, and not a word could I say. They all looked distressed, and anxiously inquired what was the mattter. I smiled through my tears, and managed to say. I had drop- ped in to tell them 1 had "come back home.'1 '•('(line hack home?" said my brother, in surprise. kTes. I have come back home, to stay the rest of my life I hope. Do you remember, my brother, the companion' of your child- hood? the brother with whom you used to play all day long? Do you not remember our boats, our lish ponds, our little saw mills, and all those happy days? Well, I, that brother, have come back, and with God's help, I expect to stay the rest of my life. Will you forgive me for my past unkind and selfish life?" Reader, do you believe there lives a broth- er that could resist that ? He came and took me by the hand, and while tears ran down his cheeks, he and his wife told me how pained and hurt they had been at my cold- ness, and how they had given me up, as one who was so much absorbed in his own pur- /v^uits, that they never need expect to see me otherwise. "If this is religion," said he, "0 let the world have more of it ; for I did not know there was a power on earth, that could bring you here as you have come this morn- ing." In that first prayer, I asked God to give me my childhood back. How is it, my friends? Was not that prayer answered? Before long, I visited others of my brothers and sisters, and nearer and dearer, have they all been from that day to this. Once I al- most dreaded to hear that a brother or sister was' coming to see me, for fear they should read my guilty heart, but now my heart thrills with pleasure at the thought o.f their coming, or even at the sight of a letter from any one of them. Reader, have you a broth- er or sister on this wide earth that you are not on friendly terms with ? If so, go this minute, I implore you, and make peace with them ere it be too late. Forget all and ev- erything. I do not care what the circum- stances are, with the Savior's love in your heart, and with a perfect willingness to heed that guiding voice of conscience, you can, in time, soften the hardest heart. Re- member your childhood days ; remember the mother who loved you both, and who loves you still; remember the pain you cause her by persisting in that foolish and profitless pride that would make you hold aloof from your own fiesh and blood. .Shake off the spell that Satan has cast over you, in making you think there can be any excuse for such estrangement; it is Satan's work, the whole of it, and he will lead you along in this way, just as surely as he leads an intemperate man, or as he led myself. Satan tears down, brings alienation, sets brother against brother and husband against wife; nay, farther, besets a man against himself, and, if he could, would persuade him to take his own life. He is not confined to one way, but has so many, that you arc in danger of being entrapped, when you least expect it. The religion of the Bible is direct- ly the opposite ; it raises, strengthens, does away witli quarrels and troubles, carries peace and good will every where, softens hard hearts, brings back childhood, and, in short, makes mankind over again into God's own image. Dare any of you say that it was not the hand of God that pointed the way into that open gate, and bid me fear not the result of following the promptings of that guiding voice ? JUST BEFORE G0IN& TO PRffi LThe contents of this department are supposed to be given in an informal way, just before the last form is placed in the press. You can imagine my- self,-hat in one hand (said hat being covered with sawdust, honey, bees wax, printers ink, etc.), and the other hand on the door knob, just ready to bid you good day until next month, giving you a sum- mary of the last items of interest in the way of new discoveries, etc. The press man will probably cut my talk suddenly short, by telling me he cannot possibly squeeze in another single word, saying noth- ing about line or lines.] WmHE WESTERN HONEY BEE is the title of a J8|| queer sort of a bee journal published in Leba- ^ki non, Mo. If you will send for a sample copy you will know all about it. Its funny editor, Dr. Harrison, has invented a $5 COMB FOUNDATION MACHINE, which he describes as a book with one leaf and two covers. This leaf and the inside surfaces of the cov- ers are embossed like fdn. mill rolls. To use it, the covers are folded back and used for handles, while the leaf is used as a dipping sheet. Before the wax gets cold, the covers are closed upon it, the whole dipped in water, and two sheets of fdn., just right for your frames, are dropped out. It does not seem to have occurred to Dr. H. that this machine will put fdn. into the wired frames just like a "book," so I suppose I can claim this idea as myffj invention. See what the Dr. says of this fdn. "There is no danger of sagging with the fdn. made on this machine, as The grain of the wax is not broken." ****** "We have seen the bees working on it ten minutes after it was inserted in our observing hive. The queen in the observing hive left the old combs im- mediately and went to the foundation and laid sev- eral hundred eggs right on the septum." I sent a telegram for a machine, the minute the journal was put into my hands. Now listen to another friend. FDN. WITH SQUARE CELLS. (SEE PAGE 327.) "Card of 16 inst. received. Sheets with square cells are built out and filled with brood in all stages. Cells are finished up in hexagonal shape, nearly as regular as natural comb, or that built on the best and most perfect fdn. I have tried square cells on 15 or 20 stands, putting in also the regular fdn. got from you. The square cells are worked out first and fastest, but I attribute this to the fact that my sheets were made of good, fresh, yellow wax, while that I got from you is harder and darker, and also older. Wax sheets get hard by age; have you ever noticed that? In making the square celled sheets, so far, I have simply used the two pine boards, a tub of water, a bench, and a hammer. I soak the boards in the wa- ter (not too cold) a little while, take both out, wipe them off with my hand, lay one on the bench, dip 1 he other in melted wax, lay it on the first and strike wilh the hammer, slap both blocks in the water and shake them about a little, when they will come apart and the sheet fall out. My dipping board is pine. A handle is put in the centre so I can dip it without getting wax on my 240 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. June fingers, and turn it up and let it cool without having extra wax running to one side, and thus make sheets of uniform thickness." Martinsville, 111., May 26, '79. J. F. Lafferty. I have no doubt that the bees will work oat more quickly, the rough, porous, fresh wax, and I think very likely the sheets will not sag, but why does not the Dr. tell us how many square feet he gets to the lb. Perhaps so much wax is used, that this home made fdn. is very expensive after all. Now, I have made a "big" invention too. I cannot illustrate it this month, but I will give you the idea briefly. Take your wife's washboard (with her con- sent), and make it so that it will hold water when laid down level. You can stop up the ends of the grooves with bees wax, if they are not tight. Now fill the largest glass jar you can get with water, and lay a paper over the mouth until you can invert it and stand it on the wash board. You see this will keep the grooves full of water as long as any is left in the jar, but the water will never run out of the jar, unless it is drawn out of these grooves or troughs. Set it Out in the yard, a little ways off from the apiary, and lay lumps of sugar on the wash- board. The water will soak up into the sugar, and the bees will lick up the lumps as easily as they would lick honey from the flowers. You can use candied or thick honey, grape sugar, brown sugar, or any thing else, and not a bee will get soiled or stuck up in the least, and when the food is gone, the machine will wash itself as clean as your wife could do it. You have nothing to handle, but clean water, and dry sugar. I guess I shall have to name this The Capillary Feeder. In place of the wash- board, you can make grooves in aboard, the grooves reaching not quite out to the ends of the board. My first one was made with the grooving saws we use for making sections. We have, to-day, May 28, 107 colonies of bees, and 4.421 subscribers. During this month, I will pay for nice yellow beeswax, 25c in cash or 30c in trade. May 27th. — Just received from S. D. Moore, At- lanta, Ga., 27 dollar queens, every one alive, and every one of them beauties. There seems a pros- pect now, that we shall soon be able to send all queens by return express, as we did the greater part of last year. I expect to have them right on the table, ready to address, the minute your letter is opened. Won't that be fun all around? P. S.— May 29th.— More queens received. Shall now be able to fill all orders for "dollar" queens to- day. Send on your orders. I SHALL continue to keep on hand, and offer at reasonable rates, a full variety of Bee-Keepers' Supplies; such as Muth's All metal Honey Extractors, Uncapping1 Knives, Wax Extractors, etc. Also Langstroth's Bee Hives, and any Parts thereof , . 1 A 2 lb. Square Glass Honey Jars, with Tin Foil Caps and Labels, [Corks, V2 lb. Glass Tumblers, Fruit Jars, etc. Comb Foundation, Bee Veils, Gloves, Straw Mats, Alsike Clover, and a variety of Garden and Field Seeds, etc., etc. For further particulars, address CHAS. F. MTTTH, 976 and 978 Central Ave., 2-12d Cincinnati, O. (NUCLEUS SWARMS & QUEENS.) One-half lb. of Bees sent in wire basket for $1 00 in addition to the price of the queen. These are more bees than are usually sent in a two frame nu- cleus, while the express charges are less. They can readily be built up to a full stock, with brood from other hives, and save all risk of introducing. Tested Queens in June $2 50 Warranted " " " 1 25 " after " 1 00 My queens are bred from best imported stock, and I warrant safe arrival and perfect satisfaction. 6tfd E. M. HAYHURST, Kansas City, Mo. Addition to Lewis & Park's Advertisement. All sections grooved for foundation. No charge for boxing. Discount on large orders. LEWIS & PARKS, Watertown, Wis. PURE TESTED QUEENS. I can furnish pure, tested queens in June, for $2.00; untested, $1.00, (per dozen, $11.00). My queens are all bred from imported mothers. Also a nice article of Comb Fdn. at a very low price. Send for sample. A. F. STAUFFER, 6 Sterling, Whiteside Co., 111. ^ A bToTbee culture Part First, will tell you all about the latest im- provements in securing and Marketing Honey, the new 1 fb. Section Honey Boxes, mak- ing Artificial Honey Comb, Candy for JBees, Bee Hunting, Artificial Swarming, Bee Moth, &c, &c. Part Second, tells all about Hive Making, Diseases of Bees, Drones, How to Make an Extractor, Extracted. Honey, Feeding and Feeders, Foul Brood, etc, etc. Part Third, tells all about Honey Comb, Hon- ey Dew, Hybrids, Italianizing, King Birds, The Locust Tree, Moving Bees, The Lamp Nursery, ITlignoniiette, Milkweed, Mother- wort, Mustard, Nucleus, Pollen, Pro- polis, and Queens. Part Fourth tells all about Rape, Raspberry, Ratan, Robbing, Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, Sage, Smokers, including instructions for making with illustrations, Soldering, Sour- wood, Stings, Sumac, Spider Flower, Sun- flower, Swarming, Teasel, Toads, Trans- ferring, and Turnip. Part Fifth tells about TJniling Bees, Veils, Ventilation, Vinegar, Wax, Water for Bees, White wood, and Wintering. It also includes a Glossary of Terms and Abbrevia- tions used in Bee Culture. |^~A11 are Profusely Illustrated with En- gravings. Nothing Patented. Either one will be mailed for 25c; V2 doz., $1.25; 1 doz., $2.25; 100, by express, $15.00. The five parts bound in one, in paper, mailed, for $1,00. At wholesale, same price as Gleanings, with which it may be clubbed. If sent by Express" or freight, 10c less on each copv. If bound in cloth, add 25c to each copy. A. I. ROOT, MSuina, Ohio. CHEAP GLASSWARE. For cheap Jars and Glasses send postal card to the undersigned for price list. M. H. TWEED, 6 Mansfield Valley, Allegheny Co., Pa. FLAT BOTTOM COMB FOUNDATION. High side walls, 4 to 16 square feet to the pound. Circular and samples free. J. VAN DEUSEN & SONS, Sprout Brook, 6 Sole manufacturers. Mont. Co., N. Y. HAVE YOU SEEN A COPY OF The Bee-Keepers' Exchange? If not, you will be surprised to know what a use- ful and entertaining monthly it is. Each number contains 20 pages and several illustrations. With the May Number, the publisher begins a series of articles entitled "Notes on Bee Culture." This Number also contains a full description with seven engravings of a very simple and complete bee hive. The publisher desires to make a very useful peri- odical, and to carry out his plans, a large subscrip- tion list is indispensable. His price is so low that no bee-keeper can afford to be without it. Subscrip- tion price 75c per annum, or 8c for single copies. One sample copy free. Subscribe before you forget it. We guarantee our Exchange will satisfy you or we will refund your money. Address J. H. NFLLIS, Canajoharie, N. Y. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 245 IMPLEMENTS TOR BEE CULTURE ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED. For description of the various articles, see our Nineteenth Edition Circular and Price List found in Apr. No., Vol. VII., or mailed on application. For directions How to Make all these various arti- cles and implements, sec A 1$ C of Bee Culture. This Price List to be taken in place of those of former date. Mailable articles are designated in the left hand column of figures ; the figures giving ,thc amount of postage required. Canada postage on merchandise is limited to S% oz., and nothing can he sent for less than 10 cents. 15 Alighting Board, detachable. See ABC, Part First $ 10 Basswood trees for planting. For prices see Price List Balances, spring, for suspended hive (60 lbs.) 8 00 Barrels for honey 2 50 " " waxed and painted... . 3 50 Bees, per colony, from $7 to $ Hi, for partic- | ulars see price list 10 Bee-Hunting box, with printed instructions 25 0 Binder, Emerson's, for GLEANINGS 50,00,75 10 Blocks, iron, for metal cornered frame ma- king 15 One of the above is given free with every 100 frames, or 1000 corners. 10 Burlap for covering bees. 40 in. wide, per yd 10 Buzz-Saw, foot-power, convplete; circular with cuts free on application. Two saws and two gauges included 35 00 0 | Buzz-Saws, extra, 85o, to $3.50. See price list. Tke above are all filed, and set, and mailed any where 60 Buzz-Saw mandrel and boxes complete for 6 inch saws. No saws included . . . : 5 00 The same for 7 and 8 in. saws (not mailable) 7 00 Cages for queens, wood and wire cloth, provisioned. See price list 10 " " ■" per doz 100 Candy for bees, can be fed at any season, per lb 15 Cards, queen registering, per doz 06 per 108 40 Chaff cushions for wintering (see Nov. No. for 1877) 30 " " without the chaff 15 Chaff cushion division boards 20 Cheese cloth, for strainers, per yard 10 Clasps for transferring, package of 100 25 Climbers for Bee-Hunting 2 50 Comb Basket, made of tin, holds 5 frames, has hinged cover and pair of handles 1 50 Comb Foundation Machines complete $22 to 100 00 Corners, metal, per 100 50 " " top only, per 100 60 bottom, per 100 40 On 1,000 or more a discount of 10 per cent will be made, and on 10,000, 25 per cent. The latter will be given to those who advertise metal cornered frames. I Corners, Machinery complete for making $250 00 20 IS Duck, per yd Enameled cloth, bees seldom bite and prop- olize it. Per yard, 45 inches wide, 20c. By the piece, (12 yards) Extractors, according to size of frame, $6 50 to 10 00 " inside and gearing, including honey-gate 5 00 " Hoops to go around the top 50 " " per doz 5 00 Feeder, Simplicity, (see price list) 1 pint 05 Feeders, 1 quart, tin, 10 The same, half size, 05 The same, 6 qts, to be used in upper story 50 Files for small circular rip saws, new and valuable, 20c ; per doz. by express. .. " The same, large size, double above prices " 3 cornered, for cross-cut saws, 10c; doz Frames with sample Rabbet and Clasps... Galvanized iron wire for grapevine trellises per lb. (about 100 feet) Gates for Extractors tinned for soldering. . Gearing for Extractor with supporting arm Gleanings, Vol's I and 1 1, each Vol's IV and V, each 1 00 Vol. Ill, second-hand 2 00 " first five neatly bound in one. . . 5 00 " " " unbound 4 00 2 00 1 00 10 20 50 1 25 75 Hives from 50c to $6 25 ; for particulars see price list Honey Knives, straight or curved blade. . . 1 00 lA doz 5 00 " 54 doz by Express 4 75 Labels for honey, from 25 to 50c per 100 ; for particulars see price list Lamp Nursery, for hatching queen cells as built S00 Larvae, for queen rearing, from June to Sept 25 Leather for smoker bellows, per side f>0 Lithograph of the Hexagonal Apiary 25 Magnifying Glass, Pocket 50 " " Double lens, brass on three feet 75 Medley of Bee-Keeper's Photo's, 150 photo's 1 00 Microscope, Compound, in Mahogany box 3 00 Prepared objects for above, such as bees' wing, sting, eye, foot, &c, each 25 Muslin, Indian head, for quilts and oush- ions, pretty stout, but not goodi as duck, per yard 10 Opera Glasses for Bee-Hunting 5 00 25 25 50 Parafflne, for waxing barrels, per lb . Photo of House Apiary and improvements 60 | Pump, Fountain, or Swarm Arrester. 0 Queens, 25c to $6 00. See price list 1 Rabbets, Metal, per foot Salicylic acid, for foul brood, per oz 10 1 Saw Set for Circu largaws 0 | Screw Drivers, all metal (and wrench com- 02 50 75 15 bined) 4! o inch, 10c; 5 inch, 15c. Very nice for foot-power saws Scissors, for clipping queen's wings Section boxes, fancy, hearts, stars, crosses, &c, each Section Honey box, a sample with strip of fdn. and printed instructions Section boxes in the flat by the quantity, $6 00 per thousand and upwards, accord- ing to size ; for particulars, see price list. Case of 3 section boxes, showing the way in which the separators are used, suitable for any kind of hive, see price list Seed, Alsike Clover, raised near us, per lb . . " Catnip, good seed, per oz. 10c ; per lb. " Chinese Mustard, per oz '• • Mellilot, or Sweet Clover, per lb " White Dutch Clover, per lb " Motherwort, per oz. 20c; per lb 2 00 " Mignonette, per lb. (20c per oz) 1 40 40 05 10 30 1 08 15 35 35 Simpson Honey Plant, per package 05 " " " peroz 50 18 " Silver Hull Buckwheat, per lb 10 " " " peck, by Express 75 Common " per peck 50 18 "' Summer Rape. Sow in June and J uly, per lb 15 A small package of any of the above seeds will be sent for 5 cents. Sheets of Enameled cloth to keep the bees from soiling or eating the cushions 10 Shipping Cases for 48 section frames of honey 60 The same for 24 sections, half above prices. This size oan be sent by mail in the flat, for 75c 1 Slate tablets to hang on hives 01 Smoker, Quinby's (to Canada 15c extra)l 50 & 1 75 " Doolittle's, to be held in the mouth 85 Bingham's $100; 150; 175 25 " Our own, see illustration in price list 75 Tacks, tinned, per paper, (two sizes) 05 5 j Thermometers 0 Veils, Bee, with face of Brussels net, (silk) The Same, all of grenadine (almost as good) Veils, material for. Grenadine, much stronger than tarlatan, 21 inches in width, per vard Brussels Net, for face of vail, 29 inches in width, per yard 1 50 Wax Extractor 3 50 Copper bottomed boiler for above 1 56 Wire cloth, for Extractors, tinned, per square foot 10 Wire cloth, for queen cages 10 Above is tinned, and meshes are 5 and 18 to the inch respectively Painted wire cloth, for shipping bees, 14 mesh to the inch, per square foot All goods delivered on board the cars here at prices named. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. 20 05 240 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July BOOKS for BEE-KEEPERS and OTHERS. Any of these books will be forwarded by mail, post- paid, on receipt of price. In buying books, as every thing else, we are liable to disappointment, if we make a purchase without seeing the article. Admitting that the bookseller could read all the books he offers, as he has them for tale, it were hardly to be expected he would be the one to mention all the faults, as well as good things about a book. I very much desire that those who fa- vor me with their patronage, shall not be disappoint- ed, and therefore, I am going to , try to prevent it by mentioning all the faults so far as I can, that the purchaser may know what he is getting. In the fol- lowing list, books that I approve, I have marked with a *; those I especially approve,**; those that are not up to times, +; books that contain but little matter for the price, large type and much space between the lines, *; foreign, §. BOOKS ESPECIALLY FOR BEE-KEEPERS. A B C of Bee Culture, Part First, Second, Third Fourth or Fifth 25 A B C of Bee Culture. Parts 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th & Fifth in one Vol. Paper, $1.00. Cloth.. 125 Cook's New Manual** 1 25 The same in Paper 1 00 Quinby's New Bee-keeping** 1 50 Langstroth on the Hive and Honey Bee**+. ... $2 00 Bee-keeper's Text Book*.. Revised, Muslin... 100 " " " " *.. " Paper 75 A Manual of Bee-keeping, by John Hunter*§ . . 1 25 Dzierzon Theory** 20 How I made $350 a Year with my Bees+§ 25 "Blessed Bees"* A fascinating book, but it is fiction and not facts. Price 1 00 Putnam's Sons Honey as Food and Medicine 10 Art of Saw-filing** 75 Fuller's Grape Culturist** 1 50 MISCELLANEOUS HAND BOOKS. Ten Acres Enough** 1 00 Five Acres too Much** 1 50 Tim Bunker Papers* 1 50 An Egg Farm, Stoddard** 50 Book on Birds, Holden* 25 Window Gardening 1 50 Purdy's Small Fruit Instructor* 25 How to Use The Microscope 75 Play and Profit in my Garden* 1 50 "Our Digestion," By Dio Lewis** 2 00 Onion Culture* 20 Potatoe Pests, by Prof. Riley** 50 Practical Floriculture* 1 50 Gardening for Profit** 1 50 Strawberry Culturist, Fuller* 20 Small Fruit Culturist, Fuller* 1 50 Forest Tree Culturist, Fuller* 1 50 How to Build Hot- Houses, Leuchar§ 1 50 Draining for Profit and Health, Warring 1 50 What I know of Farming, Horace Greely 1 50 Injurious Insects, Prof. A. J. Cook** 10 How to Make Candy** 50 Fret Sawing for Pleasure and Profit** 50 Moody's Best Thoughts and Discoui'ses** 75 Moody and Sankey's Gospel Hymns, words only 06 " " " words and music, paper 30 " " " " " boards 35 Tracy's "Mother and Her Offspring" 1 50 Harpers Bros Manual of Vegetable Plants, in paper 30 Tillinghast, Factoryville, Penn Gray's School and Field Book of Botany 2 50 How To Paint, Gardner 1 00 "The Life of Trust" by Geo. Muller 1 50 Treatise on the Horse and his Diseases 25 BOOKS THAT I HAVE NEVER EXAMINED, BUT THAT ARE IN GOOD REPUTE. American Angler, Norris $5 50 American Bird Fancier 30 Apple Culturist, Todd 1 50 American Fruit Culturist, Thomas 3 75 American Pomology, Warder 3 00 A Simple Flower Garden, Barnard 38 American Weeds and Useful Plants 1 75 American Wheat Culturist, Todd 1 50 Burn's Architectural Drawing Book 1 00 Broom Corn and Brooms paper 50 cloth 75 Bommer's Method of Making Manures 25 Bement's Rabbit Fancier 30 Burr's Vegetables of America 3 00 Canary Birds paper 50 cloth 75 Cooked and Cooking Food for Domestic Animals, 20 Cranberry Culture, White Cotton Culture, Lyman Cranberry Culture Cider Maker's Manual, Buist Carpentry Made Easy, Bell Cotton Planter's Manual, Turner Copley's Plain and Ornamental Alphabets Complete Works on Chemistry, Leibig Dana's Muck Manual Darwin's Variations of Animals and Plants. . . 2 Vols500 Earth Closets. How To Make Them, Warring. . Fruits and Fruit Trees of America, Downing. . Farmer's Barn Book Farming by Inches, Barnard Fish Culture, Garlick Flax Culture (Seven Prize Essays Practical Growers) 30 Fur, Fin, and Feather Farming For Boys Farm Implements and Machinery, Thomas Gardening For The South Gardening For Money, Barnard Gardening For Pleasure, Henderson Gardening For Ladies, Loudon Gregory On Cabbages paper Gregory On Squashes paper Gregory On Onions paper Guenon On Milch Cows Gun, Rod, and Saddle Garden Vegetables, Burr Hedges and Evergreens, Warder Hoosier Schoolmaster Hop Culture Harris on The Pig How Plants Grow, Gray 1 25 1 50 1 25 1 50 5 00 1 50 3 00 2 00 1 25 1 00 5 00 1 50 38 1 50 50 1 50 1 50 2 00 1 50 1 50 2 00 30 30 30 75 1 00 2 50 1 50 1 25 30 1 50 1 25 DOLLAR QUEENS! Untested queens, from imported mothers, during the month of July, for $1.00 each. A cage— almost a little hive— 3xtx5 inches, will be used, thus giving sufficient room, and bees enough to insure safety to the queen. Directions for introducing will accom- pany each. Safe arrival guaranteed. MISS MEROA ANDREWS, Medina, Ohio. ( i SMASHED!" This Fine Honey will be "Smashed" and Spoiled unless handled carefully. This side up. Will you please HANDLE with CARE ? From Labels like ths above, size 3x5}£, to be put on shipping cases of honey. Price by mail, 25 cts. per package of 100. A. I. ROOT, Medina, 0. Addition to Chas. Dadant k Son's Advertisement. TESTIMONIALS. The sample of fdn. is the nicest 1 have ever seen, taking all points together. G. M. Doolitti.e, Borodino, N. Y. Your fdn. received. It is O. K. It looks brightest of them all. Send me 200 lbs. more. Chas. F. Muth, Cincinnati, O. We have more of similar praises. Send for Circu- lar. CHAS. DADANT & SON, Hamilton, HI. 7tfd Scovell Valve Cut-off Smoker. Friends, if you want the handsomest and best in the market, send for the "Scovell Smoker." Tho Are barrel of my smoker is made of heavy tin, and is 2!4 in. in diameter. The bellows is hinged at the back, making the strongest and most sensible joint in use. The boards are painted a beautiful vermil- ion red, and are nicely varnished. It burns all kinds of fuel, and will hold lire for hours. Price, by mail $1.15. Manufactured by H. SCOVELL, 6-8d Columbus, Cherokee Co., Kansas. 1879 GLEANINGS m BEE CULTURE. 247 BEECULTURE FOR several years, it has been my ambition to be able to write a book on bee culture, so clear and plain that not only any boy or girl, but even an old man or woman, with the book and a hive of bees, could learn modern bee culture, and make a fair,' paying- business, ece>i the- first season. This is a great undertaking, 1 grant; audit will require some one with far greater wisdom than mine, to do it the first time trying-. After watching- beginners, and an- swering their questions almost constant Iv, for vears, I came to the conclusion, that the only way to do it was to "cut and try," as carpenters say, when they can't get the exact dimensions of the article they wish to make. To cut and try on the ABC book, I have invested over $2,000 in type, chases, etc., sufficient to keep my whole book standing constantly in type, that can be changed at a moment's notice. The books are printed only as fast as wanted, and just as soon as I see I have omitted anything, or have made any mis- take, the correction is made before any more books are sent out. To show you how it works, and how it succeeds, I will give you an illustration. A beginner writes to know if it is of any use to keep a queen, after she is eighteen days old and does not lay. Now I know very well that a queen should lay when from ten days to two weeks old; and also, that they will sometimes not commence until they are three weeks old, and then make good queens. Now, although I directed that they should be tossed up in the air, to see if their wings were good, when they did not lay at two weeks of age, I did not say, if their wings proved to be good, how long we should keep them. If I could spare the lime of the colony, I would keep a good looking queen that could fly well, until she is 25 davsold; if crowded for a place to put cells, I would kill all that do not lay at IS or 20 days old. I have just put the above in the A B C, and that is just the way I am going to keep doing. You see, you beginners are, ultimately, to build up the book. The book, as it is now, contains about 275 pages and about 175 engravings. It is furnished complete in one, or in 5 different parts. The contents and prices are as follows: Part First, will tell you all about the latest im- provements in securing and Marketing Honey, the new 1 lb. Section Honey Boxes, mak- ing Artificial Honey Comb, Candy lor Bees, Mee Hunting, Artificial Swaniiing, Bee Moth, &c, &c. Part Second, tells all about Hive Making, Diseases of Bees, Drones, How to Make an Extractor, Extracted Honey, Feeding and ! Feeders, Foul Brood, etc, etc. Part Third, tells all about Honey Comb, Hon- ey Dew, Hybrids, Italianizing, Kins' Birds, The Locust Tree, Moving Bees, The Lamp Nursery, Mignonnettc, Milkweed, Mother- wort, Mustard, Nucleus, Pollen, Pro- polis, and Queens. Part. Fourth tells all about Rape, Baspberry, Katun, Bobbing, Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, Sage, Smokers, including instructions for making with illustrations. Soldering, Sour- wood, Stings, Sumac, Spider Flower, Sun- flower, Swarming, Teasel, Toads, Trans- ferring, and Turnip. Part Fifth tells about Uniting Bees, Veils, Ventilation, Vinegar, Wax, Water for Bees, AVbitewood, and Wintering. It also includes a (Glossary of Terms and Abbrevia- tions used in Bee Culture. ^~A11 are Profusely Illustrated with Cn- graviiags. Nothing Patented. Either one will be mailed for 25c; y2 doz., $1.25; 1 doz., $2.25; 40, $6.00. The five parts bound in one, in paper, mailed, for $1.00. At wholesale, same price as Gleanings, with which it may be clubbed. One copy, $1.00; three copies, $2.50; five copies, $:{.75; ten copies, $0.00. The same neatly bound in cloth, with the covers neatly embellished in embossing and gold, one copy, $1.25; three copies, $3.25; five copies, $5.00; ten copies, $8.50. If ordered by freight or Express, the postage may be deducted, which will be lie on each 25c book; 10c on the complete book in paper, and 12c each, on the complete book in cloth. A. I. BOOT, Medina, Ohio. PUBE DOLLAR QUEENS sent in "Mailable Cases" through the mails, also "Mailable Cases" 75c per dozen. Sample 10c. 7d D. S. GIVEN, Hoopeston, Vermillion Co., 111. I CAN ship good Glass Cutters for 25 cents, post- paid. Special terms by the dozen. 1 H. M. MOYER, Hill Church, Berks Co., Pa. THE (JUIXBY BELLOWS SMOKES Has now been upon the market for six years, and was the first practical Bellows Smoker made. A Patent has been granted it over all other smokers thai have copied it. Its rights are maintained by Hetheringtbn, Elwood, Doolittle, Alley, Dadant, and unprejudiced bee-keepers every where. Pro- tection guaranteed to all selling and using it. Every smoker warranted the best in the market, or money refunded. Q5JINBVS NEW BEE-KEEPINfi will be mailed promptly on reoeipt of $1 50. It is com- mended by all. Prof. Cook says, "I rejoice in the book, and have only praise for it." (i. M. Doolittle says, "I consider it the most prac- tical work on bees extant, and fully up to the times." "I had expected a good book, but it far surpassed my expectations." * * P. H. Elwood. "I do not hesitate to pronounce it the best practi- cal book on the subject published." * * J. E. Hetherington. For prices of smokers and other goods, 7d Address L. C. ROOT, Mohawk, Herk. Co., N. Y. GREAT REDUCTION IN the PRICES O E COMB FOUNDATION As our stock of foundation is very large, and as we have bought it at favorable prices, and have the most complete facilities for manufacturing it, we propose to give our customers the benefit of our ad- vantages, in low prices. Our foundation is as fine in quality as any ever made, and we can fill orders on 24 hours notice. At the prices Ave quote here, you cannot afford to use your old, dry, mouldy combs. TERMS:— From the date of this issue, till January 1st, 1880, we will pay 24c cash for choice wax deliver- ed here and sell the old style (or lozenge shaped bot- toms) for 15 per cent less than following prices. drone or worker cells. 1 to 25 pounds, per pound 55c 25 to 50 " " " 53c 50 to 100 " " " 52c 100 to 500 " " " 50c 500 to 1(100 " " " 48c 1000 pounds or more " " 45e We will also make 5 per cent reduction from prices of Flat Bottomed Foundation as quoted below. We keep the wired foundation in stock in follow- ing sizes: Sheets are inuxlO1.;. 10x16, 10x18^,8^x16^, 10^x14, 11&X12, and 12x19. The new, thin, for boxes, is kept in sheets 12x12. Both kinds will be sold at following prices: 1 to 25 pounds, per pound 70c 25 to 50 " " " 68c 5H to 1(H) " " " 67c 100 to 500 " " " 65c 500 to 1000 " " " 68c 1000 pounds or more " " 60c The thin flat bottomed is a grand success for box honev. Address communications to 7d J. H. NELLIS, Canajoharie, N. Y. 248 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. J ULY Contents of this Number. Scraps and Sketches. No. 7 240 Introducing Queens ~ <" Troubles 250 Honev Bees of South Africa 252 Dual Royalty 252 Wintering, Chaff Hives, Grape Sugar for Fall Feed, Ventilation, Etc 252 Introducing by Rule. And Then Shutting the Hive and Letting Them Alone 255 Cans for Honey and Their Embellishment 256 Italians and Blacks 256 Report from Georgia 257 Keeping Things Sharp (Family Grind Stone) 257 Honey Plants of Florida ("Pints and Teacupf uls")258 How Queens Stand a Journey in the New Sec- tion Queen Cage, And How to Introduce Them 250 How to Spring Bees 258 Something About Transferring 25'l Robbing and Swarming Out— A New Feature 260 Chaff Hives During the Honey Season, Some- thing about Patent Hives 260 Uniting Bees 261 Water For Bees 262 Improvement in Out Door Feeding 264 Fountain for Giving Bees Water 265 Whitewood, or Tulip Tree 266 How to Use the Cold Blast Smoker 267 The Grounds and Shade of the Apiary 268 Alsike and Mellilot 268 How the Section-Box Cages Answer for Long Distances, &c 281 Martin's Circular Apiary 281 Sagging of Top Bars, and Remedy 253 LADIES DEPARTMKNT. Spring Dwindling 253 Shall Feminine Bee Keepers Wear Bloomers 253 HUMBUGS AND SWINDLES. Mitchell Still at His Old Tricks 255 Black Mailing on Division Boards Still Going On. 255 BLASTED HOPES. 256 BEE BOTANY AND ENTOMOLOGY. Paulonia Imperialis 250 Yucca or Spanish Bayonet 259 JUVENILE DEPARTMENT. 269 HEADS OF GRAIN. Getting Queens Promptly; Friend Hough Contributes to the Cold Blast Smoker; Object Lessons in Bee Culture; Scotland; Shade in the Southern States; Feeding Broken Comb Honey; Several Eggs in a Cell, and Selling Honey; Mishaps in Intro- ducing 270 Bees in Missouri, a Surplus of Pollen; Califor- nia; Bees Around a Soda Fountain, &c. ; The New Section Box Queen Cage; A Queen That Stops Laying and Commen- ces Again; From a Very New A B C Scholar. 271 Natural Comb Breaking Down; House Apia- ries, Introducing Queens; Black Hats, Have Bees an Aversion to Them? Dollar Queens, and Those from High Priced Deal- ers; Uncertainty of Buckwheat; From Darkness to Sunshine 272 Moving the Old Hive, When a Swarm Has Is- sued; The New Mat for Covering the Frames; Honey Bees as Big as Bumble Bees; Smokers and Fuel for Same: How the Queen Voids her Fa'ces; Wiring Frames for Fdn., &c. ; Fdn. with Square Cells 273 NOTES AND QUERIES. Moths; Another Claimant to the Invention of the Cold Blast Smoker; Sagging of Frames. Enameled Cloth versus Mats, &c; Honey Flying Over the Top of the Extractor; Pol- len in Sections, Starters Falling Down, Fastening on Separators; Feeding and Building up Colonies to be Brimstoned; Bees Deserting their Hives when Deprived of both Queen and Brood; Wooden Slates; Fountain Pumps and How they Answer 2?5 Smokers; Swarms Alighting on the Same Spot; The Old Way and the New; An A B C Child in June; Wired Fdn., Thieves in the Apiary; Brown Sugar for Wintering; Strengthening Weak Colonies by Exchang- ing Stands; Do Bees Weigh More or Less After a Journey than Before 276 How rD Get Bees into the House Apiary 256 A Congress of Bees 26$ EDITORIAL. The Honey Farm ; Queens by Mail; "Wood's Common Objects of the Microscope;" Taxes on Bees; National Convention; Mr. Laneglroth's Health 274 Honey Column " 283 JUST BEFORE GOING TO PRESS. Making Fdn. by Dipping Only; A New Inven- tion in the Way of Introducing Queens 282 Names of responsible parties will be inserted in either of the following departments, at a uniform price of 20 cents each insertion, or $2,00 per year. $1.00 Queens. Names inserted in this department the first time with- out charge. After, 20c each insertion, or $2,00 per year. Those whose names appear below agree to furnish Italian queens for $1,00 each, under the following conditions: No guarantee is to be assumed of purity, or anything of the kind, only that the queen be reared from a choice, pure mother, and had commenced to lay when they were shipped. They also agree to re- turn the money at any time when customers become impatient of such delay as may be unavoidable. Bear in mind that he who sends the best queens, put up most neatly and most securely, will probably receive the most orders. Special rates for warranted and tested queens, furnisned on application to any of the parties. Names with *, use an imported queen mother. If the queen arrives dead, notify us and we will send you another. Probably none will be sent before July 1st. If wanted iooner, sec rates in price list. *E. W. Hale, Wirt C. H. W. Va. 1-12 *A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. *H. H. Brown, Light Street, Columbia Co., Pa. 7-9 *E. M. Hayhurst, Kansas City, Mo. 1-12 *J. M. C. Taylor, Lewiston, Fred. Co., Md. 1-12 *Paul L. Viallon, Bayou Goula, La. 8ttd *J. Oatman & Sons, Dundee, Kane Co., 111. t-\ *J. E. Waleher, Millersville, Christian Co., 111. 3-8 *S. M. Hitchcock & Co., Warthen, Wash. Co., Ga. 3-8 *J. B. Keeler, Carlinville, III. 3-8 *Newman & Baker, Norwalk, Huron Co., O. 4-7 Miller & Hollam, Kewaskum, Wash Co., Wis. 4-4 *D. A. McCord, Oxford, Butler Co., O. 4-9 *J. T. Wilson, Mortonsville, Woodford Co. Ky 4-4 *S. D. Moore, Atlanta, Ga. 5-10 Sam'l Greenawalt, Cearfoss, Wash. Co., Md. 5-7 *Amos Johnson, Sugar Grove, Warren Co., Pa. 5-10 H. S. Elkins, Kennedy, N. Y. 5-10 J. Mattoon, At water. Portage Co., O. 6-7 *F. L. Wright, Plainfield, Livingston Co., Mich.. 6-7 Henry Smith, Brooklyn, Green Co., Wis. 7-8 *D. S Given, Hoopeston, Vermillion Co., Ills. 7 J. L. Bowers, Berryville, Clarke Co., Va. 7-12 J. P. Sterritt, Sheakleyville, Mercer Co., Pa. 7-8 *lla Michner, Low Banks, Ont. Canada. 7-8 *J. H. Martin, Hartford, Wash. Co., N. Y. 7-9d *T. G. McGaw, Monmouth. Warren Co.. Ills. 7-9 B. B. Barnum, 38 Preston St., Louisville, Ky. 7 *S. W. Salisbury, Kansas City, Mo. 7-9 Hive Manufacturers. Who agree to make such hives, and at the prices named, as those described on our circular. A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. F. A. Snell, Milledgeville, Carroll Co., 111. 3-7 H. Scovell, Columbus, Cherokee Co., Kans. 4-3 Nichols & Elkins, Kennedy, N. Y. 5-10 Bees For Sale. OIVE DOLLAR PER LB. Names inserted in this department the first time without charge; afterward, 20c each insertion, or $2 00 per year. Those whose names appear below signify that they arc willing to furnish bees, without hives, dur- ing the coming month, at ?l 00 per lb., the purchas- er being required to bear all express charges. Safe arrival guaranteed. [Express Cos. have promised to return cages to owners free of charge, if made very light.— Ed.] Jas. P. Sterritt, Sheakleyville, Mercer Co., Pa. 7-8 DEVOTED TO BEEH AISI> HOIVEY, AIVD HOME INTERESTS. Vol. VII. JULY 1, 1879. No. 7. A. I. ROOT, ) Published Monthly. (TERMS : Sl.OO Per Annum in Ad- Publisher and Proprietor, > •> vance; 3 Copies for $2.50; 5 for $3. 75; Medina, O. ) Established in 1 873. ClO oi more, 60c. each. Single Number, lOc. SCRAPS AND SKETCHES. NO. 7. INTRODUCING AND SHIPPING QUEENS. 3N tho spring of '78, I purchased an imported queen. She was sent by mail, and, considering' the distance traveled, she arrived in good con- dition. I have had some experience in attempting to introduce queens that are weary and jaded with travel, but I never found it quite so difficult to suc- ceed as I did with this queen; it took a whole week together safely introduced, and there were many times during the week when the prospects of my ever receiving any benefit from my $6.50 seemed poor indeed. I tried giving her to young bees and to old bees; to full swarms from which the queen had been removed, and to swarms just made up by taking frames of brood and the- adhering bees from different hives; I tried keeping her caged 24 and 48 hours; and I tried letting her loose without caging; but it seemed to make no difference, as, upon open- ing the hive 15 or 20 minutes after releasing her, I always found her "balled." The poor queen seemed tired out and "home sick." As a last resort I re- leased her upon half a dozen frames of hatching brood; all openings to the hive were securely closed for a few days, and at last I succeeded. From this queen were reared over 100 queens. They were all sold near here, and a good share of them were introduced by myself. Of all the queens that I introduced during the season, I lost only one; and that was caused by my fastening the queen in the cage in such a manner that the bees soon liberated and killed her. At the same time, they liberated and accepted three others. The manner in which the queens were introduced is as follows: The Mack queen was removed, and at the same time the cage containing the Italian queen was placed in the hive. In two days, the queen was released, and then the hive was not again opened until four or five days had elapsed; at which time the queen was always found laying. A writer in the Jan. No. of the Magazine, after describing a plan for introducing queens, says : "You need have no doubt about it, and need not stir up your colony in half an hour to see if she is killed, as the editor of GLEANINGS advises his readers to do. * * * Leave them alone for a week." A brother-in-law of mine examined a colony in which he had released an imported queen the pre- ceding day, and found the queen all right; but that was the last time he ever saw her. He closed the hive very carefully, and is certain that he did not injure her. By reading, anil by talking with bee-keepers, 1 find that many apiarists think it is better not to disturb the bees for several days after the queen is released. "They say," that, upon the least disturb- ance before the queen has fully recovered from her captivity, which usually takes several days, she is very apt to become frightened and take "leg bail for security," which attracts the attention of the workers and causes them to "ball" her. My own experience, during the season of "18, would lead me to the above conclusion, were it not for the fact that all the queens that I introduced were "fresh" from the hive; none of them being out of the hive more than 24 hours. This, in my opinion, was of as much importance as the manner in which they were introduced. In my own apiary, I change and intro- duce queens in "any way that comes handy," and never lose a queen. Ought not we queen breeders— and queen buyers too— to take a hint from this ? The hint that I shall take is, to make large cages (now that queens are sent by express, there is but little excuse for using small cages), have them well provisioned with plenty of candy and water, and then put in a good gener- c >us supply of bees. The hint that purchasers ought to take is, to buy as near home as possible, in order that the queen, not having been obliged to take a long journey, may arrive in ^ie best possible condi- tion. One more point; several queens can be sent by express as cheaply as one. Now if you happen to want only one or two queens, why not step over to neighbor A's, this evening, and see if he would not like to send along with you ? And if it should hap- pen that he "couldn't afford to send for more than two," why, then go over to neighbor B's to-morrow evening; and perhaps all three of you could send together for half a dozen, and, in this way, the charges on a single queen would be very light. W. Z. Hutchinson. Rogersville, Genesee Co., Mich. The friends who have advised letting queens out, and then leaving them without any further looking after, are a little thought- less, it seems to me. In buying and selling queens as we do by the thousands, we have had an experience in introducing, that has fallen to the lot of few individuals. More than this, reports from new hands in regard to their success in introducing are coming 250 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July to me constantly. To follow any of the plans that have ever been given, and then go away and let the queens and hives alone will, in the long run, result in the loss of at least }. I have no doubt of the statements of many, thajfc they never lost a queen, but I think they have handled but few, and those during the height of the honey harvest, when al- most any plan will succeed. I am well aware that the opening of the hive will sometimes cause the bees to attack the queen ; but, if it does, there is no need of losing her. If you follow the directions I have given, al- most anybody can introduce almost any queen. It is a very serious matter indeed, to give advice that will lead beginners to lose their queens, and losses from following such advice are reported to me almost con- stantly. There is positively no sure way, unless it is made sure by keeping an eye on the queens. The same advice will apply to a great many things in this world. Queens taken from a hive and introduced to another in the same apiary, will oftener be accepted, but it is by no means a sure thing. TKOUBL/ES. ^^ES, there are troubles this 23d day of ]h[ June, even though the clover season —J is at its height and all nature seems rejoicing. What troubles me most about these troubles, is that they fall on your shoulders, or at least, a part of them, my friends. Perhaps the first one is in regard to the R. R. Cos. You know I have tried to take the part of the R. R. and Exp. Cos., and have recommended patience and for- bearance and a kindly spirit toward them, as I would toward any one of you. Well, I do not think I shall' abandon my position there, but I will give a few illustrations of our trials this season. We have facilities now for making rapid shipments, that we never had before, and, in fact, the window before which I now sit with my type writer overlooks the station house, its clerks, and all the business that is done with the R. R. A platform runs from the doors of our facto- ry, directly to the cars, and every shipment of bees, wax, or anything else, that you send me, is unloaded right under my eyes, if I only look out of the open window. I can also see how all the goods our boys send out are crated, how the R. R. employees handle your goods, and all about it. These im- provements over former years have been a very great relief indeed; and, as I review it each morning, I thank God that he has an- swered my prayers in these matters, and that I am enabled to come so much nearer to you all, through these mediums of thought and business, the telegraph and rail-roads. During the past month, we have had tele- grams for queens which have been picked up and hurried to the passing trains, almost as quickly as you would run across the way to a neighbor's for them. As I said, I am deeply thankful for all these facilities, but with our large shipping business, I suppose it is impossible but that there should be losses and delays, and other troubles, now and then. In May, a custom- er from Texas ordered 3, $3.00 queens. To avoid delays and save expense, wre tried to prepay the charges; but the Express Co. could not tell what it would be over the southern lines, so they would not receive the money in advance. Time passed, and the queens were not received. A tracer was sent, and, after long delays, they were found held at some point in Texas. They were held until the back charges should be paid, yet neither myself, nor my customer was no- tified where they were, or what the trouble was. The cages were made in such a way that the officials could easily see that they were bees, and perishable, and yet they put them up on a shelf, and let them die ; and, nearly two months after we were asked for the back charges, and whether we wanted the dead bees forwarded to destination. I sent back word that they should throw them out of the window, stifling my temper as best I could. They very kindly consented to do this, but sent back for $1.75 charges for carrying them so far and keeping them until they starved. I felt very much, then, as if it would be inexpressibly delicious and soothing, to be permitted the luxury of tear- ing that Texas man's shanty all down, and giving him such a shaking that he would never think of starving any more innocent bees, so long as he remained in the express business. Rut I put away such thoughts, paid the $1.75, and prayed God for patience, and that he would help us to soften even the hearts of the Express Cos. What do you suppose happened? Nothing different from what has happened a great many times, in my business troubles and trials. A gentle- man came in, a few mornings after, intro- ducing himself as the superintendent of our express line. He said he had noticed the amount of business we gave them, and asked if he could do anything to aid us. In a twinkling, our printers had some neat lit- tle labels directing any express agent in the U. 8. to forward the package it wras on, without delay, under any circumstances whatever, signed with the superintendent's name. lie also made arrangements to carry queens, smokers, etc., over any or all north- ern lines for one single charge of 25c, be- sides fixing many other things greatly for the comfort and convenience of myself and you. More troubles are still to be 'prayed over, however. While the Express Cos. will carry $5.00 in money for 15c, they will not bring back a C. O. IX, for less than their old fash- ioned rates. For instance, a friend in our state wanted a queen, C. O. D. They car- ried the queen to him, for 25c, but when he gave them the $1.25 to carry back, they charged 75c for carrying it. I expostulated, but it could not be corrected. They could easily carry the $1.25 for 15c, but if it was the pay for a queen they had brought him, the proper charge was 75c I have always objected to the C. O. L>. business, but, if you, my friends, wish to see your goods before paying your money over, why, you should have the privilege, especially, if you pay for it ; but you should not be asked to pay any such exorbitant rates. We have written the superintendent in regard to the matter, but time passes and no answers come. God answers, when men do not. To him we shall have to go again. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 251 The troubles with goods sent by freight seem even worse than those with the Ex- press Cos.; for the It. It. Cos. will take their own time, whether or no. When clover be- gun to come out. quite a number of the friends wrote they had not received their hiVes and section boxes, although they sent the money away ahead of the time they would be needed. One poor fellow had ''Raked and scraped" and borrowed the money to get his outfit for the season, and, although he sent in April and his goods were sent early in May, clover was in bloom, his hives full* and nothing to put the honey in. He could not possibly borrow any more money, and unless his goods were received at once, he could, no way in the world, pay for what he had already borrowed. A tra- cer had been sent for the goods nearly a month before, but notaword. Another was sent, but not a word. I ordered our agent to trace them by telegraph, offering to pay all expenses. He stmt the telegram, but the proper officials would not answer; I waited one day, and sent another; no answer; one more day, and no answer. I felt again, that when men who held important positions were too proud and lofty to give us notice, God never was, and he would always answer. I went to him, and, as a consequence, tilled our friend's order again, and sent it by ex- press. I did the same with another, and another, until all the lost goods were made up out of my own pocket, trusting to be able to recover them, though it might be, if at all, after the season is over, so the goods will be of no value until another year. .Ton know I have told you about casting bread upon the waters. Well, it seemed so in this case; for, much to my astonishment, one of the parties, after mentioning that the goods by express reached him just in the nick of time, said the season was proving so favorable, he thought he should use both lots and would pay all charges, thus reliev- ing me entirely from loss. Another said that both lots had come, and that he needed them all. I might have gone to law, and sued the Co. for such a very long delay, and for hav- ing refused to trace the goods. It is true, I could have done so. Would I have been happier, or made any more money? We had a little text in our Sabbath school lesson of a few days ago, as follows: "It is not by miuht, it is not by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." The spirit of Christ's teachings will con- quer where law will not, and arouses none of the unkind feelings that law is so apt to engender. Again; I might have printed on my bill heads, as so many business houses do,— "All goods delivered safely on hoard the cars, and the It. It. Co.'s receipt given, after which our responsibility ceases.'1 My friends, that would lie a very easy way to do, but I would no more think of turning you off in that way. alter you have scraped up your money and sent it to me, than nothing in the world. Now I am coming to the last and worst trouble. I really wish I could see my way out of it, as easily, as I can those I have mentioned. Perhaps I shall be censured for coming out with it, but you know I do not believe in keeping secrets. It seems to me God likes to have things brought out plain- ly. You probably all know what I have said in my price list about sending money in letters, iii place of getting drafts or P. (). orders. You may have noticed in our late lists, that I have said $2.00 instead of $5.00. Well, I shall have to tell you now, not to* send any money in letters at all, for the pres- ent. Get a P. (.). order, bank check, or have your money registered. By either of these methods, money may be sent at my risk, but not otherwise. Until last December, our losses by mail did not exceed one letter in a thousand. At that time, they began to increase rapidly, and within the past two weeks, not only have letters containing money been missed entirely, but we have been in the receipt of great numbers of letters from which the money had been abstracted, and the letters sealed up again. I have notified the Gov- ernment, and they seem to be doing all they can, to* ferret out the thief. In fact, I hope the matter will be fully cured before this reaches you. It seems to be settled, with- out question, that the robberies are made before the mail reaches our town. In every case, as soon as I have been informed of the facts, I have forwarded the goods, without receiving a cent for them, knowing that, in our business, the want of the goods is fre- quently much greater than the value of them. I have stated the matter as well as I could to those of you who have lost, and have asked you, if you felt it was right, to send me half price. Many of you have done this, and quite a number have sent the whole amount again, saying they did not expect me to send off my goods until I had received the full price of them. Many have very kindly thanked me, for my considera- tion in sending the goods without pay, while a few, a very few, have declined sending any thing, saying they had payed for the goods once, and they were not going to pay any more. I believe only one friend made this last remark. This has been a severe burden for me to bear during the past six months, and I have kept still about it, think- ing we should certainly soon be able to unrav- el the mystery. I may be blamed for having advised -that money should be sent by mail without registry, rather than by P. O. orders and registered letters ; but, with the security the mails have afforded during the •20 year's past, while I have been in business, I should unhesitatingly recommend as I have in my price list. Mails going to other offices, with but few exceptions, go with the usual regularity. May God grant that the unfortunate brother, whoever he is, who has so unscrupulously appropriated our hard earnings, may be brought to light and to justice, and if his eye ever glances at these pages, which js among the possibilities, may his sold be awakened to the enormity of the crime he is committing against the God above, as well as his fellow men. The grooved board, illustrated on another page fur watering bees, or for an open air feeder, we can furnish for 15c; if sent by mail, 25c. 252 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. July HONEY BEES OF SOI TH AFRICA. tfp^OME months ago, the editor of Gleanings l\^)l spoke of Stanley's men bringing in honey comb, and wished they had mentioned how much honey was in it, &c. A cousin, A. S. Peabody, now at Laramie City, Wyoming, visited me last summer, and I remembered hearing him say that frees in Cape Town, where he spent 14 years, did not store any honey; that they only gathered each day enough for their own use. So 1 wrote him for information on the subject, and give you his reply as follows: 1 believe it is a fact th;it the bees at the Cape lay up very little extra honey. Mine did not; my six hives not giving- me enough for my own use. I complained of this to the old beeologist, who made hives for a living-, and bees a study. He told me that was the habit of bees in that country; they found flowers in abundance the year round, and they became lazy and did not lay up much. I re- member he had a glass hive on his parlor table, which was near a window, with an entrance running under the sill, and there he would sit by the hour, when he had nothing- else to do, and study the habits of those bees. He could give a world of information on the subject of bees, for he is intelligent, and an enthusiast on bees. I showed him a bee journal which I suppose you gave father, and he went wild over it. If anyone writes him, have them send a journal or two. The postage on letters is 15cts.; on papers, 4cts. Address Mr. Corliss, Bee Master, Cape Town, C. G. H. [Africa. Ed.] I don't understand why bees did better on the east coast of Africa and in Madagascar (that is where the Cape supply came from), unless because the bees there are pure natives, whereas, at the Cape, they are of Italian stock, and perhaps of brig-hter comprehension. I doubt if new stock is ever taken there from Europe nowadays. I never heard of any. The natives in Cape Town are just like the bees, lies ays, if you wish to hire one to do a small job of work, they will say, "Oh, I have 75c," or "I have rice enough for a few days or a week; 1 won't work un- til that is gone." J. L. Peabodv. Denver, Col., May 17, 1879. DIAL ROYALTY. f|OR some years, I have known that two queens would occupy the same colony, under pecu- liar circumstances; for instance, in a very long box hive with contracted centre, or a two story movable frame hive, or a hive with honey boxes on top, or a natural gum with two enlarged cavities, &c. ; but I always thought the bees were on the eve of superceding an old or diseased queen, and such cases which have been reported seemed to confirm the supposition. 1 now know, however, that, with the above named conditions of a hive, two, young, fertile, and laying queens do sometimes live in the same colony. In March, a choice colony of mine sent forth a swarm, which I secured, queen and all. I knew the queen by her physical aspect. In a few days, I went through the old queenless hive, and cut out all the queen cells but three, intending one queen to succeed the old queen, and the other two for two hybrid stocks. Other business matters detained me from home, until the second swarm had issued just before my return. I proceeded to overhaul the old colony, and, on the second frame, I found a beautiful young queen, and all three of the cells had hatched. Sup- posing that two of the queens had gone with the second swarm, I did not examine any farther, and put on a top story with sections and comb for guides. In ten days, I went through the hive again, to see if the young queen was a success and laying. I took off the upper story, and examined the combs in the lower story. I soon found the queen greatly enlarg- ed, and the combs full of young brood and eggs. I closed the hive, and, before replacing the upper story, concluded to look after the progress in the sections. The very first one I opened presented to me another beautiful queen, a type of the one in the lower story. I at once suspected her to be the same, thinking she might have escaped from her combs and got into these. However, I caged her, and after inspection found eggs in the sections. I immediately gave her to a queenless colony, and after 13 hours released her; on examination, six hours later, I found she had filled two sides of two combs with eggs. Now, to establish the fact of there being two, young, fertile queens in one hive, I went again through the old colony and found the queen laying eggs, which she continued to do after I had raised the comb out of the hive. These queens must have occupied the hive together,— one, the upper, and the other, the lower story. As the tops of the frames made a sort of separation, they did not intrude on each other's dominions, just as two swarms may occupy a large goods box, at the same time, without mingling. How did they pass, after being fertilized, is the question? But, in the face of this clear case of "dual royalty," I do not believe two, young, fertile queens will ever occupy the same apartment, if it is of ordinary size and regular shape, in peace and harmony, but will swarm out or destroy each other. The case described above is the exception and not the rule. Geo. B. Peters. Council Bend, Ark., June 11, 1S79. WINTERING, CHAFF HIVES, OLI> BEES, VENTILATION, ETC. fjlO our great surprise, we had a splendid natural swarm of Italians issue last Saturday, May 31st, which is the earliest we have ever had in our bee-keeping experience of 20 years. Last Sep- tember, we noticed that brood rearing had been suspended in most of the 17 colonies on hand. Es- timating the average life of workers at 6 months, those hatched by Sept. 1st, would end their days by March 1st; and as, at that time of year in this lati- tude, it is often so cold that brood can not be raised, we concluded that, in order to insure a supply of workers until May in case of bad weather, new brood would have to be raised. Accordingly we stimulated by nightly feeding one-half pint of syrup made of two-thirds grape sugar and one-third California strained honey which we bought for 5 cts. per pound, being an old lot left at one of our grocery stores. The effect was satis- factory; brood rearing was resumed at once, while the sealed stores were left intact, and came in very good play during the severe winter. The result was still more satisfactory; 8 new swarms in chaff hives, and 10 old and new swarms in the old L. hives, entirely unprotected except by chaff cush- ions over the enameled cloth, all left on their sum- mer stands, came out without loss of a queen or swarm. Particular care was taken, in the autumn when the cushions were placed on the enameled cloth, that there should be some top ventilation; for, whatever others' experience may be, we are con- vinced that they must have at least a little top ventilation, and yet we would not dispense with chaff cushions. 1879 GLEANIKGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 253 In the past 20 years, we have sometimes lost a few swarms, but never lost a swarm except where the top was entirely closed, and never lost one that had ventilation at the top in some shape. A. C. Kendel. Cleveland, O., June 2, 1879. After receiving the above, we wrote for further particulars in regard to time of feed- ing, etc., and received the following: As nearly as I can remember, 1 commenced feed ing about the middle of Sept., and kept it up until too cold to feed outside. Brood rearing- went on un- interruptedly until the cold weather stopped it. This spring, there were some cells with hardened grape sugar in them, but all disappeared in due course. We had chaff division boards made for all, but had no time to put them in last autumn, except in two chaff hives, neither of which are quite as strong- now as the others, which probably is rather owing- to the fact that these particular colonies were the weakest last fall, being- third swarms. It is our opinion, that what is called the bee dis- ease, spring dwindling, etc., is nothing- more than dying- of old ag-e. When a few run out, void their excrement, and then fall helpless into the snow or in front of the hive, it is called dysentery; but would not the same bees die in the hive, and be car- ried out by one of the living-? About upper ventilation, it seems to us positively necessary; not, indeed, a draft through the hive or a hole just over the cluster; but openings at the ends of the bars, or, as in the chaff hives, four small openings of % of an inch square, at the corners, will be quite sufficient to permit a change or circulation of air. In warm weather, bees will furnish their own ventilation. When they lie perfectly still, however, with no fans at work, their own warmer atmos- phere being- unable to descend to the entrance be- low on account of its being- lighter, and they still needing- pure air to breathe, does it not seem rea- sonable that they require assistance in this direc- tion? You will say, it is their instinct to close up every crevice, consequently we must aid them to follow their instinct. But you do not always follow their natural instinct in other matters; for instance, their instinct prompts them to build abund- ance of drone comb, but you rudely and persistently cut it out, and, by fdn., compel them either to raise drones in worker cells or go entirely without. It is their instinct to go into the woods, but you advise all kinds of devices to keep them at home in your own hives. Of course, our theory of the necessity of pure, unbreathed air needs no argument, when every bee-keeper has had more or less experience j in smothering-. If they, then, need so great a sup- ply of pure air in warm weather, why should they | not need some in a cold temperature? As we wrote you in a former letter, great care was taken that all our bees should have some ven- I tilation at the top; all were covered with enameled cloth and chaff cushions on top. During the win- ter, we found all tin- cushions wet, at the outer edges, with moisture from these air escapes, but the cen- tre was invariably dry and warm. Having- only one extra cushion, we exchanged one after another, drying them by the stove. We notice in Gleanings that many bees were wintered successfully in cellars but were lost by "spring dwindling-." Was this anything but the old bees dying, and the cold spring effectually stopping- brood rearing? A. C. Kendel. Cleveland, O., June 13, 1879. kdi(& §^)avhiimi. SO* T is about 3 years since I determined to study the bee, and 1 have learned considerable. My i time is very much occupied, as I have 5 children, but still I am going- to devote some time to bee-cul- ture. My bees are in good order; I did not lose any this winter, which is not the casein our neighbor- hood generally. Last winter was hard on them. Indiana, Pa., May 9, '79. Mrs. J. B. Adair. Oh, dear ! Oh, dear ! and after I've been bragging too! It is really too humiliating to admit that I know anything- about spring dwindling; but truth compels me to acknowledge that I know all about it. If I was the only, or almost the only, one who knew about it this spring, I should truly feel chagrined. ' But, as it is, there is a feeling almost of kinship for I the whole bee-keeping fraternity, and a sympathy for their losses nearly as great as' though they were in my own apiary. From the 20th until the'27th or 28th of March the bees seemed all right. Then there came a second edition of winter, and this really proved too much for their endurance, for they began to drop off, one after another, until, on May 1st, i only 26 out of the 36 before reported were left, and two of those were queenless; 12 or 14 rousing- swarms, however, were not so docile but that the smoker was needed every time the cover was raised. Now, I think there are good lessons to be learned from such looses, by the thoughtful student of api- culture, and 1 don't think I am so dull as not to have learned something- protitable from it all, though but an A B C scholar. Mrs. Axtel's bee-dress I find just the thing, with the addition of a bloomer costume. One cau get about so handily with no long skirts dragging around after them. Try it, ladies. Iain handling- my lues this summer without a bee veil, and it is just fun to stand quietly, smoker in hand, till those vicious hy- brids have got their eyes so full of smoke that they are ready to cry, "Enough, enough," and then gb inside and attend to business. June 12.— It is just one month since the above was written; I could hardly believe it true, when I read the date, but think I can report fair progress since that time. I lost 3 more queens after writing- up my losses, but have them all replaced again but one. I am saving one queenless stock for a queen from E. W. Hale. It was ordered some time ago, but guess I wont "growl" yet, for there may be a rush just now, at Wirt C. H. That stairway of yours must be immense, and you must do a good deal of walking; for you seem to get at almost every thing in those walks. The to- mato question had been revolving- in my mind for some time; 1 have seen them trained on frames, on a terraced hill, from one terrace to another, and I never saw a more beautiful sight than they were when ripening. I think I shall try some around the hives in my own apiary. Mrs. Rose Thomson. Cowlesville, N. v., May 12, 1879. Bloomers may he convenient, hut . Mrs. T., can you not devise a comfortable ilrcss that will not make you conspicuous? KA<;<»IN]) bars and all, depending on the comb guide to prevent the cop bar from sagging. These combs were beautifully light and nice to handle, and did very well until they lie- came heavy with honey. If we were sure to 254 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July extract them as soon as they contained two or three pounds of honey, they were all right, hut when they were allowed to till up for winter, so as to contain double the amount, the top bars, in time, would curve downward. The bottom bars followed suit, and we soon had them squeezing bees against the bottoms of the hives, or when used in an upper story, upon the top bars of frames in the lower story. To remedy this, we commenced making the top bars a little heavier, and have in- creased them gradually, until we have them |. Still they sag more or less, under a heavy yield of honey. Top bars to frames sent in to us are found sagged even when they are f of an inch in thickness ; and, one day this week, a hive was sent having the top bars a full inch ; these, too, had bowed downward, but they were old, and had doubtless sus- tained the weight of the honey of many sea- sons. The objections to such a top bar are, that the frame is heavy and unwieldy, and that a great amount of wood is taking the place of what might be sealed brood or hon- ey, right in the heart of the brood nest. While meditating on these points, a friend sent in the following. January 30th, I wrote you of au invention of mine which I consider a great improvement in the way of securing fdn. from sagging, etc. I never heard from it either by mail or Gleanings; so I conclud- ed you either failed to get the letter or did not con- sider it worth notice. Yet I enclose a duplicate de- scription, and if you deem it worth publishing, all right. Every body is welcome to it free of patent. A, metal cornered frame. B, foundation. C, hard wood strip, ?jj by %, length of the inside height of frame in the clear. D, L», fine wire. TO PUT TOGETHER. Lay the frame on the board which brings the fdn. in the centre of the frame, put in a sheet of fdn. or as much as is desired, and place the strip, C, on its edge, and press it into the fdn. firmly. Now, with hot wax, run a stream, or pencil it, along the upper edge of the fdn., supplying a little extra around the top of the strip, C, to hold it fast, then a very little at the bottom of strip C; also with a small roller, something like the pully off from a watchmaker's pivot drill placed in a handle for this purpose, imbed the fine wire in the centre of the fdn. [fdn. must be put on the board before the frame is put over it.] To put wire in the frame previous to putting in fdn. and strip, C, take a piece long enough to make a hook on one end, hook it around one of the top-bar tenons, have all the bottom bars punched in the cen- tre, with an awl having 2 blades }i in. apart on one handle, pass the wire through downward and again upward in the bottom bar, at E, and put a lA in. brad in the staple formed by the crook in the wire, pass the wire up between the two central tenons in the end bar, as at F, drive the frame together, place it over a board of precisely the size of the inside draw the wire tight, give it a turn around one of the tin clinchers, and clinch down all the tin corners, and it is ready for fdn. Frames prepared in this way will never sag their top bar or fdn. Those cells only which are over the strip, C, ivill fall to have brood. The strip will be incorporated in comb and can not spring sideways or let the top bar sag or fdn. either. Combs and frames fixed thus, young swarms can not spring out of shape; at least, mine d>> not, even when 2 large swarms are hived together. Try them and like them as you will be sure to do. Milton, Del., May 21, 1879. L. W. Betts. After reading the above, I gave friend Betts a dollar for his trouble, proposing to send him more after I had given the plan a thorough trial. What I wanted was, not only to prevent the top bar from sagging, but to be enabled to rill the frames full of fdn. so securely that they might be sent by express or freight, without danger of break- ing out. Almost ever since wre commenced selling fdn., we have had constant calls for hives containing frames supplied with fdn., all ready for new swarms of bees. Well, I soon found that the upright stick and the two diagonal wires were not sufficient to prevent the bulging of the fdn., and so I ad- ded some fine upright wires, and made the frame, when ready for the fdn., look some- thing like the following: FRAME FOR HOLDING FDN. In our frame, we dispense with the comb guide, and make the top and bottom bar both alike, of stuff a little less than i in. in thickness. Both parts are bored alike, for it is easier to bore an extra hole in the top bar than not to do it. You see we have only two sticks, or rather two kinds of sticks, of which to make the frames, — end bars, and top and bottom bars. Still farther; these sticks are exactly alike at each end, thus re- quiring but one machine to make them. The frame is put together with metal corners, as usual. Next, a brad is driven through the bottom bar, in the middle, crossing and passing through the hole for the large wire. This wire, which forms a cable like that in a suspension bridge, and which holds the whole weight contained in the frame, should be pretty strong, say No. 23 or 21, tinned wire. Cut this wire off in lengths of 23 in., and double it exactly in the middle. From the underside of the bottom bar. put the two ends up through the hole, one on each side of the brad, and then bring them up, one to each upper corner, pushing each one through the dove-tail in the end bar, and bringing it up between the supporting arms of the metal corner; draw it up straight, and stick it se- curely to the metal corner with a drop of solder. Nowr, if you pull on these cable wires too tight, you will make the bottom bar bow upward; the design is to have the bottom bar just straight, when it shall sus- tain its greatest weight. Now to keep the top bar from sagging also, you are to take a slip of straight grained, stiff pine, about equal to our usual comb guides, say i inch wide, and 3-32 thick, and cut it exactly as 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 255 loii^ as the end bars are, inside measure. As these sticks are to stand flatwise and have comb built right over them, we will dip them in melted wax, before standing them in the frame, as shown in the cut. If of the right length, they will make the top bar just perceptibly crowning. "When loaded with a heavy weight of honey, they are expected to be straight. Before putting in the fdn., we will put in the light, upright wires of which there are 6, 3 on each side of the waxed upright. Draw them up as tight as a fiddle string, if yon like ; it can do no harm. To put in the wire, we fasten it to the bottom bar, then put it up through the first hole, bring it along the upper surface of the top bar and down through the next hole, and so on, fas- tening the last end under the bottom bar. Now cut the fdn., exactly the size of the in- side of the frame ; if it is a little full, it will do no great harm. Warm the sheet in the sun, lay it on the wires, and rub it down with the little roller figured last month, and you will have combs that are perfectly straight and true, and yet you can throw them on the floor when only one day old, and it will not harm them. Furthermore, frames Idled with fdn. can be put in hives, or shipped in a crate, ready to hive swarms on, without fear or solicitude. Great num- bers of losses have been reported, every sea- son, from combs having broken down in hot weather ; and in buying bees this present season, whole colonies have been killed by the breaking down of a single comb. For sucli frames complete, all tilled with fdn., fastened in, our price will be, for the present, 15c or $14.00 per hundred. The same in the flat, each 2 cts. less. Pertaining to Bee Ciiltxii^e. [We respectfully solicit the aid of our friends in conducting this department, and would consider it a favor to have them send us all circulars that haye a deceptive appearance. The greatest care will he at all times maintained to prevent injustice being done any one.] MITCHELL STILL AT HIS OLD TRICKS. !dLL you please send me your honey extract- y or, N.>. li, c. O. T). I ordered our from N. C. >4'W Mitchell, the first of March, to be sent in the same way: he wrote me that he never sent goods in that way, hut if I would send the money, he would Bend me the extractoron the receipt or it. I sent him the money, and thai is the last of X. C. Mitchell. I can neither hear from him nor get my money or extractor. Please send it immediately, on receipt of this, for you know the goods sent CO. T). are ju8t as sure for the money, as if you had it in ad- vance. Josiah Pekkv. P. s. — N. C. Mitchell acknowledged the receipt of the money. I wouldlike you to ventilate him in your journal, so he will not swindle any one else. Covington, Ga., .June 2, 1879. J. P. Bless your heart, friend P., we have ven- tilated Mitchell almost ever since GLEAN- INGS had an existence, but it seems he con- tinually finds some unfortunate like your- self who does not take the journals. !No honest dealer should refuse to send goods ('.(>. P.. if his customer prefers to bear the additional expense of sending his money in that way. Those who are willing to incur this expense for the sake of seeing their goods before handing over their money should certainly be accommodated, and we send our work out almost constantly in that way. It always pays to take the journals ; do you not see it V I drop you this card in reference to the division board that is used in hives, whether there is a pat- ent on them or not. There is a man here who says that he has a patent On them. He has sold one or two rights. A good many of us are using them. He says he is going to prosecute those that are us- ing them, and I want to know what to do about it. W. H. Burris. Spencer, Ind., June 19, 1879. I can only repeat what I have said month after month, that one who claims to have a patent on division boards is a most bare- faced swindler, and only expects to scare folks into paying him money, without a thought of trying to prosecute. Either pay no attention to him at all, or treat him as a highway robber. INTRODUCING QUEENS BY "RILE." AND THEN SHUTTING THE HIVE AND "LETTING THEM ALONE." fjWO letters just now handed me, will show the rashness of decidii deciding that it is ever safe to follow special directions and then let them alone. That queen came all right; but I had a hard time to get the bees to accept her. It took about nine days to get her in, but she is all right now. She has commenced laying all right. D. Baldwin. Baldwin, Ohio, June 11, 1879. I received my queens the 30th of May. They were in good order, everything being all right as far as I know. But that was not the worst of it; they came when I could not get away from my work (I work in a basket shop and cannot always get away when I want to). I tried three days to get one swarm to take one queen, and could not make them own her. I got her all daubed with honey, then I took two frames of hatching brood from my only swarm that had a queen, and put it in a hive, picked out about 50 young bees, and put bees, queen, and brood to- gether; I took them into the kitchen and have kept them by the fire ever since. The other one I tried one day longer and then served her the same. I think if I could have had time (of my own) that I should have made the bees own them. I set them in the sun day times, and keep them by the fire nights. They are both laying. One has about a quart of bees, and the other half as many. I have taken out of my best swarm two frames of brood to keep my queenless ones along, 2 frames each for my Italian queens, transferred them from an'old hive to a new one, and yesterday, June 8th,[,they gave out a large swarm— as much as a peck of bees. I had them in a hive and at work in less than one hour after they commenced coming out. of ^the old hive. How is that for an A B C scholar ? Guy Clark. Bellows Falls, Vt., June 9, 1879. It is just right, my friend. If your bees decline to accept the queen you wish them to have, it is your "beesiness,"to?'m. can, we only put the word "Honey'\ but on the 50 and 100 lb cans, we put the name and address, if they are not too long. DEPOSITORY OF Or Letters from Those Who Have Made Bee Culture a Failure. F LEASE forward two, "dollar" queens to James Anderson, Farmers P. O., Sanilac Co., Mich. I have but four colonics left out of 130 and two of those are queenless. About how many bees are usually in a two frame nucleus hive? and will they grow to a full colony without aid? J ames Anderson. Washington, Mich., May 31, 1879. About a half lb. of bees are generally put in a two frame nucleus, and, if started— say in July, and the two frames are fairly tilled with brood, they should build up to a full colony. If they are kept constantly rearing brood at full speed, by feeding, I think they should build up, even if started a month later; but the queen must not be allowed to stop laying, or the colony will assuredly be a risky one. I am very sorry indeed to hear of your severe losses, friend A., but your report may serve a timely caution to beginners. ITALIANS ANB BLACKS. I WOULD advise your correspondent, H. R. Boardman, on paga 215, June No., to introdace pure blacks instead of pure Italians, unless he has had a different race of Italians from any I have ever had. I have had Italians for ten years, and have had home bred queens from many different breeders very much noted for their skill in breeding good queens, and have had imported queens, too, and would say, so far as box honey is concerned, I consider them far inferior to the blacks. For ex- tracted honey they may do, but we don't all want extracted honey. In the way of swarming, I consid- er them a nuisance. They will rush out and swarm when the hive is not full of bees, and not enough of honey in the field to keep them from starving. In regard to taking the pure Italians to some lonely isle to breed them in their purity, I would say, take them there and keep them there, so we can have a chance to breed our black bees in their purity. I think, if our American bee-keepers would select the best strains of black bees in breeding, and give them the same attention that they give the Italians, we would soon have a race far superior to the Ital- ians. I think we have some as good reports in hon- ey from black bees as from Italians. When at the National convention, in Cleveland, I heard Mr. Quin- by say, the best yield of extracted honey he had was 361ft. from one colony, and when asked what kind of bees, he said they were black bees. Black bees make a better quality of honey than Italians, much heavier in body. It was honey made by black bees that took the Thurber gold medal. How is it that the bee cholera was not known in America until the Italian bee was introduced ? at least we never heard of such disasters before. Black bees were very lit- tle hurt with it in this locality, while the Italians were badly used up. Is it not true, that many who "toot their horns" so loud for these bees have them for sale, at extrava- gant prices ? The skilful breeder, that selects a superior strain of black bees, and breeds his queens with the same care as he does his Italians, is the man of whom I want to buy. I would say to you, Novice, that I don't belong to that class of unfortu- nates who seem to delight in being contrary. I only want to give facts. A. J. FlSHER. East Liverpool, O., June 17, 1879. I give place to the above, because some of our new readers may think we do not give both sides of every question. Our old read- ers know that the same ideas have been ad- vanced over and over again, and that all those who held them have given up their position and recalled their statements, after a more faithful trial of the Italians. If I am not mistaken, every point mentioned has been refuted by careful experiments. I was present when Mr. Quinby made the state- ment referred to, but our friend does not give all of it. Mr. Q., at that time, very de- cidedly corrected the point our friend' has made." Is it not rather uncharitable, friend F., to insinuate that those who recommend Italians do it because they have them for sale? Are you willing we should judge you in that way? The blacks do make the whit- est comb honey, but it is because they do not till the cells full, as do the Italians. Hed- don, Bingham, Peters, who argued as you do, and all the rest, have now adopted Ital- ians ; and I believe they all keep bees solely for honey. HOW TO GET BEES INTO THE HOUSE APIARY. I have built a house apiary similar to the one il- lustrated in the A B C as yours. How am I to get the bees from the old box "gums" into the house V Some of them are one hundred feet from it at present. I can transfer from one hive to another, and have done so, but how am I to get the bees over that distance and not lose any ? Dr. Ashton. Cuthbert, Ga., May 28, 1879. [Transfer them into movable frames first: then leave one comb with a little brood on each old stand, and move the rest of the combs and bees into the house apiary. Every night, carry the remaining bees into the house, until all will stay with their queen.] 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUBE. 257 REPORT FROM GEORGIA. POOR SEASON. fjjHE season for 1878 was, no doubt, one of the poorest known in the South for many years. The spring was fine and warm, and the fruit bloom afforded a line harvest for the bees, causing them to breed abundantly, and swarm early and late. The summer months were dry and hot, which produced a failure in the honey crop, and the fall crop was light; enough, however, to induce the bees to rear a heavy brood, which consumed their winter supply, and the result was, many swarms perished through the winter. SEASON ROR 1879. The season for 1879, thus far, has been very poor and backward; indeed, bees commenced to swarm about the middle of April, and are now gathering quite freely. We received a letter to-day from Italy, from the man who selects our queens for us. He writes that the season there is nearly one month later than usual. Bees, at this date, are gathering honey rapidly, and breeding abundantly. COMB FOUNDATION. While some would try to discourage the use of this invaluable article, we could not dispense with it any sooner than with a good smoker. We have tried that made by several parties, all very good; we have also tried that made upon tin foil, and find it very good indeed; not a particle did it sag. We are now experimenting with it, compelling the bees to make a single comb one solid cubic foot; and if no preventing providence, will exhibit such if we live. What would you think of that, Mr. Editor, to see a comb of honey one solid cubic foot? Would you not think this was rather on the forcing system? But great and marvelous are the "works" of the "honey bee." A. F. Moon. Rome, Ga. If I should see a single comb of honey measuring one solid cubit foot, I presume I should think it was you that did it, friend Moon ; for, from what I remember of the pyramid of honey I saw at the convention m Cleveland, you seem to be just the man to make the bees do it, if any one can. KEEPING THINGS SHARP. SF one wants to get along in this progress- ive age of the world, he must not only ' look sharp continually, but he must have sharp tools to work with. When I see any body trying to do something with dull tools, I sometimes wonder who is to be pitied most, such an one or one who has no tools at all. In so simple a matter as eating one's dinner, nothing contributes more to my good nature, than a sharp knife that will cut through anything you wish, without a large expenditure of time and patience. There- is one particular reason why I always wish to get through my dinner quickly, and that is that there is a little "chick" right across the corner of the table, who invariably sings out towards the completion of this meal, "Bees, papa ; bees, bees, bees," and there is no farther peace, until she has her little sun- bonnet, and is carried out into the apiary, and the whole matter shown up, and ex- plained (V) to her satisfaction. I often take the pollen laden bees on my ringer, and ex- hibit them to her admiring gaze. One day she got through the gate, and tried catching them herself, which resulted in a sting on her little fat wrist. That made no difference, however, for she calls out "•Bees," after din- ner, all the same. Well, the other day it was very warm, and she and I were going to have some lemonade, but upon trying .one knife after another, we could not find one that would slice the lemon, by dint of any amount of "sawing," and finally mamma brought us a great butcher knife, a little less than a yard long, and that was so dull, we came pretty near not having any lemon- ade at all. Soon after, I saw an advertise- ment of the machine shown below. FAMILY GRIND STONE AND POLISHING MACHINE. It is made by the Miller's Falls Manufac- turing Co., and when I saw the price adver- tised for it, only three dollars, I thought it must be a mistake. We sent the money, and in due time, came a very pretty machine, all nicely boxed, which ought, according to the way machinery is generally sold, to sell for at least $8. or $10.00. It has an 8 inch grindstone, and a 10 inch emery wheel, and both are set spinning by simply pressing your foot on the treadle, by a device quite similar to the one used by Barnes Bros., for running their foot power saws. In fact, the idea popped into my head of putting a 10 in. buzz saw in place of the grindstone, attaching a table, and having a $5.00 foot power buzz saw ; but, amid the rush of busi- ness, I have not had a moment's time to do it, and so I give the idea to you. With this wonderfully neat little machine, it is just fun to sit down and sharpen and scour every thing about the household. A sponge is fastened against the stone, which prevents 258 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. July its throwing water about when run at a high speed. The emery wheel can be removed in an instant. I have accepted the agency of the machine, and will send you one for just $2.60 ; or for 6 subscribers at $1.00 each. They are shipped from N. Y., at very low rates of freight, and it seems to me, in a year's time, they must be worth five times the cost to every family, to say nothing of their value to the bee-keeper, in keeping all his tools and himself, too, sharp and up with the times. ^»-«*»- HONEY PLANTS OF FLORIDA. "PINTS and tea-cupfuls ?" EN the Apr. and May Nos. of Gleanings, I see mention made of the Spanish bayonet {Yucca gloriosa), as producing cupf uls of honey. Those articles were quite interesting to me, as both that and the Yucca Philamentosa, or bear grass as it is called, grow wild here. They are the grandest flow- ering plants that I ever saw, having a perfect tower of pure white, waxy, pendant cups, often three feet high, that may be seen from miles away. I am not, however, prepared to set them as high in the list of honey producing plants as your brother and some others; yet they may deserve the place. Not having had occasion, until lately, to study the honey producing plants of Fla., I have never, until I saw them mentioned in your valuable paper, taken more than a passing notice of them. During the past three weeks, I have examined a number of the bay- onets, and, so far, have found very little honey. Jn fact, some had scarcely a trace of it, even in the morning. It may be on account of the season, as, for some unexplained reason, we have had an un- usually severe honey drought for the past six weeks. I will keep an eye on them in the future, and report ; and if I find any of the fruit still hanging, I will forward some to you. We have a plant now coming into bloom, however, that can be relied on. I refer to the saw palmetto (Chamcvrops Palmetto, I believe), which, with the cabbage palmetto {Areca oleracea), although being two of the best honey plants on earth, I have never seen mentioned in any work on bees or bee pastur- age. The first is a low growing plant, covering- thousands of acres of land, in this state, so densely as to be almost impenetrable. In fact, its removal is the main expense of clearing a great deal of our land. It has one large root from three to eight in- ches through, lying on or near the surface of the earth, with numerous small, tough feeders running straight down from the under side. The large roots are from two to twenty feet long and nearly as large at one end as at the other. At one end, and at in- tervals along its length, it puts up buds from which reach up long stemmed leaves to a height of 4 to 6 feet; also the bud puts out several (often as many as eight) branching fruit stems, large enough to till a lA bushel measure, and perfectly encrusted with small, yellowish white blossoms. These blossoms secrete large quantities of thick, light yellow honey of good quality. They are very sweet scented, fill- ing the air with perfume, and the bees, forgetting every thing else, swarm upon them from daylight until dark. The blossoms open about the middle of April, and last about two months. The fruit is a black, oblong berry, much resembling the date (to which it is re- lated), and about twice the size of the concord grape. When ripe, it contains large quantities of saccha- rine matter, which, oozing through the skin, stands in large drops of thick honey on the outside, from where the bees take it to the hive. The berries ripen the middle of Oct., and remain on the stems until Christmas thereby furnishing the last crop of the season. During the early part of last winter, the bees filled every inch of space given them with this honey, and as it is dark, and thick as molases, and has a peculiar taste, it was packed away by most of us to use to stimulate breeding after the orange blossom crop in Feb. The cabbage palmetto in my opinion is the king of honey producing plants. It comes in about the first of June and lasts until Aug., producing im- mense quantities of clear white, beautiful honey, moderately thick and of a delicate flavor. It has clusters of flowers like the saw palmetto, only much larger, many of them too large to go into a bushel basket. The berries are of no account for honey. We have a great variety of honey producing plants and trees. Conspicuous among them is the black mangrove. While it is in blossom a person may sail mile after mile up or down our rivers and be constantly within hearing of the hum of thousands upon thousands of bees all the way. When we take into consideration the advantages which Florida enjoys,— the magnificent pasturage, the wonderful natural increase of our bees, the mild winters, and the easy transportation to the best markets of the world, we feel perfectly safe in predicting that this state will see the day when the products of her honey bees, like those of her orange groves, will be second to those of no state in the Union. W. S. Hart. New Smyrna, Fla., May 12, 1879. HOW TO "SPRING" BEES. t firY success in saving my bees this year was not 1|[ in wintering, but in springing. I believe I should have lost heavily, if I had left my bees for spring, as I had them for winter, since nearly all bees came through to the 1st of March. For winter, 1 followed Gleanings, using Simplic- ity hives, and chaff cushions at sides and on top. I packed outside with buckwheat chaff one foot thick, except in front, where it was 4 inches thick, from the 25th of Feb. to the 1st of March. When the weather would permit, I overhauled, and fixed for spring as follows : Every colouy that was on five cards of comb was forced onto three, if possible (I think it will general- ly be possible by placing the combs a little farther apart than usual), and the chaff cushions were crowded as close together as possible; those that were on four cards Were forced on to two, if possible, etc. In other words, I fixed my bees for springing just as Gleanings directs for wintering, only, after fixing for winter, Gleanings says, "Let them a- lone." Now, in springing, don't let them alone, but watch them closely. If dysentery shows itself in any hive, take them out, give them a clean hive and a card of clean capped honey, and crowd them up with clean cushions, having some kind of cloth tack- ed on that side of the cushions which is next to the bees, but crowd them up, crowd them up, even if you get them on a single card of honey. If they have a good queen, they will show you how fast they can grow. I had one colony so small that I started 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 259 to double them in with another, but, when 1 saw the queen, changed my mind and gave them a nice card of capped honey between two cushions, and to-day they are a tine large colony. Now, friend Novice, you have taught us how to winter our bees almost without loss, from Nov. mi- ni March; if you will teach us how to spring them from March 1st until May 10th, we will be all O. K. I think that it is just as necessary to fix them for spring as it is for winter. On the 1st of March, friend Miner's bees were ful- ly as strongas mine. On the 1st of May, he had but one or two left, while mine had been slowly but surely gaining in numbers. He left his just as he had wintered them, while I repacked every one of mine, except two which were in box hives, and which I intended to transfer as soon as I could; but they transferred themselves, by disappearing all at once, with lots of honey and more than lots of dead bees in the hive. Having learned how to winter, now let us learn how to spring our bees. Wm. L. King. Benton Harbor, Mich., May 31, 1879. To all of the above I most heartily agree, friend K. HOW QIEENS STAND A JOURNEY IN THE NEW SECTION QUEEN CAGE AND HOW TO INTRODUCE THEITI. ALSO SOMETHINO ABOUT TRANSFERRING. f'HE queen came in good time and in good order and has the appearance of a good queen in every respect. Friend Ncwkirk, an old bee man, was at my house when I received her, and helped me to introduce her to the family I had pre- pared for her, and he pronounced her the purest queen that he ever saw. Others looked at her and pronounced her the "boss". I am well pleased with her. The card of honey you put in the cage was in good shape and every empty cell had an egg in it. The queen was very plump and had the appearance of being full of eggs. I had no trouble in getting her accepted. 1 will tell you how I managed : I received your postal the 5th, stating that she would be shipped that day. I prepared a colony of young bees for her reception, by taking six cards full of sealed brood, with the adhering bees, from a colony that was almost ready to swarm, and put them into a hive by themselves; then shook the bees off from 3 more cards from the same hive, into the hive with the 6 cards of brood, and I had quite a strong colony of young bees that had never been out into the fields. All that had been out would go back to the old home leaving all young bees in the colony for the new queen. They were without a queen twenty-four hours, and, by that time, were glad to receive another. I don't think they would have hurt her if I had liberated her at once; but I thought I would not take any chances, so I put her into a cage, hung her in the hive, left her 2± hours, and then let her out on the combs. She had only nicely got out before they began to feed her. They seemed to be as pleased to receive her as I was to have them do so. In about 2 hours after liberating her, I looked after her and found her all right. I put her back, and left her over night and looked again in the morning, and found her all right and doing business. My bees are doing nicely this spring. I went into winter quarters with 26 colonies, and came through with 22—19 strong and 3 weak. I have to-day quite a number of colonies working in sections, storing them with clover honey. Reading Gleanings, June No., under the head, "Transferring," brought to my mind my experience. I transferred 19 colonies this spring in fruit blos- soming time. I commenced in the afternoon when Ihe bees seemed to be out in the field. When the bees came in, they c oncluded to work nearer home, and they made it red hot about where I was. I used the smoker, and with the assistance of my wife, I got through with one swarm without much loss. I had nine more to transfer and it must be done the next evening. After the bees had got through with their day's work, I went around to each hive anil shut them in. and the few that were out came in loaded, and could not get in to unload; so, you see, I had it my own way, and I could transfer in good shape, one swarm each evening. I see the question asked, "How much of the old comb shall be used?" My opinion is, just what has brood in it, and what you can get into your frames straight and nice, and no more. When you can get foundation for 50c per lb., the comb that is not straight is worth more for wax than any thing else. C. E. Waldo. Grand^Ledge, Mich., June 12, 1879. BEE BOTANY AND ENTOMOLOGY. PAULONIA JMPERIALIS. W!> enclose you a blossom, and other parts of a tree jfj! that is known here as Paulonia. It is a profuse 4A bloomer, and secretes quantities of honey. Its general appearance is somewhat like the catalpa, but it bears no beans. I don't know the quality of the honey, but for quantity, I know of nothing bet- ter. There are no leaves on the tree yet, but the bloom is thick enough to give some shade. The tree is a rapid grower and attains a good size. If you know anything about this tree you will confer a favor by giving it in (.leanings. Goldsboro, N. C., Apr. 24, '79. T. B. Parker. Many thanks, friend P. Two of the ahove trees are planted in our yard, and we have been looking for those wonderful blossoms for the last 5 years. The trees were bought expressly for the honey they bear, but I fear we are too far north, as they almost invaria- bly die down to the ground every winter, and then send up a powerful shoot in the spring. These shoots have sometimes grown 10 feet in a single season. The immense leaves, often a foot wide by two feet long, attract much attention from passers by.' One of the trees has stood unharmed for the past two winters, and we have been confidently looking for blossoms this spring. Who can furnish us with plants and seed? Ours came from a Mr. Oooly, on Manchester Is- land in the Ohio river. YUCCA OR SPANISH BAYONET. In your April No. of Gleanings, you say that the blossom of the yucca, or Spanish bayonet, or rather Spanish Dejo, as it is called in Texas, yields tea-cup- f tils of honey. Now it may do so in Texas or other states, but it seems to me it don't produce any hon- ey here in 111. There are more than twenty yuccas in bloom here in different private gardens, but not a single bee have 1 ever seen on them. How did your experiment come out with one of these beauti- ful flowers ? You promised to tell lis in next num- ber, but you forgot it, 1 presume. M. Kuehne. Olmsted, 111., June 113, 1879. We have been informed from several sources that this statement is a mistake, but it is quite likely that the plant, like many others, bears honey in some localities and not others. A pair of the yuccas are now in our garden, but they will probably not bloom this season. 260 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. JulY ROBBING AND SWARMING OUT— A NEW FEATURE. S1 HAVE just had a new experience with bees. I supposed I had learned some of their tricks, but ■~ ' I give it up now. Mr. Itamage, a near neighbor of mine, has a very strong swarm of bees, which commenced robbing mine in early spring when first set out of cellar, every warm day through March and April. They first robbed 2 swarms of another neighbor, and took home with them both bees and honey, thus making them doubly strong. They were in a large box hive, and had ample room, and bred up very fast. They have kept at my bees so much, that they could not go out to gather pollen at all, and I had to keep them closed up most of the time through the middle of the day, but they watched closer than I could, and finally cleaned out 2 medium swarms in Api-il, then kept at the others constantly, early and late. It was nothing but fight and sting, from morn till night. I closed the entrance to within one inch, but finally they beat 2 heavy swarms and killed the queens, and the bees joined them as the others had done. I saved most of the honey in the last two by taking them in the house. I offered to buy the swarm, but could not. I then offered to divide them, transfer, and furnish him a queen for the one part— anything to break them up. He was very willing to do whatever could be done to stop their mischief ; so, on the 10th, as I noticed honey coming in lively from plum and apple blos- soms, and plenty of drones flying, we divided them, giving the old stand their own queen, and the new one my queen, enclosing each in a wire cage. But now comes the puzzle ; just as we were shak- ing the bees from the skeps, in front of the hives, there was an unusual buzzing, the air seemed full of bees, and I noticed another swarm alighting with them, and saw at once, they were my two banded hybrids ; and still another swarm of black bees pounced down and clustered in the pile. I at once caught and caged both their queens, and placed them in my pocket. I hastened home, and, as I sus- pected, 2 hives were empty. The hybrid swarm was a heavy one in a 10 frame hive, and on examination, four frames were filled with capped brood hatching, eggs, and larvae in all stages, and 5 frames of heavy scaled honey. The black swarm was a medium one, had 3 frames of eggs, larva?, and hatching brood, and 5 frames of honey. When I left home at 12 o'clock, both were carrying in pollen lively. Did such a thing ever happen before ? and what is the cause of it ? Was it the great hum, or the smell of honey? or did my swarms help them all the time in their robbing, and joined them out of sympathy ? I placed my queens in their respective hives, car- ried the hives over and shook in a portion of the mass of bees in each, closed them up, and took them out 3 miles to my father-in-law's, smoked them well, and released the queens, and in V2 hour they were carrying in pollen. Did I do right, or what should I have done ? The robber swarms are situated l.L m. from mine. E. A. Morgan. Arcadia, Wis., May 12, 1879. I think the original cause of stich robbing, was weak stocks, unable to defend them- selves, and after the strong colony got to go- ing in this way, it was hard for them to stop. • Your colonies that swarmed out, would have been very apt to swarm out any way, and they went over to your neighbor's, where you were transferring, because — be- cause— , well, I think they went over there because bees, when they swarm out, most always do go over to some body's apiary, who can keep bees better than their owner. If any body can give any better explanation for the queer doings of these bees, let him stand up. P. S.— Will he please tell us while up, how bees know that there is an apiary a half mile, or a mile away ? especially^ how does the queen know about things out doors, when she always stays inside of the hive V that is, if she really has anything to do with governing the swarming out, and the direc- tionfin which the bees shall go. CHAFF HIVES DURING THE HONEY SEASON. ALSO SOMETHING ABOUT PATENT HIVES. ^ifr> HAVE been experimenting somewhat this I spring and have observed one thing, that, al- though written up many times before, has not been emphasized sufficiently, I think. We advocate protecting bees from the cold blasts of winter, and the scorching rays of the summer sun, but the intermediate temperatures we say but little about. I had one colony, this spring, in a Langstroth hive, so reduced in numbers that all must stay at home to keep the brood warm and a- live, no increase in stores bti:ig possible. This seemed to manifest itself particularly on windy days, of which we have had many this spring. I removed them into a chaff hive, and ever since then as many workers have gone out from this colony as from others twice as strong. I transferred two very strong colonies, last week, from old boxes to chaff hives. They had stored al- most no honey, although we have had a good supply of white clover for two weeks, and fruit blossoms were plentiful in their season. Quite a number of the bee raisers on a small scale had become enthusiastic over the plan of enclosing their box hives in a large box, placing them in a barn or other out-buildiDg, and allowing the bees to build surplus honey on the outside of the hive. Last season, large stores were obtained in this way. This spring, many of these colonies were destroyed during the robbing mania. The cause is doubtless apparent. Most people here have a supreme contempt for any kind of a hive that assumes to be more than a cubical box, with two cross-sticks, and it seems but natural that such should be the case. A few years ago, a man by the name of Moon, I believe, divided the bees about all out of existence. What few sur- vived this ordeal, fell a prey to moths in the Thomas hive, farm rights of which were sold all over the county. Mitchell has been here also. Odell, 111., June 9, '79. J. L. Hartwell. It is said that Millard Fillmore, when he was Vice President, on receiving a box of honey from an old friend in the country, paid the following simple and touching compliment to the modern system of bee culture : The honey is uncommonly fine, and its pure sweet- ness enhanced by the thought that no life of the little, industrious insects— a splendid pattern for man in his highest condition to follow— was sacri- ficed by depriving them of this portion of their precious hoard. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 261 UNITING- BESS. Uniting colonies is much like introducing queens, inasmuch as no fixed rule can be given for all cases. It is a very simple matter to lift the frames, bees and all, out of one hive and set them into another, where the two are situated side by side. Usually, there will be no quarrel- ing, if this is done when the weather is too cold for the bees to fly, but this is not al- ways the case. If one colony is placed close to one side of the hive, and the other to the other side, and they are small enough WHAT TO DO WITH THE t^lEEXS. If one of the colonies to be united has been several days queenless, all the better ; for a queenless colony will often give up its local- ity and accept a new one, by simply shaking them in front of a hive containing a laying queen. From a hive containing neither queen nor brood, I have induced the whole lot to desert, and go over to a neighboring colony, by simply shaking the bees in front of it. They were so overjoyed at finding a laying queen, that they called all their com- for a vacant comb or two between them, j rades to the new home, and all hands set to they will very rarely fight. After two or three days, the bees will be found to have united themselves peaceably, and the brood and stores may then be placed compactly to- gether, and your chaff cushions put in at each side. If there are frames containing some honey, that cannot be put in, they should be placed in an upper story, and the bees al lowed to carry it down. You should always look to them 20 minutes or half an hour after they are put into one hive, to see if every- thing is amicable on "both sides of the house." If you find any bees fighting, or any doubled up on the bottom board, give them such a smoking that they cannot tell "which from t'other," and after 15 or 20 minutes, if they are fighting again, give them another "dose," and repeat until they are good to each other. I have never failed in getting them peaceable after two or three smokings. If you wish to unite two colonies so large that a single story will not easily contain them, which, by the way, I feel sure is always poor policy, or if their honey is scattered through the whole ten combs in each hive, proceed as before, only set one hive over the other. If this is done on a cool day, and the bees are kept in for two or three days, few, if any, will go back to the old stand. If the hives stood within 6 feet of each other, they will all get back without any trouble anyway, for they will hear the call of their comrades who have discovered the new order of things. Sometimes you can take two colonies while flying, and put them together without trouble, by making the lost bees call their comrades. Only actual practice and acquaintance with the habits of bees will enable you to do this, and if you have not that knowledge, you must get it by experience. Get a couple of colonies that you do not value much, and practice on them. As I have said all along, beware of robbers, or you will speedily make two col onies into none at all, instead of into one. work and carried every drop of honey to the hive with the fertile queen. By taking ad- vantage of this disposition we can often make short work of uniting. If you are in a hurry, or do not care for the queens, you can unite without paying any attention to them, and one will be killed; but, as even a hybrid queen is now worth 50c, I do not think it pays to kill them. Remove the poorest one and keep her safely caged, until you are sure the other is well received by the bees. If she is killed, as is sometimes the case, you have the other to replace her. Where stocks are several rods apart, they are often moved a couple of feet a day while the bees are flying briskly, until they are side by side, and then united as we have di- rected. This is so much trouble, that I much prefer waiting for cold weather. If your bees are in box hives, I should say your first job on hand is to transfer them. If you have several kinds of hives in your apiary, you are about as badly off, and the remedy is to throw away all but one. My friends, those of you who are buying every patent hive that comes along, and putting your bees into them, you little know how much trouble and bother you are making yourselves for the years to come. In conclusion, I would advise deferring the uniting of your bees until we have sev- eral cold rainy days, in Oct., for instance, on which bees will not fly. Then proceed as directed. If you have followed the advice I have given, you will have little uniting to do, except with the queen rearing nuclei; and with these, you have only to take the hives away, and set the frames in the hive below, when you are done with them. If the hive below is a strong one, as it should of course be, just set the frames from the nucleus into the upper story, until all the brood has hatched. If you wish to make a colony of the various nuclei, collect them i during a cold day, and put them all into one hive. If you have bees from 3 or 4, they will 262 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July unite better than if they came from only two hives, and you will seldom see a bee go back to his old home. A beginner should beware of having many weak colonies in the fall, to be united. It is much safer, to have them all strong and ready for winter, long before winter comes. UNITING NEAV SWARMS. This is so easily done, that I hardly need give directions ; in fact, if two swarms come out at the same time, they are almost sure to unite, and I do not know that I ever heard of two such swarms quarreling. One of the queens will very soon be killed, but you may easily find the extra one, by looking for the ball of bees that will be found clinging about her, very soon after the bees have been join- ed together. A swarm can almost always be given without trouble, to any swarm that has come out the day previous, and if you will take the trouble to watch them a little, you may unite any swarm with any other new swarm, even if it came out a week or more before. Smoke them when inclined to fight, as I told you before, and make them be good to the new comers. UNITING BEES IN THE Sl'KINN. Since our spring dwindling troubles, it has been quite customary to unite a stock that has become queenless to one having a queen, or to unite two or more weak stocks, to enable them to go through the spring months. The process is much like uniting in the fall. Lift out the frames and put them together, watching to see that they are friendly to the new comers. Bees are often united in the spring for the purpose of securing great results in honey, and by unit- ing the bees and brood, great amounts may be obtained from what might be called a single swarm. WATER FOR BEES. That bees need water has been pretty well demonstra- ted, but the best means of supplying them has not been very satisfactorily settled. The amount of water needed depends much on whether they are rearing brood in consid- erable quantities or not, and whether their food is old, thick (possibly candied) honey, or new honey right from the fields. If the latter, it contains usually a large quantity of water that must be expelled before the honey can be considered ripened. See ven- tilation. "Well, while the bees are gather- ing this thin, raw honey, as a matter of course, they will not need much water, if any at all, besides what the honey affords them. This new honey is frequently so thin that it runs out of the combs like sweetened water, when they are turned horizontally, and when tasted, it seems, in reality, but sweetened water. The excess of moisture is probably 1 say probably, for I do not know that we have positive proof on the matter expelled by the strong currents of air the bees keep circulating through the hive, which takes up the watery particles, and speedily reduces the honey to such a consistency that it will not sour. If you will examine a hive very early in the morning during the height of the honey season, you will find the blast of air that comes out quite heavily charged with moisture, and when the weather is a little cool, this mois- ture often condenses and accumulates on the alighting board, until it forms a little pool of water. Where the alighting board was of the right shape to retain the water, I have seen it so deep as to drown bees in passing out. These bees, it would seem, were at least in no need of having water supplied them. While I am on the subject, I will mention another way which, as I have discovered, the bees have of expelling the liquid portions from very thin honey. I guess I will say it is the way in which I think they do it, for I may be mistaken. I had several colonies in a small greenhouse for experiment. They were fed on sweet- ened water, until they stored a large amount in their combs. AVhen the sun warmed up the air in the morning, they would come out in great numbers and sport in the sunshine, and by taking a post where they came be- tween my eye and the sun, I distinctly saw them discharge from their bodies, what seemed to be only pure water. These bees had been fed until they had their hives so full of the thin syrup, that they had even crowded out the eggs. When coming out of their hives, they seemed heavily laden, but those returning were so much reduced in size, as to make quite a contrast to those going out. By watching the matter, it seemed quite plaiif that they took the thin food into their stomachs, and after a time, longer or shorter, were able to expel the liquid portion while on the wing, and then return the thick portion to the cells. If I am . in error in this, I should like to be cor- rected. It may be well to state in this con- nection that honey, no matter how thin, will never sour while in the hive, under the care of a sufficient number of bees, but if a comb of this thin honey be taken away from them, and kept outside of the hive, it will sour very quickly. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 263 As the following little sketch given in Gleanings, in July, 1S74, gives a vivid idea of one way of giving bees water, and of the way they use it, I give it entire. WATER FOR BEES. "They are robbing the Quinby hive, now," Mrs. N. had said to Novice who was suffer- ing from a "tormented headache, " to use his own expression, one pleasant Sunday after- noon in May. lie had often boasted he didn't have headaches, and seemed, so the women folks say, to regard the matter as a kind of feminine weakness that one should be ashamed of, but now he was making more of a row about it than a whole dozen of the weaker sex; besides this, some neighboring black bees had just discovered that a quanti- ty of combs of nicely sealed sugar syrup were but poorly guarded by a few miserably weak Italian stocks. Under the circum- stances. Mrs. N. and Master Ernest had been directed to close the entrances of such hives as failed to make a successful resistance, by banking the saw-dust up in front. They soon reported that the robbers were going out and in under the cover of the Quinby hive, it having warped enough to allow this. In this dilemma. Novice was again consult- ed, and was obliged to cease rolling and tumbling on the bed where he lay, long e- nough to direct that stove wood be piled on the cover until the cracks were closed. This was done, and Mrs. N., for additional securi- ty, placed on the centre of the top of the hive a large stone jar, inverted. When Novice awoke next morning at a- bout his usual hour— -5 o'clock — although a little sadder than usual, and perhaps wiser, his head was free from pain, and he, of course, repaired at once to the apiary, the scene of yesterday's troubles and turmoils. A refreshing shower, which had been much needed, had materially changed the aspect of things, and as the locust blossoms had opened during the night, all robbing had ceased and every thing was lovely. On turning his eyes toward the Quinby hive, which stood under the shade of a dwarf pear tree, he beheld a perfect circle of bees for all the world like beads strung on a string, greedily sipping the rain water from the concave bottom of that inverted stone jar. It was raised up so they could find it readily, was clean, and so shallow it could not drown them, and altogether seemed just the thing. Later, after Blue Eyes was up, the numbers had increased, and so intent were they on sipping the pure water, that she could touch them with her fingers with- out their scarcely noticing the interruption. Of course the supply was soon out, or would have been had we not replenished it; the concavity held about a tea-cupfull, and Miss Maudie was commissioned to see that they did not uget out." But they did for all that ; for during hot days, several tea-cupfulls were needed, partly on account of evapora- tion, and it only remained for Novice to de- vise a cheap and simple mechanical arrange- ment to keep constantly full the shallow cavity in the bottom of that stone jar. This he did very quickly by filling a quart glass fruit jar with water ; a piece of paper was laid over the mouth until it could be invert- ed on the stone jar, and then the paper was drawn out. Of course when the water be- came exhausted so as to allow a bubble of air to go up into the jar, a little more water came down, and so on. A quart of water lasts several days, and the receptacle being glass, we can always see when it needs re- plenishing. We were amused this morning to see the usual number of bees around it, and more going and coming quickly, even though it waajmmwgi quite briskly. Many of the bees were quite young Italians that, it seems, had become so accustomed to go- ing to a certain spot for water, that they couldn't think of doing otherwise even though water was raining down all about them. We are well aware the principle of the above is not new, as feeders on a similar plan are in use, but the plan of supplying fresh water is new, at least to us. We have in former years tried arrangements with shavings, water allowed to drip on a board, and a cloth laid over a vessel full of water, but all of them were soon abandoned because they were too much trouble, or were untidy, etc., and the bees were allowed to go to dis- tant muddy streams, to the pump, etc. Is it not a fact that during the working season the workers mostly fail from worn out wings V and, if this is the case, should we not save them all we can by having supplies near at hand ? at least water, if we can do nothing further ? Our 4000 basswood trees were planted with this end in view ; that is, to give them as much forage within one fourth mile of their hives, as they usually get in an area of one and a half or two miles around their hives. The device we have mentioned can of course be used for out door feeding, and it is perfectly secure from waste ; by inverting a tumbler of syrup in a saucer, we can also use it for feeding in the hives, when there 264 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. July is no occasion to feed rapidly. This latter plan has been given several times in print already. If the bees that frequent your water jar come in large numbers, it may not flow from the jar fast enough, unless the mouth is raised slightly ; this we do by means of a a few bits of window glass. IMPROVEMENT ON THE ABOVE. The above was written just about four years ago, this present month. I have just been improving on it a little, and below, submit the arrangement as we have it in the apiary now, for watering bees. Get a piece of board about 1 foot square, and with a saw, or saws, such as we use for grooving the ends of the pieces composing the section boxes, plough grooves from one end of the board to the other, being careful that they do not run quite out. Now, with a single saw, cut a groove from each corner to the opposite one, and a couple more across the grain of the wood, near the middle, and the board is done. These grooves should be about i inch deep, and about the same distance^ from each other. Invert the jar of water on the cen- tre of the board, and the grooves will keep just full of water, as long as any remains in the jar, and yet they will never run over. The bees can stand on the walls of wood that separate the grooves, as well as on a I sheet of their own comb, and with as little danger watering jar of getting daubed, or and board, or wetted. Now this ar- open air rangement makes per- feeder. haps the best feeder ever invented, for open air feeding (see feeding and feed- ers) ; for all we have to do is to use sweet- ened water, instead of water only. Put a pound of coffee sugar in the jar, fill up with water, cover it with your hand, and shake briskly, and it is ready for business. Lay a paper over the mouth of the jar, as before, invert it on the centre of the board where the grooves cross, draw out the paper, and, if it is at a time when robber bees are hovering about, some one will soon find it. After the first bee has gone home with one load, he will bring others back with him, and pretty soon, the board will be covered with them, sipping like a lot of pigs out of a trough. As the syrup goes down in the grooves, air will be allowed to come in, and you can see, by the bubbles rising in the jar, just how fast they are taking the syrup. I have just been watching one of these feeders (May 31, 1879), and after the bees got well at work, a bubble would be on its way to the surface in the jar, almost con- stantly, and the liquid was carried off by the little fellows, at the rate of about 1 inch in 10 minutes. This would empty the i gal- lon jar in about an hour and a half. Not a bee is daubed, and they flit away to their hives, as easily as if they had loaded up from the blossoms on the trees. This feed- er answers admirably for feeding grape sugar, for all we have to do is to fill the jar with lumps of it, and pour in water until it is filled, and then invert as described. The passage of the bubbles upward tends to dis- solve the sugar rapidly. Old, thick, or can- died honey may be fed in the same way, and when the bees stop, the feed stops coming down into the grooves. This will perhaps be the best arrangement we can have for feeding grape sugar to keep brood rearing going on, during a season of drouth or scarcity. In the above engraving, the jar and board are represented as standing on a block of stone, but they may be placed on a box or block of wood as well. We keep the device a few rods from the apiary, under a clump of trees, to call away the robbers from about the hives. Of course, the arrangement may be placed inside the hives, by putting in a division board, or setting it in an upper story. If you wish to give them a supply that will last them a month or more, it may be well to get a large glass bottle or carboy, at the drug store, and your bees will then have- water during the season, all they can use. Where there is a spring near you that can be conducted to the apiary, a very pretty watering place can be made. Be stu-e that it is so arranged that the bees can- not get drowned. A little fountain, where the spring is high enough to allow it, is a very pretty addition to the apiary. I once had one made with an iron vase, perhaps eighteen inches across. This basin was al- ways full, and overflowing slightly, and dur- ing the warm weather all summer long, bees would be sipping the water around the edge; sometimes they stood side by side clear around the edge of the vase, making a sight 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 265 that was enough to call forth exclamations of surprise from almost any hody, bee keep- er or not. The fountain was supplied with water from a large pine box, placed on the roof of the wood house and itself supplied by the eave spout from the upright part of the building. When the box was full, it ran over on the roof and down into the cistern as usual, so the arrangement required no special supervision, so long as we had rain as often as once a week. The connection between the box and the fountain near the apiary was by i inch iron pipe. The bees never drowned in this fountain because the vase was always full and overflowing. If a bee flew in, or got pushed in by his compan- ions, he soon buzzed over to the side and walked out, having no perpendicular sides to climb up. Below I give you an engraving of the vase and fountain. FOUNTAIN FOR GIVING BEES ACCESS TO WATER. You will observe a stop cock at the lower part of the jet. This is for the purpose of regulating the supply of water. During a dry time, it is to be turned so as to just keep the vase full, and the same during windy days, when the water would be blown away. When we had still evenings, the jet was opened so as to throw a stream perhaps six feet high. Around the fountain we had flowers of different kinds. It is hard to imagine a prettier adjunct to an apiary than a watering fountain surrounded with flowers humming with busy laborers. During some experiments in the same greenhouse I have mentioned. I put a small colony into the lamp nursery, and warmed it up until their hive indicated over 100 de- grees. The bees then went out, and began flying around the room as if in quest of something. I fixed the same watering jar I have mentioned in one corner of the room, and they pretty soon found it and were busy carrying water into the hive as fast as they could load up and unload. By turning the lamp up or down so as to increase or dimin- ish the temperature, I could easily make them stop and commence carrying water, at pleasure. Does not this seem to indicate that hives should be shaded, during the ex- treme heat of the summer weather? Colo- nies in the same room whose hives were not warmed showed no disposition to gather wa- ter at all, although they were rearing brood in considerable quantities. SALT WATER FOR BEES. At times, bees unquestionably show a fondness for salt water, and I presume they should have access to salt in some way, as well as others of the animal kingdom. It is generally agreed, I believe, that cattle, hors- es, sheep, etc., must have salt, or they will suffer. I know of no reason why bees should not come under the same law. They seem to have a preference for it in a much diluted form, and are very often seen eager- ly hovering over barrels containing refuse brine. I have seen them eagerly digging in the sawdust, where brine had been spilled or thrown out, showing their craving for it. Within the past year, 1879, a great many plans have been given for feeding bees salt, but none of them are any simpler or easier, than the one for giving them water, which I have already illustrated. It may be well to have two watering places, one with the wa- ter slightly salted, and the other of pure wa- ter; you can then easily tell which your bees prefer. If no place is furnished for the bees to get water, they usually go to creeks or puddles near by. Our own have quite a fashion of congregating about the kitchen pump, and Mrs. R. says she knows they hear the pump, for just after water has been drawn, they come in considerable numbers and sip the water that is spilled on the stones. Some of our subscribers have complained that they could not keep their bees from going to their neighbor's pumps, and thus annoying them. I think you will have no difficulty if you provide an arrangement such as I have described, and keep water in it during the whole warm season. It may take them some little time to get used to going to the precise spot, but after it is once learned, they will never forget it. Look out for the comfort and convenience of these little 266 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July friends of ours, and they'will, in time, con- tribute to our comfort and convenience. WHITEWOOD [Liriodendron Tulip- ifera). This is often called the tulip tree, I suppose from its tulip shaped flowers. After I had written the above, I concluded I did not know very much about the white- wood, especially the blossoms, and as I had directed our engraver to copy engravings of the ROCKY MOUNTAIN BEE PLANT, the mountain sage, and teasel, from Cook's Manual, I concluded I would get my obser- vations and pictures this time, from nature ; and so I deserted my type writer and travel- ed off into the woods. At length,! found a tree, but there were only buds to be seen, not blossoms. It must be too early in the season ; but hark ! whence come those sounds of humming-birds, and humming bees? Whence, too, comes that rare and ex- quisite perfume? I looked higher, and away in the misty top of the tree, I thought I dis- cerned, by the light of the setting sun, mul- titudes of bees flitting about. Oh that I were just up there ! I looked at the rough trunk of tbe tree, and meditated that I was a boy no longer, but a man of 40, or would be in a few months more. I might get up to that first limb, — after a good deal of kicking and puffing, I got up there. The next was a harder pull yet, but soon the limbs were LEAF, BUD, AND BLOSSOM OF THE WHITEWOOD, OR TULIP TREE. thicker, and finally, I began to crawl up- ward with about as much ease as our year and a half old baby goes up stairs, whenever she can elude maternal vigilance. Up, up, I went, until, on looking down, I really be- gan to wonder what that blue eyed baby and her mamma would do, should my clumsy boots slip, or a dead limb break unexpected- ly. Now I was in the very summit of the tree, and Oh, what a wonderful beauty I saw in those tulip shaped blossoms, that peeped from the glossy green foliage all about me ! No wonder there was a humming. Bumble- bees, gaudy colored wasps, yellow Italians, and last, but not least, beautifully plumaged humming-birds, were all rejoicing in a field of sweets. Every now and then, one of the latter paused before my very face, and, as he swung pendulously in mid air, winked his bright little eyes, as much as to say, "Why, what on earth can you be doing away up here in our domain?" I picked off the great orange colored, mot- tled blossoms, and looked for the honey. I presume it was the wrong time of day to ex- pect much, but the inside of those large pet- als, seemed to be distilling a dark kind of dew, that the birds and insects were licking off. It tasted to me more like molasses than honey. In the above cut our engraver has tried to show you what I saw in the tree top. As the sun had gone down, I commenced in rather an undignified way to follow suit, and after resting a little, limped home. Although I was stiff and sore, I carried an armful of whitewood blossoms to surprise the good folks who, probably, had never dreamed of the beauties to be seen only in the tree tops. Our friends in the South have a great deal to say about what they call "poplar honey"; and, if I am correct, the poplar is the same tree which we call whitewood. It blossoms with them in April and May. I know what 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 267 time it blossoms here, for I thought about its being the 27th of May, when sliding down out of that tree. A few days ago, I received some bees from G. W. Gates, of Bartlett, Tenn. The combs were filled and bulged out with a dark honey, such as I have described, and the bees had built fins of snow white comb on the cover of their shipping box. From this, I infer the honey must be yielded in great abundance in those localities. I have seen it stated, that the large dowers sometimes yield a spoonful of honey each. As the tree is often used for ornament, I make the following extract from Fuller's Forest Tree Cult-wrist. LIRIODENDRON TUXIPIFERA (Tulip-trCC WMteWOOClJ. Leaves smooth, on slender petioles, partially three-lobed, the middle one appearing- as though cut off ; flowers about two inches broad, bell-shaped, greenish yellow, marked with orange; seeds winged, in a large cone-shape cluster, which falls apart in autumn. The figure shows a single seed as it appears when separated from the mass. It blooms in May and June, and the seeds ripen in late summer or early autumn, and should be sown as soon as ripe in good, moderately dry soil. They may remain in the seed bed two years, if desirable, but should receive a slight protection the first winter; tree of large size, sometimes 130 feet high, with a very straight stem; wood light color, greenish white, soft and light, not hard enough to receive a polish. It is much used in cabinet work, and for making panels for carriages, and for any inside work where toughness or a hard surface is not required. There is perhaps no native wood that will shrink more in seasoning than whitewood, for it not only shrinks sideways, but endways as well; but when once thoroughly seasoned, it remains fixed, and docs not warp or twist like many of the hard and tough kinds of wood. There is also much difference in character of the wood coming from different sections of the country, and mechanics who are conversant with the various kinds and lo- calities will readily tell whether specimens came from the West or East. The latter is of a light greenish color, grain not so smooth and soft, and sometimes rather tough. To produce good timber, the soil should be deep and rich, and on such the trees will grow very rapidly. The wood is little used, except for the purposes mentioned above, consequently it is only large trees that will be of much value. It is one of the most beautiful ornamental trees we possess, growing in a conical form, and producing an abundance of its beautiful tulip-shaped flowers in spring. The roots are soft and sponge like, and it requires great care in re- moving to insure success. Frequent transplanting in the nursery is the best method for preparing the trees for future removal. The question is often asked, "Is white- wood good for bee-hives':"' It may do for sections and honey boxes, but it is very un- satisfactory for hives, for the reasons given in this extract. HOW TO USE THE (OLD BLAST SMOKE it Get some dry rotten wood, something that you can break up easily with the hands, and that is sufficiently dry to be lighted easily with a match. Fill the smoker full of wood broken up moderately fine, especially that portion of it that is put in around the door. Close the door, and turn the slide around so as to have only the small draft hole open. Now light your match, and hold it before the draft hole, your smoker sitting on the table, hive, or any support. The blaze of the match will not go in and light the wood, of course ; but if you work the bellows while keeping the match before the draft "hole, the blaze will shoot in and ignite the rotten wood in a twinkling. Keep blowing for a minute, and I think you will be satis- fied with the amount of smoke. When you want the smoker to go out, turn the ring so as to close the damper. It should never go out otherwise, if it is in proper order, and your fuel right. If you wish to burn rags, make them into a long roll, something like a sausage— I beg pardon for the comparison — a slim bag, stuffed with refuse rags such as you can buy at the stores for a cent a lb. Coil this roll of rags around the smoker inside, in a sort of cork screw shape, so that no fold touches the next, the lower end coming just before the draft hole ; it will now burn slowly until all is consumed, or until the draft is turned. If you let one fold strike the next, it will give more smoke, but of course will not burn so long. The cone will, in time, get filled up with soot, and to have the smoker burn freely, this must be cleaned out when neces- sary. It is easily removed, with a stick of the proper shape. If you want a great quantity of smoke, when you set your smok- er down, set it so the wind will blow in at the draft ; ordinarily I should turn it from the wind, to save the fuel. Should the slide at any time turn too tightly to suit you, take out the screws and bend the tin so as to make it work more loosely. If you do not make your smoker work nicely with these instructions, write me and tell where the trouble is, and I will see to it, and write some more directions. Judging from experience, I think it will be a good idea to go out into the woods with a wagon, and get a good lot of nice rotten wood. To rotten elm we rather give the pref- erence. If you havn't a place where you can keep it dry, build a small house on pur- pose for it. Lay it out in the hot sun, until it is perfectly dry, or dry it in an oven. After you have got it dry, do not leave it out in the rain. If you are awfully careless, get your wife to help you to remember. 268 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July THE GROUNDS AND SHADE OF THE APIARY. of shade being well known, of rs to the bee-keeper to place his the shade of low, spreading trees. Upon doing so he finds that, taking the year through, the unprotected hives do just as well as those com- pletely shaded at all times. The facts therefore seem to be these : 1. Sunshine is very profitable to the bees a portion of the time. 2. Shade is very profitable a portion of the time. The two about balance each other, if at odds; but can we not have both in their proper time ? A small shade, so arranged that the morning and evening sun will look around behind it, is the solution usually recommended at present. The following are some reasons why we should not accept this as a finality : 1. On blazing afternoons, the sun looks around al- together too soon. 2. In actual practice, part of the top and one side of the hive is apt to be exposed to the very hottest of the sunshine. 3. We have some fiercely hot spells before the grape, or anything else usually used for small shades, gets foliage enough to be of much use. 4. Very many noondays are cool enough so that sunshine, rather than shade is prof- itable to the bees. We err a little by thinking too much of our own sensations. We want our apart- ments at 70°, while the bees want theirs at about 100°. A man, therefore, if inclosed in a dry-goods box, would want it shaded much more of the time than the bees want their hives shaded. Put a thermome- ter in an empty hive and expose it to the sun. Whenever the mercury rises to nearly 100 degrees, hives should be shaded; otherwise, probably not. With the air outside at— say 60°, sun shining and honey in the fields, it is desirable that as many bees as practicable should go out and gather. If the hive is shaded, bees may be kept at home for no other purpose than to keep the brood nest warm by animal heat. Every degree of heat obtained from the sun at such a time releases bees to go after hon- ey. This thought is recommended to the fraternity, as a very important one. Don't make your bees stay at home to warm up the hive to its needed 100 degrees with their idle bodies (consuming honey as fuel) when the sun stands ready and willing to do the warming. Of the 2000 working hours of a bee's year, probably less than 100 hours are so hot that shade is urgently needed, while 1500 hours are so cool that heat is a benefit. If this be correct, all fixed shades, including vines, annuals, and trees, come too near to doing as much of harm as they do of good. The number of days in a season, when bees suffer serious harm from the heat, being quite small, if the right kind of a shade was at hand, ready to be pulled on if needed, it might be left untouched for weeks at a time ; and the amount of time abso- lutely required to attend to the matter need not be very great. The writer has not worked out the details of the problem, but he believes they can be worked out so that one can pass through the apiary just at the proper time and turn on the shade. One pull of the hand should suffice to shade a whole group of hives. At night, the same shades should be set so as to act as reflectors to catch and throw down the rays of the morning sun. We don't want loose boards. It is too much fuss to handle them, they warp, a gale sets 'em flying, and they hit too hard. Some combi- nation of post and hinge and handle, with muslin on a frame of heavy wire or slats, looks the most prom- ising. Single muslin makes a very poor shade, as any one may know who has walked under an um- brella on a hot day. Part of the rays of light and heat struggle through, and another part heat the fabric so hot that it directly sets up in the radiation business, sending heat downward profusely. By making the muslin into an endless band, like a roll- er-towel, and then springing it over a frame made of inch strips of wood, we would have a double shade inclosing an inch of air. The lower thickness of muslin would catch the radiation of the upper thick- ness and impart most of it to the inclosed air. Such a shade would be cool, very light, and not very cost- ly. As good muslin can be bought for one cent per square foot, while boards can not be had for that money, the double muslin shade would not cost much more than a board shade of the same size. Somebody will say, first perfect, practice, and prove these things, and then come and preach them to us. The writer pleads in reply that his bee expe- rience is somewhat unusual, he having had charge of bees a considerable part of his life, yet never owning a bee, and that he is not in position to try extensive experiments. At the apiary here, aspar- agus was set last year for shade ; and, as it was not expected to be very rank the first year, pole beans were planted in addition. The decision was that neither asparagus nor beans were a sufficient shade. Sunflowers are being tried this season. The sun- flower makes a dense shade, and will throw its great leaves well over the hives, and yet it cannot tangle things up and become a nuisance like grape vines. Just imagine an apiary set 6 feet by 6 with rank Concord vines, and neglected a few weeks in the growing season ! Why, the whole thing would be a jungle chin deep in vines ; and the hives, invisible dens of yellow-jackets down in the unknown depths. The vines should not be neglected, certainly; and there are a few men so fortunately organized that all they attempt seems to be attended to in season; but the most of us would better not leave any need- less gaps open, lest trouble ride in on neglect's back. Sickness, or unexpected press of work, may compel even the most careful persons to neglect many things, at times. Let us relegate the grapes to the border of the apiary; have the high, tight, board fence around the whole, and trellises up the fence, on which the lus- cious grape can climb and flourish; but keep the center just as clean as possible, fteferring to the plan given in the previous article, let the broad al- leys be a clean sod, kept close with the lawn-mower, and the squares, on which the groups of hives are to stand bare beds of beaten saw-dust. Perhaps two inches of gravel, with a half bushel of salt spread over it would make a neater bed, and would be suf- ficiently barren. This would not be in danger of taking fire from the smoker. Possibly, it might be worth the while to cover the squares with a thin pavement of some sort of concrete. Then, to crown all, let each hive, or group of hives, have its own re- flector and shade, neat, light, reversible, removable, but not blow-away able, and we would have an ar rangement that even the bee-keepers of Utopia ought to be satisfied with. E. E. Hasty. Bodley, Ohio. The Colorado Rxiral Life has the following: Lately, on a farm in Boonsville, O., a congress of bees assembled, thirty swarms having settled on one apple tree. The old ladies say it's a sign that the end of the world is near! 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 269 ALSIKE AND HILILOI. LE quote the following from The Prai- rie Farmer: 1. What soil is best adapted to Alsike clover ? 2. Why do you advise always to mix Alsike with other grasses ? 3. Should melilot clover be sown by itself or with grain ? 4. Would it do well in an orchard '? 5. What soil is best for melilot ? 6. Will stock of any kind eat it ? 7. Is it an annual, biennial or per- ennial ? 8. When once introduced can it be eradi- cated from the soil when desired ? Answer:— 1. Moist clay soil. On such soil it will generally do well when grown alone, but it will do best on any soil in wet seasons. 2. Because it is then a sure and safe crop whether the season be wet or dry. The roots of Alsike grow near the surface, similar to white clover, and hence suffer for the want of moisture during drouth, but when mixed with other grasses the roots are then shaded and protected. The other grasses also help to keep it from lodging. The stems are smaller and less woody than the common red, and are therefore more liable to lodge. 3. Always sow melilot in the spring with some kind of grain, rye, wheat, barley, or oats, so as not to lose the use of the land the first year. Like red clover, it does not bloom till the second year. If sowed in the fall it may be grown by itself, but I should then prefer to sow it with rye or wheat. 4. It will do well in an orchard or elsewhere. 5. The very best is a rich moist soil. Have seen it often 8 feet high on such land, but it has such a large and long tap root that it seldom finds fault with any kind of soil wet or dry. 6. When young, and not more than a foot high, it is relished very well by sheep and cattle. They would keep it down in a pasture if given access to it before it gets too rank a growth. I have tried often to get it to grow on the commons, but the cattle running at large have kept it down and destroyed it. Some have cut it when young, dried it, and used it for stock, but I do not recommend it for stock, when grown for bees, for cutting or pasturing would ruin it for honey pu rposes. It is better to let it get a rank growth as it will then produce more flowers, and, of course, more honey. Some bee-keepers who have a large field of this clover prefer to cut half the crop about the middle of June, which, in the latitude of Chicago, would be about three weeks before it blossoms, and thus prolong the time of blooming. The part cut would come into bloom about the time the other would be through with its first crop of blossoms. 7. It is a biennial plant— that is, lives two years and then dies, root and branch. For this reason some prefer to seed the land twice so as to make the crop perpetual. That is, if land be seeded in the spring the same land is seeded again in the fall. That seed- ed in the spring blooms in July the next season, and that in the fall the following seasen. When thus seeded the crop becomes perpetual as the land seeds itself from year to year. 8. As this is a biennial clover, and hence dies root and branch the year 'At blooms, it is of course readily destroyed by simply stopping the production of seed. Be sure to cut when in bloom and before the seed is formed. Some turn hogs into it at this time with unmuzzled snouts, and they soon make a feast of the roots. To conclude, I do not desire to sell any seed of this clover. What I have I prefer to give away to those who wish to try a small plat for honey pur- poses. I have plenty of fresh seed, of my own rais- ing, for that purpose, so don't be afraid to send for a package. Simply enclose a stamp or two to cover postage and trouble, and the seed will be sent you by first mail. It is now too late to sow Alsike this year, but it makes no difference when melilot is sown. M. M. Baldridge. St. Charles, 111. $u%qmile> §^/^il?i^wl. SAM another ABC scholar, and want to ask a question or two. I am a farmer's son, and have ^ to work on the farm; now, can I do any thing with bees, and work. I want the ABC badly, but will wait awhile and make my bees pay for it. I had three colonics last fall, now have one. I want to transfer, before long, into a hive of my own make. It is made partly on the plan of the Langstroth and partly Simplicity. I am 17, quite a small fellow to ask so many questions. Do you want Italians or black bees ? You are not like the old lady that kept store. She said a pint was her pound. Thos. H. Trice. New Providence, Tenn., May 8, '79. Of course you can keep bees and work too, my young friend, and you will very soon rind out, that to keep bees, you must work. A pint of bees will hardly' make, a pound "the world around." I have liked bees from my pop-gun-days. I have now 2 colonies of the common black bees for a start. I am ^ boy 1(> years old, an orphan, and have not had a very good chance; therefore, you must overlook mistakes, for this is the third effort. Mv bees have swarmed so much that I value them at # :i0.00. W. W. McClaran. Marshall, Texa-», April 1, '79. Here comes that sixteen year old "bee-man" again, trying to be as jovial as ever. Father wrote you that "the boys'' went after the absconding swarm of bees. Well, I suppose ive did; after I had run one-half mile trying to keep up with them, and when they had settled had walked back home after my hive, then my brother went with me back to the bees again. I had never seen a swarm of bees hived in my life; so you see I was in a "box". The bees were in a brush heap, and I just set my hive over them, and commenced to rake them into it, all the time "peckin' away" on the hive. But, alas! before I got one-fifth of them in, they took wing and flew away. They never stopped this time until they came to neighbor H's. where they settled on a peach tree. I went to Mr. H., and told him I would give him 50 cts., if he would hive them forme. He came and hived them without any trouble. I did not have the money with me, so I promised to pay him when I came after the bees. The next day, Mr. H. came over with the news (!) that the bees had swarmed again. I was not at home, so father told him he could have them. He hived them; but they came out again, and settled at the same place. They staid there until they died and dropped off. They did not make a single piece of comb. I want to know why they left. Their combs were bright and clean; there was unsealed larva? in the combs, and plenty of pollen too. The entrance was very large. But here's the funny part of it; I lost a half day's hard work (running after the bees), 25 cents (Mr. H. gave me back 25 cents), and the bees too were lost. We have but two colonies now; one in a Lang- stroth hive, and the other in an "old gum". We have not had a swarm yet. While I think of it— the other day, one came out and settled on a tree. Father and mother got every thing ready (I was away from home), and just as they started to get the bees down, they "sailed back home". Now we would be glad if you would tell us why they did so strangely. Fdn. is a "big" thing; we bought 3 tb. from you. We have but one hive to put it in, and you see we don't use much of it. I have seen no "bulging" yet. The frame you sent is jwst "bully". I have not seen her "royal highness" yet. Is there any proba- bility of your sending queens by mail this season? Weli, I expect you are getting tired of me; you see I am almost as talkative as you are. Snyder, Ark., May 16, '79. D. S. Bethune. 270 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. July From Different Fields. GETTING QUEENS PROMPTLY. ^jjpjjjV, LEASE accept thanks for your promptness. I J8r^ received your postal on the 5th, just 7654 ^J hours from the time that I put the order in the office (how is that for promptness'). My hive had a division board in it; I set it back far enough to receive the cage containing the queen, then set an oyster can in the bottom, and the cage on that, and left it there 24 hours, when I let her out. She went down all right ; every bee that met her, would make her stop and give the "pass word." Your box came through all right; it is very nice and light; it could not be any better. There was not a dead bee in it. They uncapped about Ji of the honey. It was shipped on the 4th, and bees taken out on the 7th, in the morning; so you can tell about how much hon- ey they will eat in a given number of days. The bees were all very smart and lively; could not be any better. J. L. Jobdan. Adrian, Mich., June 6, '79. FRIEND HOUGH CONTRIBUTES TO THE COLD BLAST SMOKER. I like the smoker, and thought I must add some- thing to it; so 1 tacked a piece of sand paper on top of the bellows to scratch matches on. Rootstown, O., June 3, '79. S. H. Hough. Many thanks, friend H. It was but yes- terday, in scratching a match on the smoker, I tried to find a rough place on it, but it never dawned on my understanding how handy the sandpaper would be, until you spoke of it. We have placed a dollar to your credit for the idea, and now our smokers all have a piece of sandpaper glued on the bellows board, just before the draft hole. OBJECT LESSONS IN BEE CULTURE. T received the 5 lbs. of comb fdn. you sent me, put it into racks, and transferred the bees from the old fashioned boxes into the rack hives. You cannot imagine my great surprise at the great change it has already produced, or the surprise of grand- mother, who has tended bees for at least 50 years in the old mode of working with them. But 1 am rather ahead of her now and have already given her two good object lessons on bee culture. And all I know about bees is what I have read from your journal during the past few months. S. H. Frankford. North Lima, Ohio, June 12, 1879. I wonder if our friend is not superintend- ent of a Sunday School as well as a bee keeper. SCOTLAND. Everything has arrived safely. The ABC gives special satisfaction. 1 have got the sunflower seeds planted in pots and expect to force them into bloom this season. The season here is later this year than usual. As yet, I have not heard of any natural swarms. Fruit blossom, with the exception of the cherry, is scarcely out. Still we live in hope. July is the great harvest month for bees. Geo. Leslie. Luthrie, Cupar-Fife, Scotland, June 2, '79. SHADE IN THE SOUTHERN STATES. H. A. Moody, p. 225, says, "In southern latitudes the sun rises in N. E. and sets in N. W." If he will consider a moment, he will see that it shines more on the north side of a house or hive in N. Y. than it does in Miss., and that the days are longer here. Farther north, nearer the pole, the sun would go round the hive something as 1 suppose you walk round the stairs. May I suggest to your proof reader to mark out "onto" whenever he finds it and use the English word upon? J. E. Dean. Fishkill, N. Y., June 12, '79. FEEDING BROKEN COMB HONEY. , I have on hand some sugar syrup, and can buy some good comb honey in poor shape for market at six cents per pound. Will it help the bees any in increasing stock and comb building, by feeding it to them nights and lowery days? and will it pay? How would you feed broken comb honey if you had no extractor? inside the hive or out? Will the bees uncap it, or shall I? Would it do harm to feed hon- ey in front of the hive at night? W. A. Sniffin. Spencer, N. Y., June 12, 1879. I do not think it will pay to feed bees at all, while they are storing honey. Eeed broken comb honey, either inside or outside the hive, as you choose ; if you feed outside, in the day time, of course you will have other bees getting it, and will be in danger of exciting robbing. Broken comb honey can be fed at the entrance, in the night, nicely, if you do not give them more than they will surely clean up before morning, you can tell, by practice, just how much will answer. No feeder is needed. SEVERAL EGGS IN A CELL, AND SELLING HONEY. I have an Italian queen which lays from one to twelve eggs to the cell. Now, is it any use to keep a colony of bees to wait on such an "old granny" as that? or is that nothing strange, friend Root ? I have 80 colonies under my care. As I am but 19 years old, I am quite young to handle so many bees. It is not the production of honey here, but the sale, that makes me look downcast. What shall I do, friend Root ? C. H. Clark. Albia, Iowa, June 12, 1879. Several eggs in a cell may result from two causes. The most general one is, that the cluster of bees is too small for the queen, and so she goes her rounds over and over again. In this case, you will find eggs in all the cells which the bees have prepared for her. If on the other hand, you find eggs in but few of the otherwise empty cells, and those all '"in a heap," the fault is pretty evi- dently the queens; and the eggs, if they hatch at all, will probably produce drones, showing that the queen, irom old age or some other cause, has become virtually a fertile worker. The remedy is, of course, a new queen. I know of no better way to sell your honey, my friend, than to develop your home mar- ket. Put up a shingle, ''Honey for sale," and then make such a nice show of honey to every customer who calls, that it will "aston- ish the natives" round about. In the same manner, introduce your honey into the gro- ceries, and if you can keep up the standard, and keep every thing neat and tidy the year around, there will be no trouble about sell- ing your honey. MISHAPS IN INTRODUCING, ETC. The queen was received alive and all right. I had the misfortune to kill her but the bees did not do it. I released her yesterday morning, but just as soon as she got out of the box she flew away and was gone about ten minutes. When she came back, I placed her on top of the frames, but I soon saw the bees were going to kill her, so I put her back into the box. In the meantime some of the other bees had got into the box, and it was as bad for her there as it was in the hive. I took her into the house and got the bees away from her, clipped one of her wings, and placed her in a cage by herself, and put her back in the hive. I released her this morning. The bees received her very well, at first; but I looked at the hive in about twenty minutes, and found the bees had balled her. I got her out and put her back in the cage, but when I went to shut the cage, I caught her head against the side of the 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 271 cage and killed her. I don't know when I ever was so sorry as I was then ; but we all will lose some- times. I had a fine swarm of Italians to-day. Washington, Ky., June 9, '79. J. R. Anderson. You will probably never kill another queen in that way, friend A. When the cage is being closed, queens are very apt to put their heads out just in time to be caught, and to avoid such mishaps, I always place my finger on the opening, while I push in the slide. I once killed owe queen in that way. BEES IN MISSOURI ; A SURPLUS OF POLLEN. My bees, nearly 100 colonies, wintered finely. In South-west Mo., we have no need of chaff hives and all such fixings. Bees here winter well on summer stands, if prepared in the fall with plenty of bees, plenty of honey, and winter passages through the combs. We have one great drawback here; our bees gather so much pollen that we have to cut out some of the comb. There is no need of feeding rye meal here. E. Liston. Virgil City, Mo., June 12, 1879. Glad to know it, friend L., but, if I am not mistaken, the good people of Mo. have had terrible times with spring dwindling, in some localities. I think I should make the bees rear brood, and use up that pollen, in- stead of cutting it out. I have never seen a surplus of pollen here. Will you please suggest something which is so dis- tasteful to bees as to drive them off '< We are very much annoyed by these useful insects about our soda fountain. To kill them would be useless, as they keep coming by thousands. Could you recom- mend any kind of perfume which would be unpleas- ant to them? Aug. J. Bogel. Shrieveport, La., June 9, 1879. Such troubles occur only when the yield of honey has ceased, and it is rather a difficult matter to suggest a remedy, unless the syr- up can be kept cleaned up so that not a bee ever gets home with a load. If the first bee that commences to load up is killed, and the next, and so on, being sure that not one ever gets home, they will very soon stop coming of themselves. Last fall, I gave the candy makers at our fair a shingle, and begged them to be sure to kill the first bee that came near. The consequence was that no bees were seen near the candy stand, be- cause none ever got home with a load. Coal oil is offensive to bees, but it would also be offensive to customers. I do not know of any perfume offensive to bees, and not to people. Nucleus received. It is splendid; better than I expected. Thanks. Bees are all hard at work, and we shall see which kind will win. A man has noth- ing to fear, who does business on Christian princi- ples. Your ideas of business, friend Root, are but a nucleus as yet, but are sure to grow. These little business postals should carry good will, and a word for Jesus every time. J. Mattison. Ocean View, N. J., June 9, 1879. Many thanks, friend M. I am sure you give me more credit than I deserve, for. al- though I get glimpses of that better way now and then, it only shows me how sadly I do err, as it seem to me, a greater part of the time. May God continue to lead us all, in that better way. scattered and blossoms out slowly, though it yields good honey. The tar weed is just in bloom. Last year, it yielded a large quantity of honey of a flavor similar to that of its namesake; hence our honey from this source is not fit for market. I suspect some dishonest men shipped tar weed honey last year, and spoiled tbe sale of some good honey. I am a beginner; I commenced with 4 colonies last- year, and have increased them to 42 colonies. Hard times are upon the Pacific coast in spite of our gold mines, and other great resources. Rout. Beeton. Santa Barbara, Cal., June 2, 1879. THE NEW SECTION BOX QUEEN CAGE. Now 1 thought those section queen cages would please every body, surely; but just see what this friend says. That section box contained some bees and a little thing, smaller than the bees, which I took to be the queen, and I let that out trying to yet it out. If I ever send for another queen (and I don't expect to, if it keeps as dry as it is now), please send it in a dry goods box, if you haven't any queen cages. I should think you would lose l/k of them, trying to get them out. I would, anyhow. R. P. Waldron. Havana, 111., June 9, 1879. Why, I never thought, friend W., of hav- ing any trouble in getting the queen out. Remove the wire cloth from one side, lay the cage on the top of the frames, and drive bees and queen both out with a little smoke. a queen that stops laying and commences again. The queen I was inquiring about, that had not laid an egg for about a month, has commenced lay- ing again in good earnest, filling comb very fast. She was a "dollar" queen and some were looking on to see how it would come out. Wm. Blake. Buchanan, Mich., June 10, 1879. If the queen refused to lay in May and June, with a good colony of bees, the case is indeed a singular one. Queens, after a long journey, often refuse to lay for several days, and it is much on this account that I have decided on a larger cage. You can see how I have succeeded, by reports in this No. CALIFORNIA. We have a small crop of honey this year; our ear- ly plants failed to yield any. Mustard was our best honey plant this season, but that is gone now. The white sage is a rare plant in this part. The button sage is common at the foot of the hills, but is widely FROM A VERY NEW ABC SCHOLAR. Well, here I am again to report. You may not want to hear from me, but here goes. We trusted to you entirely, but just see what a trick you "put up" for us. The colony appeared strong, very; threatening to swarm; so, fearing we would lose them if let alone, wife and boy of 13— my bee-boy — divided them, May 28th, taking 4 frames with brood and eggs of various ages for the new hive, but in issi d ttie queen ; left this where the colony had been standing, and removed the old colony to a new loca- tion, 20 feet or less away. The young colony went to work at once, and have been very busy every fine day since. This colony must have about 2-, of the original colony, and, we thought, the queen. The old colony kept quiet, coming out very little. We thought they were rearing a queen. June 4th, Dr. Durstine looked them over. Old colony were busy rearing brood, and were eating the honey in their hive, gathering little if any outside. The young colony have worked like heroes; made considerable new comb, and some honey. He found in one frame 1 queen cell, well developed; in 2d frame, 10 queen cells; in 3d frame, 3 queen cells— 14 in all. Some were almost ready to leave the cell; all were look- ing well, and will be out in a few days. How is this? Did you intend to treat me so? Be(e) careful, or I may expose you. Is this a rare freak V Who wants a queen ? Jesse Miller. Alliance, Ohio, June 5, 1879. This is not a very rare freak for Italians, friend M. I am very glad you and my old friend, Dr. 1)., are succeeding so well. I think your wax extractor has paid for itself this season. ' J. S. Barb. Bristol, Ohio, June 7, 1879. 272 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUBE. July natural combs breaking down. The comb, with plenty of honey in it, in one of mother's hives — an old fashioned box hive— broke loose at the top and fell down. What is the cause, and what is the remedy? Should she transfer the bees to another hive, or let them patch up to suit themselves? The art of transferring she has yet to learn. D. B. Howe. Clarence, N. Y., May 10, '79. Natural comb will sometimes break down, though not often. If in summer, the hive is not shaded enough. The best remedy is to transfer them. See transferring. Customers to our flouring mill seem to prefer to read Gleanings to any thing else while they wait on their "grist." Could not you give us some hints for each month, on the front cover, instead of those stei-eotyped opinions, etc.? G. W. Gamble. Fredericksburg, O., June 5, '79. I am very sorry to keep giving those ster- eotyped opinions, friend G., but if I do not, I shall have to keep the clerks writing the same thing over and over. Even now, we have to keep constantly asking people to read the front cover. I am very glad to hear your customers are pleased with our efforts. HOUSE APIARIES. INTRODUCING QUEENS. 1 have built a house apiary, 12x24, to hold 52 colo- nies. The entrances are so arranged that they are from Sy2 to 4 feet apart. Hives stand on shelves, so that they can be moved. The entire cost of the house exclusive of labor, $30.00. It is lighted by sky-lights. I want to furnish you 200 queens next April and May. I am fixing to be "head quarters" for early queens, next spring. R. H. McIntyke. P. S.— Can you inform me where I can get bovist or puff-ball, such as is used to introduce queens? I have lost more queens in introducing this spring than ever before altogether. Is there any sign that we shall ever be allowed to send queens by mail again? Daytona, Fla., June 1, '79. R. H, M. Go ahead with your queens, friend M.; I only wish you had the 200 ready to send me to-day; your money would be quickly handed over. You can introduce queen's by stupefying the bees with our common puff-ball, but the plan is a troublesome one, and not sure. I think it doubtful about queens being very soon allowed to go by mail. Ilayhurst's process does away with all the trouble of introducing queens, and is, I think, the surest remedy we have, for loss- es in that direction. my theory being that it is a deception; the bees light upon it supposing it to be the cluster, and be- fore the mistake is generally known, it dees, in fact, become so. J.B.Mitchell. P. S.— As for bees disliking a black hat, I will simply say that I invariably wear a black felt hat among mine, and I am seldom stung except through carelessness. J. B. M. Hawkinsville, Ga., June 3, 1879. "DOLLAR QUEENS" AND THOSE FROM "HIGH PRICED" DEALERS. I think a person ought to be as willing to acknowl- edge good treatment and fair dealing as he would be to complain at ill usage. Therefore, as I have been well used in my dealings with you, I write to let you know that I appreciate it; and as I have not been fairly treated by some other dealers in bee supplies I am the more willing to own the fair manner in which you have dealt with me. Last season, I had 6, "dollar" queens of you, and this spring they are all right, very prolific, and in every case have proved purely mated. I can handle them in any way almost, without the use of smoke. Far different has my experience been with some I had from another dealer, who wrote me that he could not afford to raise queens for one dollar; that he would not have such queens; and advised me not to try them, but to get queens Of some one that took the trouble to raise good queens, as they were the foundation of success. I had four queens of him, for which I paid him $2.00 each. They were what he called warranted queens. One has proved to be a hybrid, and of the other three two are pure, but lay one or two eggs a day ; they are either very old or not at all prolific. One queen out of the four i is fair. But I would not exchange any one of the dollar queens I had of you for Vi dozen like the best 1 had of him. He don't get any more of my dollars. Bethel, Conn., May 31, 1879. S. H. Hickok. BLACK HATS; HAVE BEES AN AVERSION TO THEM ? Gleanings for June was received to-day, and, as usual, has been read with interest. Among other things, I have particularly noticed the remarks of friend Buchanan on page 232, in regard to "black hats among bees," and believing that the foundation of his theory has an existence only in his imagina- tion, I desire to put my own experience on this sub- ject upon record, so as to let in all the light that the truth may be ascertained. It is now 12 years since I first learned that an old black hat could be used as a decoy, to induce bees to cluster while swarming, and since that time I, and others in this community, have often used one, and seldom without success. When the bees swarm out, place the old hat on a brown stick and hold it in the midst of them, and in a few minutes, they will be clustered upon it as nicely as you could wish. I have seen my son take a swarm from a tree, 12 feet from the ground, by placing his hat on a pole and, with it, brushing the bees from the limb; as they rose, they would cluster on the hat. My experiments in this way have all been made with black bees, as, since I have had Italians, I have never allowed them to swarm naturally. I think, however, there would be no difficulty in managing them in the same way, with an old hat colored as nearly as possible like themselves while in cluster, UNCERTAINTY OF BUCKWHEAT. This is not much of a bee country. White clover is our main dependence, and that is often cut short by dry weather, as it is this year. Some buckwheat is raised here, but no buckwheat honey has been made for 3 years. Last fall, you could hardly find a bee in a whole field of buckwheat. My bees were consuming stores when there were several acres in bloom within lA mile. Bees have died here as well as in other places. Some of my neighbors think they will have to go in "Blasted Hopes." Percival Nichols. Bridgeton, N. J., June 3, 1879. I know buckwheat is uncertain, but, not- withstanding, I have thought best to make a standing offer to our farmers, of $1.00 per acre, for all they will sow within H miles of my apiary. The A. B. J. once stated it $100. per acre, and then fixed it to $1.00 per hive. Try again, friend Newman ; I haven't got near as much money as that, even if I had the faith in the buckwheat. FROM DARKNESS TO SUNSHINE. Your beautiful queen came safely; but, sad ! has been lost in introducing. I think, if I had smeared her with honey, the bees would have received her. I liberated her, and thought all was right, but went to look again next day, and could not find her; but found two queen cells well under way, and feel sure she is lost, for which I am very sorry. I shall be In grief till I hear from you. I woidd like to know how many capped queen cells you could send to me for one dollar, and 1 will remit you as soon as I know that they can be sent safely. Providence, R. I., June 3, 1879. June 7.— I am happy to inform you, that, in look- ing over the hive in which 1 put the queen, I now find that the queen cells are missing, and there is plenty of eggs; so I think the queen can not be lost. 1 think all is right. R. Corscaden. I received the queen May 30th, in good shape, and placed her on top of frames, in cage immediately. Left her there 12 hours, let her out, and she com- menced laying at once. I have looked at her from day to day, and to-day find them caping over her brood by the thousand. I am well pleased with her so far, and expect to want others this summer. Kinsman, O., June 10, '79. A. W. Gillis. 18?9 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 273 MOVING THE OLD HIVE WHEN A SWARM HAS ISSUED. In March No. of Gleanings, you say in reference to hiving swarms when the queen's wing1 is clipped, "As soon as the bees are all out move the hive to a new stand, put a new hive in its place, &c." Now, this moving- the old hive to a new stand, I believe to be a mistake. I tried it several times, and found that it would, in consequence, be robbed of nearly all its old bees. The bees that happened to be in the field at the time of swarming, tog-ether with nearly all that came out next day, would return to the old stand and unite with the "swarm, thus giving the swarm more than its share. I now move the old hive a few feet away, cover the entrance with a cloth until the swarm is hived, and then move the new hive with the swarm to a new stand, and all goes lovely, because nature has not been violated in the division of the bees. Excuse my "bothering-" you thus, as I deem it an important matter. G. B. Replogle. Unionsville, Iowa, June 2, 1879. To be sure, it robs a hive of nearly all of its bees, but are you sure, friend R., that that does any harm in swarming time? It weakens the old hive so much that it is pretty sure to prevent after swarming, and that is the very thing we often want to do. Tbere are always, so far as my experience goes, enough bees left to care for the brood, and we therefore suffer no loss, for few bees are needed until their young queen begins to lay. Your plan lias often been used, and it keeps the old and new more nearly of a uniform strength. I always like such criti- cisms as yours ; do not be at all backward in speaking right out. THE NEW MATS FOR COVERING THE FRAMES. I received my other orders all right; but. Sir, I do not like your mats. They work magnificently on new frames, but, upon old frames that are cover- ed with propolis, they stick and jar, and also move the frames, if they have metal corners, in a way that is not pleasant to the manipulator or bees. Paint them, friend Boot, and try that. R. H. Thompson. Pittsburg, Ind., June 16, 1879. I know there are objectionable features to the mats, friend T., as well as to the enam- eled cloths; but, in turning them back, if you fold them over sharply, they will move the frames but little. I have thought of painting, but there are objections. It will make the mat heavy, will add to the expense, and will prevent its absorbing moisture like the chaff above them. HONEY BEES AS BIG AS BUMBLE BEES. I think there are a good many people who have fallen victims to the idea that small cells hatch small bees and large cells large bees. I don't think the cells have anything to do with the size of the bees at all; for I can see that my bees still grow after they come out of the cells; they get larger any how. If this theory is correct, why is it that the human race or any other race don't grow larger ? they certainly have plenty of room. Go ahead, friend Archer, and try the experiment, and report pi-ogress to Gleanings. SMOKERS AND FUEL FOR SAME. The smoker you sent me, about April 25th, came to hand in good order, and 1 think I made a good choice in taking Clark's. The bellows is put just right to be handy. I can burn anything that will burn at all, and make all the smoke I want. Dry rotten elm, rotten ash, corn cobs, rags, paper, patent hives, or sawdust. Ash and elm are the best; rags next; paper and patent hives next; sawdust shakes about iu the fuel case and lies too close for air to circulate through it, therefore I pronounce it a fail- ure. When I read Bingham's letter in the June No., I was greatly impressed with the words in the 133d Psalm. "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity I" etc. Brother bee-keepers, read that Psalm, and let us rejoice that we have a father in Heaven, who watch- es us when we do evil, as well as when we do good; and let us live here in this world so that we may be a benefit to every one with whom we may come in contact. "Bless and curse not," should' be the motto of every bee-keeper in the world. T. J. Cook. Newpoint, Ind., June 10, 1879. HOW THE QUEEN VOIDS HER FAECES. Bees came out very weak this spring. Several bee keepers lost all their stocks; others about half. I have not heard of any who did not loose nearly half of their queens, and have not heard of any whose bees were made more than half as strong as usual at apple blossom season. 1 have read the journals considerably, but do not remember noticing anything in regard to the /feces of the queen. What becomes of them? As she must consume so much food, it has often been a query with me, and I should very much like to hear some- thing about it. E. L. Drake. Dimondale, Mich., June 17, 1879. I, too, have wondered in regard to the matter you mention, friend D., and all I have ever been able to see that she voided, was a substance resembling clear water, which was thrown quite a distance from her body, and fell on the bees and combs, in a sort of spray. I am inclined to think that even the worker bees do much in the same way, while on the wing. WIRING FRAMES FOR FDN., ETC. 1 find that three wires sewed in the L. frames ef- fectually prevent the sagging of the tdn., and make a good, strong comb, with much less trouble and time than when the wires are but one or two inches apirt. To imbed the wires in the fdn., I have used, with success, a wheel made from a nickle cent with a grooved edge. It will pay all those using wood frames to both bevel and point the ends of the top bars; they manipulate much more easily. When two rabbets are used, a strap of tin may be tacked to the projecting ends, which will give all metal bearings almost as good as metal cornered frames. The best way to secure "solid slabs of honey" for wintering is, to fill the top stories of some of your strongest colonies with brood frames filled with wired fdn. By next November, open your hives and look out for "slabs." John D. White. Chicopee, Mass., June 21, 1879. While three wires may answer generally, they do not make a sure thing of it every time, and they are not as secure, should we wish to use the frames for transportation. The piece of tin put around the end bar prevents the frame from being waxed fast, but cuts bees in two badly. It is also more expensive, if you put them on accurately, than the metal corners are, I think you will find. FDN. WITH SQUARE CELLS. I have been unable to follow up my experiments with square cells, on account of my left arm's being rendered useless by rheumatism. I could not even open my hives myself, and had to oversee and watch a set of green hands who were making hives; but it is getting better and I hope to be able to resume experiments. I am certain, however, that bees will work dipped sheets quicker than pressed ones, be- cause they are softer and more porous, and thus easier to work. By putting a microscope on a dip- ped and also on a pressed sheet, you will see the reason. I hope others have tried square cells and will report this month. John F. Lafferty. Martinsville, 111., June 16, 1879. We have just gone through a three weeks honey harvest from basswood and wild china, with fine weather, and honey of the finest quality. I got 195 lbs. from one swarm, gathered in 18 days; one days gathering was 19 lb. J. W. Eckman. Richmond, Texas, June 5, 1879. 274 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. ^. I. ROOT, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, MEDINA, OHIO. terms: $1.00 per year, post-paid. IMIEIDIIISr^, J-TTZL^T 1, 1879. Not by might, nor by pnwcr, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. — Zech. iv. 6. The National Convention for 1879 will be held in Chicago, commencing October 21st. No more bees wanted, at present, as we have now over 200 colonies. "Dollar" queens are now just a dollar, and I will send you just as many young- Italians with them as you wish, for 10 cts. an ounce, extra. We regret to say that our friend, Mr. Langstroth, is again prostrated by his old malady, and is unable to write any thing, as we learn through his daugh- ter, Mrs. Cowan. We have had two importations of queens from Italy, but they are all gone, and orders are still ahead. More are expected daily. We have ordered, this season, 150 in all. I expect it was the section-box queen-cage that made such a run on queens this month. We have been awfully behind; but our three hexagonal apiaries are now yielding such a crop that we shall fill all orders to-day, if our boys can get them all out and cage them. I have always paid taxes on my bees, and always want to. I do not want to see my fellow men taxed, without being taxed myself. It is said, that Greece pays an annual tax on bees, equal to $9,000. It seems to me the Greeks should have a bee-journal or— not be Taxed so heavily. ^»ii ^ Nice books, for a little money, that tell about "things" are what I do especially love; and "Wood's Common Objects of the Microscope," with its pages of beautiful plates, I think, is ahead of anything I ever saw before in my life. Why, the colored pict- • ures on the cover alone, are almost enough to set a boy crazy, who has any fondness for microscopic work. Mailed anywhere, for only 50c, or sent free with our compound achromatic microscope, for on- ly $3.00. Some of our friends are succeeding in sending queens by mail, in sealed packages; but, after the very positive orders from the Dept. last 'summer, I do not feel like doing it, even could we succeed in getting them through strong and vigorous. Is it not much better to have them with bees enough for them to keep on laying, during the trip, as they do in the section-box cages? If it is an imported queen, you have a nice lot of eggs with which to start queen cells, as soon as you get her. The honey farm is doing finely. The seven top turnip is the only plant that has yielded its crop ami passed away. It comes in just between apple blos- soms and clover. We can send you nice, fresh seed, for 10 cts. per oz. Now is the time to sow it. The boys are to-day, June 26, cultivating the acre of sun- flowers. An acre of mellilot is doing finely, also an acre of mignonnette, a half acre of borage, and an acre of mustard, besides small fields of catnip, motherwort, etc. Several acres of silver hull buck- wheat are just being sown, and the Simpson honey plant is getting almost as high as one's head. The flower garden adjoining the factory is full of honey plants having great long crooked names, but bear- ing but little honey and few blossoms, just yet. "WORK BOX*' FOR THE APIARIST. FEW days ago, Will had a queer look- ing machine in his hand that puzzled me awhile, especially those odd look- ing holes in the top of it. I waited a little, and found that it was a seat to he used while working in the apiary, and that those queer holes were to allow of the implement's being quickly picked up with one hand. The implement was devised by his brother, our engraver, who has given you all a cut of it below. dl WOKK BOX AND SEAT COMBINED. Those of you who raise queens know how troublesome it is to stoop over hives all day, and how it rests one, to sit down occasional- ly. When seated, you have at each side, boxes to hold your things, which may, or may not, have covers, as you choose. A drawer may also be put in the back side. When putting up queens, your tinned tacks are in the proper box, and your hammer is right in its place. The seat is a nice, solid place on which to lay the cage, while driving in the tacks. This summer, we have used the transposi- tion process, almost exclusively, and each workman has a piece of comb containing larva' of the right size, just hatched from the egg, and covered with the milky food, in one of his boxes. Well, we let every colony build just as many queen cells as they choose, from their brood, and then poke out their em- bryo queen, and put one of these in its place 1 need hardly say that this bit of comb con- taining larvae is from our best imported queen. As the cell always contains an abundance of food when their own larva is removed and a younger given them in place of it, our grafted cells contain more than the natural supply of food. We can furnish the work box and seat combined, for 50c ; if lids are added to the boxes, and a drawer put in the back, the price will be 75c ; and if the whole be neatly painted, $1.00. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 275 $eH§ and (tueri(ts. fJHE a queens yon sent me last fall were received J indue time, all alive. I. introduced them im- i mediately, and, although I did not follow your directions in every particular, I made a success of it. When 1 released them, 1 watched their motions until it was evident that they were kindly received. MOTHS. In regard to the bee moth, you tell us each month, "The bee moth need hardly be mentioned now, un- less it is to advise you to drive them out with Ital- ians, for, whenever I hey come into a neighborhood, the moths get out without any farther trouble or bother." Now, isn't that putting it rather strongly? Is it true, that the moths will tiee before the Italians like a routed army ? I have never found any moths upon the comb, but have found them upon the bot- tom boards, and upon the under side of the frames, and. I believe, in one or two instances, upon the top. Parsons, Kan., May 28, 1879. II. M. TAYLOR. [[do mean just what I say about moths, for even if you do find a worm or two on the bottom board, or on the tops of the frames, the Italians will take care that they do not get into the combs where they can do harm, as they do wiih the bl.tck bees.] ANOTHER CLAIMANT TO THE INVENTION OF THE COLD BLAST SMOKER. Last year I wrote you a letter describing a modifi- cation of your Simplicity smoker, that would give you a cold' blast anil a better draught : but you wrote me that you tried it, and it would not work. Now, judge my surprise to see that your "cold blast" smoker is identically the same thing in principle. The only difference I see, is that you lengthened the nozzle a little, which, of course, ought to be suggest- ed on the first trial. I wondered why it did not work with you, for 1 knew the principle was correct, it being that of the "injector" used on engines. Now, sir, 1 think it but fair that I should have due credit for my invention. What say you ? S. C. Dodge. Chattanooga, Tenn., May 19, 1879. [I have been waiting to hear from you, friend D. I knew somebody sent me such a letter, and, in the March No., I had in type a paragraph inquiring who it was. The paragraph was taken out to make room for something else, and was afterward distributed and forgotten. You are right; the tube only (and the draft holes) was lacking to make it a success, but I had not the sense to add it, as you did not suggest it, and so, like many other inventions, it was drop- ped. If I am correct, the credit of an invention belongs to him who first makes it practicdRy a suc- cess. This, neither you nor 1 can claim. I studied on the same thing aiso, last winter, but could not make it work until friend Corey sent us a complete smoker. 1 cannot find the first letter, but I think there was no mention of "cold blast."] SAGGING OF FRAMES, ENAMELED CLOTH VERSUS MATS, ETC. My brood frames are filled with brood ani\ sealed honey, until the bottoms of the frames rest'onthe bottom board. The tops of frames arc warped or bent on account of great weight. What shall I do ? The Story and a half hive of yours and "fdn." are the greatest improvements 1 have yet seen in my experience. The enameled cloth beats slats for frame covers; don't you think so ? It. C. Taylor. Wilmington, X. C, June 7, 1879. [You will find a complete remedy for the sagging of top baison another page. I rather prefer the mats, but it may take some time to decide fully in the matter.] nONEY FLYING OVEK THE TOP OF THE EXTRACTOR. I received smoker top and extractor rim, and am well satisfied. They work all right. I can hardly make the smoker go rut at all now. unless I put a plug in the top. I thank you very much. Levi Whitmoyer. Noblesville, Hamilton Co., Ind., June "0, '79. L< Mice in a great while, we have a complaint that the honey flies over the top of the extractor. I do not know how this can happen, if the dimensions id' the frame to be used are given us accurately; but where one has such troubles the easiest way to fix it is to have a rim, say il inches wide, with a wire in the top edge, made to slip just inside of the top of the can. Loosen the screws to the gearing, and it can be put in place very easily. We will furnish such a rim without charge, where it is needed on our extractors.] POLLEN IN THE SECTIONS, STARTERS FALLING DOWN, FASTENING ON SEPARATORS. Some of our colonies are filling the boxes in the honey crates with pollen. Can they be induced in any way to use it out ? Did you abandon the melt- ed wax plan of putting in starters because it was insecure? The bees seem to dislike building over the Hue of rosin and wax, and begin to build out the fdn. just below, and as soon as honey is deposited in it, it tears off. Every evening I have to take out what have fallen during the day, and try again. I think you said you did not know whether a queen would feed herself or not. To-day one hatched out in my hand, and ate some honey I offered her. The "blessed bees"(?) also fasten the sections to the tins occasionally. M. Simons. Brocton, N. Y., June 2:s, 1870. (I have never seen many of our sized sections con- taining pollen, but if I should find such, I think I would save them to send queens in. " I have never heard of starters falling off from the reason you mention. We use the wax and rosin, but a very small quantity is used in fastening the starters. To be sure, queens feed themselves; at least, ours do. Once in a great while, we find the comb of a section attached to the separator, but we always take such directly to the dining table, and have no farther trouble with them.] FEEDING AND BUILDING UP COLONIES THAT ARE TO BE BRIMSTONED. People about here have the fashion of killing their bees, in order to get the honey. Will it pay me to take such bees, giving the owners all tUehoneyt and can I fill them up well for the winter, by giving feed and fdn. ? If so, would it be best to unite ? and can I unite safely, during transferring, at that season (October) ? Anna L. Gray. Bloomtield, Conn., June 18, 1879. [Feed and fdn., with plenty of bees, might answer, if you commenced your work in Sept.; but I have little hope that you would make a success of it, so late as Oct. There are those among us who, I think, would be so thorough and careful, as to make it work even in Oct.; but the average ABC scholar would be almost sure to end in Blasted Hopes.] BEES DESERTING THEIR HIVE WHEN DEPRIVED OF BOTH BROOD AND QUEEN. What became of our bees ? I took the queen from a hybrid colony, and also the brood, leaving only the combs with honey, intending to put in pure brood to raise cells; but when I got so far, I became very tired, and thought that a few hours waiting would do no harm. In the evening, when I took the brood to them, 3i of the bees had left. Is it usual tor bees thus to leave when both queen and brood are taken away? and where did they go? I could see no dead bees in front of any hive, that I thought came from that hive. WOODEN SLATES. Thin, clean boards, such as are used for section boxes, answer for us instead of slates. Thread a darning needle and sew loops to hang them up by, drive in a carpet tack to hang them on, and write with a pencil. M ns. S. J. W. Axtell. K( 'Seville, 111., June 15, 1879. [I should not dare leave bees a great while with- out brood or queen; I think your hybrids must have gone into adjoining hives where they were well re- ceived. I suppose your wooden slates, after they are all written over, are thrown away, are they not? and new ones hung on the tack.] FOUNTAIN PUMPS AND HOW THEY ANSWER. I used my fountain pump in about two hours after it came, on a swarm of bees which seemed deter- mined to go to the woods; but, when 1 brought it to bear on them, it was astonishing to see how soon they changed their mind. It is the nicest thing I ever saw for calling down the little pets; I could not get along without it. H. L. RICHMOND. St. Johns, Mich., June 16, 1879. 276 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July SMOKERS. Smokers to hand, all right, and in splendid condi- tion. Have just tried one; it beats anything in the smoker line I ever had. A. T. Doyle. Darksville, Mo., June 7, 1879. I received your smoker all right. What a beauty it is ! I don't know as I can ever bring myself to use it for fear of soiling it. Jennie Howard. Lawsville Centre, Tenn., June 7, 1879. My smoker came to hand all right, and works to a charm. I use rotten wood and have to keep the damper one half closed or the wood will blaze. Tell your friends who can't make them burn to get good fuel, and they will get all the smoke they want if they do not blow too hard. J. J. C. Brown. North Sandwich, N. H., June 6, 1879. Many thanks for the prompt sending of the cone for smoker. Can now almost see the smoke before the match is touched, and afterwards it goes like a house on Are. Mrs. C. Faville. So. Wales, N. Y., June 9, '79. Please send me one of your new cold blast smokers. I borrowed one the other day, and, al- though I had to use cobs not over dry, the smoker worked splendidly. L. N. Holmes. Putnam, Ct., June 11, 1879. Sections are nice; the crate is a beauty. lam well pleased. If you serve all customers in the same way, and furnish as good goods to all, they certainly ought all to be satisfied. That cold blas't smoker I got of you, for a neighbor of mine, is just the thing. I tell you it makes the bees "scoot." O. L. Roseman. Montezuma, Iowa, June 2, 1879. My smokers are already gone, and I have none for myself. Please send me, for the six dollars en- closed, one dozen cold blast Simplicity smokers, as soon as you can, and oblige,— G. L. Hollenback. Noblesville, Ind., June 17, 1879. swarms alighting on the same spot. A plausible theory would be, that there was some natural advantage in the location, which each suc- cessive swarm appreciated, scent having little or nothing to do with the matter. C. A. Lovell. Hartford, Ct., June 13, '79. [This would hardly answer, friend L. In our old apiary, there were perhaps 20 trees, each one about as eligible as another so far as one could see. One season, the first swarm would choose a certain spot on a certain limb of a certain tree, and all the rest would choose that same spot. The next season, another limb on another tree would be chosen, and they would then all choose that one. Several times, it seemed that the spot chosen was a most unfor- tunate one, but, for all that, the succeeding swarms, with but few exceptions, would always follow suit.] THE OLD WAY AND THE NEW. For the $1.00 which you have to my credit, please send ABC complete to . He is a man about 70 years of age, and has kept bees all his life. He started in, last fall, with 22 swarms in boxes and gums. All died but three, and they are not safe yet. He never heard of fdn. or extractors until last week, when he came to my house with a pail of nasty, black, comb honey, full of dead bees and heads and legs. I showed him a 1 lb. sample section box with fdn. This took the old man's eye, and I showed him my ABC book, which also took his eye; so he fetched out the dollar, and said he would learn his ABC before he wintered another 22 swarms. Aleck demons started in with 4 swarms in boxes, lost three, and the fourth is weak. Geo H IVTcCtFF Marblehead, Light Station, O., April 21, 1879. AN A B C CHILD IN JUNE. White clover is now in full bloom, and there is a very good prospect for a large crop of surplus honey. My bees are all very strong. 1 had a large swarm the 7th of May, which is the earliest ever known in this locality. I have taken several frames of sealed honey from them. Bees are doing their best in boxes, trying to repay me for the labor bestowed upon them. My enthusiasm is so great that I can hardly leave them to do other work. E. JAS. HlNSHAW. Lynn, Ind., June 4, 1879. wired fdn. I received a sample of Nellis' flat, wired fdn., at Wi o'clock, P. M., on the 12th, and to-day it has eggs in it. A larger proportion of the eggs are in cells through which the wire passes, than in the other cells. The queeu prefers them. She is a last year's tested Italian. S. Morrison, M. D. Oxford, Pa., June 14, 1879. I take great pleasure in writing to let you know .that I had splendid luck with my queen. I hunted the black queen out of a strong skip of black bees, and after leaving the queen cage on the racks 12 hours, I released the new queen with her bees, and, in 3 hours, I saw some of the yellow bees carrying in pollen. I am well pleased. Isaac Rummell. Warren, O., June 9, 1879. THIEVES IN THE APIARY. I am in great trouble about my bees. The other night, a thief was at them and opened every hive, both Simplicity and chaff. In the morning, I found the covers pushed aside, the mats nearly off from the frames, and, from a nucleus, one frame of hatching bees and a very little honey was stolen. Now, wnat do you say I should do? build a house like the one engraved in last Gleanings, or make a lock on every hive, or make a high fence around the apiary? Do you think the house apiary is as good for increasing by artificial means as the open air? John Dieffenbach. Crosskill Mills, Pa., June 19, 1879. [I should build the high fence, to keep off the high winds, as well as to keep away thieves, and I would have the whole as near the house as possible. The house apiary is better for raising bees, because it protects them better from the effects of chilly nights.] BROWN sugar for wintering. The swarm 1 wintered over was in an old box hive, and only had about % of the hive filled with comb. By putting them in chaff and feeding them brown sugar, I brought them out strong this spring and had the earliest swarm in our neighborhood which is doing well. The 2d swarm went to the woods. W. I. Richardson. Steubenville, Ohio, June 14, 1879. [Brown sugar seems to answer sometimes, all right; but it cannot be depended on, because it al- ways induces a strong disposition to dysentery. Chaff packing would do very much to remedy this.] strengthening weak colonies by exchanging STANDS. Would it not be a good plan to move weak swarms in frame hives into places occupied by large swarms in box hives, thus getting most of the bees into frame hives, where I want them ? Can I not make artificial swarms by moving box hives, and giving the new colony a frame of brood and queen cells ? James A. Green. Dayton, 111., May 28, 1879. [You can easily do this while honey is coming in, but it is always well to keep a lookout, and see that the queens are not balled. The plan of making ar- tificial swarms by moving heavy stocks is, as you will see, the principal one I have advised in the A B C] do bees weigh more or less after a journey than before. I send one case of bees as an experiment, and if they should go all right, I will send some more. Wm. C. Humphrey. Redfield, Iowa, June 11, 1879. [The above mentioned package, provisioned with candy, and an ink bottle filled with water, came through without the loss of a single bee; but the little fellows looked wonderfully spare and thin, and when we came to weigh them, there were just 2141b. instead of '&V»Va. They looked so short and stubbed, that I began to wonder if they had not really gorged themselves with honey, to the extent of a lb., when first weighed, thinking, if this was the case, it would be rather a hard feature on the send- er. Well, the day after, Mr. J. P. Stearns, Sheakley- ville, Pa., sent us a large box of beautiful Italians, weighing, as he said, 7M;lb.; but when we weighed them, there was 8J4lb. Who is right ? I am sorry to say that they have generally fallen short a little, even when no dead ones have been found.] 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 277 The contents of this leaf and the one following are not directly connected teitii the subject of bee-culture. On this account, I make no charge for them, and, if you choose, you can cut them out without reading. ur %cimh I was in prison, and ye cauie unto me.— Matt. v. 6. T was a bright Sabbath morning in May, and our Bible class here in the factory was just out. As we were walking slowly homeward, one of our number said there was a young man in jail for stealing. For some time I had had no class in jail, and while I heard with sorrow that it must open again, I hastened as I thought of my new charge. I asked permission to read and talk with him, and he made no objection. When asked if he was familiar with the Bible, he said he had never, that he knew of, read a chapter in it in his life. "Have you never attended Sabbath school?" "Never.'" "Ton certainly attend church occasional- ly?" "No; I remember having been to church only once, and that was when my brother died." "Do not your father and mother go?" "No." "Do not they believe in religion?1' "I guess not. I do not know what my mother thinks, but I know my father thinks that, when we die, that is the last of us." While talking he had taken hold of a book that lay on the table in the jail, as I sup- posed accidentally. I began to suspect that he had something to say, so I waited a little. Finally said he, "Mr. Hoot, do you know anything about this book?" "Why, yes; that is Moody's book, that I left here for the boys in jail a long time ago Have you been reading- it?" "Yes; and I have taken a great liking to it." It was "Moody's Best Thoughts and Dis- cources." The book has been read and re- read, during the past two years, by more than one man and boy, who had been an in- mate of that stone room, and seemed to have a faculty of enlisting the sympathies of even the worst and most hardened. From the texts in that book, he had got an idea of the Bible, and questioned me eagerly in regard to it. The Bible that belonged to the jail was hunted up, and I read from it, enough to give him the spirit of its teachings. He told me why he was in jail, and confessed that he was, at least in one sense, guilty of the charge against him. It was probable, that be would lie sent to tlie penitentiary, and I told loin that the straight path before him was. to go willingly and cheerfully, and thus pay the penalty in a fair and honorable way. before God and liis fellow men, for tlie sin be bad committed. It was a new view Of things to bim. and one lie had never be- fore taken. His associates, during all his life, had been bad ; now lie had ample time to reflect. I asked him if the minister who presided in the neighborhood near his home had never called on them. He said he had not, to his knowledge. He told me that a few months before, he had come to me for employment, and the answer he received was that L had such a long list of applicants before him, that I could give him no encour- agement. Had he been able to get some- thing to do. it seemed probable that he would have been saved from all this trouble and disgrace. How often this call comes to me, for something to do. Although being out of work is not any sufficient excuse for wrong doing, to be able to give employment to the masses is a most powerful aid to any kind of Christian work. More than one has said to me, "Mr. Boot, give me a place to work, that I may earn an honest livelihood, and see if I do not keep out of bad habits, and bad company." Many times I have been inclined to doubt about such resolu- tions being kept, but, to my surprise, they have been kept in almost every instance. My earnest prayer is, that God may enable me to help and encourage more and more of my fellow men, in this same way. I talked long and earnestly with my friend, but he could not see that it was right that he should be obliged to go to the peni- tentiary, because those who were prejudiced against him had made false statements in regard to his sin . It really seemed conclu- sive, from his statement, that his crime had been greatly magnified. Do not these poor fellows who get into our county jails have justice? I am really afraid, if we could come at the truth, they often do not. It is rare that just the right thing is done in this world, in any matter, and would it be strange if these poor fellows, with almost no one to take their part, should often be blam- ed for that of which they are not guilty? al- most without exception, I have learned from their own lips, that they have not been keep- ing good company. When this is brought out, a cold and unfeeling world (as they call it) is pretty sure to say they deserve state's prison, whether they are guilty of the par- ticular charge alleged against them or not ; then the papers take it up, and it is passed off as a joke, or the poor fellows are men- tioned with even less consideration than a dumb brute which has made a mistake in life and got run over by a locomotive. Poor S — ! He pointed, with his linger, to the notices which our comity paper had made of himself and his grief stricken moth- er. It is true, he had done wrong. It is true, that he. in one sense, deserved it all; the world is glad, in fact / am glad, that my poor friend was detected in his crime, and brought to justice, and I would not, if I could, hinder the strong arm of the law from doing its work. For all that, it is with sor- row I would speak of such events, and with at least something of the same spirit that I should have, were the offender my own son instead of tlie son of some one else. Should my hoy ever get into jail. I would that peo- ple should speak of it with sorrow, and not with light levity and jokes. "Think gently of tlie erring." In tlie evening, I called again with our minister, who read a chapter in the Bible. 278 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July As soon as lie began to read, S- -'s face began to brighten, and when I asked if he was familiar with the passage, he said it was one that Moody quoted in Ins book. He had learned to love the Bible through read- ing Moody's way of explaining it. I went in again in a few days, and found he had finished Moody's book, and taken the Bible, which had become his almost constant com- panion. While the minister was with us, he had been asked to take part in prayer, but replied he could not just yet. On this occasion, after I had talked freely with him in regard to prayer, and told him one who was truly penitent need have no fear in kneeling to God and telling him all about it, he knelt with me, and, in Ins own language, asked God to help him to be a better boy henceforth, and promised to go to the peni- tentiary willingly, if it was His will. In Ins prayer, he also spoke of his former life, his conduct and associations. While kneeling there, I was most deeply impressed with the powerful argument right there before me, for the divine nature of the Bible this boy had been studying. Could any skeptic or infidel listen to that humble prayer, without a conviction that it was God's work and none other that had brought him there on his knees, in that humble and repentant at- titude. It needed no stretch of the imagin- ation to believe that the angels in Heaven were rejoicing over this one sinner brought to repentance. Some familiar lines of my childhood floated like a strain of forgotten music through my mind, and I afterward recalled to mind where 1 had seen them, and will give you the lines here. It was a poem by -lane Taylor, entitled '.The Philosopher's Scales, ,n and found in one of our old school readers. In the middle of the tilth verse, occur these lines : "As a weight he threw in a torn scrap of a leaf, Containing the prayer of a penitent thief." Full well did I realize then, that there was more weight before Cod and the angels in Heaven, in that simple prayer of that un- tutored child of neglect, than' in all the wis- dom or witticisms ever uttered by the devo- tees of learning and wealth. Scoffers might have ttrged that he would not hold out, but that is not the question ; the young man was on the right track then, and it was the spirit of our Savior who suffered on the cross, that shone in his eyes as he rose up. Knowing him from his' past history, as he had given it to me, I feared that he might not hold out, and I feared the influence of his old com- panions with whom he had been so long fa- miliar. If he could be kept away from them, if he could read none but good books. and have an encouraging word now and then, I had but little to fear, for his Savior would finish the work so well begun. But a few days passed, before a halt dozen saloon keepers were arrested for liquor selling, and were put into the same room with our friend S . When I next called, a group of these hard men sat around him, while S himself was perched on the table playing on a violin. Tobacco and cards were strewn on the table, and so much loud talking was going on, it was with difficulty one could make himself heard. Now came the test. Would he brave the ridicule of his old companions gathered about him, and greet me in the frank and joyous way he had been doing, or would he, before them, think it best not to mention or indicate that he had resolved on a new life, at all? As with many an old professor of religion un- der similar circumstances, his courage failed him, and he kept on fiddling as though the minister and I were on an errand to see some body else, and were entirely unknown to him. Boor S ! he had not as yet learned to feel, that if Cod is with us, it matters not if all the world be against us. I had brought in a hook which contained a hymn I had been telling him about, and the minister and I asked permission to sing it. At first, they seemed inclined to drown us with their loud talking ; but, finally, they were tolerably quiet. When my companion asked to have a brief season of prayer be- fore leaving, they assented, but a couple of them — one of whom was a visitor — picked up their cards, and prepared to engage in a game during the prayer. The sheriff, who was with us. here interposed, and told them he thought they could afford to give their attention tor a few minutes, at least. We talked a little with S , but as he seemed rather unwilling to talk, we soon left. Af- ter I had got part way home, it occurred to me, that I had forgotten my book. A few days later, I was passing in that part of the town one evening, when I heard some beautiful singing from a company of male voices. I could not imagine where it came from, and finally forgot about it. By the next Sabbath, S • had been taken to the penitentiary. Before he went, however, I had a long talk with him, and he promised me to hold on to the Bible, and to be cheerful and say, "Thy will be done." On this. Sabbath morning, as I went at 10 o'clock, my usual hour, I found their usual gathering place deserted. I sat down awhile, but no one came near. Finally, I went round to their cells, and inquired if they were not going out to the Bible class. The first one was not feeling well, and preferred to remain on his bed; the next was sleepy, not having slept the night before ; the third could not read English, and so he thought he \\ould be of no use in a Bible class ; and so on with the whole number. It really seemed as if there was nothing more to do, but to give up having a class, for this morn- ing at least. I knew if I once failed, it would leave the door open for future fail- ures, and I could not bear the thought of going away without doing something for the cause. I sat down by the table where, dur- ing the few years past I had talked with so many, and heard so many sorrows and troubles, and prayed that the same guiding Presence would guide me still. I opened a little hymn book, and commenced to sing "Light in the darkness sailor," praying mentally at every word, that it might get a hold on some of those men. Before the first verse was finished, my German friend came round, sat down, and by a beautiful bass accompaniment, showed that he could sing that hymn witbout any book. I felt encouraged ; and before the next verse was 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 279 through, the man that was sleepy came and joined ns, singing a very fair tenor. This was too much for the sick man, and he came and joined in. Finally, all came out, and during the last verse, I thanked God for having answered my prayer. Alter singing another piece, they asked me if 1 could sing the pieces in that "other" book. '/Other book," said IV '"'Yes ; the hook you left the other night." For a wonder ! The book they would not listen to or heed, when the minister and I sang out of it, they had taken hold of after I had left, and during the long dreary days while they were wanting something to do, they had sung, or tried to sing, almost every hymn in it. This was the strange, beautiful music I heard on that night. I found out what piece it was and asked them to sing it. How strange it seemed when I found that the favorite hymn with these saloon keepers was the one entitled "The Wandering Sheep." I learned it from them. The strange and touching way in which they sung it moved me deeply. There was a life and feeling in their tones, an inspiration, that we certainly did not have in the brick church across the way. I began wondering if it was not often "the case, that we sing hymns in our Sabbath schools and churches, without fully realizing the meaning and spirit of the words on our lips. These men, unused to hearing sermons, and, in one sense, callous to the results of the business in which they were engaged, had caught the spirit of this hymn, in a way that was to me inexplicable. I made up my mind that I would never more decide that any class of individuals is without gentle and noble im- pulses which may be drawn out by the use of the right means. After our singing, we had a general and friendly talk. They spoke of their early training, and of the les- sons of childhood. Without awakening in them the least feeling that I was intruding, I brought the conversation around to the nature of the business in which they were engaged. It was fully discussed. You can imagine somewhat how earnestly I prayed that God would give me wisdom in using the brief time that was allowed me, for these closing remarks. I had studied my audience, and knew pretty well their feel- ings, and their sensitiveness, on general points. I tell you, my friends, saloon keep- ers have feelings, and they are keenly sensi- tive, too. You can now understand why, as a general thing, I prefer to go to the jail alone. 1 had caught the spirit of the mo- ment, and my lingers seemed to clasp the loose threads', as it were, as a driver would gather up the lines of a four horse team. The minds of these men were softening — softening even towards those who had been the means of having them imprisoned. Pretty soon, one declared lie would give up the business to-morrow, if the people would buy out his stock of liquors. Another said "So will I," and although the rest did not say it. I knew they were inclined strongly that way. "It is not by might, it is not by power, but it is by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." I mentioned some of the above named cir- cumstances over at the brick church, to their large Sabbath school, an hour later, and I asked them to sing that same hymn, "The Wandering Sheep," in their regular church hymn book. Do you suppose they sung it as did those men in jail? No; it was simply impossible. I then got a glimpse of the power Moody finds, in having men of this class assist him in his work. Before the class of people that most need reclaim- ing in our cities, towns, and villages, the hymn sung as it was by these men would possess a power in comparison with which, I am afraid, all the fashionable Sunday schools massed together would be found weak and feeble. Now, my friends, the point I wish to bring out particularly in what I have narrated is this: These men, confined as they are, get very restless and want something to do, and, especially after a while, something to read. I have rarely seen a person, even though he was not in the habit of looking to books much as a source of amusement, who did not sooner or later take to reading while in jail. JVIany times have they asked me to bring or send them something to read. The book I have spoken of, giving sketches of Moody's life and sermons, has been read by almost every inmate, until it is nearly worn out. And you remember, too, the dry old hook of hymns, as many of you would term it, perhaps. During the long dull week that followed, these men bad doubtless, as they said, sung, or tried to sing, almost every song in the book; and, no doubt, before they got out the book had proved to them a blessing indeed. Christian people are, in a measure, re- sponsible for every man or boy who gets in- to jail. Recall what the young man told me about having never been to church, and that no one, minister or layman, had ever called to talk with them in regard to the subject of religion. It is bad to have them get so far as to have to be put into jail, but what shall we do for them after they are there? What shall we do for the men and boys that are languishing in jail this minute? What do you think about supplying them with good books and papers? On one of my visits to the jail, I found one young man, who was put in for intemperance, reading a book on infidelity. What do you suppose the effect of such reading would he? Would it ever cause him to repent and reform? Did any body ever hear of such a thing's happening? Suppose a report should go round like this : Young Mr. A. got hold of a book on infidel- ity, and he was so impressed with the truth of its teachings, that he reformed and be- came a better man from that time forward. Did any one ever hear of such a thing? If the boys of our nation who are confined in our jails are begging for something to read. what kind of hooks shall we give them? What do our people think about it? Listen, and I will tell you what some, at least, of Hit' people think about it. Our friend who wrote the excellent article in March GLEANINGS in regard to bee cul- ture for women, as well as myself, it seems, has been thinking of the boys in jail, and she sends me the following. 280 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July Will not the kind readers of Gleanings gather up all the good reading matter that they can spare, and send it to the Rev. W. D. A. Mathews, of Onarga, Ills., for distribution among such of the prisons and jails of the United States as are not supplied. Such books and papers as the following will be thankfully received: old S. S. libraries, S. S. papers, magazines to be bound, tracts and Testaments, all good religious, scientific, and agricultural papers; no political or sensational matter is desired, and no other secular papers than those mentioned alio ve. Prisons will not distribute them. For several years, Mr. Mathews has been connect- ed with the missionary work of the Seamens' Friend Society, and has been traveling in bethel work. In following up some of the legitimate lines of that work, he was made acquainted with the pressing need of jails and penitentiaries for suitable instruc- tion and religious reading, and at first presented the cause to a congregation, then invited special gifts of books, &c. This seems providentially to have grown upon his hands. During the year 1877 he gathered and dis- tributed over one million pages. Last year, '78, two million pages were distributed to the various prisons of Cal., Tex., Tenn., Ga., Ky., "Wis., la., and Minn., as well as to quite a large number of smaller jails and city prisons. He says "I could use about 200,000 pages monthly, if I could get them." Before sending him packages write him that yon have reading matter for him, and he will cheerfully answer telling you how to have it sent him free of expense, as the R. R., Ex. Cos., and Steamboats have different rules for bringing matter free. It is a remarkable fact, that, up to the present time, not a dollar has been expended in the gather- ing and distribution of so large an amount of read- ing matter. The rail-roads, steamboats, and ex- press com panies freely and cheerfully frank packages and boxes, from N. Y. to Cal., and from Ga. to Minn., this being the already wide field of labor. Mr. Mathews says, "The officials of the state pris- ons welcome me at all times, and often assure me that our efforts to lift men to a better life, through good reading, is a welcomed movement in the right direction." Especially to the ladies would we appeal for aid. If you have but a few papers, give what you have, and get some of the neighbors to put theirs with yours and make up a package, sending all you can. It is the little brooklets that swell the mighty river. Roseville, 111. Mrs. S. J. W. Axtell. "Well, my friends, you can see clearly where you can help in the matter. I know of no better indication that God is in it, than the fact that the different transportation companies have agreed to forward the mat- ter free of charge. No wonder the officials are glad to see friend Mathews. There is not a man, woman, or child in our nation scarcely, whose heart will not throb with sympathy, in a movement which promises to heal these poor unfortunates who are wounded and scarred by sins and crimes, rather than by bodily ailments. Our Savior used to make 'these people whole, by rebuk- ing the evil spirits. Ours seems to be the mission of rebuking the evil spirits also, by giving them good books and papers. How is it. my friends V Shall we not let our kind friend Mathews feel that the readers of the Home Papers are a power in our land, by sending him such a flood of reading matter that he will hardly know what to do with it V As it must take a good many postal cards to answer all the questions in regard to this business, I will send him $5.00 worth of stamps, to help defray this expense. Father, mother, sister, brother, how do you know that some one near and dear to you may not receive these very books and papers we are sending out V "Will you help in the spirit of the text V — For I was a hungered, and ye" gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye vis- ited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Matt. 25; 35,36. Now. my friends, although I do not mean to excuse the inmates of our jails, by any means, or even to intimate that they should not be considered as disgraced by getting in- to jails, I want to show you that' there is not so very wide a difference, after all, between the poor fellows inside of our brick jail, and some others right across the street, in our brick meeting house. I have an opportuni- ty of knowing something about it, for I cross over from one place to the other, al- most every Sabbath. Let me relate a little incident. A Aery bad, intemperate man, in our vi- cinity was converted. He was badly in debt, his family were in want, and every thing about him seemed most disheartening and discouraging. Notwithstanding all this, he rose up a new man, and went to work. So zealous was he and faithful, that he very soon was appointed superintendent of the Sabbath school of the little community near him, and by his faithful, quiet work, en- deared himself to all about him. To clear off the debt on his little farm, lie drew wood during- the worst of the winter weather, into our town. A member of our church, an old one, and one in regular standing, ordered of him— say 10 cords, expressly stipulating that the'money should be ready when the wood was delivered, for that was his way of doing business, etc. Our newly converted friend, whom we will call Mr. A., drew a few loads, and then asked for some money, as he needed it badly. The other party, whom we will call B., refused to pay any, saying the bargain was that the money was to'be paid when all the wood was delivered. A. went to work and drew all the wood, and then asked again for the money ; it was now refused, on the ground that it had not been delivered as soon as agreed upon. ""Well.'" savs A., "what do you propose to do. Mr. B.¥" "Why, if you had drawn the wood as soon as you promised to. you would have had your money, for I had it then ; but now it is gone, and you must wait until I get some more."' A. waited patiently, and called again, and again. B. never had any money. As I had been on quite friendly terms with both par- ties, more especially with A., after his con- version, he came to me for advice. I at once went and had a talk with both parties. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 281 It did no good, and A. had his first great lesson to learn, that not all who called on God in our prayer meetings, necessarily live out Christian principles, still later, he found where he could sell the wood for cash, and asked me what I thought about his drawing it away, and selling it elsewhere. I thought there could certainly be no objec- tion, as it was nearly all where he piled it originally; but. to my surprise, B. threaten- ed to arrest him for stealing, if he touched a stick of it. They both talked a little hard to each other, but I was enabled to silence them, by reminding them of their duties as professed followers of Christ. In despair, I went for our minister, lie proposed when he found that B. was so set in his way, that we should all kneel in prayer, and ask God to guide US. As we were on B's premises, his consent was wanting. His reply was in substance as follows: "Mr. 11., I never object to kneeling in prayer under proper circumstances, and up- on proper occasions, but, just now, I beg to be excused.1'' That ended ii ; there was nothing more to be said. Those of you who know of the temptations which a man who has been ad- dicted to drowning troubles in drink often has under similar circumstances can under- stand how poor A. felt. Some of his friends advised him to recover the wood or money, by law. "No." said he. "Poor as I am, and hard as I have worked to get out that wood, I can afford to let him have it better than I can afford to go to law with a fellow man.''' If I am correct, he got a part of it in the way of trade, and the rest is due him yet. Now, it is possible that B. would make a different story of it. and that there were ex- tenuating circumstances, but the point I wish to emphasize is, that he refused to set- tle it as his minister (who certainly had no partiality towards a member of another church) advised him to do. andhealso re- fused to kneel in prayer, or to let A. have a stick of the unpaid-for wood, back again. What shall we do with such Christians? lie came to the next weekly prayer meeting, shook hands with his minister among the rest, and called him brother, and took part in prayer as usual. Had my boys in jail known the above incident, I am really afraid they would have felt themselves oh better ground there in jail, than over across the way in that brick church. .My friend, you would better lose every cent you have in the world, you would better give up your right hand, and your left, too, rather than kneel before God and attempt to call upon his name, with the memory of transactions like the above, nnrepented of and unconfessed, scarring your souls. Xo wonder scepticism thrives, and no wonder churches get to be only heaps of "dry bones.'1 Did B. thrive and prosper, and continue to be one of the pillars of the church V lie surely did not. lie soon failed in business, his home was sold at less than its value, and a curse seemed to have fallen on him. HOAV THE SECTION-BOX < 'AOKS AN- SWER FOR LONG DISTANCES, ETC. E have always had much trouble in sending queens to Oregon, and so tried 3 on the 29th of May, just after the new cage was invented. Below is the result. I received all three queens alive this time. A few of the workers were dead. I introduced the queen without any trouble. George Ebelt,. Baker City, Oregon, June 14, 1879. And here is one sent June 6, to Texas. Your card, also the queen, received on the 12th. The queen was in fine condition, is introduced all right, and I think will do well. There was one dead bee and one dead drone in the cage. They had plenty of honey left. I think the section box a suc- cess in shipping- bees. Lizzie A. Kodgers. Farmington, Tex., June 19, '79. Now the section boxes for sending 1 lb. of bees have failed in one or two instances. Yesterday, the boys were putting up some packages, when I chanced to pass, and saw that one lot was suffocating. Three section boxes were fastened together, the bees were put in, and they were about fastening the last piece of wire cloth on. To tack it on, the cage was placed on a hive, in such a way as to close the opposite end. Now although this i lb. of bees had a surface of coarse wire cloth, of about Ki square inches, they would all have been dead of suffocation in a very few minutes. The bees covered the wire- cloth, and crowded so hard that they forced it up and crawled out, looking as black and wet, almost, as if they had been dipped in ink. Had they been in the shade, the dan- ger would have been much less; but they had been set down in the full blaze of the noonday sun. Beware how you put confined bees where the sun strikes the wire cloth, on which they depend for air. I left out the middle section, and united the two remain- ing ones with a b and of wire cloth, making a package something like this: SECTION-BOX QUEEN CAGE, TO HOLD i LB. OF BEES. You see the box cannot well be put down in such a position as to (dose more than one of those six, 4x4 squares of wire (doth, and they have a comb of food on each side of them. Several new feeders will be feeding- time comes again. illustrated when MARTIN'S CIRCULAR APIARY. fi NOTICED, in the last No. of Gleanings, friend Hasty' S plan for an apiary. We arc all studying- — ' for the best method of managing our pets, and, if we get our ideas fixed upon anew plan, we are liable to make a hobby of it, and become blind to the merits of all other plans. While conceding the merits of the grouping- system, I think there are several points that, to say the least, are inconve- nient. For instance, we use a cart in our apiary, and, in our examinations, It is our constant compan- 282 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. July ion, used as a seat, and for carrying empty combs, hives, etc. Now, in moving- around in friend Plasty's apiary, we would be constantly in front of hives, and in the path of returning- bees, which would re- sult in more or less confusion. In relation to bees getting- into the wrong hive, I think any one empty hive on the side of a group will, in some emergen- cies (for instance, before a thunder shower), catch many bees that belong to the other two hives. They will mix more or less in all apiaries, unless the hives are spread over a large tract of ground, and this the bee keeper who considers steps can not allow; nor can he adopt the other extreme of allow- ing them to stand close together on a bench, in a row, where the bees, hanging to the outside of the hives, would intermingle, as we have seen them, and all apparently be in brotherly love together. We have stated in a former article, our plan of laying out an apiary, and, having worked this sys- tem for three years, we would be loth to try another plan. We lay off our apiary in circles; the lirst circle contains ten hives, all facing to the centre, and placed five feet from centre to centre. The hives of the next row face outward; the next to- ward the centre; the next outward, etc. We thus have a series of alleys or streets in our miniature city, one being a thoroughfare for the bees, and the next for the owner and his cart; for, while we are walking around in our street in the rear of the hives, the next street is a complete vortex of buzzing bees. Every hive in a circle faces a different point of the compass, and the bees are thus less liable to enter each other's hives. The larger the circle, the near- er the position of the hives approaches a straight line. Here we can resort to the grouping system, as seen on the exterior circle. In the centre, we have a pole with running vines upon it. The alleys upon which the hives face are decorated with various flower beds, rare plants, etc. Our better half attends to the posies, while sawdust, tan bark, and a hoe keep down the weeds and grass. Our apiary occupies a space of 70x70, inclosed with a high board fence, and shaded to some extent by ten plum trees. I herewith send you a diagram, hoping it will be of interest to you. J. H. Martin. Hartford, N. Y., June 12, 1879. A CIRCULAR APIARY ON THE PLAN OF J. II. MARTIN S. After reading tlie above, our engraver drew the sketch we have given, planning it for only 48 hives, instead of for nearly a hundred, as friend Martin's is. The idea of having one thoroughfare for the bees, and another for the apiarist, I like very much. but I am afraid those hives standing so nearly in the same position, side by side, would be almost sure to confound our bees. The grouping in the outer circles, we have omitted to show, for want of space. I men- tioned last month, using coal cinders cover- ed with white sand, about the entrances. Well, to keep the grass down, between the hives, we are now using a lawn mower, with much satisfaction. By running it through the alleys, in the three different directions, it leaves the ground just beautiful. The doc- tor said I would better go to California and stay a year, but I much prefer to stay in the apiary and run the lawn mower, and if you could see me this morning — June 27th — I guess you would decide the lawn mower would answer every purpose if ''rightly ap- plied/' jusTbefoee going- to press. |The contents of this department are supposed to be given in an informal way, just before the last form is placed in the press. You can imagine my- self, hat in one hand (said hat being covered with sawdust, honey, bees wax, printers ink, etc.), and the other hand on the door knob, just ready to bid you good day until next month, giving you a sum- mary of the last items of interest in the way of new discoveries, etc. The press man will probably cut my talk suddenly short, by telling me he cannot possibly squeeze in another single word, saying noth- ing about line or lines.] Ai,Tnour,H wc have received a great many sub- scriptions this month, so many others have expired, our record counts almost the same— 4840. Spools of tinned wire, for fastening fdn. in frames, will be 8c each, or 75c per doz. ; if sent by mail, 2 c each, extra. Each spool will fill 35 frames. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 283 Our ingenious friend, D. S. Given, Hoopeston, Ills., has sent us a queen and 3 Vices by mail, in the tin mailing eases that have received the sanction of the Dept., but, if I am correct, the decision is that no bees shall be mailed in any shape. However, I have sent the queen, cage, letter and all, to the P. M. G., with a prayer that it may be accepted and if he decides they may go in that way, I will send you a Gleanings extra, at once, to celebrate the event. The food was a very little, soft, moist candy. I shall have to call the editor of the Western lb>n- ey Bee, a little bit of a fraud after all. He now ad- mits he never succeeded in making sheets more than 4x4 inches, with his machine. I have made fair sheets by dipping only, the size of an L. frame, but, as the dipping plates were plaster of Paris, they soon failed. 1 have been waiting over two weeks for an electrotyper to make me some metal ones, and am now almost ready to start an electrotype foundry myself. I hope to be able to give you a ma- chine to dip beautifully thin starters, for only 25c, and larger sheets in proportion. When I get ready, you may expect that extra No. of Gleanings. to hang up in your door yard, with the words "Honey for Sale" neatly painted. If wanted by mail, 10c. extra for postage. Boards saying "Bees and Queens for Sale," ;ame price. *Eff HAVE 3 bis. of extracted honey that I will take :» 7c. per lb. for, and throw in the barrels. A G. W. Gates. Bartlett, Shelby Co., Tenn., May 31, 1879. GOOD NEWS FOR THE UNLUCKY.— A Section box cage full of bees from a queenless colony will accept of any queen almost without a failure. Well, put your queen, the minute you get her, into such a cage of bees, if she is not already in such a one. Do it before a window, and you can easily rescue her, if they should attack her. When you see that they behave properly toward her, turn bees, queen, and all loose on a frame of hatching brood, and she will begin laying at once. Now, build them up to a colo- ny, and you are all right. One of our smaller girls introduces all our queens thus, both imported and home bred, and she has, as yet, never lost one. OUR CARTOON FOR JULY. MR. MONEYBA-NKS IS GETTING ALONG FINELY SINCE THE CLOVER SEASON, BUT HE HAS SO MUCH TROUBLE IN FINDING HIS QUEEN, HE HAS RESOLVED TO PASTE A LABEL ON HER BACK EVERY TIME HE SEES HER. HIS PASTE AND LABEL ARE RIGHT HANDY, BUT, ALAS ! SHE IS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND, AS USUAL. %oim\ (diuiin. Under this head, will be inserted free of charge, the names of all those having honey to sell, as well as those wanting to buy. Please mention how much, what kind, and prices, as Ear as possible. The prices quoted in our cities for honey arc, at present, too low, to make it worth while to publish them. As a general thing, I would not advise you to send your honey away, to be sold on commission. If hear home," where you can look after it, it is often a very good way. By all means, develop your home market. For 25cts., we can furnish little boards Chicago. -lionet/ -Choice, in single comb boxes, S@13c. Extracted, 6@9c. Bees-wax.— Choice, yellow, 2l@20c. Darker grades, I5@80c. New York.— Honey— Best comb, ll@13c. Extract- ed, 7@8c. lift n-icax.— Choice, 25c. Cincinnati.— Honey— Best, in single comb boxes, HXg 12c. Extracted, 8@10c. California.— Honey— Comb, 6@7c. Extracted, 4@.5c. Bees-wax.— Best, 30@31c. For darker colored, 2il.v22!4c. FOUNDATION LOWER! Friend Nellis, like myself, it seems has discovered that wax is lower, and that fdn. can be furnished still cheaper. You will see by his advertisement that he does it in the shape of a discount. I like plain figures better than discounts, and I have there- fore figured it out as follows. I have given the fractions, because I think friend N. has got the price very low, and I do not wish to undersell him. DRONE OR WORKER CELLS. 1 to 25 pounds, per pound 46%c 25 to 50 " " 45c 50 to 100 " " 44Jic 100 to 500 " " 42l/2e 500 to 1000 " " 405£c 1000 pounds or more " 38Jie If wanted by mail, add 25c per lb. for boxing and postage, on any quantity less than 2 lb. ; over 2 lb., add 20c for boxing and postage. Now, all that you will order in our regular sized sheets, 8x16; £, or 12x18, will be lc per lb. less. If you will also order it in our regular sized boxes, of 5, 10, or 25 lb., you may deduct lc more per lb. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Onio. STAMPS, RUBBER DATING AND AD- DRESSING, No. 1. No. Address only, like No. 1, $1.50; with bu- siness card, like No. 2, $2.00; with movable months and figures for dating, like No. 3, $3.00. Full outfit included— pads, ink, box, etc. Sent by mail postpaid. Without ink and pads, 50c less. Put your stamp on every card, letter, pa- per, book, or anything else that you may send out by mail or express, and you will save your- self and all who do business with you "a world of trouble." I know, you see. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohi3. 284 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. July gjiNGHAM's Smoker Qorner. De Pere, Wis., June 12, 1870. T. F. Bingham, Otsego, Mich. Dear Sir: — Many thanks for promptness. The smokers have all been received, and give the great- est satisfaction. My own has now been in constant use for three years, lighted every day, and burning all day long during the bee season, and, though 1 see new ones around me, 1 never wish for or think of taking one. It has gone out but three times during that time, and that from my carelessness. Respectfully, Frances Dunham. Milledgeville, 111., June 3, 1879. T. F. Binoham, Otsego, Mich. Dear Sir:— The two dozen smokers received, also your beautiful and well made honey knife. It is a model of neatness and durability. I predict that I shall like it. It is like your smokers, well made from first class material. That is the way I do. I use good material and spare no pains in doing accurate work. You have the inside track on smokers. The principle is clear, and I think can't be dodged by others. Your smokers beat the world for power and quick action. Kespectfullv 7d F. A. Snell. ELECTROTYPES ! One Electrotype Queen like this, postpaid by mail, 25c. A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. 300 Matchless" Burdett Organs are used in the Philadelphia Churches, and 35,000 Matchless" Burdett Organs are used by Families throughout the World. 'Sweet as honey is the 'Matchless1 Burdett." Send for price list to THE BURDETT ORGAN CO.,-Limited, EKIE, I* A . I HAVE 30 hives, part Langstroth, part Simplicity, —made last season, some used a few months and some not at all,— with 3 coats of paint, 10 frames be- low, and 7 broad frames for^sections above. Will sell them, where" 5 are taken, @ 90c each. 10 " " @ 80c " 400 combs, built on fdn., in fine condition,^ 15c each; with the frames 16c each, where 50 are taken. Have some on metal corner frames (To. 2c a frame more. A. FAHNESTOCK, Toledo, O. 7d WAKTED.-A permanent situation as apiarian in California. 3 years experience in bee keeping, owns a comb fdn. mill and implements. 7 Address O. S. DAVIS, Newbern, Iowa. (Reference A. I. Root.) 16 cage Illustrated Circular Sent Free. EVERETT BROS,, 107 Monroe St,, Toledo, Ohio. 1879 QUEENS QUEENS 1879 Bee Keepers intending to purchase queens will find it to their advantage to read our special circu- lar before purchasing. Address H. ALLEY, 7d Wenhum, Mass. CHEAP GLASS AND GLASSWARE.— Box con- taining 50 feet glass, cut any size, $2.25. For cheap jars and glasses, send postal card to the un- dersigned f or,price list. M. H. TWEED, 7 Mansfield Valley, Allegheny Co., Pa. Buy and try Our Italian Bees. Queens, $1.: with y2 lb. of bees, $3. Nuclei, 5 frames, $5. Full colonies, $10. Our bees are great workers, all bred from imported stock. We warrant safe arrival. Give our pets a trial. Address 7d J. H. MARTIN, Hartford, Wash. Co., N. Y. REPORTED QUEENS! We are receiving queens from the best districts in Italy, which we can sell at $5. each and guarantee safe arrival. They are to be light, large, and active. Any that do not come up to this standard we will dispose of at $4.00 each. If a number are ordered, a slight discount can be given. No circular issued or Cyprian bees for sale, at present. Registered letter or money orders sent at our risk. ( !. W. & A. II. K. BLOOD, 7d P. O. Box 234. Quincy, Mass. tRicE oe M0 A. L. Klar, Pana, Christian Co., Ills. 8-9d *King & White, New London, O. 8tfd Hive Manufacturers. Who agree to make such hives, and at the prices named, as those described on our circular. A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. H. Scovell, Columbus, Cherokee Co., Kaus. 4-3 Nichols & Elkins, Kennedy, N. Y. 5-10 Signs like the above, 41.2XI8 inches, painted in bright colors, the board lined with tin to prevent warping, for.only 25c each; if sent by mail, 35c. A sign of the ; same kind, saying "This Property for Sale," same price. A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. Bees For Sale. ONE iDOEH.AR PER ILR. Names inserted in this department the first time without charge; afterward, 20c each insertion, or $2 00 per year. Those whose names appear below signify that they are willing to furnish bees, without hives, dur- ing the coming month, at $t 00 per lb., the purchas- er being required to bear all express charges. Safe arrival guaranteed. [Express Cos. have promised to return cages to owners free of charge, if made very light.— Ed.] Jas. P. Sterritt, Sheakleyville, Mercer Co., Pa. 7-8 m, QUEENS! QUEENS! M We can supply very large, very yellow, extra pro- lific, and pure queens, by mail, at $1.00 each. All from imported mothers. Ten per cent off above prices by the dozen. Circulars giving our method for raising- pure queens sent free. 8d H. ALLEY, Wenham, Mass. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 291 THE FOR several years, it has been my ambition to be able to write a book on bee culture, so clear and plain that not only any boy or girl, but even an old man or woman, with the book and a hive of bees, could learn modern bee culture, and make a fair, paying business, even the first season. This is a great undertaking, I grant; and it will require some one with far greater wisdom than mine, to do it the first time trying. After watching beginners, and an- s wering their questions almost constantly, for years, I came to the conclusion, that the only way to do it was to "cut and try," as carpenters say, when they can't get the exact dimensions of the article they wish to make. To cut and try on the ABC book, I have invested over $2,000 in type, chases, etc., sufficient to keep my whole book standing constantly in type, thatcan be changed at a moment's notice. The books are printed only as fast as wanted, and just as soon as I see I have omitted anything, or have made any mis- take, the correction is made before any more books are sent out. To show you how it works, and how it succeeds, I will give you an illustration. A beginner writes to know if it is of any use to keep a queen, after she is eighteen daj's old and does not lay. Now I know very well that a queen should lay when from ten days to two weeks old; and also, that they will sometimes not commence until they are three weeks old, and then make good queens. Now, although I directed that they should be tossed up in the air, to see if their wings were good, when they did not lay at two weeks of age, I did not say, if their wings proved to be good, how long we should keep them. If I could spare the time of the colony, I would keep a good looking queen that could Hy well, until she is 25 days old; if crowded for a place to put cells, I would kill all that do not lay at 18 or 20 days old. I have just put the above in the A B C, and that is just the way I am going to keep doing. You see, you beginners are, ultimately, to build up the book. A BC came all right. It is all perused and found to excel anything of the kind lever saw. It is so plain any one can understand how to go right to work with pleasure. J. M. SLOAN. New Bethlehem, Pa., July 15, 1879. The book, as it is now, contains about 275 pages and about 175 engravings. It is furnished complete in one, or in 5 different parts. The contents and prices are as follows: Part First, will tell you all about the latest im- provements in securing and Marketing Honey, the new 1 ft. Section Honey Boxes, mak- ing Artificial Honey Comb, Candy for Bees, Bee Hunting, Artificial Swarming, Bee Moth, &c., &c. Part Second, tells ail about Hive Making, Diseases of Bees, Drones, How to Make an Extractor, Extracted Honey, Feeding and Feeders, Foul Brood, etc, etc. Part Third, tells all about Honey Comb, Hon- ey Dew, Hybrids, Italianizing, King Birds, The Locust Tree, Moving- Bees, The Lamp Nursery? Mignonnette, Milkweed, Mother- wort, Mustard, Nucleus, Follcn, Pro- polis, and Queens. Part Fourth tells all about Rape, Raspberry, Ratan, Robbing, Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, Sage, Smokers, including instructions for making with illustrations, Soldering, Sour- wood, Stings, Sumac, Spider Flower, Sun- flower, Swarming, Teasel, Toads, Trans- ferring, and Turnip. Part Fifth tells about Uniting Bees, Veils, Ventilation, Vinegar, Wax, Water for Bees, White wood, and Wintering. It also includes a Glossary of Terms and Abbrevia- tions used in Bee Culture. ^^"All are Profusely Illustrated with En- gravings. Nothing Patented. Either one will be mailed for 25c; V% doz., $1.25; 1 doz., $2.25; 40, $6.00. The five parts bound in one, in paper, mailed, for $1.00. At wholesale, same price as Gleanings, with which it may be clubbed. One copy, $1.00; three copies, $2.60; five copies, $11.75; ten copies, $B.00. The same neatly bound in cloth, with the covers neatly embellished in embossing and gold, one copy, $1.25; three copies, $3.25; five copies, $5.00; ten copies, $8.50. If ordered by freight or Express, the postage may be deducted, which will be 3c on each 25c book, 10c on the complete book in paper, and 12c each, on the complete book in cloth. A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. 292 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Aug. Contents of this Number. Scraps and Sketches. No 8. Shingle Hives 293 The Section Box Queen Cage— Improvements 296 Feeding and Feeders 296 Sunshine and Shadows among the ABC Class 298 Length of Life of rhe Drone Bee 299 Our Cartoon for August 299 How- to Cii'cumvent Bobbers, And Keep on Transferring and Baising Queens All the Same 300 Our Own Apiary. Introducing Queens; Econ- omy in Maturing Queen Cells; Simpson's Honey Plant; Introducing Again; The Honey Farm 301 We Must Have That Honey 302 Italians and Blacks 303 Our Cartoons, Queens Straying Away from Home, &c 304 Wax 305 How Friend Bolin Winters and "Springs" His Bees by This Time 311 A Good Way to Introduce a Queen 313 Queens by Mail 301, 312 Introducing Queens 320 THE GROWLERY. 294 THE SMILERY. 295 LADIES' DEPARTMENT. Report from Mrs. Axtell 295 New Swarms Leaving Their Hives 295 JUVENILE DEPARTMENT. Ants 298 A Lecture for the Boys .298 HUMBUGS AND SWINDLES. A Patent Right Swindler Gets His Deserts 300 BEE BOTANY AND ENTOMOLOGY. The Bumble Bee and Laphria Thoracica 304 Candleberry Myrtle or Bayberry 304 The Apathus 304 The Milk Weed Bee-Trap 304 HEADS ®F GRAIN. Speed of Circular Saws; Bumble Bees Killing Honey Bees; Refuse from a Corn Sheller for Winter Packing; Queen Cells by Mail; Fastening Fdn. in the Frames; Honey Dew for Winter Stores 313 Whitewood or Tulip Tree — Corrections; Do Queens Lay Continuously? Stings— Are They the Cause of Skin Diseases, &c? Sec- tion Case Sticking to Frames, Queen Cells with Nothing in Them, Queen Cells Not Al- ways an Indication of Swarming; Cloth Bag Feeders; Sugar Syrup in Preference to Natural Stores, Closed Top Frames, &c 314 Giving Room to the Young Queen After Swarming, Fdn. for Italians After the First Swarm is Out, How Many Wires Are Needed in Fdn.? Swarming Out with the Young Queen When Brood is all Hatched, Crowding Bees and Stores on Few Combs for Winter; A Word as to Dollar Queens and Grape Sugar; Bees and Honey in Tex- as ; California White Sage 315 Composition of Brood Combs: Comb Basket for Extracting Broken Pieces; Chaff Right on the Bees; Home Made Mats; Wintering Without Protection, Stands for Hives, &c 316 A New Comb Holder, Clarks; Over Production of Drones, and Pasteboard Sections; What to Do with Bees that Hang Out and Won't Swarm; An Improvement Suggested on Preventing Frames from Sagging; Combs Made with a Thin Pine Board as a Base; Sponge for the Bottle Cages, and the Pau- lonia Tree 317 NOTES AND QUERIES. A Word from Beech City, O. ; Color for Honey Crates; After Swarms Returning to the Parent Hive ; Which Will the Bees Choose, a Fertile or Virgin Queen? Dextrine for Gumming Labels; How to Cure Dull Times; Pruning Shears for Taking Down Swarms; Introducing Queens by rolling in Honey; Burying Bees, &c; Black Bees around Soda Fountains &c; What to Do with After Swarms 318 Dark Color of Imported Queens; Introducing; Saving Forest Trees; Pinchers for Lifting Frames; Getting Starters Built Out in the Brood Apartment; Bees Eating Raspber- ries, Grapes, &c; Carrying Out Immature Bees. &c 319 Introducing to Stubborn Bees 295 BLASTED HOPES 319 EDITORIAL Fitting a Saw Table to the Family Grindstone; The Honey Farm on the 28th of July ; Candy Cage with Bottle 320 Hammers and Nails 326 Electrotypes for Dipping Fdn 325 In the centre of our central apiary, stands a flag pole, and from its summit the stars and stripes are flung to the breeze. On the flag is the inscription, "By Industry We Thrive." The flag was made by the girls of our establishment. At one time during July, we were 150 orders behind on dollar queens, but in less than a week we were almost as many ahead of orders. We now have a large stock on hand, ready for shipment by first ex- press. For queens at wholesale, see advertisement. Those out door feeders that are working such wonders in our apiary, are only a half gallon fruit jar inverted on the board figured last month, on page 264. 25cts. will pay for the whole apparatus, and, with it, you can feed (of thin syrup) a half gallon an hour, all day long. We have built one of the shingle, chaff, tenement hives, and it has now 4 swarms of bees in it. I tell you it is just handsome. We have put a little more work on it than has friend Hutchinson, but even as it is, it can be furnished without furniture, for about $10. DOW QUEENSlTWHOLESALS. Young, fertile, laying queens, from impoi'ted mothers, safe arrival guaranteed, each $1.00; per half dozen, $5.50; per doz., $10.00; 50 for $40.00; 100, for $75.00. I cannot promise to continue these low figures after present stock is exhausted. Therefore you must order at once, if you want them. This month is perhaps the most profitable time to Ital- ianize of the whole year, for there is no loss in hav- ing the hive a short time queenless. A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. I CAN ship good Glass Cutters for 25 cents, post- paid. Special terms by the dozen. H. M. MOYER, Pfill Church, Berks Co., Pa. Tested Queens for $1.00. Homebred, young, vigorous, beautiful; purity and safe arrival guarantied. Address, 8d J. A. WARD, Madisonville, Hamilton Co., O. IMPORTED QUEENS Just received. Price $5.00. Safe arrival guaran- teed. MISS M. ANDREWS, Medina, Ohio. COTUB FDN., 45c per pound. Choice Queens, $1.00. Nuclei and full colonies, very low. Smo- kers, etc. B. B. BARNUM, 8 380 Preston St., Louisville, Ky. miumi Ours is guaranteed to be the best in the world. Catalogue free. 8-10 W. W. Giles, 149 Clark st. Chicago, 111. ITALIAN QUEENS RAISED FROM IMPORTED MOTHERS. Italian Queens raised from Imported Mothers per y2 dozen $5 00 Bees, full colonies, from $5.00 to 10 00 One Frame Nucleus with Tested Queen 3 00 " Dollar " 2 00 Section Boxes and Comb Fdn., Cheapl Safe arrival and satisfaction guaranteed! Circular and Price List free. Address REINHARD STEHLE, 8d Marietta, Washington Co., O. OIlJ VOTED TO BEEH AND HONEY, AND HOME INTERESTS. Vol. VII. AUGUST 1, 1879. No. 8. A. I. ROOT, Publisher and Proprietor, Medina, O. Published Monthly. (TERMS: $1.00 Per Annum in Ad- < vitu re; 3 Copies for $2.50; 5 for $3.7 5; Established in 1 873. ClO oi more, 60c. each. Single Number, lOc. SCRAPS AND SKETCHES. NO. 8. SniNOI.E HIVES. ^fjp^EAR NOVICE:— In that flying: trip which you FjNv) took a few years ago, through Michigan, I do not suppose that you visited any shingle mills. Perhaps you saw a few mills from your car window, and, in the passing glance that you gave them, I wonder if you noticed that some of the "shanties" composing the "huddles" which surrounded the mills were "sided up" with cull shingles. Lest you did not notice it, I must tell you that these cheap, temporary buildings, which would otherwise be un- inhabitable in cold weather, are quite cosy and com- fortable when they get on their "shingle overcoats." It was the sight of buildings covered in this manner that made me think, "Why can't we make our chaff hives out of shingles ?" HUTCHINSON'S SHINGLE CHAFF TENEMENT HIVE. In this case, thought was soon followed by action, and I not only made some ordinary, two story, chaff hives, out of cull shingles and cull lumber, but I made a— a— well, look at the above picture of it, and then call it what you please; I should call it the shingle-chaff-tenement hive, if it was not such an "awful" long name. I will not attempt to give a detailed description of its construction, but I will give a few hints, and then you must "think out" the rest of it for yourself. It is two stories high, and is built to aocommodate four swarms, each swarm occupying a "corner." Light frames, something like large picture frames, are used to nail the shingles to. As the shingles are laid six inches "to the weather," and as the hive is about two feet high, it requires five of these large frames. The row of nails next to the top row is covered with a strip of lath, to keep the sun from drawing them out, while the topmost row is protect- ed by the lower edge of the top or roof. The inside of the lower stories is made by nailing shingles perpendicularly inside of wooden frames, which are, of course, made just the right size to give the lower stories the proper dimensions. But two of these frames are required for each compart- ment, one at the top and the other at the bottom. Two sides of the frames which are at the bottom are formed by long strips of wood that reach clear across the whole hive, the ends resting upon the lowest large frame to which the outside shingles are nailed. The other two sides of these lower frames are formed by nailing strips of wood between the long cross pieces just mentioned. The thick ends of the shingles are placed uppermost, and a rabbet to hang the frames in is formed by nailing the shin- gles lower than the upper edge of the surrounding frame. The upper story is first divided into two equal apartments, by a long division board made of 7b lumber, which extends the whole Width of the hive; then these two apartments are again divided by division boards made of % lumber. The inside edges of the large frames, to which the outside shingles are nailed, touch the outside ends of these division boards, and are fastened to them with nails. To the lower edges of these division boards are nailed two sides of the frames to which are attached the upper ends of the shingles composing the inner walls of the lower stories. The topmost large frame, to which the outside shingles are nailed, is made of wide strips, so that it reaches the inside walls of the hive, and makes a covering for the chaff filling. The inner walls of the upper stories, that come next to the outside of the hive, are also made of shingles. The upper ends of the shingles are nailed to the inside of the topmost large frame, and the 294 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Aug, lower ends are nailed to the outside of the frames to which are fastened the upper ends of the shingles forming' the lower stories. The "gable ends" of the cap or roof are made of % lumber, and between their upper edges are fasten- ed cross pieces, to which is nailed the shingle roof. The roof is fastened at one side with hinges, and when I tip it back to open the hive, the flag-staff strikes the ground, and supports the roof in a prop- er position. I painted, or rather whitewashed, the hive with skim milk and water lime, and then "painted on" some corner boards and a cornice with skim milk and Venitian red. A nice bod of sawdust was made in front of our house, this little "tenement house" was placed upon it, and then four "families" moved, or rather were moved, into it. I have, as yet, had but little experience with tene- ment hives, and cannot say whether I shall like them or not; but I know I shall like the ordinary, two story, chaff hives, with the walls made of shin- gles. The plan of making an ordinary, two story, shingle, chaff hive is so nearly like that given for the construction of the shingle-chaff, tenement hive, that any further description would be superfluous. Sometime ago a correspondent in Gleanings told how he made some cheap chaff hives out of pieces split from an oak log; but, in this locality, cull shingles can be bought cheaper than the pieces could be split. la the May No., Stephen Young de- scribes a shingle roof for.chaff hives, and I have been "awfully afraid" that somebody would get to making whole hives out of shingles, and thus spoil my "story" before I "could get round to tell it." One thing in favor of shingle-chaff hives is the eheapnes^ of the materials from which they are constructed; while they can be painted or white- washed so as to give them a very neat appearance. Another point in favor of their construction is that, although a buzz saw is a convenience, it is not a necessity; and the great mass of bee keepers can make them during the leisure of their winter hours. W. Z. Hutchinson. Rogersville, Genesee Co., Mich. I did notice those shingle covered build- ings, friend II., and I have several times thought of shingle covered chaff hives ; but I must confess I never thought of a shingle covered tenement chaff hive, until you sug- gested it. Since reading your article, I have had one made, and, although not just like yours, it presents very much the same ap- pearance. The roof is not steep, and there- fore perhaps a little lighter, and I am very much pleased to find that I can get at any one of the four hives with the greatest ease, by simply sliding the cover backward in any direction. In fact, it is easier to uncover than either the ordinary chaff or Simplicity hives. Just at present, we are thinking very strongly of having enough of them made (25) to contain 100 colonies. We have made ours of shingles that we sell for $1.75 per M. CHEAP PAINT. In regard to the cheap paint; about ten years ago I painted an out building with water lime and sweet new milk (couldn't get enough skim milk), and it has a very fair color on it yet. The lime and milk makes a very fair stone color. Put it on with a white wash brush. Work must be rough. %vmUem^ [This department is to bo kept for the benefit of those who are dissatisfied; and when anything is amiss, I hope you will "talk right out." As a rule we will omit names and addresses, to avoid being too personal.] SHAD begun to think we were getting over the necessity of a Growlery de- ' partment, especially, in regard to lum- ber work ; but alas! it seems there is to be "no peace for the wicked''1, even in this world. My friend says I have been giving all smooth letters; I am afraid he is right ; but, really, I have not had any very rough ones lately. Let us by all means have both sides ; I prefer to be blamed more than I deserve, rather than to have more praise than is due. I received the hives I ordered of you, with the other fixtures, about May 13th; and as poor a lot of stuff, I hope I shall never see again. I thought, from the looks of the two hives 1 had of you all nailed, that I could depend on 'you for good stock; but I think your idea must be, that hives in the flat are also in the rough. 1 had to use smoothing plane on nearly all the hives; the joints were not square; some ends were % inch too long, and had to be dressed down; the covers were also very rough ou the face side and edges; some of the frames were dove-tailed so they would not go together even; the slats in honey rack were too wide for the gauge strip, and they all had to be taken off, making the frame very narrow. The so called prize boxes take the rag' off from the lot. I will send you one ae a sample: the 5J4, narrow pieces were 133 pieces short; but don't send them, for I would not pay the freight on them to have them, if I had not paid for thi' sections. I had samples from others, and they were all way ahead of those you sent. The lumber you used for those hives was not even second clear; and, as for your cold blast smoker, it is useless. I would as soon take a piece of punk, such as the boys use on the 4th, and try to blow through it. I was never more disgusted with a lot of stuff in my life. Sou tell in Gleanings how nice you fix every thing, all cut to a length and thickness, but it is all paper work, nothing more. I see a good many soapy letters in Gleanings, but this is not that kind. Perhaps you would do better by me, if I sent that kind of a letter aslhave known of your doing. 1 bought my bees of you in the tirst place, the order amounting to $25. I sent to you last season for a queen, and you sent my order off to some one who sent me a worthless queen, and a neighbor of mine sent to you for one in two days, and got a nice one. Now I am obliged to buy another. I don't think you have dealt squarely with me at all. You have 80 cts. due me and the lack on sections should be about 75 cts.: so please send me a queen. If you should send mo 1 wo, it would be no more than justice. J. W. S. Bethel, Conn., July 11, 1879. I thank you, friend S., for your criticism, and myself and the foreman of the wood work have examined into every point men- tioned. In regard to our set up and painted hives being better, there is certainly a mis- take; as "Uncle Nat.," who puts up the hives, always selects the poorest in the pile, because his daily practice has probably given him more skill than the average bee keeper possesses. To be sure, he uses a smooth plane, and in the directions for put- ting up hives, I have so advised you to do, although very fair hives can be made with- out one. We have, this season, used No. 1 barn boards for the body of the hives. Re- member we could not possibly use clear lumber at the very low prices we ask, nor is it necessary. A hive, such as we furnish 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 295 and use, will do just as good service in the apiary, as if it was made from lumber per- fectly free from knots. The prize boxes were made after a sample received from Mr. Doolittle, and I think will compare favora- bly with others for the price. We make a planed and dovetailed box much nicer, but they cost more money, as you will see by the price list. You seem to intimate, friend 8., that I am partial to customers. Do you not see how impossible this is? I can no more remember my customers than nothing in the world, and I only know you as one of the vast brotherhood related to me by Adam, and one whom I wish to treat kindly and fairly. It matters not what kind of a letter you write, or how large your orders have been, only that we give every body a discount on large orders, the clerks have instructions to treat all alike. I am asked daily to pick out nice dollar queens ; my friends, you for- get. If you have the nice ones, who are to nave the rest? This would certainly be par- tial. Is it not better to give the poorest boy in the juvenile department just as good goods as the man who has a thousand hives and money in the bank? I am anxious to please you all, but no one more than anoth- er. The queens are sent, and if you will tell me what will make the rest satisfactory, I will try to do it. Are not the people down East a little nic- er in mechanical work than elsewhere, and have you not exaggerated the faults of your goods a little, friend S.V Below is a letter that came right along by the side of yours. Does it not illustrate the different ways in which people look at things, rather than a difference in the goods? ife "4mUwu>" This department was suggested by one of the clerks, as an opposition to the "Growlery." I think I shall venture to give names in full here. fJjHE story and a half hive and contents, as order- ed, came promptly to hand yesterday. Thanks ) for your diligence. For you to know how sat- isfactory the items were, would amuse you, and, I suppose, please you also. Seldom has $3.35 done us so much good. How you can get up such nice work, for so low a price, is a wonder. It is a marvel of mechanical contrivance, completeness of machinery, as is evident by the work done, and also of utility and economy. The Express expenses were propor- tionally generous to your moderate bill. The charges were 75c. Give the Ex. Co. credit for quick- ness also. The completeness and cheapness of the frames, whether all wood or metal cornered, arc wonderful. There was only one thing we did not like, and that, I suppose, was because we tasted it, and it is not designed for the bee-keeper to live on, but for the bees. 1 mean the grape sugar, lithe bees like it, it is all tight. You will be pleased to know it was just the reverse of this with the smok- er—the bees don't like it at all, when it is lit and till- ing; consequently, it is just what my wife wants, and myself also, at suitable times. The division board, tin-separators, bee feeder, and mat were all praised as soon as the hive was opened. A package supposed to be a Chaff cushion was laid aside, with the thought that our bees would soon gnaw through the paper sides, if a sufficient Inducement were pre- sented tf> their appetite or curiosity. In an hour or two, we began to think one failure had to be reported to you — the COmb-f dn. Much importance attached to it. Our judgment had already Been convinced of its excellence, and our interest greatly excited to try it; for when we had our last experience with bees, comb fdn. was only a hypothesis, and hardly a "work- ing" one. So we regretted that that item had been overlooked; but we thought, mistakes will happen even with the "best regulated." It proved well for me that I had such charity, for I found I needed it myself. There was the pound of beautiful wax guide, inside the frame with the yellow paper sides. It was all right, and every thing satisfactory. R. A. Browne. New Castle, Penn., July 10, 1879. BEPOKT FROM MRS. AXTELL. f'N our home apiary, we have not yet had a single natural swarm; but bees have built up very j strong, and have stored some surplus honey, perhaps from 20 to 35 lbs. per colony. The apiary 4 miles away has done better ; has given a few swarms and more honey. The spring has been very dry. White clover has bloomed in profusion, but not given very much honey. We have taken off about 1400 lbs. of comb honey, and 3% barrels of extracted. Part of the extracted honey was left over from last fall, in the combs. We did not sell one colony from advertising: most persons wanted bees in the Langstroth hive. Some thought they could get bees cheaper, although we asked only 7 and 8 dollars per colony. We al- ways give such good colonies and well finished hives, that we feel that we could not afford colonies cheaper, except when a number are taken. We have sold 12 tine artificial swarms at $4.00 each, with- out hive or combs; the large (^uinby frames filled full of straight worker comb, full of brood and hon- ey, are worth nearly a swarm. Working bees for honey, has always paid us better than for bees or queens. Mrs. S. J. M. Axtele. Koseville, Ills., July 4, '79. NEW SWARMS LEAVING THEIR HIVES. Well, I have waited and watched till to-day, and they (the bees) finally swarmed, and 1 hived them nicely without any trouble; not a sting; the first I ever did, too, and I felt proud. Husband was lying on the lounge and I came in and told him, aud kept watch of them three hours; then they came out and left. I do not believe they were dissatisfied with the quarters I had assigned them or they would not have stayed as long as they did. I have studied on it, and come to the conclusion that with bees, "what is to be will be" ; but I wish they had forgot- ten themselves a few hours longer; I would have had them over night at least, and then, do you think they would have gone at all? Your word shall be mv law in that matter. Mrs. E. C. Peck. Toronto, Kan., July 15, 1879. Thanks for your kind letter, my friend : but if my word is to be your law, you will have to give up your doctrine, "What is to be will be," and put in its place concerning bees leaving their hives, at least, "Where their owner decides they are to be, they will be." Had you taken the precaution so often recommended in our books and jour- nals, of giving them a frame of brood when hiving them, I think they would have been there still. I know of no other way of mak- ing a sure tiling of their not decamping. Did you not set them right in the hot sun? This alone has caused many a colony to leave. (Jetting them to stay over night would have been no guarantee of their stay- ing ; they often leave next day, and some- times after they have stayed two or three days. INTRODUCING TO STUBBORN BEES. I thought I never would get my bees to take the last queen. I worked with them 10 days before I succeeded. By following your directions almost any queen can be introduced without loss. Washington, Ky., July 7, 1879. J. It. ANDERSON. 296 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Aug. THE SECTION BOX QUEEN CAGE-IH- PROVE1YIENTS. fllAVE made two boards, size 4'ix4 14, like those mentioned on page 2, Jan. No., and tacked wire "" under the hole (diameter 3 inches), to fasten on to my section introducing- cage, and find them quite handy for putting in and taking out the queen, &c. So I said to myself, "Why can't friend Root cut tin of the proper size, solder on the wire cloth, turn down the edges of the tin so it would tit nicely over the section, and furnish them to his customers, thus saving this tacking- and pulling of tacks and bother with wire cloth? They will answer nicely for ship- ping queens. Simply tie a string around, and it is complete. Now, friend Root, I don't expect $25. for this invention, but hope you will try them, and I think you will be satisfied that it is a step in ad- vance. L. S. Jones. New Philadelphia, O., July 11, 1879. There would be two objections to your wood board, — you could not see the queen, unless she happened to come before the hole in the board, and you have more extra pieces to make and handle. For some time, we have been using wire cloth folded as in the following cut : WIRE CLOTH CAP FOR SECTION BOX QUEEN CAGE. The lines show where the folds come. When done, it shuts over the section cage, like the lid to a bandbox, and two rubber bands will hold it perfectly secure. You will observe the ragged ends of the wire cloth are all folded in out of the way of catching on clothing or other objects, as wire cloth is so apt to do. We can furnish such wire cloth caps'for lc. each, and the pair of rub- ber bands for lc. more. This makes about4c. for the section-box queen-cage complete. They can be sent by mail, complete and set up, for 6c. The wire cloth band, shown last month, to unite two such cages for holding iib. of bees, will cost 3c. ; or the cage, com- plete, for -Alb. of bees, 9c. ; if sent by mail, 14c. I am thus particular in going into all these details, because the selling of bees by the lb. promises to be a great industry. The new arrangement of the wire cloth caps en- ables us to dispense witli turning the combs down on their sides, while tacking, which operation is pretty sure to shake new honey out of the cells. The remaining point to be considered is, getting into the sections combs that will not break out. We first fastened them with thorns or pegs ; but, of late, have been using tinned wire sewed through, both ways. For comb, we use all the old comb about the apiary, and thus get rid of all odd bits. For very warm weather, it is desirable to have the honey capped. IIOW TO GET THE BEES IN THE CAGES. Have a light hive made to represent exact- ly the hives you use, but have it so that the cage can be put into it in such a way that all bees going in at the entrance must go in- to the cage, the wire cloth being omitted on one end, of course. Well, just lift your hive off its stand, and set this one in place. Set aside the frame containing the queen, then shake bees from other frames, in front of the entrance, until you judge your lb. or half lb., as the case may be, has gone in. Now slip on the wire cloth cap, and place the box on your scales. If not enough bees, put in some more bees in the same way ; if too many, slide the cap back until enough take wing, to have your scales show the proper amount. Of course, you have taken the weight of your cage, before putting your bees in. The "Favorite Family Scale1' is very handy for this purpose. With the troubles we have had, and are continually having reported, in regard to loss of queens, it is no wonder that the plan of buying $ lb. or more of bees with them is rapidly gaining favor. It is almost equivalent to buying a colony, with the queen already introduced. FEEDING AND FEEDERS. H'N spite of all that has been said and the number of feeders that have been of- ~~i fered, it seems we are not through yet. Both Prof. Cook and L. C. Root, in their new books, describe feeders made in, or on, a division board. The idea of feeders in the division board or sides of the hive is very old, having been suggested as long ago as the first volume of Gleanings; and modifi- cations of it have been presented several times since. The objections are, that the openings in the division board, or the sub- stitution of metals for wood, render the hive less impervious to frost; also the use of floats, I consider too much machinery, and that of a kind, too, that is continually get- ting out of order. A feeder, like a hive, should, if possible, have nothing loose about it. It should also never daub or kill bees, and, if possible, should keep itself clean and free from stickiness. As oyster cans are cheap almost every where, several devices for using them have been sent in, during the past few weeks. D. S. Given, of Iloopestown, 111., sends the following : given's oyster can feeder. The can is laid flat on its side, as you see. A part of the top is broken away to show the construction. The end is bent up obliquely, as shown at A, making a sloping 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 297 side for the bees to walk down on. The par- tition, B, is parallel to A, and has a strip of wire cloth or perforated tin soldered at its lower edge. To use it, suppose we pour in syrup until the liquid comes clear up to the upper edge of A. Now cork up the hole, and the bees can only get feed at the open- ing A. As the liquid sinks, they follow down, until all is out, the wirecloth pre- venting them from getting in to the main apartment. MRS. MOLLIE HEATH'S OYSTER CAN FEEDER. This, as you will see, is the invention of a lady. The principle is the same as that of a fountain ink stand. It is quite similar to Hams' and other atmospheric feeders. My objection to both of these is, that so few bees can work at it at once. blood's division board feeder. This is made simply of an inch board, with a strip of rubber at each end and at the bottom, to make it fit closely in the hive. The top bar is tacked on lightly, and a hole bored down through it into the board, reach- ing nearly to the bottom. With a thick large buzz saw, either set coarsely or wabbling to cut i inch wide, it is grooved as shown by the white dotted line in the cut. These cuts are far enough apart, so that i of wood is left between them. The bees have access as shown in the cut, and never drown, because they easily hold on to the rough wood sides. I have not tried this, but it seems to me we should daub the bees when filling it up. With honey or cane sugar, this does not bother very much ; but with grape sugar, it is quite an objection. I think I would pre- fer a feeder, any way, that leaves the bees as clean as they are after getting stores from a clover field. The Hains feeder, shown in A B C, will do this, and, while I think of it, friend Hains paid us a visit a short time ago. His bees wintered finely and were in splen- did condition, and he told us the secret of it was that he gave each hive a feeder full every day, until apple trees were in bloom, and after that, when they would take it, until clover honey came. The feeders he used were of the dimensions of those describ- ed in the A B C, holding just about 4 oz., and all were fed outside, at the entrance. As all had a feed at once there was no chance for quarreling. It is not a very big task to take a pail of "syrup, go around to all the hives, and till each feeder. Itemember there are no hives to open, and after the bees have been fed a few days, they will be on hand as promptly every evening for their feed, as your cow or pig. Well, in our apiary, there are now about 2G0 colonies. With all these bees, we have hot taken off 25 lbs. of honey. Why V Be- cause the demand for queens has been so great; we have had to buy them by the hundreds, after raising all we could possibly raise in our apiary. Besides the queens, as I have said before, we have built up quite an industry by selling young Italians, by the oz., with the queens. Well, now I do not raise honey at all, but raise beautiful bees and queens by feeding grape sugar. I pre- sume you will not any of you complain, will you? It would take a man nearly half a day, to go round and feed 250 colonies, besides the machinery for so many feeders. Why not let these vehement Italians go out in that grove of maple trees a little way from the apiary, and get the feed themselves, as fast as they want it? I will tell you why I prefer grape sugar. Should I attempt to feed honey, or even cane sugar, it would make a perfect uproar ; but the grape sugar they care so little for, they will take it and go home as quietly as if it was so much corn meal, which it is virtually. In fact, I have been having some dreams this afternoon of feeding the Indian meal to them directly, without the trouble of sending to the Daven- port factory for it. Now, this feeding must be as nice and neat as the rest of the apiary, and I wish to have it so thoroughly systema- tized, that our boys and girls can carry it all along in as good order as if the bees were working on clover. This plan is already in practice and the feeders all at work are one of the prettiest sights I ever- saw in my life. If you wish to see some of the prettiest and yellowest Italians, all from imported moth- ers, too, that you ever saw, just come and take a look at them. Once more ; the grape sugar has so little attraction for them that a great part of them roam the fields, and are constantly found on the borage, sunflowers, mignonnette, Simpson's honey plant, etc., etc.; and the loads of yellow pollen that are streaming in all the time indicate that some of them, at least, have decided in favor of the shorter cut, of getting the corn sugar from the Aery corn tassels themselves. I do not intend this grape sugar to be stored in the combs, but only to be used for raising young bees, and keeping comb building going moderately. The feeders used are those given oji page 261 of last month, and are arranged hexagonal!?, like the apiary. The bees are as clean and orderly as the girls who are folding the sheets of this journal in the folding room, this minute. The boards and feeders are clean and neat, and bid fair to keep so indefinitely. It real- ly seems to me as if God was answering my prayers for a way of making bee culture profitable during dry seasons, or during a dearth of honey ; viz., by raising bees and queens. 298 GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTURE. Aug. SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS AIWONG THE ABC CLASS. wonders in producing beau- !~T3j]]HE queen is doing tiful young Its — cells, of which I had a nice lot few days since. R. Corscaden. Providence, R. I., July 12, '79. That is the way they write when every thing succeeds, friend C. ; but, O my, do we not get some doleful letters when the queen happens to get killed in introducing. Lis- ten to the following : Notwithstanding you are so busy, I must bother you some with my complaints. I purchased last winter 3 swarms of black bees. In the spring, I had about one and a half. The one stock gave me a good swarm the first of June, and in about 2 weeks another came out and was lost. The half swarm in- creased rapidly, and for fear of losing another swarm, I divided them, and now my trouble com- mences. I got one of your queens and tried for two days to get her in, but without success, the bees killing her before I had time to turn around, Now what should I do? The bees are without a queen, and weak at that. I did not mind the loss so much as the failure to do what others do. I was busy then, and could not experiment farther. I gave the queenless hive a frame of brood with queen cells, and in two weeks (getting over my hurry somewhat), visited your apiary, and spent about two hours watching your boys handle bees. I concluded that I must have your breed of bees; that is, if I went into the business. So arming myself with one of your smokers and another queen, I felt as though I would "conquer or die." Looking over the frames carefully and cutting out all queen cells, I deposited the cage containing the queen on the frames, cov- ered them up and left them for 24 hours; then 1 opened the slide and let out one of the stranger bees. It was well received; then another, and so on ; all seems lovely. I am on the pinnacle of suc- cess finally. Last, but not least, out comes the beautiful Italian queen. She is no sooner seen than she is pounced upon by the savage blacks. I apply the smoke; when they let go, she dodges down be- tween the combs. As soon as possible, I remove 2 frames and find her at the bottom of the hive, in a ball of bees. I rescue her in the agonies of death. Now, friend Root, I have paid out to your firm for Gleanings, ABC book, and bee fixtures, $7.97 and am not so well off pecuniarily as before. My bees have made no surplus honey, for handling them puts them in an uproar for a day or two. I would like to sell out; I must either sell or get a better race of bees, for I can't stand this much longer. I receive about 100,000 stings every time I go through my four hives. Now, let me ask you what I wanted to on the start. Will this swarm that is queenless die out? Can they rear a queen unless they have got the cell with the embryo in it? Further, what will you take to send one of your boys down and introduce four queens to my four colonies, any time between now and win- ter, so that another year they will be all yellow bees? Are not your artificial queens tender? They certain- ly are not so large as the blacks. Ira Bennett. Medina, O., July 13, '79. I am very sorry for your mishap, friend B., but I am glad you have detailed it so faithfully, as it gives me an idea of the diffi- culties my ABC class have to contend with. Your queenless swarm will certainly die, if you do not give them brood with which to rear a queen. I do not think the queens we niise are smaller or less hardy than your cross blacks, in the general run. As I have been wanting to try my hand at introducing, on some very cross bees, I will go over and introduce them if you will come after me, asking only for the black queens as my pay for doing the work. I will report success next month. $$($111$ §q}(Miii0$. ANTS. Si HAVE had one swarm of bees come off. I have '.I colonies. My bees seem to be raising lots of — i young ones. Now, the advice I want is about the ants; what shall I do to keep them out of my hives? The hives are alive with them. I have tried to kill them with my fingers, but it does no good. As I am a boy, please answer me; and when I am a man, and you are a boy commencing to keep bees, I will help yon. Walter Crosby. Appleton City, Mo., June 18, 1879. I do not think the ants are doing any harm, my young friend ; if the bees are strong, they will drive them away as soon as they inconvenience them. If you do not like to see them around the hives, sprinkle powdered borax on the ground, as recom- mended in the ABC. A "lecture" for the boys. Please lay aside your writing and listen to a much troubled ABC boy. This morning, while walking through the bee-yard, I accidentally noticed two lit- tle dun colored flies traversing the entrance of one of the hives, as unconcerned as the bees themselves. The bees took no notice of them, nor they of the bees. I at once decided that it was the moth-fly so much spoken of in Gleanings. I don't know what to do; for the bees will not fight them, and I am too afraid of the bees to fight them myself. I have tried to get pa to get an Italian queen, but his ex- cuse is, "We have no express office near". I have told him that Mr. Edwin Thew will send them by mail; but he will not order. I am afraid, if he does not send pretty soon, it will be "too late". Our bees have not been doing much for the last month, on account of dry weather. They are gath- ering pollen from corn-tassels pretty briskly now, but are gathering no honey from anything. We (I, by myself) transferred one swarm a few weeks ago; but —they were r< ibbed ! we divided the bees around, but— they were killed! I think we need a lecture on something. Yours &c, D. S. Bethune. Snyder, Ark., July 7, 1879. I guess you are right, my friend, and that the lecture you need is to go slowly and be careful. Never mind the flies, or moth mil- lers; they will do no harm walking in front of the hives. If they enjoy it, let them walk. But when you transfer another colo- ny, you must not let the bees rob. If no honey is coming in, do it in the evening, after the bees have stopped flying, or by moonlight, as I told you in the ABC. Do not let a single bee ever get home with a load of honey he has picked up, and you will never have any robbing. I am afraid you have left honey daubed and scattered around, like boys generally do ; my boy, in particular. I gave him a long lecture about it the other day, and gave him a box for cages, sections of honey, bits of comb, and every thing of the kind. Then I had him 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 299 get a pine board, and tack on each box. On one board was "Unfilled Sections"; on another, "Section ( Jages Heady for Queens"; on another, "Combs Ready For the Apiary1': and so on. In about an hour I went out, and the bees were in the honey house hav- ing a fine time, in several different corners. I "lectured'1 some more, and the next time I came round, everything was all right, except one section of honey, standing on to]> of a shipping case. He said he had not time then to raise the cover up to put it inside, and afterward he forgot it. The trouble is, it seems almost impossible to impress upon the minds of you boys, the importance of not laying down a bit of honey for an in- stant, when bees are disposed to rob. Be as careful as you would not to let a span of colts get the lines out of your fingers, until you are sure you are "boss", every time. LENGTH OF LIFE OF THE DRONE BEE. OUR CARTOON FOR AUGUST. STrfHAVE often wondered why some writer on the j»l[ "blessed bee" subject has not demonstrated the ' ' length of life of the drone, as well as of the queen and worker bee. They put the length of life of the queen at two or three years ; of the worker bee at ninety days in the busy season; and still say, "It is not known how long a drone bee can live." Now, if it has not heretofore been known I claim t<> have made a discovery. I assert that the length of life of the drone bee is not half that of the worker, or that it does not exceed thirty days. You ask for the evidence. Here it is. During the months of March, April, and May last past, the drones were so often turned out of the hives or killed, that I gave particular attention to their production, by placing drone comb in the cen- tre of the brood nest of several strong colonies. In forming some nuclei, the 1st of June, I found in one of these colonies an entire frame, 11x13 inches, of capped drone cells. I measured it and calculated the number of unhatehed drones in said frame to be 5000. This is very near the exact number. The hive had other drone cells besides this, so I took this frame, together with another of hatching worker brood, and formed a nucleus for a young queen. These drones began hatching between the 17th and 20th of June, and such a troop of them as arranged themselves on the frames was almost wonderful. I had an idea that I should have to feed them, and gave them two or three half filled frames of comb and honey. On the 25th of June, every drone had hatched, and the bees began to fill their comb with honey. On June 30th, there were plenty of drones, but the nucleus did not seem particularly over stocked with them. July 5th, I saw drones Hying about the hive plenti- fully. July 12th, could only find six living drones among the frames. They had perished naturally and without any urging. All arc gone— 5000 in twenty-three days, from a single colony. Their can be no mistake about it. There was only two frames to start with, one of workers and one of drones. The queen commenced to lay on the 20th, and gave work for all her bees, and has already filled five frames with brood. None of her brood has hatched yet, and the bees are so scattered through the hive, as to afford good opportunity te count the drones, if they were there. S. W. Salisbury. Kansas City, Mo., July 12, 1870. eUR friend, Mr. Merry Banks, after hav- ing been very busiV engaged during the day with his bees, goes to bed at night with bright visions. As he begins to lose himself in the land of slumbers, visions of large, fine queens that he was unable to find during the day float before his slumber- ing senses, and, as they stalk majestically across the combs, while the workers pay homage by standing out of the way and bowing their heads to them as they pass, he wonders that he ever had so much trouble in finding them. He even sees them as they fiit through the air, and, while he gazes ad- miringly, wonders that any one should re- fuse to be a bee keeper. The scene changes ; he is invited to speak at a convention ; he waxes eloquent with his theme; and, after a burst of applause from the audiejice, he winds up by declaring the day not far distant, when our land shall s< i flow with milk and honey, that even the ur- chins on the street will go about with a huge dish full, inviting all who will to partake: and that all the enterprising apiarist will have to do, will be to carry his nice shipping cases full of honey to market, on a spring wagon, drawn by a dashing pair of spirited nags, bought with the honey sold, while bees of enlarged dimensions dive into the blos- soms of the improved variety of clover that lines the road side, rifling them of their cups full of honey. While ■- Hark! what is that sound? He rubs his eyes, and finds it is broad daylight. Bees there are, it is true; ami by the sound, he knows at once they must be robbing. They are even making their way through the 300 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Aug. shutters of his bed room window. The ur- chin of his dream had, in truth, slipped into the honey house the day before, helped him- self to the honey, dribbled it along the floor, then scattered it about as he divided it among his mates, and, worst of all, left the door ajar. Alas, alas ! thought he, as he nervously pulled on his summer clothing, how true it is, that there is but a step be- tween the sublime and the ridiculous, and how different are the stern realities of every day life from the fine speeches sometimes made. The bees about his bed and hover- ing over his nose were a reality after all, but they were not queens. HOW TO CIRCUMVENT ROBBERS. AND KEEP ON TRANSFERRING AND RAIS- ING QUEENS ALL THE SAME. WIRE CLOTH HOUSE, FOR TRANSFERRING, ETC., DURING A SCARCITY OF HONEY. The house is 6 feet long, 3i feet wide, and Si feet high. The operator is expected to sit on the seat illustrated last month, and a movable shelf is fixed across one end, on which to do his work, a single sheet of painted wire cloth goes right around the building, and overhead. To prevent bees from getting under the edge, a strip of cloth is tacked on, having a hem on the lower edge, in which is drawn a cheap iron chain. This holds every portion down tight to the ground, even though the surface may be uneven. The whole is so light, that it can easily be moved from hive to hive, or tipped up at any side when the jfHE basswood season failed with us, about the 20th of July, and left us with something like 250 queen rearing colo- nies. The bees very soon informed us which colonies would protect their entrance, and which would not ; and by giving combs of unsealed larvae to all that had no laying queens, and combs of hatching bees to all that were short of bees, we soon had every one "holding the fort." Now bees were coming in daily, and bees were going out daily. Queens and ounces of bees were or- dered by every mail, and must go by first express, especially if we hoped to hold our customers, and so, even if robbers did incline to dip into the hive like that fellow who is trying to dip into the urchin's dish of honey in the cartoon, business could not be stopped. I instructed the boys to make a Avire cloth house, to set over a hive when they wanted to open it, and here it is. operator wishes to get out. About 8 yards of wire cloth are needed at an expense of about $3.00. The wood work well painted and the cloth and chain will cost about a dollar more. When you wish to fasten any colony into their hive without smothering them, just set your house over them, and they are out of the way. Pertaining to ISee Culture. [We respectfully solicit the aid of our friends in conducting' this department, and would consider it a favor to have them send us all circulars that have a deceptive appearance. The greatest care will be at all times maintained to prevent injustice being done any one.] fTOOK off my first honey to-day, 55 nice sections. I expect to get 200 more next week. This is the _^ result of taking- Gleanings and Simplicity hives. I was told to-day that one of Mitchell's agents sued a man for using the Simplicity hive without any right. He lost the suit, because he could not prove that he had any patent on the hive. M. Rlseh. Columbus, Ohio, June 30, 1879. I have heard once before, that, when Mitchell could not think of any other excuse for demanding money of country bee keep- ers, he claimed to have a patent on the Sim- plicity hive, but I did not know before that Mitchell or any of his agents had the brazen impudence to commence a suit about it. Extract, from the Oxford (Pa.) Press, July 9, 1879. A PATENT RIGHT SWINDLER GETS HIS DESERTS. A smooth spoken man, having the appearance of a farmer, drove up to the residence of John Witmoy- er, in the upper part of Berks county, several days ago, and wanted Witmoyer to buy a township right for the sale of a patent corn shelter. Witmoyer happened to have been a juror in a case in which a farmer had been swindled by a device similar to this one, so he concluded to draw the man on. He told the agent to prepare the agreement, which be- ing dune, was handed to the farmer for his signature. Witmoyer, however, astonished the agent by saying he would just read it, when it was discovered that the agreement was a promissory note for $300. So John called in his two big sons and together they carried the patent right man to the horse trough in the barnyard; where they baptized him; then they gave him a number of kicks apiece, put the dogs on him, one of which tore off a large patch of his pant- aloons, and so cheered him on his way. The agent has quit business in that part of the country. Would it not be well to serve some of the patent division board men in something the same way ? If anything, the man was let off too easily ; for his crime was, virtually, highway robbery. Some of the friends advertise queens by mail. I hardly know what to advise in the matter. While I feel that the rulings of the P. O. Dept. are needless- ly standing in the way of the best interests of a large class of our agricultural community, I dislike to advise disobeying such very positive and decisive orders as that given in this No. At present I cannot consent to send queens by mail, even though it may be done in sealed packages or enclosed in tin boxes, so as to elude the vigilance of the Dept. A queen sent by express in a box so large that she is laying on the way, I think, is worth more, as a rule, than one that has passed the close confinement of the mail bags. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 201 ©UK OWN APIAKV. INTRODUCING QUEENS. J'ULY 5th, we received a dozen tested queens, and, as we only had orders for a part of them, five were to be intro- duced. One of the boys asked me if I did not want the job of introducing them, they had had so much trouble in that kind of work. I assented, and took the live and let them out in as many hives, in perhaps less than ten minutes, without any caging, spray- ing, smoking, or anything of the kind. None of them were molested at all, and one was laying in the afternoon. How did I do it? I simply let them out just as any of you or any one else could have done, equally as well. The secret was in choosing the hives to which to introduce them. I chose full blood and gentle Italians, that had been queenless for a week or more. In fact they were all rearing queen cells. The frames containing the cells, of course, were taken out, and put all in a hive by themselves, and to make a surer thing of ft, the brood was also removed, and some of the bees were put entirely on dry, empty combs, that they might feel as nearly as possible like those we put in the section box cages which I told you about last month. Of course, its being in the height of the honey season had some- thing to do with the ready reception of the queens. The result was," that I had the use of my 5 queens almost at once, and the bees went right oft" to the fields, gathering honey to fill their empty combs. I would advise more experiments in taking away all the combs, and obliging the colony to cluster on strange combs when they are to have a new queen. There is certainly a very great dif- ference between pure Italians and hybrids, so far as accepting strange queens is con- cerned. One more point ; I did not feel that I was running any risk in letting out those queens, for I expected to keep such close watch of them, that they could not be harmed. We have lately had some imported queens caged nearly a week in trying to in- troduce them, and had one killed even then. The next lot we receive, I shall let out at once, as I did these. If one colony will not accept a queen, I will try another. ECONOMY IN MATURING: QUEEN CELLS. One point I touched on. in regard to queen cells. You can take all the queen cells you have in your apiary and put them in one hive, if you wish. Take all the combs con- taining cells, bees and all, mark the date when the cells will hatch on each top bar. get a hive large enough — two stories or more, and you can take care of them with less trouble than if they are in a great many, different hives. SIMPSON'S HONEY PLANT. In the spring I purchased about 200 plants of friend (Simpson, and planted them on our honey farm, setting them about as far apart as corn. Somewhat to my surprise, they are now, July 8th, commencing to bloom ; and, sure enough, every little pitcher-shaped blossom has a shining drop of nectar in it. This nectar is very fair honey, although it has a sort of weedy flavor, which, I presume, the bees will readily remove. The amount of honey is what astonishes me. One of these little flowers contains, I should say, as much as a hundred basswood blossoms. At present, I know of no other plant that prom- ises so well for cultivation for honey alone. A single plant in the garden, for curiosity, it nothing more, I think, would be well worth the trouble to every bee keeper. INTRODUCING AGAIN. 11th. — Since the successful introduction of the 5 queens, it has been remarked that I could not do the same thing with cross hy- brids. I told the boys to show me the Gross- est stock of hybrids on the grounds. I took an empty hive containing four combs, and desired them to carry the hybrid colony to a newr stand, which was done by simply lifting the Simplicity hive off from the bottom board, and to put my hive with empty combs in its place. The bees were so cross while this was being done, that it was with diffi- culty I could work among them. Of course, they ran in and out of the hive, making a terrible ado, when they found their own, well filled combs and brood all gone, and thus I left them an hour. At the end of that time, the greater part of them were out in the air, and on the outside of the hive. I placed a laving queen on the empty combs, and, as if by magic, the mournful note gave place to a joyous hum. All parties, both in the hive and in the air, gathered about the queen as a new swarm will gather about her on a bush. Was she harmed ? To be sure not; I closed the hive, satisfied, and the next morning found her laying. The secret consisted in making them feel that they were homeless orphans and lost, unless they could get a queen, or the means of rearing one, and in a mood to take up with anything that offered. This is not all ; the other part of the colony that was carried away was given a queen in the same way ; and they, too, accepted her, and she had a comb pretty well filled with eggs next morning So, you see how much time was gained over the old fashioned formula of waiting 48 hours, etc. A very important point is to be here noted; this hive had been queenless about a week, and had, at the time, a lot of sealed queen cells, which, of course, were carried to another hive when the queen was released ; it was also done during basswood bloom. How shall we get hives that have been a week queenless, without great loss of time V Let them rear a lot of cells, and when the cells are nearly ready to take out carry them to some other hive, or put them in the lamp nursery. THE HONEY FARM. V2th— It is really fun, to see the Italians take a row of the Simpson Honey Plant and hover over every bud, to see if there is not a, cupful of honey for them. The little flow- er is visited so often, however, that the hon- ey has no time to collect, and if we wish to see one full, we shall have to protect it with lace, on the plan of our friend Mollie. The prettiest honey plant on the grounds is the Italian or Scarlet Clover ; and, to my aston- ishment, beautiful clover heads of the size, 302 GLEANINGS IN BEE CUlTUKE. Aug. shape, and color of large strawberries, have already made their appearance, although the seed was only sown in May. This is quite an important matter, as ordinary clovers require two seasons. Lucerne is also in bloom, sown at the same time. These queer plants that seem to bridge over the space between the clover family and the pea family, as they stand side by side in their respective beds, almost make one feel solemn. A little further along, are some rows of vetches. These are peas undeniably ; for they have not only tendrils, but pods also. Yet, as if to help you not to decide too hastily, near by stands the Alfalfa which has such a combination of the pea and clover, not only in blossoms but leaves also, that you are forced to think them all country cousins, that have been unconsciously brought from different nations of the earth, perhaps after the lapse of ages. back again side by side. O, Dame Nature ! how little do we know of ways and means by which you have brought things around as they are ! The bees evidently recognize the part they have to play in the drama, for a huge bumble bee was just now making him- self at home on a head of the scarlet clover. WE MUST HAVE THAT HONEY. fHE honey of the fragrant, omnipresent, red clover fields, of course. We must have it. It is immense in quantity. We might almost doubt whether all other sources combined furnish as much nectar as is locked up in plain sight, but quite out of our reach in the red clover. It is excel- lent in quality; no one who ever robbed a bumble bee's nest need have any doubt of that. The long and the short of it is, we must have it. Old Cato used to end all his speeches, no matter what the subject of the speech was, with "Carthage must be destroyed." Let's keep on reiterating, "We must have that honey," until we get it. A few efforts have been made already. Some in- genious chap brought out a cross between the red clover and the white under the name of Alsike clov- er. Farmers were to drop red clover and sow this ; and all lovers of honey were to be happy. No go. Some fields of Alsike may continue to be sown, but it can never displace the old style clover. Visions of an improved bee, with a longer snout to reach that honey, have floated round the heads of some apiarians. You, for one, respected teacher of the class, have given tongue to aspirations of this sort. Comb was to be made gradually bigger and bigger, by enlarging the fdfi., and the bee was to grow big- enough to fill the cells, &c. &c. Alas ! the June No. shows, in your reply to the California man who has this idea on the brain, that you have soured on the scheme ! The writer has no doubt that the honey bee could be enlarged in size —providing, of course, that one went at the work in the right way— but it is to be feared that we should need to more than double the length of our bee's proboscis before we could reach our object in that way. To do this, we might have to double the other dimensions of the bee also. All solids have three dimensions, and increase by cubes. Our clover bee would thus be 1x2x2x2, equal to 8, times as bulky as the common bee— a bumble bee outright. The weight of such bees might be ex- pected to break down the new tender comb while being built. They would be too heavy to hang to- gether in festoons or masses. Thin honey would not stay in cells of such a size. So much food would be required that the bees would eat their own heads off, so to speak In short, the prospect of get- ting that honey by means of an improved bee is not bright. Some increase in the size of the honey bee may, or may not, be profitable; but any great in- crease would almost certainly be a loss. Were it desirable that sheep should feed on acorns and pick them from the trees, we should find it well nigh impossible to breed a sheep large enough to do such tall pasturing. If, by any chance, we succeeded in getting sheep tall enough to reach the acorns we should certainly fail financially, in the business of producing wool, at market rates, from a herd of such mastodons. The only practicable way would be to dwarf the oak, and so bring the acorns down within the reach of ordinary sheep. To get at the gist of the matter, without any further verbiage, we may reasonably hope to get that honey by modi- fying the red clover. Both animals and plants are plastic, and can be varied to almost any reasonable degree. We can doubtless produce a variety of the clover that shall retain the identity of the plant, and all the good farm qualities of the old familiar clover, and yet expose its honey in a short tubed flower. The lucky ABC boy who accomplishes this must be allowed to sell quite small packages of seed, for 25c. each, for a spell. Next, the heavy chaps who raise honey by the ton must club together and establish a clover seed plantation. Next, the farmers within a mile of the apiaries must be furnished with the im- proved seed at bare, absolute cost, and, behold ! the sweet task is accomplished, and we have that honey. Working for this object need not be expensive, or make very great demands upon one's time. Almost any one who can have the use of a little patch of ground, or even space to put a dozen flower-pots, may try for the prize. Those flighty individuals who usually drop things after going a little way with them might as well not begin, for it will be a work of years. I will try and be one to do some practical work in this direction; let us have a hund- red others engaged. As a careful reconnoissance is no mean step to- wards carrying a difficult position, we proceed to examine a clover head. Each tiny flower of the head has a tube about 42 hundreths of an inch in length. The length varies somewhat on different plants; some will be 44 hundredths or longer, some only 38, or even less, the extreme range being from 30 to 50. We must select plants with short tubes, plant their seeds, select again from the new crop, and so on, working shorter and shorter as fast as we can. Some of us must perform the delicate opera- tion of filling a lot of these tubes with bright colored syrup, and letting the bees take out all they can of it. Then, by careful measurement, we can tell how many hundredths of an inch a bee can draw honey ; and thus we shall know how far off we are from our wished for clover. Each full sized clover head has from 90 to 200 separate flowers or tubes. It will probably be to our interest to encourage heads with few flowers, rather than those with many. It is likely that the tubes grow longer than they other- wise would by mutual crowding, just as sapliugs in the forest do; and, to make them shorter, we must make them thinner. Some heads are flatfish, some round, and some elongated. Elongation favors the thinning out process, and should be encouraged, probably, and very long heads with 160 flowers are better than flat ones with 100. A very decided differ- 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 303 ence in the diameter of the tubes will be found; and we may imagine that the large tubes will favor our pursuit the most. The white clover tube, with its calyx, is mounted on a little stalk. In the red clover, the calyx sits directly on the stem of the plant, without any footstalk. If we could tease it into developing- a footstalk it would be all in our line. Different plants differ greatly as to the amount of honey in their tubes. Of course, wo must reject the empty ones. It is possible that we shall find it easier to produce a plant that will till its tubes full of honey, than to produce one with tubes so short that a bee can reach the bottom. Last of all, we must not forget to improve a little the general qual- ities of the plant, in order that it may be recommend- ed as better than the old style of clover which we wish it to displace. Undue slenderness and disposi- tion to lodge down should be especially guarded against, as well as feebleness and dwarfishness of growth. Apparently, the curious arrangement of stamens and pistils in the clover is to facilitate cross-fertili- zation, and thus give more vigor to the plant than could be had by fertilizing every germ from its own stamens. The pollen is so locked up that it is said no seed can be produced at all, unless insects poke into the tube. The abundant flow of choice honey is to induce the insects to come. The closely massed head, with floral bayonets pointing every way, is to keep insects from getting at the base of the tube, where they could bite through and defeat the whole scheme. We would do well to make a note of these things, and avoid, as much as we can, running a- thwart nature's purposes. We need not, however, entirely despair, should our pursuit lead us unavoid- ably across the track of some definite natural plan; longer patience and harder work will be called for, that is all. There seems to be a definite purpose in the construction of the clover head, to circumvent the honey-bee and encourage the visits of the bum- ble-bee. The utility of this plan, it is a little difficult to see. Probably the hive bee, in his thrifty neat- ness, brushes up the pollen so clean and packs it away so carefully that few grains are actually trans- ported in such a way as to cause cross fertilization; while the bumble-bee, great, greedy, lumbering fel- low, kicks the pollen around carelessly, besprinkles his trousers with it, and dusts it off wherever he goes. In my observations, I have seen, at quite close range, the great carpenter-bee at work on clover. He does'nt put his proboscis into the tubes at all, but just punches down between the tubes. Unless, per- chance, he was searching for the little insects which abound in clover heads, it is plain that he gets the sweet by perforating the tubes— boring for honey, in fact. I suppose our domestic bees arc not strong- enough to carry on this trick to advantage, even if they could learn it. Plants differ greatly in their variability. Snme, like the wheat plant, seem to reproduce themselves almost precisely. Others, like the apple and potato, are so variable that almost every seedling is a dis- tinct variety, easily distinguishable from all others of its kind. We shall not, I imagine, find the clover in this latter, exceedingly accommodating class. On the other hand, wc may hope to find it more yielding than wheat and rye and asparagus and caraway, and a large assortment of plants of little variability. Even these stubborn plants give rise, in the course of time, to a wide range of varieties. Plants which are quite fixed in their character can often be made to take on a habit of variation. The wild strawber- ry and raspberry seem to have but very little varia- bility; but those which man has manipulated thirty or forty years, with the intent to get improved va- rieties, are quite variable. However slow to change clover may seem at first, we may hope to set it to sporting in the course of time, by subjecting it to special treatment and unusual conditions. Some- thing can, at times, be done in the way of getting on nature's blind side : for example, corn is a plant of only moderate variability; nevertheless a great many varieties were produced in the ordinary course of reproduction and selection. By and by, it was discovered that the little kernels that some- times grow on the brush of the corn would produce new varieties almost as freely as apple seeds. We must keep a sharp look out, and take advantage of any such short cut as we may discover. It is not impossible that some of our clovers may* develop an axillary flower or two, which will give us a lift by furnishing more variable seeds. We should also hold ourselves ready to pounce upon anything un- usual and queer in the clover line, even if not to our immediate purpose. If a habit of sporting and variation can be set up, the variations we desire will be pretty sure to come sooner or later. Bodley, O. E. E. Hasty. ITALIANS AND BLACKS. FIND under the above heading, in the July No., page 256, a statement made by A. J. Fisher, that we have some as good reports in honey from black bees as from Italians; and he cited as proof that Mr. Quinby's best yield of extracted honey (361 lbs.) was from a black colony. Had he forgotten that, at about the same time, P. H. Elwood reported from a colony of Italians a yield of 585 lbs. in one season? We also, in 1877, obtained from an Italian colony 566 lbs. of extracted honey. Again, he says, they may do for extracted honey, but, for box hon- ey, the Italians are "far inferior to the blacks." In 1877, we obtained from our apiary the average yield of 158 lbs. of box honey, and 309 lbs. from one colo- ny. Can Mi-. Fisher quote any such yield from blacks? Again; we find both by Mr. Fisher and the editor that black bees make a better quality and finer ap- pearing honey. In this, we think them both mista- ken. Whose honey is it that stands the highest in N. Y. markets? Is it not Isham's, Clark's, Elwood's, etc., who all keep only Italian bees? We also find that it was honey made by black bees that took the Thurber gold medal. To this, I reply that the whole cargo of honey that was shipped by us was made by Italian and hybrid bees. The little cherry crate which drew the gold medal and has had a viewing by the public for nearly two years, draw- ing prizes in New York, on board the ship to the old world, and at numerous cities in the old country, and is now on exhibition at the great honey show in London, was made by Italian bees. I do not praise the Italians in view of selling queens and colonies, for my only business is the production of honey for market. I praise them for their real merit— their industry and perseverance in accumulating stores, especially in a time when but little honey is to be obtained. In conclusion, I would say, I would as quickly think of going back to box hives and the brimstone pit, as to black bees. G. M. Doolittle. Borodino, N. Y., July 11, '7!t. Not better quality of honey, friend I)., but the whitest comb honey ; is not that what I say on page i56? even this whiteness is only in appearance, because the cells are not filled full. 804 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Aug. BEE BOTANY AND ENTOMOLOGY. THE BUMBLE BEE AND LAPHRIA THORACICA. ^njg»jROF. COOK:— I mail you to-day two insects J8|f* found preying on bees. The larger was sent *=*J me by a friend, who states that he finds them inside his hives. I pronounced it a bumble bee; but, as others do not agree, I send it to you. The smaller one I just caught with a bee in his clutches. I think they may both belong to the family AsilidcB, but am not certain. F. L. Wright. Plainfleld, Mich., June 23, 1879. The larger insect is a bumble-bee, which, having been caught in the hive, was stripped of its hair by the bees, and left not half but fully dead. The bee hive is no uncommon trap for unthinking bumble- bees. The latter enters the hive while the apiarist is working with the bees, and soon finds that he has run into the jaws of death. The other insect is the Laphria thoracica of Fahri- cius, which is mentioned on page 300 of the 4th edi- tion of my "Manual." It is nearly one inch long, and so mimics the bumble-bee that few would dis- tinguish them apart. But examination, even by the novice in entomological science, will soon note the mistake, as two wings instead of four, with other marked differences, are revealed. The L. thoracica is usually black, except the back of the thorax. The specimen sent has a yellow band embracing three segments at the base of the abdomen. This is a variety, and has been mentioned by Osten Sacken, our greatest authority on Dipter- ous insects. As stated in the "Manual," this species is common north. This is the first time, however, that we learn of its destroying bees in the northern states. I have long known it as a very rapacious insect. A. J. Cook. Lansing, Mich., June 24, 1879. Please tell me the names of 2 plants, which I send you by this mail. No. 1 is a vine and runs on fences and to the tops of small trees. No. 2 grows about two feet high in swamps and on the margin of shad- ed streams. Bees are working on both now. I have now nearly a complete list of Louisiana honey plants. J. D. Bedell. Franklin, St. Mary Parish, La., May 11, 1879. Plant, No. 1, was so much injured in tran- sit to us, that it could not be identified. No. 2 belongs to the order, Myricaccre, and the species Myrica c&rifera. The common name is candleberry myrtle, or bayberry. THE APATHUS. I send you a large bee. Examine it and forward to Prof. Cook. This villain entered a hive and killed quite a number of bees, and was finally killed by them. How it did it, I can't say. They are vei-y de- structive to the bees. Give his photo in Gleanings, if you please. J. F. Michael. German, O., June 19, 1879. MR. ROOT:— I send an insect resembling a bee. It is black, has a sting, can bite also. What is it? Raceland, La. Chas. S. Larkin. Reply by Prof. Cook to both the above. The insect from Larkin, Louisiana, is a species of Apathus (see "Manual of the Apiary," p. 37). The body is black, the abdomen short, much like the same in the toisor-bee, mentioned on p. 3(5 of "Man- ual." The posterior legs have no pollen baskets. The general appearance is that of a bumble-bee, but the structure of the mouth parts is quite different. I have never before heard of one of these in a hive, so it is an interesting case. Whether it sought to pilfer a little honey, a la the bumble bees, or was stealing in to lay its eggs, and have its young cared for by others' labor, I can nut say. Let our Louis- iana apiarists watch to see if other than bee-larva' are reared in the hives. Strange to say, the bee from J. F. Michael, which is very like a common bumble-bee in form, is a re- lation of the one mentioned above, as shown by its triangular jaws, which have two teeth, and its con- vex posterior tibia. Very likely, they are attacked by the bees, and wishing to die game, kill several bees before they are dispatched. I do not believe they will do much harm; they will meet too warm a reception. But, should they become troublesome, we can easily preclude them from entering the hives by narrowing the entrance. A. J. Cook. THE MILK WEED BEE-TRAP. I send you to-day a package containing a honey bee, moth, and fly, that have been on a milkweed and become disabled by something that adheres to the foot. J. F. Liston. Marengo, 111., July 4, 1879. The insects sent by Mr. Liston were two bees, one noctuid moth, and one blue bottle fly, each of which had a pair of Asclepius pollen dust saddle bags on its feet. All of these insects are lovers of sweet, and so visit flowers. The pollen masses of the milkweed adhere to insect visitors, and are so carried from the parent flower, to fructify other flowers. For figures of these pollen masses see A B C, p. 129; or "Manual of the Apiary," p. 233. I do not think that the mor- tality to bees, caused by these little burdens, is so great as to make the plants undesirable near our apiaries, especially, as the flowers furnish much beautiful honey. We have many of these plants near our apiary, and I would willingly have more. Mr. Editor, you may well append your excellent figure, A B C, p. 129, so that all may see this strange arrangement of Nature's to effect cross fertilization. A. J. Cook. Lansing, Mich., July 8, 1879. POLLEN OF THE MILKWEED, ATTACHED TO A BEE'S FOOT. OUR CARTOONS, QUEENS STRAYING AWAY FROM HOITIE, ETC. M'AVING just concluded quite a round of trans- ferring, I am of the opinion that you will not be able to advertise many bees for sale at a dollar per quart, from this part of Mich., as I find but about one third of the swarms strong enough to divide, while quite a large part have only about a quart of bees in a hive. I have 17 left, out of 22; two were sold, giving a loss of thi-ee during the winter, which I think is pretty good, considering my igno- rance. By the way. the May No. of Gleanings has come to hand, and I had a hearty laugh at the cartoon. I thought I recognized his model, but was not cer- tain; so I examined the back Nos. of Gleanings, and, sure enough, in No. 11, Vol. (5. page 373, there he stands, hat in hand, in all his glory, with every thing needful, if his heart is right, to make a man happy. Then when I looked back into the May No., didn't I laugh though ? I thought, surely circum- stances alter cases; yes, and faces too. But never mind, Novice, we will all turn in and help you up, so that you need not go west. Kansas is too far, and not a good place for bees. Well now, my queens are as much demoralized as Novice's, or any other man's. I don't know where they are half the time. About three weeks ago, my Italian was missing, and I felt as if 1 would have to start for Kansas, or— another queen, and now the young Italian bees are hatching out of a hive that stood just twelve feet from the one she was in, and I have two nice young queens hatched from the cells which I found in her hive. I have three other queens that have left and entered some other hive, while their bees remained and built cells. I lost, in that way, one of the Italian queens I bought of you. But I sat down to write for a cold blast smoker, and see what a lot of nonsense I have written; but send along the smoker and I will try and do better next time, though I would like to know what the mischief has got into the queens, to act so unlady like. Wm. L. King. Benton Harbor, Mich., May 30, 1879. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 30o WAX. Whether bees make honey or simply collect it, may be a subject of discus- sion, but ayc believe there is no question in regard to wax, for bees do assuredly make it. If you have your doubts, however, just watch them closely during the height of the honey harvest, or what is perhaps better, teed a colony heavily on sugar syrup for about 3 days during warm weather. At the end of the second or third day, by looking closely, you will see little pearly disks of wax, somewhat resembling fish scales, protruding from between the rings on the under side of the body of the bee. and, if you examine with a microscope, you will find these little wax cakes of rare beauty. Sometimes, es- pecially when the bees are being fed heavily' these wax scales will fall down on the bot- tom board and may be scraped up in consid- erable quantities, seeming for some reason to have been unwanted. During the sea- sons of the natural secretion of the wax, if the colony has a hive affording plenty of room for surplus, we believe these wax scales are seldom wasted. At the swarming time, there seems to be an unusual number of bees provided with these wax scales ; for, if they have remained clustered on a limb for only a few minutes, bits of wax are found attached, as if they were going to start comb. When they are domiciled in their new hive, comes the time, if the hive pleases them, for them to show their astonishing skill and dexterity in fabricating the honey comb. In the attempts that have been made to supply material for artificial comb, we have had a view of the wondrous skill with which nature supplies just what is needed for the safety and well being of her creatures. Many substances seem, at first view, to have all the requirements needed, but when we discover that the material must be sufficient- ly soft to lie readily molded at the ordinary temperature of the hive, and yet be in no danger of melting down during the intense heat of midsummer, we see that perhaps no other material than just the wax they secrete can come any where near answering the purpose. Wax melts at about 145 in its natural yellow state, but becomes so soft that it may be molded by pressure at a tem- perature of about 100 or less. When this yellow wax is exposed to the sun and mois- ture in the shape of thin ribbons, it gradual- ly looses its yellow color, and becomes white. Its melting point is also raised by this change about 1^ . yet it is still readily worked into comb if given to the bees during hot wea- ther, and when raised up into cells, it has a most beautiful appearance of snowy white- ness. This, however, is soon soiled and col- ored, if left in the hive, for neat as bees are said to be, they have a habit of running over the clean white combs with muddy or at least dirty feet. With old and dark combs this might lie unnoticed, but in a hive fur- nished with combs made from bleached foundations, it becomes very apparent. Like other folks, the bees seem more care- ful of their best rooms, for the surplus hon- ey boxes are kept much cleaner than the or- dinary working room, or brood apartment, though this may not be intentional after all, for it is principally the young bees that have never been out in the fields, that work at comb-building and in the boxes. On this account, clean, yellow wax, when used for foundations, will give very nearly as fine box honey when filled and capped over, as does the bleached. As the latter is consid- erably harder than the yellow, it is not worked into comb as rapidly. When the bees are needing room they will fre- quently raise a whole sheet of yellow fdn. into very fair comb in a single night, while it would require nearly double the time per- haps to do the same with the bleached. Until somebody shall discover a use for propolis, we shall have to consider the prod- ucts of the apiary but two in number, wax and honey. It is true, bees and queens are now quite marketable commodities, but as they are bought only for the wax and honey they may produce, they can hardly be con- sidered as legitimate apiarian products. The manner of getting the honey into a marketable shape has been very fully dis- cussed, and great improvement has been made, in this particular, within the past few years; but the operation of rendering the combs into clean, nice wax, so as to be at- tractive to the eye of purchasers, lias been very little improved since the time when our grandmothers used to boil them in a large kettle, and squeeze the wax from the melted mass through a cloth or bag, much in the way lard is expressed. Our engra- ving given shows the only implement of- fered for sale at present. It is called the Swiss wax extractor; and. if 1 am correct, was introduced into our country about the year 1869, by Mr. A. Gray, of Reily, O. The following report in regard to it, furnished by Adam'Grimm, of Jefferson, Wis., I ex- tract from the American Bee Journal, of April, 1871. WAX EXTRACTOR. It is only a few years since wo got the melex- 306 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Aug. tractor, and we have by its aid succeeded in doub- ling and even trebling our yield of honey. And now, again, our brethren across the ocean have sent us an apparatus that is of great value to the bee-keeper. It is what I venture to name the wax extractor, an apparatus devised by Prof. Gerster, of Berne, in Switzerland, for the purpose of extract- ing wax from the combs. While all bee-keepers agree, that all nice, not too old, comb should be saved, it will also be conceded that in an apiary of some size and age, an amount of comb will continu- ally accumulate that is only good for rendering into wax. A bee-keeper whose main object in keeping bees is profit will therefore need an apparatus for rendering this wax, whenever he gets a supply of combs no longer serviceable in the hives ; and it becomes of great importance that the wax should be extracted before the moths get hold of it, store it with eggs, and a horde of troublesome and de- structive millers are bred for future annoyance. An apparatus should be had, too, by which all the wax that can possibly be got out of very old combs can be secured ; of a quality that will command the highest market price. Such an apparatus we get in the one exhibited at the Indianapolis Convention by my friend, A. Gray, and which was handed over to me to be tested. My wife, who usually has to do a large share of the work connected with the straining of wax, and has often complained, in former days, of having her kitchen floor, stove, kettles, and pans bedaubed with wax, is delighted with this new invention. She can now with ease strain all the wax, without the aid of any other person, and without being hindered thereby in her other work. In cold weather, she says, she will not need an extra stick of wood ; but the greatest point of superiority is the utter impos- sibility of the contents of the vessel boiling over, a feature alone important enough to assure the adoption of this mode of rendering wax. How oft- en in former days, from momentary inattention, did we find the boiling liquid Mowing over the stove and down to the floor, a misadventure to which we are not here exposed. The wax extracted by this apparatus is of the brightest yellow color I have ever seen, even when it is extracted from very old dark combs. It is free from all resinous matter, and will doubtless bring the highest price in the market. I am satisfied, too, that the refuse is as clear of wax as we ever get it by any other process, if tried till it stops running. There is but one drawback connected with it. The women say they do not get through with the ex- tracting as speedily as when we used the cider- press, by means of which three men could render 100 lbs. per day. When very old combs are to be rendered, not over 20 lbs. can be extracted in one day. But as the time when bees were brimstoned and all their combs rendered into wax is now near- ly over, and the chances for getting large quantities of wax are thus gone or going by, I cheerfully rec- ommend the wax extractor exhibited at the. India- napolis Convention by Mr. Gray, as the next best thing to the melextractor. A. Grimm. Jefferson, Wis. Friend Grimm has given pretty faithful- ly, in his article, the good and bad points of the machine. The basket, B, is made of perforated tin, and it is into this that the pieces of comb, cappings, etc., are to be put, and allowed to drain into a pan or some convenient vessel. It is true, yon can put them into the ex- tractor, honey and all, and the spout, D, will deliver both wax and honey into the THE GERSTER WAX EXTRACTOR. pan or other vessel set to catch it, and when the wax is cold, it may be lifted from the honey below, in a solid cake ; but the honey is then dark, and only fit for vinegar, or for feeding bees. Whereas, if drained before being subjected to heat, we get the very best and nicest liquid honey, especially, if it is cappings that are to be rendered ; be- cause the honey that adheres to the cap- pings, is always that which has been sealed up. When the basket, B, is filled with drained cappings, or bits of comb, the cover of A is to be removed, and the basket placed inside, resting on the fixed, shallow pan, shown where the side is cut away. This pan has three pieces fixed near its in- side rim (only two of which are visible), to support the basket a little distance from the bottom, and the spout, D, is put into this shallow dish, so as to take all the wax as it falls from the perforated basket above. Now to set the machine working, we have only to supply steam around the basket. We do this, by setting it over a pan or ket- tle of boiling water, or what is better, a cop- per bottomed steam generator, often sold with the apparatus. The latter utensil will do very well to catch the drippings of the honey, if a cork is fitted tightly in the tube, D. I would advise you to keep the cover on and this tube corked at all times, if you do not wish robber bees to learn that the machine is almost always a nice place for their depredations. If you do this, you can keep it in the apiary, and throw every bit of comb into it, as soon as found. If you will go back to Grimm's descrip- tion, you will see that he calls the machine slow, and says that his wife could not well get out more than 20 lbs. a day. I think I should put it at 50 lbs. or even more, but it is not as rapid as the cider press he speaks 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 307 of. Mr. W. W. Gary, of Colerain, Mass., sends us the following description of a plan similar to the cider press, which, I think, might prove of much value, if a large quan- tity of wax is to be got out, as is often the case where many stocks are to be transfer- red. Mr. A. I. Boot:— Below you will find a description of Cary's wax press. I call it Cary's, because I have never seen or heard of any thing like it. The idea suggested itself to me, from the way in which I press my cider, in burlap and racks, just as in the wax press. CARY'S WAX PRESS. Make a boiler of good heavy tin, 18 in. square, by 13 in. high, inside measure. Solder stout handles on two of the sides, and put a spout on one of the other sides, about 4 inches from the top. The spout con- sists of a tunnel, 3 in. in diameter at the top and 1 ir . at the small end, and about 3 in. long, flattened at the large end so as to make it oval shaped. This is for running off the wax, and the mouth of it should be 3 or 4 in. wide by 1 high on the inside of the boil- er. Now cut out a hole on one side of the boiler and solder on the spout, which will need a brace to hold it steady. Perhaps one of your molasses gates for extractors would be a good thing soldered to this spout; we use a cork however. Now make 6 racks of pine strips, V% inch wide, by % thick. The slats should be planed on all sides. Cut them YllA in. long, and take 2 strips % thick by 1 in. wide and Vt% in. long, and nail the other strips on crosswise, leaving % in. plump between them. Next, make a box 15%xl5%, without top or bottom, and make it of 'A inch boards, 3 inches wide. This is what cider-makers call a form or hoop, and is used for laying up the cheese. Now get burlap, such as the factories use for baling their cloth. Cut it into pieces, 28 or 30 in. square. Five of these is enough, as 5 layers will fill the boiler. Now take the old comb and pound it up fine, lay down a rack, put on the form, spread on a burlap, and fill up with the comb; then double in the sides, raise all from the form, and place in the boiler. Fill 5 racks in this way, and put the 6th on top, and a board for a follower on top of this, with a block 6 or 8 in. square which should be fastened to the follower. Perhaps all this will make the boiler more than full, but it will soon settle down when it comes to a boil. A better way is to put the boiler on the stove with 2 pails of water in it, before you commence. This saves time in heating, and the layers can be lowered in with hooks made of wire. As soon as it has boiled 15 or 20 minutes, it is ready to press, which I do with a small jack screw. You need a small frame, of course, to press in; this can be made with a screw in the upper beam, if desired, but the jack screw does just as well. Now when your wax has boiled enough, take the boiler from the stove, place it under the press, and turn down your screw, and you will soon find the wax on top of the water. Proceed to draw it otf by the spout. You will need a pailful or two of hot water to fill up with as the wax runs off. The wax should be all removed before the screw is loosened up, as it will stick to the racks and burlap. Skim the wax off with a paddle made of thin board or tin. If the screw is loosened once or twice, and the water al- lowed to soften up the pumice, it will get it out cleaner. You need not be more than 15 or 20 minutes in pressing out a cheese, after it is boiled. A pi-ess of the size I have described will get out from 10 to 20 lbs. to a pressing, of as nice wax as you ever saw. If you have a good stove to heat on, you need not bo more than an hour, or VA hours to a pressing, which gives a capacity of from 75 to 150 lbs. per day, more than 10 times the capacity of the steamer process; and again, it gets the wax out much cleaner. If you do not believe this, run some through the steamer, and then put it through a press of this kind. We had the bottom of a bee hive full of pumice which had been through the steamer, and all the wax had been got out that we could get out by that process; then we put it through the press and got out 10 lbs. more. I tried the steamer for 3 or 4 weeks, and be- came disgusted with it; it worked so slow. I got out more wax the first day after I made the press than I could in 10 days with the steamer. Now if you want to make a press after this pat- tern, you are at perfect liberty to do so, as for as I am concerned. The boiler and racks will not cost over $3.00. Wm. W. Cart. Colerain, Mass., 1878. We are much obliged to friend Cary, and I have no doubt that his press will bring out much more wax than the wax extractor does. The plan we have adopted is some- thing similar, but we do not use a press. OUR OWN WAY OF RENDERING WAX. Get an ordinary wash boiler that sinks in- to the fire place of the stove. Put some strips of wood across, to keep the bags of wax from resting on the bottom and burn- ing. These strips are to be of such length that their ends rest on the ledge of the bot- tom part of the boiler. A frame similar to that mentioned by Mr. Cary would be very convenient ; we have been using one made of wire cloth, but it is hardly stiff enough. Now, have some bags made of coarse strain- er cloth, such as is known in the dairy re- gions as cheese cloth. These should be about the size of grain bags, but not as long. Squeeze your wax into balls in the hands, getting it into as small a compass as may be, and put it in the bags. Have bags enough to contain all the wax. These bags cost very little, as the cloth is only Sc. per yard. When you have as many packed into your boiler as you can get in, while the water is boiling, put on a board, with a- heavy piece of iron on it. When the wax is all pressed out of the bags, the iron should be beneath the surface of the liquid ; if it is not. add more water, or make the weight sink deep- er. The wax, of course, is found swimming on the surface, and may be dipped off, or, if much is to be worked in this way, it will pay to have a spout or gate, as suggested by friend Cary. It is so difficult to clean the bags from the gum and propolis always 308 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Aug. found with old black combs, that I think I should throw them away, and use new ones each time. The more compactly the wax is put into the bags, the less number of bags will be needed. "Where one has cappings from the extract- or, they should not be put witli old dark combs, but worked by themselves, for they are almost pure wax. I have seen cappings from new white combs produce wax so near- ly white that it would readily sell for bleached wax. The wax of commerce, when it is bought in quantities, is composed of cakes of all sizes, and of all colors from nearly white to nearly black, the intermediate shades comprising almost all the colors of the rainbow. Where it contains much refuse, it can be improved by putting it through either of the presses described above, and, in fact, almost any wax can be made cleaner and brighter by being put through the extractor two or three times. It has been our practice, in using it for fdn., to select the cleanest and nicest cakes for the thin fdn., to be used in the honey boxes, and the darker for the brood fdn., for the latter, I think, is less liable to sag and stretch than the very light yellow. Wax, as it comes from the hives, varies greatly in hardness. Some specimens are so soft that it seems as if they could not stand the weight of the bees at all, when made into sheets of fdn., while others are so hard that it is difficult to roll them at ordinary temper- atures. If I am correct, the soft wax can often be worked into comb better than the hard. This is because it does not continue to soften, in the same proportion, as the temperature is raised. As an illustration, take paraffine. It is too hard to be worked ordinarily, but if warmed to the right de- gree, it makes beautiful looking fdn. If given to the bees during moderate spring weather, it is worked out into beautiful comb, and filled with honey ; but when the extreme heat of midsummer comes, these beautiful looking combs, with their precious load of sweets, will soften and fall down in- to a heap. This fact I learned by exper- ience that cost me a hundred dollars or more. The admixture of the least particle of paraffine is sure to give the wax a tenden- cy to stretch and sag, and, on this account, I would not advise it; for it is a serious matter to send out fdn. that may endanger the life of a colony, by breaking down when heavily filled with honey. I have been told that, with wires stretched at frequent inter- vals, say every inch through the frame, it can be used without danger ; and, as the bees work it out into combs faster than I ever saw them work natural wax, it may be practicable to use it in that way, after all, when mixed with a sufficient quantity of wax to make a sure thing of the side walls. After a comb has been once used for brood, the cocoons left give it sufficient strength and firmness to be ever afterward safe. CLEANING WAX FROM UTENSILS. Perhaps the readiest means is to immerse them in boiling water until all the wax. is thoroughly melted off, then drain, while kept hot, until the wax which adheres to them when being lifted from the water is thoroughly melted, and can be wiped off with soft newspaper. Where the article cannot be easily immersed, benzine or a so- lution of sal soda will readily dissolve the wax, so it may be cleaned off with a cloth. Benzine dissolves wax almost as readily as water dissolves sugar. Caution in handling wax. I have spoken about order, care, and cleanliness, in hand- ling honey, candy, etc.; now, my friends, it is a much more serious thing to daub melted wax about the house, on the carpets and on your clothes, than it is to daub either honey or candy. You can very easily spoil a dol- lar's worth of clothing while fussing with 10c. worth of wax, as I know by experience. When you commence, bear this in mind, and resolve that you are going to have things clean and neat at every step, no mat- ter what the cost. Newspapers are very cheap, and it takes but a minute to spread them all around the room where your wax may be dropped. Have every thing, at every stage, in such order that you would not be ashamed of your work, should vis- itors call unexpectedly. The greatest trials I have ever had with boys and girls, in try- ing to teach them neatness and order, has been with those in the wax room ; they will drop little bits of wax, and step on them. My friend, if you cannot learn to avoid step- ping on bees, or dropping and stepping on wax and honey, while you are at work, you would better stop right here, and give up try- ing to be a bee-keeper. I do not know but you might also give up all thoughts of ever trying to be happy anywhere. You certainly cannot be wanted in this world, and I am not sure you will be wanted in heaven, if you go about carelessly treading on things, and sticking and daubing honey and bees- wax every where you go. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 309 The article below from the American Bee Journal of Oct., 1867, covers so many impor- tant facts in regard to wax, that I copy it entire : WAX. This is an organic product of bcth animal and vegetable origin, and occurring even as a mineral, though in this case also, its original source is un- doubtedly vegetable. The common properties of the substances included under this name are fusi- bility at a moderate heat; burning with much flame; insolubility in water, and solubility in alkaline solu- tions, alcohol, and ether; and in most cases a pecul- iar lustre, to which the name of "waxy" has been given. The most important of these substances is beeswax, which was for a long time supposed to be simply collected by the bees from flowers, but has proved by the experiments of Huber and the Hunt- ers, to be secreted by them, it is obtained in the cakes in which it appears in commerce, by boiling the comb from which the honey has been drained or pressed out in water, with frequent stirring, that the wax may not burn. When completely melted, the wax is strained by pressing through hair bags, and received in a vessel of cold water, which serves to cool it and prevent it from sticking. This is re- peated two or three times, the bags increasing in fineness, and the wax is finally melted without wa- ter, and poured into moulds wider at the top than at the bottom, and wetted to prevent sticking. After being filled the moulds are kept in a warm room till the wax has solidified, as otherwise the cakes are apt to crack in the middle. This process is however tedious and somewhat wasteful, and various attempts have been made to find a more ex- peditious one, of which Mr. Bagster's appears the most simple. The combs are placed in a conical earthen vessel filled with a mixture of one ounce of nitric acid to a quart of water. This is set over an open Are till the wax is completely melted, when it is removed from the Are and allowed to cool gradu- ally. The product becomes divided into three lay- ers, the upper one pure wax, the lowest chiefly im- purities, and the middle containing sufficient wax to be worth adding to the next melting. A market- able wax is thus obtained at a single operation, without straining or pressing. Beeswax obtained by either of these processes is yellow; has an agree- able, somewhat aromatic odor, and a slight but pe- culiar taste; is rather soft and unctious, though firm; has a granular fracture, but when cut shows the characteristic waxy lustre; does not adhere to the fingers, or to the teeth when chewed; is render- ed soft and tenacious by a moderate heat; melts at about 142D F; and has a specific gravity of 0,960 to 0,965. Wax is often adulterated with earth, meal, rosin, etc. The first two render it brittle and grayish, and may be detected and separated by melting the wax, when the impurities may be strained out. Ilosin makes the fracture smooth and shining instead of granular, and may be dissolved in cold alcohol, while the wax remains untouched. Tallow or suet renders the wax softer, and gives it an unpleasant odor when melted. Wax is bleached by causing it, when melted, to pass through a perforated trough upon the surface of revolving wooden cylinders half immersed in wa- ter, ;by which it is formed into films, which are then placed on webs of canvas raised from the ground, and exposed to the action of the weather until perfectly white. It is, however, generally nec- essary to repeat the process so as to expose fresh surfaces before the wax can be completely bleach- ed; and care must be taken to finally remove the wax from the webs of canvas only in dry weather, as if it is done in damp weather, it retains a grayish tint, which much impairs its value. The films are finally melted and cast into thin circular cakes, known commercially as "virgin wax." When bleached by means of chlorine or its compounds, the color is destroyed, but the wax is rendered unfit for many purposes, and especially for candles. Another method of bleaching is to add one pound of melted wax, two ounces pulverized nitrate of soda, and stir in by degrees a mixture of one ounce sul- phuric acid and nine ounces of water. When all the acid is added, it is allowed to partially cool, and the vessel is then filled up with boiling water, to remove the sulphate of soda and acid; it is then quite white, translucent in thin slices, shining, harder and less unctious than the yellow, without taste or smell; becomes soft enough to be kneaded at 85° to 95° F., and fuses at 150° to 155° F., though it will remain liquid at a somewhat lower temperature; by great heat it is partially volatilized and partly decompos- ed, the vapor burning with a clear bright flame; it is insoluble in water, but slightly soluble in boiling alcohol and ether, which deposit most of it on cool- ing; easily so in the essential and fixed oils; and can readily be combined with rosin by fusion. It is very frequently adulterated with spermaceti, which destroyes its peculiar lustre and renders it softer and more fusible; it is also adulterated with stea- rine, which may be detected by the odor of fat or tallow evolved when the wax is highly heated, and by the crumbly texture which it imparts. White wax is composed of two principal sub- stances: myricine, which is grayish white without crystaline texture, fusible at 127° F., and almost in- soluble in boiling alcohol; and cerine or cerotic acid, which crystalizes when pure, in delicate needle-like crystals, fuses at 172° F., is much more soluble, con- stitutes about twenty-two per cent of the entire weight of the wax, and has for its formula C 54, H 54, O 4. Wax also contains four or five per cent of a substance called ceroleine, which is soft, very solu- ble in cold alcohol and ether, and melts at 83° F.; and by dry distillation, and by the action of acids and alkalies on cerene and myricine, a large num- ber of peculiar organic compounds may be derived from it. A specimen of beeswax from Ceylon was found by Mr. Brodie to consist almost exclusively of myricine. Beeswax, though produced in almost every coun- try in the temperate and tropic zones, is an article of foreign commerce in comparatively few. The European supplyr is princi pally derived from the Baltic, the Levant, Africa, India, and the United States. The Portuguese province of Angola, in Af- rica, annually sends to Europe about 1,500,000 arro- bas or 47,772,000 lbs. Japan also exports much. In the TJuited States it has long been an important article of production and export. The census of 1840 gives the value of the product at $628,303, which would be about 2,000,000 lbs.; that for 1850 states the value of wax and honey to have been 14,853,790 lbs., worth $2,736,606; and that for I860 gives 1,357,864 lbs. of wax alone. The exports in 1859-60 were 362,474 lbs., worth $131,803. In 1861, 238,653 lbs. were export- ed from New York. In 1860 more than five-sixths of 310 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Aug. the exports were to France, England and Brazil. Besides beeswax, two kinds of wax of animal ori- gin enter into commerce. The first, the insect wax of China, is found coating the surface of the Rhus succedaneum and some other trees. It is the product of a very small white hemipterous insect f Coccus Sinensis J, which about the beginning of June climbs up the plant and feeds upon it, depositing the wax upon the branches as a coating which resembles hoar frost. This is scraped off towards the end of August, melted in boiling water, and strained through a cloth. It is white and crystalline, re- sembling spermaceti, but harder, more brittle, and more fibrous, fuses at 181° F., is but slightly soluble in alcohol or ether, dissolves readily in naptha, and has for its formula C 108, H 108, O 4. It does not con- tain cerotic acid ready formed, but by fusion with potash is decomposed into a mixture of it with a substance called cerotine (C 54, H 56, O 2.) The Chi- nese call it fe-la, and employ it for making candles sometimes alone, but more commonly mixed with softer fats and as a coating- for other more easily fusible material, in order to prevent guttering'. It is often colored red with alkanct root, or green with verdigris. It has been introduced into England for the manufacture of composite candles, and is found to answer the same purpose of beeswax, of destroy- ing the crystalline structure, or "breaking the grain" of stearic acid. In China it is also employed as a medicine. The French have introduced the in- sect into Algeria. The price of wax at Nigpo some years ago was 22 to 25 cents per pound, and the an- nual production was estimated at 400,000 lbs. Anoth- er wax of animal origin is the Andaquiss wax of South America, which is produced by a small insect called avesa. It melts at 171° F., has a specific grav- ity of 0,917, and according to M. Lewy contains fifty per cent of ceroxyline or palm wax, forty-five per cent of ceroxine or sugarcane wax, and five per cent of an oily substance. Of the vegetable waxes, the Japanese, the palm wax of New Granada, and the myrtle wax of the United States are the principal varieties. The first is as white as bleached beeswax, more brittle, less ductile, and breaks with a smoother and more con- choidal fracture; its specific gravity is rather less; and its melting point is about 127° F. Its chemical composition is not definately known. The berries yielding it grow in clusters like grapes on trees from 15 to twenty-five feet high, and when gathered are roughly washed and boiled in water, when the wax rises to the stirface, is skimmed off, and formed into cakes weighing about thirty pounds. It is said to require protracted bleaching before it is fit for market. Small quantities have been shipped to Eu- rope for many years past, but it is only within four or five years that it has been exclusively employed for candles, &c. The amount exported is large and continually increasing. In 1859 a single cargo of 1,170,000 lbs. arrived in England. In 1860 the price at Nagasaki was $11 to $12 per pecul, or 8J4 to 9}i cents per pound. The palm wax of New Granada, (cerox- yline) is obtained from the Ceroxylon andicola. The scrapings from the exterior of the tree are boiled by the Indians, and the wax rises to the surface. It is grayish white when crude, and after purification by digestion in alcohol is yellowish white, almost in- soluble in alcohol, and fuses at 161%° F. The tree has beeu introduced into Algeria. Carnauba wax is derived from a palm growing in northern Brazil. It is soluble in alcohol and ether, and fuses at 182° F. The ocuba wax of Brazill is derived from kernels of the fruit of several species of myristica, especially the M. ocuba. It is yellowish white, soluble in boil- ing alcohol, and melts at 98° F. The Bicuhiba wax, also from Brazil, comes from the M. Bicuhiba, is yellowish white, soluble in boiling alcohol, and fusi- ble at 95° F. The myrtle wax, which for many years has been an article of commerce in the United States, also hnown as "candleberry wax" and as "bayberry tallow," occurs as an incrustation on the berries of the wax myrtle or bayberry. The berries are enclosed in bags of coarse cloth, and kept im- mersed in boiling water until the wax collects on the surface, which is then cast into moulds and sold without further preparation. It varies in color from grayish yellow to deep green, has a balsamic and slightly aromatic odor, a specific gravity of 1,004 to 1,006, fuses between 11'° and 120° F., and is much harder and more biittle than beeswax. It is com- posed, according to Mr. G. E. Moore, of one-fifth part of a substance called palmatine, which exists in palm oil, Japanese wax, &c, and four-fifths of palmitic acid, with a small quantity of lauric acid. This wax appears, as a candle-making material, to be worthy of more attention than it has hitherto re- ceived. Its illuminating power is scarcely inferior to that of the best beeswax; it hardly costs one quarter as much, can bo obtained more free from color, is easily bleached, and from its superior hard- ness can be cast instead of being moulded by hand like beeswax. The plant grows abundantly on the poorest soils along the coast of New England. Plantations of it have long existed in Europe, and its cultivation has lately been tried in Algeria. The berries of myriea quercifolia, natives of the Cape of Good Hope, growing on dry sandy plains along the coast, also yield a greenish wax, which can be bleached, and when made into candles gives a very good light. The sugar enne yields a wax called cer- osine, which is soluble in boiling alcohol and slight- so in boiling ether. The sorgum also secretes on the surface of the native stalks a white resinous powder, from which candles could be made. A waxy substance called subcrine has likewise been obtained from cork. Several mineral substances resemble wax in phys- ical properties, the principal of which are ozocerite and hatchottine. The principal use of the different kinds of wax are: 1, for the manufacture of candles, either from pure wax, the consumption of which is especially great in Roman Catholic countries, or of wax mixed with stearic acid, palm oil, &c, as in composite candles; to which purpose every variety, whether animal, vegetable, or mineral seems to have been employed in different countries; 2, as a vehicle for colors in certain kinds of painting, and as a protecting coat for them; 3, for giving a polish to furniture and floors, for both which pur- poses it is generally used in France and other parts of southern Europe; 4, in medicine, in which bees- wax is employed as an internal remedy against diarrhoea and dysentery, as an ingredient in almost all ointments, cerates and plasters, and also for fill- ing carious teeth ; 5, as a lute or cement of much utility for chemical and other purposes, and also as an impervious coating for vessels formed of porous materials; 6, as a material for modelling; and 7, formerly for seals instead of sealing wax. The process given above, of bleaching by the use of chemicals, I have tried repeated- 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 311 ly, but although I procured the purest arti- cles, and used the utmost care, I have never been able to get wax enough whiter to make it any object, to say nothing of making white wax of it. The sun bleaching is the plan generally used, if I am not mistaken, but as I have said before, we certainly do not want white wax for uss in the apiary. The plan of cleansing wax by the use of acids or vinegar is well known, I believe, but, as a general rule, I think, it is more trouble than the plans I have given. Our friend Doolittle sent us some remarkably pretty wax, that he said was cleansed by the following process, which is taken from Quin- bifs Bee-Keeping, edition of 1866, page 283: By adding1 an acid to the water in which the wax is melted, it may be separated much more readily. A quart of vinegar to a gallon of water, or a small spoonful of nitric acid is sufficient. ADULTERATION OF WAX. The white wax of commerce, I am sorry to say, is generally largely adulterated with paraffine, which very much injures it for making fdn., as I have before explained. Within the past two years, another sub- stance, called ceresin, has been imported in large quantities, and bids fair to take the place of wax to a great extent for many pur- poses. It, however, like paraffine, when used for combs, stretches so much, as to make it worse than useless. Both of these substances can readily be mixed with wax, and the problem is to determine when there is suchad mixture. My method has been simply to chew a piece of the suspected wax ; if adulterated, even slightly, with either, the wax will chew like gum ; whereas, if pure, it will soon crumble and break to pieces in the mouth, and will not make gum at all. In buying the ordinary cakes of wax of com- merce, we are pretty safe from adulteration with either of these, or at least we have been up to this time (June 1879), but I am daily expecting to find counterfeit cakes of dirty wax, all sizes and colors. I am sorry to say, that there is a species of fraud practiced by the country people themselves, by adding tallow to their cakes of beeswax, but, hap- pily, this is not very common. The pres- ence of tallow is detected, by both taste and smell, and especially, by chewing, for a very small per cent of tallow softens the wax- quite perceptibly, and makes it like grafting wax. Where we suspect a cake of wax, I have sometimes made a little of it into a piece of fdn., and hung it in a hive. If the cells made are regular, and do not stretch out so as to give the oblong appearance. I pronounce it pure wax ; for, so far as I know, there is no other substance known that will stand the heat of the hive, as will wax, without bulging and stretching. HOW FRIEND BOLIN WINTERS AND "SPRINGS" HIS BEES BY THIS TIME. AND SOMETHING ABOUT NATURAL SWARMING. ^JRTEND Novice:— Still upon the field of battle, I JM am lying,— hut, hold ! that won't do; for we have no time to lie around idle on the field of battle, or anywhere else, just now. As that Arctic wave that almost overwhelmed the apiaries of so many of our bee-keeping friends, last winter and spring, passed our "bee yards" without doing any very great amount of damage, both myself and as- sistants have our hands full, at present, in attend- ing to the calls of the busy workers. In fact, friend N., I think my two bee houses render Arctic waves, bee epidemics, &c, almost proof against harm, where the bees have all been properly prepared for wintering. I say almost, for I lost a number of stocks, such as they were, during the winter, and a few dwindled in the most approved style, after they were taken out of winter quarters; but the greater part of them came through in fair condition. I sold my stock down to 183 colonies last fall. Some 14 or 15 of these were made up of bees taken out of my queen rearing hives, on the approach of cold weather. The most of them were weak, and several of them had queens that had not commenc- ed laying when they were put into winter quarters, and I do not know as they ever did. The 14 or 15 should have been doubled up into 4 or 5 swarms; but, as the queens were young, I wished to save as many of them as possible, and so concluded to let them take their chances. I lost 13 of the above weak stocks while they were in winter quarters (but not one good colony), and 10 colonies more through loss of queens, dwindling and doubling up after they were put on the summer stands, thus leaving me 160 colonies with which to begin this season. Of the 183 colonies, I put 49 in the bee house at my northern apiary, 129 in that at home, and 5 in double, sawdust packed hives, were left on the summer stand. One of the above five was among the 23 lost, so that the percentage of loss was considerably greater among them than it was with those wintered indoors. Now, friend N., to sum this wintering business all up: Do not you give the solution to the whole prob- lem on page 162, May No. of Gleanings, when you say as follows ? "The chaff hives were all right when the others were dying off at a rapid rate, but within the past week, they, too, have commenced dying," &c, "while the house apiary seems almost unaffected," &c. Now, the single hives, being cold- est, died first; the chaff hives, being warmer, held out longer; while the house apiary, being, perhaps, almost or quite frost proof, was also almost epidem- ic proof. Now, if there is any false reasoning in the above, please point it out, friend N., for, like one of old, I would rather be "right than be President;" especial- ly, since I suppose the Asst. P. M. Gen. would not let me keep bees at the white house, for fear they might sting him. 312 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Aug. My first natural swarm came off May 19, and all, to this date, have eome from single hives that were wintered in doors. We shall probably hear the usual complaints about the loss of swarms by their going- to the woods, but if you hear of my losing any in that way, please say it was my fault, or that of my assistants. Don't lay the blame on the innocent bees. But, says one, do your bees never leave for the woods ? Well, Yes; I lost one swarm in that way four years ago, and 2 or 3 have tried to leave since then, but did not make a success of it. In each case, however, the bees had just cause of complaint. In the first case, the bees commenced swarming- at about half past six o'clock one Sabbath morning, while the family were at breakfast, and, of course, all hands had to go to attend to them. As it was a close, sultry morning-, swarm after swarm came out, so that it was half past ten before all were able to return from "pleasure to business," and finish their breakfast. As appetites had become pretty sharp by that time, of course, all were anx- ious to return to the house, and, in the hurry, one very strong- swarm was left unshaded; the heat in their hive becoming- almost unbearable, they left for more comfortable quarters. Those also that tried to leave did so for the want of sbade before they had become firmly established in their new homes. James Bolin. West Lodi, O., June 23, 1879. I do not see but I shall have to give up, friend B., in trying to make you admit that spring dwindling is a disease, especially, as you continue to avoid it year after year, keeping a large number of colonies as you do. I think there is little doubt now, that house apiaries may be made to winter beauti- fully, but, so far, I have never yet found one who liked to work in them as wTell as with hives out doors. Shall we really be obliged to lug our hives in every fall, and out again in the spring V How is it, friend B.V do you never have to carry yours out in the middle of the winter for a fly, when there comes a warm spell ? m ■>■ i* A GOOD WAY TO INTRODUCE A QUEEN. /jpv|N Saturday, the 14th, I received your letter SjUjj) stating- that my queen was on the way. So, to avoid hunting- out my old black queen, and having so many frames and bees to look over to keep an eye on my yellow queen, I went to my Strongest colony, took 3 frames of hatching brood and as many adhering bees as I could get, carried them to a new hive with a division board, and I had a strong nucleus. On Monday morning, at half past 8 o'clock, here she came. Of course, it was a new wonder with the folks here— the idea of sending a queen on the train, and questions were asked with- out number. So I "lit out" for home, with my new prize. The first thing .when I arrived home was to" take care of a swarm that had issued while 1 was gone. In about 15 minutes they were in the hive, with a frame of brood. I wanted to see if my queen was all right, and if there was plenty of water in the vial; so I made the room dark with the exception of one window, opened the cage, and let bees and all out. 1 found a little water in the vial, and the candy about half gone. There were 5 dead bees. The rest, queen included, looked rather feeble, but seemed to enjoy a lunch of sealed honey. To test my queen's wings, I carried her back a few feet and found she could fly almost too well; so I clipped about one- third of one wing off. After all had had their meal, I put them back in the cage, and placed it on the top of the frames of my nucleus, formed as mentioned. I saw conclusively there was no queen in the nucleus, for they had queen cells started, and the bees seem- ed to be so friendly toward the inmates of the cage, feeding them through the wire cloth, that I thought I would let them out; especially, as they wanted so badly to get out. Out they came, queen and bees, and not a single fight ; no, not even a quarrel ; the bees fairly get- ting on their knees to the new queen. On Tuesday, she commenced laying and would not stop when I would take the frame out to show her to my friends; she would not get frightened at all, but would walk as calmly over the comb, examining every cell and depositing eggs, as though the frames had not been disturbed. She now (the 27th) has 8 frames nearly full of eggs and brood. I built them up by taking frames of brood that was just hatching out, with ad- hering bees, from some other hive, always taking care not to get the queen. Now they are very popu- lous and work with a perfect "vim." Did I not pro- ceed about the best way for a beginner? Pocahontas, Tenn., June 27, '79. C. M. Reed. Your plan is an excellent one for begin- ners, or any body else, and you have worked so much like an old bee keeper, I have given your letter at length. A little caution is needed about taking frames of brood, bees and all, for building up nuclei, or weak stocks. The plan will work all right, usual- ly, during the honey season ; but, as there is always danger of the queen's being at- tacked, it is generally safest to shake and brush off all the bees. The comb of hatch- ing brood will be cpiickly cared for by the bees already in the nucleus. QUEENS BV MAIL. LETTER FROM THE POST MASTER GENERAL. gN|iIK:— For reply to your letter of June 27th, I ^^> would respectfully refer you to the inclosed copy of Section 222, of the new edition Postal Laws and Regulations, and state that this Depart- ment will make no exception thereto in order to favor any special interest. The letter of your correspondent is herewith re- turned. The statement that he has the opinion of several postmasters that "bees" might be sent in the mails when inclosed in certain packages is some- what surprising, in view of the fact that this De- partment has used every possible means to advise all postmasters to the contrary. I am very respectfully, James H. Man, Actg. 1st Assist, P. M. Gen'l. Washington, D. C July 1, 1879. Copy of Section 222, referred to above. Section 222.— Unmailable Matter.— Liquids, pois- ons, explosive and inflamable articles, fatty sub- stances easily liqueflable, live or dead animals (not stuffed) live insects and reptiles, fruits or vegetable matter liable to decomposition, comb honey, pastes or confections, guano or other substances exhaling a bad odor, are regarded as in themselves, either from their form or nature, within the inhibitions of the preceding section, and under no circumstances must they be admitted to the mails. 18?9 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 313 %W&§ of %vain3 From Different Fields. SPEED OF CIRCULAR SAWS. DON'T believe we want to trade. I will have to wait till I can sell some Vices here or something else. I presume you have used the Barnes' saw, putting- on a 6%in. pulley in place of the small one. When they get them just right, it will be the biygest improvement they ever put on. The saw will be worth double what it was before. You can saw 2 in. stuff as easily, and nearly as fast, as 1 in. before, and a great deal smoother. Now, how is that ? The saw now only goes some 1200 revolutions per minute. Isn't this going back towards the slow motion saw ? According to friend J. L. Lafferty. I should think the 0 in. saw ought to go 6000 revolu- tions per minute, or 7000 revolutions, to make 120 to 150 miles an hour. Don't it take too much of the power, for foot work, to get up so much motion ? I sawed with the small pulley one day, when I was try- ing it. 12% ft per minute, of 78 stuff. I have not tried the large pulley, in that way; but I sawed sev- eral pieces, 2x414, through at three treads of my foot; they were some soft pieces. I believe a man can do 2 times as much as he could before, on sawing 2 in. stuff, at Leant. V. W. Keeney. Shirland, HI., May 23, 1879. You are right, or at least partly right, friend K. The figures given by Mr. L. are right, where we have plenty of power, but where the power is limited, as it necessarily is by a foot power, a slower motion will of- ten give much better results. We have one of each kind constantly at work in our wax room, and the large pulley is certainly a great improvement for ripping thick stuff. BUMBLE BEES KILLING HONEY BEES. A few weeks ago, I noticed a great number of dead bees lying around one of my hives. I began to examine, and found a bumble bee in the hive. I honestly believe he would have killed the whole swarm; almost half were then dead. C. W. Poe. Newberg, Mich., July 1, 1879. I hardly think, my friend, the bumble bee had anything to do with the killing, unless they, in their zeal, made a mistake and killed some of their own number while they were trying to kill him. I often see bumble bees trying to enter our hives, but they seem to do it rather by accident, or because they get a smell of the honey, than because they have any purpose of harming the inmates. Very often, they are attacked and dragged out dead, like the one you saw. REFUSE FROM A CORN SHELLER FOR WINTER PACK- ING. I packed my chaff hives this year with the casts off from a corn sheller, which consisted mostly of silks. It is very light and dry and packs well. Have you tried anything of the kind? Do you think it will work well? J. S. Hartwell. Odcll, 111., July 3, '79. I have never tried anything of the kind, but have no doubt that it would answer. QUEEN CELLS BY MAIL. I have just finished hiving a huge swarm of blacks, and just as I had them nicely in the hive, the thought occurred to me, in this wise: now, if I had one of Novice's section-box, queen cages, with a nice queen cell in it, to hang in there, how soon I could have a nice swarm of Italians. You say on page 210 of June Gleanings, you do not know but you could have queen cells built In these cages; why not find out, and send out queen cells by mail. I will give you 50ct8. for a queen cell sent to me by mail, built in one of these cages, and capped over, any time between now and the tenth of August, just to try the experiment. If I do not hatch it in- to a queen no matter; if it is from your imported queen, and I succeed in getting it purely mated, I will give you one dollar. What say you? When can I look for a queen cell? The smokers I received all in good order, and they are as perfect a smoker as I ever saw or expect to see. I sold one of them before I got home from the office, and could not get it back for five dollars. Benton Harbor, Mich., July 7, '79. Wm. L. King. The idea of queen cells by mail is not a new one, friend K.; but, since queens are so emphatically denied by mail, it may be well to reconsider it. The objections are that the cell will be sure to be chilled and spoiled, unless in the very warmest part of the summer ; the queen, if hatched, would generally stand a much greater chance of be- ing impurely mated where the cell was re- ceived, than if fertilized in the apiary where it was raised. We value queen cells, from our imported stock, at 10c each, among the neighboring bee keepers around us. If the cell were built in a section box cage, and sent brood and all, it might be kept warm enough to stand the trip ; at any rate, we will try it, and 50 cts. will be ample for cage, postage, brood, and all. fastening fdn. in the frames. 1 would not be without the idea in my June No. of Gleanings, of the cup of melted wax and the slip of board sunk in the wax for fastening starters in the section boxes, for the price of gleanings. Surely, Mr. Root, I have enlarged on the little cup of wax. I have a long dripping pan fixed on the same plan for fastening fdn. in brood frames. I have a larger saw kerf or cut in top bar for brood comb, dip the sheet of fdn. in the melted wax, the same as for sections, place the edge of the sheet in the saw cut, and it is done. It does suit me exactly, and is a sure thing. W. H. Ferguson. Bloomdale, Ohio, June 30, 1879. HONEY DEW FOR WINTER STORES. I send by this mail, a small box containing honey, or honey dew, gathered last fall, which I think was the greatest cause of the loss of bees in this vicinity. Before extracting the honey left by those colonies which were lost, I did not think the honey dew was any detriment to them; but, now, I have changed my mind, as the colonies which wen- affected the most with dysentery were those that gathered con- siderable of this stuff. A few colonies wintered as well as ever. Such gathered none of the dew, and this is good proof against such stores. Again; bees never wintered better than they did in good cellars twelve miles south of here, the previous winter. As far as I have learned, there was no honey dew in that section. I have had good success wintering in my cellar for three winters previous to the last, and, in fact, 1 have never lost a colony in it before. If my bees gather such stores the coming fall, I shall take them out and give them something better, but shall leave a few to give it a farther test. O. H. Townsend. Hubbardston, Mich., June 30, 1S79. The sample of honey sent, I think, with- out doubt, is gathered from honey dew. It has a rich flavor, something resembling li- quorice in taste, is dark in color, and thick. I have had it sent in so many times, I think 1 should recognize it, at once. Now, friend T., I am by no means certain that bees can- not be wintered safely on this; in fact, we have had reports to this effect, but still I should be very glad of further facts in the case. I am inclined to think the honey good for warm weather, but not as good for win- ter, as is the case with brown muscovado sugars, on account of the caramel they con- tain. 314 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Aug. WHITEWOOD OR TULIP TREE— CORRECTIONS. I have just been reading Gleanings for July. Al- low me to say that sonic of the statements in the extracts from "Fuller's Forest Tree Culture" are very wrong. I live in the poplar (Tulip) tree region, and we have no other building1 lumber. All of our houses, fences, bee hives, etc., etc., are built of this lumber. Millions of feet of it are shipped from this part of the state every year. The tree blooms here in April and May. Mistake 1st.— The seed ripens in late autumn, not "late summer or early autumn," as stated. The seed falls the next spring-, when the buds begin to swell. It is much sought for by squirrels. 2nd.— The wood is greenish blue, white, and bright yellow. It is classed as hard and soft poplar. The blue and white is used for flooring, outside work, &c. The yellow, being- very soft, is used for inside work, moulding-, &c. It makes splendid bee hives. I have used 2,000 feet of it for that purpose, frames and all. I would not give it for pine, and have tried both kinds. It shrinks 5 per cent sideways, none endways. Trees are usually 3 to 6 feet in diameter, 10 feet in diameter being not uncommon. The balance of the extract is about correct, when we consider the many different parts of the country in which the tree is found. W. J. Willard. Jonesboro, Ills., July 6, 1879. Iii our locality, friend W., whitewood does shrink endwise ; and, after having used it for several years side by side with white pine, I unhesitatingly give preference to the pine for hives. It is true that pine splits much worse, and, for some things, whitewood is on this account much better ; but as far as keeping its place is concerned, we give the preference to pine, by consider- able odds. Thanks for your corrections, notwithstanding. DO QUEENS LAY CONTINUOUSLY? I have an observatory hive in the parlor, and, yes- terday, saw a queen on the outside comb, laying for at least one half hour. She would lay 8 or 10 eggs, and then walk off and take a rest, apparently, of a few minutes, and then commence again and Lay 8 or ten more. She did the same thing- over and over. Do all queens work the same way? She is a very nice Italian, only laying- about 2 weeks. Moberly, Mo., July 7, '79. D. T. Kimmell. I think all queens work much in the same way. If you will time a queen by the watch, and see how many eggs she lays m a minute, then figure up how many are found in a comb that has been used a day, or a week, you can estimate how much loafing time she has. You will find a wonderful difference in queens, in this respect. stings; are they the cause of skin diseases, ETC? I have been afflicted with a bad skin disease, breaking out in blotches with bad itching and burn- ing, and making me almost a cripple. The doctor thinks it is aggravated^ if not caused, by being- stung- so much for the last 2 years. Stings have not swelled on me, but perhaps poisoned the blood. I find every time I get stung- lately, I am worse. What is your opinion about it? N. A. Prudden. Tour idea, or a similar one, has been ad- vanced several times, friend P., and I have given place to the letter, that we may have all bad features of the bee business brought out, if possible, and not be accused of hav- ing enticed beginners into it, by showing only the bright side. Although doctors have suggested it might be the accumulated poison of the stings, I think careful attention to the facts have shown it to be a mistake. A bee sting will make any such difficulty more acute, or aggravate it, it is true ; but I think it is seldom, if ever, the first cause. If it troubles you only during the honey season, and subsides when you are, for a time, engaged in other business, it would be pretty fair evidence; but, as I have said, cases that have been carefully tested in that way, so far as I know, have shown that the stings are not the cause. SECTION CASE STICKING TO FRAMES, QUEEN CELLS WITH NOTHING IN THEM, QUEEN CELLS NOT ALWAYS AN INDICATION OF SWARMING. Is there not some remedy for the trouble of section eases sticking; to top of frames? It prevents us from looking- for queen cells or for the queen, unless we pry them up and go to a great deal of trouble every time. Do bees ever build queen cells and cap them without any bee inside? Will they certainly swarm when we find queen cells? If not, what be- comes of them. I. H. C. Chillicothe, O., July 14, 1879. The matter in regard to the section case, as well as any surplus arrangement above the frames, is one that has troubled a great deal. With not more than i inch space, there will usually be little or no comb built between them, but some colonies seem de- termined to build it all up solid and fill it with honey, no matter what the space may be. A closed top frame, or a similar arrange- ment, will do, it is true; but generally, I be- lieve, the remedy is considered worse than the disease. A weak nucleus will sometimes nurse and care for a cell containing nothing, but sel- dom a good, healthy colony or nucleus. Queen cells are not a certain indication of swarming, but usually, unless change of weather or cessation of the honey yield or something of that kind ensues, it will result in swarming. If they give it up, the queen cells are torn down just as they destroy drone brood. Last March, I put cloth feeders, % as deep as frames, in two hives, and fed a little extracted honey each day, for three weeks, when worker comb was built from each bag nearly to the bottom of the hive. There was a little honey in each comb, but next to the feeders they were empty. There was some brood in the centre of the frames. Both were good stocks, and had plenty of room. Why did they build extra comb in March ? J. H. Bemis. Mt. Airy, Surry Co., N. C, June 25, '79. You have given the principal objection to the cloth bag feeders ; viz., that the bees will build combs under them ; and they will not only do it in March, but even in winter, if they are fed regularly during a warm spell. The bees build the combs directly under the feeders in preference to any other place in the hive, because it is so much nearer the feeder. SUGAR SYRUP IN PREFERENCE TO NATURAL STORES, ABOUT CLOSED TOP FRAMES, ETC. I notice in Gleanings that bee men in all parts of the country are complaining of losses last winter and spring, and each gives his opinion of the cause. I claim the right to express my opinion, as I think last winter should teach us all a lesson. To start the winter with, in our locality, I am satisfied that the stores were impure and unhealthy. I thought so in the fall; and, in Oct., 1 extracted nearly all the honey from 3 hives, about X from 2, and left 2 with all their honey, and fed all up with A sugar syrup, and packed all alike with chatf division boards and chaff cushions on top. The result was, in Feb., that the 3 were all in good condition, with plenty of brood; the 2 from which I extracted }-i of their stores had slight attacks of dysentery; the other 2 from which I extracted none were just about as good as none, the last week in Feb., and I put them into other hives, cleaned up their hives, put in some good 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 315 empty combs, and put the bees in on them. I then let them get hungry, and fed them A sugar syrup with a little essence of pepermint. One of them has given me a large swarm that has nearly tilled a L. hive, and the worst one has now plenty of bees and stores, and all the rest are doing as well as bees can do in this locality. I think I learned something last winter that will be to my future benefit in bee keeping; that is, never use closed top bar frames. They have un- doubtedly proved injurious; there is more spring dwindling with them than with the open tops. Johnstown, Pa., July 11, '79. P. Graham. I am an A B C scholar, but instead of asking ques- tions, when in doubt, I have waited till, in some sub- sequent Gleanings, I have found out, at least, what was the opinion of some bee philosopher upon the doubtful point. But there are a few questions that 1 have, so far, failed to get sufficient light upon, and, as you are so friendly to beginners, I am encour- aged to ask. GIVING ROOM TO THE YOUNG QUEEN AFTER SWARMING. After a strong colony has sent out a swarm, when honey producing plants are abundant, will not the queenless colony till with honey all available space, so that the young queen, when matured, will be cramped for room to deposit her eggs? and, if so, will not the colony dwindle without some artificial help? Such would seem to be the case, but it does not often happen, in reality, with the common bees or hybrids. When the young queen begins to lay, they will take the hon- ey out of her way, and put it in the surplus boxes, if they have room, and the pollen in the combs will speedily be used up to feed the young brood. The pure Italians some- times almost ruin the colony, by cramping the queen, and, unless empty combs or fdn. is furnished them, the colony will suffer greatly. Is it not best to supply such colonies with empty combs or, in case you have neither, with empty frames, as soon as the queen begins to lay? If sup- plied with empty frames before the queen lays, I find they will fill with drone comb. Yes ; give them empty combs just as soon as, or a little before, the young queen begins to lay. They will build beautiful worker comb often, just before the queen begins lay- ing. FDN. FOR ITALIANS AFTER THE FIRST SWARM IS OUT. Is it not proper to supply such colonies with fdn.? and, if worker fdn., as soon as the new swarm leaves the hive? Yes, it will do to put in fdn., just as soon as the old swarm has left. HOW MANY WIRES ARE NEEDED IN FDN.? How far apart would vou advise pvitting the wires in the fdn.? After considerable experimenting, I pre- fer the wires just as shown in July No., which brings them about 2i inches apart, If only two wires were put each side of the centre strip, we had, occasionally, a little bulging. SWARMING OUT WITH THE YOUNG QUEEN WHEN BROOD IS ALL HATCHED. I have found out by the loss of 2 or 15 swarms, that when a swarm is transferred, and the old queen lost, if the brood is all hatched at the time the young queen takes her bridal trip, the bees will swarm out and leave with their young queen, unless supplied with brood unhatched. Query: Does this rule apply to after swarms? If not, why? I have never seen trouble with swarming out, when there was a fair sized colony, but much trouble with weak nuclei. A colony, after being transferred, is often more or less upset as it were, and more apt to swarm out. Unsealed brood and eggs are always desira- ble in a hive. CROAVDING BEES AND STORES ON FEW COMBS FOR WINTER. I see it is recommended in Gleanings, to crowd the bees upon as few combs as they can cover, for wintering. Query: Will those lew combs supply the bees that can cover them, with a sufficient amount of honey to winter them, after deducting the space necessary for brood? Reese, Mich. L. D. Gray. Yes; for but little brood is found, when your combs are crowded up for winter. A WORD AS TO DOLLAR QUEENS AND GRAPE SUGAR. I bought of you in '77, one tested and 3, "dollar" queens; in '78, I bought about 15 dollar queens. Your tested queen, by mistake, proved impurely mated. At least two-thirds of the "dollar" queens have produced pure Italians, and are as vigorous and prolific as the average of those I have had for 20 years, beginning with a queen from Mr. Parson's, the year he imported first, 1859, I think. The dollar queens of last summer were given two frames of brood and bees, upon arrival, and built up by feed- ing through the summer, syrup made of grape sugar, in addition to the honey they gathered from flowers, which could not have been much, as we have nothing of consequence after white clover; no buck- wheat, and very few fall flowers. I fed near 500 lbs. of grape sugar. One of these colonies, the lat- est made (as they lost the first queen, which was only replaced in August), lost about one half its bee's in the winter and has been weak this spring. The others wintered as well as any, and are now among the best I have. I have given you the facts about grape sugar feeding, but prefer feeding good sugar at 7 or 8 cts. per lb., taking into consideration the labor of making grape sugar into syrup, and its understood want of saccharine matter. Dayton, O., June 5, '79. J. H. Pierce. I cannot account for the tested queen's pro- ducing hybrids, unless she began to produce them after she was shipped away, and I am not sure that this is possible. I should be very loth to think we made a mistake here. We have now 2o0 colonies raising queens in our apiary, and there is not a black or hy- brid queen among the whole, unless it is among the untested queens. None we have tested have as yet proved impure. BEES AND HONEY IN TEXAS. Our honey crop for this season is about over. Bees have done well where thev were in reach of plenty of mesquitte, which is the dependence here in dry years. It rained Nov. 15th, 1878; again April 22nd; never since, in my immediate neighborhood. There have been partial rains around for three weeks past. Bread corn will not be made in south- western Texas. There will be about a half crop of wheat: cotton crop is fair. I have 100 stands of bees (Xj. frame). I bought an Italian colony from J. W. Kckman, Richmond, Tex., and raised 35 queens and 5 swarms from the old one. Black bees through here averaged about one swarm from every fourth hive. O. R. Flourney. Belmont. Texas, July 8, 1879. CALIFORNIA WHITE SAGE. I see you think of planting some California white sage. 1 think you will have to keep it in a green house or hot house in winter, as it only blooms on the second year's growth, the same as raspberries or blackberries. The tops die alter the seed ripens, and another growth is ready for the next year, on the same roots. There are from three or four to a dozen or more stalks on one root, and it grows from 4 to 6 or 7 feet high according to soil. It does nut grow up high on the mountains in Los Angeles Co., so there is not much difference in the time of bloom of that growing on the highest, and that on the low- est grounds. "Win. Muth Rnsmussen in A.B.J., page 863, calls the flowers pure white; but they looked to me of a pale yellow. Otherwise I agree with his description. Jno. Beckley. Cannon City, Minnesota. 316 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Aug. COMPOSITION OF BROOD COMBS. Seeing you have had some difficulty in preventing your fdn. from sagging by means of introducing wires, and thinking of the true composition of honey comb, I drop you a line to suggest the experiment of introducing dry paper pulp, by mixing it with the melted wax before the sheets are formed. If you have not used it, I should like to know what would be the result. True comb has a substance resemb- ling the material of a hornet's or wasp's nest, work- ed in with the wax, which, I think, adds greatly to its strength. Other substances may suggest them- selves to you in practice. Some such process must be resorted to, before fdn. is a perfect success. W. D. Hooper, M. D. Fancy Farm, near Liberty, Va., June 17, "79. I am well aware that brood combs often contain a substance of a papery nature, such as you suggest, and I have long been won- dering if we could not work in some such material as the bees use in capping their brood ; the cappings to drone brood, for in- stance, are more like brown paper than they are like wax, but I have never figured out as yet, how we could make fdn. like it. The trouble is, the little chaps are too fastidious, to be easily suited with any such thing. I have worked paper of every description, in- to the combs; but, sooner or later, some bee takes a notion to investigate, and the nice, beautiful comb is riddled in a short time. While honey is coming in rapidly, they are very well contented with combs having a base of strong paper, but when the honey ceases, they are ready for this kind of mis- chief, thinking, probably, that it looks too nearly like the fabric the moth worni uses for his web. To go back to your point, friend II., bees often build new comb, that is quite largely composed of some fibrous, foreign matter; but, as this is all taken out by the melting process, our fdn. of pure wax always lacks this strengthening material. Who will help work the thing out V able to "root" the chaff out of their way, when they wanted to get at fresh stores of honey; would they not? You remember that was the way my first chaff hive was wintered. COMB BASKET FOR EXTRACTING BROKEN PIECES. I am in receipt of the "comb holder" by mail; the other "holder," for extracting, I will keep, as I found use for it before it had been here 24 hours, in extracting from a broken down comb. Cedar Rapids, la., June 28, '79. B. C. Blachley. So it seems that mistakes are not always misfortunes. One of the clerks sent the wrong article, and it turned out a very handy thing to have in the (bee) house, after all. CHAFF RIGHT ON THE BEES. Bees here, as well as every where else, had a hard time of it. They are very few who have not lost half of their stands. I had 7, frame skeps last fall, and I bought 8, box skeps every one of which was heavier than any one of mine. This spring, 1 had 7, frame skeps in good condition, and 3 miserably weak box hives. As I had no chaff cushions or division boards, I placed boards sawed to tit the hive, be- side the frames, and packed chaff between the board and the side of the hive. The mice got in the frame skeps and worked the chaff all through the combs, and I think that is the reason that they came through all right. I caught the mice before they had been in two weeks, by placing a trap in the skep, above the chaff. Henry P. Demarest. Warwick, N. Y. I have before mentioned having the chaff right in among the bees, covering the bot- tom board, etc., and I can not help thinking that such an arrangement might not only do no harm, but give them the very best possi- ble protection during the extremes of winter weather. A good colony of bees would be HOME MADE MATS. I send you by mail to-day a mat of my make, for covering bees, and would like to hear what you think of it. I think it will take them quite a long time to eat it up, or even to eat through it, as there is nothing but wood that they can reach if laid the right side up. A. A. Fradenburg. Port Washington, O., June 30, '79. The mat is much like ours, in appearance, except that the slats are about an inch wide, and are held together by strips of stout cloth. To make them, friend F. has a board made of the proper size, with strips of band iron under the strips of cloth, on which to clinch the tacks. Four strips of cloth are used, and two tacks are put in each crossing of the strips of cloth and wood. At present, I am unable to decide which is handiest, the mat or the sheet of enameled cloth ; each have especial advantages over the other. The enameled cloth is waxed less than the wood, and I believe may be handled more quickly without killing bees. WINTERING WITHOUT PROTECTION, STANDS FOR HIVES, ETC. When I left off taking Gleanings, 2 years ago, I had one swarm of bees. They increased to 3 that summer; last summer they increased to 10. I win- tered on their summer stands without any protec- tion, only as they protect themselves. They are all alive and doing well now, and have had 4 swarms this spring, which are all doing well. They mostly alight on an apple tree. I have the hive set where I want it. and then I have my wife's clothes basket tied to the garden rake, and going up to where they are, I hit the limb with the rake and hold the basket under to catch them. Then I carry them where I want them, and empty them on a sheet, and it is fun to see the little fellows travel for their new home. I saw blocks off from trees about 10 inches long, and set my hives on them. I think that has a tendency to keep the dampness of the ground from the hives. C. A. H. Fisher. ( )nawa City, Iowa, June 19, 1879. I am well aware that we have, every year, reports of successful wintering without pro- tection, but I was a little surprised to hear my neighbor Dean say, a few days ago, that he believed a colony would winter every time, if left on their summer stands, with the upper story on. full of section boxes. His farming neighbors all around him, who had carelessly left their bees in that way, had wintered them all right. As it was a very hard winter, upward ventilation was unusually necessary, and this they had with- out stint. A few years ago, I discovered, in March, a colony that had been left by mis- take in the same way. They were a rousing colony, and the bees were right up against the bottoms of the broad frames, which they had waxed and gummed up in pretty com- fortable style, considering. "You poor neg- lected things !" said I ; and I went and got chaff cushions and fixed them up in the most approved style, even though they did object most vehemently. Well, they began to dwindle from that time forward, and soon played out entirely. Should I look at this one case alone, I might decide in favor of out door wintering without protection. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 317 A NEW COMB HOLDER. CLARK'S COMB HOLDER. I see nothing- among' your comb holders which I think quite as convenient as the one represented above which I use. It consists of two ends of a Sim- plicity hive with the rabbets, a bottom nailed on, and a piece through the centre with a hole cut for the hand. I can take out with it, enough frames with fdn., for a hive, and still have room to put on frames from the hive. N. C. Clark. Sterling, 111., July 16, '79. OVER PRODUCTION OF DRONES, AND PASTEBOARD SECTIONS. Last Sunday, the 23d, one hive swarmed until I thought the hive had been transformed into an au- tomaton, and was vomiting forth bees for fun. I hived them, and they have thus soon (6 days) built comb and stored honey until it would give any Nov- ice the '"bee fever," were he not armed against it. I'm not ''armed to the teeth" though, for I like it, fever or no fever. The hive from which they issued had one box nearly filled, and one I put under it well started; immediately after swarming, the bees left both boxes, and have done nothing' since. A few bees roam over the combs but the drones, a part of the time, arrange themselves in platoons on the combs, and take posession of the partly filled cells. The body of the hive is pretty well tilled with bees, but there is an over abundance of dnmes. Why so many drones? and why don't the bees work in the boxes as other stocks do after swarming? Can not sections be made cheaper and answer as well, from heavy pasteboard pressed into shape as the butter dishes are which you see at nearly every grocery? I want your story and a half Simplicity, all complete, this fall. Wm. M. Young. Nevada, O., June 28, 1879. Your hive that contains so many drones has probably an unprofitable amount of drone comb in it, and the presence of so many drones to eat up the honey is very likely the reason why they do not work in the boxes, like the other stocks. It is a lit- tle doubtful about getting sections made of pasteboard that the bees will not bite and gnaw; besides, very nice sections are now made of wood, for ic. each. Pasteboard could not be near as substantial, and proba- bly little, if any cheaper. WHAT TO DO WITH BEES THAT HANG OUT AND WON'T SWARM. I have one stand of blacks, which, early in the season, appeared well thinned of bees; but, early in June, they raised a large brood, completely tilling the hive, making two boxes of honey, and, at the same time, hanging in large clusters outside the hive. About the 10th of June, they started a u choose, you can cut them out without reading. W %emh Blessed is the man that endnreth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the erown of life, whieh the Lord hath promised to them that Love him.— Jas. i. 12. M'UOH has been said of late, of the change wrought in individuals, by — ' conversion, — of the sudden change in life from bad to good, of the giving up of old and bad habits and the forming of new and better ones, and of the changing at once and for good, from a life of selfishness and shame, to one of earnest and faithful effort for the good of others. The reforms of this kind in connection with Moody's work, and, a little later, with that of Francis Murphy, fairly stirred our nation to its very centres. It was not only sceptics that inquired if all these thousands'of people would holdout, but many Christian people queried very anxious- ly, whether it could really be that people were becoming better at such a wholesale rate as this. It was not in Pittsburgh alone, but the Murphy movement spread all over our land, and brightened and made joyous thous- ands of homes. Did this work really stand V I presume almost every one of you have heard the doubting ones laugh heartlessly, as they mention how A, B, and C had gone back to their old habits, even after all the talking they had done ; and I have been told, although it may not be wholly true, that even in Pittsburgh, where such a migh- ty work was done, there is now hardly a trace of it left, and that more liquor is sold than ever before. While I cannot for a minute concede that no good was done, and that the movement was not productive of good, and great good, too, on the whole, I am well a- ware or the damage done to many a weak brother, by seeing those go back on whom he relied with the utmost confidence. In fact, if I am not careful, I myself am in great danger of losing faith in the cause of religion when I look at those who have made such earnest and, apparently, honest efforts, but who are slowly dropping back into their old ways, as the years pass by. It is in be- half of these poor brothers I would speak to-day. You have probably seen those who have by conversion had their appetite for drink removed as if by a miracle ; and. very likely, you have heard such individuals talk. The people of the world are very loth to believe this, and they often say, " Well, let us see if they live it out." Now, my friends, if such Christians do not live it out, it is very little use to claim that God does so help those who come to him, and it is nothing strange, if the all important faith in God that is needed in all reformatory work, should be lacking. While I firmly believe that God does so take away temptation in answer to prayer, I am quite sure there has been a great perversion of this matter. Quite a number of the young men with whom I have been intimate, have taken up the idea, and have claimed that the appetite for drink was gone, and that they knew they should never want it again, at all. All these, so far as I know have "gone back," to use a common expression. In one sense, it may do to say we know we shall never go back to our old life, but it should be said trusting in God to keep us, and not trusting in our weak selves. This point I can in no way illustrate so well, as by speaking of some of my own trials and conflicts. I am aware that it will be an easy matter for those so disposed to put a wrong con- struction on what I am about to say, and 1 am aware that 1 am treading on delicate ground, in some respects. I would therefore ask you to take what I say in the spirit in which it is spoken, simply and honestly ; if you pervert it, and imagine something I do not say, the responsibility rests on you, and not on myself. I have before remarked that, from child- hood, I have had a natural fondness for the other sex. There has seemed to be some- thing in woman's nature, that appeals to me; and, all my life, in many things, I have felt more at home, as it were, in the company of my mother and sisters than with my father and brothers. In business matters, the girls in my employ seem to catch the spirit of my work, with more readiness than do the boys; the neatness and order which I have found, by experience, to be so necessary to carry out my plans, they fall in with more readily, and in regard to such habits as tobacco, in- temperance, late hours, and fast ways, I have sometimes thought I was womanish in my views in these matters, compared with the rest of my sex. Of course, then, this same trait would make me patient and kind to the girls and women who so cheerfully take up any kind of work I may choose to set them at. It should make me so, to be consistent, but God only knows how earnest- ly I have prayed that I might remember they are women, and, therefore, in many things, they cannot be expected to know all about business that a man would know, and that I might have a broad charity for them accordingly. I have told you how, during all my life, before I became a converted man, I seemed to lack, towards the other sex, that kind of honesty which I had in money matters. That you may get my idea exactly, no more and no less, I will mention a little incident. I was once traveling on a stage line, through a new country. We had a long day's ride through the woods, and, as a matter of course, I got pretty well acquainted with my half dozen fellow travelers. Suppose one of my companions had carelessly left his pock- et" book on the seat beside me ; would there have been any temptation to take it? To be sure not. for money I had not honestly earned, I could not have enjoyed. Had there been ;i million of dollars hid in the woods near by where we were passing, and had it been known only to myself, I do not believe it would have tempted me seriously. Is this anything to boast of? No; and no credit is due me for it. It was, or is, a vir- 322 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Aug. tue I possessed naturally, to a certain extent, and had never cost me any struggles or de- privations. By my side, sat a young widow; I was a good moral man , a very good moral man ; in fact, I often took great pride in telling how I treated every body as I would be done by. How about the widow? I will tell you. As soon as I gathered from her conversation that she was a widow, and alone, I scrupulously concealed the fact that I was a married man, but devoted the whole beautiful autumn day to making myself agreeable to her. As the roads were bad, I got out and gathered flowers and winter- greens for her, brought her water when she was thirsty, and, by the time we reached our destination, if she did not feel that I esteemed her above all women, it was not because I had not tried to make her feel so. Had it been my wife, instead of an utter stranger, what would have been my behav- ior? I thank thee, O my Savior, I thank thee that those days are passed and gone ; that that old, wicked self lias been made over by thy love. I thank thee, too, dear Jesus, that I can feel a thrill of joy now, when I think that no other woman on earth could now give me the pleasure during such a trip, as the dear wife thou gavest me. I have told you of the change in my life, — how I was cleansed from this weakness, al- most as by a miracle, and was changed, as it were, in an hour. There ft, however, one part I did not tell, or, at least, but imperfect- ly. As years passed on after my conversion, I was somewhat startled to feel that God's purpose seemed to be, after I had grown strong and firmly rooted in my faith in him, to try me again with temptation. Please, dear reader, do not, at this point, form any hasty conclusions of your own, or accuse me of inconsistency, but take just what I say, and no more. My especial weakness, in years past, seemed to be new faces ; not al- ways new ones exactly, but faces I had not heretofore noticed, or perhaps those I had not happened to get acquainted with. It was just about 4 years after my conversion, when I began to be aware that old tempta- tions were getting a foothold; that is hardly the word either, for they got no foothold, unless it was in my thoughts, for I can scarcely remember an action that could well be called a wrong one. Perhaps, in passing along the street, my eye would unconsciously catch a new face, one a little different from any I had ever seen before, and afterwards, at my work, this face would suddenly rise up before me ; before I knew it, when among people, I would be looking for that face again. If, by accident, I got acquainted with the owner, by and by, I would begin to look for that new acquaintance. Here con- science began to hold up a warning ; for I knew it was in just that way that I had started wrong in years before. Alone, by myself, I knelt in prayer, and asked God to keep me from such a fate as going back to anything remotely approaching the old life. I was startled by seeing the face before me even while I knelt in prayer. I promised God to root out this new phase of temptation, if it took all my time and all my strength to do it. When I passed that person, I turned my head the other way, or took another street. If my thoughts turned that way, and I could not master them otherwise, I left my work and went off. Here a queer feature presented itself. I knew death and ruin were before me. 1 knew, if I gave way to this temptation, I should lose my love for the Bible and the prayer meetings ; and, in fact, I had begun even already to feel the Bible a restraint. How quickly yielding in the very least to temptation weakens our faith in God, and deadens his love in our hearts. In spite of all this, and knowing all this, a strong disposition grew up to trifle with what, in one phase, seemed a new phe- nomenon. I knew it was Satan, and I clear- ly saw the cloven hoof which he was attemp- ting to hide ; but an almost ungovernable curiosity came up, to watch him, and see how he worked such things. You know what a passion I have for exploring new fields ; I presume my curiosity, too, is rather more than average. Well, after passing this individual, say on the other side of the street, and keeping my thoughts and eyes in some other direction, as well as I could, un- til I almost began to feel a thrill of victory, by some strange perversion, I would turn and look back. What inconsistency ! How could I kneel in prayer, and ask God to help me, after conduct like this? I fought and prayed the harder, but Satan worked harder, too. That great wall that God Almighty had raised up was beginning to shake. Sa- tan was beginning to scream in my ears that even God and the Bible could not save me. To wind up with, he, too, massed all his powers for a grand finale. In turning a corner suddenly, I came full upon the person I had sought to avoid, and received a pleas- ant good natured smile, as a matter of course. What a simple trifling matter! A common place everyday occurrence. What do you suppose Satan made of it? In that smile, occupying scarcely a second, he had managed to weave in, as it seemed to me, more beauty and loveliness than the world contained outside, and that face seemed so much the centre of the universe that it seemed as if it were no more than justice that I should bow down and worship it, for- getting God and every thing else. "Why, you poor, miserable fool, you had gone crazy," I can imagine some of my friends saying. I agree with you, my friends, I had gone crazy for about a second, and I was in danger of going crazy for the rest of my life. While I am writing, the fol- lowing verses occur to me : And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is deliv- ered unto me; and to whomsoever I will, I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.— Luke iv. 6, "J. Now read the reply that Jesus made : And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou Shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.— Luke iv. 8. And the first commandment: I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bond- re. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, il-V 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 328 or any likeness of ani/ thing that fa in heaven above, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God own a jealous God, visiting: the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth (feneration of them that hate me: And shewing* mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.— Ex. xx. 2, 6. I went off where I could be alone, and, on bended knees, asked God to help me, and also almost demanded of him why I had been thus allowed to fall into Satan's toils. I was frightened, but felt, at once, that I was not deserted, and that this trial had been allowed that I might not become proud, and think I did not need to go to him in prayer, with any very special earnestness. I felt then, too, that I needed some safe ad- viser, some one to whom I could talk. Is it not strange, that very often the only condi- tion, almost, under which we may be saved, is by going to some one else? To whom do you suppose I felt impressed to go? Why, my wife, of course. Why had I not done so before? Well, I was ashamed to do so, as well I might be, and, besides, by some queer inconsistency, I did not want her to know anything about it. I knelt by her side that night, and told her of all these temptations. It seemed to me as if I wanted to get away down into the cellar when I confessed to any such foolishness, or away down under the cellar, if there were any such place. After putting it out loud, in words, the ut- ter ridiculousness of the whole idea began to show out. Of course, Satan fled, and I was safe. On meeting the person afterward, I could but wonder that my ordinary good sense had ever so utterly deserted me for so many days, or weeks. Now Satan was hanging around still, for it was not long be- fore another face was presented to me. I say presented, for it was all Satan's work, anil bis alone. I am happy to say, that the other sex, through all my life, have invariably treated me as they would treat a gentleman, and a Christian, and I know that more than one of my good friends will not only be pained, but will feel loth to believe my own statements. When this next temptation presented itself, I went to my wife at once. Satan tried still another, but without giving him a moment's respite, I took it to my wife, and to my Cod. I seemed to have no agen- cy in this matter, and was as much sur- prised almost as my wife ; for his attacks seemed, for all the world, like a lot of robber bees that have come unexpectedly into the apiary, first trying one hive and then the other, and only desisting when they found themselves baffled and beaten at every turn. This conflict lasted perhaps two months, or more ; and, during the whole time, I felt that it was drawing me nearer to my Savior, day by day. I began to realize in truth, what it was to be thankful for trials. I did not know then there were any promises in the Bible such as I have given in my open- ing text, to those who endure and hold out, and when, in one of our teachers' meetings, they were brought out, you cannot think how thankful I was that I had fought Satan at every step, and had, with God's help cut him off, root and branch. You can scarcely think with what joy I grasped the following verse from Revelations, the book that I had almost skipped because, when we read it through by course, there seemed nothing in it we could understand. See if you can understand the following, after what I have been writing : He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name be- fore my Father, and before his angels.— Rev. iii. 5. And this : Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of. my God, which is new Jeru- salem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.— Rev. iii. 12. And this : And he that OA'ercometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the na- tions:—Rev. ii. 26. I passed through these experiences, and with God's help I did not slip back, and I did not get crazy. Those of you who think this a very singular experience, and one not common to humanity, should reflect a mo- ment on the many that fall in the same, or in a similar way. How the skeptics take up a case where a church member falls: and when a minister of God is found out, and admits that he has led an impure life, it stirs almost a nation of people. Shall we seek no remedy for such evils? Shall poor humanity keep falling in this way, without a note of warning being lifted up? Shall nothing be done to counteract the tendency, already gaining a strong hold, to believe that one who is even a servant of God can- not expect to stand against all kinds of temptations? Those of you who have never been slaves of Satan can have little idea of what tempta- tions are. Those who have broken off the habits of tobacco, opium, strong drink, and the like, can tell you something about it. The point that the simplest and most unim- portant trifle may be made use of by Satan, is one I wish to call attention to, and to warn you against. I have heard tobacco users say that seeing a man put his hand in his pocket was enough at times to drive them almost crazy. To the drinker, the smell of one's breath who had been drinking, the sight of a sign where the forbidden article was sold, faces which had been with him during a de- bauch, familiar spots, etc., will prove temp- tations almost irresistible. Especially the smooth pleasant guise in which Satan makes his appearance is very apt to deceive. I will give you one instance. I remember being busily and innocently engaged, one evening, at peace with myself, and all the world, when, all at once, an in- fluence stole over me, as soothing and en- trancing as strains of distant music. As conscience began also a sort of involuntary warning, I began wondering if it were pos- sible that this was Satan's work. Can it be that the road to ruin is ever opened to poor humanity, in guises like this ? A few days I tetore, when talking with the boys in jail, in order to illustrate my point, I pulled a little card out of my pocket (from among a lot I was going to take to the smaller ones in 324 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Aug. Abbeyville), and pinned it to tbe wall of the stone room. On the card were these words : "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." As I sat and meditated how Satan had woven his meshes of sin through and through my very nature, it seemed to me almost hopeless, that I should ever think of being pure in heart at all. What trifling incident do you suppose it was, that Satan had taken advantage of this time ? It was simply the sound of a footstep. The owner was one with whom I was scarcely acquainted, yet this involuntary and almost unconscious current of evil had made such headway as to suggest by that faint sound alone, who it was. I spoke, a few lines back, of the way bees would try one hive after another, when they once got started in robbing. Well, suppose they And a hive by accident without any bees to guard it, or but poorly manned. Do you know what an uproar there is almost instantly ? How they pour in by the scores, and how the note of warning to the apiarist rises higher and higher, and how they very soon trample down sentries and everything in their mad haste for ill gotten gains V Well, the sins of years past are much like the robber bees. 5Tou are to keep guard night and day, and to watch for and expect Satan, under all possible disguises. I have all along laid these charges to Satan, and perhaps in a way that seems to imply that I myself am not to blame at all. I may not have been to blame, or much to blame that these thoughts presented themselves, but I certainly am responsible for harboring them a single instant. If I allow them to remain just long enough to investigate the phenom- ena, out of any sort of curiosity, I certainly am greatly to blame. In this last incident, I have drawn a picture; please keep it a moment before you. Since the partial paralysis of my right arm, which I have told you about, when I have had much mental labor to perform, I have, at different periods, had trouble with my health. The numbness in that arm, when aggravated by over brain work, ex- tends to my head, and threatens to stop my work entirely. For years, my wife has been well acquainted with these symptoms, and by insisting that I work less, stay much in the open air, see few visitors, have a plain, simple diet, etc., she brings me through my arduous duties generally in good health. On Sunday mornings, not only are my clothes all in readiness, but my books, papers, cards, pennies, and all these things are each in the right pocket. If much hurried, I of- ten And my shoes, too, neatly blacked ; and, just before church, to enable me to go through with two services without my din- ner, a dish of beef tea is handed me, with a kiss, and a prayer that my labors may be blessed. Sometimes I have barely 15 min- utes for dinner in order to reach my appoint- ments promptly, and no matter how cross or out of sorts the baby has been, my steak is always ready at the minute I rush into the house, and every need or want is supplied almost before I am aware of such need or want. When I get through, Sunday night, the little family are all looking their best to welcome papa. The baby lias learned to lis)» some wonderfully bewitching little sen- tence during the day, and as we sit beneath the harvest apple trees in our pretty little door yard, it seems that, if there is any one in this world who should thank God, I am that one. Well, what return do I make this faithful wife, for having made my home I such a happy one, for having in every way I so contributed to my comfort, and, finally, for having restored me to health again by j her unremitting care, even when that health I had been lost, by sinning against her and I my God? I had shown my gratitude, by I listening for other footsteps. I cannot tell of the evil and depravity | there is in the hearts of others, but I know something of what there is in my own heart. How one can understand Paul after such trials. For the good that I would, I do not: but the evil vvhieh I would not, that I do.— Kom. viii. 10. After trying to live even one day, without sinful thoughts, we are better prepared to have charity for others. What does my wife say to all this? She says, so long as I am lighting hard against it, and so long as I come to her daily with that frank, honest, confiding look, she has no fear, for she knows that God will take care of me. Nay farther ; she does not fear insanity or death, so long as 1 am trusting II im, and he is holding me up by his strong arm. When I shall cease to trust him, when I shall go back to my old life, and come home dull and abstracted, avoiding her gaze or meeting it with one stony and assumed, then will she fear. The first glimpse she catches of my face as I come home is evidence enough. There may have been battles during the day. and Satan may have suggested evil thoughts, but she is sure none have been harbored. Why does God allow us to be so tempted? Why does lie allow the blasts of winter to bend and twist the sturdy oaks? Is it not that they may become the' toughest and most enduring timber known in the world? Well, I told you in the first of this chapter, that I had many of the other sex in my employ ; it is my prayer day by day, that these young people, both boy's and girls, may be pure in heart. They are scattered all about the building and grounds, but my eye is almost hourly upon them. I know they are far more faithfully cared for than would have been the case, had my life been otherwise. Is it not possible that God has been trying me by fire, to see whether it would do to en- trust me with human souls? "He that is faithful in a few things shall be made ruler over many things." Already I begin to catch glimpses of a victory over this great weakness of my life, and already do I see this perverted trait of my character begin to mold itself over into something pure and holy. In this, my native town, reside my own sisters, and I have also a daughter, full grown nearly ; as I have passed along the streets, I have prayed most earnestly, that God would give me exactly the same love and admiration for all womankind, as I have for these sisters and daughters ; that He, in looking into my inmost heart, should discover no thought or 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 325 momentary impulse for the one, that I would not "have for the other. Nay farther ; that I should he inclined to take just as much pains to he polite and attentive to the young men as I pass them, as I would to the young women. When this prayer began to be answered, and when I could really feel the same pleasure in passing a well behaved and well dressed young man, as in passing a young lady, I felt like kneeling down in the street, and thanking God for his mercies to such a poor sinner as myself. Farther still ; this newly revived love of God in my heart toward my fellows, since those two months, has been widening and deepening, and tak- ing in all humanity, young and old, and en- abling me to see the human soul, as it were, irrespective of age and sex, and to rejoice in any chance that offers of helping or advising any one, young or old. During this siege of temptation, I received great help from breathing a simple prayer day and night, even when walking along in the streets. It was something like this: "Let thine image, O my Saviour, take the place of all and every thing on the face of this earth. Help me, O Lord, to choose thee in place of every thing Satan may offer or present, and may the inmost thoughts of my heart be of things eternal, that do not pass away, and not of the foolish baubles of this earth." Some of you will doubtless imagine this an easy task, if you have not known what it is to say with the Psalmist, — Save me, O God; for the waters have come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods over- flow me.— Ps. lxix. i, 2. clumn. (5^ PRISON LITERATURE,— RULES FOR SEND- ING. Bro. Matthews gives the following hints to those having reading matter to send to prisoners : 1st.— Do it up in 201b. packages; if over 201b. are in one package, it will not come free. 2d.— Label each package, Prison Dept., Western Seaman's Friend Soc, Onarga or Oilman, Ills, If to come by Am. or Adam's Express, Onarga; if by TJ. S. F,x., Oilman. 3d.— Never send a package, until you have first dropped me a postal, telling me how many packages you have to send, the name of your Ex. Co., and the name of the town where package is to be sent from. Hi member, if package is to come by Am. Ex., it can not come till you receive a frank to bring it free; if by Adam's or U. S. Ex., I will have to give directions as to where it is to be billed, so as to come free. If these 3 rules are carefully followed all will go right. W. D. A. Matthews. Bro. Matthews further says. I have often felt that, if mistakes keep occurring, after all the precautions taken, the express compan- ies will cancel all my favors, and then I will be crip- pled in my mission. So please impress on every one, to conform closely to my requests. Let us see to it, my friends, that our care- lessness does not hinder and seriously crip- ple the very work we are trying to aid. A lb. of young Italians, with a dollar queen, turn- ed loose on three or four empty combs, make a pret- ty fair little swarm, and they will go to work at once, like little heroes. If started this month and kept constantly rearing brood up to the highest notch, by feeding, if they are getting no honey, they should make a good colony before winter. Price $ 2.60. Under this head, will be inserted free of charge, the names of all those having honey to sell, as well as those wanting to buy. Please mention how much, what kind, and prices, as far as possible. The prices quoted in our cities for honey are, at present, too low, to make it worth while to publish them. As a general thing, I would not advise you to send your honey away, to be sold on commission. If near home, where you can look after it, it is often a very good way. By all means, develop your home market. For 25cts., we can furnish little boards to hang up in your door yard, with the words "Honey for Sale" neatly painted. If wanted by mail, 10c. extra for postage. Boards saying "Bees and Queens for Sale," same price. fHAVE 2,000 lbs. of nice clover and basswood, ex- tracted honey that I will sell for 8 cts. by the .. barrel or keg, the purchaser to pay for barrel and freight. 1 have 2,000 lbs. of nice, light, comb honey which I will sell, in 100 lb. lots, at 15 cts. It is in 2 lb. sections. I will sell bees at $1.00 per lb., up to 200 lbs., or perhaps more. I suppose no queens are furnished. I will furnish hybrids or dollar queens at 50 cts. R. S. Becktell. New Buffalo, Berrien Co., Mich. Wanted one barrel, thick, white, clover honey. Write me, with lowest cash pi'iee. J. M. Brooks, Box 64. Columbus, Ind., July 3, 1879. I have 15 bbls. of honey that I will sell at 8 cts. per pound, and throw in the bbls. Paul L. Viallon. Bayou Goula, La., July 23, '79. Chicago.— Honey— Choice, in single comb boxes, 9@13c. Extracted, 6@9c. Bees-wax.— Choice, yellow, 24@26c. Darker grades, 15@20c. New York.— Honey— Best comb, ll@13c. Extract- ed, 7®8c. Bees-wax.— Choice, 25c. Cincinnati.— Honey— Best, in single comb boxes, 10® 12c. Extracted, 8@10c. California.— Honey— Comb, 6@7c. Extracted, 4@5c. Bees-wax.— Best, 30@31c. For darker colored, 20(5221/2c. The sweet pepper is almost in bloom, in our honey garden. Do not send me any more queens until I give you further notice. I have to-day, July 29th, 4416 subscribers, for which 1 know I ought to be happy. I will pay in trade, 25cts. for wax; but, as I have several tons now on hand, I cannot pay more than 22cts., the advertised price, in cash. In our next, will appear an engraving of R. Wil- kins' California apiary, with a description by "Gal- lup." See if we do not show you that there is, at least, one nice apiary in Cal. We have had several importations of imported queens, but not quite enough to fill all orders. Of the last lot, only 4 were alive. We have now sent orders to three other persons in Italy, besides Tre- montani, and hope soon to have some on hand all the time, if it be a possible thing. All experiments with the metal electrotypes for dipping fdn., I am obliged to pronounce a failure. I can make fdn. that the bees will use, it is true, but the process is slow, and the work not nice. Our $22.00 fdn. mill, both in rapidity and quality of the work, far excels anything I have been able to get hold of, and I have* wasted a groat many dollars in experiments. To prevent sagging of both the fdn. and frame, the thin board base mentioned on page 317 is far ahead of anything I have before seen, but it takes too much wax for flat bottomed cells, and I have not yet devised a satisfactory method of in* denting the thin board just right. 326 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Aug. HAMMERS AND NAILS. Much depends on having- a hammer just right for the work that is to be done. I often see people (women especially, begging their pardon) try to drive a small, slender nail, into light work, with a very heavy hammer. The nail doubles up, the work splits, their fingers get pounded, and it is no won- der they conclude in disgust, that carpentry is not their forte. Trying- to drive a large nail with a light hammer is not so bad, but it is a great waste of time and strength. Every bee keeper should have at least three sizes of hammers. You can drive a com- mon brass pin its whole length into a pine board, with a hammer of the right weight ; but, should you try to do it with either of the first two hammers shown in the cut, yovi would double it up the first clip. You might do it with No. 3, but it is doubtful. With 4, 5, or 6, you could do it without trouble. In watch work, we frequently require hammers weigh- ing scarcely more than a quarter of an oz. No. 1 is my favorite hammer for making bee hives. It cost me, several years ago, $2.00; but I can sell you one just like it now, adze eye, fine tempered steel, for just 75c. No. 2 is the same thing, except that it has a round face, and will not mar or bruise work, like No. one; price is the same. No. 3 is the same as No. one, only about V& as heavy. It is extremely handy about the apiary, for making chaff hives, nailing frames and section boxes, etc., etc. The strong steel claw makes it much more desirable than any of the cheaper tack hammers. It is called a saddler's, or horse-shoer's hammer. Where one is expert enough to hit the nail every time, this is a great favorite for nice, fine work. Price 65c; by mail 75c. No. 4 is a very pretty tack hammer that can never come loose in the handle, for handle and hammer are all one piece of malleable iron, with a piece of walnut inlaid, as shown in the cut. This is a beauti- ful and handy hammer, price 25c; by mail, 35c. No. 5 is a magnetic tack hammer. As the head of the tack sticks to the face of the hammer when you bring them near each other, it is a most handy tool for making smokers and queen cages, tacking wire- cloth, cards, or paper on to anything. Price 20c; by mail 25c. No. 6 is a small cheap tack hammer, all iron. It is a nice plaything for the children, beautiful for cracking nuts, etc., as well as answering excellently for nailing section cages., etc. Price 10c; bv mail, 16c. A FULL SIZED HAMMER FOR ONLY 20c. There is one hammer I have not pictured in the list. It is very much like No. 1, but has no adze eye. It is a good looking hammer, with a secure hickory handle, but it is only malleable iron. For all this, it will do a great amount of service. You can keep one of these for the women and children, (begging their pardon) so they will not be borrowing yours, and if it is lost, it will be no great damage. Did your folks, any of you, ever hunt for "the hammer," my friend? How much time did you waste? and did you get cross any? NAILS AND TACKS USED IN THE APIARY. When the women folks or boys choose a hammer unsuitable for their work, they are to a certain ex- tent excusable, for perhaps they had but one to choose from, and such may be the case with nails, but it is generally possible to have at least a little chance for choice in the nails we use. Now as it is rather a fine point to choose exactly the best nail for the purpose, I have gone to a little pains to col- lect the nails and tacks used in our establishment, which I have figured below. THE NAILS WE USE IN MAKING HIVES, FRAMES, SEC- TIONS, ETC. This cut represents the full size of all the nails we use in the various departments of our factory; and, to accommodate you, I have decided to keep in stock a quantity sufficient to meet your demands. Even if you do not order them of me, it may be of service to you to know just what sized nails I have found, after large experience, to be best suited to each part of our work. No. 1 (8d. common) is the largest nail we find any use for, and it is used only in the packing room, in boxing and crating our heaviest articles for ship- ment. About 100 nails make a lb, and as the price is 3c, we get 33 nails for a cent. Price per keg of 100 lbs, $2.50. No. 2 (8d. casing), is used for nailing the bodies of the Simplicity and story and a half hives, and for putting the l-im around the top of the Chaff hive , 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 327 There are about 110 nails in a lb., and the price is 3?^e per lb., or $3.40 per keg-. No. 3 (8d. finishing-), we use but very little. There arc 175 in a lb., and the price is i% per lb., or $4.00 per k< \g. No. 4 (6d. common), is used only in the packing room. There are 150 in a lb. Price 3>ic per lb., or $8.75 per keg. No. 5 (6d. casing), is used for Simplicity cover, and for bottom boards in story and a half and Chaff hives. There are 200 in a lb., and the price is 4Hjc per lb., "or $4.00 per keg. No. 6 (6d. finishing), is used for ridge board of half story cover, and rim of Chaff hive. There are 300 in a lb. Price i% per lb., or $4.25 per keg. No. 7 (4d. common or shingle), used only in packing room. There are 300 in a lb. Price per lb. 3'4c, or $3.25 per keg. No. 8 (4d. casing), is used only in packing room. There are 330 in a lb., and price is 4!4c per lb., or $4.00 per keg. No. 9 (4d. finishing), is used for half story cover, inside of Chaff hive, cover of Chaff hive, 2 and 3 frame nucleus hives, and cases for 28 sections. There are 550 in a lb., and price is 5c per lb., or $4.50 per keg. No 10 (2d. common) is used for outside shell of Chaff hive and fastening metal rabbets inside of hives. There are 800 in a lb. and the price is 5^c, or $5.25 per keg. No. 11 (2d. fine), is used but little, except in packing room. There are 900 in a lb., and the price is 6c, or $5.75 per keg. Nos. 12, 13, and 14 are brads or light finishing nails. No. 12 (1J4 in. brad), is used only occasionally; there are 800 in a lb., and the price is 10c. No. 13 (73 in. brad), for chaff division boards and honey boxes. There are 2250 in a lb., and the price is 12c. No. 14 (13-16 in. brad). There are 2400 in a lb., and the price is 12c. Nos. 15, 16, 1", and 18 are tinned tacks and nails, and are especially valuable for out door work as they never rust. No. 15 (1 inch tinned nail), is used expressly for driving into hives to hang the slates on. There are 200 in a lb., and the price is 12c per lb. No. 16 (Y2 in. tack) is used in the wax room for fas- tening the lighter pasteboard on 1 and 2 lb. boxes of fdn., and in smoker room, for securing one end of the spring inside of the bellows; there are 150 in an oz., and the price is 3c per oz., or 35c per lb. No. 17 (;js in. tinned tack) is used for putting enam- eled cloth on chaff division boards, and leather on smoker bellows; for tacking pasteboard, cardboard, etc.; and for all purposes where No. 18 is too short. There are 275 in an oz. and the price is 4c, or 40c per lb. No. 18 (14, in. tack) is just the thing for tacking screen wire on queen cages and mosquito screens, queen cards on hives, cards on boxes, etc., etc. It never rusts. There are 500 in an oz. and the price is 5c, or 45c per lb. Nos. 19 and 20 are cigar-box nails. No. 19 (?i in. cigar-box) is used for all-wood frames, broad frames, tin separators, and sections not dove- tailed. There are 4400 in a lb. and the price is 18c per lb; for 10 lbs. or more, 16c per lb. For the benefit of the aforesaid women and chil- dren (begging their pardon still again), I would re- mark that nearly, if not quite, all of the nails men- tioned heretofore must be placed right when they are driven, or they will split the wood. If you look at a common nail, you will see that, if set one way, it acts like a wedge, and is sure to split the wood. If set the other way, the wide part goes into the wood first, and the nail gets narrower, the deep- er it goes. THE NEW WIRE RAILS. Now there is a new kind of nails made of wire, that may be driven any way; and, for light work, these seem to be a great improvement over the old kinds. When a nail of the old kind gets drawn out a little, or "loose," as we call it, it comes out very easily, but these wire nails, being all of a size, holil their whole length. In the out, I have shown four sizes; the figures at the points of the nails indicate the number of the wire of which they are made. They are tougher and stronger, tor tin- amount of metal contained in them, than the old kind, and therefore even though they do cost more by the lb., there are so many more in a lb. that, in reality, thev are cheaper. They are used for making all kinds of honey boxes, broad frames, nailing on separators (they will drive through the tin without having holes previously made) and are just the thing for a great variety of purposes in the apiary. Of the largest size, No. 21, there are 4000 in a lb., and the price is, for 1 to 5 lb., 20c; for 5 to 10 lb., 18c, and for all over 10 lb., 17c. No. 22 is the size most used for section boxes, put- ting on separators, etc. There are 4400 in a lb., and the price is 22c, for 1 to 5 lbs., 20c, for 5 to 10 lbs., over 10 lbs. 18c No. 23.— With this nail, and a light hammer to match, we can nail lumber that has heretofore been considered out of the question, on account of its thinness, and we can do a good job on it, too. There are 560 nails in an oz., and the price is 3c, or 30c per lb. No. 24.— This is the smallest of anything I have ever seen or used in the line of tacks or nails, and yet they are very handy and very cheap, for a great variety of fine work. There are 625 in an oz., and the price is 4c, or 40c per lb. Any of the above tacks or nails will be sent by mail, at a cost of 18c per lb. for postage. Jf you want only a single oz., you must send 2c to pay postage. The staple sizes of nails are liable to an advance without notice. RED RASPBERRIES. Brandywine, Herstine, Highland Hardy (Kirtland), and Turner, 75c per doz.; $3.00 per hundred. 8 W. A. SNIFFIN, Spencer, Tioga Co., N. Y. N O TIC E . 1 will sell 100 colonies of bees during the month of September. For prices and particulars apply to 8-9d GEO. GRIMM, Jefferson, Wis. FOUNDATION LOWER! PURE BEESWAX. A lb. of wax will make about 350 starters ?.ix3s3 such as we use in our section boxes, or about 6 sheets for the L. frames, or about 4 sheets 12x18. The fdn. is kept in stock, in sheets 12x18 inches, and 8x16 '/£ inches [exact size needed for L. brood frames] packed in boxes of 1, 3, 5, 10, 25, and 50 lbs. DRONE OR WORKER CELLS. 1 to 25 pounds, per pound 46%c 25 to 50 " " 45c 50 to 100 " " Ul&e 100 to 500 " " 42l/2c 500 to 1000 " " 40%c 1000 pounds or more " 38^c Packed in neat wooden boxes— paper between ev- ery two sheets. If wanted by mail, add 25c per lb. for boxing and postage, on any quantity less than 2 lb.; over 2 lb., add 20c for boxing and postage. Now, all that you will order in our regular sized sheets, 8xl6i4, or 12x18, will be lc per lb. less. If you will also order it in our regular sized boxes, of 5, 10, or 25 lb., you may deduct lc more per lb. Thus :— 1 lb. by mail, regular size will be 70c; 3 lb., $2.00. By freight or express: 3 lbs. regular size will be $1 34 5 2 24 10 " " " " 4 47 25 ' " 10 75 There are 5 cells to the inch, and one pound of wax makes from 4 to 9 square feet of surface. The thinnest will be used by the bees, but is not made into comb as quickly as the heavier, which has a greater depth of cell. A box contains different thicknesses; we can not well make it all exactly of one thickness. Wax will be worked up to order, and cut into sheets of any size desired, for 20c per lb. in quanti- ties of 100 lbs. or more. For smaller lots, you will have to sell us your wax, and buy fdn. at above prices. We will pay for bright yellow wax, price quoted in Gleanings every month. At above prices we can pay no express or freight charges either way. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Onio. 328 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Aug. QUEENS FOR AUG. & SEPT. I will deliver Italian queens tree to all parts of United States and Canada, at the following prices: Tested Queens, each $2 00 Warranted " " 1 50 Dollar " " 1 00 Safe arrival guaranteed. 8 D. S. GIVEN, Hoopeston, 111. Scovell Yalve Cut-off Smoker. Friends, if you want the handsomest and best in the market, send for the "Scovell Smoker." The fire barrel of my smoker is made of heavy tin, and is %M in. in diameter. The bellows is hinged at the back, making the strongest and most sensible joint in use. The boards are painted a beautiful vermil- ion red, and are nicely varnished. It burns all kinds of fuel, and will hold Are for hours. Price, by mail $1.15. Manufactured by H. SCOVELL, 6-8d Columbus, Cherokee Co., Kansas j6 pprlllustra d^ted Circular Sent Free! EVERETT BROTHERS, 107 lionise Street, Toledo, 0. QUINSY'S NEW BEE KEEPING, POST PAID, $1.50. QFUVBY BELLOWS SMOKERS, POST PAID, $1.00, $1.50, AND $1.75. Every thing in line of bee keeping supplies fur- nished promptly. Especial inducements offered to those desiring to purchase Books and /Smokers to sell again. For circular, address, 8d L. C. ROOT, Mohawk, N. Y. ELECTROTYPES ! One Electrotype Queen like this, postpaid by mail, 25c. A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. I SHALL continue to keep on hand, and offer at reasonable rates, a full variety of Bee-Keepers' Supplies; such as ITIiUli's All Metal Honey Extractors, Uncapping Knives, Wax Extractors, etc. Also Lang'stroth's Bee Hires, and any Parts thereof, 1 A' 2 lb. Square Glass Heney Jars, will* Tin Foil Caps and Labels, [Corks, Vi lb. Glass Tumblers, Fruit Jars, etc. Comb Foundation, Bee Veils, Gloves, Straw Mats, Alsike Clover, and a variety of Garden and Field Seeds, etc., etc. For further particulars, address CHAS. F. MUTH, 976 and 978 Central Ave., eom Cincinnati, O. STAMPS, RUBBER DATING AND AD- DRESSING, No. 1. Address only, like No. 1, $1.50; with bu- siness card, like No. 2, $2.00; with movable months and figures for dating, like No. 3, $3.00. Full otittit included— pads, ink, box, etc.i Sent by mail postpaid.] Without ink and pads," 50c less. Put your stamp on every card, letter, pa- per, hook, or anything else that you may send out by mail or express, and you will save your- No. 3. No. self and all who do business with you "a world of trouble." I know, you see. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. AN EXPERIENCED TEACHER, possessor of the most approved methods, wishes an engage- ment anywhere. Excellent references. Please ad- dress GEO. W. STEWART, 8 15'j9 Broadway, Brooklyn, N. Y. A FEW, RELIABLE, $1.00 QUEENS AT $1.00; Tested, $2.00. Bees $1.00 per lb. Heavy combs, 12x14 in., shipped with bees, 20 cents each. H. R. BOARDM AN, East Townsend, 8d Huron Co., Ohio. P IJKE TESTED ITALIAN QUEENS from select- ed mother, $2.00 each. Colonies at $7.00 each. Y. S. HALL, Plainville, 8-9d Gordon Co., Georgia. TT/\T>OT1 Send 25 cents in stamps or cur- 11 \J JCvOXi rency for a new HORSE BOOK. It treats all diseases, has 35 fine engravings showing positions assumed by sick horses, a table of doses, a T>t\f\TT large collection of VALUABLE DUUA RECIPES, rules for telling the age of a horse, with an engraving showing teeth of each year, and a large amount of other valuable horse in- formation. Dr. Wm. H. Hall says, 4,I have bought books that I paid $5 and $10 for which I do not like as well as I do yours." Send for a Circular. Agents Wanted. B. J. Kendall, M. D., Enosburgh Falls, Vt. For sale also at this office.— A. I. ROOT. FLAT BOTTOM COMB FOUNDATION. High side walls, 4 to 16 square feet to the pound. Circular and samples free. J. VAN DEUSEN & SONS, Sprout Brook, 7-8 Sole manufacturers. Mont. Co., N. Y. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BJEE TJLTUEE. 333 IMPLEMENTS FOR BEE CULTURE ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED. For description of the various articles, see our Nineteenth Edition Circular and Price List found in Apr. No., Vol. VII., or mailed on application. For directions Hoiv to Make all these various arti- cles and implements, see A 1!C of Bee Culture. This Price List to be taken in place of those of former date. Mailable articles are designated in the left hand column of figures ; the figures giving the amount of postage required. Canada postage on merchandize is limited to 8% oz., and nothing can be sent for less than 10 cents. 15 See ABC. For prices $ 10 (HI Alighting Board, detachable Part First Basswood trees for planting. see Price List Balances, spring, for suspended hive (60 lbs.) Barrels for honey 2 50 " " waxed and painted... . 3 50 Bees, per colony, from $7 to $16, for partic- ulars see price list Bee-Hunting box, with printed instructions 25 Binder, Emerson's, for Gleanings 50, 60, 75 Blocks, iron, for metal cornered frame ma- king 15 One of the above is given free with every 100 frames, or 1000 corners. 10 Burlap for covering bees. 40 in. wide, per yd 10 Buzz-Saw, foot-power, complete; circular with cuts free on application. Two saws and two gauges included 35 00 0 | Buzz-Saws, extra, 85c, to $3.50. See price list. The above are all filed, and set, and mailed any where 60 Buzz-Saw mandrel and boxes complete for 6 inch saws. No saws included 5 00 The same for 7 and 8 in. saws (not mailable) 7 00 Cages for queens, wood and wire cloth, provisioned. See price list 10 30 " " " perdoz 100 20 Candy for bees, can be fed at any season, per lb 15 0 Cards, queen registering, per doz 06 0 " " " per 100 40 60 Chaff cushions for wintering (see ABC)... 30 " " without the chaff 15 40 j Chaff cushion division boards 20 2 Cheese cloth, for strainers, per yard 06 10 Clasps for transferring, package of 100 25 Climbers for Bee-Hunting 2 50 Comb Basket, made of tin, holds 5 frames, has hinged cover and pair of handles 1 50 I Comb Foundation Machines complete $22 to 100 00 20 Corners, metal, per 100 50 20 " " top only, per 100 60 15 " " bottom, per 100 40 On 1,000 or more a discount of 10 per cent will be made, and on 10,000, 25 per cent. The latter will be given to those who advertise metal cornered frames. I Corners, Machinery complete for making $250 00 12 Duck, per yd 20 15 Enameled cloth, bees seldom bite and prop- olize it. Per yard, 45 inches wide, 20c. By the piece, (12 yards) 18 Extractors, according to size of frame, $6 50 to 10 00 " inside and gearing, including honey-gate 5 00 " Hoops to go around the top 50 " " perdoz 5 00 Feeder, Simplicity, (see price list) 1 pint 05 Feeders, 1 quart, tin, 10 The same, half size 05 The same, 6 qts, to be used in upper story 50 Files for small circular rip saws, new and valuable, 20c ; per doz. by express. . . " The same, large size, double above prices " 3 cornered, for cross-cut saws, 10c; doz Frames with sample Rabbet and Clasps . . . Galvanized iron wire for grapevine trellises per lb. (about 100 feet) Gates for Extractors tinned for soldering. . Gearing for Extractor with supporting arm Gleanings, Vol's I and II, each Vol's IV and V, each 100 Vol. Ill, second-hand 2 00 " first five neatly bound in one. . . 5 00 " " " unbound 4 00 2 00 1 00 10 20 50 1 25 5 0 IT, 1 00 3 00 25 E.j from 50c to $6 25 ; for particulars see ,ice list :ey Knives, straight or curved blade. . . 1 00 V2 doz 5 00 r,f •' " y2 doz by Express 4 75 abels for honey, from 25 to 50c per 100 ; for particulars see price list Lamp Nursery, for hatching queen cells as built Larvae, for queen rearing, from June to Sept Leather for smoker bellows, per side Lithograph of the Hexagonal Apiary Magnifying G lass, Pocket " " Double lens, brass on three feet Medley of Bee-Keeper's Photo's, 150 photo's Microscope, Compound, in Mahogany box Prepared objects for above, such as bees' wing, sting, eye, foot, &c, each Muslin, Indian head, for quilts and cush- ions, pretty stout, but not good as duck, per yard Opera Glasses for Bee-Hunting 5 00 Parafflne, for waxing barrels, per lb 25 Photo of House Apiary and improvements 25 Pump, Fountain, or Swarm Arrester 8 50 Queens, 25c to $6 00. See price list Rabbets, Metal, per foot 02 Salicylic acid, for foul brood, per oz 50 Saw Set for Circular Saws 75 Screw Drivers, all metal (and wrench com- bined) iy2 inch, 10c; 5 inch, 15c. Very nice for foot-power saws Scissors, for clipping queen's wings 40 Section boxes, fancy, hearts, stars, crosses, &c, each 05 Section Honey box, a sample with strip of fdn. and printed instructions Section boxes in the flat by the quantity, $6 00 per thousand and upwards, accord- ing to size ; for particulars, see price list. Case of 3 section boxes, showing the way in which the separators are used, suitable for any kind of hive, see price list Seed, Alsike Clover, raised near us, per lb . . " Catnip, good seed, per oz. 10c ; per lb. 11 Chinese Mustard, per oz '• Mellilot, or Sweet Clover, per lb " White Dutch Clover, per lb Motherwort, per oz. 10c; per lb 1 10 05 Mignonette, per lb. (20c per oz) 1 40 Simpson Honey Plant, per package 05 " " " peroz 50 18 " Silver Hull Buckwheat, per lb 10 " " " peck, by Express 75 Common " per peck 50 18 " Summer Rape. Sow in June and July, per lb 15 A small package of any of the above seeds will be sent for 5 cents. 5 | Sheets of Enameled cloth to keep the bees j from soiling or eating the cushions 10 | Shipping Cases for 48 section frames of honey 60 j The same for 24 sections, half above I prices. This size can be sent by mail in I the flat, for 75c Slate tablets to hang on hives 25 01 Smoker, Quinby's (to Canada 15c extra)l 50 & 1 75 25 75 Doolittle's, to be held in the mouth Bingham's $1 00; 1 50 ; Our own, see illustration in price list Tacks, tinned, per paper, (two sizes) 5 | Thermometers 0 Veils, Bee, with face of Brussels net, (silk) 75 The same, all of grenadine (almost as good) 50 Veils, material for, Grenadine, much stronger than tarlatan, 21 inches in width, per yard 20 Brussels Net, for face of vail, 29 inches in width, per yard 1 50 Wax Extractor 3 50 Copper bottomed boiler for above 1 50 Wire cloth, for Extractors, tinned, per square foot , 10 Wire cloth, for queen cages 10 Above is tinned, and meshes are 5 and 18 to the inch respectively 3 i Painted wire cloth, for shipping bees, 14 I mesh to the inch, per square foot 05 All goods delivered on board the cars here at prices named. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. 334 GLEAKI^g jjtN BEE CULTURE. Sept. W. Z. HUTCHINSCit . ROGERSVILLE, GENESEE CO., MICH., 1 , Makes a, Specialty of rearing DOLLAR QUEENS. All queens bred from an imported mother, and the cells built in full colonies. All queens in the apiary (except the imported queen) are daughters of imported mothers. No black bees in the vicinity. Single queen $1.00; six queens for $5.00; twelve or more, 75 cts. each. Safe arrival, by express guaran- teed. He has a stock of queens on hand, and can fill orders promptly. 8-10d I END $1.00 to E. B. Plunket, Atlanta, Ga., and ► receive a nice untested queen by mail. NOW IS THE TIME TO PROVIDE CHAFF HIVES FOR YOUR BEES TO WINTER IN. They not only pay their cost almost every winter, but they pay just as well for summer use. See what a friend writes on a postal. Mr. Boot:— What is your price for chaff hives, al- ready filled with boxes, such as Wm. T. Seal, of Chadd's Ford, got of you. Send me price list of hives, and price of 50 chaff hives. Bees have done well only in this kind of hive this summer, on. account of cold. It was too cold, in other hives, to stay nights in boxes. I want the frames to hold the one- lb. boxes. J. & J. T. Williamson. Dilworthtown, Chester Co., Penn., Aug. 24, '79. For 50 chaff hives or more, ordered during this present month, every thing in the flat, including nails and tin roof, I will make the price $1.30 each. This is for the hive for winter. For prices of the inside work (which you will not need until another season), also for prices of hives set up and painted, and for hives in lots less than 50, see price list. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. WW f A fWflfl Ours is guaranteed to be the best in WlwL'AUyfilfti the world. Catalogue free. 8-10 m»b iHMM W.W.Giles, 149 Clark st. Chicago, 111. I WILL sell, this fall, 100 stands of Black Bees, at $1.50 per stand. They are in Langstroth, Amer- ican, and International hives, which are well paint- ed. ROB'T QUINN, Shellsburg, Benton Co , la. SAVE YOUR FOWLS, and get price list of Italian Bees, Fancy Poultry, Ac, by addressing J. R. LANDES, 9d Albion, Ashland Co., O. GOLDEN ITALIANS! We have them in their purity. Circulars and Price List Free. J. M. BROOKS & BRO., 4-9 Columbus, lnd., Box 64. NOTICE. 1 will sell 100 colonies of bees during the month of September. For prices and particulars apply to 8-ffd GEO. GRIMM, Jefferson, Wis. A FEW, RELIABLE, $1.00 QUEENS AT $1.00; Tested, $2.00. Bees $1.00 per lb. Heavy combs, 12x14 in., shipped with bees, 20 cents each. H. R. BOARDM AN, East Townsend, 8-10d Huron Co., Ohio. CHEAP BEES. Fifty colonies <2C$4. E. A. GASTMAN, Decatur, Ills. Names of responsible parties will be inserted in either of the following departments, at a uniform price of 20 cents each insertion, or $2,00 per year. $1.00 Queens. Names inserted in this department the first time with- out charge. After, 20c each insertion, or $2,00 per year. Those whose names appear below agree to furnish Italian queens for $1,00 each, under the following conditions: No guarantee is to be assumed of purity, or anything of the kind, only that the queen be reared from a choice, pure mother, and had commenced to lay when they were shipped. They also agree to re- turn the money at any time "when customers become impatient of such delay as may be unavoidable. Bear in mind that he who sends the best queens, put up most neatly and most securely, will probably receive the most orders. Special rates for warranted and tested queens, furnished on application to any of the parties. Names with *, use an imported queen mother. If the queen arrives dead, notify us and we will send you another. Probably none will be sent before July 1st. If wanted sooner, see rates in price list. *E. W. Hale. Wirt C. H. W. Va. 1-12 *A. I. Rooti Medina, Ohio. *H. H. Brown, Light Street, Columbia Co., Pa. 7-9 *E. M. Hayhurst, Kansas City, Mo. 1-12 *J. M. C. Taylor, Lewiston, Fred. Co., Md. 1-12 *Paul L. Viallon, Bavou Goula, La. 8tld *J. Oatman & Sons, Dundee, Kane Co., 111. -2-1 Miller & Hollam. Kewaskum, Wash Co., Wis. 4-4 *D. A. McCord, Oxford, Butler Co., O. 4-9 *.T. T. Wilson, Mortonsville, Woodford Co. Ky 4-4 *S. D. Moore, Atlanta, Ga. 5-10 ♦Amos Johnson, Sugar Grove, Warren Co., Pa. 5-10 H. S. Elkins, Kennedy, N. Y. 5-10 J. L. Bowers, Berryville, Clarke Co., Va. 7-12 *J. H. Martin, Hartford, Wash. Co., N. Y. 7-9d *T. G. McGaw, Monmouth. Warren Co., Ills. 7-., the purchas- er being required to bear all express charges. Safe arrival guaranteed. [Express Cos. have promised to return cages to owners free of charge, if made very light.— Ed.] H. R. Boardman, East Townsend, Ohio. 8-10d J. E. Vanmeter, Emison, Knox Co., lnd. 9-10 A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. IMPORTED QUEENS Just received. Price $5.00. Safe arrival guaran- teed. MISS M. ANDREWS, Medina, Ohio. ITALIAN BEES FOR SALE. I will sell 100 colonies of pure Italian Bees, in Sep- tember and October, for $3.50 per colony. Bees are in movable frame hives. W. A. EDDY, 9 East on, Adams Co., Wis. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 33o THE A B C of BEE CULTURE, FOR several years, it bas been my ambition to be able to write a book on bee culture, so clear and plain that not only any boy or girl, but even an old man or woman, with the book and a hive of bees, could learn modern bee culture, and make a fair, paying business, even the first season. This is a great undertaking, I grant; and it will require some one with far greater wisdom than mine, to do it the first time trying. After watching beginners, and an- swering their questions almost constantly, for years, I came to the conclusion, that the only way to do it was to "cut and try," as carpenters say, when they can't get the exact dimensions of the article they wish to make. To cut and try on the ABC book, I have invested over $2,000 in type, chases, etc., sufficient to keep my whole book standing constantly in type, that can be changed at a moment's notice. The books are printed only as fast as wanted, and just as soon as I see I have omitted anything, or have made any mis- take, the correction is made before any more books are sent out. To show you how it works, and how it succeeds, I will give you an illustration. A beginner writes to know if it is of any use to keep a queen, after she is eighteen days old and does not lay. Now I know very well that a queen should lay when from ten days to two weeks old; and also, that they will sometimes not commence until they are three weeks old, and then make good queens. Now, although I directed that they should be tossed up in the air, to see if their wings were good, when they did not lay at two weeks of age, I did not say, if their wings proved to be good, how long we should keep them. If I could spare the time of the colony, I would keep a good looking queen that could fly well, until she is 25 days old; if crowded for a place to put cells, I would kill all that do not lay at 18 or 20 days old. I have just put the above in the A B C, and that is just the way I am going to keep doing. You see, you beginners are, ultimately, to build up the book. Hope the new shop will be as great a success as the ABC has been; for I consider it of more bene- fit to persons going in the business than anything yet published. K. N. McIntyre. Daytona, Fla., Dec. 28, 1878. The book, as it is now, contains abotit 275 pages and about 175 engravings. It is furnished complete in one, or in 5 different parts. The contents and prices are as follows: Part First, will tell you all about the latest im- provements in securing and Marketing Honey, the new 1 B>. Section Honey Boxes, mak- ing Artificial Honey Conib. Candy for Bees, Ree Hunting, Artificial Swarming, Bee Moth, &c, &c. Part Second, tells all about Hire Making, Diseases of Bees, Drones, How te Make an Extractor, Extracted Honey, Feeding and Feeders, Foul Brood, etc, etc. Part Third, tells all about Honey Comb, Hon- ey Be w, Hybrids, Italianizing, King Birds, The Locust Tree. Movin&r Bees, The Lamp Nursery, mignonnctte, Milkweed, Mother- wort, Mustard, Nucleus, Pollen, Pro- polis, and Queens. Part, Fourth tells all about Rape, Raspberry, Ratan, Robbing, Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, Sage, Smokers, including instructions for making with illustrations. Soldering, Sour- wood, Stings, Sumac, Spider Honor, Sun- flower, Swarming, Teasel, Toads, Trans- ferring, and Turnip. Part Fifth tells about Uniting Bees, Veils, Ventilation, Vinegar, Wax, Water for Bees, White wood, and Wintering. It also includes a Glossary of Terms and Abbrevia- tions used in Bee Culture. PT~A11 are Profusely Illustrated with En- gravings. Nothing Patented. Bither one will be mailed for 25c; Vi doz., $1.25; 1 doz., $2.26; 40, $6.00. The five parts bound in one, in paper, mailed, for $1.00. At wholesale, same price as Gleanings, with which it may be clubbed. One copy, $1.00; three copies, $2.50; five copies, $3.75; ten copies, $6.00. The same neatly bound in cloth, with the covers neatly embellished in embossing and gold, one copy, $1.25; three copies, $3.25; five copies, $5.00; ten copies, $8.50. If ordered by freight or Express, the postage may be deducted, which will be 3c on each 25c book, 10c on the complete book in paper, and 12c each, on the complete book in cloth. A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. 336 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Sept. Contents of this Number. Scraps and Sketches. No. 9. Eight Queens with One Swarm ! 337 Age of Bees 337 From an A B C Scholar. Are They Pure Ital- ians? .338 Just What I Did in the Chase for Tnat Honey 339 Description of R. Wilkin's Apiary 340 California as a Bee Keeping State 342 Our Own Apiary and Honey Farm: Robbing— A novel way of stopping it: Introducing Queens Again; Box Hive Bee Keepers; How Bees "iMake" Honey 342 How Rape Succeeds in Kansas; Also a Caution About Shipping Bees 345 Importance of Keeping Hives Free from Un- pleasant Odors, and Antipathy of Bees to the Smell of Coal Oil 345 Removing a Frame from the Centre of a Hive for Wintering; Also a Match Box Attached to a Smoker 346 Honey Dew, Mellilot Clover, &c 346 Foul Brood 347 Extra Thick Combs for the Extractor, &c 347 Our Cartoon for Sept. ; Impending Bankruptcy. . .347 Home Made Comb Foundation; Also Fdn. Made by the Single Operation of Dipping; Start- ers Made and Fastened in the Sections at One Operation 348 Wintering; Continued from May No 310 Pictures of Apiaries; E. A. Sheldon's Apiary, Independence, Iowa 370 Bees That Did Not Swarm, and What to Do with Them ; Also Something About Winter- ing Epidemic 371 Removing Wax and Propolis by Steam 371 BEE BOTANY AND ENTOMOLOGY. Queen of the Prairie (Spiraea rosea) 345 Bugs— Are They Enemies to Bees; Lippia No- diflora; Rice Corn 346 BOX HIVE DEPARTMENT. Black Bees versus Italians 318 HEADS OF GRAIN. Report from an A B C Scholar; Shade from Grape Vines the First Season; Handling Bees Often; Coal Cinders and Sand around the Entrances; Newly Made Fdn.; How to Use Black Bees in an Apiary; How to Start an Apiary Without Any Money 357 Introducing a Queen with y2\b. of Bees; Sepa- rators and Cheap Fdn. Machines; Queen Rearing in Florida, &c.; Can an Impregna- ted Queen Deposite Drone Eggs in Worker Comb V 358 Too Much Pollen Again; Black Bees Being Robbed by a Neighbor's Italians; A Queen Whose Eggs Won't Hatch; More About the Simpson Honey Plant 350 More About Black Hats and Getting Stings: How to Fasten Fdn. in a Frame, and How to Make a Brush for Melted Wax; Cheap Sections Made of Veneer; How Much Food Do Bees Need on a Journey? How to Se- cure Straight Combs; Why the Bees Don't Work, Getting Lower Combs out of Chaff Hi ve, &c 360 Two Queens in One Hive; Queen Cells by Mail, also Queens by Mail; A Home Made Queen Nursery; From Shadow to Sunshine; The Century Plant and Flowering Yucca; Ten- ement Hives 361 LADIES' DEPARTMENT. Feeding Colonies Through on Sugar Syrup, to Save Them from Brimstone, &c 341 NOTES AND QUERIES. What Ails the Bees? and How to Cure 'Em; The New Cone on the Cold Blast Smoker; Queens by Mail versus Express; A Good Reason for Needing a Smoker; How Does a Queen Know Her Own Hive? Sowing Buckwheat Early; Bees That Won't Work or Swarm; Simpson Honey Plant Again 362 Charity; A Beginner; Feeding Too Much for Safety to the Brood; Why Did They Swarm? What Advertisements Are Suitable for a Bee Journal? An Improvement on the Cold Blast Smoker; Sugar Syrup versus Honey for Winter Stores; Novice's Dove- tailed Sections in Louisiana; Report from Texas 363 BOYS' DEPARTMENT. 369 THE SMILERY. 369 THE GROWLERV. 369 HUMBUGS AND SWINDLES. Gillespie, Mrs. Cotton, and Mitchell 371 HONEY COLUMN. 372 EDITORIAL. Hunter's Manual on Bee Keeping; Fdn. Mills for Thick Side Walls; The Shinsrle-Chaff- Tenement-Hive; Arc There Hybrid Queens in Italy? 361 The Sweet Pepper, Clelhra alnifolia; Troubles in regard to Mail Matter; What you are to Do with the Bees This Month 372 Have to-day, Aug. 28th, 4,403 subscribers, which is 13 less than we had last month. I wonder if I would not better get up a little earlier mornings, and stir around a little faster after I am up. Sec if I don't do better next time. 16 oage Illustrated Circular Sent Free. EVERETT BROS., 107 Monroe St„ Toledo, Ohio. M QUEENS! QUEENS! "m We can supply very large, very yellow, extra pro- lific, and pure queens, by mai?, at $1.00 each. All from imported mothers. Ten per cent off above prices by the dozen. Circulars giving our method for raising pure queens sent free. 9d H. ALLEY', Wenham, Mass. LEWIS SECTIONS, ALL IN ONE PIECE. Owing to the many sizes of sections in use, we can not manufacture largely in advance, and in the honey season we can not supply the demand; so we will sell the celebrated Lewis section, of white bass- wood, nicely finished and sandpapered, of any size up to 6x6 or its equivalent, until Dec. 1st, at the low price of $8.50 per 1000, cash accompanying the order. Wc claim this section to be the finest in the world, mill a small boy can put together 6000 per <'«;/• Send 5 cents for model of section. 9d LEWIS & PARKS, Watertown, Wis. BUILD UP Y0U3 LIGHT SWARMS. A pound of black bees and an Italian Queen for $1.75. Bees without queens, 75 cts. Queens, $1.; or with one lb. of Italian bees, $2.50. J. H. MARTIN, Hartford, Wash. Co., N. Y. DEVOTED TO BEEH A-IND HONEY, A1VI> HOME INTERESTS. Vol. VII. SEPTEMBER 1, 1879. No. 9. A. I. ROOT, Publisher and Proprietor Medina, O. •} Published Monthly. Established, in 1873 TERMS: «1.00 Per Annum in Ad- vance; 3 Copies for $2.50; 5 for 93.75; ' ~ oi more, 60c. each. Single Number, 10c. (TI \ va ,llO SCRAPS AND SKETCHES. NO. 9. EIGHT QUEENS WITfl ONE SWARM ! 3 STOPPED the other day at neighbor Wilson's, and had a chat with him. As he keeps bees, of — ' course we "talked bees." Says friend W., "Will," how many queens did you ever see with a swarm of bees?" "I never allow my bees to swarm, consequently I have never had any experience in seeing- several queens with one swarm; but I have read of an in- stance in which half a dozen queens were seen with an after swarm." "Well," says he, "I am a little ahead of that. Last July, I shook a second swarm in front of a hive, and as they were going in, I saw a queen go in; I thought, 'There, the queen is in all right, any way.' A minute or two afterwards, as I was looking at the entrance, I saw a queen enter, and wondered if the queen had left the hive and was now going in again. Pretty soon, I again saw a queen entering, and then, as the thought struck me that there might be more than one queen, I began to watch in earnest; and, if you will believe it, there were eight queens, in all, that I saw enter the hive." "Is it possible?" "Yes; it is not only possible, but it is a fact. Now, sometime, when you are writing an article for Gleanings, don't you think you could 'write this up?' " "Oh yes, certainly," said I, "and now tell me an- other." "Tell you another? Well, did you ever have any trouble with BEES DESERTING TnElK HIVE IN JULY?" "No; I never did." "Well, I had a first swarm that had nearly filled its hive with honey and brood, when, one day, they came out and left for parts unknown, without stop- ping to cluster, or even so much as to say good-bye. There was scarcely a bee left in the hive. Some of the brcod was nearly ready to hatch, while there was a large quantity of unsealed brood, which soon began to crawl out of the cells. Tn order to save it, I was obliged to furnish nurses by taking bees from other hives." "Is that so? Bees do indeed have strange freaks sometimes, don't they? Well, I must go on over to Mr. Kroll's. Come and see me when you can. Good day." BEES ON A RAMPAGE. I had a good "bee chat" at friend Kroll's, and, just before I came away, Mrs. K. related an experience with their bees, which very nearly equals the "ram- page" described in the extract that you give on page 20 of the present volume. One very good thing about it is, she knew what caused the trouble. It was not "snakes." I wish I could describe it in Mrs. K's graphic manner, but I will not attempt it, as I should probably make a "botch" of it. The best I can do is to tell it in my own very common place language. I do not remember the month when it occurred, but it was sometime in autumn, when some boys, who had been playing in the granary, went off and left the door open. It did not take the bees long to find some jars of extracted basswood honey standing in the granary, neither did it take them long to bite holes in the paper that was fastened over the tops of the jars. The honey had been allowed to come in contact with the paper, or perhaps there might have been no trouble. Mrs. K. thinks, when she first discovered the pilfering, pillaging throng, there must have been, at least, a good swarm of them in the building. She closed the door, and in a few minutes the whole front of the building was black with bees. They soon found that they could get no more honey, and then "squads" of them began to come into the house and sting the children, and raise a "rumpus" generally. At about this stage of the proceedings, Mrs. K. drove them out of the house with smoke, and then built a big "smudge" outside, near the door. But the bees were not to be balked in this manner. Their "dander" was up, and they were going to fig"ht something. If they couldn't fight folks, they would fight among themselves; and so they "pitched in," and before they really felt sat- isfied they had "cleaned out" some half a dozen col- onies "slick and clean." I think Mr. K. made one wrong- move, and that was, when a colony was at- tacked, he would carry it to a new location. I should think that such a course would not only de- prive the removed stock of its army of flying bees, which would be its best defenders, but it would mix up and demoralize the bees, and make "confusion worse confounded." W. Z. Hutchinson. Kogersville, Mich. \<. i; OF BEES. MOTHING in the bee business has given us more pleasure than experimenting to ascertain the different ages of bees, and the different offices they perform at certain ages, when in a normal condition. When these conditions are not 388 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Sept. complied with, the colony is thrown out of balance, and then it is that bees will perform nearly every of- fice of the hive at nearly every age, even to laying eggs, which office is usually restricted to the queen. In these experiments, we have found that queens reared under the swarming impulse attain the aver- age age of fonr yeans, even under the forcing pro- cess of spreading the brood. We had one which lived to be nearly six years old, laying proliflcly till within about three months of her supersedure. The worker bee rarely attains to a longer life than 45 days, during the months of June, July, Aug., and Sept., while those hatched in Sept. live till the next May, if not injured by our winters. The life of the drone is about the same as that of the worker, under favorable conditions, but a very precarious life he lives; for, if a scarcity of honey prevails, and the hives are not fed by the apiarist, the drones are un- mercifully driven from the hive or killed by the workers. Friend Salisbury tells us, on page 299, Aug. No., that the drone does not live one half the length of time the worker does, and cites, as proof, his experiments with a nucleus. Does not friend Salisbury know that drones have the privilege of entering, unmolested, any hive where their own drones are allowed to remain? and that, if they are driven from one hive, they are allowed to enter another that retains its drones? Such is our experi- ence. A nucleus having a queen just fertilized has no more need of drones, and persecutes them till they leave; or, if they persist in staying, kills them. With an isolated hive, our position, that drones live about 45 days during the worker season, can be proven. That drones live over the winter we have proven by twice having our hives so plentifully filled with honey, as to have drones flying every fine day during the fall and winter, the excess of honey causing the bees to allow them to live as long as life held out. It was really amusing to hear their merry hum from many hives during February and March. As the pleasant days of April came on, they gradually grew less and less, till all were gone about the middle of that month. G. M. Doolittle. Borodino, N. Y., Aug. 6, '79. — » l«i 4 FROM ANABC SCHOLAR. HAVE just been reading Gleanings for Aug. and enjoyed the cartoon therein very much. I thought I recognized in it the visions and dreams of a young man about my size and looks, especially as to the large fine queens he was unable to find. I have one colony in which I have been un- able to discover her majesty, although I have looked several different times for her. The stock is very strong, and besides I cannot keep the hive open very long now, on account of the robbers. I am going to send to you for some queens before long, and then she will be somewhat like the honey in the clover which friend Hasty talks about, "We have got to have it." The mortality among bees in my vicinity the last winter and spring has been fully H or J£, especially among farmers and box*hive men ; and even those who try to put away their bees in the most approved way, have not been exempt from severe losses. I packed my 12 swarms last fall in chaff , and they all came through till spring rficely, when three took to dwindling, and kept It up till I had to break them up entirely. Of my other nine, eight were good and one very weak. The weak one contained the queen you sent me last fall; but, with care and attention, I soon built it up to a prosperous colony, and they have done well. I have now 20 strong swarms, all Italians and hybrids. I have taken but very little honey so far, as I did not aim for that so much as to increase my stock with safety; but, should we have a good fall supply, I've got the bees to take advan- tage of it. Bees did very well while the white clover lasted, which was fully two weeks shorter than last- year. They are now making about a living on mel- lllot. ARE THEY PURE ITALIANS? In the summer of 1876, 1 cut a swarm of bees from a troe. They wintered nicely, and the next spring were a strong, prosperous swarm. The progeny of the queen were from pure blacks to one and two banded Italians. In the summer of 1877, I raised one queen from her brood. This queen showed slight marks of Italian blood, and her workers were very good Italians. This stock swarmed in June, 1878, from which I saved six queen cells. These queens were better marked than their mother, and the bees from about half of these queens were still an Improvement on the last old stock. This year, on June 17th, one of the best of these queens led out a very large swarm from this old stock. I have three young queens whose brood are now out. One of these queens is just as bright yellow as any queen I ever saw, and her progeny are all very bright, three banded bees, much brighter than from my tested queen. Of course, I do not know what kind of drones these several succeeding queens met, but, from their bees, should think they met Italian drones. The question I wish to ask is, are these last named bees pure Italians or not, starting as they did from the bees I got from the woods? I am sure they would deceive the most experienced eye, if they did not know their pedigree. I have a curious phenomenon to report; at least, I have never heard of any thing of the kind before. I had a small, observing, glass hive, in which there was an unfertile queen. One afternoon, I chanced to see this queen fly out to meet the drones. In about twenty minutes, back she came with the evi- dences of impregnation attached to her. I saw her every day for the next week, with this white mass still clinging to her, but not so much as at first. After the third day, I saw her try repeatedly to lay (at least, she would go through the same movements other queens make while laying), but never laid an egg. Well, after a week, I thought I would play doctor and try a surgical operation. So I caught the queen and held her by the wings, with my left hand, while, with my thumb and fore finger of my right hand, I extracted this white substance. It was quite tenacious, and I had to give it quite a little pull. This did not seem to hurt the queen, for when I let her go she run on the comb and among the bees the same as usual. She still did not lay any eggs, and in three or four days I found her outside the hive dead. Whether the bees killed her or not I do not know. I would like to know if you ever had a similar case, and what was the cause of it? I would like to tell you about the real, live fun I had the other day, cutting a bee tree; but I know I've tried your patience already. J. W. Keeran. Bloomington, 111., Aug. 6, 1879. The bees you mention, friend K., of course, are not pure, for you state yourself that you know they contain black blood; but, for honey, they are, probably, just as 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 339 good as Italians. Should we attempt to rear queens from them, however, we should had the old black blood cropping out every now and then. It is on this account, principally, that I have advised using an imported queen, and no other, for Italianizing an api- ary. I have seen queens carry the append- age you mention several days, but it always disappears by the time they commence to lay. I always like to hear about cutting bee trees, but I like better to be one of the crowd. JUST WHAT I DIDINTHE CHASE FOR THAT HONEY. BEFORE I had finished writing the article about improving- the red clover, I began to keep my promise to do some practical work in the matter. For years, I have always had some plant or plants in hand, trying to teach them the way in which they should grow, and work of that sort is especially fascinating to me. I would tell about some of these efforts, only 'twould make this article so abominably long. Well, I went for the clover fields, inspected, dissected, reflected, rejected, se- lected,—now for a few hours, then for a few hours, and then again by and by, until nine elected clovers stood all prim in a row in the garden. Did they live? Avaunt! Foolish question. They bloomed on, and grew, and ripened seed, as if nothing worse than Thanksgiving Day had transpired. Secret; a big hunk of solid earth, and plenty of water. Clover No. 10 was afterward discovered and accepted, but not transplanted, as it had plenty of ripe seed on it already. All the ten have distinct qualities. No. 1 has a large, beautiful head, No. 10 a little bit of a head, No. 5 a head that keeps blooming for a week or two, beginning at the base and going slowly to the sum- mit. A believer in wedlock is clover No. 2, as its blooms grow side by side in pairs; it has also a curious eccentricity which it would take too many words to describe. Nos. 6 and 7 are pale red and deep red clovers, chosen for being as ordinary as possible in all respects except the shortness of the tubes. No. 8, like Saul, stood head and shoulders above his fellows. No. 9 is the pet, the shortest tubed of all, and clothed in peculiar and delicately tinted apparel. On "Freedom's Day" I had four kinds of seed ripe enough to plant, and all the others by July 10th. Starting little fine seeds in midsummer is "kittle wark." Did I drill them an inch deep, and then leave them to the tender mercies of drouth and blazing sun? Not so. A nine foot row of little- stakes the size of a pencil, and seven inches apart, deployed at right angles from each clover. The ground was thoroughly soaked. Each seed lay in just such a position by its stake. A five inch board mounted on bricks gave shade at noon, and let the sun under morning and night. In six das-s, the sec- ond generation of improved clover was making a cheerful show of itself. To-day, Aug. m 4 to 6 weeks. I don't know whether rice-corn is a proper name for it or not. Lemoore, Cal., July 8, 1879. O. E. Coon. We sent the seed to the American Agri- culturist, and the editor replies as follows : Several varieties of Sorghum vulgarc or Durra corn are cultivated in California, differing in the size and shape of the panicle, and size and whiteness of the grain. So far as can be told from the grain alone, this appears to be what one of our seedsmen, W. H. Carson, 125 Chambers St., received from Cal. as "China Corn." So far as honey producing quali- ties go, I doubt if there is much difference between the varieties, though to use as food, the whitest is no doubt the best. Whether that offered by Mr. Carson as "China Corn" is known generally by that name, I cannot say; but you can procure from him, under that name, what appears to be identical with your sample. George Thurber. New York, July 16, 1879. REMOVING A FRAME FROM THE CEN- TRE OF THE HIVE FOR WINTERING. ALSO A MATCH BOX ATTACHED TO A SMOKER. fWAS thinking while working with my bees to- day, that it would be a good plan to take out the centre frame in the fall, so as to give them more room there, and, if they would occupy it, it would make the cluster larger and they would not be so apt to chill. Bees wintered very poorly here last winter. I had three colonies left out of 16. I now have 9, but won't get much honey. It was so cold and dry all the spring, until about the middle of June, that they only gathered about enough for brood. My hopes were about blasted, but I believe in "Try, Try, again." I have transferred quite a number of box hives during the last two summers, and have two copies of Gleanings coming here, and one about 6 miles from here, in Wayne Co. Two years ago they did not know what a movable frame hive was. I have also got two of your Simplicity smokers going around here, and one of them has got the small piece of sandpaper on it. I showed the owner the little tin match box I have on mine, and he thought that beat the sand paper. I have one of your extractors (bought it of Nellis), and extracted 140 lb . of honey from one hive last year and took three swarms from it besides. They had also over 20 lb. when they froze to death last winter. I used about 201b. of fdn. last summer, and the people all like it, but I don't need any this summer, as I have lots of frames of nice combs. Moscow, Pa., July 23, 1879. S. J. Hinds. The idea of removing one of the central comhs is a very old one. It succeeds, I be- lieve, but probably is no especial advantage, or it would have been retained by those who advocated it. In a hive whose combs are tilled solid with honey, it might be a benefit; but where the honey is rather thinly scatter- ed through the combs, it would do a positive harm. I have several times lost colonies by having a comb in the centre only partly built out when they went into winter quar- ters. In fact, my first queen, for which I paid Mr. Langstroth $20., was lost the second winter in that way. You see this would not be quite as bad as leaving out a comb entire- ly. The trouble was that the bees consumed all the honey on one side, and were unable to pass over this space to the other side during a zero temperature. I have studied considerably on a match box to be attached to the smoker, but have as yet been unable to get anything durable, and sufficiently out of the way to suit me. HONEY t)K \V, MEL.LILOT CLOVER, ETC. fjiHlS has been the dryest year, up to the present time, that I ever witnessed in my life; but it has been very good for bees, up to the first of July. Since then they have not done so well. Through the month of June, there was the most honey dew I ever saw, and bees have made the most candied honey. Almost all the old bee raisers prophesy that the bees will all die off next winter on account of candied honey. They say they don't think the bees can eat it. I would like to hear from you in Gleanings concerning it, and also as to the cause of their making so much candied honey. I have received a circular advertising seed of a bee plant that is called Mellilot clover. They say it stands drouth and frost, and grows on any soil, wet or dry, in any climate, north, south, east, or west. One acre will support 20 hives of bees and yield 500 to 1000 lbs. of surplus honey, I want to hear what you have to say about it. John G. W. Sewell. Iron Rock, Ga., July 19, 1879. Your candied honey, whether it is ob- tained from honey dew or other sources, is virtually grape sugar, and is no better or worse than grape sugar for wintering. The principal, and, in fact, the only, difficulty with either is the propensity to candy ; but this will do no harm in warm weather, or at a time when the bees can fly out to get wa- ter to mix with it. No matter how hard it may seem in the combs, it is all used up in warm weather. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 347 I very much doubt whether an acre of mellilot ever produced -500 lbs. of honey. The statement you refer to was first made by one who introduced the seed and had it for sale, and it has been very extensively copied by those having it for sale. We have an acre of mellilot on our farm, and I am going to make some experiments on it, but it will be very hard to get at even approxi- mate results, I am afraid. FOIL BROOD. ^5P SHOULD advise any man who has become satis- Jt([ fled that there is foul brood among his bees to ' — ' destroy every one, get what wax can be got, and start again. From my experience, I would not bother with a swarm 5 minutes. I have tried sali- cylic acid and borax and carbolic acid; have brim- stoned and froze the combs; but all amounted to nothing with mc. I have had all the experience that I ever wish to have with it. If any body wants to experiment, I could furnish them bees, as I know where there were three different lots of bees that were diseased one and two years ago. I cleaned mine out last spring, and commenced with some new bees. The diseased one3 mentioned are some 8 and 10 miles away owned by old fogies who do not believe in these new notions. One man wanted to sell me his bees. I was suspicious, and told him I thought his bees were diseased, and described the comb to him, if foul brood was present. The bees were in old fashioned Langstroth hive3 or a modification of them. In the first hive I opened, I found what I supposed was there,— foul brood. That was enough; they had been fighting, and had swarmed but little all summer. There ought to be a law to shut such fellows up. M. L. Spencer. Little Genesee, N. Y., Feb. 25, 1879. That foul brood is a terrible thing in an apiary, I am well aware, friend S., and I think it well to impress it upon the minds of our ABC class, most emphatically ; but, al- though I have never had any experience with the disease myself, I am sure, from what others say. it can be got rid of, and without killing the bees too. See remarks in the ABC. ^ ■>■ » EXTRA THICK COITIBS FOR THE EX- TRACTOR, ETC. Si MADE some experiments with thick combs, but, about that time I turned my attention exclu- — ' sively to section honey, and, in fact, sold my thick combs without extracting, for a dollar apiece. I used all wood frames, 78 in., two being bradded to- gether with a sheet of fdn. between them. When filled, they were about 1& in. thick, and the honey was most beautiful, pronounced, by my customers, superior to sections. I found that brood would be put in the lower edge, although they hung 2 in. apart from center to center. "Hans" has tried gradually spreading common brood combs in upper story, to secure thick combs, and succeeds in get- ting them even 2 inches thick, and finds no fault with them except that they are apt to get broken with only 78 in. of wood around them. Bees will, in my opinion, refill and evaporate honey In a deep cell, as easily as in any other. I rejoice with you in the success of Gleanings. There is only one drawback; there is such a large company of us now that we don't seem to get so well acquainted with each other, and I miss the letters from Doolittle, Dadant, and others I might name, who went off in a huff. Give us a cold blast attach- ment to the old Simplicity smoker, and a telephone with wire from bee yard to house or shop, that shall warn us of swarms issuing. K. L. Joiner. Wyoming, Wis., Mar. 15, 1879. I am inclined to think you are right, friend J., about the bees evaporating the honey as well from thick combs, as from very thin ones. Some of the most rapid storing I have ever known was in those very thick combs, and it seemed to me, the bees were especially active, just because they were proud of such pounds of honey. I know there are a great many of us now- adays, but do you not think, friend J., there is more wisdom in so many heads, even if a great part of the heads are ABC scholars V Perhaps, I have not managed well at all times, but I have certainly tried to do what was wisest and best for us all. T has been said, that a pipe and tobacco is the poor man's solace and comfort. It makes him forget his cares and tends to make him satisfied with his lot in life, &c. Our friend, Merrybanks, who has entrust- ed the salewof his honey on commission to one of the above mentioned individuals, concludes, after a survey of the premises, that he prefers a man for an agent, who does not forget his "cares," and who is not satis- fied with his "lot in life ;" especially, when said "lot" comprises the existing "circum- stances" shown in the window above, and while his posessions seem so palpably taking "wings to themselves" and flying away. 3i$ GLEANINGS IN BEE OULTUEE. Sept. \cm %ih |^«-%€ni BLACK BEES VERSUS ITALIANS. ^jjjfi AST spi-ing, I moved from the great State of MJ\\ Ohio, to Holliday's Cove, W. Va., and here, *—*\ among other relies of the dark ages, I found an apiary of nearly all pure black bees. This apiary is manned by Mr. Wm. Griffith, an honest old bache- lor, who does not take much stock in "new fangled fixtures about bees". Mr. G. uses the old fashioned box hives, of course, to match his bees, and has a "bee shed" for them, where they are all jammed up within whispering distance of each other, altogether contrary to the rules of bee-etiquette nowadays. On examination, I found his bees in splendid con- dition, notwithstanding there was a hole two inches square in the top of every hive right over the clus- ter, and left open into the "top boxes", all winter, with no protection to the hives, save the bee shed, which is merely a roof of boards. Now, if 1 had come in possession of that lot of bees last fall, I should most certainly have carefully closed that big hole in the top, to save all the animal heat possible, and would have "tinkered 'em muchly;" but, would that have done any good? or would they have come out better in the spring? It has been a long time since I kept black bees, and, from reading the bee journals and my own prejudice against them, I had about brought myself to the conclusion that black bees could not make any more honey than would answer to keep up their miserable existence; but it has been a source of great annoyance to me, this whole season, to see those old bob-tail black bees of Mr. Griffith's keeping away ahead of my pet Italians both in numbers and in surplus honey; and such honey, too, just as white as snow! Yes, sir: they trotted out the first swarms in the neighborhood, and, actually, the miserable looking old fogies fin- ished up their top boxes several days before any Italians about here. Now, I should like to know what we are going to do about this. Vote 'em a nui- sance, eh? I have bought a swarm of these blacks, and, next season, if all goes well, I shall give them eighty to one hundred sections, and "try their bot- tom" as we do our Italians. I have a good many colonies in chaff hives that have eighty and eighty-eight sections full, notwith- standing we have had a poor season. Had Mr. G's blacks been given an abundance of room like our bees, I cannot say how near they would have come to making as much per colony as our Italians, but judge from their strength and the rapidity with which they filled their fifteen pound boxes, they would have done as well as the Italians. I hate the looks of black bees. I am prejudiced against them, and when I find a colony of them fully up to, or a "leetle" ahead of, our nice, bright Italians, with all our chaff packing, chaff pillows, &c, &c, I just feel a good deal like kicking that hive over, and telling the owner, if he wants to get any good of his bees, he would better have them Italianized, transferred into a good chaff hive, and then his bees would be in shape to do him some good. I want to say, while I am on this subject, that it is my opinion that to pro- duce the best all-purpose-bee, you should have pure black queens fertilized by Italian drones, and then you will not need to grumble about bees not work- ing in surplus boxes. I expect to get a good many knocks across the knuckles for this doctrine, since it is not in perfect harmony with the Italian queen business; but let them come. There will be more to the front when I get wound up. Holliday's Cove, W. Va. J. A. Buchanan. It seems impossible to keep up this de- partment all the time, but about once in so often, some body comes round to»give it a lift. Eriend B. has, at least, given us a strong illustration of the importance of plenty of upward ventilation, during a win- ter like the past one. He has also given us a report from an energetic strain of blacks ; but I think we shall have to admit such cases are the exception, and not the rule. If I am wrong, Why is not this department kept up, and why do its advocates all sub- side and go back to the Italians, sooner or later. Suppose, friend B., you start an apiary of hybrids, or pure blacks, if you choose, and get rich selling honey. HOME HIAPE COMB FOUNDATION. ALSO FDN. MADE BY THE SINGLE OPERATION OF DIP- PING. MR. A. I. Root:— I send you to-day a sample of comb fdn., such as I have been using this " summer, which I make myself. You remem- ber that, sometime last winter, I sent to you for some fdn. with which to experiment. It broke up badly, but I got a piece of brood fdn. about five in- ches square, and from that I cast plaster plates, and from plaster, cast lead plates, the lead being made some harder by adding pewter, and from one lead one, cast another, so as to have a pair to fit each other. Both together are just as thick as a type is long. These I wedge up in my press, a "Quarto Novelty," and print out fdn. When I want larger sheets I make several impressions on the same sheet. The first sheet made, I put into a hive, and, after 48 hours, found it about y2 an inch thick and full of eggs. For drone fdn. to put into sections, I engraved a cigar box cover, and dip starters. Of course, one side of the fdn. is not perfect, but the bees seem to work it just as well. I made a couple of engraving tools cut of an old clock spring, like these: \z The first cuts like this, and the last finishes. With a little practice and sharp points, a nice plate can be made. I send a little piece as sample. I have been thinking that to make these dipping plates of wood, a couple of cast iron plates might be made, and hinged so as to be heated. Then let thin wood be put between them while hot, and burnt so that it will do. If this can be done, and I think it can (if I was con- venient to a foundry, I'd try it immediately), they might be made and sold for 5 or 10 cents, or, perhaps, to cover mailing, &c, 25cts., and large enough to make— say four starters, two on each side. I can cut one out of wood in about an hour. After read- ing the "Home Papers" for nearly two years, I think you will rejoice if something of this kind can be done. Geo. C. Green. Factoryville, Penn., July 21, 1879. STARTERS MADE AND FASTENED IN THE SECTIONS AT ONE OPERATION. I send you a sample of dipping plates for starters in sections. I have used them sufficiently to give them a thorough test. They are durable and very cheap, and make a very pretty starter. In using, keep them moist on a wet cloth, dip in melted wax, set them in the top of the section, bevel edge next to the frame, pour just a little melted wax along the angle of the frame and plates, remove the plate and leave the starter firmly attached to the section. They never pull off and are readily accepted. Put a little screw or tack in the back of the plate to handle by. H. R. Boardman. East Townsend, O., July 18, 1879. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 349 Wintering; Continued from May Number. CHAFF CUSHIONS, AND HOW TO MAKE THEM. We make use of two thicknesses of these ; a thin one to be used in the shallow Simpli- city cover, and a thick one to be used in the upper story, or in the story and a half cover, for wintering. The two are made much in the same way. You are to get a piece of strong muslin, we use Indian Head brand, fold it once, and sew up three sides. Before closing the last side, they are to be filled moderately full with chaff, making a sort of chaff pillow, as it were. Now, if made in the way I have indicated, there is an incon- venient feature with these chaff cushions ; the corners will stick out unhandily, and the bulk of the chaff will constantly tend to work into the middle. We want the cushion to allow the chaff to come down into the corners, and around the edges of the hive, as much as possible, just as it would if you packed the upper story full of chaff. To allow of this, we want the cloth bag made precisely in the form of a shallow box, and we used to make them just like a box, hav- ing a top and bottom of cloth, and a band of the proper width, to unite the two. Well, after making them in that way for some time, a friend, whose name I have been un- able to find, wrote us that by making them like a pillow as described above, and then pushing in the corners and sewing the sides together so as to make seams crossing the first seams at right angles, we could get the square box form, with much less work. The engravings below will, I think, show my meaning. CHAFF CUSHIONS. The dotted lines will show where the seams are. The smaller one, besides having the box form, is quilted as you see through the centre, to keep the chaff from slipping out of place. This one, for convenience, we usually tack into the Simplicity cover, so that when the cover is removed, the cushion comes with it, facilitating both the removal, and replacement of these useful pieces of furniture in a bee hive. The cushions should at all times be perfectly protected from wet or dampness, for this very soon rots and de- stroys the cloth. It is a very nice point to have your cushion of just the right size, and containing just the right amount of chaff. Your best way will be to make one at a time, saving a paper pattern of each, until you get one that just "fits" and you can then, from your paper pattern, make as many as you wish and have them just right. After trying a great many kinds, I have decided in favor of soft oat chaff. To get it free from dirt and the harder portions, I have had it run through a fanning mill, and collected that portion which was blown far- thest from the mill. This is soft and warm to touch, and it is easy to imagine how bees, mice, or any thing else, snugly tucked up in it, might pass the winter dry, warm, and in comfort. To Mr. J. H. Townley, of Tomp- kins, Mich., I am indebted for the idea of using chaff for a protection in wintering. If he is not the original inventor, he is at least entitled to the credit of bringing it prominently before the public. It was du- ring the month of Sept., 1875, when he so strenuously insisted that I should try one hive on his plan, that I could not well help complying. The following are the directions he gave me, taken from the Nov. No., of Gleanings for that year. Make the box water tight, so that no water can get in from outside, and large enough to give you a space of three or more inches between hive and box, on all sides and top of hive. Arrange the entrance so that it cannot get clogged with dead bees (old bees will die, no danger of ice), take off top board or cov- er, put two sticks an inch apart across the centre of frames for winter passage, cover with cloth or mat (we use old worn out grain sacks cut in pieces of suitable size), pack the space snugly with dry wheat chaff or finely cut straw (sawdust is not good), and leave them there till fruit blossoms next year, or longer. On some cold freezing morning next April open this hive and notice the difference between it and those outside. See how warm it is, how nicely the bees are spread over the combs in all parts of the hive, while in hives outside, they are packed in a snug, compact, winter cluster, with more or less dead bees outside of the cluster, killed by the cold. We now have 60 stocks snugly packed in boxes, all ready for winter, where we shall leave them, with but little care and no anxiety for the next seven or eight months. We are so well pleased with our suc- cess in wintering and springing bees in these boxes for three seasons past, that we shall continue it un- til we do meet with disaster. Friend Novice, please pack one hive away as above described, now, and give it a fair, impartial trial and oblige, Yours truly, J. H. Townley. Tompkins, Mich., Sept. 22, '75. 350 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Sept. I prepared a hive exactly as he said. It was a fair colony, and they had an abundance of sealed stores, but it was no better than many others. I used an old grain bag, as he had directed, and it was so very old that the bees bit holes through it, and let the chaff sift down into the hive on them. With the ex- ception of this trifling accident and the chaff packing, the bees of this colony had the same treatment as the rest of the apiary. I will give you some extracts from Glean- ings, in regard to this colony and some oth- ers, and bearing directly on this matter of chaff packing. The following extracts are taken from Glean- ings in Bee Culture, for 1875-76 : Nov. 20th. — "We are trying five hives in the open air ; the Quinby hive which contains about the best colony in the apiary, and would winter well without chaff or anything else ; the Standard hive, which has two col- onies in it ; the hive with the burnt candy ; and two other fair stocks to test the advan- tage of a close hive compared with an open one. One of the latter is to be tucked up snugly with a quilt, and the other is to be put on eight combs in the centre of a two story L. hive, with nothing over or around the bees, except the cover to keep off rain. Both are carefully weighed and neither have been "tinkered" with by late feeding. Double walls and chaff and straw packing have been so much extolled, we wish to try the opposite — no protection at all. Feb. 8th. — It is warm again now, but we have just had a zero spell, and our colony that we purposely left with neither sides nor cover to their defenseless heads, except the cover to the upper story to keep off the rain, for the first time this winter seemed to be the worse for such treatment ; in fact, about one-half were cold in death, martyrs to the cause of science. "So bees do really freeze", thought I ; but an examination showed that they did not freeze, they only starved after all ; for on one side of the comb where there was no honey, every one was dead, but on the other where there was an abundance of stores, they were all alive. There was plenty of honey in all the combs except where the dead bees were found; in this there was none for several inches, and to get what there was they were obliged to get out in the cold or over the top of the comb, neither of which they could do during zero weather. Now it may be said that winter passages in the combs would have saved them; but even if they would, it will be cheaper to have plenty of bees, a good, gen- erous sized warm quilt nicely tucked up over their heads, and a division board to re- duce the size of the hive for wintering, to as small a space as consistent with an ample supply of food. All the rest of our colonies are in fair trim, and those in the house apia- ry as yet, scarcely seem to feel the winter at all. Apr. 28th. — Perhaps the best colony we have, is the one in the Quinby hive that was packed on all sides and over head with chaff, a la Townley. They were so strong they would probably have wintered well any where, for we tried to get them to work in the boxes and failed; consequently they had every thing full of nice, sealed, clover honey. Now I never saw a hive having too much stores, notwithstanding all that has been said about it. I have tried the effect of too little, and know just what it does ; now, I propose trying what the effect of too much will be. Our next best colony is the one in the hoop* hive, and they have been steadily increasing in numbers since Feb. Third best, colony with imported queen, in house apiary, on north side. Cannot see that it makes any difference whether stocks are on north or south side. I should be glad to add that the several dollar's worth of oil that has been used keeping the house apiary warmed for the past month has been of some sort of benefit to the brood, but really, the bees outside that have taken their chances are just about as well off. The colony left with nothing over them finally died outright. It is now May 9th, and the bees in the house apiary are going so rapidly that I fear none will be left. Those outside are most of them building up, but a few of the weak- est are yet going down with the well known spring dwindling. Now this Quinby hive that has the chaff over it is, as I have before said, considerably the best colony in the apiary ; they are out first in the morning, and fly when it is cold and rainy, and so far as we can see, have not lost a bee ; to tell *This hoop hive was one of my hobbies in 1875. The idea was, to give bees the same amount of ventila- tion in a wood hive, that they would have in a straw one; the hive was therefore made of slats placed at an angle so they would shed rain, but the walls of the hive were less than J4 inch in thickness. Strong colonies wintered in such hives, but they kept away from the thin open walls, not only in winter, but in summer also; for they would not seal comb honey, when placed next to those cool outer walls. A half inch board was next tried, but the bees showed more aversion to that than they did to an inch board. Next, I tried a half inch board with a cush- ion against it, and found the honey was sealed up better next to this, than next to the inch board. From these experiments, demonstrating that chaff cushions are needed in summer as well as winter, the chaff hive was worked out. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 351 the truth, they are so covered up that I could not open and overhaul them if I would, and perhaps that is one secret of their prosperity. Day before yesterday, while I was walking near the hive, a bit of chaff flew out of the entrance as if impelled by a draft of wind. "Halloo!" said I, "have you really become so strong as to send out a current of air for ventilation?" and I ap- proached and held the back of my hand be- fore the entrance. Sure enough, there was a steady, strong blast, and what astonished me more, it was so warm that it seemed al- most as if it must come from an oven. lat once proceeded to my other hives, and not a breath of air could be perceived com- ing from the entrance of even the strongest. I went back to the Q. hive and pushed my hand down into the chaff, and long before it reached the bees, the warmth was very ap- parent ; as I touched the cloth that covered the combs I made the remark that I must have touched the cluster ; but as I slid my hand to the other end of the hive and then over and around the sides, I was obliged to admit that the cluster either filled 8 of the large Q. frames, or that the chaff had the astonishing property of so confining the heat that the whole hive was warmed up to a temperature that reminded one of handling a sitting hen. Perhaps it would be well to state here just how the hive was prepared last fall. The hive is wide enough inside to hold 16 frames side by side, and the side boards are tall enough to hold 16 more set on top of the lower ones. Well, the direc- tions Mr Q. sent with the hive were, to re- move all but 8 of the frames for winter, and to turn these 8 frames at right angles from their usual position, so that, when set in the middle of the hive, there would be a space of about 4 inches left on all sides for the chaff, etc., and over the top of the frames, a space of nearly a foot. Now if a Quinby hive prepared in this way will always winter like this one, why has the plan been aban- doned V I once wrote in regard to the. matter to Mr. Elwood, I think, and if I am cor- rect, his reply was that the plan did not suc- ceed so well generally as wintering in the cellar. At all events, in Mr. Q's neighbor- hood, the plan of out- door packing seems to have been pretty generally abandoned in favor of cellar wintering, notwithstanding the hive used (Q.) is most excellently adapted to being packed. Now I cannot help won- dering why they failed. If it were possible to have 100 stocks in the condition of this one, by the 1st of May, bee-keeping would be perfectly "splendid", as the little girls say; and such colonies would be cheap, even if it cost $10.00 to put them in the nec- essary condition in the fall. If our friend Townley can and does winter a whole apia- ry in this way every time, why have others failed? It is true, our friend Butler did in- sist that I was stubborn in the matter, and perhaps I would better own up that I was and beg his pardon, for he certainly has been quite successful. For the benefit of those who did not have Vol. Ill, I will say that, in obedience to friend Townley's commands, after turning the frames around as mentioned, I covered them with a common grain bag, cut up, ex- pressly to have every thing just as he said, and then poured in and packed all around the bees about 5 bushels of oat chaff. Of course, I made a passage to the entrance, by laying a shingle over a couple of i inch sticks. To get at the truth of this matter, I am going to waste some time and — chaff. In fact, I have already taken one of the weak colonies that was likely to die, stood the L. frames on end, slipped a grain bag over all, put on an upper story, and filled both with chaff. They haven't got "hot" yet, but perhaps it needs more than a i pint of bees for such an experiment. The swarm 1 have been talking about is the one that came from the suspended hive, July 24th, last year, and as I tried again to get them to fill the Quinby boxes, and they would not, they had every frame full of stores. I let them have it all, thinking I would try for orTce the consequences of too much food, if such a thing is possible. I am now going to have for my next hob- by, hives crammed full of stores and no tin- kering during cool, or cold weather ; no di- viding until natural swarming commences, and if honey is the object, perhaps no divid- ing or swarming at all, if it can be avoided. No extracting until the combs below are filled to their utmost, and no extracting under any circumstances that may render it necessary to feed the same back again. Of all the blunders in bee culture I think there are few greater than fussing to get the hon- ey out of the combs where it is nicely sealed up, and then fussing, at still greater lengths, to get it back into the same combs and sealed up in the same way, if we can. "And give up feeding?" At present I would give up feeding, at least where one has as much to do as I have. Why, just think of it ! the best colony in our apiary has not had one minute's time expended on it for the past 352 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Sept. six months. At that rate, one person could take charge of 1000 hives until the time for surplus honey came, and should there be no surplus honey he might do it the year round, for all that would then be required would be to see that each one had a good queen, and the bees would do the rest. At the rate at which good colonies of bees sell, he could do a thriving business selling them, if he didn't get an ounce of honey, and should a great yield of honey come, he ought to be able to hire help at a price that would pay for tak- ing care of it, if he were not burdened with too many "new inventions'". Now all these bright visions could be realized without trouble, if every colony as well supplied as was the one from which we are taking this text would only thrive in the same way. The Standard hive wintered beautifully, winter before last, because it contained two good colonies, but during the past winter, a fair colony went down to a pint, and the rest of our apiary went down in the same way more or less, during the month of April, or after they commenced to raise brood briskly. Is it possible that this spring dwindling has all been caused by allowing the juvenile bees to get sore throats, etc., on account of the brisk draft that our modern hives allow, when they are just the age to want to be tucked up? Keeping them warm with a tight board box has been no better ; a tight board box would be small comfort to one of us on a frosty night, but plenty of warm, porous bed clothing would enable even an infant to keep comfortable. Corn fodder and straw put around hives and over them may keep the wind off, but they assur- edly can not confine the animal heat in any such manner as the soft dry oat chaff that is only separated from the bees on all sides by a thin piece of cloth. Again, a packing of straw, or a straw mat over a strong colony of bees may be a very good thing, but can it amount to very much when there are cracks all around where the warm air can creep out, and when the sides are only cold, hard boards after all? How would you like to sleep in a bed made in that way? Would not the children begin to dwindle out in just about the way the bees do? Another thing; we don't cover our children with a board, or an oil cloth, or paper, or canvas, but we have wool and flannel ; as the bees seem pe- culiarly sensitive to accumulations of damp- ness, I am inclined to think that even these would get damp and moldy. In fact, I have had some such experience, but the soft chaff, I think, is going to fully meet the require- ments. Is it not possible that our fathers knew what was best when they decided on the old straw hive? Several weak colonies have starved because it was too cool for them to crawl up to a feeder containing syr- up, while this Q. hive has bees all day and all night, walking around on the bare ground in front of the entrance which is kept warm by this blast of warm air that is constantly passing out of one of the en- trances, while a stream of cold air goes in at the other. Several years ago, we had a very weak nu- cleus in the fall, and as they were out of stores (they were in the American hive) we gave them one L. frame moderately tilled with stores. To get this frame into the A. hive, we were obliged to stand it on end, and as this looked like rather a cold and "loose" arrangement, we packed some very fine, soft hay all around and over the top. As there was but the one hive, we did it well and carefully, and so closely was the hay or grass packed, not a bee found a chance to get out during the whole four months. Well, we supposed this frame of stores would last them only a month or so, and to deter- mine when they would need more food we tapped on the hive occasionally (they were in the cellar), to see if they responded promptly. Well, they answered every time until the next April, and when they were put out they were all alive, and had nearly all of their frame of honey left. As this was our first 'experiment with in-door wintering, we were jubilant over it, and the next win- ter put all our colonies in the cellar — omit- ting the hay (of course, that could not be im- portant, we then thought, and it may be a good place right here to apologize to those whom we have ridiculed for packing their bees and putting them in the cellar besides), and when they died with dysentery worse than ever before, it did not occur to us then that the hay had anything to do with the matter. If, after all these years, our un- lucky nose has, at last, by accident, been turned in the right direction, we shall be very thankful. May 18th.— As the bees were crowding out of the Q. hive to-day, I removed the chaff covering. The colony is a mammoth one for the season, and we found solid sheets of sealed brood in nearly every one of the 8, large Q. frames. The chaff protected them so well, that they seem to have been entire- ly free from the dwindling that has affected nearly every other colony; of course, the the abundance of bees and stores in the fall, 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 353 as well as the chaff, had much to do with it. To get at the real virtues of this chaff idea, I am making some experiments now, which, I hope, will tell me before another winter, just how much to expect from it. If I can keep the whole interior of the hive warm, even in June, during cold storms and cool nights, by some such porous covering, I think it will be quite an item ; perhaps it, like many other things, when well tested, may turn out to be an accidental success after all; but I wish to know just what it- does. Last year, we did not clip our queens1 wings, but with the prospect now before us (several colonies are strong enough to swarm) we have concluded to have all clip- ped. Now in regard to closed end frames ; I found the queens, moved the division boards, and had the hives all closed up, where there were suspended frames, in an amount of time that seemed insignifi- cant compared to that required to per- form the same operations with a closed end Q. frame ; and the statement made by a few, that such hives can be handled as rap- idly as the suspended frames, seems to me positively awful. With a small colony, and a new hive, either closed top or closed end frames may be handled very well ; but with an old hive so full of bees that they cover the end bars of the frames so as to prevent your seeing the wood at all, and frames so heavy as to make your back ache, while you stoop in the hot sun and look first at one end, and then at the other, to see if you are killing bees, and those hybrids, too,— well, if you think we don't know how, try one such hive yourself, or visit some one who knows how, if such there be. A careless person might not be aware that he killed bees at all, and some do not seem to care, but to me, the sight of the quivering form of a crushed and mangled little fellow when he is inno- cently standing in the threshold of his own door or peering out at the blue sky, while the closed ends are being brought up into place, is enough to spoil the pleasure of bee- keeping. June Hth. — To open up the season's cam- paign, the Qninby hive sent out a rousing swarm to-day. Now, even after this swarm was hived and had sent to the field more workers than any two stocks in the apiary, the old hive kept on at work, with almost the same force as before, for they had been for a couple of days rather inclined to loaf on the front of the hive. Before swarming, they stored 50 lbs., perhaps, in boxes, and there are bees enough left to keep the work going right along. What do you suppose an apiary of 100 stocks like this one would amount to? and this is the Quinby hive that we have tried 4 seasons, and heretofore, un- successfully. Although our esteemed friend who invented it is departed, his works bid fair to keep him in kind remembrance many days. June 27ffo. — Hurrah for chaff ! The Qninby hive has sent out a large second swarm. Sept. 5th.— Our Quinby hive (packed with chaff) has given us four swarms, and all are now good strong colonies. If the chaff packing should work as well next winter, why may not the 5 increase to 25V This would be 25 from one, in two seasons. But this is not all ; the first swarm stored full 50 lbs. in empty combs, and since these were removed has given us about 25 lbs. in sec- tions. The second swarm has made about 25 lbs. of comb honey, and the third about 10 ; all four, as well as the old colony, have their hives crammed with stores, and the original stock has stored about 100 lbs. of honey in the Quinby boxes. Think of it ! Eive colonies amply provisioned for winter, and 185 lbs. comb honey, from one in the spring ! From the above, you can see what turned my mind so vehemently in favor of chaff. The same winter, in which I packed the Q. hive, as given above, I wintered the bees in the house apiary, with only a single thick- ness of cloth over the frames. The result was, they dwindled the worst of any bees I ever tried to winter, and I lost, if I am cor- rect, every colony but one or two. The win- ter after, I protected them with heavy chaff cushions, and they all wintered nicely ; not as well, quite, as the Q. hive, it is true, but they were not as perfectly protected on all sides. Since it is so much labor to handle the Q. frames (as I have before mentioned), the next winter, I tried a similar arrange- ment with the L. frames enveloped in a large case, with chaff, or cushions, on all sides. All colonies so packed came out all right. My neighbors made similar experi- ments, and they, too, as well as friend Townley, reported the same, with scarcely an exception. From these experiments, I worked out the chaff hive which I have here described, and, after a three years' test, ta- king all things into consideration, I consider it the simplest and safest means by which bees can be wintered. The" second year, our bees were all packed in chaff, and the result 354 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Sept. is given briefly in the following editorial, in the May No. of Gleanings, 1877 : April 29, '77.— We have sold $250.00 worth of bees out of the 100 colonies reported last month, and have 75 good colonies left. Is not that a little better than the reports we have been in the habit of making for the month of April? An income from bees, in the spring, is certainly quite a pleasant thing to have. Hurrah for the chaff cushions! and many thanks to friend Townley. The winter of 1877-78 was very mild, and bees wintered well in chaff hives, and in hives of every other kind, so that our bee- keepers, myself among the number, doubt- less got a little careless, and in undertaking to winter small colonies in the same way in the winter of 1878-79, disastrous losses fol- lowed. Strong colonies in chaff hives came out, as a general thing, as strong as they had in the preceding winters, but bees in common hives, and rather weak colonies in chaff hives, fared badly. The general testi- mony from bee-keepers all over our land is so strongly in favor of the chaff hives, that there can be no doubt about their coming into very general use for a winter hive. The Simplicities, from their lightness and con- venience in handling, will always be in great demand for summer work. It is but a moment's work to lift the combs from one into the other. WINTERING IN CELLARS OR SPECIAL RE- POSITORIES. A few years ago, cellars and special re- positories became all at once very popular, and bee-keepers all over our land, especially in the northern localities, invested much la- bor and money in constructing good, frost proof cellars, or sawdust packed buildings above ground. In 1868, I put up such a building, and packed the walls with 8 inches of sawdust, and also put sawdust between the floors and over head, and wintered 48 colonies in it without losing a single one. A neighboring bee-keeper who used one similarly constructed had wintered in his for nearly a dozen years, and, at that time, had never lost a colony in it. These results seemed pretty nearly conclusive ; but a few years later, when the spring dwindling, as it has been called, made its appearance, my neighbor and I both made the discovery, that bees taken out in March, in fair order, would often, in spite of us, become reduced, before the end of April, to a mere handful, and then perish outright, or leave their hives and swarm out as I have mentioned under the head of absconding swarms ; while at the same time, good, strong colo- nies left out-doors without any especial care, would often be full of bees and ready to swarm. I do not mean to say that such was generally the case, but there were al- ways more or less in the neighborhood that would winter finely without care, while many so carefully housed would turn out disastrously. A neighbor who had devoted almost his whole time to his bees would be obliged, in spite of his well made bee house, to buy black bees in the spring to keep his Italians alive, and the strong colonies of black bees were invariably wintered almost without loss, in an open shed, in cheap, un- painted, box hives. Even the York state bee-keepers with their splendid cellars built especially for their bees, if I am correct, often used to go off into the country and buy black bees, in the same way, to get an- other start in the spring. It is so difficult to get many of them to report their losses, that I am unable to say whether they do any bet- ter of late years or not. I presume they do, for I should be very sorry to think we were making no progress in this one, great draw- back to bee culture. The bee houses answered very well the purpose of protecting the bees from the ef- fects of frost during ordinary winters, but when we happened to have a very severe spell of several days' duration, the walls would collect ice and dampness, in the way I have explained in a former part of this ar- ticle, and when the weather moderated, the melting of this ice made the room damp and unwholesome, in spite of the ventila- ting tubes or anything else that could well be arranged in such a building. If the weath- er came off very warm, as it frequently does even in midwinter, in our locality, the bees would very naturally want to get out, and then ensues a disturbance that is very likely to result in trouble, unless the weather speedily changes. The houses may answer well for one or two winters, or even more, but with the changeable weather we have here, I am forced to consider them more trouble than profit, taking them for a series of years together. To illustrate what we have to contend with, I will mention that in the month of Jan., 1878, we had such a spell of warm weather that dandelions were found in blossom, and the bees raised brood and grew strong almost all the winter through. Well, the winter after, during al- most all the month of Jan., the thermometer stood from 10° to 20° below zero, and the spring being late and cold, the spring dwindling had a "run," almost unknown 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 355 before. One-half to perhaps three-fourths of all the bees in the northern states per- ished. Houses and cellars were a splendid investment for such a winter, while they might have been a perfect nuisance the win- ter before. Now a good cellar has one very obvious advantage over any building made above ground, for the earth at the sides and under the floor will shut out frost in those direc- tions, and a good building over head will afford protection above. It is not, in fact, very difficult to make a cellar without win- dows perfectly frost proof, and we want no windows in the apartment where the bees are kept, for the darker it can be made the better. Besides keeping the frost out, a good cellar is comparatively cool, even in the summer time, a condition that is hard to be secured in a room above ground. What then is the objection to a cellar? The principal one, in our clay soil here in Medi- na, is that it is almost of a necessity damp. A good, clean, dry, frost proof cellar, in a sandy soil, is perhaps as good a place for wintering bees, as can well be arranged. If it can be in a sandy side hill, so that the bottom of the cellar is on a level with the apiary, it seems as if almost nothing more could be asked. I should ask one thing more, however, and that is, that the hives be arranged permanently in this cellar, and the bees be allowed to go out at their pleasure, as they do in the house apiary. There are two difficulties in the way of doing this: first, it would be difficult to fix an entrance not too long, and that would not admit frost; second, the bees would lack the ben- efit of the warmth of the sun during the spring months. I do not see, at present, how we can get anything much better than the chaff hives, and the house apiary. HOW TO GET RID OF DAMPNESS, AND SE- CURE PERFECT VENTILATION IN CELLARS. It was long ago noticed by many, that bees wintered in cellars directly under the kitchen stove came out in line condition, while others where there was no stove near the bees wintered badly. This seemed to show conclusively the benefit of artificial heat, for warming and drying the atmos- phere. If you will recall what has been said in regard to cold and warm currents of air, you will see that to change the air thoroughly in any apartment, you must get up a circulation, by heating a portion of the air, or by other means. Putting a stove in a room or cellar answers nicely for drying and thoroughly ventilating the apartment at one and the same time. As this would be likely to cause a disturbance among the bees, it is much better, to run a pipe, such as a stove pipe, into or through the room. A very common plan is to attach a pipe by an elbow to the pipe coming from the cook- ing stove. Carry this down into your bee cellar to within 6 inches of the floor. The draft from the stove will "pull" the air up, even the damp air from the floor, and fresh air will find its way in through the crevices, to take its place. If you wish to be sure that a current of air is constantly going up this pipe, throw a burning rag or paper on the floor, and the smoke will show you how the air rushes up the pipe. I believe the large bee-keepers of York State, generally, have decided on in-door wintering, and Mr. L. C. Boot, in his Quin- by's Bee-Keeping, just out (May 1879), gives us some very valuable ideas on the matter. Becognizing the points I have just men- tioned, they have, at considerable expense, prepared underground rooms, to be dried and heated by suitably arranged furnaces. They have entirely discarded buildings built above ground. Mr. Boot particularly enjoins quietness, and to this end, advises that no one go into the bee room during the winter. Also that the hives be supported from the floor, or ground, and not placed on shelves or benches, as is so commonly done. This would avoid disturbing the bees in the other hives, when you are handling any one of them. The clamps or cellars are, if pos- sible, built in a side hill, and the roof over- head is covered by at least a foot of dry earth, which is kept dry by a good shingle roof over this. The bees are to be put in these rooms during dry weather in the fall, and, if I am correct, they are not to be taken out until pollen and honey can be obtained in the spring. I hardly need to say that a cellar or frost proof repository should have double doors, and if there be windows, they should be fixed in a manner that will be equivalent to making them double, being sure that no portion of the walls ever shows a bit of frost to melt, and thus produce dampness. A cel- lar within a cellar would be the thing, and if it can be so perfectly protected from dampness that the dust on the floor will re- main dry all winter long, it is about as near- ly perfect as it can well be, if perfectly dark, and well ventilated; that is, so far as getting the bees through the winter months is con- cerned. If I am correct, our greatest losses 3-56 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Sept. have been in the spring months, after the bees have been removed from their winter quarters. I shall have more to say on this, a little further along. PREPARING STOCKS FOR THEIR WINTER QUARTERS. • We used to think, where bees were housed from Nov. until April, that we need only carry in the body of the hive, omitting cov- er and bottom boards, and in short every- thing but j ust the combs necessary to carry the bees and their stores, with enough of the hive to move them handily. Now, al- though I have wintered bees finely, having nothing over the frames at all while in the cellar or bee house, I would, taking all re- sults into consideration, pack them in chaff to be carried into the cellar, much the same as I would to winter them on their summer stands. Then, when carried out in the spring, they are proof against cold winds and cold nights, which almost always ensue. For the same reason, I would advise the chaff covering even in the southern states, that the bees might be spared the chilling spells that are so much of a hindrance to brood rearing, even though the weather is not down to a freezing point. Bees with warm walls all about them are in a much better condition to go on with brood rearing, than where the cluster touches cold, damp boards, and where cracks and crevices per- mit the warm air of the hive to pass out as fast as the bees can generate it. With a well made chaff hive and a good colony of bees, I can keep brood rearing going on by the use of the flour candy, right in the depth of winter, with the hive standing out-doors at that. In 1877, 1 hived a fourth swarm, late in the fall, in a chaff hive, and, as an experiment, built them up during the win- ter, until they were so strong in the spring that a customer chose them in preference to any other hive in the apiary, and paid me $15.00 cash for them, which gave me an ex- cellent profit on all the time, sugar, etc., that was invested in the experiment. I would bundle them up in chaff or chaff cushions, no matter where they are to be wintered. The experiments I first made in this direction with the house apiary also il- lustrate this subject. TIME OF PUTTING THE BEES INTO TIIE CELLAR. If they are packed and put away before the first frost comes, all the better; and please be sure to put them in-doors during some dry day, that the hives and combs may be entirely free from dampness. You will have warm days after the first frost, I am well aware, and unless your cellar is as dark as the deepest midnight, and cool enough to prevent the bees from getting uneasy, you will have trouble about keeping them in their hives. This is one great reason why I object to cellar wintering. Some bee-keep- ers advise taking them out for a fly during the winter, when we have a warm spell; others object to moving them at all, and per- haps both are right. Sometimes, carrying them out does good, and, at other times, it seems to do harm. If you have them in chaff hives or a house apiary, they can go out whenever they please, and this plan pleases me much better. I do not like to be confined myself, and do not like to be obliged to confine any of God's creatures, when it can be avoided. I have sometimes had bees remain quiet and contented in the bee house, and in the cellar, four months, without trouble, and, at other seasons, they would not be quiet one month. At present, I do not know why bees winter well at one time, and at another, do not, when all the circumstances, so far as we can see, are the same. SHALL BEES BE CONFINED TO THEIR HIVES WHEN PUT IN-DOORS. If the bees are fastened in their hives with wire cloth, in such a way that the dead ones, in falling down, will not close and clog the entrance, I do not know that it makes any difference whether they are fastened in or not. In the one case, they will die against the wire cloth, and, in tire other, they will get out on the floor and die. It is so untidy and disagreeable to have bees around on the floor, on the shelves, and all over the room, that I think I should fasten them in ; I have done it two seasons, and did not consider the quantity found dead in the hives great- er than we usually find on the floors. It has been recommended that an extra space be given below the frames, for the dead bees, that they may not clog up the en- trance. With the Simplicity hives, this can be readily furnished by turning the bottom board hollowing side up, putting wire cloth over the openings at both the front and back end, and fastening the bottom board in place. BEST TEMPERATURE FOR A CELLAR OR BEE HOUSE. The general agreement has been on about 40° ; but some of the York State bee-keepers claim they can succeed by keeping them as warm as 50°. My experiments seem to in- dicate that such a temperature, in confine- ment, would induce dysentery; but a system- atic ventilation in connection with this tem- perature may answer better than the 40°. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 357 %$ad§ of %vainf From Different Fields. REPORT FROM AN A B C SCHOLAR. AM now getting along nicely. I have made 5 new colonies, one a natural swarm. When I removed one of the black queens, I put her in the sample queen cage you sent me, and 2 or 3 bees along with her, and, in less than 5 minutes, they had stung her to death. I regretted this, as I wanted to practice introducing with her, and try to make an- other artificial swarm. Now, why did they sting her, when they were of her own brood? I should be inclined to think you were mistaken about the bees being her own ; but, if not, the presence of the robbers, which you mention further along, had probably so excited and worked tliem up, that they stung her by mistake. I have known bees so de- moralized by robbers, that they would sting inmates of their own hive. SHADE FROM GRAPE VINES THE FIRST SEASON. How would I better shade my Lives this summer, as the grape vines won't be large enough to cover the trellis this year? I can't use tomato plants, as they would injure the growth of the young vines. If your vines are strong concords, they can be trained so as to shade the hives very well the first season. Train up a single shoot, and when it is as high as the top of the hive, or a little higher, pinch it off, and it will soon form a heavy clump of foliage. Bring this around on the west side of the stake or trel- lis, so as to shade the hive during the hottest part of the clay, say about 2 o'clock, and it will do very well, even the first year. In our apiary, we have 500 trained in just that way. For the first season, stakes about 3 feet high will do very well. HANDLING BEES OFTEN. Another thing; you say to your A B C scholars, that they ought to look at their bees, by taking out the frames, &c, at least once a week, and that if they did so once a day you would have more confi- dence that they would succeed, &c. Well, Sir, I am so interested in mine that it is a real pleasure to look at them every chance I have, any how, every day or two; but they just dip into the honey for dear life, every time I lift a frame, and seem to con- sume a great amount of honey uselessly, and some of them are as cross as ever, though others I can handle without veil or smoker. Now, is it best to handle them so often? I mean to succeed, but 1 want to go at it right. I think, friend F., if you handle your worst colony every day for a week or more, you will find that they soon stop "dipping into the honey''' every time the hive is opened. I have tried some very cross colonies, and I never yet found one that would not become, in time, accustomed to frequent handling. It may depend some on what kind of a hive you have, but, with the Simplicity hives and metal corners, I say unhesitatingly handle them every day or oftener. I find one drawback in the chaff hive, and that is, you have to take out all the upper frames whenever you divide or examine the brood chamber. Could we not leave out the top frames except when put on for surplus honey and cover with enameled cloth? But, friend F., do you not have to remove the upper frames to get at the lower ones, in any two story hive ? To be sure, you do not want the frames in the upper story, when they are gathering no honey. The chaff hive is used exactly like a single story hive, only when surplus honey is being taken, and the colony is strong. COAL CINDERS AND SAND AROUND THE ENTRANCES. I found out that sawdust blows away too fast, and so I substituted coal cinders, and find them satisfac- tory, when some sand is used immediately in front and around the hive. The cinders keep the weeds down nicely, but they are a little rough until stamp- ed down well. I, too, am very much pleased with coal cinders, and white sand over them, for the ground around the entrances. HOW MUCH HONEY DOES A BASSWOOD TREE YIELD. By the way, about how much honey will a fair sized basswood tree yield, in one season? or rather, how many trees of good size are required to a colony, to keep them busy during the period of its bloom? It is very difficult to say how much honey a basswood tree, or, in fact, any other plant, will yield. Seasons vary so greatly that it may be from nothing all the way up. Al- though we get some basswood honey almost every year, we do not have a real good yield one year in 5. To make a very rude guess, I think I have seen trees that would yield a quart of honey a day, for perhaps 10 days. Small trees in the clearing yield more on an average, than trees in the woods. NEWLY MADE FDN. I see that the bees work much more readily on freshly made, soft fdn. than on the hard, or that made sometime. I trust you may get many more scholars as interested in bee culture as you have me. Belleville, 111., June 9, '79. E. T. Flanagan. It has been several times suggested that bees accepted new fdn., with more willing- ness, than old ; but, after trying that just made, by the side of some that has hung in frames not worked out, since last year, I am unable to see any difference. FROM AN A B C SCHOLAR. I received the third part of A B C, and read it through, finding it very interesting and instructive. When I received my Italians, I made a hive like the one they were in, and took three frames out of the old one and put them in the new hive. In 16 days they hatched out a queen. Well, for fear that the bees would follow ber when she went out, I gave them another frame of brood. That was on the 15th of May, and now I have a large swarm of hybrids. The queen is very prolific, but the full blood queen is the most prolific of the two. Her bees are very nicely marked, showing the three bands very plain- ly. They are the best marked that I have ever seen. They leave the hive in droves while the blacks go out in two's and three's. Felix Cortes. Graniteville, S. C, July 24, 1879. HOW TO USE BLACK BEES IN AN APIARY. It seems as though you have too many black bees, after buying so many this spring, to insure to the purchaser of queens a fair prospect of getting pure dollar queens (Italians). lam going to order some soon of some one, but don't want hybrids. Bellows Falls, Va., July 9, '79. A Friend. I will tell you what we did with the black bees, friend C. They were put immediately on combs of Italian brood, and the queen, if any came, used to till orders; for we have always had more orders for black queens than we could supply. At present, July 23d, there is scarcely a black bee to be found in our 250 colonies, and not a single queen we have tested has proved hybrid as yet. HOW TO START AN APIARY WITHOUT ANY MONEY. A month ago, I had 4 swarms of bees; now I have 31 swarms, and I got them without money. 1 made the one story L. hive, and went through the country, and transferred, one hive for a hive with bees in. 1 furnished the hive for them, and brought mine 358 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Sept. home, and transferred and divided into two or three parts, giving- each brood from my Italians, and have Italian queens with most of them. They are now putting up honey very fast from the wild grape. I had one Italian swarm, from which I took the old queen and about 1i of the bees, that hatched 22 queens, 16 on one frame. Who can beat this? I uncapped several of the queens with my knife and took them out; I took out 17 in one afternoon. Do bees ever swarm early in the morning? I found a swarm one morning, about 6 o'clock, half of them being on a stalk of corn. Did they come out that morning, or the evening before? I am experiment- ing this summer in a rough way, and want to start next year in Simplicity hives, with experimental knowledge. J. Q. Ayars. South Bosque, Tex., May 27, 1879. Your bees probably swarmed early in the morning, although they might have hung out over night. Your luck in getting queen cells, and queens from every cell, was a lit tie remarkable. If your climate is so warm that you can keep building your bees up, even during the winter, you will probably succeed without trouble. INTRODUCING A QUEEN WITH % LB. OF BEES. I received queen and V2 lb. of bees the 17th. There were 28 capped cells of honey left in the under side of the lower section, and 25 cells one half filled in the inner side of upper section, and only 15 dead bees in the cage. In place of introducing, as per directions, I took six combs, with the adhering bees, from dif- ferent strong stocks, and put them in a hive (the Italians with them), and gave them a little smoke to pacify them, and they went right to work without any trouble, and are working splendidly now. Accord, N. Y., July 21, '79. M. H. Mendelson. That was pretty close rations for i lb. of bees ; it seems hard for us to learn that bees eat so much on a journey. Your plan of in- troducing them is generally safe, but, as let- ting them loose on a frame of brood at least partly unsealed, is absolutely safe, I have generally given such directions. SEPARATORS AND CHEAP FDN. MACHINES. I am a beginner in the bee business, having only been in it two seasons. 1 had 180 swarms last fall, and lost one through the winter. All the bees were missing at once. I don't know what became of them. They left honey in the hive. I had to unite 2 more to other stands, because I could not get them to raise queens. Is it necessary to use tin separators between sec- tion boxes, where you use fdn.? Is it necessary to have fdn. the full size of box or frame, to make bees build straight combs or keep their combs inside the sections? that is, will they do it without the tin sep- arators? I have some section boxes, and some of the bees are building crosswise, and fastening to the tin separators, which makes a regular mess of it. Will fdn. prevent that? Being a beginner, I have never used fdn. yet, but think 1 will next season. Are any of those cheap fdn. machines a success? This year is poor for bees here. It is too dry; there was not enough rain last winter and spring. 1 suppose you are aware that there are 6 or 7 months in the summer, when we have no rain here, the days all being clear, and just as near alike as could be. It is a splendid climate for bees, when we get plen- ty of rain in the winter and spring. O. E. Coon. Lemoore, Cal., July 8, 1879. I think every bee-keeper will have to de- cide for himself whether he wishes to use separators or not. If you wish your sec- tions of honey to be exactly alike, so that any two will tit together without mashing the honey, you will have to use separators. Fdn. helps the matter, but it is not sufficient of itself. Neither are the separtors suffi- cient of themselves ; for, if you do not use starters, either of fdn., or natural comb, you will have many of the combs crosswise as you say. The cheap fdn. machines ($22.00 and upward) are certainly a success, as is any work that I have ever known from the hand of Mr. Washburn. Many people, see- ing the cheap machines and the higher priced ones side by side, would hardly be able to see any difference. The same may be said of the work produced by them ; it may not be as thin, but, for the brood apart- ment, I do not think any difference will be found in practical use. QUEEN REARING IN FLORIDA, ETC. I now have 20 stocks, with pure queens. I had 10 queens out of 14, which mated and commenced to lay in Nov., and 2 out of 3, in Dec. I selected a lot of pure drone brood and put in a hive which I kept queenless, and it still is so. The drones have not been killed. The hive is still full of them, so I shall have early drones. They fly every pleasant after- noon. My bees were carrying both honey and pol- len on Christmas day. Maple blooms Jan. 15 (about) and bees comence to swarm as soon as Feb. 20th. I can have tested queens in March. 1 have a place for my queen rearing where there are no bees of any kind, either wild or tame, within 3 miles. What can you do with queens in March, if I can send you some fine ones? K. N. McIntyre. Daytona, Fla., Dec. 28, 1878. If you could put queens in the market in March, or even in April, friend M., judging from past seasons, I should say it would be a good thing for yourself, as well as your purchaser. REPORT FROM AN A B C SCHOLAR. On the 20th of June, I received from S. Valentine, whose card I noticed in your paper, the prettiest Italian queen that it has been my privilege to look upon. 1 need not say thai with much anxiety, I set my inexperienced hands to work, to remove the black queen. This done, I set the cage containing the Italian on the frames, close to the cluster of bees. After leaving her 12 long hours, I thought things seemed all right, whereupon I opened the cage, and let the black bees in. In a short time, they made a complete ball around her; I quickly disengaged her, and she went leisurely about the combs none daring to molest. On the 14th of July, I opened the hive to look for young bees. I did not see any, but there was brood in the combs. On the 16th (26 days after introducing the queen), I again opened the hive and with no small degree of satis- faction, I beheld a few most beautiful Italians, crawling over the combs. To-day (Aug. 1st), many of the Italians are at work. I imagine that they have inspired the blacks of the colony with greater energy; for I notice that the bees of this colony work earlier and later than those of the others. CAN AN IMPREGNATED QUEEN DEPOSITE DRONE EGGS IN WORKER COMB? How many, where, and what size openings do you use for ventilation, when you employ the chaff cushion in wintering bees? and does the cushion take the place of the honey board? J. W. Carter. Pleasant Dale, W. Va., Aug 1, '79. This is a hard question, but I will venture that she cannot, for if she could, why do the bees try so hard to build some drone comb, when we give them all worker fdn. ? That a queen does occasionally lay drone eggs in worker comb I am well convinced ; but I opine she does not mean to do it. The chaff cushions take the place of the old honey board, most assuredly ; but I would always have some kind of a sheet or mat come next the bees to prevent their soiling and biting the chaff cushion. We have no openings through, or around, the chaff cushions, but we have the space above the cushions venti- lated either by a loose cover, or by holes in the gable ends covered with wire cloth as in the cover to chaff hive, and story and a half hive. The size of the hole is not material. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 359 TOO MUCH POLLEN AGAIN. Bro. Root:— I do not see the point. See page 271, July No. of Gleanings. You say you think that you would make the bees rear brood, and use up that pollen instead of cutting- it out. We know the strongest instinct of the honey bee is for storing. When they cannot store honey they will store pollen, and the more bees there are, the more storing will be done. Nearly all of our flowers here have pollen, and much of the time our atmosphere is not good for the secretion of nectar. When it is not in the flowers for the bees to gather, they gather pollen; and they are doing more of it in this neighborhood this summer than ever before. We are doing very poor business in the line of honev. E. Liston. Virgil City, Mo., July 25, 1879. Notwithstanding, friend L., I would like to try yonr "too much pollen." If I could not make them use it up otherwise, I would divide the colonies and raise hees. Give me pollen enough, and I can always raise hees hy the bushel, even if there is but little hon- ey coming in, or but little in the hives. There was one colony in the house apiary that seemed to have an especial fancy for pollen. After basswood had failed, they kept bringing pollen from the corn, in such an incessant stream, that the entrance fairly sparkled with the bright yellow loads on heavily padded workers, and I could please visitors almost any hour of the day, by showing them the entrance to this hive. They had a young ambitious queen, of course, and to keep her going, they gathered pollen and almost nothing else, as it seemed. Well, to my astonishment they raised brood and built comb right along, while the rest seemed to be losing. It is true, they have combs packed almost solid with pollen, but I would like a whole apiary of just such stocks. If we do not get honey now, we shall get bees, ready for the clover and bass- wood next year. BLACK BEES BEING ROBBED BY A NEIGHBOHS ITAL- IANS. During the last days of April, we had a few very fine days, and the bees were out doors enjoying themselves. My place, of some 11 acres, is sur- rounded with two rows of soft maple trees. I cut a large number of those trees at this time, the sap flowing very freely, and I very soon discovered that the stumps were well supplied with bees. I have a neighbor some 100 rods distant, who had 12 or 15 stands of bees. They very soon found the maple sap, and also my hives. The first we knew my neighbor's bees were generally going for ours. We did all that I had learned from the Journal to stop the robbing. About dusk, I uncovered our hives, which we had covered with wet cloths. The next morning, I was in season to watch the renewal, if the robbers came, Jnd none came. About 9 o'clock, 1 thought I would examine my hives, as I saw but few stragglers around some of the hives. Turning up 5 hives on one stand, I found my bees to the last one piled up, dead on the board. Now, how about that? Please answer. You may say, it was probably my own bees that were the depredators; not so, for my neighbors bees are Italian and mine are black. Besides, I stood in a line between us, and observed a continual passing back and forth from the direction of my neighbor's. H. L. Payson. Ashkum, Ills., July 21, 1879. I do not think, friend P., the maple sap had anything to do with it, and. begging your pardon, I am afraid the whole trouble came from your not having given your bees proper attention. Do you know that those 5 colonies all had laying queens, before they were robbed? If not, that was your first fault. As you describe it, I should say that one or more of your colonies were queenless, and unless you know to the contrary, I should say the bees had died out of one or more, leaving honey unprotected. The first fine weather, the bees of your neighbor found this, got started, and unless your oth- er colonies were strong, with entrances properly closed, they would be quite apt to make a general raid on your apiary. It may be that one of your stocks swarmed out, leaving honey, as has so often happened of late, and this was what started them. Your letter rather gives the idea that while you have common bees in box hives, with at least 5 on one bench, your neighbor has Ital- ians, nicely cared for, in movable frame hives. If I am mistaken, I beg pardon. A QUEEN whose eggs won't hatch. I have a fine, large queen, since last fall, in my apiary, that lays plenty of eggs, but not one of the eggs will hatch. What's the matter with them? Can you tell? She did very well last fall, was in a chaff hive, and not exposed any more than the others right round her; but not an egg has hatched since she commenced to lay this spring. Fairview, Pa., July 23, '79. Theod. M. Moltz. We have before had reports of queens whose eggs never hatched, but I do not know that I ever before heard of one that had been a good queen and afterwards failed in this way. All these facts seem to form a sort of connecting link in a chain ; for in- stance, we have queens that won't lay at all ; we have queens that lay eggs, but the eggs never hatch ; we have one report of a queen that layed and the eggs hatched into larvae, but never developed into full grown workers ; we have queens that lay eggs but they produce only drones. Drone laying queens are comparatively common ; queens that won't lay are also (usually from de- defective wings); but queens that lay eggs that never hatch are quite rare, only three having been reported to my knowledge. MORE ABOUT THE SIMPSON HONEY PLANT. I noticed in Aug. No. of Gleanings that you have purchased about two hundred plants of friend Simp- son, and set them out in your honey garden, and that they came into blossom July 8th. Now, I would like to inquire whether those are the early or late variety. The early variety blossomed with me, May 23d, and remained in blossom four weeks. The late variety blossomed July 3d. I have some stalks seven feet high with 30 branches out from the main stalk. Some of the side branches have six or seven smaller branches. The main stalk is an inch through and it will remain in blossom until frost comes. I consider it the best honey plant we have; it comes right after white clover and remains in blossom the balance of the honey season. I have some stalks that do not show their buds yet. I will send you in this letter about l-4()th part of one stalk. I think, if the seed was saved and planted the same distance apart as we plant corn, one stalk would furnish seed for a thousand acres. Anyone wishing seed tan make it known. 1 will save a quantity of seed of both varieties. W. P. Irish. Norton Centre, O., Aug. 2, 1879. Ours is exactly like the specimen you send, friend I., but I have never seen any that blossom so soon as you mention. It certainly is ahead of anything I have ever seen. AVhile the bees work but an hour or two in the morning on the buckwheat, they work all day long on this plant and, between sundown and dark, the number of bees con- gregating on it to get into the buds which open about dusk, is simply enormous. If comb honey were exposed to them, they would hardly come in greater numbers, or stay longer. 360 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Sept. MORE ABOUT BLACK HATS AND GETTING STINGS. In order to prove that bees have no aversion to black hats, and that persons are no more liable to be stung1 while wearing hats of this color than they would be if a light color were worn, Mr. Mitchell cites cases where bees, while swarming, were induced to cluster on a black hat. Now, this does not prove that bees are particularly fond of this color. While bees are in the act of swarming, they are in a differ- ent state of mind, and have altogether a different object in view, from what they have when persist- ently trying to defend their home and drive away intruders. The mind and object of the bee attemp- ting to defend its stores will prompt it to dart angrily at and sting the very same object it would peacefully cluster upon, were it in the act of swarm- ing. Possibly, bees would sting a person wearing a white fur hat, quite as readily as they would were the color black. The brim of a black hat throws a dark shade over the upper part of the face, and I have always noticed that bees strike with more cer- taintsr in that case, than they do if a straw hat of light color is worn which does not cast much shade on the face. On two occasions, I have seen broods of young chicks attacked by angry bees, and the dark colored chicks appeared to be selected and stung much worse than the white chicks. I have no doubt that hundreds of bee keepers have noticed this disposition of bees to attack black or brown more than they do light colors. Holliday's Cove, W. Va. J. A. Buchanan. HOW TO FASTEN FDN. IN A FRAME, AND HOW TO MAKE A BRUSH FOR MELTED WAX. Remove the comb guide from the frame; cut a board (]/2 the thickness of the frame) so that it will tit loosely in the frame, and put cleats on the under side of it to hold it just right; when in position, lay a sheet of fdn. on the board, then raise the lower side of the frame, board and all; see that the edge of the fdn. is in such position that a slight jar will pass it into the groove made to hold the comb guide; when adjusted, with a small brush, apply some melt- ed wax; to make it doubly sure, have two such boards as described, and, alter putting the wax on one side, lay in the other board and turn all over, then remove the tirst board and, in the same way, apply wax to the other side ; by having a number of boards the frames may be stacked up until the wax is cold when there will be but little danger of the foundation's coming loose. I tried the rubbing plan, as recommended by you, and only spoiled fdn. To make a brush, take a small piece of ground-hog or other skin, with the fur or hair on, and wrap and fasten around the end of a pen holder, and you will have one as good, for the purpose, as any you can buy. A. W. Kaye. Pewer Valley, Ky., July 30, 1879. I send, to-day, for your inspection, one of my un- patentable sections. Isn't it nicer1 and it only costs 75 cts. per thousand, in the flat, and a girl like— well say like Miss Maudie, can nail 6 or 8 hundred in a day. A friend of mine and myself got a spur made, and now we can take it to the basket factory, and in a few minutes we have all the sections we want. Bees are doing finely here. I have had to work almost night and day to keep them supplied. Benton Harbor, Mich., July 18, '79. W. L. King. Your section box is substantially the same that Prof. Cook describes in his "Manual," and if you can get the stuff ready to nail for 75c. per M., it is certainly very low. Miss Maudie and other girls of 1-1 can put up 6 or 8 hundred in a day, and they may do it for a day or two ; but girls of that age, with our sections, gradually taper down to 100 in a day, and linally they don't work at all. I have tried a great many of them, and almost always decide on employing older people, even though I have to pay them a great deal more wages. After your sections are nailed up, you must cut the bottom bars narrower to let the bees in, and as this is a slow, hard job, you will find they are little, if any, cheap- er than the other kind, and not nearly as substantial. I am very, glad to hear that somebody has had a good honey season. HOW MUCH FOOD DO BEES NEED ON A JOURNEY. On the 11th inst,, I sent V2 lb. of bees, and a queen to Mr. Ed. Craig, Tiffin, Iowa. By mistake of express Co., Mr. Craig did not get his bees until the 23d. 1 he queen and a few of the bees were alive. They were provided with Hs lb. of fresh candy, and 3 oz. of wa- ter. E. M. Hayhurst. Kansas City, Mo., July 20, 1879. On page 211, June No., I estimated that a lb. of bees on a journey would need a lb. of honey and I lb of water every 5 days. The report given above makes it appear that the amount of sugar and water mentioned would last them nearly 10 days, which I think is nearer right. We have demonstrated pretty well, that a given weight of sugar and water will last considerably longer than the same weight of honey. In very hot weather, per- haps it would be well to give more water; say a pint of water for every lb. of sugar. Do you not see we are making some prog- ress in estimating what it costs to uboard bees?" I have a swarm of black bees, and they are build- ing comb crosswise of the frames. Some of the cards are straight. What can I do to make them build it straight, without comb fdn.? Will it answer to take the combs out and cut out pieces where they run across, and leave the rest? A. D. Eastman. East Trumbull, O., July 4, 1879. Since the advent of fdn., we have almost forgotten the subject of straight combs. To be sure you are to cut out the crooked ones, and makerthem build them straight. If you have all your combs built between two or three old ones, there will seldom be any trouble ; but I hardly see how any one can afford to dispense with fdn. nowadays. WHY DON'T THE BEES WORK, GETTING LOWER COMBS OUT OF CHAFF HIVE, ETC. "O dear, what can the matter be?" I don't know what's up. For some time, our bees have been quiet, and appear to have nothing to do. The lower part of the hive is full of honey and brood, and bees are abundant. All are strong colonies, so far as we can judge, but they don't go above to work, or swarm. Our black bees are doing better than the Italians. Why? We have too much work to select brood frames from the chaff hive. Why not have the small boxes fitted into a crate like that in the one and one half story hive? It would be so handy, and the lower part of the hive could be looked through in a fourth of the time, which would be bet- ter for bees as well as operator. Can a chaff hive be made like the Simplicity, to set off the entire upper part when only the lower part is to be examined? will it be cold or add much to expense? Tell us how to keep fdn. not used this year and in frames from injury by moths. Jesse Miller. Alliance, O., Aug. 1st, 1879. I presume your bees have ceased work be- cause the supply of honey is stopped. I think, by looking into the hives, you will find the Italians are doing the best, even though the black bees are making the most stir. Sometimes, blacks are busier on the buckwheat, which is just now coming into bloom, than are the Italians. You can use the i story crate on the chaff hive if you choose, but 1 think you would find such cases more trouble to handle with a strong colony than are the broad frames. Hang your surplus combs in a tight room, or tight box, and, if put away during warm weather, you will have to look at themi frequently to see that no worms are on them. See "Moth Miller" in the ABC. Also, page 212, June No., in regard to one story chaff hives. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 361 TWO QUEENS IN ONE HIVE. The queen is received all right, and, from appear- ance, she will do good service. If she does as well as the first one yon sent me, which is the most pro- lific layer I ever saw, she will be worth double her cost. I was much surprised the other day, in look- ing through the colony which contained the $3.00 queen you sent me, to find two queens in the hive. I was Looking for the queen and found her, and on the very next frame to her another most beautiful queen was laying. She certainly is th:> linesi queen 1 ever saw. I secured her, made a nucleus for her, and she is doing grandly. Is not this rather-singu- lar,—two queens working- in one hive ami so close to each other? Kee3 in this section have increased largely this season, but ihere is very little honey coming in, owing to the dry season. So far as I can learn, bees are in a erood, health v condition. Clinton, Mich., July 24, '79. J. J. White. Not so very rare, friend W., as you will see by the A I> ('. It is a little singular where both queens are young, but I have several times found two nice queens in a hive, and I always divide them, as you have done, rejoicing at my good fortune. QUEEN CELLS BY MAIL; ALSO QUEENS BV MAIL. I received Gleanings to-dav, and, as usual, am much interested in it. I notice a communication from W. L. King', Benton Harbor, Mich., suggesting the idea of Sending- queen cells by mail. It may be that you will have learned, before this reaches you, that it will prove a failure. If you know precisely the hovir it would hatch, you might probably send it successfully 24 hours before the time for it to hatch. I do not know that you can then, but I think proba- bly it would be tough enough to stand it. 1 have had some sad experience within the past few days, in moving queen cells but a short distance. After I received my Italian queens from Paul Viallon, I had a fine lot of cells started, and cut one out for the ac- commodation of a neighbor, and inserted it in a queenless colony. I had 2 of the nicest queens hatched that I ever saw. When they commenced laying I went to look at my neighbor's. It had not hatched, and I knew ir was dead. I opened it, and found it doubled up, the middle of it being where the head ought to be, and both ends up. I know it died the day I put it in the hive. I think, if they could be carried "right side up" all the way, that they would shake down by the motion of the car; but to shake them a little while in one position and then a little while in another, 1 am sure would kill them. B. F. Cathey. Cabot, Ark., Aug. 4, 1879. No doubt, you are right, friend C, and I presume that, really, a queen cell is as much prohibited by mail, as a live queen. When I wrote to the P. M. G., I asked if we could not mail a queen and workers, if the wings of the workers were clipped, but you have seen his reply in the Aug. No. A few days ago, we sent some sealed drone brood by mail; by the time it got through, they were hatched out, and our friend had a box of live drones by mail. I do not know what next to do about queens by mail, unless we go to the President. If necessary, Ave can put the queen and bees in a box made of wrought iron, that the mail clerks may be safe from all danger of being stung. A HOME MADE QUEEN NURSERY. I have used a nursery hive that c;>sts nothing, and works very well for a limited number of queen cells. I took an old flat bottomed tin bucket, put some rags in the bottom of it, and over the top. Then 1 got some small bottles with wide mouths, cut some grooves in the corks (to give the queens air), took queen cells sealed up, and pinned them carefully to the underside of the corks,— one cell to each cork, so that when the cork was put in the bottle the cell would be in a natural position. These bottles with the cells were then placed in the bucket, a ther- mometer inserted, the whole thing hung on a nail over the kitchen mantel, and a lamp set under it, turned down so as to keep the heat from 90° to 98° Fahr. When my queens came out, they were smeared with honey and put down at the entrance of a queenless hive and watched until they had crawled in. None of them were hurt. I claim for this old bucket nursery the following points: 1st, It costs nothing; 2d, The queens, being in separate bottles, cannot hurt each other, or unhatched cells; 3d, It is little trouble to examine it; 4th, The queens that come out too soon can be killed; for instance, from cells taken the same day from same hive, one came out in nine days after the queen had been removed, and the cells commenced, but none of the rest came out until five days later. The one that came out first was very small, the grub from which she was reared having been too old to produce a good queen. If I had simply divided my colonies, and allowed each queenless stock to rear their own, such a queen might have been the "early bird" in each hive. Brownsville, Pa., Aug. 2, '79. A. Cameron. FKOM SHADOW TO SUNSHINE. I wrote you that I had lost the queen which you sent me, but I think I have found her. I raised a queen for a hive 7 or 8 ft. distant from the one to which I introduced yours, and found her laying all right. Her progeny should have been hatching now, but, on extracting on the 15th, I found the hive without any brood or signs of queen cell, except some eggs 4 days old hatching. I then thought that probably might be the lost queen. She was very tine looking, medium light colored, and the bee's acted as they generally do to a strange queen. My way of introducing is to cage the strange queen *2 days, then take the old queen away and leave the new one caged 24 hours longer, then drop some hon- ey on top of frames, and let her go. 1 have intro- duced 3 since I lost yours. Would you advise raising young queens every year? Daniel Wright. Violet, Ont., Canada, July 17, 1879. Our friend can certainly rejoice, for the queen he speaks of was a $3.00 queen, and he had paid the charges and duty clear into Canada. Your plan, friend W., is by no means a safe one, although it usually suc- ceeds. I would not rear young queens, so long as the old ones seem prolific, and they are very often better the second year than the first. THE CENTURY PLANT AND FLOWERING YUCCA. Since the statement made on page 100, March No., much has been said in regard to these plants. My brother writes from San Diego, farther in regard to them, as follows : The man was right about the century plant's giving honey by inverting and shaking, but the Spanish Inn/milt only gives honey the same as another flower. There are plenty of century plants here, and in Mexico. M. S. ROOT. San Diego, Cal., Aug. 1, 1879. Our yuccas purchased last spring have failed to bloom, but I was astonished a few days ago to find one in the yard of a neigh- bor. I was a little too late to find out about the honey, for the flowers were just fading, but the perfume of the large white blossoms was beautiful. The central stalk is perhaps 7 feet high. TENEMENT HIVES. I see in last number of Gleanings you figure a "shingle chaff tenement hive" made of cull shingles, which you speak rather admiringly of, intimating that you think of having 25 of them built. I think if you could sec my 27 tenements built of common lumber and painted, mostly white, ranged in a square, like the blocks and streets of a town, you would not want any more built of mill shingles than you now have. Cull shingles may answer in north- ern Michigan where they are little worth, but you are in a more cult hated country and, like myself, take pride in having things in as good shape as your neighbors. D. C. Underhill. Seneca, III., Aug. 8, 1879. 362 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Sept. $&§§ and %mrhh WHAT AILS THE BEES? AND HOW TO CURE 'EM. ?OU are right about my swarm's starving1, as I discovered that they had used all the honey that had been visible to me. 1 couldn't af- ford to send for your bee-candy, so I have been giv- ing them sugar and syrup instead. I think they will come out all right, if there is any honey to gather now. Thos. H. Ccjrrie. Massillon, O., July 20, 1879. [Our friend wrote that his bees were sick, and de- scribed their symptoms. I told him they must be starving. In the summer time, feed them any kind of sugar or syrup that they will eat, but do not give them, for winter use, anything poorer than white coffee sugar.] We have 11 colonies. I have only tried bees this summer, and find it a nice business. I am attending college, and find it pays part of my expenses. Mansfield, 0., July 28, 1879. M. B. Boals. THE NEW CONE ON THE COLD BLAST SMOKER. Thanks for the new cone, with a larger tube for my smoker. I transferred my box hive day before yesterday, and the smoker smoked like blazes. One roll of cotton rags burned at least three hours. J. G. Plettinger. St. Francisville, La., Jnly 25, 1879. My bees have done their best for the last two months. I had 85 colonies in the spring, some of them A'ery weak. I now have 170, nearly all strong, as I put back many small swarms, and some I put together. I had none go away, but a very large swarm came to me. I have taken about 600 lbs. of surplus to date, and have a great many sections on hives partly filled. Most of them will not be filled till buckwheat comes. I expect a ton or two of dark honey as this is a great buckwheat country. There are, perhaps, 100 acres in easy reach of my bees. 1 am selling sections of clover and linn honey at 16c; delivered in the oil region, it nets me 15J4 cts. I I think dark honey will not be over 12 cts. delivered. This seems low, but really better than butter at 8 and 10 cts. N. N. Shepard. Cochranton, Pa., July 28, '79. queens by mail versus express. Just received by mail in one of Root's candy cages, a live queen from S. W. Salisbury, Kansas City, Mo. It was 8 days en route, 2 vials of water ex- hausted, 7 bees dead, 6 alive. "How is that for high?" S. W. Sherfey. Mesillo, New Mexico, July 26, 1879. [The above report is of the more importance to us, inasmuch as friend Sherfey is the man to whom we have tried so many times to send queens by express, and failed. See page 250. Friend Salisbury also failed in sending them by express, but he succeeds by mail without any trouble. Several times this season, we have received queens bv mail, and some of them in large packages. The only obstacle in the way (and it seems to be not much of an obstacle after all to many), is the rulings of the department. J think these rulings very unreasonable, and uncall- ed for, but even though nothing should hinder, I cannot feel it my duty to disobey such very positive orders.] The imported queen you shipped me the 28th was received the 30th, in No. 1 cage, beautifully put up. The bees and queen were in splendid condition. The bees built a small piece of comb on their trip, and the queen laid eggs in the cells. Pittsford, Mich., July 31, '79. Geo. H. Denman. A GOOD REASON FOR NEEDING A SMOKER. I thought it a good idea to have a smoker to-day when a hog got in the lot and upset the strongest hive of bees I had. I had quite a time with them but got them all right in a little while, so you will please find enclosed $1.00 for smoker, Simplicity. Logansport, Ind., July 29, '79. Ab. Hower. [I think, friend H., I should have wanted some- thing too, had I been you when I went for that hog, but it would have been something more warlike than a smoker.] HOW TO DISTINGUISH YOUNG BEES FROM ROBBBR8. Do not young bees, when taking their airing in the afternoon, rise from the bottom board with their faces towards the hive, crawl up on the side of the hive, and fall to the ground as you say robbers do? Bridgeport, Conn., July 29, '79. H. P. Nichols. [Young bees do, sometimes, behave themselves very much like robbers, but you will readily see the difference, by noticing carefully the following points. Robbers go out in a sort of greedy haste, usually rubbing their mouths, and with their bodies podded out with honey. Young bees come out more leisure- ly, and have not that guilty, sneaking way. Their bodies are of the natural size, and their wings and plumage, when carefully examined, show them to be young bees. With practice, you can tell by the looks of a bee, what his probable age is, almost as certainly as you can tell a man's age by his looks.] HOW does a queen know her OWN HIVE? The other day, late in the afternoon, when I was examining one of my hives, I happened to catch sight of the queen. I took out the frame on which she was, and, in order to have a better view of her, I carried it over to my frame holder, about 30 feet off, where the sun still shone. While I was looking at her, she suddenly flew off, and lit on the ground about 10 feet distant. I put my hand over her to catch her by the wings, but she escaped and I lost sight of her. I remembered your instructions about leaving the hive open under similar circumstances, and so left the frame in the holder hoping she would fly back to it. After waiting a few minutes, and alarmed by her non-reappearance, I made the round of my hives and examined the entrance board of each, to see if, by any chance, she might try to enter any of them. When I reached her own hive, there she was on the entrance board, being interviewed by her family, who seemed, arid no doubt were, greatly astonished at her presence there. Now what I want you to tell me is, how she got there? She was purchased and introduced a month be- fore, and had been laying very well; therefore I reason that, in all likelihood, she had never left the hive before. Now how did she pick out that hive among all the rest as hers, when she was at least 40 feet off when I last saw her. J. H. Johnson. New York, Aug. 7, 1879. [Two explanations suggest themselves, friend J. One is that there was more of a commotion about that hive, than about the others, and that she was attracted there by the hum of the bees. The other is, that a queen, like a cat or pig, knows her home by a species of instinct. It is well known that the animals mentioned, after being carried in a close box or bag, a mile or more, in all sorts of round- about ways, and then released, will go straight home.] SOWING BUCKWHEAT EARLY. It has been very dry here this season, and, since linn bloom, bees have barely made a living. By accident, 1 sowed 2 aores of buckwheat nearly a month earlier than usual, which, however, proved a lucky accident, as it came into bloom just as linn and white clover went out. The result is, my bees have been laying up stores regularly each day, while some of my neighbors have had to feed. The Italians I find to be far ahead of the blacks. Iowa Center, la., Aug. 5, '79 D. E. Brubaker. BEES THAT WON T WORK OR SWARM. On the first day of April, I bought one hive of bees in an old box hive. They have lain out all summer, and covered the whole hive, and have not swarmed. Will you please write and let me know what I would best do? M. G. O'Neil. Griffin's Corners, N. Y., Aug. 9, 1879. [Transfer them and make them go to work, accord- ing to directions given in A B C. As it is now so late, it may be best to defer operations until another spring.] SIMPSON HONEY PLANT AGAIN. I have five Simpson honey plants in bloom, and to- day there was nearly one bumble bee to every blos- som, working from early dawn til late at evening, and then they took up their lodging at the entrance of each blossom, so as to hold possession. They drove the native honey bees off, which I saw. How can I induce this "strain of character" in my bees? 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 363 Would the state of things be the same if I had one or two acres of this plant in cultivation? Wyatt Morehouse. Moinbaccus, N. Y., Aug. 5, 18"!). [One very desirable quality of a honey plant, the Simpson plant seems to possess, and that is the honey is unusually convenient of access. The bee has nothing- more to do than to put in his tongue and drink, and he can take it out of these gaudily colored little pitchers, every bit a* easily as he could get it from the unsealed cells of bii own honey comb. It is for this reason that bumble bees, bugs, tiies, and everything else are s> constantly about the plant. Our Italians seem to have this "strain of character" (beina; last at night, and first in the morning) Already, friend M. 1 think one or two acres woull be covered with bees all the same, if there were bees enough. I am now preparing to try the expariment.] CHARITY. And so the missin-r postal was addressed to Medi- na. Mich.! Well, [ have written—yes, thousands of postals and letters it mv lifetime, and this is the first mistake of the kind that I ever made; that is, to my knowledge. I cannot account for this, unless it is because I was hurried and overworked at the time that the ca-d was written. I will now trv and have more charity for oth?rs who make mistakes. W. z. Hutchinson. Rogersville, Mich., Aug. 8, '73. A BEGINNEU. On the 3d of Mav, '78, one swarm of bees came to me, and from that stock I have now seven good stocks, and have taken 103 lb. of honey, and expect some more honey yet this fall. J. A. McCune. Cavettsville, Pa., Aug. 9, 1*79. FEEDING TOO MUCH FOR SAFETY TO THE BROOD. I am feeding my Italian stock for the purpose of filling out section boxes. Is there any danger of their filling the brood frames, so as to interfere with a proper increase of stock? E. M. Pitman. Centreville, Va., Aug. 9, 1879. [It may do so, but there is not much dang-er. Some coloiiies will fill the brood combs more than others. I have fed a great manv colonies, in order to get extracted honey put into sections, and such colonies always wintered the best of any in the apiary.] On the 31st of July, a colony of hybrid bees, mod- erately strong, with nearly enough honey to winter them, and with brood in all stages, swarmed. There were no queen cells in the hive, and there had been no sudden yield of honey: and, if there had been, there was a frame of sections on each side of the brood chamber, with nothing in them but the start- ers. No honev of account had been gathered for nearly a month, and they had not been fed. The time of swarming was about 2 o'clock, P. M. They settled partly about 50 yds. from the hive, and then went back. The queen was cropped. I can not say whether she came out with the swarm or not. She is in the hive now and laying. The bees have been verv quiet since they swarmed. Chas. Bowles. Hillsboro, Ohio, Aug. 1, 1879. [I think, friend B., thev swarmed because of an extra queen, which you will find in the hive besides the old one, if you look carefully. Both are probably now agreed.] what advertisements are suitable for a bee JOURNAL. Now. fiiend Root, please allow me .hist one word of advice to you; that is, to keep out of Gleanings all advertisements that do not concern bee culture. I have heard it remarked several times, by one and another, that they would like a bee paper if they could tret one that would treat of bees and nothing else. Now yours comes very near it, but I see sev- eral advertisements for things that are in noway connected with the bee business. Let us know how many different kinds of hives you are using, the names of them, how far armrt you set them, and how much ground your 260 hive3 cover. Concord, N. Y., Aug. 4, '79. F. G. Hawkins. [I agree with you, friend H., in the main, and I will try to leave out those few. Fruits, poultry, and rural products are considered so nearly allied to bee culture, that we often see them in a bee journal, and I hardly think our readers, as a general thing, will object. I use only two kinds of hives, chaff and Simplicity, and one sized frame, the Langstroth. The hives are set up perhaps 2 inches from the ground, on coal cinders covered with sand. They are 7 feet apart, and the 260 cover, perhaps, an acre of ground. I will try to give you a picture of the whole next month.] AN IMPROVEMENT ON THE COLD BLAST SMOKER. My last order came to hand all right, and I was pleased with all, especially the smoker; though I think I have made an improvement on the position of the draft hole. I cut a hole in the slide to the left of the large hole in the slide. Then the handle is always to your right hand, and you can always open or close the door or damper (draft hole), without changing hands. Wife says it is "lots handier." Cut the new hole in the slide about an inch to the left of the large hole in the slide, so that, as soon as the door is closed, the draft hole begins to open, and then you will not have to turn the handle as much, or rather so far, as with the old arrangement. Please let me hear what you think of "my invention." Of course you can use this "invention," as we want to keep pace with the patent right smoker men, &c. Beallsville, O., Aug. 1, '79. N. J. Israel. [Thanks for the suggestion, friend I. When I made the first smoker, I thought I examined all the points of convenience in regard to the arrangement of these openings, but perhaps you are ahead of me. We can .just as well arrange them in that way in the future, and our friends can easily cut an extra draft hole in the smokers they already have.] SUGAR SYRUP VERSUS HONEY FOR WINTER STORES. [The editor of the British Bee Journal, in August No., thus replies to a correspondent:] "Never feed your bees upon honey; sugar syrup is cheaper by far, and it can always be relied upon as being free from the elements, or germs of dis- ease, whieff cannot be said of honey, it being so lia- ble to change." [After the late experience I have had in feeding for winter, I think I can agree with him. If you must feed for winter, feed A coffee sugar, as direct- ed in the A B C] NOVICE'S DOVETAILED SECTIONS IN LOUISIANA. Dear GFLeem&nge:—! began the season (Jan. 15th) with 15 colonies of black bees in box hives, transfer- red them successfully, built them up to strong stocks, Italianized them with queens from my im- ported queen, controlled their swarming propensi- ties, and worked part for extracted, part for Novice's section honey. The result has been perfectly satis- factory; thanks to your excellent advice. I have, at present, 23 powerful, full-blooded colonies. All this has been accomplished in one season, with thousands of black drones to annoy me in my queen rearing. How is this for a beginner who attends strictly to business? Honey in the Novice sections just "snatches every body bald-headed." Although my pets are "roaring" on the "palmetto bloom," I find it impossible to supply the demands of my customers. The sight of the beautiful sections of snow-white honey seems to set every one's mouth "watering" with longing. I seldom use separators.' I shipped a crate to New Orleans "for fun," and was astonished to learn that it was pronounced In/ experts to have been the best, and finest, in the city. Hurrah for the Novice section! Every body praises ray nice little honey box, but when I tell them whose box it is, they wish to know "what next;" when I cheerfully volunteer the in- formation, that, if they are any way interested, they should look out for next number of Gleanings. Your enthusiastic pupil, Chas. L. Larkin. Raceland, La , Aug. 1, 1879. REPORT FROM TEXAS. [ It seems that Texas, as well as other places, does sometimes givelarge yields of honey. We extract from the OMoeston News the following:] FORT BEND. Mr. Eckman has this year sold three tons of honey from seventy swarms of bees. It is likely that he- will sell another ton before the season closes. 364 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Sept. Continued from page 344. I watched most intently — no mistake at all — this little globule was enlarging before my very eyes, and before two minutes were up, it had spread over, like a little silver mirror, and run along the side of the pitcher shaped petal of the flower. A bee now became anx- ious to push his way in, and I let him lick it out, and then saw the process enacted over and over again. To be sure that I was not mistaken, I called Mr. Gray, and he, too, saw the little "tableau" enacted over and over again. One thing more. On page 262, 1 spoke of a way the Dees seemed to have of reducing thin, watery honey to the proper consistency. Well, I secured a position where the bees would come between myself and the sun, and watched to see how many bees went to- ward the apiary loaded. To my surprise, I saw one and then another, while on the wing, humming from one flower to another, discharge this same watery liquid, and when my eye had become accustomed to it, I saw all the bees at work, expelling the water in this way, while on the wing. This, then, is the process by which they make clear, crystal honey, from the sweetened water, as it were, that is exuding so constantly, into the nec- taries of these little flowers. cleamwcs m bee cultubeT -A„ I. ROOT, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, MEDINA, OHIO. TF4WIS: $1.00 PER YEAR, POST-PAID. 3VCEr>I3Sr^ft., SEPT. 1, 1879. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.— Col. iii. 23. To-day, Aug. 25th, we fill every order for queens of every kind, imported and all. • ♦ • Thanks are due the American B:c Journal office, for advance sheets of the bee and honey shows of Europe, where friend Newman, the editor, is hav- ing a most pleasant reception from the friends across the water. Full particulars are given in the Sept. A. B.J. • ♦ » Our British cousins have at least one wide awake bee keeper, in the person of John Hunter, author of a Manual on B:c Keeping. A new edition is just out, with excellent engravings of all the modern implements, and the whole work i3 fully up to the times. We can mail it, for $1.25. I have never seen a queen received from Italy, whose bees did not show plainly the three bands. One that I sold has been returned to me, with the report that she is a hybrid; but her bees show the three bands quite distinctly, according to the points laid down in the ABC. Come and see them if you are not satisfied. The first fdn. mill Mr. Washburn ever male was to make thick side walls, with square tops, much like that made by the Dunham machines. The ma- chine was carried to Chicago by C. O. Perrine, who, for some reason, thought it was not right and alter- ed it. It now transpires that this kind of fdn., al- though more expensive on account of its extra weight per square foot, does not sag like the thin- ner kind. We can manufacture mills to make that kind of fdn., at the same price, or we can alter any of the old ones, at a small expense. m m m It is a pleasant thing to be able to ship queens just the minute you receive an order, even if the orders come at the rate of 20 or 30 in a day. I believe we have done it every single day during the last month, for every thing except imported queens. In Tremontani's last invoice of 16, only 2 were alive. These two cost me, in cash, over $12.00 each, and I sold them for $6.00. Will thinks, if he was in Italy, he could send us queens so they would not die. I think so too; for a queen sent to Colorado, in a sec- tion box cage, that was by some mishap a mouth on the wa}\ was received in fine order. Later:— An invoice from another queen rearer in Italy has just come to hand with 22 alive out of 26, and all orders are filled, and a few ahead. Nine of the 22 were introduced at once by being let out into colonies having queen cells nearly ready to hatch. The whole process occupied less than 2 hours; one was lost. » ♦ » When you send money, my friends, please be careful to say what it is for. Several times this season, we have received letters similar to this: "Find enclosed $3.50 for 'Favorite Family Scale'," etc. Now, we supposed, of course, the writer want- ed a scale and sent it ; but when he received it, he ex- plained that the $3.50 was to pay a bill that he owed us for a scale. Had he just said the "Family Scale," it would have saved express charges two ways, and lots of confusion. It seems strange that a person in paying a debt, should neglect to say even one little word about the money's being for that pur- pose; but, it is a fact, there arc quite a number who do it. Our book-keeper can tell in a minute how it is, but, unless you put in that little "f/ie" or some- thing else equivalent to it, how do the clerks know that she is to be asked about it. With so many cus- tomers, it is impossible to remember a name, much longer than a minute. THE SHINGLE-CHAFF-TENEMENT-HLVE. We are asked to give full measurements for mak- ing a shingle tenement chaff hive, so that any body can make one. It will be a pretty difficult matter to do this, and I hardly think it best to undertake it, until the hive has been further tested in actual work. Four colonies of bees are at work in ours, and I have no doubt that it will winter them finely, perhaps better than a single chaff hive; but I confess I do not find it as convenient to work with as I had ex- pected. If you cannot make one from the directions friend Hutchinson gives, perhaps you would better have one for a sample to work by. The only impor- tant thing is, to make the frames so they will hang right, 10 below, and 14 above at right angles to the lower ones, and the same arrangement for each of the four compartments. Another friend suggests wintering 4 more colonies in the upper story, mak- ing 8 colonies in the compact form of a cube, and so close together that they may get the benefit of the animal heat from each other. This would be a splen- did arrangement, were it not for the fact that we could not get at I hose in the lower story, without taking the one above entirely out. Of course upper entrances should be provided. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 365 The contents of th hi leaf and the one following are not directly connected with the subject of bee-cxdture. On this account, I make no charge for them, and, if you choose, you can cut them out without reading. hir %cmh I am the Lord thy God. which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.— Ex- odus, xx. ~. T was almost immediately after the events of the last chapter, that the won- derful answer to prayer occurred, which I told you about in the Jan. No. You can readily understand now, why I caught so eagerly at the lines I heard when passing out of church. "Jesus, T my cross have taken, All to leave and follow thee." It was a new and bright thought to me, that some one else had really been going over the same ground, and had decided to leave all and follow this same Savior. The answers to prayer that followed seemed to say, as at the time of my conversion, almost in plain words, kT take pleasure, my child, in giving you all you ask for, or all you need, so long as you are faithful." At tins point I wish to digress a little. At the time of my conversion, and from that time forward, during the whole four years, there has been a constant feeling in my mind that it was my duty to speak out to the world, and tell them of my deliverance; to give them a chapter from the life of one who had served Satan, and afterward served God. Several things contributed to make me feel that I was called upon to take upon myself such a task ; the principal one of which was, that I had stood before the people as a scep- tic of excellent morals, and I had also been associated in business for many years with one of the opposite sex, demonstrating, as it were, that such a thing was not without a precedent, and that it was, at least in one instance, productive of no harm. I felt this the more, as, in those years past. I had taken great pains to make the matter look fair and right, through the very pages of this journal. On this account particularly, I had all along felt it a duty, to speak out, and stand hon- estly before the world. To speak a little plainer. I had for years, through this journal, mentioned having in my employ, or as partner in the apiary, one of the other sex, and, from the way in which I had written, in regard to bee culture as an employment for women, and their capabilities for the work, 1 had, as I have said before, estab- lished a precedent, and carried the idea that a woman or a girl as an assistant for the apiarist was of more value than a man or a boy. Still farther, in those back numbers of Gleanings, I have, or perhaps had, pictured Avoman in a sort of a false Quixotic light, as it were, encouraging in both their sex, and our own, a feeling too much akin to the one that would make her a doll or a plaything, to be waited on and pampered, rather than a human being endowed with reason, and having an immortal soul that she is to be held accountable for. I know there is anoth- er extreme, that would make woman a drudge and a slave, but you all very well know, I think, that I would not, for a mo- ment, counsel such a course. I am certain- ly more anxious now that avenues for the employment of women should be opened than I ever was before my conversion, but, if anything I can say or do would hinder partnerships of the kind I have mentioned, I shall most certainly feel it my duty to speak out. Farther, I most vehemently protest against women or girls being employed by men, or by any body else, where they will be thrown into companionship with one of the other sex, aloof from every body else. I allude to such cases as the employment of a girl by a photograph artist in an upper room, where the two will be alone much of the time ; of similar cases in milk factories; of lady clerks in stores where the business is so small that but one clerk is needed ; a girl to help in the apiary, etc., etc. I thank God that public opinion usually points out about what is proper in such cases, and I would warn you not to disregard public opinion. It is the voice of God, uttering a sound of warning. If the girl cannot be near a brother, a father, or a sister, do not let her go, no matter how desirable the arrange- ment may be in other respects. Now I beg of you not to urge the respectability of the parties, or their pureness of heart ; for, if nothing farther comes of it, it will at least be an example for somebody else. In my own case, public opinion did remon- strate, but public opinion, after looking on year after year and seeing nothing in partic- ular out of the way, I believe, generally con- cluded it was all right, (hie of our city pa- pers did mention the singular partnership, but in a way that might encourage others to go and do likewise, if they chose. One thing that troubled me was, that in letters received from different parts of our country, especially from those who had fol- lowed me for years in bee, culture, there were hints dropped indicating that some were beginning to copy my ways in other re- spects besides hee culture. Should I keep still in this matter because the world was prone to keep still? It was in the month of Feb., of the pres- ent year, when I felt the time had come. I had considered the matter faithfully and prayerfully, for four years, and my duty seemed plain and clear, all this time. Be- fore writing a word, I had a talk with my former partner, and the proof reader, who was an intimate friend of hers. As I ex- pected, they felt that it would be a most ec- centric, and uncalled for course, and sought to dissuade me. My former partner, who was, of course, more to be considered than any body else, or in fact, than almost all else, finally said, she did not fear to have the world know the exact truth in regard to the part she had in the transaction. I reminded both of the women of God's promise, that all things shall work together for good to those that love him, and that, even if my course were a mistake, which I was sure it was not, He would take care of the conse- quences to those who put their trust in him. 866 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Sept. The matter, before being put in type, was submitted to the two women, and with the exception of one or two points, nothing was put in type, without their assent. I do not mean to say the papers had their approval, but that in view of my convictions that I ought to write thus, they reviewed the pa- pers before they went into the compositors hands. Of course, I was aware that a part of my readers would object most emphatically, to a course which to them seemed uncalled for, and so much out of the common order of things ; but 1 knew or thought I knew, that there was among my readers a much larger class, whose lives would be made happier and better, from having known of my strug- gles with evil, and my final triumph over it, by the help of a power beyond anything in the shape of human strength. Of course, I kept the whole matter to myself with the exception of my wife, and the two men- tioned. The compositors and pressman had been desired to take care that no loose sheets were left about, and when the sheets con- taining the two pages of the chapter in the March number were off the press, the whole matter, so far as I knew, was unknown to any except those mentioned. At this time, a very prominent divine who has charge of the churches of a large denomination in our state and adjoining states, came to preach in our town, during a temporary ab- sence of our minister. He stayed with me over Sunday, and we became quite well ac- quainted. It was quite a treat to me, to talk with one who had so large an expe- rience and acquaintance with the religious people of our nation, and one who had an education so comprehensive and complete, as had he in all theological matters, and he, too, seemed much taken up with a history of my conversion, and the work that had fol- lowed, lie attended our Sabbath morning Bible class, and gave us much help, and, at its conclusion, asked to see a copy of the bee journal. He soon found these Home Pa- pers, and, while I was absent at Abbeyville in the afternoon, he asked my wife for the back numbers : by the time I had returned, he knew pretty well what my work had been. Well, during that Sabbath afternoon, my wife told him of my paper that was just coming out, and asked his advice in the matter. That evening, after meeting, he asked to see me alone, and questioned me about my course and motives for it. I answered him freely. He assured me with such earnestness that I was misled by Satan, and on the brink of a yawning precipice, that I was in truth frightened. The matter, as he presented it, assumed quite a different phase, and I at once promised to destroy the sheets already printed, even though the la- bor on them should cost me several hundred dollars, and I told him that I thought God had sent him, on purpose to rescue me from one of Satan's wily snares. I told my wife, and we two knelt and thanked God for hav- ing sent us this good friend just in time. I slept soundly, and awoke with an untroub- led conscience, ready to follow God's bid- ding where ever it might lead. My wife soon came to me, however, saying that she had just been told, by one who re- sided with us, that a report was abroad in our town, that I was going to make a con- fession in my next journal, and that every body was anxious to see it. I went in to see the Doctor, when he was up, and he seemed more troubled than I was. He said that the very fact of my having yielded to him so easily made him feel that it was possible that I was right and he wrong. People who are influenced by Satan, said he, are always headstrong and determined on any course they have undertaken ; but, to his surprise, I gave way to him at once, even though it incurred the loss, to me, of considerable money, and my willingness to be guided by him, without even a moments hesitation, was what made him feel uneasy. After I told him of the report that had got abroad, he seemed more troubled, and remarked that it looked as if God had brought this about, to oblige me to go on ; for, if a report was abroad and the sheet should be suppressed, the general verdict would be that the matter was connected with crime, while, in fact, there was none. After breakfast he went down to the factory, and read what was printed. He did not approve of it at all; not a single portion of it. Said he, uMr. Root, if that article does notkill your bee journal, it certainly ovght to kill it." He finally settled the matter by getting a promise from me, that I would hold back the printing of any further portions of it, until my own pastor returned, which would be in about a week. Of course, my pastor knew nothing of it, for I had not even men- tioned it to him. Before he went away, he came back to say that he was very loth to take the responsibility of deciding on a course for any one to take, who feels that he is led by God to a certain course of action. I am coming now to the whole point of this chapter, and the question to be consid- ered is this : Hoes God, in answer to prayer, guide us safely, in all matters in life? In going to him, on bended knees, with Bible in hand, are we absolutely sure of never making any great mistakes, and doing more harm than good? Nay, farther; are we sure he will not let us get off into delusion, monomania, re- ligious insanity, etc. Is religion, pure and undefiled, a perfect safeguard against mad- ness, suicide, and the like? The Doctor had a powerful intellect, and was learned both in men and books far be- yond any thing I could ever hope to be. In my talk with him, I had told him that I felt that God had guided me to this work, in all these four years, and I cited to him the an- swers to prayer narrated in the ''Home Pa- pers" he had just been reading. At one point in the conversation, he made a remark like this, although in the morning, he vir- tually recalled it. "Mr. Root, perhaps there has been no an- swer to prayer at all, and all the events you have mentioned are only wonderful coinci- dences." • "And all my religious life a delusion?" "Yes ; all your religious life a delusion. God does not work miracles as he once did ; have you a right to suppose the laws of na- 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CtJLTUEE. 36? ture are to be suspended for your especial work?" I presume I have not given his words in the above, but it was the thought conveyed to me. After he was gone, I dwelt on it. Had I not really been carrying things too far? Had I not been trusting to God and re- ligion, where I had no business to do so, and in things I could manage myself? These thoughts were not new to me ; they had often come up before, when I found some- thing in the Bible I did not comprehend, or when the Bible stood in the way of some pet project" of mine. If he is right, there must be some safe neutral ground. I must not ask God for the money that I need to day, for nothing short or a miracle could bring it, in letters that were written days ago. My Savior, who had been all these years a warm personal friend, growing warmer and nearer every day, began to grow farther off. A cold chill began to come over me. I did not know where to go to work or where to turn. Not a move could I make in business, or my work among the boys, unless I could first ask my Savior's approving voice. I tried to think I had no business to ask God to help me in every little thing. The Bible seemed suddenly an old book of no use, and the meetings I had taken so much pains to attend day and night in these years seemed a waste of time. I groped vainly for this more sensible ground for all of one day, if I recollect aright. I thought of my conversion and my new home; was it a delusion? I thought of the boys who had come out of jail and gone to teaching Sabbath schools, and of the revivals that had followed at least one of those schools; was that a delusion? I thought of the prosperity of my business, and the num- ber it employed ; of the new engine down below, so bright and shining and moving with such resistless power. How often have I looked at it, and wondered if it could be so, that such a piece of machinery was all my own ! Where did I, the awkward, un- couth boy that every body laughed at, ever get money enough to pay for such a thing of life and beauty? Well do I remember how I prayed and worked to scrape together the money to pay for it, and how God seemed to smile on me at just the last moment, when I feared the money would not come in time. Why, you might as well bid a bee go gather honey with his wings cut off, as to tell me that God does not answer these daily prayers for our needs. I do not know about mira- cles, nor do I very much care, so long as that great kind Friend is near me, ready to re- ward me almost instantly, when I put away temptations, and strive to keep my heart pure in his sight. I read the paper over again, that the Doc- tor thought would kill my journal, and then I knelt in prayer, and asked God "to show me if I had been making a mistake, and had not been led by him. He was back again near to me, and I felt safe. I opened the Bible, and almost the first words I saw were these. Then said he unto me. Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to un- derstand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. Daniel, x. 12. I had, until then, doubted somewhat what might be the verdict of my pastor, but, from that time forward, I felt that God was with me, and that I was safe. For further evi- dence, I prayed that God would, through the mails, then being opened, indicate to me that my conceptions of the hearts of the people to whom I was writing through the "Home Papers" were correct. Pretty soon, the following was handed me. I have seen, in other journals, several slurs cast on the "Home Papers"; but, Mr. Root, don't give up. I am no professor of religion, but I feel I have been drawn closer to God by the reading- of your "Home Papers" than by all the other reading1 and sermons I ever saw or heard. A. Wilder. Sandwich, 111., Jan. 20, 1879. I prayed again, that I might have still plainer evidence; and this came. Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.— Acts, xxvi. 28. As it has been some time since you heard from me, I feel that I owe you my thanks, any how, for the good and kind lessons in the "Home Papers" of Gleanings. I always thought well of God's people, and when I read of the honest zeal you have shown, it made me almost say, and I have said it, that I am determined to be a Christian, and I am rejoicing in it to day, and thank God that he ever put it in your heart to publish the Home Papers. It is the first thing I read after getting Gleanings, and there are others who are strangers to our God, that like to read that part. I hope it may prove of benefit to them. O, if I could only have the faith that you have, how happy I would be ! Please remember me when you go before God and think that I am plead- ing for you, that he may keep you unspotted from the world. James Parshall. Union Valley, Mo., Feb. 3, 1879. Once more I asked that I might have evi- dence that my very words and manner of writing was guided and directed so as to reach hearts and save souls ; and, almost at once, came the following. Dear Brother Root r— I must write something for your encouragement; and, to begin with, I will say that I am almost 66 years old, and I do not recollect ever taking any serious thought about the salvation of my soul, until after I read "Our Homes" in No. 2, of 1877. That article about walking 10 miles through the snow, for nothing but the good of other people, set me to thinking, and I have watched "Our Homes" very carefully ever since. When I read No. 1, '79, I determined to seek the Lord and his sal- vation. The M. E. quarterly meeting commenced on Jan. 11th. 1 was away from home, and did not get back for 3 days. A protracted meeting followed, and I at- tended with my mind fully made up to go to the altar with the first that went. I attended every night, and none went to the altar till Sunday night, the 19th, when the Spirit said, "You are the oldest; go first, and see who will follow." I went, and the next night a young man, or rather a boy, came and knelt by me, and I went every night for 11 nights, during which time several found the Savior. Among them was a man who had signed the Murphy pledge last winter, who had not drawn a sober breath for over 5 years before that time. I heard him say that bis craving for whiskey was so great that he neither ate nor slept for 3 days and nights after he signed the pledge, and his wife said she kept the coffee hot on the stove, and carried hot coffee to him very often, for she really feared he would go mad; but he is now clothed and in his right mind, and I think in a fair way to get to Heaven. Thank the Lord. Well, I prayed as best I could for the Spirit to come down on me there at the altar, and the preach- er and the members prayed and talked, and the more they prayed and talked, the harder my heart seemed to get. On the 11th night the Devil said, "There is no use trying; you are too old a sinner to be saved." But I remembered the man who was called to work in the vineyard at the eleventh hour, and that he was the first to receive his wages, and I 368 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Sept. said "Get thee behind me, Satan." I prayed as best I could, as I walked home, and after I got home I prayed the Lord to show me his face before another 21 hours should pass. Well, I went to bed about 10 o'clock and slept soundly till a little after 2 o'clock, when I awoke and heard the line, "All to leave and follow thee," plainly repeated, and my fingers began to twitch and tingle, and pretty soon it was all over me, and I had to slap my hands for ,ioy; and finally had to get up and dress, and kneel down and pray; then had to go and get the hymn book and look for the hymn that you quoted from, and after reading several hymns I went to bed again, but slept no more that morning, for joy. I do believe that I have felt more real joy and happiness since that time, than in all my life before, although I suppose I have lived about as happily as the common run of unconverted men, having had a kind and loving wife, and laised a family of sober and well behaved children. Now, brother, I do feel that I can truthfully say amen, to the last line of the verse you Quoted, that God and Heaven are my own, and that if I hold out faithfully to the end, I shall receive a crown of glory. I do think that if brother Sedgwick, or any one else, has the love of God in his heart, and will read the 13th chapter of Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians, he will not say "Confounded 'Home De- partment' " or any other hard words about "Our Homes"; for brotherly love and charity cover a multitude of sins. "And now abideth faith, hope, and charity; but the greatest of these is charity." Now, brother, you can make what use of this pa- per you please, for I feel that every word of it is the plain truth. From jour loving brother in the Lord. O'Fallon, Ills. C. T. Smith. All these letters came almost at that one time, and none had ever come hefore telling of conversions that have resulted from the "•Home Papers," nor have any such come since ; yet I am sure other conversions have resulted from them. I am satisfied of this, that God moved the hearts of these three brothers to write so that their letters should reach me, just when I should be praying for light on this very matter. It may be inter- esting to read a farther letter from our friend Parshall. We have a large Sabbath school at y taking from one up to several frames (whatever uumber can be spared) of bees and brood, from sev- eral hives, and filling up an empty hive with them. By giving the new swarm, thus made, a laying queen, they are ready for winter at once. The hives from which the bees and brood were taken should be filled with frames of empty comb or fdn. Care must also be taken not to rob the old stocks of their queens and to leave honey enough for winter, as we cannot depend much on the yield of honey during the re- mainder of the season. If I could prevent it, I would not have any natural swarms, but would ob- tain all my increase in the above way, after taking off the surplus honey. It is true, friend N., carrying our bees into the house in the fall and out again in the spring is con- siderable trouble, but is it any more than it is to prepare them for wintering on the summer stand? I think not. And then we know they are safe from .Arctic waves, if not from epidemics. I never carried my bees out for a fly during the winter, but once, and that was one year ago last winter, when I carried them out Jan. 1st, and in again about the 15th, and was paid for my trouble by saving all my stocks in my home apiary, while, in my northern one, where they were wintered on the summer stand, packed in chaff, I lost several swarms. I do not think spring dwindling deserves the name of a disease. It is caused by the old bees dying off before enough young ones are reared to take their places. No one ever saw a colony that was full of young bees the first of March, dwindle away and die. By keeping our bees warm during the winter, they will rear plenty of young bees and be safe, even in such springs as the last one. The bee chi ilera, or dysentery, is no doubt a disease; but it is simply the effect produced by certain causes, prominent among which, I would mention cold, dis- turbance during confinement, &c., all of which may, in my opinion, be remedied. I, too, am going to make a chaff, or rather a saw- dust, tenement hive, as 1 have rather more bees in my home apiary than is best to put in one room to winter. 1 think I will make a slight improvement on the one shown in the Aug. No. of Gleanings, by having the entrances at the ends instead of the sides, so that the bees will not have to fly through the drip from the eaves, when they come in during showers as they often do. James Bolin. West Lodi, Ohio, Aug. 18, 1879. Thanks, friend 13. Your ideas in regard to the dwindling are sound and sensible, but are you not mistaken when you say, "no one ever saw a colony that was full of young bees the first of March dwindle away and die*'? I had some die, that had a '"'good lot" of young bees on the first of March, but I should hardly call them "full;" they were so strong that I selected them to build out fdn. stamped on paper, but they died. What do the rest who have had the dwind- ling say to it? REMOVING WAX AND PROPOLIS BY STEAM. A friend sends us the following which will prove very serviceable when one has a steam boiler convenient. I have tried all the formulas for cleaning wax from utensils, and, in my experience, have found that concentrated lye cleans it off faster and more thoroughly than anything else. All the methods are troublesome, and it takes time to clean, especially the perforations. My plan of cleaning wax from the perforated basket of the wax extractor is, to have two pieces of gas pipe, each one foot long, just large enough to screw into the sprinkler of the fountain pump. Attach the sprinkler to one end of the pipe, procure a globe valve, and screw this on the other end, screw one end of the other piece of pipe on the globe valve, and the other end into the steam boiler, about one or two inches below the water line. Open the valve, and spray the articles covered with wax, with steam and hot water. Vou will be astonished to find how quickly it makes things look like new. Iberville, La., Aug. 8, '79. James A. Pritchard. Cheap brown sugar (and maple sugar) does nicely to feed bees for building up in the fall, but while it is more expensive, it is not as safe even, as grape sugar for winter stores. For their winter food, use nothing cheaper than coffee A. 372 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Sept. gcm% % ohm** Under this head, will be inserted free of charge, the names of all those having- honey to sell, as well as those wanting to buy. Please mention how much, what kind, and prices, as far as possible. The prices quoted in our cities for honey are, at present, too low, to make it worth while to publish them. As a general thing, I would not advise you to send your honey away, to be sold on commission. If near home, where you can look after it, it is often a very good way. By all means, develop your home market. For 25cts., we can furnish little boards, to hang up in your door yard, with the words "Honey for Sale" neatly painted. If wanted by mail, 10c. extra for postage. Boards saying "Bees and Queens for Sale," same price. fWILL sell ten thousand lbs. of first class, white honey, at 7 cts. per lb., delivered at depot here, _. or on steamboat ; bbls. thrown in. Shreveport, La., Aug., '79. C. R. Carein. I have four barrels of white clover and basswood honey for which I will take 7 cts; purchaser to pay for barrels. Also 1,000 lbs. comb honey in 1}£ and 2 lb. sections, for which I will take 10 cts. in cash. Shellsburg, la. Aug 11, '79. Robt. Quinn. I have 1,000 lb. of nice, clover, comb honey, in 1% and 2 lb. sections. I will sell it, in any quantity at 12!4cts.; each case holds 28 lb. I will sell light ex- tracted honey at 8 cts. If wanted in 10 gallon kegs, send $10.00. Golden-rod, comb honey, 10 cts. per lb., and extracted 7 cts. R. S. Becktell. New Buffalo, Berrien Co., Mich. I have 5 barrels of honey, that I will sell for 8c. per lb., with bbls. thrown in. F. \V. Holmes. Coopersville, Mich., Aug. 1879. Chicago.— Honey— Choice, in single comb boxes, 12@14c. Extracted, 6@8c. Bess-wax.— Choice, yellow, 20@22c. Darker grades, New York.— Honey— Best comb, 15@16c. Extract- ed, 6@9c. Bees-wax.— Choice, 25c. Cincinnati.— Honey— Best, in single comb boxes, 10® 12c. Extracted, 8@10c. California.— Honey— New comb, 12^0. ; Old comb 8c. Extracted, 7c. Bees-wax.— Best, 30@31c. For darker colored, 202 lb. Glass Tumblers, Fruit Jars, etc. Comb Foundation, Bee Veils, Gloves, Straw Mats, Alsike Clover, and a variety of Garden and Field Seeds, etc., etc. For further particulars, address CHAS. F. MUTH, 976 and 978 Central Ave., eom Cincinnati, O. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 379 THE FOR several years, it has been mv ambition to be able to write a book on bee culture, so clear and plain that not only any boy or girl, but even an old man or woman, with the book and a hive of bees could learn modern bee culture, and make a fair! paying- business, even the first season. This is a great undertaking-, I grant; and it will require some one with far greater wisdom than mine, to do it the first time trying. After watching beginners, and an- swering their questions almost constantly, for years, I came to the conclusion, that the only way to do it was to "cut and try," as carpenters say, when they can't get the exact dimensions of the article thev wish to make. To cut and try on the ABC book, I have invested over $2,000 in type, chases, etc., sufficient to keep my whole book standing constantly in type, that can be changed at a moment's notice. The books are printed only as fast as wanted, and just as soon as I see I have omitted anything, or have made any mis- take, the correction is made before any more books are sent out. To show you how it works, and how it succeeds, I will give you an illustration. A beginner writes to know if it is of any use to keep a queen, after she is eighteen days old and does not lay. Now I know very well that a queen should lay when from ten days to two weeks old; and also, that they will sometimes not commence until they are three weeks old, and then make good queens. Now, although I directed that they should be tossed up in the air, to sec; if their wings were good, when they did not lay at two weeks of age, I aid not say, if their wings proved to be good, how long we should keep them. If I could spare the time of the colony, I would keep a good looking queen that could fly well, until she is 25 days old; if crowded for a place to put cells, I would kill all that do not lay at 18 or 20 days old. I have just put the above in the A B C, and that is .Hist the way I am going to keep doing. Fou see you beginners are, ultimately, to build up the book. Hope the new shop will be as great a success as the ABC has been; for I consider it of more bene- fit to persons going in the business than anvthinif yet published. K. N. McIntyrb. Daytona, Fla., Dec. 28, 1878. The book, as it is now, contains about 275 pages and about 1T5 engravings. It is furnished complete in one, or in 5 different parts. The contents and trices are as follows: Part First, will tell you all about the latest im- provements in securing and Marketing; Honey, the new 1 lb. Section Honey Boxes, mak- ing Artificial Honey Comb, Candy for Bees, Bee Hunting, Artificial Swarming:, Bee Moth, &c, &c. Part Second, tells all about Hive Making, Diseases of Bees, Drones, How to Make an Extractor, Extracted Honey, Feeding and Feeders, Foul Brood, etc, etc. Part Third, tells all about Honey Comb, Hon- ey Dew, Hybrids, Italianizing, King Birds, The Locust Tree, Moving: Bees, The Lamp Nursery, Mignonnctte, Milkweed, Mother- wort, Mustard, Nucleus, Pollen, Pro- polis, and Queens. Part Fourth tells all about Rape, Raspberry, Ratan, Bobbing, Rooky Mountain Ree Plant, Sage, Smokers, including instructions for making with illustrations, Soldering, Sour- wood, Stings, Sumac, Spider Flower, Sun- flower, Swarming, Teasel, Toads, Trans- ferring, and Turnip. Part Fifth tells about Uniting Bees, Veils, Ventilation, Vinegar, Wax, Water for Bees, Whitewood, and Wintering. It also includes a Glossary of Terms and Abbrevia- tions used in Bee Culture. ^r°All arc Profusely Illustrated with En- gravings. Nothing Patented. Either one will be mailed for 25c; % doz., $1.25; 1 doz., $2.25; 40, $6.00. The five parts bound in one, in paper, mailed, for $1.00. At wholesale, same price as Gleanings, with which it may be clubbed. One copy, $1.00; thriT. copies, $2.50; five copies, $3.75; ten. copies, •pti.l H K The same neatly bound in cloth, with the covers neatly embellished in embossing and gold, one copy, $1.25; three copies, $3.25; five copies, $5.00; ten copies, $8.50. If ordered by freight or Express, the postage may be deducted, which will be 3c on each 35c book, 10c on the complete book in paper, and 12c each, on the complete book in cloth. A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. 380 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. OCT. Contents of this Number. Scraps and Sketches. No. 10. Lots of Bees and Chaff Cushions; Winter Dwindling-; Spring Dwindling- 381 Do Bees Choose a Location before Swarming- 381 California as a Bee-Keeping- State. Article 2 382 The Shing-le Tenement Chaff Hive 383 Dang-er of Adulteration in Bees-Wax; Amer- ican Mineral Wax 383 A Visit to One of the ABC Scholars Who liais- es Queens instead of Honey; Does Queen Bearing Pay? : 383 Feeding in October for Winter; What to Feed; A Very Valuable Discovery: Bee Candy for 5c. per lb.; How to Make the Five Cent Candy 384 Doolittle's Report for 1879 386 Our Own Apiary and Honey Farm; Do Not In- troduce the Accompanying- Bees, When You Introduce a Queen; Out Door Feeding with a Ban-el Feeder; Time to Sow Buck- wheat; Itapefor Fall Pasturage; The Seven Top Turnip; Alsike Clover Sown in the Fall 387 Feeding- 388 Instruction in Bee Culture in the Shape of Practical Work in the Apiary 389 An Apology for Uncharitable Thoughts 389 An ABC Scholar in Maine 390 Report from an Apiary Run by Hired Labor; Honey Vineg-ar 390 Do Pure Queens Ever Change to Hybrids? A Vexed Question 392 Wintering; Continued from Sept. No 393 Glossary 396 A Complaint 413 Simpson Honey Plant 413 Prices of Honey, Separators and no Separators, Profits of the business, &c 414 Our Cartoon for October 414 Just Before Going to Press 415 Alighting Bushes 415 HUMBUGS AND SWINDLES. Mitchell and Mrs. Cotton 416, 386 BBE BOTANY AND ENTOMOLOGY. Another Destroyer of Honey Comb; Insects on Basswood Bloom; Symphoricarpus 391 A New Species of Milkweed; Germander 392 HEADS OF GRAIN. Do Bees Ever Add a Fibrous Material in Comb Building to Give Additional Strength? Shall We Have One Tier of Sections over the Brood Nest, or Two? How to "Intro- duce" alb. of Bees and a Queen; Do Ital- ians Drive Out the Common Bees? An A B C Scholar's Experience, Bee Hunting and All 401 Strange Freak of an Italian Queen; "Handles" for Packages of Bees or Queens, &c. ; Ex- tracted Honey Will Keep; How an ABC Scholar Introduces Queens and Prospers Generally; The Simplicity Feeder and Dampness when Feeding 402 Introducing, Italians, Wiring Fdn., &c; A Sure(?) Method of Increasing the Number of Colonies even in Winter Time; How to Find a Black Queen; When to Buy Bees, What to Pay, &c; Artificial Heat for a Wintering House; Queens by Mail, and Canadian Postal Regulation 403 How Old May a Queen Be, and Still Be Fertil- ized? More About That Granulated Honey ; Feeding to Promote Brood Rearing in the Fall, and Feeding while in Doors in Winter; A Royal Combat Resulting in the Death of Both Queens ; Are We to Consider Bumble Bees as Enemies? Non-Prolific Queens; Report from Michigan 404 More About Drones in Worker Cells; No Queen in the Cage; Further Cautions About Rob- bing while Transferring, Mitchell, &c; A Few Words in Behalf of the Abused Black Bees 405 NOTES AND QUERIES. Bitter Weed as a Pollen Plant; Moving Bees for Fall Pasturage; Can a Queen Be Reared from Drone Larva?? Value of Engravings, &c; One Way to Get a Start; A Strange Freak of Bee's; How One Man Prospers, while Another Has only Blasted Hopes; Wooden Separators; Dark Queens, and Tinned Wire for Brood Combs; Quickness in Transit; Drone Brood in Worker Comb — 408 What is the Matter with the Bees? Simpson Honey Plant; Queens That Stop Laying and Queens That Produce All Drone Brood; What is Royal Jelly? Moving Bees Short Distances; "Chunk" Honey; North and South Entrances; "Peppery" Honey; Queens with lib. of Bees; Rape, &c. ; How a Patent Right Man Came to Grief 407 EDITORIAL. The Safest Package for Sending Queens; Cag- ing Queens on Hatching Brood, Caging Queen Cells, &c 408 HONEY COLUMN 413 BLASTED HOPES 416 CONVENTIONS 416 To-day, Sept. 30th, only 4,397 subscribers, Whew ! The large picture of Our Own Apiary, will be giv- en next month. Most Queens stop laying this month unless the colony is fed daily; will the A B C class please take notice, instead of writing that they are queenless. Our new price list, carefully revised, and a great deal larger, will be sent to any body on application. It will be sent to all subscribers with the last num- ber of the year. Queens can be introduced now as well as at any time, and, as but little brood is being reared, it U the most economical time in the year to have a col- ony queenless. We shall be prepared to furnish them, not only during all this month, but probably all of next. One dollar sent for Gleanings now, pays for it the balance of this year, and the whole of 1880. To all of our old friends who send us a dollar during this present month, for Gleanings next year, we will give a still better present; see notice in anoth- er place. The )i lb. of bees with a dollar queen, that friend Hayhurst sent us last May, mentioned on page 210, June No., has increased of itself to a fine colony of bees. The queen he sent, after being tested, was sold for $3.00, and they raised another, besides gathering a full supply of stores for winter. Was not that $2.00 rather a profitable investment?— Come to think of it, I did not pay anything; the bees and queen were a present. Any person sending us $1.00 for Gleanings for 1880, during this present month of October, may have as a premium the last 3 Nos. of 1879, or any one part of the ABC, or a photo of "Novice and Blue Eyes," or a lithograph of our old apiary, or the 25c. plane, or a two foot pocket rule, or last, but not least, the beautiful hammer with metal handle in- laid with black walnut, shown on page 326, Aug. No. Now, to avail yourself of this offer, you must men- tion it when you send the dollar, and tell what, present you want, for our clerks have no time to hunt up back correspondence, at these very low fig- ures. The cheap candy works beautifully; a moderate colony will take out of the tray from 1-4 to 1-2 lb. daily, after they get the "hang of it." For the first day or two, they sometimes use it but little. The flour can be stirred in easiest when the grape sugar is flrst taken from the stove; but the conee sugar must not be put in until it is perfectly cold, or it will not harden. For 10c, we will mail you a small tray of it, sufficient to try it on your hives. This little tray will also show you how thin stuff may be nailed with the new wire nails; and, on the back of it, is pasted printed instructions for making and feeding the candy. If your young queens reared late in the fall won't lay, toss them up when 15 days old, to see if their wings are good. If so, feed the colony every day, as I have directed on page 380. If she does not lay after a week, put her in a strong colony and give her the flour candy; this will generally succeed, if there are drones, and there are almost always, even if you do not know it. Sometimes when you cannot make them lay in the fall, they will lay all right next spring; but of course you are never to sell a queen until you have seen her laying freely. It would be safer not to sell her until some of the brood was capped, to be sure she was not a drone layer. OEVOTED TO BEE« A1SD HONEY, AND HOME INTERESTS. Vol. VII. OCTOBER 1, 1879. No. 10. A. I. ROOT, ) Published Monthly. (TERMS: ll.OO Ter Annum in Ad- Publisher and Proprietor, > < vance; 3 Copies for S2.50; 5/or $3.75; Medina, O. ) EstaTbllsliecl in 1873. ClO oi more, 60c. each. Single Number, lOc. SCRAPS AND SKETCHES. NO. 10. LOTS OF BEES AND CHAFF CUSHIONS. S'N the autumn of '78, I commenced preparing- my bees for winter, in Oct. My hives are of such shape that I can take out four~or five frames, turn the remaining- six or seven frames half way around, and then put a chaff cushion on each side of them. I not only put a chaff cushion on'each side, but I put on an upper story, and put a thick chaff pillow on top of the frames, and then banked saw- dust around the hives until it reached half way to the top of the lower story. Before the bees were packed, however, they were made very strong- by uniting- nuclei, and doubling up swarms. I have taken bees that were "strangling round" on 23 frames, and crowded th^m on to six frames; the last ones to enter had to]use their "elbows" pretty freely to get in, but they did it. I tell you, one who has never tried it will bo astonished to see in how small space a large swarm of bees'can be packed. By the way, I think that about as good protection as bees can have, is feces. The above method of winter- ing bees seems to answer very well, but it jrequires too much "fussing and bother," and costs too much for cushions; so I am going to give the chaff hives a trial the coming winter. WINTER DWINDLING. One colony (formed by uniting two^others) com- menced, in one sense, to dwindle even before cold weather began. It was a strong swarm, with plenty of honey, and was well packed; but, every morning, I would find a handful of dead bees in front of the entrance. During the winter, the snow lay about the hives a foot deep, and the warm air from the hives melted the snow around the entrances, until there was a little cave, as large as a'half bushel, in front of each hive. The bees brought their dead bees out into these caves, and, whenever I made an examination, I seldom found more than a handful of dead bees in front of any hive, unless it was the "dwindling one;" from that, two or three times, I took away as much as a hatful of dead bees. One warm day in March, I opened the hive and'took an- other "hatful" of dead bees from the bottom board, and I don't believe the hive contained a "hatful" of live bees. I put them upon three frames, and pack- ed them up well, but the last cold "snap" was too much for them. SPRING DWINDLING. Early in April, I examined my bees, and found them in good condition; but, when I looked at them a week later, I found that one stock had "spring dwindled" to almost nothing. The queen was alive, and I tried to save her and the few remaining bees, by giving them two frames of bees and brood. I caged the queen two days, but the weather was cold for a few days after I released her, and when it was warm enough to open the hive, I found the bees building queen cells. I shoak the bees in front of the weakest swarm, and returned the brood frames to the hives from which they were taken. I had two more swarms that dwindled, but I saved them by changing places with them and two strong swarms. I do not know whether it paid or not. I should have united the dwindling swarms, but I wanted to save the queens. To sum up, I went into winter quarters with twelve swarms, and came out with ten; and these are the only bees I have lost since I commenced keeping bees in movable-comb hives. Most of the bee-keep- ers in this vicinity lost, at least, half of their bees, while many lost them all. I attribute my'success to "lots" of bees and chaff cushions. Perhaps some of you think, if I commenced with four swarms two years ago last spring, I ought to have more bees. Well, if I had not~sold"any, I.pre- sume I would now have, at least, 40 or 50 swarms; but I find it fully as profitable to raise bees for sale, as to raise honey. W. Z. Hutchinson. Rogersville, Mich. There, friend Bolin, will you just telljwhat made friend Hutchinson's bees die as they did, if there was no disease in that hive V I can think of but one reason, and that is that, in uniting, he secured a large colony, but of bees of too nearly one age, and that they died off as they did, of old age and nothing more. If the colonies that composed these were all of them rearing brood briskly up to the time of uniting. I do not know but that I shall give it up. WO DEES CHOOSE A LOCATION BEFORE SWARMING* fjjHEKE has been much said pro and con on this question, and it is still far from being settled in my mind. I have been familiar with bees for fifty years. lean just remember when my fa- ther brought the first bee skep or colony home, I being just four years old. He got them of a near neighbor that kept about 30 or 40 hives, and was always looked up to as law and gospel on the bee business. He did nothing but keep;; bees and teach 382 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Oct. school. He was a good Christian man, and I used to love to hear him talk bees, especially in swarming time. He would tell how the colony was ruled by a king, and in swarming time they would raise another king, and then the two kings would fight, and the one that got whipped would have to leave with a part of the bees; and the reason they clustered on a tree was so the king could have a rest after such a hard battle; and if they happened to return without lighting he said the king was unable to fly after such a hard battle, and must rest until the next day, when he would lead his party out again. Query:— I wonder if Novice's theories will seem so ridiculous to the next generation, 50 years hence. Well, my father died and I bought out the entire lot of bees, just 35 years ago, and went enthusiastically into the bee business. I made a lot of square box hives that would hold about one bushel (no patents), and waited patiently for swarming time. Well, on the 2Sth of June, a large swarm came off. I hived them, and they went to work all right. On the first of July, there issued another large swarm, which, after circling around awhile, returned; not, however, to the old hive, but alighted on another hive that already had more bees than could get inside, and remained on it all day. The next day being Sabbath, I remained at home, for that hive showed much un- easiness. About 11 o'clock they commenced pour- ing out, both colonies coming out together,— two large swarms, and they went straight to a large oak in the timber, XA mile away. Well, it seemed too much to lose two swarms at once, so daylight, the next morning, found my brother and me cutting down the great oak. We felled the tree, and got them out without any trouble, and carried them home in triumph. They came out again the same day; I hived them again. They remained quiet until next day about 10 o'clock, when they com- menced pouring out. I got water and sprinkled them thoroughly, but it was no use; they circled around a while, then alighted in or on the hive and swarm which I got on the 28th, being about two inches thick all over the hive. On looking around on the ground, I found the queen so wet she could not fly. I pinched her head ; that settled her, and 1 supposed the others were all right. But not so; in about one hour, the cry was raised, "They are com- ing out again," and, sure enough, the bees in the hive they had alighted on and all the rest came off, leaving combs about six inches long. Such a cloud of bees in the air I never saw before or since. There were three large swarms together, and they did not attempt to alight, but struck a bee line to the north- west. I struck after them, determined to keep them company to their new home. I ran through timber, over fences, and through grain fields, for just two miles, until we crossed the Styx valley, when they rose up over the timber on the west side of the valley, and, for aught I know, they are going yet. As they went in the direction of Medina, perhaps it is the colony which Novice captured, and which gave him such a boost in the bee business. But, be that as it may, I set my face homeward, a warmer if not a iciser man. Now, had these fugitives a location picked out before leaving, or do they have an eye out for a future home, when gathering honey? Will Novice please stand up and explain? J. Elliott. Ea3ton, Wayne Co., O., Aug. 2, 1879. I believe the general decision is, friend E., that they sometimes have a location picked out, and sometimes they do not. Where a colony suddenly swarms because it bears the swarming note from some other in the apia- ry, and gets the swarming fever suddenly. I do not think they have any place selected. The mammoth swarm you mention probably went off in much the same Avay. On our way home from Sabbath school, on the 20th of July, we saw a swarm of bees right over the buggy, going directly in a line with the road. As long as they kept the road, I thought I could certainly keep up with them, and as they buzzed about the limbs of a tree by the road side, I began thinking what I should use to carry them home in. Well, they did not quite stop at the tree, and when they started on, they went so much faster, that I found it difficiilt to keep up, and final- ly, I found it out of the question ; my horse could not keep their speed. Well, instead of taking the proverbial bee line, they soon turned on a sort of curve, and went off across the river, in quite a different direction from their original course ; and, instead of going in the direction of any forests, they were taking a line for a neighboring apiary. Now, instead of having any definite plan in view, they were pushing ahead at random, and would very likely cluster somewhere, before going to any tree or place of abode. Do they not often start off in just this way ? CALIFORNIA AS A BEE-KEEPING STATE. ARTICLE 2. M BOUT the middle of June, we had a hot time J($\ of it. The thermometer went up to 110 in ' the shade, and the bees began to leave their hives and cluster on the trees in the vicinity of the apiary. We saw clusters from the size of a hen's egg up to a fair sized swarm. At first I began hiving, but found that they would not hive worth a cent; so I let them have their own way, and, in the cool of the evening, they would go back. Nearly every cluster contained a queen. 1 caged several and introduced them to queenless stocks, and the remainder I suppose found their way back to their respective hives. The heated term lasted 5 days, and every day they repeated the same process. Quite a quantity of comb melted down in spite of all the ventilation I could give. Only one full stock was entirely destroyed by melting, still I can see that, if the hives had been full of honey and brood at the time, we must have met with quite a loss in spite of all that could have been done, as the bottom boards were nearly all nailed fast to the hive. Bees have a fashion of clustering with a virgin queen, perhaps on her wedding flight. They seem to gather from all parts of the apiary (mostly young bees and drones), until they form a decent sized swarm. At first, T used to hurry up and hive them; but I soon found that they did not amount to a row of pins, as they would all scatter away within 21 hours. In fact, bees cut up a great many didos in Cal., that we never saw in the east. E. Gallup. Scenega, Cal., July 24, 18T9. I have seen something of this same swarm- ing out on account of excessive heat, in my green house experiments. During such a time, the loose bottom boards of the Simplic- ity hives prove a great convenience. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 383 THE SHINGLE TEVEMBNTCHAFFHIVE. 3«S|52iHEN friend D. C. Underbill intimates that ■ /*'// the dwellers in "Michigan— my Michigan," -' -* take no pride in having things in good shape, he touches a tender spot in, at least, one heart. If there is anything that I take pride in, it is in the neat and tidy appearance of my apiary and its surroundings; I should not only have them neat and tidy but ornimzntal, "if I only had the money" to spare; but circumstances compel me to "count the pennies." Therefore, when the idea of making a tenement hive out of cheap shingle 5 came to me, I felt truly thankful. Just think of it, friend U., that tenement hive has a capacity equal to four, two- story, chaff hives, and the materials for its construc- tion cost me just mir dollar; while, if you should see it, I do not think you would call it very had looking cither. One thing more; the interior being made of shingles, the chaff is brought right close up to the bees. W. Z. HUTCHINSOX. Rogersville, Mich., Sept. 2, 1879. Well now, my friends, we think the shin- gle hive is just handsome ; and to prove it, I submit the picture of the one as it stands on our grounds, near the house apiary. OUR OWN, SniNGLE, TENEMENT, CHAFF HIVE. I think a small town of such hives would be really pretty. The only objection I find to it is, that the cover is so heavy to slide back, but when I get it hinged, like friend Hutchinson's, perhaps I shall like it better. I do not know how we can get the materials for a good chaff hive any cheaper, than 25c. each, but our carpenters find it a pretty big job to make one of the shingle, tenement, chaff hives. DAXiEK OF ADILTKK ATION I1V BEES- WAX. jffr^ Manufacturer and Builder published in New York, might be of interest to bee-keepers, give it in full. AMERICAN MINERAL WAX. For some time, there has been in the trade a min- eral wax, from Austria, called "Osokerite." It is very much like beeswax, except the honey flavor, and is now largely used for the adulteration of bees- wax, white as well as yellow, as this osokerite can also be obtained bleached, when it is as white as white beeswax, and is sold as such at a great profit, as it does not cost half as much. It appears that we have everything on this continent, and that, too, often better and in greater quantities than in other countries. This is the case with this substance also. It is reported that an immense bed of this, or a very similar substance, has been discovered in southern Utah and Arizona, and we expect that this discovery may turn out to be as important as the petroleum discoveries in Pennsylvania. The substance is sim- ilar to the Roumanian mineral wax called "Zietris- kisite." as verified by Prof. Henry Wurtz, of Hobo- ken, N. .1. The beds here arc said to cover many miles of surface, and reach to a depth of UU feet; while, in Europe, it is found in comparatively small quantities. We ought to add that the difference between these substances and paralline is that their melting point is higher, while they do not dissolve in ether, as paraffinc does; therefore they are much better adapted for the adulteration of wax than paraffinc is, which is very easily found out, paralline being semi-transparent, while this substance is more opaque. James A. PritchARD. St. Gabriel, Iberville Par., La., Sept. 8, 1S79. I have for some time feared the wax of commerce would lie adulterated with this substance, which is really the same thing as the ceresin which we have had and tested ; but my greatest ground for security has been in buying the wax in the usual cakes, of all colors, and, as much as possible, from the bee-keepers themselves, or from country merchants where it is brought in. I have feared that we should have these dirty cakes imitated, and, if we do, the readiest means of detection will be to test the wax by mak- ing some fdn. of it, and hanging it in the hive. If it makes good comb, without stretching, we pronounce it pure wax. As this substance answers every purpose of beeswax, except for fdn., it is quite a gain to our manufacturing industries, and it is this that has reduced the price of wax so materially, I suppose. So much has been sent in at 22c, that I have been compelled to reduce the price to 20c. until further notice. « n> i ^ A VISIT TO ONE OF THE ABC SCHOIi ARS WHO It VISES QUEENS INSTEAD OF HONEY. DOES QUEEN REARING PA A' V IT does us good to go around and see other J^ folks, and see how they do things ; it ' knocks the corners off from conceits we are all liable to fall into. My neighbor II., came in yesterday, and asked me to go out with hint and visit his apiary. Said apiary is about four miles from his home, and I have been talking to him almost all summer, about trying to make bees pay. and having them away from home in this manner. II., like some of the rest of us, lias his own ideas, and his own ways of doing things. We climbed into the buggy, and, almost before we could get seated, off went "Patsy" like an arrow from a bow. While I iield my hat on and stuck fast to the seat, I expostulated on the folly of having a horse that started before you told her to go ; but he said that was just the way he wanted her to do, for it saved time. The buggy creaked and bounc- ed in the air, as we went in and out of holes and bumped against bridges, and I told him 384 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Oct. lie would surely break it, but be declared, it' there was any break to it, it would have been broken long ago; and so we went on, until we came down to the river. Golden rod was just in full bloom, and beautiful Italians, that might satisfy the most difficult customer I ever had as to markings, hovered in countless thousands among the blossoms. The asters which were just coming out, as well as the great masses of touch-me-nots along on the low land, were also humming with bees. Patsy went up to her accustomed post, and H. was out of the buggy in a twink- ling, and began pulling some queen cages containing queen cells from under his vest, and out of various hiding places. "What do you carry them there for?" "To keep them warm ; that is my 'lamp nursery.' " Sure' enough a queen had hatched, and he pulled the cover from a chaff hive, and laid it on the weeds ; you see if the weeds had been cut down as I advised, he would have bad to stoop to pick up the cover. Next came the chaff cushion which he keeps on in the summer too. The enameled sheet stuck to it, and both came out at once and were also deposited on some more weeds. "Is that the way you open hives ?" "Yes; it 'saves time.' " A nice, yellow, laying queen was found and put into a cage in a twinkling, and then, to my astonishment, his newly hatched queen was put right in her place. "Is that the way you introduce virgin queens to full colonies like that ?" "Yes ; it 'saves time.' " "But do they not get stung V" "No. I take a laying queen from this hive every week." "Why, do you get such queens to lay in a week V" "Well, not always when a week old, but the last one I put in was laying in just a week." "You cannot do this with all your colo- nies?" "No ; but I remember those that will al- ways take any queen, and keep them for that purpose." "Do you always smoke them ?" "Well, usually, I think it best to have them all of the same scent as nearly as we can, but it may be they would receive just hatched queens without smoke. I smoke them when the queen is put in, and then I smoke them every time I pass, as long as I stay." His queen cages are some old ones which I discarded years ago, made with wire cloth on both sides ; but he finds them just the thing. Instead of a lamp nursery, he puts queen cells in these, and then lays them over the frames of a chaff hive, and puts on the cushion. I discarded this plan several years ago, but I did not have chaff hives then. With these, and strong colonies in them, such as II. has, I think they might prove a success, even during the cool nights we have had this fall. "H., how does it come you have all such nice, regular combs, and of such even thick- ness?" "Because I make them all nice, or throw them away ; I won't have combs in the apiary that are not nice and even.-'1 Just notice; he had his hives set down all sorts of ways, and so covered up with weeds you could scarcely see them, but he would have no combs except good and perfect ones. "I have a customer who wants 10 chaff hives with full colonies amply provisioned for winter; he says he wants some that I can stake my reputation on. What will you take for 10 of the best I can pick out here, in case he should send the money for them ?" "I would not take less than $100. for 10 of my best stocks." "Will you take $100.?" "No; I won't." "H., how many colonies did you have in the spring?" "Twenty-two." "You sold me every queen in the lot in May, when I could not fill orders for tested queens, for $2.00 each, did you not?" "Yes; and you said it would spoil my apiary for this year, but you see it didn't.1 ' "Do you know exactly how much I have paid you for queens this summer?" "Yes, I have just counted it up. It is $225., in round numbers.1'' "And you have now 60 colonies, all ready for winter, both in bees and stores." "Yes; is not that pretty well for one who commenced four years ago with just one colony?" Yes ; it is pretty well, in spite of the weeds, and his crooked apiary. The most of the queens he has sold me brought him only 00c. each, and it is no wonder they never get the wrong hive, for they will surely never forget the path through the weeds to the entrance. Two years ago, his wife scolded (just a little) because he paid so much money to me for an imported queen; but be says now, it is the best investment he ever made. Besides the chaff hive apiary, which no one ever touches except himself, the man has charge of three farms, and he says he does not know how he should ever get the money to pay his hired men, if it was not for the queen money. Patsy took us up town again, at the same break neck speed, not, however, before she had run around the fields with us, and showed us the beautiful beds of his Alsike clover, which was away ahead of any on the honey farm. It was a perfect carpet of green, and, although it was the 10th of Sept., in some spots, the blossoms were quite plenty, and covered with Italians. »it'»i FEEDING IN OCTOBER FOR WINTER. f]iHE fall flowers have commenced blooming', and as the bees have now something- to do, even if I it does not amount to more than their "board," I have thought best to omit the daily afternoon feedings of grape sugar. As open air feeders must be used only in the day time, and as any kind of day time feeding must divert the bees from their legitimate business of gathering honey from the fields, I am a little inclined to doubt their expedi- ency, unless at a time when a drouth renders it ab- solutely necessary that they should be fed to keep up brood rearing. Even then, if the necessary amount can be given in the nighttime, I think it better. Put a Simplicity feeder right up against the alighting board, buried in the sand and cinders, and then fill it with thin syrup every night, just af- ter all the bees have stopped flying, and they will then lose none of their time. After they get used 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 385 to it, they will be waiting at the floor way, every night, even when the nights are quite cool. Al- though you can till them conveniently with a coffee pot, a pail with cover and curved spout, as shown in the engraving below, will be found handier. SIMPLICITY FEEDER ARRANGED FOR FEEDING CHAFF HIVE FOR WINTER. The feeder should be set so low, that its upper edge is just even with the entrance block. Now, to make this work nicely, you must have the hive so full of bees that they are crowded out at the entrance a little, unless during the very coolest nights, and they should be thus strong to winter safely, any way. If you cannot crowd them out otherwise, put a di- vision board on each side. A -good colony will empty a pint Simplicity feeder, almost without fail; but if you should find it is not all taken out, and makes trouble by exciting robbing next morning, fill them no more than half full. If it should rain and fill your feeders with rain water, instead of taking the trouble to pour it out, just sprinkle in enough sugar to make the bees take it out. With the above ar- rangement, it is an easy matter to feed at the rate of 5 hives per minute. WHAT TO FEED. If you want the very best and safest thing for your bees for winter, give them a syrup made of straight A coffee sugar. I believe all are agreed that this is just as good, or better, than honey. There is no need of boiling it at all; just stir it up with water as 1 have directed in the ABC. No matter about the proportions, only the sweeter you make it the less labor will they have to evaporate it in the hives. Now the friends who are afraid of grape sugar would better stop right here, and read no farther. Those who, like myself, feel that grape sugar is just as safe as cane sugar aside from its inveterate habit of hardening in the cells in cool or cold weather can read on, for I have made A VERY VALUABLE DISCOVERY. The credit of it belongs to several individuals who gave me suggestions, some accidentally, and I will try to give all due credit. You may remember that I remarked, when we first began experiments with grape sugar, that Will had failed in all his attempts to combine the two sugars in making bee candy. Although they were solid and dry when separate, as soon as they were combined they were soft and sticky, and he could not make them hard. This is fact one. When friend Bingham was here last winter, there was here at the same time a fiiend from Milan, ()., Mr. S. Fish. Friend B. was, of course, very vehe- ment in his denunciations of grape sugar and its use for confectionary. Mr. Fish said he had used it for bees without any bad results, and in the way it was used in making candy, he thought it no harm at all. He said they simply added enough grape sugar, to destroy the tendency, in the; canr BUgar, to grain. For this purpose, they had formerly used vinegar; but he thought a nice article of grape sugar prefer- able, and so do I, in common with all our candy ma- kers. Hence, notice that grape sugar destroys the graining property of cane sugar, when added to it in either large or small proportions. This is fact No. two. On page 90, March No., Prof. Cook gives an ac- count of a very valuable experiment, and it has doubtless demonstrated something he did not at the time expect, as well as the fact that I was mistaken. The bottles still stand in my study, and while three of them have candied, including the honey, the bot- tle containing 2 parts of grape sugar and one of honey has not candied at all. This is fact No. three. Well, my invention, deduced from the above, is that three lb. of grape sugar with one lb. of coffee sugar, dissolved in any quantity of water, will not candy at all. You may boil it down, if you choose, until it is solid, but no amount of stirring will make it grain, and you can make it so thick that the dish holding it may be turned upside down without spill- ing its contents, and it will still be as clear as glass. We have fed it to the bees for over a month, and have combs of it nicely sealed up, and still it is ex- actly like thick sealed honey. I have not a particle of fear in feeding it to my 300 colonies, for it is vir- tually honey, almost identical with that which the ! bees gather. It may be well to add that we are get- \ ting a better article of grape sugar now, from the Thurbers of N. Y, than that we used last year. They seem to have made important improvements in making a nice, pure article. Now, this isn't all ! either. It will probably be too cold for the out door ! feeding, as given above, when this No. reaches the most of you, and we must therefore feed candy of some kind. BEE CANDY FOR 5C. PER DB. Our friends who have found it so difficult to com- prehend many of the queer things about grape sugar (such as that the solid sugar contains more water than the liquid glucose, &c,) will, probably, be inter- ested in the following: Take a small quantity of coffee sugar, and three times as much grape sugar, both of which substances are dry and solid; pulver- ize them with a knife, and put them together, and they will form a wet semi-liquid. The water contain- ed in the grape sugar exists in what is called a latent form, as the water does in plaster of Paris, when it hardens. Well, the coffee sugar has so strong an attraction for water, that it pulls it away, as it were, from the grape sugar, and with it becomes a thick syrup, or semi-fluid. This semi-fluid, composed of the two sugars, will be greedily taken by the bees; but it is too soft, and would run down and daub them. Now for my invention, which I confess to feeling a little proud of. You can easily melt grape sugar, on the stove, in a tin pan; and that, too, with- out the addition of a drop of water. You would suppose this melted sugar would become solid again, as soon as it becomes cold. Such is not the case however; it cannot again take up all this water, without having a little time in which to do it, say 24 or 48 hours. Now, listen. HOW TO MAKE THE FIVE CENT CANDY. Put 3 lb. of grape sugar in a tin on the stove, and melt it, adding no water. When melted (partly melted will do if you mash up the soft lumps), take it off, and let it stand until it begins to solidify. When it is partially solid, stir it up until it makes an even paste, say about like butter in the summer. Now stir into it, 1 lb. of coffee sugar, and yt lb. of wheat flour. All lumps in the sugar or flour must be mashed up or rolled. The pasty grape sugar is simply to hold the coffee sugar and Hour, so that the bees can lick it up. Therefore, it is not to be dis- solved, but only stirred in. You can now make it into candy bricks, sticks, or spread it into a frame to be hung in the hive. As soon as the bees lick it up, it is a liquid, and will never harden in the cells afterwards: in which respect, it is even superior to honey. If you wish to feed it rapidly, for winter stoics, make a shallow tray, by nailing a very thin board back to a common frame; All this with the soft candy, and after it hardens, which it will do over night if set where it is cold, lay the whole tray, candy side down, over the top of the frames, so as to have it cover the cluster. In this position, the moisture from the breath of the bees will soften the candy, and they will lick it up and deposit it in the combs very quickly. The % lb. of Hour will start brood rearing at once, and if it is a strong colony in a chaff hive, you can, with it, make them raise young bees and build up, even in winter. About the expense; 3 1b. of grape sugar will be 12c: lib. straight A coffee sugar, 9c; V2 lb. best wheat flour, 1 l-2c; total, 22 l-2c for 4 1-2 lb. of candy, or 5c per lb. I will sell you the material at the above prices, or I will furnish you the candy made up, ready to feed, for 2c per lb. extra. I shall keep 4 1-2 lb. trays on hand, made just right to cover 1-2 of the brood nest in a chaff hive. Price of each tray, 35c. Three or 4 such trays should, I think, carry a strong colony through the winter. Price of empty trays, 5c. 386 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Oct. Pertaining to Bee Culture. [We respectfully solicit the aid of our friends in conducting- this department, and would consider it a favor to have them send us all circulars that have a deceptive appearance. The greatest care will be at all times maintained to prevent injustice being done any one.] fi WANT to tell you about a little transaction be- tween myself and a Mrs. Lizzie E. Cotton, of I West Gorham, Me., who sends her circulars all round the country, advertising %er system and hive as something new and wonderful. I have not time or space on this card to tell you very particularly, but her circular says, "Send me six dollars, &c, and I will forward you one sample hive, one sample hon- ey box, one feeder, receipt for feed, with complete printed directions for managing bees on my plan." She sent a special circular saying she would send the same, up to July 1st for $4.00. 1 sent the money and received in return, an imperfect model of a bee hive. I call it a regular swindle, and have told her so. Her description of her hive is, 2 feet square, 1 foot deep, with 30 glass boxes— boxes top and bot- tom. I've seen one hive made after her model. The boxes are ten on each of two sides, and ten on top. The feeder is made of tin, and the bees have to climb down the perpendicular sides to get the food. Her directions contain nothing more than what all expe- rienced bee-keepers have known for years. Her hive is not patented, for the reason, in my opinion, that every thing about it that is patentable is already patented, and still she says the "patent bee hive fraternity" are slandering her. and she is determin- ed to drive the patent bee hive men all out, &c. I presume her name is familiar to you. I have told her, if the patent bee hive men have called her a "fraud," I was convinced they were right. Bartonsville, Vt., Aug. 20, '79. A. P. Fletcher. The Mitchell fellows have been through here. A man of my acquaintance was played on,- to the tune of $10., for a smoker and a farm right to make his hives. They never have come near me yet, for they can find out very easily that pedlers of all kinds have to keep out of my reach. St. Patricks, Mo., July 1, '79. E. F. McDonnell. I have been intending to write to you a long lime. Last spring, one N. C. Mitchell, of Sandusky, Ohio, sent some circulars into this county, representing that he had a queen nursery on Kelley's island. Well, the result was, several of my be'e fiiends clubbed together and sent him $28.00 for 8 queens; and, strange as it may seem to you, at least, one of them was one of your subscribers. They have re- ceived no queens yet. Mitchell keeps making ex- cuses, and promising to send them soon. Do you know anything about Mitchell? Is he reliable? Do you think he will send the queens? I ask these questions for the benefit of my friends. Now, don't be too hai'd on Mitchell; he says his wife has been sick this summer, so that he could not attend to his bees. M. E. Parker. Somerset, Ky., Sept. 8th, 1879. Mitchell has been doing this same thing for years past, and has told the same sort of excuses. Many of his letters have been sent me. (Should I let him go on advertising thus, without proclaiming 111111? Is there any excuse for his advertising as he does year after year? What do yon think about it, friend T\? Should not the way of the transgressor prove a hard one? Mrs. Cotton has finally sent some of her customers what she calls a sample hive. In- stead of being a sample, it is a rough model, too small to lie of any practical nse? and these customers are but little better oft than those to whom she sends nothing. Her "di- rections'" are contained on a single leaf. printed on one side. Her "celebrated" se- cret for bee feed is as follows: MRS. COTTON'S RECEIPT FOR BEE FEED. To 8 lb. coffee crushed sugar, add 2 quarts of soft water, and the whites of 2 eggs, bring this to the boiling point, over a slow fire, and skim carefully. The rest of the leaf, which she claims will enable any one to secure $50. per year from every colony, comprises nothing that is not well known. Mitchell advertises an extractor (at a very low price), in about the same way ; after you get the extractor, yon must pay more for gearing, wire cloth, honey gate, etc. The reports of the swindles of both parties are coming in almost daily. DOOLITTLE'S REPORT FOR 1879. R. EDITOR:— Thinking the readers of Glean- ings would, perhaps, like to hear how we are ~ making bee keeping pay, we send you our report for 1879. We shared the fate of many others last winter and spring, in losing quite a number of stocks of bees, and many more were so weak as to compel us to unite them to give us any chance of success. This, with the sale of a few stocks which we promised during the winter, left us only 60 to commence the season with, which opened rather la- ter than usual. Bees did not obtaiu pollen plenti- fully till about May 1st, while there was scarcely any honey gathered until the first of June. At this time, apple yielded quite plentifully, sufficient to last the bees over the period of scarcity we always have between apple bloom and white clover. White clover opened June 15th, and only yielded honey enough to keep the bees rearing brood plentifully while it was in blossom. Basswood opened about July 12th, and yielded a steady flow of honey (al- though the yield at no time was great) till Aug. 1st. Buckwheat yielded no more than the bees con- sumed; and so, take it altogether, the season has been an unfavorable one for surplus honey. How- ever, we have obtained in box honey, 2,909 lb., and 572 lb. of extracted honey, making 3.181 lb. in all, or 58 lb. per stock, as an average yield. This is the lightest yield we have had dining 7 years, with the exception of 1876, when our average yield per colo- ny was but 50 lb. We contracted all our honey this season, early in Aug., at 15c for box honey and 10c for extracted. AVe shall go into winter quarters with 100 colonies. Perhaps, it may be interesting to your readers to know how our report stands for the past 7 years; for it is only by a number of years' experience in any business, that a true result as regards the profit or loss can be obtained. Our average yield for each stock in the spring, in 1873, was 80 lb.; in 1871, a fraction of a pound less than 100 lb.; in 1875, a little over 106 lb. ; in 1876, it was 50 lb. ; in 1877, a little less than 167 lbs.; in 1878, just 71 lb.; and in 1879, the present season, 58 lb.; making an average yield, for the past 7 years, of a little over 90 lb. per stock, seven-twelfths of which was box honey. By look- ing over our diary, we ascertain that tins honey has been sold at an average price of 21?4c per lb., the highest price (28'/4c) being obtained in 1871, and the lowest (10-;yc) in 1878. From past experience, we believe a thorough, practical man can do all the work required to be done with 100 stocks of bees, and, according to the above figures, he would obtain, for an average term 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 387 of years, 9000 lb. of honey annually, which, at S51J4C per lb., would bring him in a yearly income of $1912,50. Although the average yield per colony for the next 7 years to come may be increased, yet the price during that time is likely to be much lower; as the high prices caused by the war are passed, and, unless we have some unforeseen event, to raise the price of honey, it will probably never bring 28c per lb. again. Still, with a much lower price for honey than that averaged for the last T years, bee keeping ranks favorably with almost any pursuit. Borodino, N. Y. G. M. Dooi.ittle. OUR OWN APIARY AND HONKV FARM. A UG. 29th.— I wrote to friend Simpson, Jrg^ and asked him how he raised the ' plants of the Simpson honey plant, which he sent me in May. Here is his reply: Part of the seed was sowed in the fall, and part in the spring. That sowed in the spring grew the best on account of the ground's being mellow. About ten per cent of the seed grows. The plant will not bloom to amount to anything, the first year. The honey crop is a failure since July loth. J as. A. Simpson. Alexis, 111., Aug. 26th, 1879. Well, if they do not hloom to amount to anything the first season, I would really like to know what we may expect next year. If only ten per cent of the seed grows, I think we would better put it in pretty thickly. DO NOT INTRODUCE THE ACCOMPANYING BEES, WHEN YOU INTRODUCE A QUEEN. Sept. Qih. — O dear, O dear ! I have just lost one of our very nicest imported queens. I killed her by one of my own blunders. Did you ever do such a thing, my friend, and do you know exactly how a body feels ? A strong colony had been deprived of all its queen cells on the 10th day, on purpose to make room for her, and I was going to show a visitor how easy a thing it is to just let such valuable "insex" right out. I let her right out, and the bees gathered round her, fed her, and the introduction was a suc- cess beyond doubt. As I was about to close the hive, I noticed the bees left in the cage ; and, as there were quite a number of them, I thought it would be a humane act to intro- duce them, too, so I shook them out on the top of the frames. Robbers had been buzz- ing about, and I might have known these would be recognized as intruders, but, even when they began to tumble them out at the entrance doubled up in that well known crippled state that denotes being stung, I did not think of their serving the queen in the same way. However, when I saw that they were bent on killing every worker I had let out, it occurred to me, that they might possibly include her in the royal edict, as they were going to do with queen Esther of old, and I hastened to lift out the frame she was on. There she was on the bottom board, stung, probably the last one to die. If this experience will help you to avoid similar mishaps, I will try not to mourn her loss any more. jioral— Put the accompanying worker bees in some other hive. 10th. — I have come to this conclusion in regard to a honey farm : If you want honey, you must have good, rich soil, just as surely as you must have good, rich soil for your peaches, strawberries, or any thing else, if you are going to have nice trait, and plenty of it. To this end, I have been having an attack of not only bees on the brain, but t stable manure, underdraining tile, deep plowing, superphosphate, irrigation, &c, and it has borne fruit in the shape of a good deal of hard work on our 18 acre farm. It is our dull season now, and I have been setting the boys at work out of doors, to keep them busy, and I am well convinced that I cannot afford to raise spindling crops, and hire hands to gather them, on land that cost me $200. per acre, as mine did. I have calculated to have the seeds pay the expense of cultivation, and thus leave the honey clear profit, but I have lost the honey, and seeds too, from quite a part of my ground, by having patches here and there, on upland as well as low land, where the water has stood during wet spells ; and this, too, on some of the very richest ground I have. Perhaps you farmers can stand this sort of thing, but I don't believe I can, any more than 1 could stand box bee hives, as so many of the farmers do. The worst places have been already underdrained, and I helped to do it, too ; and, to see how it works, I have planted seven top turnips right where used to be the bottoms of mud holes, and I tell you it just makes me happy to see them grow. Won't we have some banks of yellow blossoms next spring V This turnip is a wonderful thing to grow late in the fall, j and, from my experience, I am inclined to think it is better to sow it in Oct, than in any other month in the year, for, when sown so late, it entirely escapes the pest of the whole turnip family, the little black flea. Boys, if any of you have a mud hole, or a swamp, on your land, just try it, and see what a garden you can make of it. At the south end of our land, down in the woods by the pond, the creek wanders here and there, until it spoils about an acre of ground. Well, we have just cut a straight channel right across the ground, and into this channel we carry our underdraining tile. Along the sides we have planted peach trees, , raspberries, and strawberries, on the plan ! given in Ten Acres Enough. As there is ! always water in the channel, we can get up a shower, with the fountain pump, anywhere along the banks, and reaching for some dis- tance back, at any time when the clouds are backward, and with very little trouble. With this patch of ground, which has a nice southern slope, protected by the woods on nearly all sides, 1 propose to see what can be done with underdraining, deep plowing, manuring, and irrigation, toward making honey plants "climb." Right by my type writer, is a paper of seeds of the beet used for making sugar. A few of these are to be planted to-day, and, if I can make them giow large enough yet this fall, in my garden down by the pond, to see if the bees will carry away beet juice as they do grape sugar,— well, we shall see; yes, we shall see. OUT DOOR FEEDING WITH A BARREL FEEDER. To keep brood rearing going on briskly, we are still feeding grape sugar every after- noon, and, as it takes about 50 lb. a day, to 388 GLEAKIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. Oct. barely keep up with the daily consumption in so many colonies, it is quite a little task to break the sugar out of the barrel and put it in jars, even though we have replaced the glass jars with stone ones holding two and three gallons ; and so I have devised a plan of feeding from a whole barrel, leaving nothing more to be done than to pour in water when yon want to feed, never taking the sugar out of the barrel at all, or even touching it with your fingers. Sept. 22d.— The feeder made of a whole barrel of grape sugar worked very well, un- til the weather became so cool that many bees were lost by working so late that they got chilled, and dropped along on the grass. The out door feeding works beautifully when we have warm weather ; but, at the approach of cool frosty nights, I think it better to feed each hive at night, either in the hive or at the entrance. See Feeding in October for Winter, on another column. TIME TO SOW BUCKWHEAT. A fine crop of buckwheat can be raised from seed sown the first of August, so far as honey is concerned; and, should frost hold off as late as the first of Oct., it would give, at least, a fair crop of seed. I believe buckwheat sowed the first of Aug. has given a better yield of honey, than that sowed a month earlier. As a rule, we may say the bees will begin to work on it, 30 days'after sowing ; it will be in its prime for honey, in about 45 days ; and some of the seed will be ripe in about 60 days; the field, as a rule, will be ready for harvest in about 75 to 90 days. From this you can judge when to sow it in all localities. It grows just about as well, during cool weather, and it will keep right along during very cool nights, provid- ing we have no heavy frosts. RAPE FOR FALL, PASTURAGE. As rape will stand the frost almost as well as its cousin, the turnip, I think it might be sown for bees as late as a month before frost ; some sowed in Sept. has been growing and blossoming beautifully, and is covered now with bees, and by these late sowings we es- cape entirely the great pest, the little black flea. Whether it will do to sow it so late that it will have to stand over and bloom in the spring, like the seven top turnip, is a matter I am just ahout testing. THE SEVEN TOP TURNIP. When this reaches you, it will be just the best time to sow the seven top turnip; and, as it will have blossomed and be out of the way, a little after apple blossoms, you can clear it off, and use the land just as if it had not been on it. Therefore, if you have any ground, you can just as well have a good field of it as not. If you wish the seed to ripen, you will have to spare the ground a little later. It should be borne in mind that this turnip bears tops only and not roots. The leaves are used for greens, almost any time in the winter. The rape, turnip, and buckwheat, I am satisfied, will pay for the honey alone. ALSIKE CLOVER SOWN IN THE FALL. My Alsike and white Dutch clover fields do not suit me. The seed was sown with oats in the spring. My friend H. says they sometimes sow it with winter wheat ; but I want a field of clover alone, and I want "tall" clover too. About the lOtli of Sept., I sowed a little piece down on that new hillside garden by the pond. I put on plenty of seed, and plenty of super-phosphate, for I want the ground to look green, and in a week the little plants were up very thick. I have been visiting them and looking at them on an average of about twice a day, ever since they came up, and I tell you it is fun to see them put out their second leaves. I wanted to sow it in rows and cultivate it, but they laughed at my idea of cultivating clover. I believe now, the laugh will come on my side when I get around to it. Something has given me a wonderful mania for seeing things grow this fall, and the sight of a nice, straight row of turnips with their broad, green leaves, bright and perfect, during these cool, invigorating days, makes me about as happy as any thing 1 know of ; I mean, when 1 have cultivated and hoed them, and when there is not a weed visible, or a leaf that is not bright, green, and growing. I want my Alsike, white Dutch, mellilot, and, in short, every thing on the honey farm growing just that way, and it seems to me, they should all be in rows, so that we could run the cultivator straight through them all. FEEDING. M|DITOROF GLEANINGS:-! have met at least j three parties in California, who have tested what 1 hold true in regard to bee keeping, in this state as well as all others; that is, all stocks should be kept strong, and have stores to fall back on in a scarce time, or they must be fed. Even in the best of seasons, there are times when bees can gather nothing. Now, if we feed a little every eve- ning, at such times, just to keep the queen breed- ing, we shall always have bees of the right age to gather honey whenever it does come. But, if we al- low the queen to stop breeding at such times, the stock will soon run down, and become worthless. Sometimes even 25c worth of sugar, fed at the right time, will make a profitable stock, and the want of that 25c would allow it to become an unprofitable one. I have always held that feeding should be done in the summer, and bees would then store enough to winter on. Stocks that were strong in numbers last spring, and had an abundance of stores in the hive, are now strong and have abundance; consequently they are self-supporting, even in a bad season. If they have abundance of stores in the hive to fall back on, they need no stimulation. Then, whenever there comes a few days of honey weather, they are ready to take advantage of it, and they fill up at once, but, suppose we allow a colony to stop breeding; although they may seem to be quite strong in numbers it will take all their force to raise brood when the honey weather does come, and the consequence is nothing is stored, and they will keep on doing so throughout the season, and be worthless in the fall, or have to be fed a large quan- tity, while a small quantity, fed just at the right time, would have enabled them to store their own winter supply. You know Gallup's hobby has al- ways been, strong stocks and abundant supplies for profit. Bees can be kept self-supporting even in California. E. Gallup. Scenega, Cal., Aug. 27, 1879. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUPE. 389 INSTRUCTION IN BISK CIL,TITRK IN THE SHAPE OF PRACTICAL WORK IN THE APIARY. HAVE received Gleanings for July and Aug., which you have kindly forwarded me. It is a glorious publication, and I sincerely hope re- pays you for the labor that must be expended upon it. I enclose $1.00 in payment of my subscription for IST9, and should feel obliged by your sending me the hack numbers. Although books and magazines are excellent aids to a knowledge of bee keeping, yet I think a few months, or even weeks, practical work on an exten- sive bee farm would be very advantageous. Perhaps you would kindly answer, in next month's Gleanings, the following question: Could you inform me if there are any large bee farms in the Northern States, where a person could be boarded and instructed in the business, on pay- ment of a stated sum, or so much per month? A quiet, well disciplined establishment desirable. Halifax, N. 8., Aug. 9, 18T9. Beginner. You have struck on a thought, my friend, that has, for some time, heeii forcing itself upon me. Pictures and drawings help de- scriptions and directions on paper, but still there are many who always want to see a thing with their own eyes, and see how it is done. Our minister was down here a few days ago, and, after watching the operation of making artificial swarms for, perhaps, a half hour, lie remarked as he started for his home and his own bees, that he had learned more in regard to artificial swarming, by seeing the boys start queen cells, cut them out, get frames of brood, &c, in the half hour, than he could by studying the A B C book a whole week. He had got erroneous impressions, he said, by study, which were corrected and righted at a glance, when he saw one perfectly familiar, go through with the various operations. Now, while there is a great truth here, there is also another side to the question. We cannot dispense with the books, and while there are those who have had the study and not enough of the actual practice, like our friend just quoted, there is a class who think they can learn it all by sight, and do not need books. This class make as many, or more mistakes, than those who take the other extreme. Now to business : We have a great many visitors, in fact, we have them almost daily, and sometimes, we have a small crowd or them. I am glad to see them, and it affords me great pleasure to know that their visits are pleasant and profitable. Sometimes they stay with us several days, and we have had one, a lady from Texas, who was anx- ious to learn bee culture, who stayed several weeks. We gave her a small apiary of seven hives, and she went through with the whole operation of retiring queens for these hives, and sending them off to market. How about the expense of such instruction ? AVell, she did work enough in the apiary to pay for the tuition she received, in the shape of showing and answering questions. We payed her nothing for her work, and she payed us nothing for what she learned, and she was at liberty to leave at any time when she thought herself sufficiently proficient. •She obtained board near our grounds, in a private family, for $3.00 per week. As she was thinking of building a house apiary, she handled the bees in ours for several days, that she might decide how she liked it, com- pared with the out door hives. Now when I say that as many of you may come here as choose, under the same conditions, I think I would better say, to prevent disappointment, that we shall expect all who come to study up the subject from the books. If you come here and ask me how we raise queens from worker eggs, and questions of like import, I shall probably hand you the ABC book for an answer. What shall I do if a lot of these raw hands make more trouble and do more damage than they are worth V Why, I suppose, I should have to tell them so, and have them do better. Practical experience of many years is a good thing, but I have learned that there is an element in humanity which is of even more value than this ; it is the honest enthusiasm and love of learning, coupled with energetic effort to learn, at all hazards, that we often see in our schools and colleges. Such a boy or girl, with half a chance, and almost without showing, will often outstrip veterans in a few years. I will tell you, by a little story, what I mean. An old market gardener saw, In one of the groceries, some beautiful heads of lettuce, quite a little time before he had any in his own hot beds. Said he to the proprieter, "That is nice! That is beautiful! Of course, you got that from one of the cities?" "No ; it was raised in our own town." "In our own town V No ! " "Yes; and by a little boy." " Why, is it possible i Can I see that boy ?" He did see him, and learned that the boy had taken it up himself, and had made his hot bed from what he learned from the agri- cultural papers too. Now, although I have more than 40 hands out of employment, and waiting for places, I would give that boy good work, and good pay to-day, if I could get him. Give me a boy or girl that has a love for his work— one whose heart and soul is in it. He wants to know all that any body knows about it and more too ; and there is always enough for such a boy or girl to do. All such, I am glad to meet, and glad to help. Nay, farther ; God is always ready and wil- ling to help us. My friends, when you are out of work, can you blame me for thinking it is because you are remiss in just the way I have tried to illustrate ? AN APOLOGY FOR UN(H\KITABLE THOUGHTS. AM thinking I owe you an apology for the way I have been talk thinking of you for sometime past. 0 yes, it is all very well for Mr. Root to say "Do everything ea;ae% right; not nearly right, but Just right;" but then, when your work comes to hand, we find you do not do as you advise. I was very much pleased with the appearance of the hives I ordered from you, until I began to put them together, and then I found ["needed your iron frames to hold them up while I nailed, but with some difficulty, I got them put[up. I never thought of using a smoothing plane, and they all came to- gether well enough, excepting one cover, which was 390 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Oct. about M, of an inch too narrow. In that I put a "dutchman" to fill up, and my hives were complete. 1 had them painted ready for the bees, but when I came to think of it, it was necessary to fill them with frames. These I had not ordered, so I got out the A B C book to see how they were made. There is no person I know of about here who uses frames. I had rigged up a circular saw on an old turning lathe; so at it I went, and soon had my stuff out for the frames. I had sent to you for a sample frame, and now I must make them juxt like the sample. I measured and measured to be exactly right; I laid your frame on mine, and found I was just right; and now thought I to myself, I am ready for the "blessed bees." But lo and behold! when I came to put my frames in my hives, they all rested on the bottom. I won't tell you what I said, but there was some pretty tall thinking about that time. I turned to A B C again; I got your dimensions, measured your hives, and found they agreed; then I. pimped at con- clusions and said, either your hives or your book was wrong, for they would not agree. So I went to work and cut 38 of an inch off all those frames, and while I was doing that, I hardly think my thoughts would square with teachings in Our Homes. I am glad, Mr. Root, you were not present just then, for I might have said something that would not have been pleasant to think of afterwards. Now to think you were not to blame at all! Your hives were just right, and my frames were just right if I had not cut them down, and, like the nigger at camp meeting I have been "makin' all dis fuss for nothing." In looking through a drawer, the other day, I came across some tin strips. At first, I did not know what they were, but I remembered they came with the hives. I turned to A B C again, and found they were rabbets for the frames to rest on. I wilted, I had no more to say; but thought I ought to apologize for the way I had been thinking of you. Buena Vista, Pa., Aug 7, '79. W. M. A. Belt,. ^ m — i AN ABC SCHOLAR IN MAINE. ^P WILL now take time to tell you how we are get- M ting along down here in the wilds of Maine. The season, thus far, has been very wet and cool. I think it better for bees than hot, dry weath- er. Honey is coming in very fast this week, from linden. I never saw bees work faster than they have for three days past. The golden rod is just commencing to blossom. We shall have millions of it soon. During the month of Aug., the country will be completely ablaze with it. I started the season with 13 colonies of bees, most- ly weak ones. I have taken off 300 lb. of honey, part box and part extracted, and doubled my stock by natural swarming. I think they will do better the remainder of the season than they have thus far. 1 hare fed grape sugar during the dull spell, and think it the best food for out door feeding. It has been a great help to my bees. I have the best roofs for bee hives that you ever saw. They are made of slate. I have used them two seasons, and they prove to be the boss cover. No matter how hard it rains, my hives arc dry. I could hardly do without them. One piece of slate makes one side. I think my bees feel the heat much less under them than when they are covered with boards, and they always look neat and new. I think I have found a case to pack sections in. I have been bothered much about doing up my box honey for customers. If I do up the sections in paper, they are sure to jam their lingers into the comb or smash it in some way. My customers gen- erally want from four to twelve sections. I was doing up four sections, the othor day, and happened to find a box i\i in. wide, by 8 long. The box was one inch deep, and the cover also. I S3t four boxes in the bottom, and put glass on the outside boxes, then put the cover on and wrapped them with curd, leaving it loose for the fingers to go in. It looks nice, and I think it just what I want. Aug. 9th.— Twelve days later.— Since writing the above, I have tried those little section cases, and find tkey work to a charm. I went up to Moosehead Lake with 310 lb. of honey, and got $77.50. I was just an hour in selling my load. I would like to have you try those box cases. I think, three sizes would be necessary,— to hold 4, 8, and 12 sections. I would like to buy them of you, if you could make them. I think rubber would hold them together nicely. Since July 28th, I hive taken off 407 lb. of honey and shall take off GOO lb. more next week. I have one colony, that has made 140 lb. box, and 30 lb. extracted honey, and thrown out two swarms. There, I thought I would not say anything about the new smoker you sent me, but [ cannot keep still. I have always used a mouth smoker, which I think better than any bellows smoker except the cold blast. I will tell you just what I would do, if I had to pai't with that or my best swarm; the swarm would go, by all means. W. H. Green. Parkman, Maine. REPORT FROM AN APIARY RUN BV HIRED LABOR. S but few apiaries are run by hired labor, I jg§\ thought perhaps you might like the report of one managed mainly for extracted honey this season. The yield is only moderate; the linn season was short and slow. We have 27 bbls., (about 10,COO lbs.) clover and linn honey. We use oak barrels, made for the purpose, which do not leak and are not waxed. Our May count of bees was 65 colonies. We now have 115 in fine condition for buckwheat. We use, in our apiary, 250 regular hives, full of regular combs, and about 75 hives containing no combs, but, in all other respects, like the others. The empty hives are set on the bottom boards of each strong colony, and the hive or hives containing the bees set over or on them. The hives of empty co jnbs are ad- ded at the top from time to time, as the bees and season require. All the work is done by a hired man. Nearly all the honey is capped before it is considered suitable to extract, oris extracted. The uncapping is done with a Bingham & Hetherington uncapping knife, and the bees are controlled with two large Bingham smokers, one of which is usually in use. HONEY VINEGAR. In some recent number of Gleanings, inquiry was made as to the amount of honey needed for vin- egar. Our cappings are drained 24 hours, and then put into a whiskey barrel (having one head) nearly full of spring water, and allowed to stay a few hours to rinse. Then the cappings are squeezed into balls like snowballs, and laid away. This pro- cess is continued till the water used to rinse the caps will float an egg. It is then put into a barrel with but one head, and covered with mosquito net- ting and loose boards. In about one year, it is vin- egar in the loftiest sense of that word, better for all purposes than any cider vinegar ever made. T. F. Bingham. Otsego, Mich., Aug. 9th, 1879. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 391 BEE BOTANY AND ENTOMOLOGY. ANOTHER DESTROYER OF IIONEV COMB. LMOST every bee keeper knows the wax worm, or honey-comb caterpillar, larva of the Gatte- via cereani; but few have seen the one under consideration, so [ introduce to the bee-keeping pub- lic, Dermestes lardarius, Linn., or the museum pest. I have been tiyhting this pest for years, and so am well prepared to describe him to those unacquainted wilh hi* person and character. He has been so much more of a pest in our several college cabinets of stuffed birds, fish, mammals, and insects, under my care, than at the bee-house where I have often seen his work, that I have neverthought to acquaint my bee-keeping friends with his personnel and habits, and am only led to do so now from the fol- lowing letter. Prof. A. J. C)Ok:—l send yon. this morning, a small box of worms and bugs which I find are dam- aging my honey combs very materially, when not exposed to the fumes of sulphur. They do not spin a web as do the moth worms, but seem to work in the cells and consume the wax septum. The worms are of all sizes, and seem, eventually, to change into the small bug enclosed, i have shown them to sev- eral bee-keepers, and they fail to give any informa- tion in regard to them. I put up a package for you a couple of weeks ago. but they cut through the cork, and I could not find any bugs until to-day, though there were plenty of worms. Please inform me, at your earliest convenience, through the journals if you prefer, if they are commonly known to bee-keepers, as injurious to honey combs. Toledo, O., July 28, '79. John Y. Detwiler. This is a beetle, Dermcste* lardarius. The generic name, Dei mestes, comes from the Greek, and means skin-devourer. Every zoological collector knows that this name is exceedingly appropriate. The specific name refers to the fact that the larva?, of these beetles are very free in the liirder, and not slow to show their appreciation of good lard and ba- con. This beetle, like our bee-moth, is an imported insect. This makes the case all the worse, as our most formidable insect enemies are the imported ones. This beetle (Fig. 1, magnified 54) is black, with a buff border at the base of the wing covers, on each side of which are three dots. This yellowish color is owing to short hairs of that color. There are a few yellowish hairs on the under side of the thorax. The free ends of the antenna1 are enlarged, and brownish. The remainder of the anten- na?—all but the last three joints— are black, Fig. 1. as are also the legs; though on these latter, as on other parts of the body, there may be found a few scattering yellow hairs. These beetles, though they themselves eat little if anything at all, seem to know that their baby grubs will have good appetites, and so lay their eggs upon such substances as will serve the prospective larva? for nourishment. Thus the eggs are laid upon al- most any animal substance, especially decaying or dried animal tissues. Wax is an animal secretion, and so it is not strange that comb is also subject to attack. The newly hatched larva? are quite light colored, but they soon become plainly ringed with brown and white. These colors keep deepening with each moult, or change of the skin. After the last moult (Fig. 2, magnified ?«), the colors are very dark, and light brown. There are thirteen rings or segments of the body back of the head. The dark brown occupies the centre of each segment, while the space between the rings is lighter. To the first three rings, are attached the usual three pair of jointed legs; while, terminating the last ring, are two small anal prop legs, a not infrequent peculiarity of grubs or beetle larvae. Each Fig. 2. segment is decked with a ring of quite long, brownish hairs, while a more dense row of stiff, short hairs extends back from each of the segments. These, with the two short, prominent spines on the next to the last segment, probably serve to hold the grubs, as they push their way through the tunnels which their own eating has formed. The head is not only armed with strong jaws, but there are also antenna', which are rarely found in larval insects, though always present in the mature forms. The full grown larva1 are one half inch long. These are what the editor of the "Exchange," Aug. No., page 12:i, calls "little hairy striped moths." He should have said j>rubs. Ihave found these pests quite useful in one re- spect, that of preparing skeletons of our smaller animals. I now have, bleaching in the sun, the remains of a fine massasauga, all of which, except the bones and rattle*, has gone to nourish the Der- mestes. The ligaments still hold the bones together, and the whole is really very beautiful. I also have skeletons of a bat, a mole, &c, prepared in the same way. The above suggests a remedy. Place some dried flesh or insects about the bee house. These will attract the beetles, when the latter may be crushed. In large boxes, the combs may be quickly rid of these destroyers 113- fumigation with sulphur, just as we would destroy the moth caterpillars. Another museum pest, Anthrenus variv.8, belongs to the same family, Drrmest idtc— and. though much smaller, is quite as worthy to be dreaded. The famous carpet beetle is of the same genus. It is Anthrenus scrophvlarece and is doing no little mis- chief in New York and east. A. J. Cook. INSECTS ON THE BASSWOOD BLOOM. Inclosed, find those little insects that visited our basswood bloom, last year and this. This season, bloom was in abundance, commencing the 4th of July and lasting 22 days. The first .3 days, the bees worked well. Then began to appear those little creatures, in great numbers, and immediately there was plainly seen a check to the ambition of the bees, for they became touchy and cross, and I, too, some- what, for they stung my visitors, and much disap- pointed me, as I have every advantage of a long yield, the bloom being late on the high hills. Per- haps it is because of those insects that basswood can not be depended upon. Who will tell? Mombaccus, N. ¥., Aug. 5, '79. W. Morehouse. The little beetle sent by Mr. Morehouse is a species of Phot inus. Most of these beetles are phosphores- cent. Our fire-beetle alias fire-fly, alias lightening- bug, belongs to the genus Photinus. Nearly all of the beetles of this family, Lampyridw, feed on the pollen of flowers, where they will be found during the day. The beetles were after the pollen, the bees in quest of the nectar. The drouth dried up the nectar fountains, but did not stop the growth and development of pollen. So the bees, like Othello, found their occupation gone, and were cross about it. The beetles, on the other hand, continued to find pollen, and, presumedly, were still joyous. Our friend, then, like many others of us, owes his ill fortune to drouth, not to the little beetles which meant and did him no harm. A. J. Cook. Agricultural College, Lansing, Mich., Aug. 11, '79. SYMPHORICARPUS. A. I. Root:— Enclosed find specimens of a shrub which grows in profusion here, in clearings, pas- tures, and waste places, where the land remains uncultivated for some time. It is very hardy, and grows from 2 to -t ft. high, according to the soil. It is- known as the buck berry bush; I suppose, from the fact that deer and sheep subsist largely upon the berries, which it yields in large quantities, and which hang on till late in spring. They are of a bright red color, of the size of grains of pop corn. Every twig is clustered with the crimson fruit, its entire length, and presents a very ornamental ap- pearance, at a season when nature generally wears a somber aspect. By the casual observer, the flow- ers, which are very small and unattractive, would be passed unnoticed, but for the swarm of bees which cover them from sunrise till nearly dark, making merry music all day long. To me, there is no sweeter sound than the song of bees as they joy- ously Hit from flower to flower, or wing their way to and from the hive. These homely little blossoms furnish but little pollen; it must be nectar for which the bees continually visit them. Kight here is an example of the beautiful compensating laws of nature. An humble bloom, by the sweets which its hidden nectaries secrete, attracts a myriad of gaily colored insects, and bees of every tribe, from the great bumble bee to tiny, green and golden insects, the golden-banded Italians appearing like so many pendant jewels as they swing upon the Sowers, and make vocal the air with chimes of insect melody; and thus a grotto of loveliness is disclosed to view, which otherwise might appear tame and dull. The shrub lias furnished a constant succession of 392 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Oct. bloom for over 6 weeks, and will bloom for several weeks vet. The amount of honey in each flower is small, but, as in the white clover, the supply is con- stant and the quality good. Here, uninvited and without coaxing', it has taken its stand with our best honey producing- plants. The only cultivation I give it is, to clear away other shrubs and timber; it takes possession, and holds it ever after. I believe it will pay for cultivation. I have never heard it mention- ed as a honey plant, or seen it outside of this state. If you do not have it in Ohio, I will send you a few plants, by mail, this autumn, for your honey garden, or more by express, if you say so. The plant is very ornamental in winter, on account of its profusion of crimson berries. I prize it for its honey, and the forage it furnishes in winter for stock. Plants can be produced from seed, but plants that will bloom the first season are better. W. C. Smith. Warsaw, Mo., Aug. 9, 1879. Answer by Prof. W. J. Beal of Michigan Agricultural College. This is Symphoricarpus vulgaris (Indian currant, or coral-berry). I received it, a few days ago, from another source in the southwest. The sender said it was a fine bee plant. It is a plant of the honey- suckle family. Editor of Gleanings :— It appears to this corre- spondent that you aie making- a big noise about that "Simpson Honey Plant," but 1 tell you, and you can tell "all the world and"— the people of Australia, that if you had stood within ear-shot of the "Thomp- son Honey Shrub," yesterday, after the rain (Sun- day though it was), it would have humbled your ideas of jour plant. I have visited a pretty large apiary with the "Simpson" contiguous, and the "blessed bees" did not make half as much noise about it as my one-horse concern makes over the Symphoricarpus. Then, too, once planted, it will take care of itself, being about as self asserting as the Canada thistle, a little more useful, and a great deal more beautiful. After the bees are done with it, its gorgeous racemes of crimson berries are not excelled by any shrub of the Northern states, and at a season, too (up to the holidays), when decorative plants are wanted. I have the Clethra alnifolia on the place, but will not extend its culture for bee forage. To the Sym- phoricarpus I shall give the freedom of the ranch, as long as I keep bees. I supnose, being the first to notice it, after the "Blessed Bees," as a honey plant, I have the usual privilege of naming- it the "Thomp- son Honey Shrub," or "Honey Shrub" without the Thompson, if you will, this being a little more ex- pressive, from a bee-keeper's stand point, than its specific name, Symphoricarpus vulgaris, which would perhaps be a jaw-breaker to some good bee man or bee woman. G.W.Thompson. Stelton, N. J., Aug. 1879. A NEW SPECIES OF .MILKWEED. Enclosed are the leaves and flowers of a plant, a single specimen of which I found several years ago, growing wild on rolling and rather dry ground. I transplanted it to my dooryard, where it has contin- ued to thrive and blossom every year, and is very much frequented by bees. It grows about 2V2 ft. high and branches out into an umbrella shaped top, which, from July 1st to about the 10th of Aug., is covered with bloom, of a dark orange color. It has a straight, spindle shaped root, snow while, 3 in. in diameter at the surface of the ground, and ~Z\i in. at a depth of 2 1-2 feet. J. S. Pierce. Granger, Medina Co., O., Aug. 1879. We sent the specimen to Prof. Beal who kindly replies as follows : This is a species of Asclepias (milkweed) which is every where well known as good for bees, though this species I have never met before. Ag. Col., Lansing, Mich. W. J. Be\l. germander. I send you a honev plant which blooms from 3 to 4 weeks. Please send me the name of if. East Mo., Aug-. 11, '79. W. F. Stewart. Answer by Prof. W. J. Beal. This is Teucrium Canadense (Germander), and comes tome several times a year, as a good plant for honey. It thrives along river bottoms, and is freely visited by bees. The plant is quite common at Lansing, Michigan. It belongs to the mint family, a large one, all or nearly all of which are good bee plants; as, catmint, peppermint, spearmint, pyenan- themum, thyme, sage, bergamot, skull cap, hoar- hound, motherwort, and others. Wherever they grow in quantity, as all of them do in places, there bees thrive. do pure queens ever change to hybrids; A VEXED QUESTION. 8' SEE J. H. Pierce, on page 315, of Gleanings, speaks of having bought of you a tested queen J that was not pure; and you say that you can not account for her producing hybrids, unless it was after she was shipped and that you are not sure that this is possible. This is something that has puzzled me for the last month; and I do not see how such a thing could be, yet I know it is sometimes the case, as I have just had such a queen. I com- menced this spring to Italianize what black bees I had, and my plan was to get my queens fertilized before there were any black drones flying. I had drones flying the 28th of March, and my first queen was hatched the 11th of April, and her brood was as pure as any I have (I clipped one of her wings after she was tested, as I do all my queens). Well, she proved to be a very prolific queen, and her brood was pure till about the middle of July, when I notic- ed quite a number of hybrids in the hive. I looked up the queen and found her all right, with the same old clipped wing. I kept her till the 10th of Aug., when nearly all her hatching brood were hybrids. So that proves, to my mind, that the queen you sold to Pierce was pure when you tested her. I confess, I would have been very slow to take up with the idea of her be- coming hybrid after shipping, if I had not had such a case myself. Do you think she could have met a drone the second time, and that without being able to fly? I have 19 colonies of bees, all Italians, and I will venture the assertion that I have as tine a lot of queens as there is in the state. I have saved no queen, unless she was very large and prolific, and the consequence is that all my hives are very strong, and in the best condition for the fall bloom, in which I ever saw bees. When I take a frame out of the hive, it is so full of bees I have to drive them from one place to see if all is right and if there are any queen cells; and I often find them, even at this time of the summer. L. R. Jackson. Fairland, Ind., Aug. 16, 1879. I do not believe, friend J., that the queen was fertilized after she had been laying and her wing had been clipped, but I think sbe was fertilized the second time when she first took her flight, as it has been proved by many testimonies that such is often the case. She probably met a black drone at one trip, and an Italian at another. The spermatozoa received from the Italian drone was used first, and, when that was exhausted, the queen was, virtually, a hybrid queen, and no more. This will explain why we have queens that produce bees the greater part of which are beautifully marked, while, once in a great while, there will be one almost black ; also queens that produce both pure blacks and pure Italians. I admit this is somewhat of a conjecture, but I offer it until we can have some better explanation of these well known facts. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 393 Wintering; Continued from Sept. Number. REMOVING THE BEES FROM THE CELLAR. If they do not get too restless. I would al- low them to remain until the soft maples, or willow and alder, begin to furnish pollen. Put them out very early, in the morning of a warm pleasant day, if you can tell what morning will develop into a pleasant day. Set each hive out so quietly that none of the rest will be disturbed, if you can. I would a little prefer that each stock be placed on on its usual summer stand, if it be practica- ble, but, if not, it may make but little differ- ence. Colonies often get badly mixed when first carried out. and queens are sometimes lost. Giving each one its old stand will do much to avoid this. If you doubt that the bees remember their old location, just set a single hive on a new stand, and see where the bees will go, when suddenly disturbed and allowed to fly. After they are all out, and nicely fixed as they were the fall before, keep a close watch that the weak ones do not swarm out. as they are quite prone to do. after their long confinement. I do not know but I may dis- gust you with indoor wintering, by the many difficulties I have been mentioning ; I want you to know what you have to contend with, even though I do discourage you. AD VANTAGES OF CELLAR WINTERING. L. C. Root estimates that bees wintered in-doors probably save as much as -3 lbs. of honey per colony. This would be quite an item, in an apiary of 100 hives. In contrast with the method of wintering out-doors with- out protection. I think he may be light ; but, with a properly prepared chaff hive. 1 think there will be little, if any, more hon- ey consumed, unless it is used in rearing brood which will add to the strength of the colony. A colony may be so wintered as to consume scarcely any stores, but it may take them all the fore part of the honey season to recover strength enough to be of any value. NUMBER OF COLONIES TO BE PUT INTO ONE ROOM OK (ELLA!;. Unless you have as many as 40 or 50, 1 would not think of wintering them in-doors ; for a few colonies would not be able to keep up the temperature of the room, and it would be liable to get very cold. Many fail- ures have been reported from trying to win- ter a dozen or more in a small room. StMMIXG UP THE MATTER 01 WINTERING. Taking all things into consideration, my advice to the A B C class, and to all others ! who have not large apiaries and large ex- perience, is to winter in chaff packed hives, in the open air, on their summer stands. If it were as pleasant and convenient to handle bees in the house apiary as in the open air. I should say. have a house apiary. SPUING DWINDLING. I do not know whether to style this a dis- ease, or a condition of things that comes about naturally during cold and backward springs. I should incline to the latter, were not its ravages so uncertain; that is, it seems to affect a part of an apiary and not another part; and. at times, it will go all through one apiary, while another, a few miles away, will be entirely free from it. It is very certain that it afflicts weak colonies. as a general thing, more than strong ones, but there are exceptions even to this. It is much worse after a long, hard winter, and it disappears always at the approach of set- tled warm Aveather and new honey. Al- though it does not generally seem to affect stocks before March, I have seen them af- fected by it from Feb. until June. I have even known colonies to be listless and life- less from its effects, until others in the api- ary were sending out rousing swarms. Strong colonies that are raising brood vig- orously seldom seem affected by it, but I suspect they are affected more or less by it, or by the condition of things, but have suf- ficient vigor and strength— animal heat, if you please— to pull through until there is plenty of warm weather, new pollen, and new honey. CURE FOB SPRING DWINDLING i. As I have said before, I know of no posi- tive cure except warm weather, and this always does away with it entirely ; were this not the case, I should hardly be willing to class this great drawback to successful bee culture, under the head of wintering. The question now arises, can we not. by the use of artificial heat, bring about such a state of affairs as is produced by warm weather? In other words, can we not, by going to the necessary expense and trouble, save our bees and queens, even though seasonable weather does not come V Many experiments have been made in the matter, and some of them, apparently, have succeeded; but, on the other hand, many of them have signally failed. I have started healthy brood rearing in every month in the year, by means of ar- tificial heat, but to take a whole apiary that is running down, in the month of April, and build it up. prevent the colonies from swarming out. and the queens from desert- 894 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Oct. ing and dying, is something I have never succeeded in doing. A singular part of the whole matter is that our friends in the South should suffer in the same way, and even worse than we in the North, as the letter I have given in the extract ahove indicates. Similar cases have been reported almost all over the South, al- though it is a more unusual thing there, for bees to die with plenty of stores in the hives. There are considerable apiaries in Medina Co., which, until within the past two years, have scarcely known a case of this spring dwindling, but which have lately been badly affected. Two of the owners have excellent cellars, and, heretofore, have rather ridi- culed the idea that spring dwindling was due to other causes than careless manage- ment. Therefore, my friends, I am sorry to say that, though you have hitherto never lost a colony in your life, you must not be astonished or disappointed should you, some spring, see all your colonies go down to handfuls, in spite of all you can do, and per- haps perish outright. If I am mistaken, I shall be very glad to know it, but I think it will be safest, to base our calculations on the assumption, that bee culture, in some respects, is a hazardous business, even with the most thorough and careful. WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR BEES GET ^ SPRING DWINDLING." Look them over every other day, if neces- sary, and close up the division boards, tak- ing out all combs they cannot cover. As soon as a colony gets so weak that it cannot cover two combs, unite it with some other weak one ; also, whenever you find colonies queenless, unite them with others. If you have the real dwindling, you will find queen cells started and queens missing; at almost every round you take among the hives. This is because the colonies have become disheartened and demoralized, and the only thing that will prevent this demoralization is to double them up, until there are num- bers enough to repel the frost, and make them feel that there is some use in trying to hold out. It may be that these same colo- nies that you double up and make strong one day, will need the same thing done a- gain, within the next 3 days, but there is no help for it. Keep the brood together so as to have it protected as much as possible, and keep reducing your colonies until they stop losing bees with such rapidity. The ques- tion may be asked, what becomes of the bees? I believe, generally, they. fly out of the hives, and never get back again. Luring cool sun- shiny days, they may be seen on the fences and sidewalks, on the grass and like places, often laden with pollen, showing clearly that they are trying to make a live of it, and doing the best they can. I have sometimes thought they became so chilled in their mea- ger clusters at home, that they had not suf- ficient vigor to withstand the chilly spring winds as a bee from a powerful and prosper- ous colony would. As the Italians are more eager for stores than the common bees, it may be that this is one reason why they are often said to be more liable to this dwindling than the common bees. Now, in regard to a decreasing apiary, al- low me to say, even if the bees do get de- moralized, you must not. Fix up the hives and combs where the bees have died. Brush out the dead bees and bury them, that in- quisitive visitors may not make a great fuss on seeing heaps of dead bees, and while you make a retreat, do every thing in good order. Make the apiary neat and tidy, just as you would if every hive was boiling over with bees. Lo not leave any filled combs exposed to robbers, but as fast as they are taken from the bees, either shut them up in bee tight hives, or carry them into your bee house. Your neighbor may have hives strong with bees that will like no better fun than to clean your hives out, and after they get once to going, you may find they will clean out your hives that have bees in them too. Luring the past feAV weeks, I have had more com- plaints of robbing in connection with this spring dwindling, than ever before, perhaps, in the spring. Some of the friends seem in- clined to lay the whole trouble to the vicious bees belonging to their neighbors, or coming from the woods. Luring the doubling up process mentioned above, many queens will be thrown out, and if the season is far enough advanced, they may be sold to those about you who have colonies strong enough to divide. As a proof that these queens are just as good as any, just put them into a strong colony and you will see them go to work just as well as they did during the summer previous. Well, suppose the bees all die ; what then V Why, you must do the best you can, and if none are left, go out among those about you who are more fortunate, and buy more. By paying a dollar a lb. for bees, as I have done for the past month, or by buying hives and all, as cheap as you can, with your stock of hives and combs, you may build them up at a rate that may astonish not only those about you, but even yourself as well. In order to 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 395 save your queens, it may be well to purchase before your bees are quite all gone. You will find that bees from another yard will take hold and go to work just as well as they ever did. Even this 10th day of June, I have noticed colonies that seem not to have re- covered entirely from the siege they have just passed through, while stocks right by their side, no heavier, but which were pur- chased 10 miles away, perhaps, seem to rear brood and build up equal to any thing I ever saw. WHAT TO DO WITH COMBS FROM HIVES WHERE THE BEES HAVE DIED. Put them safely out of the way of bees, either in tight hives, or in a bee proof room, and if you have not bees enough to cover them by the middle of June, or at such a time as you shall find moth worms at work among them, be sure that all the combs are spread at least two inches apart, as recom- mended in bee moth. Now, whatever oth- er precautions you take, you must look after these empty combs occasionally. They are very valuable, and must not be allowed to be destroyed. A very good way to keep them is to put them in empty Simplicity hives, piled one over the other. This keeps them perfectly protected, and yet you can quickly look them all over as often as once a week at least, until they are used. But suppose they do get moldy, or full of worms, what then V WHAT TO DO WITH COMBS THAT ARE i-'OILED, MOLDY, AND FILLED WITH DEAD BEES. When I wrote the article on dysentf:ky, I forgot to mention what should be done with the combs after the bees had died. Many times, you will find the cells full of dead bees, and anyone who has tried it, will know what an endless task it is to try to pick them out. Well, do not try; but just take these combs and set them away, until you want empty combs to build up stocks, and then hang them one at a time, in the centre of a populous colony. After a few hours, just take a peep at your comb, and see how the bees do it. If it is at a season when honey is coining in, it will have un- dergone such a transformation, you can scarcely believe your eyes, when you come to take a look at it. I have put in combs that were full of dead bees, filthy from the effects of dysentery, and moldy besides, and found them in the afternoon of the same day clean, bright, and sweet, holes patched up, and partly filled with eggs, honey, and dollen. In one case I hunted the hive all over for my bad comb, and then came pret- ty near declaring somebody had taken it away; there was no comb there that could be identified as the bad one. Do not ex- tract the honey, pick out the bees, or fuss to wash them off with water; just let the bees try their hand at it, and see. Do not give them too many bad combs at once, or they may get discouraged, and swarm out. Give them one. after a few hours, another, and yon will very soon have them all right. How do they do it so quickly V Well, each bee takes a cell, and whrti he has his cell finished, they are all done. Suppose you had as many boys as there are hills of corn in the field. If all went to work, the field would soon be clean. Combs infested with moth webs, and even live worms, may be fixed up in a twinkling, in the same way. If you stand in front of the hive, you may have the satisfaction of seeing the worms led out by the nape of the neck ; to do this, you want a strong vigorous colony of Ital- ians. See bee moth. A new swarm will usually clean out a hive of bad combs, in the same way, but if too bad they may swarm out. Better take them in "the way I have mentioned. To be sure it pays to save such combs. My friends, I have now got to the end of my book, "The A B C of Bee Culture." 1 do not mean to say that it is finished, for it will probably not be finished until my life here on earth is finished. The types for the whole of it are standing in their respective cupboards, and, as we are printing the book almost constantly, there are also constant revisions going on. The book was com- menced two years ago last May ; and, since then, new things have been coming up al- most daily. Why will new things not con- tinue to come up, as in times past? The pages of Gleanings will give you notice of all these uew things as they come, and the ABC will embody all important matters as fast as they are tested, and become suffi- ciently established to entitle them to a place in it. I take pleasure in acknowledging my in- debtedness to Mr. Walter B. House, of Sau- gatuck, Mich., for the principal part of the glossary contained on the next few pages, and for the very comprehensive index, which he has so faithfully compiled for the whole ABC book. The part of the glossa- ry comprised under the head of "Hives" is my own work ; the -rest, I believe, belongs to Mr. House. 896 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Oct. GLOSSARY FIGURES AT THE CLOSE OF A DEFINITION ItlFER TO PAGES OF TFIIS BOOK. Ahdomen of Bee.— The terminal division of the in- sect, composed of a variable number of rings. Absconding Swarms.— One that from any unnatural cause leaves its hive, 1. Adair Hive.See Hives. After Swarms.— Those issuing after the first swarm, 3. Alighting Board.— A board in front of the entrance to a hive, on which the bees alight, 5. American Hive.— See Hives. Apiarian.— One who keeps bees. Apiarist prefera- ble. Apiarist.— See p. 11. Apian/.— See p. 11. Apiculture.— The culture of bees. Apis (Latin). — The family to which bees belong. Aphides.— A kind of plant lice that emit a Liquid sometimes gathered by bees, and called honev dew, 19. Artificial Comb— Comb Foundation, 19. Artificial Fertilization.— Impregnation of queens in confinement, 19. Artificial Heat.— Warmth artificially produced, and applied to bees, 20. Artificial Pasturage.— Plants and trees cultivated for the honey they yield, 20. Artificial Pollen.— Rye meal or other substances fed to bees as a substitute for natural pollen, 139. Artificial Swarm.— A colony made by the division of one or more swarms, 21. Balling.— The manner in which bees cluster about a strange queen, in attempting to sting her. Bee Bread.— See Pollen. Bee, Climbers.— Apparatus to assist one in climbing bee-trees, 30. Bee Culture— The care of bees. Bee Dress.— A suit adapted to prevent stinging by bees, 26. Bee Gum.— Term applied to that part of a tree or log which is, or has been, occupied by wild bees. Ap- plied by our friends in the South' to all kinds of bee hives. Bee Hive.— A box or other receptacle made by man, to be used as a home for the honey bee, and usual- ly containing but one swarm. (See Bee Gum and Skep.) Bee House.— A house for bee hives. Also applied to the rude sheds seen about the country, where one or more hives are crowded together. Bee Line.— The most direct route between two placi -s. Bee Moth.— A grey miller, % in. long, the larvae of which feed upon and destroy combs, 31. Bet Plants.— Plants which are" valuable as honey pro- ducers. Bees Wax. — See Wax. Bee Tree.— A tree occupied by a swarm of bees. Bell Glass.— A bell shaped glass used much in Eng- land for surplus honey. Black Bees.— A species whose color varies from dark brown to blaok. They are natives of Germany. Bottom Board.— The floor of a hive. Bote Hive.— See Hives. Box Honey.— Honey stored in boxes or sections. BHmstoning.— Fumigating with sulphur. See Fum- igating, and Taking up Bees. Broad Frame.— A frame used for holding section boxes. Brood.— When applied to bee culture, larva? in all stages. Not applied to bees after emerging from the cell, however young they may be, 34. Brood Comb.— Either worker or drone comb used for breeding; usually applied to worker comb. i Brood Nest.— The space inside the hive, occupied by eggs and brood, extending in all directions from the center. Brood Hearing.— Raising bees, 34. Candied Honey.— Honey that has solidified, 40. Capped Brood.- See Sealed Brood. Capped Honey.— Honey in cells that are sealed with wax. Cappinas or Caps.— The covering of brood or hrmey in cells. Ceil.— A hexagonal depository for honey, and apart- ment for brood rearing, made by honey bees of wax; two sizes. See Honey Comb and Wax. Chaff Hive.— A hive having double walls filled with chaff at all seasons, 94. Chrysalis.— State of Brood in transition from larva? to a fully developed bee. Termed also pupa and nymph. Closed End Frame.— See Hives. Closed Top Frame.— See Hives. Clustering. — Manner in which numbers of bees cling together. Colony.— A stock or swarm of bees, consisting prin- cipally of worker bees; but has, when perfect, one queen and an indefinite number of drones. Comb.— See Honey. Comb Basket.— A tin receptacle, with handles and a close fitting cover, for containing combs, or carry- ing them from place to place, 43. Comb Foundation (Abbreviated, fdn.)— Thin sheets of wax, which have been passed between the two rollers of a fdn. machine, having the shape of the bottoms of cells with their edges partially raised. An artificial fdn. or partition upon which bees build comb, 44. Comb Foundation Machine.— A machine consisting principally of two metallic rollers engraved with such accuracy that thin sheets of wax passed be- tween them will have the form of the bottoms of cells, 44. Comb Holder.— An apparatus which may be attached to the outside of a hive to hold a frame of comb. Comb Honey.— Honey which has not been removed from the comb. ( 'omb Guide.— Genei-ally a wooden edge, or a strip of comb or fdn., in the top of a frame or box, on which comb is to be built. Cushion.— A case or bag filled with some soft and porous substance, as chaff, for covering brood frames on top or side. Cyprian Bees.— From the Island of Cyprus. They dif- fer but little from the Italian. Davis' Transposition Process.— See Grafted Cells. Decoy Hive.— One placed in position to attract ab- sconding swarms. Dividing. — Separating a colony into two or more, by removal of combs or bees, or both, 55. Division Board. — A board, of the same length and height of the inside of hive, used for contracting the size of apartment. Dollar Queen.— Fertile queen, that has been laying less than 21 dayg, and reared from pure Italian mother, 159. Drone.— A male bee larger than the worker, useful for nothing except filling the sexual office, 56. Drone Brood.— Brood in drone cells, (see Cells) from which drones are hatched. Drone Egg.— One that is unimprcgnated, laid by a virgin queen, or fertile queen, or fertile worker. Drumming Bees.— Driving from hive, by pounding on the outside, 212. Dysentery.— A disastrous disease affectingbees in the spring; cause, cure, &c, 60. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 397 Dzierzon Theory (pronounced Tseert-aone); — The theory of Dzierzon, formulated into 13 proposi- tions, treating mainly of queens, their virginity, fecundation, and fertility. Embryo. — The first rudiments of existence of any plant or animal. Entrance.— An opening in the hive for the passage Of bees. Entrance Blocks. Three-cornered pieces of wood, for regulating the size of the entrance, 7. Egyptian Bee. If it differs from the Italian, it is in being- lighter colored and exceedingly cross. Extracted Honey. Honey taken from the comb by means of an extractor. Extractor. See Honey Extractor and Wax Extract- or. Fdn.— Abbreviation for comb foundation, i~. Feeder*.— Arrangements for feeding bees, 73. Fertile.— Productive, laying; as, fertile queen or worker. Fertile Worker. A worker that lays eggs which pro- duce only drones, 78. See Worker. Fixed Frame.— See* Hives. Fold Brood. —A malignant, contagious disease, being a species of fungoid growth which affects brood, 80. Foundation.— See Comb Foundation. Frame.— A movable structure of slats, generally four cornered, in which bees build comb which may, by this device, be changed about inside, or re- moved from, the hive at pleasure. It was brought into use by Rev. L. L. Langstroth, in 1851. See cut and Hives. Fumigate.— To expose to smoke; to apply the fumes of sulphur. Gallup Hive.— See Hives. Glucose.— See grape sugar. Granulated Honey.— Honey that has formed into grains, in passing from a viscous to a candied state. Grape Sugar.— A saccharine substance less sweet and less soluble than cane sugar, made principally from Indian corn; is called Grape Sugar because it is identical with the sugar found in grapes. It is often confounded with glucose, with which it is nearly identical but glucose contains more dex- trine than grape sugar, whic h renders it a perma- nent liquid, grape sugar being a permanent solid. Both substances are well known in commerce, and while glucose may, by chemical means, be convert- ed into grape sugar, grape sugar cannot, by any means known at present, be converted into glu- cose. The sweet principle of both substances is known under the general term of grape sugar, to distinguish it from cane sugar, and as the manu- facture of these articles, as an important industry, is of rather recent date, our dictionaries and cy- clopoedias, so far as I can learn, have failed to make any distinction between the two. As the sweet principle of honey is grape sugar, these sub- stances, when made pure, are a more natural food for the honey bee than cane sugar. Green Ihtney.— See Unripe Honey. Guide Comb.— Pieces of comb used as guides for building combs in brood frames or surplus boxes. Hatching Brood.— Brood just emerging from the cells. Honey.- The nectar gathered by bees from flowers, and brought to a viscous state, by evaporation in- side the hive, after being deposited in the cells. Honey lioii, or Honey Sack.— An enlargement of the gullet or Hist stomach, in which the bee car- ries the nectar gathered from flowers. Honey Bee.— In general, any bee that gathers hon- ey; but applied to the smaller classes in distinct- ion from the bumble bee, in that they gather much larger quantities of honey. Honey Board.— A board formerly used on top of frames, containing holes or slots over which were placed surplus boxes; now but little used. Honey ISox.—A receptacle for surplus honey, closed on all sides, but with entrance holes for bees. Mostlv discarded now for the section boxes. Honey Comb.- A sheet of hexagonal cells, the same on both sides, having a middle wall or partition. When new, weighs !4 lb. per sq. ft., requiring for its production about ."> lbs. of honey. Brood combs are % in. thick; but, owing to the shape of the bottoms, each cell has a depth a little greater than half the thickness of the comb. Combs of this thickness will hold 3 lbs. of honey per sq. ft.; but the cells may be lengthened to the capacity of 10 lbs. per sq. ft. Worker comb contains 25 cells per sq. in., on each side; drone comb, 16 cells per sq. in., on each side: cells of both are of the same depth. Sides and bottoms of cells are, when new, 1-180 in. thick. The bottom of each cell is formed of 3 rhoml s, so united as to make the center of each cell the lowest part, which point is the center of three cells on the opposite side. The bottom of each cell thus forms a fourth part of a rhombic dodecahedron, and a third part of the bottom of each of the three opposite cells. Honey comb is made by the honey bee, from scales of wax. See Wax. Honey Dew.— See p. 114. Honey Extractor. A very ingenious contrivance by which centrifugal force is made to throw the honey from frames or pieces of uncapped comb. Honey Gate. — A cast iron fixture, for drawing off honey from extractors, barrels, &c. Honey House.— A building used for storing honey, combs, hives, and apiarian implements; also for extracting- honey and doing other work pertaining to the apiary. Honey Knife.— A thin, double edged, steel blade, with inclined handle, used for uncapping honey for the extractor. Hives.— I have not thought best to describe the dif- ferent kinds of hives in the main part of my book, lest I should confuse the beginner by details that I cannot think at all impoitant to his success. I have thought best to give a brief description here of the hives in use, that our readers may be able to converse in regard to them understanding^, when occasion requires. Of course, none but movable comb hives are worthy of consideration nowadays, and as the frame is the principal part of any hive, I will make a diagram of the principal sizes and di- mensions in use as below. DIAGRAM OF PRINCIPAL FRAMES IN TSE. Figures given are outside dimension* in i)iclies. Suspended 'frame* have 3i inch supporting arms, or an equal prolongation of top bar. 398 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Oct. QUINBY SUSPENDED FRAME, AND niVE. The first 5 are what are called suspended frames, because they are supported or suspended rather, by elongations of the top bar, or other equivalent de- vices. Mr. Langstroth has the credit of inventing this form of movable frame; but, as this, like al- most every other invention, seems to have been the joint work of a great many individuals, it is likely that to him rather belongs the credit of first bring- ing it practically before the public. Mr. Quinby made the frame figured at the top of the list, after seeing Mr. Langstroth's book, in 1856. If I am cor- rect, he chose those dimensions that he might have a hive just about a foot square and a foot and a half long inside. Judging from his experience with box hives, he doubtless thought these would be about the right dimensions. It is quite a misfortune to the bee-keeping world at large, that he did not adopt the exact size given, in Mr. L's book, especially when he came so near it. I believe one reason he gives for choosing a size a little larger was that he could thus use only 8 frames, where Langstroth used 10. This is quite an important advantage, it is true; but, as a great many bee keepers who use the Q. frame (including among their number Mr. L. C. Root, who has just (July, 1879) revised Mr. Quinby's book) have reduced the size of the Quinby frame to about that of the L. frame, I think we may safely call the frame as given by Mr. Q. rather large. Again; Mr. L., in deciding on the dimensions of the frame he has given us, contemplated its being used in a two story hive, which, I believe, Mr. Q. did not; this would readily account for the extra depth Mr. Q. gave. The Q. hive for this frame was simply a box a foot square inside, and 18 inches long, as I have before mentioned. The entrance was, I think, an auger hole, and the honey was taken from boxes placed on the top, much in the same way as from the box hives which Mr. Q. had been recommending. THE LANGSTROTH FRAME AND HIVE. 1 have given above, and under the head nucleus, the principle reasons for the dimensions of this frame. Other reasons being equal, the fact that there are more of this dimension of frames in use, than of all others combined, should have some weight in deciding what frame and hive to use. None but one who has gone through the matter by actual ex- perience can estimate the difficulties and annoyan- ces caused by having hives and frames of different dimensions in the same apiary, or even in the same neighborhood. There will always be more or less buying and selling of hives, bees, &c., and where the hives and contents are all made from one exact and fixed gauge, there is little trouble; but where there is even a slight variation— even the fourth of an inch, it makes troubles innumerable. It is on this account, I would most earnestly plead with you to adopt the regular L. frame, if you can come any- where near to it. "While 10 frames are the standard number forasiDgle story, there are those who use more, as well as those who use less. Adam Grim and others who have made quite a business of sell- ing bees, have adopted 8 framed hives; and, as such a hive of bees was sold at about the usual price, there was, of course, a saving to the one who sold them. As these narrow hives cannot be used inter- changeably, on or beneath the standard size, I would not advise them. We have now a lot piled up a- gainst the fence, just because they are too narrow to be worked with the rest. For the same reasons, and on account of getting boards wide enough for such covers, I would also object to hives containing more than 10 frames; if more room is wanted, put on an extra story. I have objected to the old style L. hive, such as Mr. L. gave us, principally because the up- per story was made to fit over the lower one, and could not therefore be used of itself independently, as a one story hive. It also required much waste lumber, to allow of frames of one size being used in both stories. Compared with the Simplicity, they are heavy to handle, expensive to make, complicated and bulky when they are to be stored away or ship- ped, and yet their inside dimensions are, after all, no greater. ADAIR FRAME AND HIVE. Ever since Mr. L. gave us the dimensions of the frame he preferred, those who have had less experi- ence than he had have been insisting that the frame, is, too shallow, and advising other dimensions. The frame which I have called the Adair was not recom- mended by Mr. A. specially for this reason, but be- cause he thought it more suitable for the peculiar hive he so strenuously advised about the year 1872. This hive, which, I suppose, should be termed the Adair hive more because he brought it so promi- nently before the public than because the idea was of his own originating, was termed by him the "New Idea Hive" ; said idea being to arrange the frames in one long row, rather than to have an upper story, or any kind of a surplus receptacle above the brood nest. Such great things were claimed for this hive, that it was tried all over the country, and hives were made to contain not only 20 and 25 frames, but Adair even claimed he could get a queen to rear such a swarm of bees that a hive four feet long would be needed to give them room; and I presume hun- dreds, if not thousands, of such hives were made and used. Like other similar inventions, they were said to be a success, and some there were who even went so far, as to stock their whole apiaries with such hives. Like other things again, and I hardly know why, the bees, in a couple of years, were taken out of these long hives, and they were put away out back of the barn, or somewhere else, and that was the last of them. At present writing, July 7th, 1879, I know of but two bee keepers who use them, and they do not use them anything like four feet long. Before closing the subject of what has been called, in pleasantry, the "long idea hive," it maybe well to state that an unscrupulous vender of patent hives, N. C. Mitchell, by name, about the time every body had dropped this "long idea" as a mistake, com- menced to introduce it to country people, as his patent hive, claiming it as his own invention, and that the most wonderful things could be achieved by its use. At the same time, he claimed to have a patent also, on all division boards for hives, and has been, for the past four years, blackmailing innocent farmers, by threatening them with pi-osecution, un- less they hand him over $10. for the right to use, etc. Where they used neither the long hive nor division board, he claimed also to have a patent on a simple cloth cover, or any kind of a quilt, placed over the frames, and thus obtained, and, I fear, is yet obtain- ing, considerable sums of money. When the matter is sifted down, it i< found that this Mitchell has a patent only on an iron lug to be applied to a division board, which is so impracticable that neither he nor any one else has ever made use of it; a fair sample of the way patents on bee hives turn out when in- vestigated. THE AMERICAN niVE AND FRAME. The hive known throughout the country as the American hive was invented by H. A. King, about the year 1865. Mr. K., it seems, considered the L. frame too shallow, and sought to make a tall hive like the box hives in cc inmon use, having movable frames like the L. hive. While a shallow frame may be lifted out at the top of the hive very readily, it is much more difficult to use a frame a foot deep or more, in the same way. To obviate this, he made the hive with a movable side. A great many hives were sold, and it was very extensively introduced, perhaps more so than any other patent hive that has ever had an existence. I believe the decision has been pretty general, however, that the movable side is a very undesirable feature, as well as the tall frame it was designed to accommodate, and the hive has been either discarded or so much modified that none of the patented features are left. The frame was, originally about V2lA wide, by 16 or more inches deep, but after the long Adair hives came in vogue, or about that time, it was changed to a frame exact- ly a foot square outside. This was a gain, in getting it into a regular size, but the American hives scat- tered about the country contain frames of such a diversity of dimensions, that the term American frame or hive scarcely means anything. Reducing the depth to 12 inches was a great improvement, but even that is too deep for a two story nive, and most hives, since the advent of fdn., are used two stories high or more. THE GALLUP FRAME AND HIVE. This frame was first brought prominently bofore the public, by Elisha Gallup. He used so small a frame, because of the facility it gave for building up small colonies or nuclei. The hive he recom- mended was, at first, about 13 inches.long, holding 12 such frames. It is the frame used and advised by Prof. Cook, G. M. Doolittle, and many others, and there are those who claim that better results can be secured by it than by any other of the larger frames. It is possible that this is the case in the hands of one long used to this frame, but 1 think the masses gen- erally will succeed just as well with the L. frame. It is objectionable, because it is too deep to be used 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTU11E. 899 to pood advantage in a two story hive, and the ad- vantages of having both upper and lower story ex- actly alike are too great to be lightly ignored. It is also Objectionable, because there are more frames to be handled, to accomplish a certain amount of work. Atonetime, friend Gallup used two rows of these frames side by side, and named it the "twin" hive. These, like the Adair long hive, were considerably used, and some large results obtained from them, but they are now, T believe, laid aside again, for the old two story plan of giving in >rc room, a:vl getting surplus. CLOSED END QUJNBY FRAME AND HIVE. Ever since Langstroth brought out the movable frame, there have been, every now and then, indi- viduals advocating having the frames at fixed and regular distances, that the bees may be obliged to build their combs of exact thickness. I do not know what may be accomplished with the aid of fdn., but, at present, the majority agree that combs as they are usually found, are better handled without being fastened at fixed and regular distances. The Amer- ican frame, as it was made originallv, had the top bar very nearly 14 inches wide: as this is the dis- tance which brood combs should be from center to center, of course, the top bars came close tog-ether in this case, closing- the space and forming a honey board or chamber floor, and making- what is called the closed top frames. To be sure, there are some very decided advantages in such arrangements; such as, having the frames solid and substantially held when hives are to be moved, doing away w ith a honey board, etc. But, alas, the frames are not "movable," and althoua-h thousands of such hives were introduced and sold, nearly all of them were soon laid aside. The L. arrangement seems to be the only one that stands the test of years of service. Well now, the Quinby hive of which T am about to speak is not a closed top frame, but it is a closed end frame. One great objection to the closed top Amer- ican frame was, that it killed so many bees. Well our friend. Quinby, made a verv long frame, and got the end bars so far away from the centre where the bees are g-enerally found, that thev would be far leas likely to be in the way, when the frames were heing closed up in place. It will be remembered that, in this frame, it is the ends that are made VA inches wide, instead of the top bar. That they may not fall over too easily, a hook of hnop iron is hailed to one of the lower corners, which hooks on a strip of similar hoop iron nailed to the bottom board. It will be noticed that this closed end frame, Quinby hive is the simplest form of a movable frame that can well be devised. For a summer hive, ti frames, with a pair of panels to close each of the outside ones and some simple board for a cover, is all that is needed. Of course, the whole must be placed on some kind of a fiat board for a bottom board. If you wish a smaller hive, take out one or more frames and close in the panel; if larger, put in frames as long as they may be needed. The troublesome di- vision board, in all suspended frame hives, is here dispensed with entirely. To be sure, the same idea can be applied to any of the frames mentioned; but with tall frames it is more troublesome, because you have the closed end bars nearer the bees, and there is a greater surface to be gummed fast, every time the hive is opened and closed. In fact, there is no standard size of Quinby frame, if \ am correctly in- formed. Quinby's neighbors who use them, includ- ing his son-in-law, Mr. L. ('. Root, and Capt. Hether- ington, who. it is said, has over a thousand hives, all use different sized frames. Why is not this frame and hive nonre in use? Be- cause it places the combs at fixed distances, which will remain a groat objection so long as the bees will persist in building combs of such irregular thick- nesses, ifvou think this c m easily be got along with, take two heavily tilled combs, with bulged cells along the ton bars, and trv to make them come up together. With suspended frames, this can easily be got along with. Also, try to close up a hive made of so manv loose pieces, and try to doit quickly, without killing bees. In short, try using such hives in the apiary a year or two, by the side of suspended frame hives. 1 know there is a man found, once in a while, (yes and I know one woman, too. a very suc- cessful one. Mrs. Axtell. of Roscville, III.), who will give the preference to a closed end frame; but then' are so few, in proportion to those who prefer the other kind, that \ have thought best not to try to describe the hive in full, in my book. There are several who have used the hive a few years, and then, at great expense, b i\ re had the combs all transferred into suspended frames. If any of you think you would like to adopt such a hive. I would advise you to purchase L. C. Root's excellent book, entitled "Quinby's New Ree-keeping." I have said nothing in regard to surplus arrange- ments for these various hives, for those described in this book can all be adapted to them. Where a frame is very deep, the sections should be placed at the side, as well as above the brood nest, and are then termed Side Storing Roxes. As a general thing-, it seems to be well decided that the hives with shallow frames give far the most surplus. This brings us to the subject of extremely shallow hives. BINGHAM'S HIVE. Mr. T. F. Bingham of Otsego, Mich., has used a hive, and I believe is using it still, with frames only ti inches in depth. While such extreme limits may be used, and successfully, too, especially by those advocating them, they will, as a g-eneral thing, be found inconvenient by the masses. Very tall frames, very shallow ftames, very large and very small frames, triangular frames, five sided frames, and, in short, almost every imaginable kind of frames have been used and patented. Yes, many of them have been tried and abandoned over and over again. Of late, it seems that a great many of them have been patented over and over again; for patent hives have got to be such a legion, it is not at all strange that the patent office officials should fail to be able to tell what has, and what has not, been pat- ented. I would not discourage inventive genius, but I would caution our A RC class about traveling the same path over again so many times, not knowing that the ground has been thoroughly worked over before. As a general rule, I think the most igno- rant class of bee keepers we have are those owning patents on hives. House Apiary.— A double walled building usually of octagonal or rectangular form, in which bees are kept both summer and winter in separate hives as out of doors. Hybrid.— A cross between two specie?. In bee cul- ture, applied to a cros3 between blacks and Ital- ians. Hymettu8. — A country of Greece, famed for the su- perior quality of its honey, which is of light golden color, and gathered from mountain thyme. Italian or IAgurian Bee— A native of Italy, 'distin- guished by three bands of yellow across the uppar part of the abdomen of the worker bee. Italianizing.— Changing from any other species of bees to the Italian, 1~~. Introducing. — Method of presenting a strange queen to a colony of bees, so that they will accept her. Linn 11 Nursery.- A device used in rearing queens; a double wailed tin hive, with space between filled with water kept warm by means of a lamp, 125. Langstroth Hive. —See Hives. Larva (pi. Larvae).— The bee in the grub state, from the time of the hatching of the egg until the cap- ping-of the cell; in other words, unsealed brood. L. Frame.— Langstroth frame (See Hives). L. Hive.— Langstroth hive (See Hives). IAgurian Been.Sve Italian Rees. Lining lire*. Noting the direction of their flight. Mandibles. Jaws of the bee, which work sidewise instead of up and down as in higher animals. - Conk'. Manipulation.— Handling of boes. Mat. — A covering for brood frames to be used under the cushion, quilt, or sheet to keep them free from propolis, or they may be used alone, made of wooden strips, woven with cord. Melzxtractor. — Honey Extractor. Met a] Corners.— Tin Fixtures for securing corners of frames and forming on the upper bar an edged support, which can not be made fast by propolis, and under which no moth worm can se- crete itself. MiieheJl HiVC— See Hives. Movable, Frame. See Hives. Natural Swarm. A swarm which issues spontane- ously. Nectaries. — The lower part of the petals of flowers where nectar is secreted. Neuter.- See Worker Ree. Non Swarming Hive. — One so large, or so construct- ed, as to control the desire to swarm, an end never yet satisfactorily obtained. Nucleus ti>l. Nuclei <>r Nucleuses).— A miniature col- ony of bees, generally used for rearing queens. Should have a queen or means of rearing one. Nurse 'Bets. -Bees that care for brood: generally, those less than two weeks old. 400 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Oct. Nursery.— A place in which queens are reared. See Lamp Nursery. Nymph. — • See Chrysalis. Observatory Hive.— A hive constructed partially of glass, to allow examination of work inside without disturbing bees. Overstocking. — Having more bees in one locality than there is pasturage to support. Paraffine.—A white, translucent, crystalline, sub- stance, tasteless and inodorous, obtained from the distillation of mineral and vegetable tar. It re- sembles spermaceti. It derives its name from its remarkable resistance to chemical action. — Web- ster. It is sometimes used as a substitute for bees- wax, for coating barrels and other utensils for containing honey. Parasite.— A species of lice that live on the body of a bee, 63. Parent Stock.— A stock from which a swarm issues. Parthenogenesis (or Virgin Breeding.)— The law that life is imparted by the mother independently, and that every egg, as originally developed in the ova- ries, is of the male sex, but whenever fertilized it becomes transformed into a female. Pollen.— Fecundating dust of the antheral part of the stamen of flowers, gathered by bees, and when mixed with honey used for food of young bees, sometimes called bee-bread. Pollen Basket.— A slight cavity on the outside, just above the second joint, of each of the two hind legs, in which the pollen is carried, 137. Propolis.— A resinous substance gathered, probably, from the buds of certain trees, by bees, and used in covering rough places, and cementing and fill- ing cracks about the hive. Pupa.— See Chrysalis. Q. Frame.— Quinby frame. Q. Hive.— Quinby hive. Queen.— The only fully developed female in the col- ony; the mother of all the rest. Queen Cage. — An enclosure of wire cloth, or of wire cloth and wood, in which to confine a queen for in- troduction or shipping, 38. Queen Cells.— Elongated cells, in which queens are reared. Queening.— Introducing a queen to a colony. Queenless — Having no queen. Queen Rearing.— liaising queens, 159. Queen Register.— A printed card so arranged as to show at all times the condition of the queen in the hive, on which it is tacked. Queen's Voice. — A note frequently uttered by a queen, probably produced by her wings. Quilt.— A cover for brood frames made by putting wool or cotton between two pieces of cloth, and sewing them together. Quinby Frame.— See Hives. Quinby Hive.— See Hives. Rabbet.— Lately applied to a strip of folded tin, to be used in any hive where frames are suspended by the top bar, either with or without metal cor- ners, to aid in making frames more movable, and to assist in keeping bees free from the ravages of the bee moth. Rendering War- Separating the wax from all for- eign substances by melting and straining. Usually applied to the operation of converting combs into wax. Rhomb.— An equilateral parallelogram, having two acute and two obtuse angles; one of the 12 equal sides of a rhombic dodecahedron; one of the loz- enge shaped parts of the bottom of a cell, 110. Rhombic Dodecahedron.— A solid having 12 rhomb shaped faces, 110. Ripe Honey.— That which has by evaporation be- come sufficiently thick to be sealed in the cell. Bobbing.— The act of pilfering stores from another hive, instead of obtaining them in the ordinary way from the fields. It occurs only in time of scarcity of stores, 165. Royal Cm.— See Queen Cells. Royal Jelly.— Food of queen larvae, 149. Sealed Brood.— See Capped Brood. Sealed Honey.— See Capped Honey. Section Box or Section.- A small box for surplus honey, open on two sides. Separator. — A strip or piece, generally of tin, placed between two section boxes, to insure straight comb. Sheet. — A covering of single cloth, for brood frames. Skep.—A term sometimes applied to any sort of a bee hive. Spent Queen.— One that from old age becomes in- competent to lay any eggs, or but -few which pro- duce drones only. Sper)iiatozoid (pi. Spermatozoa).— One of the Ani- malcula contained in the generative fluid of drones. Spring Dwindling.— Slow decrease in size of stocks, in early spring, 241. Starter.— Comb or fdn. fastened in the top of sur- plus boxes, to induce work therein. Sting. — A weapon of defense, contained in the pos- terior part of the abdomen of worker bees and queens, composed of 3 parts, two of which are barbed, 192. Stock.— See Colony. Super.— Any receptacle for surplus comb honey, ap- plied by our friends across the water to any kind of upper story. Swarm.— A large number of bees leaving the parent stock at one time, for the purpose of taking up new lodgings, accompanied by one queen in the first swarm, and in afier swarms (see Colonies) by one or more. Swarming Season.— The time of year in which bees are most inclined to swarm. Taking up Bees.— Killing bees in fall, to get the honey. A practice now going rapidly out of use. Tested Queen. — One whose progeny has been exam- ined and found pure, 160. Transferring.— Changing bees and combs from one hive to another; changing comb from one frame to another. Usually applied to the operation of changing bees and combs from box hives to hives with movable frames. Transposition Process.— See Grafted Cell. Unqueening. — Removing queen from a colony. Unripeor Green Hoivy. -Honey which has under- gone but little change by evaporation, and con- tained in unsealed cells. Virgin Queen— A queen which has not been fertil- ized. Wax. — A natural, unctious, secretion of honey bees, formed in delicate scales, in the eight wax pock- ets, on the under side of the abdor. en. It is formed both in activity and in repose, but in much larger quantities while the bees are quietly clus- tered inside the hive. The production of each pound requires about 20 lbs. of honey. It is used by the bees for comb building, 222. Wax Extract or. — An apparatus by means of which wax is rendered by application of steam. Wax Pockets.— The 8 depositories under the rings on the under side of the abdomen of a worker bee, in which wax scales are secreted. Wax Press.— A device for rendering melted wax by pressure. Wedding Flight.— The flight of a virgin queen, for the purpose of meeting a drone. Wild Bees.— A term applied to honey bees, that live in the forest, in hollow trees, or in cavities of rocks, or in other places away from the abodes of men. Wind Breaks.— Tight fences or close hedges, to keep winds from the apiary. Worker Bee— Erroneously called neuter; an unde- veloped female possessing the germ of nearly every organ of the queen, which may at any time become sufficiently developed to allow her to lay eggs, but only such eggs as produce drones. Does all the work in the hive except laying eggs. Worker Egg.— An egg which is impregnated, and is laid only by a fertile queen: will produce either worker or queen. WAX POCKETS. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 401 From Different Fields. DO BEE-? EVER ADD A FIBROUS MATERIAL IN COMB BUILDING TO GIVE ADDITIONAL STRENGTH? SSWHAT do the bees do with the down, or fur, WM that they nibble from bees? I have won- u'y/ dered if tbpy used it to strengthen wax. I got bees in box hives of a neighbor, and sawed off 2 or 3 inches from the bottom. I put the pieces of comb with brood on the top of weak colonies, and covered them wiih knit woolen garments. They till- ed the remaining space under the garments, with new wax, applying enough lint to make the wax tough. James M. Lewelling. SpiceLmd, Henry Co., Ind., Aug. 1, 1876. This is an important matter, and one which I have heen revolving over and over, for some time. I have seen comb in the brood apartment, that appeared to have, added to the wax, something like the papery substance of which a hornet's nest is made. The cappings over brood show this, in a degree. What is it that the bees add to the wax to make these cappings V Can we add anything to the melted wax, that will cheap- en the material for making fdn., and that will give this additional strength and secu- rity against sagging V I will pay $25.00 to the one who will work this out so as to make it, practically, a success. SHALL WE HAVE ONE TIER OF SEC TIONS OVER THE BROOD NEST, OR TWO? A.I. Root:— I wish to congratulate you on the perfection of your machinery which turns out such nice section boxes, and boih broad and narrow L. frames. The story and a half hive is a marvel for cheapness, and is so pronounced by all who have seen it. At the beginning of the honey season, I was especially pleased with the honey crate. I liked it better than the broad L. frames; but, just to test them, I tried one hive with broad frames. I could easily have tried more, but thought more of the crate. My bees with the broad frames rilled their section boxes, capped every cell, and then layout some two weeks, and finally swarmed. While those which were just as strong, but were given, at the same time, the crate with only 28 boxes, swarmed before their boxes were full, and did not fill their boxes Dearly as soon as the others filled their 5t> boxes. In fact, but few of the colonies having the crates filled all their boxes full, and some colonies have had their boxes on all the season, and I fear will not store one lb. of honey. I think, next season, I shall have two tiers of section boxes in most of my hives. L. H. Coblentz. New Madison, Ohio, Aug. 18, 187!). I believe the majority agree with you, friend C, that an upper story witli broad frames is rilled almost as quickly as the i story, where the colony is strong. There is still another advantage; where you have broad frames, you can put one on each side of the lower story, and get the bees well started in the sections before the upper story is put on, and then raise them up. Of course, you cannot do this readily with the case that contains only a single tier of sec- tions. HOW TO "INTKODUCE" A LB. OF BEES AND A QUEEN. A. I. Root : -The lb. of bees and queen you sent me on the l.jth inst. was received on the loth, about sundown; I put them in a Simplicity hive, took two frames of brood from a strong colony of blacks (I had no others), then put in 4 frames of fdn., opened the cage to let the bees out, put on the cover, and left them till morning. I went out to look for the queen, taking my smoker wiih me. I found tile queen without any trouble. She was all right, and seemed perfectly at home. I did not need the smok- er; they were as quiet as lambs. They are busily at work late and early, and, from all appearances, arc doing well. I feel well satisfied with mv little pets thus far. DO ITALIANS DRIVE OUT THE COMMON BEES? I was watching them a few mornings ago, and noticed something, to me, rather strange. Some of the blacks had hatched and wen; flying; and when they tried to enter the hive the Italians would not let them in, but chased them away. In the after- noon, I noticed them again, and found that they made no objection to their coming in. Why did they reject them at one time and accept them at another? Was it because they were bringing in supplies that they accepted them, and rejected them when they were not? Is this a peculiarity of I the Italians? i I am an ABC scholar, and have been in the bee business but two years. Last fall, I went into winter quarters with 20 stands, and wintered them in the cellar. I lost one during the winter. After I set them out in the spring, thev began to swarm out and dwindle away, tilt I had but 8 left. I then bought 4 more, and now have 25 stands, 15 in Sim- plicity and Langstroth hives, and 10 in box hives. For this section of country, I think the 1 1-2 story the best, the half story holding one tier of sections. I shall have my hives made that way next year. This has been a very poor honey season with us, but my two first swarms of this year have made some honey in the sections. The honey supply failed here about the 4th of July. I have been feeding some of my late swarms, for the past two or three weeks. My opinion is that, unless we build up our late swarms by feeding, we will have a more doleful report to make next spring than we did last, about bees dwindling and swarming out. One of my neighbors had two swarms come out a few days ago; on examining the hives, there was no honey in them. Fayette, Wis., Aug. 30, '79. C. Abraham. I have never seen Italians drive out the native bees, and I can scarcely think it pos- sible, that the bees themselves recognize any difference on account of "color." If the blacks are attacked by the Italians, I think it must be because they are of some hive having a different scent. If they are hatched in the hive, I cannot see how this is possible. I speak of this at length, be- cause several have written that when the young Italians begun to hatch, they have, at times, driven out the black bees. I, of course, do not doubt the truthfulness of the statements, but I think the conclusions were drawn through some mistake or mis- apprehension. AN A B C SCHOLAR'S EXPERU3NCE, BEE HUNTING AND ALL. As one of your ABC scholars, 1 will give my ex- perience. 1 bought, this spring, 10 stocks of bees for $20. Isold 4 for the same amount, therefore had 6 stocks "for nothing." I divided into 10, lost one, and had one given me (box hive), which I will transfer in the spring. I transferred 4 hives this spring, with success. My bees have no honey, and I will have to feed. Not a very favorable report for a beginner, is it? I tried my hand at introducing queens, and lost 2 out of 5. Bobbers got into one hive and killed one of my pels. When 1 bought the bees, 1 was vvvy much afraid of them, and would not think of going near them without a veil on; but I can now work with them without much trouble, though I get stung occasionally. I took my family to the country for health, and while there found two bee trees. 1 followed your directions, but had a cigar box instead of a regular bee hunting box. I was almost afraid to take the bees, and my friends were as great cowards as myself. I got two old frame hives, and put them in with little trouble. One tree was a large oak. I cut the tree, and then cut out a block. I had no veil on, and rolled up my shirt sleeves to get into the hole, (took out comb enough for &L. frames, and half abuabelof bees, and got stung but twice. They were hybrids, and a large swarm. I Italianized them by setting a tested queen from H. H. Brown. I put it in my first hive lor one week, then took it out and put it in the large 402 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Oct. hive, and took the black queen out of the large hive, lifted off the cover of the small hive, and threw her on the frames, little expecting' she would be receiv- ed; but she went to work as did my tested queen. I used scented water. How is this for my first ex- perience with bees? I hope you won't get disgusted with your ABC scholar. James Shore. Germantown, Pa., Sept. 3, 1879. Never fear, friend S., that I shall get tired of hearing from my pupils, especially, when they push ahead with the energy yon have shown. I would like to have been there when you had your sleeves rolled np, taking the combs out of that tree. STRANGE FREAK OF AN ITALIAN QUEEN. Having hived a first larg-e swarm of Italians, Mon- day, Aug-. 18th, in a hive containing- 5 frames of comb and 5 of fdn., 1 examined the hive the next day, and found all quiet. I saw a beautiful Italian queen, and, it being- a first swarm, thought all was right. On Saturday, Aug. 23d, I examined them again, and found no queen and no eggs, but a few queen cells started, which proved the colony to be queenless. I gave them a frame of Italian' brood. On Friday, Aug. 29th, I examined them again, and found the same Italian queen, with two frames filled with eggs, and two queen cells started on the frame of brood I had inserted, which have been destroyed since. Could she have been a virgin? or what could have been the cause of her absence such a length of time? If I had overlooked her, which I am certain I did not, why did they build queen cells, which is a proof of a queenless colony? James A. Pritchard. St. Gabriel, Iberville Par., La., Sept. 1, '79. I have met with similar cases where the queen, apparently, would be gone several days, and then return as yon have narrated, but I have generally concluded I had missed her in looking over the combs. Although the fact of their starting queen cells seems to indicate her absence, it is not always pos- itive evidence. I have wondered if such queens did not get into some other hive when on a wedding trip, and then get back into the right one after a subsequent trip. She might have been a virgin queen, even if she did lead out the first swarm ; but it is a rare case, unless the colony is just about renew- ing their queen, when several are often raised in the swarming season. In such cases, the first swarm is, of course, led out by a virgin queen. "HANDLES" FOR PACKAGES OF BEES OR QUEENS, ETC. Let me suggest that you attach a handle of some sort to the side of the cage you wish to be upper- most, as the express agents pay no attention to the notice you put on them, and they seem to be afraid of the bees. There was a string attached to one end of my cage, where the cord crossed, and the express man on the steamer brought it out dangling by this string. It was a wonder to me that there was not more damage done. Not having received the hives I ordered, 1 made a nucleus hive, and had it ready with partly drained combs when the queens came. I lost no time in taking the hive to the stand it was to occupy, when I loosened the wire cloth a little at one end, placed the cage on the frames, and tried to drive them down with smoke; but they would not stay and were soon all flying in the air. In a few minutes, they thickened about a stick in a brush pile near by, where I found the queen, clipped her wing, took her back to the hive, and put her in; but she was determined not to stay, and came tumbling- out in the attempt to tiy. I had to put her back several times before she would stay. Then all went well for a while, until the blacks undertook to rob them, but they defended themselves bravely. It was soon dark though, and that put a stop to rob- bing, but, by daylight next morning, they were at it again, and 1 had to nearly close the entrance. They are all right now. The queen commenced laying this P. M. On opening my black hive to-day, I found some Italians in it, and they are larger than my blacks, and are such beauties alongside of them. I beg to be allowed to disagree with Mr. J. E. Dean, on p. 270, July No. of Gleanings; the sun doe3 not shine more on the north side of a hive or house in N. Y. than in Miss. N. R. Fitz Hugh, Jr. Pieolata, Fla., Aug. 27, 1879. -EXTRACTED HONEY WILL KEEP. I have just returned from our fair, having taken first premium on extracted honey, over five entries, with honey taken from the comb with my extractor, in June last year, 1878. In fact, the same jar and honey was in competition last year, but failed to re- ceive its merits. The honey was left in the jar last season, and when the jar was wanted this season for a like purpose, the honey was found to be liquid, or nearly so, and was drained off from that which was candied, the jar washed, and honey replaced, and taken with other articles to the fair. The jar was a glass stop, druggist jar, and had been kept in a dark, cool, dry cupboard, during the year. It is white clover honey, very light colored, and I am inclined to think that age has improved its flavor by remov- ing that peculiar taMc that belongs to most clover honey. F. W. Chai man. Morrison, 111., Sept., 1879. HOW AN ABC SCHOLAR INTRODUCES QUEENS AND PROSPERS GENERALLY. I began bee-keeping in the spring of 1878, with 3 swarms in old fashioned hives. I sent for your A BC of Bee Culture, and concluded to work accord- ing to that, but, I did not transfer my bees. I had 5 new swarms which I nut into Simplicity hives, but in August I lost one of the old swarms by moths. I think they lost their queen somehow, to begin with. I transferred them in the hope of saving them, but they died. I wintered just as they stood in the sum- mer, only I took off the sections and filled the top with straw. [ lost none by spring dwindling, so I came out with 7 swarms this spring, and bought 2 Italian swarms. I have had 11 new swarms, and in August, introduced 12 Italian queens from Mr. Nel- lis. In 4 days from the time I received them, I had them all laying, as if perfectly at home. I made one new swarm, by taking frames of brood and bees out of different hives and putting them together. Now, 1 have sent for 4 more queens. Last year, I sold more than enough honey to pay for my bees and all their expenses. This year they are doing almost nothing, but will probably make enough to winter on. 1 have been making inquiries for 10 miles around, and find every one in ihe same fix. John B. Carpenter. West Hoosick, Rens. Co., N. Y., Sept. 5, 1879. THE SIMPLICITY FEEDER AND DAMPNESS WHEN FEEDING. That feeder you sent me works well. There is nothing that makes me so well pleased as to see the little fellows go for the syrup, when I go out at dusk to fill it. They make me think of sheep crowding for something to eat. The bees work well, and 1 am well pleased with them. They have made two cards of honey since 1 had them. Friend R., what shall I do to stop the dampness in the hive? In the morn- ing, the tlass in the back is covered with steam and sweat. Would it do hurt to take some candy and crumble it up and put it in the feeder, and put enough water on to make it like syrup? Petersburg, N. Y., Sept. 6, '79. Dakius Wager. The dampness on the sides of the hive, while you are feeding thin, watery food, is quite usual, and will do no harm; and, if you will look in the ABC, you will find that your plan is exactly what I advise, only I said sugar instead of candy, for no other reason only that it is cheaper and just as good. If they are not well provisioned for winter, give them the sugar and water every day, until their combs are just bulged with snow white cells of capped stores. After you have once seen it, you will know what I mean; make the combs look like "peace and plenty''' in clover time. You can easily do it, if you feed constantly and regularly, every night, and every warm day. If robbers bother you in the day time, put the feeder in the upper story, or cap. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 403 INTRODUCING, ITALIANS, WIRING FDN., ETC. On the 8th inst., I sent a P. O. order to you for 3 Italian queens. On the 14th, they were here, and in the very best possible shape. 1 immediately went through the ceremony of introducing-, after the fashion friend Hutchinson mentions in July No. of Gleanings. I had two queenless stocks in waiting-, to which I gave two of the queens. The 3rd one was given to a stock very strong, by simply removing their queen and dumping the Italian in her place. I gave them all a good strong smoking with tobacco and rotton wood, and closed up the hives. I did not open or disturb them again until to-day (the it h day), and, to my great delight, L found all 3 of them busily depositing eggs. It required an effort to keep from swinging my hat, for I had been extremely anxious for their safety, as they were such golden beauties. Please accept thanks for promptness. Get away with your black bees. Since trying them this season alongside of the Italians, I am ready to go to work in earnest next spring, to Italianize my whole apiary. 1 have used 20 lb. of fdn. this season, and had but one card which bulged or dropped down. But, friend Root, instead of putting the wire into the frames perpendicularly, it should be run hori- zontally. In this way, 2 wires will do more good than y2 dozen the other way, and it is much less trouble to insert it; at least, this is my experience. In this vicinity, it has been a poor honey season, and instead of the cry, "What snail we do with our honey?" we inquire, "Where is the honey to come from?" D. E. Brubakek. Iowa Centre, la., Aug. 20, 1879. A SURE(?) METHOD OF INCREASING THE NUMBER OF COLONIES EVEN IN WINTER TIME. I do not know whether I should be put in the "Smilery" or the "Blasted Hopes" (I hope that is not profane). I bought 4 swarms of bees last winter, and have 4 swarms yet. No increase. I transferred 3 of the swarms from the old gums, into frame hives, and got about 20 lb. of honey from each, by the operation. That is the extent of the profits, except an amount of knowledge and a little experience which are worth to me exactly one thousand dollars (my selling price is a little lower than the worth of the articles). I shall increase my stock this winter by a sure method which I have discovered. I shall take my 4 swarms, and, by the use of proper means, increase them to 20. The method is not patented. What will you give me for it? Wait a little. L will tell you how to do it. It will cost me just the price of sixteen swarms. I intend to buy them. 1 know you advise all beginners to "grow up with the busi- ness," but as the young man told H. Greeley when advised to go west and grow up with the country, "It takes too much time." At the present rate of increase, I should be older than Methuselah before I could say I had five swarms. What do you think about it? W. G. Ashton. Cuthbert, Ga., Sept. 5, 1879. HOW TO FIND A BLACK QUEEN. For the benefit of beginners (I am one). I would say: To catch black queens, use a sheet of perfora- ted tin that will just let all the workers out, and hold the queens and drones. Place the sheet of tin on the bottom of an empty hive, then shake all the bees from the combs of the colony where you wish to -catch the queen into the empty hive; place the cover on close except one corner, where you must smoke the bees to drive them out through the tin. In a few minutes, there will be so few bees left that you can find the queen very easily. I catch them every time, in that way, when I could never tind them by looking through the hive three or four times. Jas. A. Nelson. Wyandott, Kansas, Sept. 6, 1879. We ordinarily rind queens without any particular search, hut, with a very strong- colony of hlack hees, I do not know hut I might he induced to resort to some such arrangement once in a great while. WHEN TO BUY BEES, WHAT TO PAY, ETC. As you seem to like to hear from the ABC class, I write you a few lines. I have 41 swurms all in good order, but bees haVe not done very well here this season. I used cushions for 4 hives last winter, and think they are excellent for wintering. Which do you think is the better time for purchasing bees, the fall, or spring? Would you think bees cheap at $4.00 a swarm this fall? Did you ever use packing boxes for wintering? I think the GLEANiNGs3|are just "boss." F.T.Locke. Fabius, N. Y., Sept. 8, 1879. The hest time to purchase hees is undoubt- edly in the spring, hut if you have to pay very much more for them then, it might he best to purchase them in the fall, andjthen that would he the hest time. I have just offered $4.00 each for a lot of Italians in Simplicity hives. They are not provisioned for winter, and many of them have not bees enough. Were they full of stores and young bees, I would give $2.00 more for them. Were they wintered through to next May, and strong in numbers, I could perhaps give another $2.00. This is the buying price. If I were going to sell them, and guarantee safe delivery, by express, I should want from $10.00 to $12.00, according to the num- ber purchased. You may say this is a money making business ; and so it is, every step, if you can avoid losses, but any business of a like risky nature must have broad margins. Those who are careful, thorough, and expert should make money ; or rather, should have proper pay for their skill and care. I have never used packing boxes, but the chaff hive amounts to the same thing, and is not so unsightly. ARTIFICIAL HEAT FOR A WINTERING HOUSE. My wintering house is above ground, and when shut up it is damp, and in the coldest weather not quite warm enougn. To remedy the latter, J intro- duce fire; but an ordinary, stove is greatly in the way, and, if not frequently attended to, gives too much heat. I got through last winter (only 30 hives) without any loss; still I would like to improve. 1 am thinking of making a pit in the centre of the house and getting communication with the external air, and having a coal oil stove. What would you think of it? Are such stoves safe from explosion? Do they make smoke? and where should the venti- lating pipe from the inside start from? near the ceil- ing or near the ground? You ask what is the objec- tion to a cellar? I have never used one, but would say a very serious objection is the putting in and taking out the hives. Although my house does not maintain a sufficiently high temperature in winter, it keeps cool in the warm weather in spring. I shall feel obliged if you will give me any suggestions. ' All my experiments with artificial heat have been pretty much failures, as you will see by the A 13 0, under the head, artifici- al heat. A coal oil lamp is safe (if you carry off the vapors by a suitable chimney), and not very expensive, but I doubt much whether it would give sufficient heat to dry out the walls of such a room as you mention. Putting a stove under the building would be better, but great care must be taken to avoid too much heat or disturbance. The heat furnished by a large colony of bees is the most sensible, natural, and successful of any- thing I have tried. Protect them with chaff cushions, wind breaks, and every thing of that kind, hut leave them to fly out whenev- er they wish. At present, a house apiary is the best method of wintering of anything I have ever tried. QUEENS BY MAIL, AND CANADIAN POSTAL REGULA- TION. It appears that, in some parts of the U. S., the P. O. regulations respecting bees are not observed, and is not this one of those cases where "the law is more honored in its breach than in its observance?" for it is absurd. I have not heard that any attempt has been made to exclude bees from the mails in 401 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. OCT. Canada, or that any inconvenience has resulted from allowing them to be carried, although I think in some instances curiosity leads tojundual interfer- ence with them. W. P. Taylor. Fitzroy Harbor, Ontario, Ca., Sept. 5, 1879. I heartily agree with you, friend T.,rand I have long been in a quandary in regard to bees by mail. I am very glad to hear they pass in Canada, and make no trouble. In fact, they go in our mails and make no trouble, but they are constantly in danger of being thrown out in a lump, as they were a year ago. HOW OLD MAY AQUEEN BE, AND STILL BE FERTIL- IZED? Bees have done very well in this locality the pres- ent season. My Italians have given me an excellent crop of honey, and several artificial swarms. X One month ago, a very beautiful Italian queen hatched in one of my artificial swarms. She was a medium si ;ed queen and very yellow. In tenl days i 'after hatching-, I opened the hive expecting to find plenty of eggs, but not one could I find. I continued open- ing the hive every 2 or 3 days for the purpose of finding eggs, but without success, and concluded that I would kill her, if she did not commence laving in one month from the time she left her cell. But, on the 21st day after hatching, she commenced laying eggs, and has since proved to be a very prolific queen. Lynn, Ind., Sept. 3, '79. E. Jas. Hinshaw. MORE ABOUT THAT GRANULATED HONEY. The bees in this section have not done anything extra this season, only they swarmed very late for this section. There is something remarkable about their honey this year; it granulates in 48 hours after they deposite it in the combs. I have some on hand as white as coffee A sugar. If you would like me to do so, 1 will send you a sample of it, and guaran- tee it to be honey, but almost any man would say it is adulterated. • A. S. Smith. Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 27, 1879. FEEDING TO PROMOTE BROOD REARING I.V THE FALL, AND FEEDING WHILE IN DOORS IN WINTE8. I wish to feed my bees this fall late, and from Feb. on till fruit bloom, just to keep up the breeding, or egg laying, especially in my expected Italian swarm. I keep my bees in a dry cellar^'rom Dec. till April. Is this as good a place to feed and ;to breed in as in the open air? Of course, bees can't feed in a very cold day out of, doors. I/want .to know'just what I must do to induce these yellow pets, that I'expect you will send me, to begin tojjraise bees in Jan. or Feb., and from thence on till fruit bloom, at which time I want a big hive, full to runuing over, of yel- low bees. I shall get a bbl. of grape sugar. Is that safe to feed at such times and for my purpose? Pawnee City, Neb., Aug. 15, '79. C. R. Miles. Your plan is a very unsafe one, friend M . Bees can be fedln the cellar, but it is almost sure to make mischief with a new hand. I would not feed them until the .weather will permit them to be set out doors and to fly. Grape sugar is not'good for winter, but will do very well in spring. A KDl'AL COMBAT RESULTING IN THE DEATH OF BOTH QUEENS. Eleven^ years ago, I rkeptl a few colonies, and (as the folks used to sayl'always had "extra luck" with them. FJhave been without them, however, till this spring, when I purchased a good, strong stock of black bees in a box hive. They increased to four. I also bought two, small, July swarms. I'jwill tell you how I united two swarms, and my "extra luck," &c. My last swarm was] a" very small one; I also bought a small one in a nail keg. Said I, you two have to go into one; for both of you'are very weak. I got hold of Langstroth's old work on the honey bee, and made one of his hives. I then obtained an empty box hive, inverted the box that contained the swarm, and, smoking them pretty well, I put the empty box over them, and commenced "drumming" them up. They took their own time in going up, I can assure you. After I had most of them in, I took the keg and did the same thing, but they did not relish going up among the strangers one bit; sol shook what I had in the box, among those in the keg, and then proceeded again. They were very angry, however, some friends standing around getting "pricked" several times; but my smoke kept.them from my face. After I had got as many in as'.I co'ild, I carefully removed the combs from the box and keg, and crowded them fast into the[f rames, putting them in my new Langstroth. Then I shook the bees out on the top of the frames all in a bunch, quickly laying1 a piece of oil cloth over them, the weight of which soon drove them down among the combs. Now, as all this took time, it was fast get- ting dark or I would have hunted up one of the queens, but I did not. I put them all in together, thinking they would soon dispatch one of the rulers, and again settle down to business. After closing the whole of the portico with wire cloth, I left them to their fate. This was done on the 26th of July last. I kept the sun from the hive, and, on the evening of the 28th, I removed the wire cloth. The morning of the 29th, they seemed to have got used to their bad treatment, and the afternoon of the 3)th. they were, to all ootside appearances (as far as I could judge), "all O. K." again. Looking at them the next morning about 9 o'clock, the 31st inst., lo and behold! they h^d gone! "every mother's son of them!" I removed the frames with the combs which they had begun to make fast, and I made a discovery that is enth-ely new. at least to me. Bolh queens were on the bottom, tightly embraced, with the sting of one fast in the other!, both dead. The sting of one had pierced the other in the tirst ab- dominal ring. Was it not queer that both were kill- ed? So ended my "extra lnc'i" that time. Freehold, N. J., Sept. 1, 1879. F. C. Lockwood. This is the first case I have ever heard of, where both queens perished, and what is more singular, it seems that the bees ab- sconded without any queen. Now, I shall hazard the conjecture that neither thing happened, and that there was a third queen that came out of the combat alive, and de- camped with the swarm. In that case, of course, one of the stocks had two queens when united, but this is quite a common thing comparatively. ARE WE TO CONSIDER BUMBLE BEES AS ENEMIES? The second crop of re 1 clover has been an entire failure with us, as far as honey is concerned, for the first time since we have had Italians. The bumble bees have been awfully thick, which I think is the whole cause. We plow out nest after nest when preparing our ground for fall wheat, and they just swarmed over the clover blossoms the whole time. I never saw anything like it in my life. The bumble bees took the honey from the deep tubes, before it could rise high enough for the honey bees to reach it, and they were therefore prevented from getting any. Now, suppose we offer one cent each for all the dead bumble bees the boys and girls bring us in May, June, and July. Ila Micheneh. Low Banks, Ont., Ca., Sept. 2, 1879. NON-PROLIFIC QUEENS. I have delayed making that demand you invited me to make for the non-prolific queen which I sup- posed I had got in that nucleus you sent me in July last. Well, it turned out just as you said, that when she got over her journey she would be all right. At this date, she has her improved Langstroth hive full of beautiful yellow banded workers, and the combs full of brood and honey. It has been a splendid hon- ey season here. I am thinking of putting on a sec- ond story to see what she can do. Therefore I will not ask for damages, but say that you have sent me an excellent queen. K. L. Meade. Nassagaweya, Ont., Ca., Sept. 2, 1879. I am doing very well with my bees. I had 5 swarms in the spring-, and have 12 now. Two went together and one left for the woods, and I gave one away, so 1 have had 15 in all. I have about 200 lb. of white clover honey. * Buckwheat has been in bloom about two weeks, and bees are doing well on it. Honey i? low in price here in Jackson -only worth 10 and 12c. per pound— but it is nice to have about the house even at that price. M. V. Miller. Liberty, Jackson Co., Mich., Aug. 8, 1879. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 40.-, MORE ABOUT DRONES IN WORKER CELLS. I notice in Gleanings, Sept. No., p. 358, a commu- nication from friend C, asking' the question, "Can a fertilized queen lay drone eggs in worker cells?" Now this question grew out of an argument between friend C. and myself, as to whether the queens in question could lay drone eggs in worker cells. I do not believe that a fertile queen ever lays drone eggs in worker cells; if so, away goes the theory generally adopted by apiarists, that the cells de- termine whether the future bee shall be a drone or worker. Again, if the queen can deposit drone eggs in worker cells, I do not see why she can not, with the same ease,Jdeposit worker eggs in drone cells. Friend C. claims a victory because you admit that fertile queens do occasionally deposit drone eggs in worker cells, but you •'opine' she makes a mistake." May not the mistake be in the observer and not in the queen? J. W. Shull. Pleasant Dale, W. Va., Sept. 6, 1879. I think the Wagner theory to which you allude, friend 8., has been thrown aside for some time. The queen does deposit worker eggs in drone cells oftener than you imag- ine ; and I think I can rind them in almost every apiary of a dozen hives. When the brood is capped over, you would not think of its being drone comb, unless it was shown you ; for the bees, in capping, have a way of drawing in the mouth of the cells, that makes it look exactly like worker comb, on- ly that the cells are a' little farther apart. If I am correct, almost any queen will raise workers in drone cells, if you give her noth- ing but drone comb. You will find, in al- most every hive, in the summer season, oc- casionally, a cell containing drone brood. You will know it by its overtopping the brood surrounding it. It is these occasional drones that enable us to get queens fertil- ized during the present month. Read what friend Carhn says on page 400. NO QUEEN IN THE CAGE. Every little while, some brother declares there was no queen in the cage we sent him. As this is a world full of careless, well mean- ing people, it is nothing very strange, especi- ally, in so large a business as the queen trade is getting to be. We had the same complaint last year, to a certain extent, and so we put, in large letters, on the directions for intro- ducing, "Look in the cage, before opening it, and, if you can find no queen, return the cage at once to us.,? You see I was deter- mined to make our boys and girls careful. Well, in spite of this, we have had three or four notices that there was no queen in the cage. In fact, one very good friend of ours declares a $5.00 imported queen was non est. lie will take oath she was not there, while two of our clerks will take oath that they saw the queen in the cage just before she was shipped. Where then was the trouble t I really can think of nothing, unless the package was opened on the way ; but, as it was securely tacked, I think such a thing very improbable. Is it not more likely that somebody was mistaken ? I decided to stand the loss of the $5.00, but I tell you, after that, we looked at every queen, just before she went to the express office, you may be sure. A few days ago, a card came from another man who had some dollar queens, as follows : One of the cages had no queen in it. As I opened it, I saw 3 dead bees; I allowed the bees to come out on the frames, but could not discover any queen. The 3 dead bees dropped into the hive in getting out the other bees, so I could not examine them, and did not think, at the time, that one of them might be the queen. If you will send me a queen for that one that did not come or was dead I will take it as a great favor. R. Corscaden. P. S.- Lest there might be a mistake, I have looked in the hive 3 times; no queen. K. C. Providence, R. I., Sept. 9, 1879. And to-day, comes another : That queen that ''did not come" or was "one of the dead bees" must have come to life again, or was too smart for me. I paid most particular attention while the bees were coming out of the cage on to the frames, and wonder that she could have escaped my notice. After looking three separate times, lest by any possible means she might have escaped my notice, and seeing noihing to indicate that the queen was in the hive, I gave the bees a comb with brood, to keep them strong till I should get a queen. I did not look at them again till the 13th, when your pos- tal of the 11th came to hand; when, on looking them over, I found new laid eggs. I looked again today, and saw the queen. She is darker than any I have had of you, and rather small, but may turn out to be one of the best; so lean report all queens of you are doing good work. K. Corscaden. Providence, B. I., Sept. 15, 1879. Now will you not be careful, my friends, before blaming our boys and girls too much V FURTI1ER CAUTIONS AROUT ROBBING WHILE TRANS- FERRING, MITCHELL, ETC. As I have known many cases of robbing that were started by transferring, allow me to criticize your advice on the subject to beginners. I was not satis- fied with your reply to D. S. Bethune, p. 298, Aug. No. We must not expect that beginners will keep the honey wiped up clean, and prevent robbers from getting home loaded, when it is difficult for them to tell a robber bee from any other. Then you say, transfer by moonlight; my experience teaches me to handle bees by no other light than sunlight. I have transferred a great many bees, and, when there were other bees near, I have always taken them into a room to perform the operation. They can be handled there without the annoyance of* robbers, and allowed to clean up all remaining honey before being taken out; then they are ready to defend themselves. I think their inclination' to rob each other is the worst thing we have to contend with in managing them. It seems that when they once get honey dishonestly they never forget it." I have 82 swarms and never had a swarm robbed, having taken great pains to prevent their getting started. I would like a queen bee breast pin, if you will get them up. If you will not, I think I can furnish them, made of -gold, for about $2.50. Mitchell was around not long ago, and sold to one i of my neighbors two rights to use his hive, at 15.00 each, and promised to send two hives and two queens. All he sent was one hive. He said he had not time to visit me, so I lost one good talking to. Euclid, O., Sept. 19, 1879. F. C. Wthite. Thanks for correcting me, friend W. It was only through forgetfulness that I omit- ted to mention carrying the stocks to be transferred in doors. We use the wire cloth house shown on p. M0, Aug. No. By using plenty of smoke, you can get along very well by moonlight. I think you would better get up the pins. I cannot help feeling that the sii.oO would be better invested in something else ; not in buying rights of Mitchell though. A FEW WORDS IN BEHALF OK THE ABUSED BLACK BEES. lam a beginner and have had no experience with Italians, but am well pleased with my success. I started in last fall with 5 colonies. 1 lost one last spring, while some of my neighbors lost half, and others all of theirs. I now have 17 colonies in fair condition for winter, and have taken 225tb. of most beautiful box honey. The latter part of the season has been unfavorable on account of a long drouth. Mrs. S. L. Kepler. Mill Creek, Biehland Co., Wis., Sept. 16, 1879. 40IJ GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Oct. $&q§ and §ii4m§' BITTER WEED AS A POLLEN PLANT. what value is the "bitter weed" to the apia- Bees are gathering- pollen largely from it now. I can send you some seed free of charge, if you wish it. D. S. Lsethune. Snyder, Ark., Aug. 18, 1879. [Bitter weed occasionally furnishes pollen; see what is said of it under the head of pollen in the ABC. Thanks for your offer of seed, friend 15.; but, as it is one of the worst if not the worst weed we have here, I would rather pav something to get rid of it.] MOVING BEES FOR FALL PASTURAGE. I am located, at present, with my bees in the wil- derness of Ottawa Co., and bees are doing well on wild fall tlowers. John F. Dipman. Elliston, Ottowa Co., O., Sept. 1, 1879. CAN A QUEEN BE REARED FROM DRONE LAKVjK? VALUE OF ENGRAVINGS, &C. Can a queen be bred from drone brood? Twice this season, I have had queen cells built on drone brood, when there was plenty of other brood in the hive. I pinched them off. 1 want to give your en- graver credit for so well showing forth friend Hutch- inson's tenement hives. He lives about 10 miles south of me. The other day, I was going along the road he lives on, and 1 knew his place the moment I saw the stars and stripes over that shingle hive, by your picture in Aug. No. of Gleanings; so 1 stop- ped and had a good visit with him, and got a good many useful hiuts. M. 1». Yokk. Millington, Mich., Aug. 19, 1879. [They can never raise a queen from drone larvae, but it is claimed that they do sometimes rear a drone out of such queen cells. 1 am glad our engravings prove profitable, and if you will look, friend Y., on page 14 of the ABC, you will see a picture of the kind of queen cells you mention, and a description of them. | ONE WAY TO GET A START. A year ago, I found a bee tree, and, when I took Gleanings, 1 found out what to do with them. 1 made me a hive with movable frames, transferred the bees, and they have done very well. This year, I have taken 35 lb. of comb honey, and 1 think 1 shall take some more in Sept. What do you think of that, for one that did not know anything about bees? Millstadt, 111., Aug. 23, '79. Jacob Reitz. I moved a strong colony of hybrids 8 or 10 rods away, and put a hive filled with brood and dry combs in its place. They went to work furiously to fill the new hive, working early and late, through cold, rainy days, and 1 said all the kind things I could for hybrids; but 1 have just discovered that they are taking all the honey away from the hive that was moved, and I cannot stop them. 1 have tried closing the hive and scenting one with peppermint, but 1 can't make them quarrel. Please tell me what I can do. Would you move the original swarm still far- ther away? Makv Simons. Brocton, N. Y., Aug. 19, 1879. [The freak is a strange one, but one that bees sometimes take. Probably the best thing you can do is to carry the old colony away a mile or more and keep it there 10 days, or two weeks; then bring it home, and it will be all right.] I took 120 boxes, well filled, out of that chaff hive 1 got of you. A. K. Bodge. Exeter, Me., Sept. 4, 1879. HOW ONE MAN PROSPERS, WHILE ANOTHER HAS ONLY BLASTED HOPES. One of my neighbors started 4 years ago with 3 swarms of bees. He increased his number last year (third year) to 40, and sold 1,700 lb. of honey. This season, he has several thousand pounds of honey and over 100 swarms. Others also are succeeding, while some let them run down and die out. Two years ago, I bought a gum, put them into a Lang- stroth hive, and raised a crop of worms that killed the bees out after they had swarmed and lost their queen. I thought the large, fat worms, filling the cells and presenting a sharp white point, were young bees, until it was too late. I am cited to you as the best authority to instruct me how to manage them, and ask that you send me a copy of your Gleanings. A. S. Magruder. Rock Ledge, Fla., Sept. 8th, 1879. [Many thanks for the good opinion your friends seem to have of me, but 1 would suggest the friend who succeeds so well in your neighborhood, as the best "authority" for you to go to. 1 wonder if „your successful neighbor is not a subscriber to Glean- ings.] wooden separators. We have had another year's experience with the wood separators. They are a perfect success with us. Our honey looks most splendid, and can not be beat. Our honey crop is but half a crop. FRIEDEMANN G REINER. Naples, N. Y., Sept. 14th, 1879. DARK QUEENS, AND TINNED WIRE FOR BROOD COMBS. From my experience, I think it must be some- thing besides cool weather that makes dark Italian queens. I occasionally get them here when the mercury ranges from tb° to 98°. The blackest one 1 ever saw, this summer produced light colored, and well marked Italians; but, as a rule, I think light queens produce the lightest bees. I have used tinned wire in the brood chamber over six months, and, contrary to what 1 expected, it has prosed a perfect success. I used the first wire in Feb. In two of the frames, the tin of the wire appeared detective, and showed rust spots be- fore the cells were used. One larva looked bluish and was taken out, but this may not have been caused by the i usted wire; the cell was then filled with pollen. My imported queen has been using wired combs over six months and 1 have been watching them closely. 1 he only objection I have is the time it takes to'put in the wire, and that you can not get it tight without Lending the bottom bar. C. R. Carlin. Shreveport, La., Sept. 13th, 1879. [The plan given you in July No. (page 254) will en- able you to draw the wires as tight as you choose, friend C, and if you will teach seme girl or boy how, they will put in the wites lor you at a very small expense.] QUICKNESS IN TRANSIT. Four card and queen cf Sept. 5th, received on the 6th. In 41 hours from the time the order left the P. O., the goods landed in Goshen, sale and sound. Is'nt that the fastest time on recoid? South West, lnd., Sept. 9, "!9. I. R. Good. [That is the way we try to do business, friend G., but we cannot always succeed so well as in the case you have mentioned. To get every thing off prompt- ly by return mail or express, usually necessitates keeping a little larger force of hands than is actually needed to do the business ordinarily.] I received your Gleanings and catalogue and was very much interested: indeed, 1 could not stop reading. 1 found on every page things which 1 have done wrong as a beginner. Wm. H. Rex. Lehighton, Pa., Sept. 18th, 1879. DRONE BROOD IN WORKER COMB. You once stated that bees would not, under any circumstances, build drone cells on fdn. of 5 cells to the inch, and, though informed otherwise, did not correct. Now, on page 358, Gleanings for Sept., in answer to the question, "Can an impregnated queen deposit drone eggs in worker cells," you think not, or if she does occasionally lay drone eggs in worker comb you opine she does not mean to do it. If you were here now, I could show you hundreds of capped drone brood in worker cells, 5 to the inch, woricer fdn., and not sagged. Does that look as if the queens in this climate do not mean to do it? it is done by young Italian queens, as well as by my imported queen two years old. The desire to rear drones seems much greater here than north. Saturday, 1 saw one comb of fdn. 5 cells to the inch, not sagged, built out in the colony with a fertile queen, one side all worker, but, on other side, near the centre, 9 drone cells in one spot, and 7 in another, made by running cells together at the base. Shreveport, La., Sept. 15, '79. C. R. Carlin. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 407 [I beg pardon, friend C, if I have omitted to cor- rect any of my statements that need correcting; it was an oversight, I assure yon. I have never seen drone brood under the conditions you name, and I cannot think it usual in the North. It would be very convenient for us just now, for we cannot get our queens, at this time of the year, to lay drone eggs in any kind of comb.] WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH THE BEES? As one of your ABC class and a beginner, I wish a little information. My bees, apparently, have some disease, the cause of which is entirely unknown to me. 1 have in my apiary the blacks and hybrids, as well as the beautiful Italians, the former of which appear to be most affected. 1 find, each morning, in the entrance and on the alighting board, from 5(1 to 100 bees, dead and dying. I have examined the combs carefully, and find brood plenty, in all stages, and in healthy condition, and brood combs looking all-right with plenty of honey, and all the bees at work with great energy through the day. Now, can you give the cause of this mortality? H. Scott. Princeton, W. Va., Sept. 15, 1879. [The 50 or 100 bees that die daily might be bees that die of old age, at this time of the year; but 1 hardly think there should be so many every day. If this is not the case, perhaps it is the disease I describe on page 55 of the A B C] SIMPSON HONEY PLANT. I have one < f these plants, growing and doing well> that I can remember ever since 1 was a little boy, and I am now forty four years old. How is that for longevity? Each year, the stalk dies after the seed ripens, and sprouts again in spring. 1 intend to fence off a small piece of ground, transplant some roots next spring, and cultivate it for honey and seed, and will report. W. P. Irish. Norton Centre, Summit Co., O., Sept. 15, '79. QUEENS THAT STOP LAYING AND QUEENS THAT PHO- HUCE ALL DRONE BROOD. I am in a quandary. I bought a dollar queen, and safely introduced her July 18th. She went right to work, and produced very handsome, two banded workers. I looked her up Sept. 8th, and she appear- ed quite small and had only a very small cluster of brood on one comb, and that raised like drone bi-ood. To-day, I looked her up, and she is very large, and the drones are hatching out, but have only very narrow rings (yellow), not bands at all, and I could see no signs of other brood. The drone brood was regularly laid, in a cluster, on 2 combs, but in a small circle. I could not find her at first, and was afraid I had got a fertile worker. I had on a veil, and hence there may have been eggs which I did not see. 1 have been feeding sugar syrup to stimu- late brood rearing. What is the matter? Shirley, Mass., Sept. 16, "19. B. S. Binney. [Queens often stop laying in the fall, when the yield of honey ceases, and then they, as well as the bees, grow small and inferior looking. About the drone brood, 1 hardly know what to say; are you not mistaken in saying that all the brood "was drone brood? If not, she has thus early turned to a drone layer, and the colony will perish, unless she is re- moved and a better queen given them. If she has turned drone layer, her brood would not be apt to be regularly placed as you say it is.] WHAT IS ROYAL JELLY? I would like very much to know where the bees get the food for the young queen; 1 mean the white, pasty looking stuff. Jos. Harris. Moundsville, \V. Va., Sept. 11, 1879. [It is the partly, or perhaps wholly, digested honey and pollen which the bees have eaten, and which they throw up and put in the cell, something as a dove feeds her young. The food given the young queen is just the same as that given constantly to the young worker brood, as nearly as lean determine. If 1 am wrong, 1 should be glad to be corrected.! [If there are no other houses like the one you mention near, I think you can move it without tak- ing the bees out at all. When you come to turn it around, it may be best to turn it a little every day. If moved to the cellar, the bees should stay there 10 days or two weeks, but I do not think this will be necessary. You do not state how many colonies there are in the house.] "CHUNK" HONEY. Another thing I want to know is this: this has been a poor year for bees in this place, and I have a great number of small section boxes partly filled, having from a quarter to 34 of a lb. of honey. What is best to do with them? What do you do with such? One thing more; I have two hives that have not killed their drones yet, and I have some fear that they are queenless. [Cut out the honey carefully from the unfilled sections, place it nicely on plates or in pans, and sell it for "chunk" honey. \ ou will find it will sell faster than your honey in sections, at the same price per ft>., in a home market.] NORTH AND SOUTH ENTRANCES. My hives face the north and I am going to face them south: for I find that, in winter and spring, great numbers of bees fall down and get chilled, and never rise again. The ground will be covered thick with them. John Dawson. Pontiac, Mich., Sept. 13, 1879. [I have noticed the same thing you mention at some seasons with the house apiary; but, as a gen- eral thing, the bees on the north side do just as well as those on the south side of the house.] "PEPPERY" HONEY. Please let me know what the bees gather pungent honey from. Some of the handsomest, while comb honey I have had this year has been so peppery as to be uneatable. It was produced in the latter half of July, this year, when 1 supposed bees were working almost exclusively on verbenas. Chas. C. Bellows, and many others. Vermillion, Dak., Sept., 1879. [I do not know, friend B., unless it is the smart weed, or its near relative, 1 he large kind called black heart. A few days ago Will called my attention to a hive that was so much better filled than its neigh- bors, that it brought forth exclamations of surprise. On tasting the honey, to see where they got it, i was much amused to find it made one's mouth smart. The sight of beautiful Italians, the same day, on this large smart weed on the borders of the pond, suggested that as its source, but it may be a mis- take.] QUEENS WITH lib. OF BEES. The last ;( queens I received of you Aug. 8th, in lb. boxes, were all in fine order. I made swarms for them, and now have fine colored, 3 banded, young bees from each of them. The first queen 1 got, 1 lost by being careless, and not smoking them. There is nothing like smoke with me. E. S. Miner. Necedah, Wis., Sept. 15, 1879. RAPE, &C. I sowed '/a acre of rape, on the first of July. It bloomed nicely, and gave the bees lots of work. I sowed a second lot of :s acres, on the first of August, but, not having rain, it is likely to be a failure alto- gether. Bees do not work on sweet clover as they did last year, by a long way. Basswood yielded hon- ey extraordinarily well this year, H. Smith. New Hamburg-, (int., Ca., Sept. 2, 1879. MOVING BEES SHORT DISTANCES. I particularly want your opinion on a certain point. I keep my bees in a kind of house or shed, which I have to do on account of thieves. One of my houses does not suit me. I want to shift it about :.' rods. 1 1 I put them in my cellar (it is damp) till I shift their house, how long would they need to stay there be- fore I put them back? HOW A PATENT RIGHT MAN CAME TO GRIEF. There has been a patent right man through here, swindling the people, by selling a very poor pattern for a gum, with the right to use it, for #10. This lady that gave me the silver dollar to send for the smoker is (me of the victims. But, right here, I must state the funny part of this patent right man's experience. This lady says he could tame bees so he could handle them well, putting them in his mouth'and elsewhere, without being stung; but, unfortunately, he got oik little fellow mad, when he had taken a small handful in his mouth, and he received a sting in the mouth, which caused him to spit them out very suddenly (probably they needed ventilation). Wheeler Station, Ala., June M, '79. A. Cox. 408 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Oct. GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. ^_. I. ROOT, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, MEDINA, OHIO. TERMS: $1.00 PER YEAR, POST-PAID. i^EXDnxrA., oct. i3 ist'0- And now I say unto you, Kef rain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: !r But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to tight against God.— Acts v. 38, 39. Friend Alley says, in his circular, he does not hire "boys and girls" to raise his queens, but that he does it all himself. Now, friend A., was it not a little naughty of you to speak in that way, and then say what you did about Gleanings? Our boys and girls have been shipping the queens for the last few months, the very day the order was received, which you could not possibly do, all alone by yourself. Some of our readers know how far you are behind, and one of them says he sent you $9.00 last March, and has not got "ary" queen yet. We keep telling them to be patient, for you are cei-tainly all right, but seriously, friend A., are there not some bright, smart boys and girls in old Massachusetts, that could help you, and themselves too, and save your reputation for promptness? A year or two ago, I sent B. B. Barnum, of Louis- ville, Ky., a little over $50.00 worth of comb fdn., he promising to pay on receipt of the goods. After some excuses for not so doing, he finally, in a very unconcerned manner, informed us on a postal, that he had become bankrupt. After trying to investi- gate, I found he owed many bills of the same kind. When importuned, he finally said he had property enough to pay it all, but he seemed neither then nor since inclined to have any solicitude in regard to whether his customers got any pay or not. He has since gone into business again, and I did finally re- ceive his advertisement. Well, letters have lately been coming in asking if they should send this same Barnum honey on commission. I would, under no circumstances, entrust him with a pound of honey, and I am not sure that he should not have been put among Humbugs and Swindles long ago. We have complaints that he has never settled for honey sent him on commission years ago. There are a few friends who prefer the old style, hot blast, Simplicity smokers. E. B. Plunket, At- lanta, Ga., and J. H. Nellis, Canajoharie, N. Y., have a few of the old ones left. A bee often alights on a person .lust as it would on a fence or a tree, and if let alone it will fly away in a few seconds, and not once in a thousand times will it sting. It is only in the vicinity of their hive that bees sting intentionally.— Cincinnati Grange Bulletin. After a great many experiments in shipping queens to the most distant points, we have pretty well demonstrated that a section box with, at least, a part of the honey sealed is the safest arrangement. We also often keep a hundred or more queens caged in the office, ready to fill orders at short notice, and we find by far the least number of dead bees in this kind of a package, although we have tried a full sized section with sugar candy, and large bottles of water. The honey is more apt to get broken down in transit, it is true; but, by having it stored in old, tough combs, we make a sure thing of it, especially, if the cage is kept right side up. To insure this, we now put a little leather handle on it, as suggested on page 402. We will give friend F. $1.00 for the idea, besides our thanks. CAGING QUEENS ON HATCHING BROOD, CAGING QUEEN CELLS, ETC. There seem to be certain things in bee culture that revive about once in so many years, and each one who works out the idea seems to consider him- self a new discoverer. Many times, months of hard brain work and expensive experiments would have been saved, had the individual known what others had done in the same line before him. One of these is surrounding a comb of hatching brood with wire cloth, and introducing a queen by putting her on it, while it is hung in the hive. A modification of the same idea is to cover a portion of the hatching- brood with a cage containing the queen. All of these plans are a great deal of trouble, and the queen is little, if any, more sure of being received when released in the whole colony, than when let out of a cage in the ordinary way. Pushing a cage into a comb destroys a great deal of brood, and the bees usually go to work and dig it out, as they will any foreign body; the queen, therefore, is never safely caged, unless a wire cloth cap is put on both sides of the comb, and the two pressed together until the edges of the wire cloth meet. A full account of my experiments and successes in this matter, as well as in caging queen cells, &c, was given in the A. B. J., about 10 years ago. In the directions I have given you for intro- ducing, these things have been carefully considered. The following from the Farmers' Magazine is a little extravagant, I fear, but still there is a world of truth in it. Household Miseries.— My entire household, in- cluding the hired girl, is full of satisfaction over the fact that 1 have just driven the axe handle into the axe and wedged it there, so that it can't under any circumstances come out. It may read like a small matter to you, but do you know that that helve had been loose for nearly five years. Yes, for five years that axe has flung itself across the yard whenever I struck a heavy blow, leaving the helve in my hand, and I suppose I have decided more than a thousand times to go in and get a hammer and chisel and fasten the helve in. I was thrown down and had my arm broken by the axe flying off, two girls had their noses broken, we spoiled the stove boiler, nearly killed three boys, and yet I didn't get around to fix the axe until to- day. Foster was telling me the other day that he had finally glued the knob on the bureau drawer, and he seemed greatly relieved. I remember when that knob was knocked off— almost seven years ago. I was helping him move Ihe bureau when the acci- dent occurred, and I never was in the house after- wards without hearing Mrs. Foster say: "Come, Henry, haven't you got time to fix that knob on this evening?" "Yes, Martha," he would reply, and yet it was sev- en years before he got to it. Header, is there an axe loose in the handle, or a knob pulled off, about your premises? If so, fix it this minute, and then be happy. I wonder if spring dwindling among the bees is not the result of just such— shiftlessnezs. Up and be doing, this minute. 1879 GLEANIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. 409 The contents of thin leaf and the one following arc, not directly connected with the subject of bee-culture. On this account, I make no charge for them, and, if you choose, you can cut them out without reading. And we know th:it nil things wo-k toge her for good to them that Love God.- Rom. viii. :.'<. IF we accept this, my friends, there is Jj[ certainly little cause for a Christian to ' worry, or be discontented, no matter what turns up. All he has to look out for is to be sure that he does not delude himself by thinking he loves the Lord, when, in reality, he loves the approbation of the world, or something of that sort ; to illustrate : Just after I had knelt in prayer last Sab- bath evening at the young people's prayer meeting, one of our number asked me if I would sit up that night and take care of a sick family. In my prayer, I had asked God to show us the evil in bur own hearts, and heli^ us to correct it ; to help us to see our faults, as other people saw them ; to help us to put our religion into practical every day life, as well as to talk about it ; to give us of the spirit of Christ, and bring us near to him, even though the way led us through disagreeable duties. I prayed with unusual energy, for I had just returned from a very pleasant Bible class which is now established at the infirmary, at 4 o'clock, every Sabbath afternoon, and I felt the approving voice of my Savior, for having gone off on such an errand, through a rather cold rain storm. "Mr. Boot, will you go and sit up with Mr. M's family ? I sat up last night, and I will sit up again to-night, if I meet with no bet- ter success in getting help than I have had so far." I looked him full in the face, and, if I hes- itated a little in answering, it was so brief a hesitation that I hardly think he noticed it. Brief as it was, however, the following thoughts rushed through my mind during the interval. Excuse number one. I am an invalid; it is not two months since the Dr. said, if I did not go off and leave my business, I would not live half my life out. It is absolutely necessary that I get to bed at 9 o'clock, every night, or I have faint and dizzy spells. Why, just think of it I sometimes I feel as if my life almost depended on my taking a bee line home, and getting my tired head on a pillow, even before nine o'clock. Of course, I ought not to go when there are plenty of well men andfwomen all around. Excuse number 2. I know nothing about taking care of sick folks; it isn't in my line. Some folks can work about a sick bed as handily as can be, but I should certainly be more trouble than 1 was worth. Why, if my wife went away, and left me to prepare a single meal, myself, I always ate it raw, because I could not handle things in the kitchen. Why, I have not watched with any body that was sick for 24 years, by actual count. Excuse number 3. I suppose I saved this one until the last, because I was rather ashamed of it. I have got lots of work to do to-morrow, and a great many hands to take charge of. Men who employ a great many hands cannot be expected to sit up with the sick, for it hinders a great many other peo- ple. If I did any thing, I would hire one of my hands to sit up. I am willing to do that, and, now I think of it, the proper way is to hire a regular nurse right along ; and, as no one should pay all the expense, the right way is for some one to pass around a sub- scription paper. I have not time to do that, but I will head the paper, with a good start. Mind you, I only thought all these excuses, and at almost the same instant a better spirit reminded me of how often I had told the young people there that, if they would only push ahead and trust God, he would give health, strength, ability, and every thing else for the work, and it came right up before me ; now, old fellow, is the time to put your own preaching in practice. It would have been a comparatively easy matter to go and ask my wife to come and help, and then let her do it all, but I knew she had been up all night with a relative the night before, and that better voice bade me ask God to help me, and scrape up energy enough to make myself, at least, good for something in a sick room, even if it was for almost the first time in my life. As I went along the walk with my friend, I prayed that God would fit me, in strength, wisdom, and skill, for this new work, in the same way I had asked for and received so many other things. In two small rooms, I found a family of six. The father was just down with the ty- phoid fever ; a boy of six was just recovering from the same disease ; a girl, a little older, was just recovering from the dysentery, and kept" the mother almost constantly trying to allay a distressing cough ; another little girl of three years called in plaintive tones for mamma to get her to sleep ; while poor, tired, overworked mamma carried about with her a baby of 6 weeks old. Both rooms were filled with the various cups and medi- cines pertaining to the fever in question. The Dr., who is a good friend of mine, seem- ed pleased to turn them over to me, and as he gave me directions, I began to feel happy already. The mother's face looked strangely familiar, and I soon found she and I had been schoolmates, L'2 years ago. The father was an inventive mechanic, and had just finished and started to work a machine that was earning him good wages ; but, alas ! there he lay helpless. My great big selfish self began to loom up awfully, and while I asked God to forgive me for the grumbling I had all along been guilty of, I began wonder- ing what my wife would do if she were there. In the first place, my Sunday shoes vtsqueak- ed" so that I waked all the children up every time I walked across the floor ; and, after trying the sick man's slippers, I found I could go much the stillest in my stocking feet. A friend was with me as an assistant, but, as he, too, had hands to take charge of on the morrow, I persuaded him to lie on the lounge and sleep, while I took care of the sick, calling him whenever I needed him. I deserved no credit for this, for, to my own astonishment, I really enjoyed the work so 41(1 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Oct. that I would rather do it than not. It was after 12, hefore I could get the poor mother to lie down, and then she lay on the floor, so as to be near the children, and laid the wee babe on the treadle to her sewing machine, to raise him a little from the floor. All night I stepped round among them, in my stock- ing feet, and, for the first time in my life, made coffee, broth, etc., for the convalescing boy, kept two fires burning without rattling the stoves and things very much more than my wife did, got acquainted with the chil- dren and soothed them in their childish wants and troubles, cheered the mother by reviving her faith in God, and tried to give the father a view of the religion that Christ taught while here on earth. Although I only slept 15 minutes at one time, and ;->0 at another, I felt no disposition at all to sleep when the daylight came, and almost as fresh and able for business as if I had slept in my own bed. Before going away in the morn- ing, the father made the remark that, though I was unused to the work, I had taken hold of things in a strange house, about the handi- est of any body they had had there. I tell you, my friends, it wants just the same spirit that the boy had who raised the lettuce heads in the winter, of whom I have told you on another page. "Why did I not get dizzy and faint (I did not want a particle of refresh- ment of any kind, although it was provided for us) V Because God answered my prayer in the starting out, when I undertook to do as he has bid. You may, if you choose, say it was because I took a fancy for the work, because it was a new thing. If God answers our prayers, I do not see that it matters just how he does it. I did it all, because I loved the Lord, and when that is our inspiring motive, when we work for the love we bear to him, or for Christ's sake, if you choose, he will always answer our prayers, and all things shall work together for good. Now, suppose I had done all this with a purpose of gaining the applause of men, or that I might put it into these pages, to let you all see how good I am. do you think God would have helped me V Most assuredly he would not, and I speak from practical expe- rience ; for, a great many times, something else besides my Savior comes uppermost in my work. When I sat down to write this morning, I had no thought of giving you this little incident, but as my thoughts dwelt on the events, it occurred to me that it was all in answer to my prayer in the meeting last evening. God blessed me, and that family too, and who knows but that this simple story may bless you, and some neigh- bor near you. Am I worn out this morning, so that my Home Papers are not as good as usual ? I do not fear to say that I think it is good, for it has been thus far, at least, God's work and not mine. Afternoon. — Since I left my type writer, I have had occasion to pass the house, and I called to inquire after my friends of last night. As my thoughts have been much on them, of course, I have been praying for them, and this is what I heard, when I open- ed the door. "O Mr. Root, we are all of us ever so much better." Now this is not all, either; a few minutes after, by accident, I passed the friend who had invited me to go there. Now I am go- ing to make a little confession, even at the risk of injuring myself in his estimation. He has always been a most exemplary Christian, in looking after, and caring for, the sick, and, as he had often talked to me about it, I got a notion that he thought I was not doing my share of this kind of mis- sion work, and I am afraid I felt just a little "edgewise" toward him. I had reasoned thus: He has plenty of time, and knows how, but I am so "awful busy" all the while, and don't know how either; he ought not to think of my doing as he does. Looking back at it now. I am not at all sure that he ever did think about it, but it illustrates how .Satan will encourage us in thinking wrong- fully about the best friends we have. Well, I passed him as I said, and what a change. I told him I had a very pleasant visit with my friends during the night. Said he, "I knew you would, for you are just the man for that kind of work." ' How pleasant and friendly he seemed to- day. That man is a real, true Christian, if we have any in our town. Why, he looked, to-day, positively handsome; but I presume he is not different from what he has been, all the time. All the difference was in me. Does not this illustrate how Satan hates to see us exhibiting a Christ like spirit toward each other V The great point I am trying to arrive at by this little story is, that it is not so much what we do as it is the spirit in which we do it, Let us go back to the point we were dis- cussing last month. If that confession had been made with a view of making a sensation, of attracting attention, of making people stare, by boasting of what a great sinner I had been, God could not have been with me in it. If, on the other hand, it was to warn against such trifling, to let mankind know that the Devil lurks in such things, as well as in the intoxicating cup or in gambling, and to show them that nothing but trouble and ruin can come of it, that it makes one as heartless and unfeeling as the drunkard who strikes his wife down with clenched fist, my purpose was a good one, and my prayers would be answered there just as surely, as they were in my attempts to care for the sick. But it was such a shock on community, &c. My friends, it was a shock on community when I had an old resident of our town arrested for being intoxicated in our streets. I do not know but that more than half of our town's people felt pained to think that I, so long a peaceful and quiet citizen, had gone out of my way, and made so many bitter enemies. The saloon keepers j of our town, without doubt, think that relig- ion has made me a worse man than I was before. Because of offending them, shall I stop V In the confession I have made I pain- ed and wounded almost every friend and relative I have. My friends in my native town, in my own church, and all the churches in our town, as well as the skeptics and in- fidels, were most bitter in their denuncia- 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 411 tions. I knew beforehand that this would be so. I bad carefully studied the matter over for years, and knew pretty well just what the effect would be, and yet God's voice said to me all the time, "Go on. Do your duty unflinchingly." How do I know it was God's voice, and not the work of the Devil, as the Dr. said? Well, I carefully and prayerfully examined myself as I have told you. I watched eagerly and most close- ly, to see where that satisfied feeling that follows one in doing God's work would lead. When I had decided to destroy the papers at a considerable expense, I did not feel troubled at the expense at all, hut I felt unsatisfied, just as I do when I allow the saloon across the way to go on with business, without remonstrating with them. When I decided to go on with it, I felt as I do when on the way to Abbeyville. through a cold rain storm, — tired and cold perhaps, but satisfied, because I am working for others rather than considering my own personal comfort. My pastor came home, lie had had a let- ter from the Dr., and he asked me to tell him nothing about it. but to allow him to read the part printed, and then to read the Dr.'s letter left with me for him. He read both through, without a remark. At the end, he said he could see but one good point made. That point was in reference to my former partner herself. •'She of course knows of this V" "Certainly; you can talk with her about it, if you wish!" "Well, aside from that, I say go on, by all means. I do not say this so much because it meets my views, hut because I feel that the spirit which guides you is a true one, and that it will always lead you safely.1' That no one may think I thoughtlessly and needlessly save pain to any one. I will re- mark that he called on her, or she on him, and that friendly relations have always ex- isted between them. The journal was printed just as I had written it. Of course, I should never have written any such thing for our town's people, and I had long before anticipated the diffi- culty of making them understand that my bee journal was quite a different thing from one of our county papers. What I write in these pages is for the thousands who know me only through this bee journal, and who have no acquaintance with the people of my town and vicinity. They, therefore, look upon the people whom I mention as simply individuals or fellow travelers in the abstract; and, when I speak of them to illustrate a point or to help others in the battle with evil, my readers get the moral of the story simply, without dreaming of being prejudiced against the ones whom I have mentioned. Now, our people here at home fail to take this into account. Not a dozen copies of Gleanings are ordinarily taken in our town, and less than two dozen in our whole county. Notwithstanding this, when I have given you these little sketches of the progress of the temperance work in our town, the individuals I have pictured (but never named) would have it (when any body was so thoughtless as to show them a copy of Gleanings) that I had purposely held them up in derision before all the world. While I know that this was only imaginary, I have felt badly about it, more than once, as the only alternative I have' had was to make up my stories, and write fiction. But, as I think the truths of this life are stranger and more wonderful than any fiction, and as I cannot, conscientiously, write fiction, I have kept on giving these life pictures, ask- ing God to take care of the consequences. I feel that this prayer has been answered, and that no one has been harmed in the end. Well, this March number came out, as you know. I had prayed to be guided in regard to the stir it would probably make in our town, and the course that was pointed out to me seemed to be, to keep on at my work as if nothing had happened, and to mention the matter to no one, unless I was questioned about it, and then to reply briefly and simply, and to be not troubled whatever aspect affairs might take ; to answer pleasantly and fully all that might be asked of me, but to take no pains to defend myself, and in no case to be drawn into argument, but to trust God to take care of it all. As I had, in that paper, found no fault with any one, and cen- sured none but myself, I did not expect much would be said of it, but I was very greatly mistaken. Our town was alive with excitement and, at one time, almost in a perfect uproar. With a certain class, it seemed as if the English language was total- ly inadequate to the task of furnishing epithets to express their indignation at my course. The infidel element was in a rage, and many of the Christian people, who did not follow them, were full of grief and sor- row, for a time, as it seemed. Although all these things were freely talked about, for quite a time no one came to me with a word of complaint. Letters soon came in great numbers, but almost all of these were full of good, Christian counsel and encouragement. Quotations from Scripture came in from all sides, which showed in a way I had certainly never seen it before that the Bible was read and appreciated. Occasionally came a letter of remonstrance, but these were so few, I might easily give them all here, if I thought it best. First came letters of cheer and en- couragement from women, but soon, from my own sex, more than one of whom confess- ed that he had been like tempted as myself. Some had fallen and doubted if religion even could save them. Great numbers said those words would make them better husbands and fathers for the remainder of their lives. Meanwhile the talk progressed in our town. It was said I must be stopped from such writing by some means; out how? My pastor should be expelled from the church for countenancing such work, and the church would be broken up unless I were expelled. The trouble was, it was myself I had abused and there was no law to meet such a case. Some of the papers suggested tar and feathers. One class would tar and feather me, while another— fathers and moth- ers— came to me. in great numbers, beseech- ing me to take their sons and daughters in my employ, and bring them up in accordance with my principles. One of these was a hot headed ami avowed infidel. While he got 41:2 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Oct. vehement in denouncing the Bible and re- ligion, he almost insisted that I should take his boy into my employ. I told him if I did I should insist on an observance of the Sab- bath and all these things, but he said he didn't care anything about that, if I would only take him on some condition, he cared not what, he would silence all his scruples, and our differences in opinion. He wanted the fruits of religion, but ridiculed the means I used to bring about these fruits. After a few days, a good friend of mine came to tell me that the whole article would probably be put in our principle county paper. I had never dreamed of this. To keep the article within bounds as well as I could in our town, I had, contrary to our usual custom, refused to give sample copies of this month free, and applicants who wanted them evidently for the purposes of gossip and not bee culture had been asked 10c. per copy, the usual retail price. I after- wards learned that, even at this price, they were sold by boys on the street. Although I was greatly pained to learn of its further dissemination in our own town through the weekly paper, on a little reflection, I con- cluded it was my duty to trust God in the matter, and be not troubled. I told my friend the matter was in God's hands, and the best I could do was to trust him to bring good out of it. The editor of the paper was the one to whom I referred on page 152, of the April number. The paper came out, with a long editorial notice of it, in which, with an ingenuity that none but Satan could devise, as it seemed, the whole was twisted, misrepresented, and misstated. I will just mention one point. 1 was accused of doing it all as a money speculation, and of sending boys out on the street with them, after hav- ing printed several thousands extra. I did not print one extra copy for that month, and I hindered the sale in every way I could consistently, in our own town. When the county paper came out, every body was car- rying it about, and a great many, it seemed, followed the editor's version and comments. There had been excitement before, but now the excitement seemed to have risen to white heat. My former virtues were recounted, but religion had ruined me. I was a relig- ious fanatic and had gone crazy. There was another paper in our town, conducted by a man or known intemperate habits, a frequenter of the saloons. He could not well denounce my course more than the other did, but he had a different way of doing it. The summing up was that I was crazy, and dead in the estimation of every good citizen. My business was gone, and, of course, that was the end of me. I can readily have charity for these brothers, for I well remember years ago, how I hoped that the revival meetings would prove a failure, and Christian people would no more take notice of me, and endanger givipg my guilty life publicity. If I were really crazy (or thought to be so), I should not have it in my power to worry the saloon keepers and their customers. This last named editor, by some means, I know not how, got hold of the article in the January A. B. ./"., in regard to myself and the Home Papers, and this, too, was held up before our town's people. As an illustration of how God helps his children over persecu- tions like these, I would go back for a moment to the time when I first saw this article in the A. B. J. It was in the evening, after a hard day's work, about the first of the year. I was just turning out the lights to go home, as my eye caught sight ot the wrapper of the familiar and welcome A. B. J. I tore off the wrapper, and, glancing through, my eye very soon lighted on that article. I need not tell you that, when I read it through, it fairly wrung my heart with pain, to think that it was within the ingenuity of man, to so twist and subvert that part of my life's work, that I had never dreamed any body could object to. The moment I had finished the last line, I dropped on my knees, feeling as perhaps I never had before, the need of that friend who never fails. I was really driven to him, and as I knelt, I remembered that that was exactly the spot where I had knelt four years before, when I uttered that first prayer, and it was almost the same time of the year. "Come thou, O my Savior, to thy child to-night, and as thou didst lift him up on that memorable night before, and al- most hourly during the intervening years, lift him ^to-night, and help him to bear this new cross, and not to feel unkindly to the brother who did it." "I will, my child, peace be unto thee,'' was the answer, almost instantly. My sim- ple prayer was answered so completely, that neither at that time nor at any time since have I ever felt troubled about the matter. Why should I feel troubled about what God has promised to take care of. When Prof. Cook so very kindly took my part in the matter, and placed me and my motives in their true light, I could then see plainly how much better it was for me to keep silent, rather than to try to set it right myself. It seems^to .'me that it was in answer to that prayer that God moved the kind heart of friend Cook to do this. You may remember that, in the January number of Gleanings, jthe burden of the Home Papers was the lines, "Jesua,'I my cross have taken." Well, all at once, it burst upon me, that God was only schooling; me to be able to drink' in the.' joy and peace of the sentiment contained in the second verse. Just notice how wonderfully the words were framed by that poor girl (should I not say ric/i rather?) for my present needs. Read it : Man may trouble and distress me 'Twill but drive me to thy breast ; Life with trials hard may press me, (Heaven will bring me sweeter rest. O! 'Tis.not in grief to^harm me, i*--- while thy love is.left to me; O! 'Twere not in joy to charm me, Were that joy unmixed with thee. Is it strange that I went home through the darkness that night, happier and nearer to my Savior than if those hard lines in the A. B. J. had never been printed, and do you not get a glimpse of the wonderful truth in the little text at the opening of this article V And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 413 Under this head, will be inserted free of charge, the names of all those having- honey to sell, as well as those wanting- to buy. Please mention how much, what kind, and prices, as far as possible. The prices quoted in our cities for honey are, at present, too low, to make it worth while to publish them. As a general thing, I would not advise you to send your honey away, to be sold on commission. If near home, where you can look after it, it is often a very good way. By all means, develop your home market. For 25cts., we can furnish little boards to hang up in your door yard, with the words "Honey for Sale" neatly painted. If wanted by mail, 10c. extra for postage. Boards saying "Bees and Queens for Sale," lame price. SHAVE one barrel of basswood and one barrel of clover honey which I will sell for 8c. per ft>. here, and throw the barrels in. Will send sample if desired. K. M. Barbour. Alamo, Mich., Sept. 20, 1879. I have 6,000tt>. of light, extracted honey, put up in barrels holding 25 gallons each. I will sell and de* liver the same^at rail-road depot, or on board steam- boat, at Shreveport, for To. per Tt>., or 75c. per gallon. C. C. MARTIN. Benton, Bossier Par., La., Sept. 24, 1879. GOOD FOR LOUISIANA. Will you please inform me whether Ihe prices you give in Sept. Gleanings for extracted honey in Cincinnati can really be had or not? If so, give me the name of a responsible dealer. I have made nine or ten thousand pounds and have engaged only about three thousand (at seven cents), and will be bound to ship somewhere. My honey is light and nice for Louisiana. If I could get eight cents in Cincinnati, it would pay me to ship. My bees have done moderately well, 1 suppose, averaging near one hundred pounds to a colony. 1 had a very large natural swarm on the 11th inst., a hybrid, which was the first one I ever knew in this month. Thej- left their hive (two story) full of honey and brood. C. C. Martin. Benton, La., Sept. 15, 1879. Our friend, C. F. Muth, is the only one I know of who buys honey in Cincinnati. He is perfectly reliable. I am very much pleas- ed, friend M., to get such a report from the South. Chicago.— Honey— Choice, in single comb boxes, 10@12c. Extracted, 8@8c. Bees-wax.— Choice, yellow, 20@.22c. Darker grades, 12l/i@15c. New York.— Honey— Best comb, ll@13c. Extract- ed, 7@8c. Bees-wax.— Choice, 25c. Cincinnati.— Honey— Best, in single comb boxes, 10@12c. Extracted, 8@10c. St. Louis.— Honey— Scarce and firm. Fair to choice comb, in nice pkgs., 14@16c. Extracted 10®12>/2C. Bees-wax.-— Prime, steady at 20c. R. C. Okeer & Co., 117, North Main St., St. Louis. California.— Honey— New comb, 12%@15c.; Ex- tracted, 8(5',10c. Bees-wax.— Best, 30@31c. For darker colored, 2(X3>22'/jC. A COMPLAINT. fHE section of larvae that you sent me arrived in excellent condition, a part of it being yet in " the egg. I suppose that you started it Mon- day morning; it arrived Tuesday evening, making It 36 hours on the way. I inserted it in a nucleus where I am positive there was no other brood, and after it had remained there a short time, I grafted a few cells, choosing the youngest larvae. I then waited until that portion which was yet in the egg had hatched, and grafted more queen cells. I got 18 nice cells built, and was expecting as many nice queens; but when they emerged from the cells they were, I believe, without a single exception, as black as the ace of spades. I thought there must be a slight mistake somewhere, but did not condemn them until the workers from the same comb hatched. I did not use all the larva? but left the greater part of it to be matured as workers. I don't think a single one of the workers showed three bands, and nine twelfths of them showed only one; and some showed none at all. Your theory about Italians turning black is rather plausible. I know that hatched bees will turn dark when closely confined, but larva; will not change; it is an impossibility. It would be just as reasonable to suppose that larva' from a black queen would hatch yellow bees. You say that the larva1 sent was from an imported queen. 1 say it was from a hybrid queen. I care not wheth- er she was imported or home bred. I have made a fair statement of the matter and am willing to be qualified to it, and I now appeal to your honor to comment. Leroy Vankihk. Washington, Perm., Sept. 19, 1879. P. S.— You asked me to send you some of the workers from that larvae. This I can not do as they were hatched with other hybrid bees and I can't pick them out. You might as well depend on my judge- ment, for 1 know a pure Italian as well as you do or any t " itinr man. L. V. The above is published by the especial re- quest of friend Vr. The larvae sent him was from our best imported queen, and I think, if he examines the workers more carefully, he will find they have the proper bands, as described in the A 13 C. Larvae sent by mail often produces queens as dark or darker than the native queens, but their worker bees (if the queens are purely mated) are nice Italians. I have no other explanation to give. Although I have tested great num- bers of imported queens, I have never seen one that produced hybrid bees, although I know some would sometimes call them such. They will all stand the test of purity I have given in the A B C, and I cannot guarantee more than this. Yellower bees can be pro- cured from other stock, but not better honey gatherers. I have never seen a black worker bee from the brood of an imported queen, and am as much at a loss to explain how such a thing cmdil be, as friend Y. himself. SIMPSON HONEY PLANT. PLEASE let me know when and he seed. Should this year's seed 1 lowto sow the np5" seed, snoma ttns years seed be sown this =. lower than last year, and, although it is so low, it must be in much nicer shape than 6 years ag< >, when we got 25c per lb. gross, in rough boxes. Now it costs us much more to put up comb honey in nice shape, and we get just about one third as much for it. I don't think the seasons have averaged near so well cither for a few years past, so that makes the profits of the apiary much less. We have had such dry, cold weather here that I don't get any golden rod honey, only just enough to induce the bees to breed moderately. Basswood was never so full of bloom as this year, but the weather wasn't favorable. R. S. Becktei.l. NewJBuffalo, Mich., Sept. 18, 1879. Gently, friend B. The facts you give are important ones, but you do not seem to feel very cheerful about the prospect ahead. As we shall have to sell our honey for what people will give, shall we not face the fact and take it cheerfully V Hard work and small pay is many times better for us than the reverse. Shall we not try to think that God knows best, and be cheerful and happy any way? Business is very dull here, anil more than half of my hands are out of em- ployment, but while I am sorry for them, I have been very happy, picking up all the little odds and ends, utilizing every thing that had been carelessly thrown aside, and coming down to the most strict and careful economy. I know it has been a good thing for me, and I do not know but that it will be a good thing for all of us. Stop the out- goes, and, instead of buying things, raise them on your own ground, or make them yourself, of materials lying about, useless and in the way. Above all, get up early in the morning and work. OUR CARTOON FOR OCTOBER, THE BEE KEEPER WHO CANNOT AFFORD TO TAKE A REE JOURNAL. fT is the fellow who is trying to climb over the tall picket fence instead of walking — ' through the gate, on a good graveled path, that is like the man who is too poor to take a bee journal. He is not only choosing a much more difficult and laborious path than the beaten track, but he usually tears and soils his clothes, runs the risk of break- ing his limbs, and is, even then, far behind the well informed man who saves his time and strength until it is really needed. Those who are too poor to take a journal have their honey stored in old boxes, and sell it for a much lower price ; have their bees in old boxes too, and have to sell them for about half price, if they happen to winter them during a time of scarcity. Their wax, hon- ey, and bees are seldom sold at the best time and for the best prices ; and they are invari- ably the ones who hand over or send their money to such as Mitchell and Mrs. Cotton. The strings of complaints we have, month after month, from those who have lost their money on "•division boards''' and "valuable recipes," are from persons who are not sub- scribers. "Whenever I get money from a beginner, for something which I am sure, from the tone of the letter, he or she does not need, I invariably find toward the close, that they "regret they cannot afford to take a bee journal." Although the money they send, or a small part of it, would be far bet- ter invested in getting the information they need, I dare not disobey orders, but have to leave them climbing over high, dangerous fences, instead of taking the well beaten gravel path. The price of those beautiful honey labels, in col- ors, already gummed, has been reduced from $3.25 per 1000 to only $2.15, and they are nicer than ever before. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 41o JUST BEFOEE GOING TO PRESS. LThe contents of this department are supposed to be given in an informal way, just before the last form is placed in the press. You can imagine my- self, hut in one hand (said hat being covered with sawdust, honey, bees wax, printers ink, etc.), and the other hand on the door knob, just ready to bid you good day until next month, giving you a sum- mary of the last items of interest in the way of new discoveries, etc. The press man will probably cut my talk suddenly short, by telling me he cannot possibly squeeze in another single word, saying noth- ing about line or lines.] fjjIIE following is from the Cleveland _ , Evening Nt ids, of Sept, 29th: ANOTHER CAPTURE. CAPTAIN HENRY AND ASSISTANTS LAY HOLD OP AN- OTHER DISHONEST POSTAL CLERK— JOSEPH E. WARNER THEUNFORTUNATE. For a long time there have been complaints about letters containing money being rifled in the mails passing over several roads from this city. Months ago Captain C. E. Henry, of the Postal Detective Service and assistants took hold of this matter, and after a great deal of labor and trouble succeeded in locating the losses in the Grafton post office. Sev- eral tests were put in operation there, and after much waiting and meditation suspicions were fixed upon Joseph F. Warner, a clerk in that office. To test the young man eight letters were deposited in the mails Sunday which would pass through Grafton during that day and evening and early Monday morning. Soon after these letters had been handled they were called for by Captain Henry, when it was discovered they had been opened and the money placed in each one taken. As Warner was the only one who had had a chance to handle them he was cornered and accused. At first he denied any knowledge of the transaction but soon confessed. He says he had taken about $75. and began opera- tions in June last. Monday forenoon Captain Henry arrived in the city with Warner, who was taken before United States Commissioner White, when he waived an ex- amination and was bound over in the sum of f 1,000. Warner is a single man and about twenty-three years old. He has been employed in the Grafton office for about one year, and says he has been boarding himself on $1.25 per week. He has earned $1 per day by working in the post office and a Graf- ton flouring mill. Two of the heaviest losers are A. I. Root, of Medi- na, Ohio, a Pee dealer, and J. R. Holcomb, of Mallet Creek Telephone Manufactory. Sunday's letters were addressed to these gentlemen. Warner has written a letter to Mr. Root, of which the following is a copy: Grafton, <>., September 28th, 1879. A. I. Root; I h t to start the thing." Bees are so "puris," and circumstances are so queer, that it would be strange if experiences elsewhere should not differ point blank concerning some of these trees. Many other 41(5 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Oct. names ought to be inserted to make the list a ser- viceable one. Class 1. Plants avoided almost entirely. Lilac, balsam fir. Class 2. Plants evidently regarded with aversion. Maple, chestnut. Class 3. Plants regarded without aversion. Oak, peach, plum, grape, currant. Class 4. Plants regarded with evident prefer- ence. Apple, pear, sunflower. Class 5. Plants very decidedly preferred. Snow- ball, cherry. By making a proper selection, and allowing noth- ing tall "around the shanty," the work of hiving swarms might be very much lessened. Bodley, O. E. E. Hasty. DEPOSITORY OF Or Letters from Those Who Have Made Bee Culture a Failure. fjjRlEND NOVICE:-I am "busted"— that' s the word. I have waited all summer for the weath- . er to get so that the flowers would yield honey, but— no go. My bees commenced increasing, in the spring, at the wrong end, and have kept at it pretty faithfully all summer. What I have left are weak, and are getting honey from the Spanish needle, very slowly. I have only taken 201b. so far; so you see that I am not getting very rich this year. Well, that is not the worst of it; you have run me in debt again by sending finished instead of unfinished ex- tractor gearing. Now you will have to wait for your pay, till I sell that 20tt>. of honey. H. Scovell. Never mind, friend S., I will wait. But, hold on ; here is a P. S. to the letter. It is astonishing how soon our friends get out of "blasted hopes,1' if they do get there occa- sionally. P. S. — Our county fair begins the 29th. I am going to exhibit an apiary, hexagonal, of 36 hives; inside circle, 6 chaff hives; next row, 12, two story Simplic- ity; and next, my 1% story Simplicities; the whole to be enclosed with the new visible wire fence. Besides, I will have the various implements used in the apiary, honey in crates, observatory hive, &c. Columbus, Kan., Sept. 10, 1879. H. Scovell. Do you suppose any body at the fair will think of friend S. as a "blasted hoperV" Now, Mr. R., I much appreciate your Gleanings and would like it very much, but I broke down dead poor, last spring. I started last fall, to winter 52 colonies of bees, and came out this spring, with only two hives that had living bees in them, and less than three tea-cupf uls in the two. Now, I have five good swarms so I can't give up yet. Cardiff, N. Y., Sept. 12, '79. Edmund Estey. Be of good cheer, friend E. ; we will keep the Journal going for a while longer, at least, to an old subscriber like yourself. Bees are starving, and have commenced swarm- ing out. They will have to be fed immediately. We have no surplus honey this year, to speak of. Saxon, 111., Sept. 5, 1879. J. A. Maxfield. Last year, from our 100 colonies, we got 4,0fl0Tt>. of honey surplus; this year, with our 125 colonies, we get nothing. James Spencer. Woodburn, la., Sept. 14, 1879. Since our editorial on page 408, in regard to ship- ping queens, we have had reports from 1-2 doz. sent to Indian Territory, which were on the road 21 days. Those sent in the large bottle cages went in far the best order. Now I will tell you what we will do for long distances. We will give them candy, water, and a good slice of sealed honey besides, in every cage. The 1-2 doz. to Indian Territory went all right except one; but 1 want them all to go all right any- where. At the conclusion of the article entitled "Troubles" in the July No., I recorded a prayer, that the brother who was robbing our mails might be brought to light and justice. You will see by the following telegram, from the chief of the detective force of the postal department, that at least a part of my prayer has been answered : Grafton, O., Sept. 29, 1879. Come to Cleveland. We have the thief solid. C. E. Henry, Special Agt. P. O. D. I leave just as our last sheet goes to press, and may God grant that my efforts may be as successful, in inducing him to think of "laying up treasures" for the world to come, as they have with the boys I have met in our own jail. MORE ABOUT MITCHELL. [The following belongs in the Humbug and '. Swin- dle Dept., but was crowded out.] About 3 months ago, I ordered, from a certain Mitchell, 3 bee queens. I inclosed with the order $10.00. The address given to me was Nelson Mitch- ell, B. K., Sandusky City, Ohio. I never received an answer. As you live in the same state I would be very much obliged to you, if you could give me his address. Rev. John Teitien. Victoria, Tex., Aug. 23, 1879. The address was correct, friend T. If you look in the Humbug and Swindle Depart- ment, you will see why you don't hear from him. Mitchell's man is scouring over this county, sell- ing rights, at $5.00, to use the adjustable hive. Geo. W. Housel. Bainbridge, Ind., July, 1879. !«n^nl{<»i#f Notices of Conventions, condensed so as to occupy not over two lines, will be inserted free of charge. CONVENTION DIRECTORY. 1879. Oct. Nov, ISSil. Jan. Feb. TIME AND PLACE OF MEETING. 7.— Central Kentucky, at Lexington, Ky. 7.— Albany County, N. V., at Albany, N. Y. 15.— Central Michigan, at Lansing, Mich. 18.— North Ky., at Alexandria. Ky. 21.— National Convention, at Chicago, 111. 30, 31.— Western Illinois and Eastern Iowa, at Burlington, Iowa. 10.— Lancaster Co., Pa., at Lancaster. 13.— North Western 111., and South Western Wis., annual, at Davis, 111. 11.— North Eastern, at Utica, N. Y. GLEANINGS AS AN ADVERTISING MEDIUM. It pays to advertise in Gleanings. I sold all my hives and combs, and had orders for double the amount. A. Fahnestoc . Toledo, O., Sept. 8, 1879. Will you please send me a copy of Gleanings for a customer of mine. 1 find the Gleanings one of the best advertising mediums I have tried, and think it has paid me better than any 1 have used. Catskill, N. Y. July 28, '79. E. H. Wynkoop. BEE KEEPEUS ! Send 5c to A. J. King & Co., 61 Hudson St., New York, for a copy of their Journal, and Price List of Extractors, Smokers, etc., etc. Grand Inducements to Live Agents. 4tf I WILL sell, this fall, 100 stands of Black Bees, at $2.50 per stand. They are in Langstroth, Amer- ican, and International hives, which are well paint- ed. ROB'T QUINN, Shellsburg, Benton Co., la. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 421 IMPLEMENTS FOB, BEE CULTURE ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED. For description of the various articles, see our Twenty-First Edition Circular and Price List, mailed on application. For directions How to Make all these various arti- cles and implements, see A B C of Bee Culture. This Price List to be taken in place of those of former date. Mailable articles are designated in the left hand column of figures ; the figures giving the amount of postage required. To Canada, merchandise by mail is limited to 8% oz., and nothing can be sent for less than 10 cents. I A B C of Bee Culture, Five Parts complete in one, paper cover 1 00 The same, neatly bound in cloth 1 25 Single Parts, in paper, each to 15 | Alighting Board, detachable (See A B C) $ 1U I Alsike Clover. See seeds. I Balances, spring, for suspended hive (00 lbs.) 8 00 I Barrels for honey 2 50 I " " waxed and painted... . 3 50 Basket for broken combs to be hung in the Extractor 25 I Basswood Trees for planting. See price li*t. I Bees, per colony, fr jm $7 to $16. See price list. 10 Bee-Hunting Box, with printed instructions 25 0 Binder, Emerson's, for Gleanings 50, 00, 75 10 Blocks, iron, for metal cornered frame ma- king 15 I Buckwheat. See seeds. 10 Burlap for covering bees, 40 in. wide, per yd 10 Buzz-Saw, foot-power, complete 35 00 Buzz-Saws, extra, 85c, to $3.50. See price list. Buzz-Saw mandrel and boxes complete for 6 inch saws (no saws included) 5 00 [ The same for 7 and 8 in. saws (not mailable) 7 00 3 Cages for queens, provisioned (See price list) 10 30 " " perdoz 100 20 Candy for bees, can be fed at any season, per lb 07 I Cans for shipping extracted honey (See | Honey), from 25c to $1.00. 0 I Cards, queen registering, per doz 06 0 " " " per 100 40 60 | Chaff Cushions for wintering (See ABC).. 30 91 " " without the chaff 15 ] Chaff Hive (See Hives) 5 00 2 I Cheese cloth, for strainers, per yard 06 | Clamps for making section boxes 75 Clasps for transferring, package of 100 25 Climbers for Bee-Hunting 2 50 Comb Basket, made of tin, holds 5 frames, has hinged cover and pair of handles 1 50 Comb Foundation Machines complete $22 to 100 00 Comb Holder to put on edge of hive 25 Comb in metal cornered frames, complete 25 Corners, metal, per 100 50 " " top only, per 100 : 60 " " bottom, per 100 40 I Corners, Machinery complete for making $250 00 j Crate for shipping comb honey. Sec Hives. I Division Boards of cloth and chaff 20 I Duck, for covering frames and for feeders. 29 inches wide, per yd . . 20 Enameled Cloth, bees seldom bite or prop- olize it, per yard, 45 inches wide, 20c. By the piece (12 yards) 18 Extractors, according to size of frame, $6 50 to 10 00. " Inside and gearing, including Honey-gate 5 00 " Hoops to go around the top 50 " " perdoz 5 00 Feeder, Simplicity (See price list) 1 pint 05 Feeders, 1 quart, tin 10 The same, half size, 05 The same, 6 qts, to be used in upper story 50 Feeders, open air 25 Files for small circular rip saws, new and valuable, 20c; per doz. by express... 2 00 " The same, large size, double above prices. " 3 cornered, for cross-cut saws, 10c; doz 1 00 Foundation. See Comb Foundation. Fountain Pump, or Swarm Arrester 8 50 I Frames with sample Kabbet and Clasps... 10 I 10 1 20 2(1 15 15 18 I Galvanized Iron Wire for grapevine trellises I per lb. (about 100 feet) 20 25 I Gates for Extractors tinned for soldering. . 50 | Gauge for planing lumber, brass 50 I " " making hives (See Hives) 50 50 i Gearing for Extractor with supporting arm 1 25 Glass. See price list. 0 ] Gleanings, per year 1 00 I For prices of back vol's, see price list. ! Gloves. See Rubber Gloves. Grape Sugar for feeding bees. See price list. Grape vines fort-hading hives. See- price list. Hammers and nails. See price list. Hives trom 5nc to »t> 25. Sec price list. Honey. See price list. " Plants. See seeds. Honey Knives, straight or curved blade. " Vi doz " lA doz by Express 4 75 Jars for shipping extracted honey. See Honey. Labels for honey, from 25 to 50c per 100 ; for particulars see price list. Lamp Nursery, for hatching queen cells. .. Larvse, for queen rearing, from June to Sept Leather for smoker bellows, per side Lithograph of the Hexagonal Apiary Magnifying Glass, pocket " " Double lens, brass, on three feet Medley of Bee-Keepers' Photo's, 150 photo's Microscope, Compound, in Mahogany box Prepared objects for above, such as bee's wing, sting, eye, foot, &c, each Muslin, Indian head, for quilts and cush- ions, pretty stout, but not good as duck, per yard Nails. See Hammers and nails. Opera Glasses for Bee-Hunting 5 00 Paraffine, for waxing barrels, per lb 20 Photo of House Apiary and improvements 25 Planes and Planers. See price list. Pruning saws for taking down swarms, 75 and 85 Queens, 25c to $6 00. See price list. Rabbets, metal, per foot Rubber Gloves, $1.5" and $1.75. See price list Rubber Stamps, $1.50 to 3.00. See price list. Rules. (See Pocket Rules) 12 and 20c. Salicylic acid, for foul brood, per oz Saw Set for Circular Saws Saws. See Circular Saws. Scales for weighing honey, etc. See price list. Scissors, for clipping queen's wings Screw Drivers, all metal (and wrench com- bined] 4J4 inch, 10c; 5 inch, 15c. Very nice for foot-power saws. Section Boxes, fancy, hearts, stars, crosses, &c, each Section Honey Box, a sample with strip of f dn. and printed instructions Section Boxes in the flat by the quantity, $6 00 per thousand and upwards, accord- ing to size ; for particulars, see price list. Case of 3 section boxes, showing the way in which the separators are used, suitable for any kind of hive (See price list) SEKDS OF HONEY PLANTS. Seed, Alsike Clover, raised near vx, per lb. . " Catnip, good seed, per oz. 10c ; per lb. " Chinese Mustard, per oz '• Mellilot, or Sweet Clover, per lb White Dutch Clover, per lb " Motherwort, per oz. 10c; per lb 100 Mignonette, per lb. (20c per oz) 1 40 Simpson Honey Plant, per oz 50 18 " Silver Hull Buckwheat, per lb 10 " " " " peck, by Express 75 " Common " per peck 18 " Summer Rape. Sow in June and " July, per lb 18 j " Spider plant, per oz A small package of any of the above seeds will be sent for 5 cents. I Separators, tin, for section boxes. See Section Boxes. 5 Sheets of Enameled Cloth to keep the bees from soiling or eating the cushions 10 Shipping Cases for 48 section frames of honey 60 The same for 24 sections, half above prices. This size can be sent by mail in the flat, for 75c. Slate Tablets to hang on hives 01 1 00 5 00 5 00 25 50 25 50 75 1 00 3 00 25 10 02 40 10 30 1 00 15 35 35 50 15 4& GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Nov. SMOKERS. I Smoker, Quinbv's (to Canada 15c cxtraH 50 & 1 75 5 I " Doolittle's, to be held in the mouth 25 Bingham's $100; 159; 175 25 " Our own, see illustration in price list 75 00 Soldering- Implements 100 Swarming- Box 75 2 Tanks, tinned, per n+oer. (three si/.es) 05 I F >r larger quantities see Hammers and | nails. 5 i Thermometers 21 10 | Transferring- clasps, package of 100 25 1 Tin, «ee price list. 0 | Veils, Bee, with face of Brussels net, (silk) 75 The same, all of grenadine (almost as g-ood) 50 Veils, material for, grenadine, much stronger than tarlatan, 21 inches in width, per yard 20 Brussels Net, for face of vail, 29 inches in width, per yard 1 50 Wax Extractor 3 50 Copper bottomed boiler for above 1 50 Wire cloth, for Extractors, tinned, per square foot 10 Wire cloth, for queen caws 10 Above is tinned, and meshes are 5 and 18 to the inch respectively 3 i Wire cloth, painted, for shipping bees, 14 I mesh to the inch, per square Foot 05 | Wire for grape vine trellises. See Galvan- ized iron wire All goods delivered on board the cars here at prices named. A. 1. BOOT. Medina. Ohio. Names of responsible parties will be inserted in either of the following departments, at a uniform price of 20 cents each insertion, or $2,00 per year. $1.00 Queens. Names inserted in this department the first time with- out charge. After, 20c each insertion, or $2,00 per year. Those whose names appear below agree to furnish Italian queens for $1.00 each, under the following conditions: No guarantee is to be assumed of purity, or anything of the kind, only that the queen be reared from a choice, pure mother, and had commenced to lay when they were shipped. They also agree to re- turn the money at any time when customers became Impatient of such delay as may be unavoidable. Bear in mind that he who sends the best queens, put up most neatly and most securely, will probably receive the most orders. Special rates for warranted and tested queens, furnished on application to any of the parties. Names with *, use an imported queen mother. If the queen arrivs dead, notify us and we will send you another. Probably none will be sent before July 1st. If wanted sooner, see rates in price list. *E. W. Hale. Wirt C. H. W. Va. 1-12 *A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. *H. H. Brown, Light Street, Columbia Co., Pa.7-3tf *E. M. Havhurst, Kansas Citv, Mo. 1-12 *J. M. C. Taylor, Lewiston, Fred. Co., Md. 1-12 *Paul L. Viallon, Bayou Goula. La. 8ttd *J. Oatman & Sons, Dundee, Kane Co., III. 2-1. Miller & Hollam, Kewaskum. Wash Co.. Wis. 4-4 *J. T. Wilson, Mortonsville, Woodford Co. Ky 4-4 J. L. Bowers, Berryville, Clarke Co., Va. 7-12 *King & White, New London, O. Stfd Hive Manufacturers. Who agree to make such hives, and at the prices named, as those described on our circular. A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. H. Scovell, Columbus, Cherokee Co., Kans. 4-3 P. L. Viallon, Bayou Goula, Iberville Par., La. 9tfd BEAUTIFUL FERN$*-ffi»^r, from Southern California will be sent to any address for one cent each, except Golden Ferns, which are four cents each. Boquets of Ferns, 25c and 50c each. Elegant Crosses, $2.00 each. Free bv mail. Address RUFUS MORGAN, Bernardo, San Diego Co., Cal. NO'.VISTHETDIETO PROVIDE CHAFF HIVES FOR YOUR BEES TO WINTER IN. They not only pay their cost almost every winter, but they pay just as well for summer use. See what a friend writes on a postal. Mr. R not .-—What is your price for chaff hives, al- ready tilled with boxes, such as Wm. T. Seal, of Chadd's Ford, got of you. Send me price list of hives, and p'-ice of 50 chaff hives. Bees have done well on'y in this kind of hive this summer, on account of coid. It was too cold, in other hives, to stay nights in boxes. I want the frames to hold the one It), boxes. J. & J. T. WlLLUMsON. Dihvorthtown, Chester Co., Penn., Aug. 24, '79. For 50 chaff hives or more, ordered during this present month, every thing in the flat, including nails and tin roof, I will make the price $1.30 each. This is for the hive for winter. For prices of the inside work (which you will not need until another season), also for prices of hives set up and painted, and for hive's in lots less than 50, see price list. A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio. CLEANINGS AS AN ADVERTISING MEDIUM. It pays to advertise in Gleanings. \ sold all my hives and combs, and had orders for double the amount. A. Fahnestock. Toledo, O., Sept. 8, 1879. Will you please send me a copy of Gleanings for a customer of mine. 1 find the Gleanings one of the best advertising mediums 1 have tried, and think it has paid me better than any 1 have used. Catsfeill, N. Y., July 28, '79. E. H. Wynkoop. MCTiCES OF THE ABC. ABC reocived in good order. All I have to say is that it is the best bo, >k on the subject I have ever had the pleasure of reading. (_>. A. Hoag. West Union, Mo., Aug. :3J, 1879. If I could not get another "A B C of Bee Culture," I would not take -$10. for mine. It is the triple rec- tified, double distilled essence of bee-keeping, boiled down. Jas. A. Taylor. Austin, Texas, Oct. 24, 1879. Hope the new shop will be as great a success as the ABC has been; for I consider it of more bene- fit to persons going into the business than anything yet published. 11. N. Mcintyre. Daytona, Fla., Dec. 28, 1878. On the stand at my right hand, is the "A B C of Bee Culture," which cost us $1.00; and to-day we would not take five dollars for it, and do without a book of the same kind. J. F. Runmon. Spencer, W. Va. A B C of Bee Culture. By A. T. Root. Publish- ed by the author at Medina, Ohio, in five parts, at 25 cents each, or bound in one volume in paper $1.00; in cloth $1.25. After a very critical examination we are free to say that this is the only work that ever came under our notice which is so clear and plain that not only any boy or girl, but even an old man or woman, "with ihi's book and a hive of bees, can learn modern bee culture and make a fair paying business the first season. It is right up to date and every one who has or who contemplates having bees should have the work.— Farm atul Fireside. 1S79 GLEANLNGS IN BEE CULTURE. 423 THE "IT'OIt several years, it has been my ambition to be -1- able to write a book on bee culture, so clear and plain that not only any boy or girl,_but even an old man or woman, with the book and a hive of bees, could learn modern bee culture, and make" a fair, paying- business, even the first season. This is a great undertaking, I grant; and it will require some one with far greater wisdom than mine, to do it the first time trying. After watching beginners, and an- sweringtheir questions almost constantly, for years, I came to the conclusion, that the only way to do it was to "cut and try," as carpenters say, when they can't get the exact dimensions of the article they wish to make. To cut and try on the A B,C book, I have invested over $2,000 in type, chases, etc., sufficient to keep my whole book standing constantly in type, that can be changed at a moment's notice". The books are printed only as fast as wanted, and just as soon as I see I have omitted anything, or have made any mis- take, the correction is made before any more books are sent out. To show you how it, works, and how it succeeds, I will give you an illustration. A beginner writes to know if it is of any use to keep a queen, after she is eighteen days old and dies not lay. Now I know very well that a queen should lay when from ten days to two weeks old; and also, that they will sometimes not commence until they are three weeks old, and then make good queens. Now, although 1 directed that they should be tossed up in the air, to see if their wings were good, when they did not lay at two weeks of age, I did not say, if their wings .proved to be good, how long we should keep them. If 1 could spare the time of the colony, l would keep a good looking queen thnt could fly well, until she is 25 days old; if crowded for a place to put cells, 1 would kill all that do not lay at 18 or 20 days old. I have just put the above in the A B C, and that is just the way I am going to keep doing. You see, you beginners are, ultimately, to build up the book. The book, as it is now, contains about 875 pages and about 175 engravings. It is furnished complete in one, or in 5 different parts. Tbe contents and nrices are as follows: Part First, will tell you all about the latest im- provements in securing and Marketing Honey, the new 1 lb. Section Honey Boxes, mak- ing Artificial Hctncy Comb. Candy for Bees, Hee Hunting, Artificial Swarming, Bee Moth. &c., &c. Part Second, tells all about Hive Making, Diseases of Bees, Drones, How to Make an Extractor, Exti acted Honey, Feeding and Feeders, Foul Brood, etc, etc. Part Third, tells all about Honey Comb, Hon- ey Dew, Hybiids, Italianizing, King Birds, 'I he Locust I ree, Moving- Bees, The Lamp Nursery, MJjjncnnette, Milkweed, Mother- wort, Mustard, Nucleus, Pollen, Pro- polis, and Queens. Part Fourth tells all about Bape, Baspherry, Bat.in, Bobbing, Boeky Mountain Bee Plant, Saee, Sm kcrs. including instructions for making with illustrations. Soldering, Som - wood, Mtings, Sumac, Spider Flower, >iin- flowi r, Swarming, Teasel, Toads, Trans- ferring, and Turnip. Part Fifth tells about In it in sr Bees, Veils, Ventilation, Vinegar. Was, Water for Bees, Whitewood, and Wintering. It also includes a Glossary of Ternrs and Abbrevia- tions used in Bee Culture. tST-All are Profusely Illustrated with En- gravings. Nothing Patented. Either one will be mailed for 25c; »/2 doz., $1.25; 1 doz., $2.25; 10, $6.00. The five parts bound in one, in paper, mailed, for $1.00. At wholesale, same price as Gleanings, with which it may be clubbed. One copy, $1.00; three copies, $2.50; five copies, $3.75; ten copies, $ti 00. The same neatly bound in cloth, with the covers neatly embellished in embossing and gold, one copy, $1.25; three copies, $3.25; five copies, $5.00; ten copies. $8.50. If ordered by freight or Express, the postage may be deducted, which will be 3c on each 25c book, 10e on the complete book in paper, and 12c each, on the complete book in cloth. A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. •424 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Nov. Contents of This Nnmljer. Scrap3 and Sketches. No. 11. A Few Buzz- Saw Scraps 425 How an ABC Scholar Managed: How to Ital- ianize an Apiary; Sending Off for Drones 421 Our Own Apiary and Honey Farm: The Spider Plant (Cleome pungens) in Oct.; How Much Honev Will an Acre of Plants Yield; Differ- ence in Colonies as Honey Gatherers; Hon- ey Plants not Injured by Fronts; The Cheap Candv for Brood Hearing- 430 Sp^ak Gently 432 A Good Report from Cinaia; Fdti. on Paper, Successful wintering, &c 431 Can Bees Hatch Their Eggs at Will? 431 Tested Queens Turning- Hybrids, and Two Queens in One Hive 435 Trials and Tribulations of Introducing Queens; An ABC Scholar'a Story; More about Mitchell's Boards 436 Queens from the Egg- vs. Queans from Worker Larva? • 436 Sprin? Dwindling 437 The Home of the Honey Bees; Au Apiary of 500 Hives 433 California as a B°e Keeping State. Article No. 3. White Sa/e 440 Whence Cometh the Honey DewV 44J Glen Oak Apiary: The Yucca; California as a Honey State; Honey from the Oak; Comb Fdn. in California; Arrangement of Apiary.. 440 Rearing Fertile, Laying Queens, in a Hive Con- taining a Fertile, Laving Queen— Can it be Dine? A New Fea'ure in Queen Q earing 441 How Far Will Bees Go for Honey 441 A Reminder; Getting Bees Ready for Winter; Drone« in Worker Comb 442 Bees That Work on Red Clover 453 Our C irtoon for November 459 Symphoricarpu3 Vulgaris 460 THE GROWLERY, Imported Queens and Their Bees Not, as a Rule, Being Handsome 426 THE SMILE RY. 427 HUMBUGS AND SWINDLFS. Are Periodicals Responsible for Their Adver- tisements 427 HONEY COLUMN. 42LI BEE BOTANY AND ENTOMOLOGY. Our Third Wax Destroyer; Aster Tradescanti; Prairie Clover; Mollie Henth's H >ney Plant, Stickweed, and Button Weed; Eupa- torium Altissimutn 433 boys' department. 433 A Boy's Experience in Introducing Queens 434 heads of grain. Cutting a Bee Tree; Report from an A B C Scholar 442 Honev Dew Honey; Where Did the Qu"en Come From? Lazy Bees and What to Di with Them; Is There Danger of Brood in the Sections, Short L. Frames and Long Ones: Chaff Hives Best fc Summw as well as Winter; An ABC Seta dar's Trials in Introducing; Those Nice Hammers 443 Honev Candying in the (Mis during Warm Weather; Italians Killing- Off the Blocks Again; Is It Foul Brood? How an ABC Sctaolar C ime to Grief, but Finally Su^cpel- ed, After All; More about Introducing Queens 444 The Honey Season in Georgia, and That C)mb a Foot Thick; Do Bees Destroy Grapes? Making the Bees Rear Drones Out of Sea- son, and Drone Brood bv Mail; Why Din't They Swarm? and Honev from Smart Weed: From the ABC Scholar That Grew so Fast Last Year 445 Sweet Potatoes as a Substitute for Pollen; The Fibrous Material in B-ood C unb; Persistant Absconding; Can We Have too Much Brood, and Wired Frames for Fdn. ; What Consti- tutes Pure Italians; Another A B C Scholar from Maine and His Chaff Hive 440 October Swarms; An ABC Scholar in York State, and the New Way of Marketing Hon- ey; Perforated Tin Separators; Good Re- port from Minnesota; Another Apology to Our Clerks, Where Did the Bees Go? Nice Comb Honey from the South, and Comb Honey without Sep-ai-ators ... 447 Wintering 8 Colonies, in a Shingle Chaff Tene- ment Hive; The Case of One Tier of Sec- tions versus the Broad Frames; Hybrids versus Full Bloods for Swarming, C >ld Blast Smoker. &c; Improvement in Smok- ers Suggested, Two Q teens in a Hive, &c; Buckwheat, &c. Chaff Hives— Do They Need Division Boards? One Favorable Mention of the Sweet Pepper 44S The New Grape Sugar Candy for Feeding B^es, &c. ; Bees Killing a Span of Horses; The Quarrel about the Sunshine; A Swarm of Bees in October 449 notes and queries. Ready for Winter; Importance of Answering All Letters Promptly, by Return Mail; Honey Causing Sickness; Scalding to Pre- vent Candying; Honey Yield in Oct. in Virginia; Report from an A B C Scholar; Another Report from Canada; The New Plan of Introducing Queens; introducing Queens; A Caution about Putting Many Queen Cells in One Hive; The Cold Blast Smokers; Brown Sugar and Cheap Syrups for Feeding Bees; Pure Drones from Hy- brid Queens: Sour Honey; The Aster as a Honey Plant 453 Italians versus Blacks; Extracting Unsealed Stores in the Fall; Contracting Space for Winter; Sugar Syrup versus Honev for Winter; Apple Juice or Cider for Winter Stores; Combining the Mat and Enameled Sheet; Flax Chaff, &c; Buckwheat Some- times a Failure, and What to D > with C Mo- nies Hiving Little or noCmib; Artificial Queen Cells and What Came of Them : Roof to the One and a HUf Storv Hive, and Forty Cent Case of Sections; The Queen That Flew Away, and Where She Went; Ques- tions from an ABC Scholar 451 Early Italian Drones: Blacks versus It alii n«; How Late Mav Queens Be Fertilized? Win- tering in Both Stories; Paralyzing with Puff Ball; Chaff Packing or Cellar Winter- ing; Buckwheat Chaff; When to Pack Bees in Chaff; Laws in Regard to Where Bees Mav Be lOpt; Queens Whose Eggs Do Not Hatch; Time of Bio >ming of the Simpson Hmey Plmt; Covering Hives with Glass; Drones All Winter, and Age of Drones Asrun 452 Confining Bees to Their Hives; Loss in Feed- ing; How to Get Young Queens to Lay in the Fall; Cement for Fastening in Fdn ; A Queen Th it Would Not Lav, and Two Queens in a Hive; Is a Pure D lugtater of an Imported Qu-en as Good for Breeding as an imported Qu^en? A Go >d Report from Buckwheat an 1 also from That Sun- day School 453 editorial. 429 An Extensive Bee Farm in Canada 454 Managing Bees by Electi-icity 432 Are Your Bees Ready for Winter? Winter Passages 461 conventions. 460 The pos'age on Gleanings to foreign countries will hereafter be 18c. per year, instead of 24c. Our friends in other countries will please add this amount to the usual ratps. • ♦■ * On account of the advanee in pric" of grape sugar, the grape sugar candy, for bees, will be 8c. per fl>., or 40c. per tray of 4'i B>., instead of the prices given lust m mtta. I sincerely hope this will be the last advance. • ♦ • Burlap makes very good chaff cushions, except that the fine dust sifts' out when it is handled. How- ever, as it is more porous, as well as cheaper, than the Indian Head, we have decided to make a lot, for our own use, of burlap. The thief who has been robbing- our mails promis- ed to restore all the money, and to become a Chris- tian, if we would keep him out of the penitentiary. I think he will make a much b-tter Christian to go to the penitentiary, and if he cannot become one and go there, I do not believe h; would if released. "I came not to send peace, but a sword."— Math. X. 34. DEVOTED TO I5EES ATNO HOIVEY, AND HOME INTERESTS. Vol. VII. NOVEMBER 1, 1879. No. 11. A. I. ROOT, ~) Published Monthly. (TERMS! *l.O0 Per Annum in Ad- Publisher and Proprietor, [ ] vance; 3 Copies for «2.50; 5 for «3.T5; Medina, O. ) Established in 1 873. I 10 oi more, 60c. each. Single Number, 10c. SCRAPS AND SKETCHES. NO. 11. A FEW BUZZ-SAW SCRAPS. t % Ffi ° tne many inquiring- friends" who would JJJ|i"J "like to know a little more about that — ' home made buzz saw that was described in the Nov. No. of Gleanings for 1878," I would say that there remains but little more to tell; the fol- lowing- "scraps" are all that I can "think of." Some who have attempted the construction of foot-power saws have failed; one man says that it would require the strength of Sampson to saw half inch stuff with the saw that he made. In the con- struction of foot-power machinery, one idea should always be kept in view; that is, to have everything run lightly and easily. If it takes all your strength to run the machinery, there is no power left with which to do the work. Be sure and have everything- made just right. While making my saw, I was often tempted to say: "There, I guess that will do; the bolts or screws will bring that into shape." But I always resisted all such temptatious, and never left any piece or part until it was just right. The band wheel was so large, and so near the pul- ley on the saw mandrel, that the belt touched only a small part of the surface of the pulley; conse- quently, the belt had to be run so tight, to prevent it from slipping, as to cause considerable friction. To remedy this, I made a small tightener, which acted by means of a weight; this caused the belt to wrap farther around the pulley, and enabled me to run the saw with the belt quite loose. The result was that the "machine" ran much easier. If your belt will slip, put on just a little molasses. Not only keep your saws sharp, but keep them ''jointed," so that the teeth will all be of a length, and every tooth will cut. I have made hundreds of hives and thousands of section boxes, with my saw, and I like it better now than I did when I first made it. You need not pay 75c. apiece for clamps with which to make section boxes. Make some wooden ones; and for screws, buy some bolts at the hard- ware, and get the henda pounded down flat at the blacksmith shop, so that you can turn them with your fingers. Of course, the nuts are to be embed- ed in the wood at one end of the clamps. I have my saw "rigged" for dovetailing according to the plan given in the March No. of Gleanings. I use the rip saw, set wabbling, and it works tip top. Rogersville, Mich. W. Z. Hutchinson. HOW AN A R C SCHOLAR MANAGED. F^RHAPS a report from one of your ABC scholars from this section of Minnesota may ^^ be of interest to some of your class. In the first place, I will state that I live on the prairie, and have no maple or basswood. There are quite a number of farmers in this county, who keep from two to fifty colonies of bees, but none who make bee-keeping a business, or raise queens for sale. But very few use any of the modern improvements that are now considered so necessary for the suc- cessful management of an apiary. One year ago last May, I received two colonies of black bees in movable frame hives. I put them on their stands, supposing I had done all that was nec- essary, except to supply hives for the increase. I knew absolutely nothing about them. A child was as rich in knowledge as to their wants and habits as I was. I remained in my ignorance until about August. In fact, I did not get much interested in them until the honey harvest was over, which was about Sept. 15th, 1878. I subscribed for Gleanings and the A. B. J., and sent for Prof. Cook's "Manual" and "Quinby's Mysteries in Bee Keeping," and, it is needless for me to state to those who are interested in the "blessed bee" that I have been in perfect bliss ever since, so far as the bee question is concern- ed. In 1878, my two colonies increased to five, and gave me considerable surplus honey from golden rod. In the fall, I took three colonies on a debt, in old fashioned box hives. With care and close atten- tion, I succeeded in wintering and springing them through in good shape, without any feeding, al- though it was a bad winter, even in Minnesota, in some localities. As early in the spring as possible, I successfully transferred the three colonies in box hives to my movable frame hives. HOW TO ITALIANIZE AN APIARY. I also bought of Hon. C. F. Greening, Grand Mead- ow, Minn., a nice, large colony of Italians, which were received on the 19th 'of April. I bought this colony for the purpose of Italianizing my eight col- onies. I thought of sending to Gleanings for eight, dollar queens; but, finally, after considering the matter all winter, I concluded to buy a colony and raise my own queens, believing the experience would be worth something. It seemed to me, at the time, like quite an undertaking. I did not com- mence operations very early, as the spring was cold and wet, but I raised, and introduced to my black colonies, eight Italian queens. GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Nov. SENDING OFF FOK DRONES. I kept the black drones beheaded, not allowing one to hatch, and there were no other blacks within four miles. A short time before I wanted drones for my young- queens, I found, upon a'eareful and thorough examination, that I had no drones. I im- mediately went to Grand Meadow, and got a card of drone brood that had already commenced to hatch, from one of Mr. Greening's best queens. I inserted the card among my Italians, after daubing them and the Italians we'l with honey. My neighbors laughed at me, but it was a success, and I have to- day fourteen, nice, strong colonies of Italians, and a little surplus honey. 1 raised all my queens. The season has been very dry, and there has been but little increase and but little honey gathered, so far as I know. I have not grown as fast as some of your ABC scholars, but, taking every thing- into consideration, I feel satisfied. I have not given a detailed account of my operations, but if there is one in the class who would like it, I will give the information at any time. I am pretty well satisfied of some things. In rais- ing queens, I shall start my queen cells in good, strong colonies. I shall also be as particular about my drones as I am about the queens. I shall never divide without having young, laying queens to in- troduce. I shall keep extra queens on hand. I in- tend that a colony shall never be without a queen longer than it takes to introduce one. Keep them strong all the time. Handle the little fellows eare- fully and gently and know (don't guess) their condi- tion and wants at all times of the year. Wells, Faribault Co., Minn. J. P. West. f$C "f roi^rfj;." [This department is to be kept for the benefit of those who are dissatisfied; and when anything is amiss, I hope you will "talk right out." As a rule we will omit names and addresses, to avoid being too personal:] IMPORTED QUEENS AND THEIR DEES NOT, AS A RULE, REING HANDSOME. fGIVE the following letters, because there are so many dissatisfied with their ini- — ported queens, and because it seems so impossible to have it well understood that the queens of Italy are not yellow, as a rule, nor are their worker bees as yellow as the most of the Italians from the dollar queens. Enclosed, please find $5.00, for which please send me one pure, imported, Italian queen bee, not over one year old, a good honey gatherer, docile, and a prolific breeder. In fact, I want a first class bee in every particular. If you have not got what I want, please return the money at my expense. If the en- closed amount is not sufficient to pay for what I want, or is less than the price for what I want, 1 will remit balance on receipt of bill. J. G. K. Sherwood, O., July 23, 18T9. After reading the above, I decided that our customer did not care particularly for color, but wanted a good, prolific queen, just such a one as I would select for myself, if I was going to raise honey, and so 1 sent him one of our $.5.00 queens. The following is his report in regard to her : The queen you sent me the 28th of July arrived the first day of August. I put her into a hive of 10 frames 12x12, with young bees that had never seen a queen. August 3d, she commenced laying 1, 2, and 3 eggs in one cell, having plenty of room. Aug. 13, she began to lay pretty fast and regularly. She has now 8 frames full of brood, a good swarm of bees, and plenty of honey. I have 20 young queens, her daughters. The said queen is very dark, almost black, and small, nearly a dwarf. All her young- queens are like herself. Her workers are small, and dark, and have 1 to 2 bands. Some apiarists have called her a poor hybrid. I have kept Italians for 12 years, and have now 137 stands, and I must say, if this is an imported queen, they must have blacks in Italy. She is not fit to have in a good colony, much less to breed from. I sent you $5.00,' told you I wanted a first class queen in every respect, was willing to pay you your own price, and if you had none to send my money back. The $5.00 I do not care so much for, but the disap- pointment I would not have had for $50. I thought to raise 50 or 60 pure queens this fall yet, to take the place of hybrids. I fear it is too late now. Please send me a choice, good queen, an imported and test- ed one, or send my money back, and I will send you your queen. J. G. K. Sept. t), 1870. "We ordered the queen returned with a good number of her own bees, and sent at once a $6.00 one in her place. I presumed her small size must have been from the fact that she had just stopped laying in the fall, and almost any queen, at such a time, looks insignificant. In regard to her being a hy- brid, I supposed our friend felt a little vexed, and therefore spoke a little extravagantly. It is quite human, when we get vexed with a queen, or even imagine we have been wronged in the purchase of one, to call her a hybrid. You will see from the following postal, how nearly I was right : To-day, I send, by express, that 5 dollar imported queen. Von are right; she is no hybrid, but dark. 1 AH the young bees sent with her are her bees. I wish you could see some of her queen-;. The last j queen you sent, I think, i< all right. Honey gathei- ing and queen raising arc poor here this fall. Sept. 23, 1879. J. G. K. The queen came to hand, and, to my sur- prise, was not only of fair average size for queens in the fall, but she was rather lighter in color than the average queens as we get them from Italy. Still farther, her bees were good, well marked Italians, though of course dark, like all the imported progeny. This season, I have purchased queens from different breeders, and from different dis- tricts in Italy, and if 1 thought all of the imported queens I send out would equal this discarded one in color, size, prolificness, &c, I should be very happy. One more point; do you not know, my friends, that we sometimes are persuaded that a thing is not right, and by dwelling on ; it, we get more and more dissatisfied, until, finally, we think we have really been wrong- i ed, when there is little, if any. ground for complaint. I do not mean to say that such was necessarily the case in the above trans- action, nor do I object to your sending things back when they do not suit you ; but, is there not a lesson here that we may all think of with profit V By shrewd insinuations, you can make a child satisfied or dissatisfied with almost anything he has, and are we not all but children of a larger growth ? Now, my friends, bear in mind that I have warned you before hand, that if you pur- chase an imported queen of me, it is quite likely that some one unacquainted with them will be quite sure to pronounce them hybrids, sooner or later. A $3.00 tested queen will give you much prettier bees. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 427 ik "WW This department was suggested by one of the clerks, as an opposition to the "Growlery." I think I shall venture to give names in full here. M S the honey season is now over, for this year, I pV will give you the result of the season's work «4j»=4 in my apiary. I started, in the spring, with 31 colonies, about half of them being good colonies, the other half very much reduced in numbers. I have taken about 1,4C0 lbs. of comb honey in sec- tions, 200 lbs. of extracted honey, and have, at this date, 93 colonies in good condition, all in chaff ten- ement hives. 1 want no other hive for myself. I sold my comb honey at IS'ic. per lb., and my ex- tracted honey at 10c. 1 have sent you about 22 orders for goods with about $160.00 in money, and every thing received from you gave entire satisfaction, with the excep- tion of the last tested queen, which was a crip- ple, being minus one leg when received; but, as you have done so well in every other particular, we will let that go, and I want to'thank you from the bot- tom of my heart for the way you have dealt with me. May God bless you. I. K. Good. P. S.— Please tell us again how you stand finan- cially, as we are all interested in your wellfare. South West, Ind., Sept. 19, 1879. I. R. G. And I want to thank you, too, friend G., for it has always been a pleasure to receive your orders. Long ago, I told the clerks to send friend Good whatever he asked for, whether he sent all the money to pay for it or not, for he was perfectly "good" for all he ordered. I suspect one secret of your being pleased, friend G., is that you are not diffi- cult to please, and that, therefore, the credit belongs rather more to you than to ourselves. I am perfectly willing to tell you how my finances stand, if you care to know. I am paying interest at the rate of 8 per cent, on $5,365.00; I presume the value of my build- ings, machinery, &c, with the real estate de- voted to the bee business, is somewhere from 25 to 35 thousand dollars. We are just get- ting ready to take an invoice, and I will then give you the exact amount. The buildings, machinery, and finished goods are insured for SI 1,325.00. it, or even reading it himself. His free lecture was for the purpose of selling his right to make and use his bee hive, wanting $5.00 for the right. I do not ihink he sold a single right. I had ventilated him pretty well, and would have done it again if I had known he was coming here. I use a chaff hive of my own construction, and the Langstroth flame. I would have had a stand of bees in the court yard, if 1 had known he was com- ing, and I know no bee keeper would take his square box frame for the Langstroth. Salem, lnd., Oct. 9, 1879. John Crayckaft. Mitchell sends pamphlets all over the country, and he tells a very flowery tale. Some men are talking 1 of handling us for using division boards. Can they doit? Wm. Dawson. Smithvillc, Uitchie Co., W. Va. They have no idea of touching you, friend : D. If they can scare you into handing money over to them, they will do it ; but they have no intention of doing more. See ; their record in back Nos. Why not club in, and prosecute N. C. Mitchell for getting money under false pretences, and put a stop to his swindle? You may count on me for one. Natchetoches, La., Oct. 9, '79. James M. Cook. It really does seem as if something should be done, friend M. Is there a lawyer among our beekeeper's, who will tell us what to do and how to do it V In N . Y. City, they have a way of shutting such fellows up out of the way, but I do not know whether or not it can be done where a man is roaming at large as Mitchell is. Post Masters can, probably, be stopped from delivering him his mails. Pertaining to Bee Culture. [We respectfully solicit the aid of our friends in conducting this department, and would consider it a favor to have them send us all circulars that have a deceptive appearance. The greatest care will be at all times maintained to prevent injustice being done any one.] C. Mitchell was lately in our town and gave a lecture on the bee. He sent a lot of his eir- 3 i » culars to one or two persons in this county, that claim to be agents of his, and they mailed the circulars to nearly all bee keepers in the county, ex- cept the readers and patrons of your papers and shop. I, with several others of your readers, live near town. I am not more than \i mile from fhe post office. I got no notice, and did not know that he was in town until I saw a number of bee keepers and others going to the court-house to hear him lecture. So I went over to hear him. He had the usual programme of showing the theoretical work- ing of his particular hive, and that division board of his, "the greatest discovery of the age in hee keeping." He also showed a dirty, worn piece of paper purport- ing to be his patent, taking care to keep it in his hand, and not giving permission to read or look at MRS. LIZZIE COTTON. This woman, with her feminine hand writing, seems almost too much for the ed- itors of certain papers, and, what is most strange, especially the editors of religious papers. Here is the advertisement she gets them to insert, which has just been sent in by a correspondent, who clipped it from the Christian L nion : HONEY BEES. NEW PRINCIPES IN BEE KEEPING. Every one who has a farm or garden can now keep Bees with profit. Bees kept on my plan are more profit than anything connected with the farm or garden. Every hive of Bees kept on my plan will pay a profit of Fifty dollars every year. Send for circular. Address, Mrs. Lizzie E. Cotton, West Gorham, Maine. Now the above is bad enough, but, to make it worse, she gets the following edi- torial notice inserted, which was clipped from the same paper. HONEY BEES. The special attention of our readers is called to the advertisement of Mrs. Cotton in another column under this head. Mrs. Cotton we believe is one of our most successful bee keepers. Now, I wish to digress enough here, to ask if it is right for editors (let alone editors of Christian papers), to insert such notices when paid for it? Does it not mean, to their readers, we would advise you to send your money to Mrs. Cotton, for we think her one of our most successful bee-keepers V Years ago, when I was but 18 years old, I started out with an entertainment of chem- ical and electrical experiments. The editor who printed my bills told me to write a notice of myself, and he would "father it". Young as I was, and unused to the ways of the world, I objected. "Why," says he, "they always do it; custom has made it 428 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Nor right." This man was superintendent of the Sunday school where I attended church. I told him, as he knew me, to write such a notice as he thought right. He did so, and ended it by saying, "Mr. IPs success as a public lecturer has been very great," al- though this was the first attempt at giving a public lecture, I had ever made in my life. I grew up a skeptic, and this editor grew (V) into a traveling doctor. The N. Y. Christian Weekly, after being- notified several months ago, as to her char- acter, stopped her advertisement, but, if I am correct, gave its readers no note of warn- ing, to undo the mischief they had made. In a recent issue, they gave the advertise- ment again, and when remonstrated with, by one of our subscribers, they write as fol- lows : You seem to take for granted two thing's and infer j a third, which may not be true. 1st. You suppose that we have not inquired. The advertiser would be glad to have the name of our informer, that she may have redress at law in an action for libel. The postmaster and the express agent at West Gorham send affidavits as to her honesty and reliability, in- cluding truthfulness. 2nd. The journals you men- tion, it is alleged, are interested in certain bee hives, and are therefore interested witnesses. Our com- i mittee has made, and is enfoi-cing, rigid rules on this subject. It refuses many advertisements which appear in other religious papers, even in those of the most conservative character; but it does not \ claim infallibility, and cannot be beyond deception. 1 Having this second letter from you, we will make further inquiries in West Gorham, and if you have | disinterested evidence, in addition to your own, and send it here, it will have careful consideration. I While we wish to discriminate so as to protect our subscribers, we at the same time must not be unjust to our advertisers. Your letters of information or kindly criticism are not unwelcome, but please hereafter to reserve your inferences and imputations of wrong until you know the facts in the case. Very truly yours, G. L. Shearer. NewYork, Oct. 11, 1&79. As they had copies of both Gleanings and American Bee Journal, it would seem that they want letters directly from the parties who have been swindled. Will our readers please give them such evidence. Send to Rev. G. L. Shearer, 150 Nassau St., New York City. I have letters from both the post master and express agent of West Gorham, Me., and the affidavits given in her circular are far from being a straight transaction. Now I do not like fault finding with the religious papers, and I do not wonder that so many of them have been misled by a woman's words and hand writing; but the thing to do now is to undo the wrong. There is one religious paper (the Sunday /School Times) which, I am glad to say, I can hold up to you for an example, and I dare say, you will all agree with me. This is the way in which they fix the matter in their is- sue of Oct. 25th : A WARNING. The readers of this paper are here warned against responding further to the "Honey Bee" advertise- ment of Mrs. Lizzie E. Cotton that appeared in the issues for October 11 and 18. Information has been received which justifies this notice. If any sub- scriber to this paper has failed to get returns for money sent to her, the loss will be made good by the publisher, upon notification. Again, several months ago, they advertised a mocking bird for some one down south, which would be sent for a stated sum, by mail. When they found out how they had been imposed upon, they made correction as follows : The fact that he pays for a given space in our col- umns gives a man no right to utter a falsehood, or to affirm what would tend to the injury of our readers. Of course we are liable to be deceived. What we suppose to be true may be false, whether it is utter- ed by ourselves, our contributors, orouradvertisers. When, however, we find that we have been deceived, we not only regret the fact, but we do our best to re- pair any injury thereby incurred. Here, for in- stance, is the case of a man down in Florida adver- tising to send mocking-birds by mail on receipt of a specified sum. He gave what seemed satisfactory references, and we had reason for thinking his pro- posal an honest one. Rut we have asceitained that he is a fraud; that he himself is a mocking-bird. In every instance where we have become satisfied that any of our subscribers sent money to him on the strength of the advertisement in our columns we have refunded to them the money; and we shall con- tinue to do this even though it takes all the profits of the entire establishment for the year. We want those who read our paper to feel that its every state- ment can be depended on; and we are doing our utmost to have them feel so. Does not this look like "faith and works" going together V Long may the Sunday School Times "wave." and may their faith in God never grow less. A few years ago the Scientific American advertised music boxes playing 10 tunes, for only $1.00. (Jreat numbers sent in their dol- lars, and got a cheap harmonica, with ten holes in it. The editors, when notified, stop- ped the ad., and consoled those who lost, by saying they supposed any man of common sense ought to know they could not get a music box for a dollar. It struck me that "any man of common sense" (who had lost a dollar) ought to know better than to have faith in the advertisements in the Scientific American after that. Where a paper comes out and takes the stand that the Sunday School Times does, it seems to me they ought to be patronized ; what do you say, boys V The paper will be sent 3 months on trial, to new subscribers, for only 25c. Let us astonish them, by show- ing them that the readers of Gleanings know what true Christianity is, and can appreciate it. Address Sunday School Times, Philadelphia, Pa. We have a Symphoricarpus vulnaris "too." Are you not glad? * — ♦ — * I forgot to say that we have about 450 raspberry plants set out on our honey farm, of varieties es- pecially recommended as honey plants. We have honey plants to be named, almost enough to fill a journal. The worst of it is, a great part of them are plants we have named, and so it will be mostly a useless repetition to have it all in the jour- nal. WTe will try to combine them in some way, for the next issue. ia «♦« w ADVANCE OF GRAPE SUGAR. In consequence of the advance in the price of corn, the price of grape sugar has risen at the fac- tory, so that I am unable to furnish it without abso- lute loss at less than the following prices: For any quantity less than a barrel, 5^0 per lb. ; by the barrel, of about 425 lbs., 4?ic. Above is for prices on beard the cars here at Medina. I will ship full barrels from New York City, for ilic per lb. This is for the best quality of grape or corn sugar for feeding bees. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 429 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. -A.. I_ EOOT, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, MEDINA, OHIO. TERMS: $1.00 PER YEAR, POST-PAID. MEDINA, 3>TCTV\ 1, 187'9- What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?— James, 2; 14. ■ — .^»»»»^ We can give you any kind of a queen you wish, by return express. > ♦ • Friend H., of whom I wrote on p. 383, Oct. No., was just iu, and says he must have chaff hives for all his bees, and if he had but "one bee," he would put hiin in a chaff hive, that he might die comforta- bly, if he "did die." ADVANCE IN PRICES. Our new price list has been delayed on account of the great and unexpected advance in many of the articles in the line of tin and iron goods. Tin for separators has advanced from $7.aO to $9.00; tin for extractors and corners, from $9.00 to $11.00. We shall not advance the price of corners, while our present stock lasts. Although the price of lumber is up greatly, we shall fill orders for hives, this fall at least, at old prices. » ♦■ ♦ All new subscribers who remit $1.00 during this present month, for Gleanings during 1880, will re- ceive Nov. and Dec. Nos. free. All old subscribers who send $1.00 during the present month for 1880, may have as a premium, any 3 back numbers they choose, with the exception of Vol. Ill, the first 6 Nos. of 1878, and the first 3 Nos. of 1879. You may have in place of the back Nos., if you choose, a two foot rule, a thermometer, or the photo of "Novice and Blue Eyes." For 10c. more ($1.10 in all) you may have the little plane, the hammer with the wal- nut inlaid handle, or any one of the 25c. ABC books. My editorial notice of friend Alley last month was intended as a kind admonition to him, to take bet- ter care of his customers. There has been much and continued complaint, and several have demand- ed that his advertisement be stopped, for the good of others; but I felt like trying gentle means first, and the editorial, I think, was mild, although he Ihinks otherwise. Not having his circular at hand, I did not use his exact phrase in regard to employ- ing boys and girls, and the man who sent him money last March, said he sent for 3 tested queens, but did not give the amount of money. 1 gave both items from memory, simply for illustration. If friend A. will answer letters of complaint promptly, and re- turn the money for orders which he cannot fill, I will see that he has no reason to consider Glean- ings unfriendly to him and his business. Since so much of a trade has sprung up in the bee supply business, a great many have gone into it, and some of them, I fear, with the idea that a great deal of money was to be made out of it, with but lit- tle hard work. The consequence is that quite a num- ber are leaning strongly toward the Mitchell and Cotton style of doing business. Now, unless these people do straighten up their business matters, I shall feel it my duty to warn our trends against trusting them with any more money or goods. I will give them all reasonable time, and I will care- fully look into all the circumstances of the case, but those who refuse rijj-ht out, to make any attempt at paying their honest debts, must stop advertising for more people's money, or be held up for the good of others. I have kindly warned them, but two of them have threatened mo with law suits for a slan- der if I publish them, and a third has declared he would tell more damaging stories about me than Mitchell does. Now I do not fear any number of law suits, if I can feel that God is on my side, neither do I care what ail the world may say about me, but I do fear my natural disposition may prompt me to go into these things too vehemently, and I would be very glad of advice from you, my friends, in this matter, when you are sending in your subscriptions. What shall we do with the brothers who keep our money, and won't answer letters? If praying for them and pleading with them won't do, shall we put their names in a corner, that others who work hard may not lose their money by sending it to them? f emu %dmin> Under this head, will be inserted free of charge, the names of all those having honey to sell, as well as those wanting to buy. Please mention how much, what kind, and prices, as far as possible. As a general thing, 1 would not advise you to send your honey away, to be sold on commission. If near home, where you can look after it, it is often a very good way. By all means, develop your home market. For 25cts., we can furnish little boards to hang up in your door yard, with the words "Honey for Sale" neatly painted. If wanted by mail, 10c. extra for postage. Boards saying "Bees and Queens for Sale," ;ame price. Wanted.—Thick, White Clover Honey, extracted. AVrite me with lowest cash price. Biownsburg, Bucks Co., Pa. Wilson Harvey. Wanted.— Several hundred pounds of Honey, at 9c. for Extracted, and 13c. for Comb Honey,— all first class, white clover honey, delivered here. Orange, Franklin Co., Mass. A. W. Cheney. Wanted.— 500 lbs. white clover honey, in 1 lb. sec- tions, white and straight combs, delivered at R. R. depot, Dayton, O., at 15c per lb., cash on receipt in good order. J. H. Pierce. Dayton, O., Oct. 27, 1879. CITY MARKETS. Chicago.- -Honey— Choice, in single comb boxes, 10@12c. Extracted, 0@8c. Bees-wax.— Choice, yellow, 20@22c. Darker grades, 12l/2@15c. New York.— Best white comb honey, 1 or 2 lb. boxes, neat crates, 18(^20; Fair, ditto, 15@17; Buck- wheat, ditto, 12(513; comb honey, in 4 lb. boxes and larger, sells about 2c per lb. under above prices. White extracted honey, in bbls., 8(5 O1* ; 2nd class, ditto, 8@8! -2 ; dark, ditto, in kegs, 7(57' c; Southern strained honev, per gal., 70(*~"75. New York, Oct. 18, '79. H. K. & F. B. Tourber. Bees-wax.— Choice, 25c. Cincinnati.- White Clover Honey in full pack- ages (a bbl. or % bbl.,) per lb., 19@11; ditto, in tin cans of 10 or 25 lbs. net, per lb., 13@15; ditto, in 1 lb. glass jars, 1 doz. jars in a case, per case, $2.00; 12 cases of same, $22.50; ditto in 2 lb. glass jars, 1 doz. jars in a case, per case, $3.50; 12 cases of same, $10. Linn or Basswood, Poplar, and Buckwheat Honey, in original packages, per lb., 8@9. These latter three varieties in tin buckets (of 10 or 25 lbs. net), per lb., 12@14. Good White Clover Honey, in combs, 13@14; Choice, ditto, 15@16; Choice California Comb Honey, 14. The honey market is buoyant, and demand good for all kind*, altogether different from this time last year. While plenty of extracted honey is of- fered, comb honey appears to be scarce. An ad- vance of 2— tc per lb, is established on the latter, with a small stock on the market. Cincinnati, Oct. 7, 1879. Chas. F. Muth. St. Louis.— Honey— Scarce and firm. Fair to choice comb, in nice pkgs., 14©lb'c. Extracted 10@12c. This market is bare of good stock in nice condi- tion, and it is wanted. B es-wax.— Prime, slow at 20c. R. c. Gkeer & Co., 117, North Main St., St. Louis. San FRANCrsco.— Hour i/— Comb, white, 12' =^ 15c: Extracted, 9 22' ^c. Stearns & Smith, 423 Front St., Oct. 18, 1879. San Francisco. 430 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Nov OUR OWN APIARY AND HONEY FARItt. the spider plant ( Cleome Pungens) in OCT. fjO-DAY is the 11th of October. This morning, I got up before 6 o'clock. — ' I had been reading, the night before, in Muller's book, "The Life of Trust," and I was particularly impressed with what he says about early rising, and the blessings God sends to those who make it a point to rise early, and give their best and freshest thoughts to him. I put the book away, and went right to bed, that I might get up early. The gray of approaching daylight heralding in this warm autumn day met my gaze, as I sallied forth toward the factory. I opened my mouth, and took in the fresh pure air, and, as I opened my eyes to the beauty of the world we dwell in, I opened my heart in thankfulness to Him who gave it all. As I came near the garden, I was surprised to hear a loud humming so early. It was not robbing, but it was a hum of rejoicing. How strange it is, that bees will make this happy hum over the honey from the flowers, but never over syrup from any kind of a feeder. The sound led me to the spider plant. It had been bearing honey a couple of months, at night, and early in the morning, but I had no idea that they ever made so much noise over it as now. I approached leisurely, but was startled to And that each floweret contained a large drop of some liq- uid, so large, in fact, I thought it must be dew, and not honey. I touched my tongue, and behold it was fair honey, of a beautiful limpidity and taste, and then I understood the humming. As a bee alighted, and made his way down between the stamens, I watch- ed until he spread out that delicate, pencil like tongue, and began to draw in the nectar. Surely no bee can take in so large a drop ; and so it proved. He lapped as long as he could and then rested awhile; again he sipped the "sparkling ambrosia," and again he stopped. I could imagine him soliloquiz- ing as he dipped into it a third time. "Did any body ever before hear of a sin- MRS. MOLLIE O. LARGE S SPIDER PLANT, THE GREAT HONEY PLANT OF THE AGE. gle floweret containing more than a bee could carry?" He finally spread his wings, and essayed to fly, but his greed had been too great, and when he bumped against a Simpson plant, which is now out of bloom, down he went on his back in the dirt. Others did the same way, but soon they tried again, and I presume created a commotion in the hive, by coining in, podded out with such a load. Now will our friend, Mollie O. Large, tell us if she has ever seen the like among her plants ? An acre would furnish whew ! I should not be surprised if it made a barrel of sweet- ened water, any way, every morning. Now I want four acres of the Simpson honey plant, and four more of the Mollie O. Large honey plant; if the name was not so long, we would call it so, for the credit she deserves for calling attention to it. Dear me ! the honey farm will not be large enough. I have set the hands, to-day, to doing more under- draining, and I am going to plow up all cor- ners, and work up close to the fences, for we cannot afford to have a weed grow on the premises, so long as there are plants that bear honey like this. These plants are in our flower garden, close by the building, and have had a very rich deep soil. This, perhaps, may account for such large amounts of hon- ey. This plant is strikingly like the Rocky Mountain bee plant of which I have given you a picture already, but it is so much larg- er, and bears so much more honey, that I can hardly think it worth while to offer the seed of the latter for sale any more. Our engrav- er has given you a picture of the plant, as it appears in our garden. The picture scarcely needs explanation. On one side, is the beautiful leaf of the plant ; on the other, one of the flower stalks, of which there are from 12 to 20 to each plant. As the flowerets, shown in the centre, keep blossoming each evening, the stem grows out in the centre, until it becomes, finally, two feet long or more, and lined with seed pods its whole length. These seed pods, when ripe, break open, and the seed must be gathered daily, or it is lost. Each floweret opens twice, but the honey is only yielded from the first blooming. In the centre of the picture, a single floweret is shown, with 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 431 its load of honey sparkling in the rays of the rising sun. The sight of a whole plant bending beneath a sparkling load of nectar like this is enough to set any bee keeper crazy, let alone your enthusiastic old friend Novice. Our plants are on ground made by piling up the sods taken from where the factory stands; this may. in part, account for the great yield of honey. P. S. — "Lu" who has the care of the honey plants, has been instructed to save every particle of seed, and we can, at least, be able to furnish you all a 5c, package. Perhaps our friend Mollie has seed enough by this time. MORE ABOUT THAT WONDERFUL SPIDER PL A XT. Oct. 14?//.— Yesterday morning, Mr. Gray came down before sunrise, to verify my ob- servation and see that there was no mistake about that large drop of honey, the product of a single night. There is no mistake. Not only does a single floweret produce a large drop, but some of them produce a great many drops. Last evening, we made observations by lamp light; and. before nine o'clock, the globules of honey were of the size of large shot. The crowning exper- iment of all took place this morning. I was up a little after 5 o'clock, and, with the aid of a tea spoon, I dipped honey enough from 3 or 4 plants to fill a 2 dram vial, such as we use in the queen cages, a little more than half full. The honey in some of the flowerets had collected in a quantity- so large that it spilled out and actually streamed on the ground. I have called this honey, but it is, in reality, the raw nectar, such as is found in clover and other flowers. The taste is a j pure sweet, slightly dashed with a most beau- | tiful, delicate flavor, resembling somewhat j that of the best, new, maple molasses. The honey will be as white as the whitest linden, I so far as I can judge. With the aid of a lamp, I evaporated the nectar down to thick honey. You can see something of what the bees have to do. when I tell you that I had in bulk, only about 1-5 part as much, as when I commenced. You see now, we have some accurate figures with which to estimate the amount of honey which may be obtained from an acre of honey plants. HOW MUCH HONEY WTLL AN ACRE OF PLANTS YIELD? I think I visited with my spoon, four plants. Perhaps half of the nectar was wasted, either by overflowing before I got there, or in my attempts to spoon it out. This will give a half dram of nectar to each plant, each morn- ing. We shall set the plants 3 feet apart each way. At this rate, we have nearly 5,000 plants to the acre, and they would yield every morning, perhaps 5 gallons of nectar or one gallon of ripe honey. The plant has been in bloom in our garden, for the astonishing length of time, of about 3 months; this would give, counting out bad weather, perhaps. P at STf-^-ON'T you listen to, and answer, a few ques- }$ll tions? One of our hives of bees does not seem to do anything but stay in their gum all day long (and night too, I presume). I have be- gun to fear that not every thing is right with them. 1 will give you all the particulars. First, it has giv- en us but one swarm this year; second, we have not "robbed" it yet; third, it is sitting in a cool corner of the fence, and seems to have suffered less from the warm weather than any of the other hives. I also noticed one of those "dun-colored flies" going into it, the other day. What is the matter with them? Our other three hives are at work hard every day, gathering pollen and a little honey. They get the pollen from the bitter weed, and the honey from a little plant that grows down in the broom-straw, and has a tiny blue flower on it. I would like you to tell me what it is. Now, Mr. Root, don't laugh at me, for I must tell you,— my hopes are running high just now. I intend to buy a foot-power saw this winter, and then— I'll let you know. Pa has promised me a barrel of syrup this fall, and I am going to invest it in the bee busi- ness. Do you think that will be a good investment ? I will also get something for collecting for pa, which I will put to the same use. D. S. BBTHUNE. Snyder, Ark., Sept. 5, 1879. Open your hive, my young friend, and see what is" the matter. It will he a deal easier way than writing all the way up here. If it isn't one of the kind that opens, make it so, forthwith; that is, transfer them into a movable comb hive. Don't invest any more in bees, until you have taken better care of what you have got. In fact, I do not know but such advice would be best for all of us, — stop investing, and take better care of what we have got. 484 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Nov. A BOY'S EXPERIENCE IN INTRODUCING QUEENS. Mr. Boot:— Have you any idea how a boy feels when he has worked hard to get a little money, and sends it off for a bee— just one bee'/1 Then the worry for fear she won't come, or will come dead, or will get killed in introducing! I can describe every symptom. It is a fever that must run its course, which it will do in ten days usually. It's a fever that just makes a boy Sick, but the getting well makes him a man. I am just a little too big for my pants, but can't help it. I received my queen on the loth. Next morning was rather showery, so I could stay at the house. I had a colony which had never had a queen. 1 opened the hive, took off one side of the queen cage, laid it on top of the frames, and, in a few minutes, some of my blacks came up to see who were their visitors. According to the nature of all true Southerners, bees as well as people, they cordially invited her and her attendants down, and gave to them of the best they had. On the 17th, she had gone to business. There were only 2 dead bees in the cage; honey was all gone, but very little can- dy or water was consumed. Wasn't that nice? and am I not lucky? But you must know that I inherit my love of bees and honey. Some of my ancestors, I doubt not, were Noah's bee-keepers; for as far back as any one knows, the Trices were bee-keepers in the old fashioned way, but they would have lots of honey. I think I will have to get me some fdn. I am feeding now; it is so dry, bees have done noth- ing this year. Many, many thanks for the nice bees and good advice. I hope you will be the bee-keeper in the ark when the next flood comes. Thomas H. Trice. New Providence, Tenn., Aug. 22, 1879. A GOOD REPORT FROM CANADA. FDN. ON PAPER, SUCCESSFUL WINTERING, ETC. ^jnjpjVEAR NOVICE:— Try sheets of paper dipped in fflffl wax, instead of using wire to keep fdn. from ' sagging. I_have used sheets the same as the one I now write on (the bees have not eaten out the paper yet), and also leaves of fashion books, and va- rious pictures on paper foundations. I am trying other things. Try all kinds of paper. Have your illustrated catalogue put in foundations, and built out, and hang it in your olhce. Give it a trial in strong stocks, but don't "raise Cain" about it until we prove it beyond doubt. I intend writing on wintering soon, as I have . solved the mystery and winter hundreds of stocks, every year, without loss. My bees are very strong and I am taking from i 1500 to 3000 lbs. per day, and have been for a long time. American honey is now shut out of the mar- j ket, by the high tariff, which is about fifty per cent : on value. Bee keeping is looking up in Canada, as I never | had so many orders for fdn. before, and the demand ! for extractors is increasing. Some days, I ship 6 a j day. Increase of business, however, is probably partly owing to the national policy, which places the duty so high on imported goods, that they can be procured much cheaper here. In a few years more, I think, we will be able to compare favorably with California for honey. My crop, this year, will be hundreds of barrels, if the season continues good to the end, as it has been so far. The basswood is just out, and the tops are a perfect cluster of bloom. I never saw it so good, and all our honey this year is very fine. I am pleased to see Gleanings so well edited, and * the extraordinary efforts you are putting forth to make it a success, combined with your large expe- rience and "unselfish motives, must soon make it a welcome visitor to every bee keeper in our land. D. A. Jones. Beeton, Ontario, Can., July 19,^1879. Many of our readers will remember friend Jones, and his articles a few years ago. Of late, we have not heard from him, and I often wondered what new invention lie was work- ing at, that caused him to keep silent so long. It seems he has been quietly building up an apiary, and now he is reaping the reward, and so full of business he can hardly stop to tell his old friends of his sucesses. I have delayed the above article, hoping to hear fur- ther in regard to that great yield of honey, but as he does not write, have resolved to give it as it is, before the year closes. Combs built on paper work nicely in our apiary, as long as the flow of honey holds out; but after it is gone, our bees go to dig- ging it all out. Tell us more about the hun- dreds of barrels of honey, friend J. I shall have to beg our readers' pardon for printing that concluding paragraph ; I think friend Jones' prosperity must have had the effect of making him look with charitable eyes on all the world, your humble servant included. m ft m CAN BEES HATCH THEIR EGGS AT WILL? ||HIS may seem a strange question to ask after we have been told, for years, that the eggs ~ * laid by the queen hatch in about 3 days. We have been told a great many things, which a little practical experience, based on a few careful experiments, will prove to be false. Not but that, as a rule, bees hatch the eggs laid by the queen in about 3 days, but we claim that bees have the power to control the hatching time of the eggs; that is, to lengthen the time to weeks, but not to shorten it materially. Now for the proof of our position: On p. 11, A. B. Journal, Vol. 10, you will find these words from our pen: "We never had so much brood according to the number of bees in our hives, five hundred bees covering five thousand of brood easily." This brood appeared as if by magic, and this was the first time we gave the matter any attention. Next, on p. 71, of Gleanings for 1875, we again wrote, on the sub- ject of feeding for brood rearing, as follows: "We have succeeded in getting the queens to lay, but the bees would not hatch the eggs." These experiments were conducted in Oct., 1874, and at that time we were quite positive that the above assertion was correct; yet it was not till 1878, that we proved it beyond the shadow of a doubt. It will be remem- bered that the spring of '78 was extremely warm till about the 10th of May, at which time, it became cold and continued so till well into June. As the frost spoiled the apple blossoms, we were obliged to feed to keep our bees from starving. We fed for three weeks, and during all this time there were always eggs in plenty, but no larva1. These eggs kept the same place in the combs, yet at no time could we discover any larva1. But, says one, the bees removed them as fast as they were ready to hatch and the queen kept laying. We were almost ready to think so ourselves, but listen. It came warm suddenly, and the bees went to work bringing in plenty of pollen, and some honey, and in 24 hours the cells were teeming with larvae just hatched. Tell us where these came from, if not from those eggs that had been in the cells for three weeks. The queen commenced to lay again and, in due time, these eggs hatched, but not till the former larva? had attained 1-2 their size. 1879 GLEANINGS IN 13EE CULTURE. 435 Another thing-: To try the value of feeding- at such ii time, we fed two swarms all the syrup they would carry during the whole three weeks, but they reared no more larvae than any of the rest that were only fed to keep them from starving. During warm weather, we can do better; but we have come to the conclusion that it does not pay to feed for brood rearing-. We are sorry to go against our old teacher, E. Gallup, in his last article, but this is the conclu- sion to which we are driven after years of experience. Perhaps, if we fed the Hour candy we might change our mind, yet we hardly think so, as our hives are always well supplied with pollen. In my report, your compositor made me say that 7-12 of my honey for the past 7 rears was box honey, while it should have read, 11-13 was box honey. Borodino, N. Y., Oct, 13, "!'.). G. M. Doolittle. lam very glad, friend 1)., that you have taken up this subject, although I cannot at present feel sure you are not mistaken. For many years. I have noticed that eggs did not always produce larva', and, like yourself, I have' seen eggs daily, for many days, with- out any larvae, or at least so few, that it was very plain the eggs were not hatching. My explanation of it was the lack of pollen (see p. 48, Gleanings for 1873, and p. 116, G lea x- .ings for 1874) ; and many experiments seem- ed to indicate that when other conditions, such as plenty of food, plenty of bees, etc., were not wanting, every egg, or at least nearly every egg- produced a bee. The flour candy and chaff packing seem sufficient to raise any amount of brood, even in winter, as Mr. Langstrotlfs experiments of last winter and spring abundantly show. Now, in regard to the point that eggs winch have remained in the hive more than 3 days unhatched may. after a longer period, hatch out into larvae : If this is so, we may remove the queen after she has fdled a comb witli eggs, and find eggs in the combs for a longer period than 3 days, and yet they may hatch into larva-. If this is possible, I must still think it a very rare occurrence. In our experiments of sending eggs and larva; by mail, we have gone over this ground a great many times, and I have never known an egg to produce larva*, after it was 3 days old. I, too. have noticed the large number of larva1 immediately after a sudden yield of natural pollen, but I ascribed it to the queen's hav- ing laid a large number of eggs in a very short time. If a comb containing eggs is taken from the hive, the eggs, if kept warm, will preserve their plump, fresh appearance, for the three days, but after that they shrivel up. and present the appearance of a wilted vegetable. The microscope makes this very plain. If we can have good eggs after the queen has been removed from the hive for 4 days or more, I shall be fully convinced, friend 1). TESTED QUEENS TIBMJK; 1IV»KIDS, ANU TWO QUEENS IN ONE HIVE. - r_\ BAR NOVICE, or GldEAHHraS (OT both, just B£ /ILJy) you like best, for it gives me the greatesl pleasure to read your valuable paper):— On ac- count of poor health, I am not able to do bard work, so am assisting my uncle in his apiary, and I enjoy working with the bees very much. Our minister borrowed the Gleanings, awhile ago, and you will think me selfish, but I declare I would rather he had | taken the Bible, for we happen to have more than , one copy of that book. I like to read your "Our Homes" very ninth. As regards what L. R. Jackson says on page 392, of Gleanings, about tested queens producing hy- i brids, I would say, I think we have had a similar ' case. I can not accept your theory that a queen bee can meet a drone the second time at all. Excuse ! me for differing with you, as my experience has ; been rather limited compared with yours. I will give you some facts that happened the past sum- mer, to show how a frstrrf queen may produce hy- brids, and also how two queens lived in peace for some 25 days in one swarm. I give the dates as the facts occurred, so you can see there was no mistake. A tested queen with her wing clipped was win- tered on stand 14; June 13th, removed queen to 61; 27th, removed queen to 40; July 5th, removed queen to5, and concluded to let her remain. When we took her out of 40, we found queen cells nearly 1 ready to seal over. These I destroyed, of course, as we were not sure they were from the tested queen. July 16th, I began to take brood from 5, to raise queens from, but had some difficulty in find- ing enough of the right age. The bees now began to make small queen cells, and the queen would lay In nearly every one. In a number of cases, I allow- ed them to remain till they were capped over, and then removed them to nuclei. I now made up my mind the queen was about failing from old age, and that the bees were going to supersede her. One day, I found several large cells destroyed. As the old queen was all right, I supposed the bees hud changed their mind. Sept. 8th, I concluded to make a final "post hkh- tal" examination of the swarm, and see if it was best to try to winter the old queen once more, and was pleased to find plenty of brood in all stages, also the old queen apparently doing her duty like a man : but, just as I bad concluded that everything was ac- cording to— "Dr. Watts," I discovered another large laying queen, not more than 5 inches from the old one, on the same flake of eomb. To say I was some- what astonished, would come far short of the truth. The next day. 1 took the old queen away. I wish, now, I had let her remain and watched the proceed- ings on that line the rest of the fall, but my wits come in streaks, and 1 often think of what might have been. I watched the hatching brood for six days, before the hybrids began to come out, so you see the young queen had been laying 15 days when the old one was taken out. Allowing her to be 10 days old when she began to lay would make 25 days that two queens were together in the same swarm. in peace and harmony, in my opinion, those hybrid bees in Mr. Jackson's swarm, or any other swarm, did not come from a tested queen. Vim perceive I am not a man of few words (my friends could have told you that before). You must not crowd out valuable matter, but if there are any facts here that you can make use of In your inter- esting paper, I should be pleased. Thomas It. Putnam. Conn., Oct. 14, 18TO. Thanks for your compliment, friend R., but you are too late in your belief that queens do not meet the drones more than once. It is comparatively a frequent thing to find a queen returning with the marks of having met the drone, and then to have her go out next day. and return again in the same way. Would it be strange that she should meet a black drone at one time, and an Italian at another V Your explanation of the matter, that there may have been two queens in the hive, is a good point, and it may have been the case in some instances. As it is almost impossible to be able to affirm with absolute certainty that there are not two queens in almost any hive, the suggestion is certainly a valuable one. 43G GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Nor TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF INTRO- DUCING QUEENS. AN A B C SCHOLAR'S STORY. fiHE queens came all right (some of the workers were dead), a day ahead of the notice. I im- -1 mediately proceeded to introduce them accord- ing- to directions. When the two long days were fully accomplished, I let out both of them. The $2.00 queen, of course, I was the most anxious about; so, instead of covering the hive over, I tried to see what she would do; or rather, what the bees would do. I could not see her, so I took out the comb she ran down on. Then I found her easily, as she was so different in color from the rest of the bees. The bees did not notice her much, and I was about to put the frame back, telling my wife- she was help- ing me(?), and standing at the corner of the house several rods away— " that each couple tly in different directions. One can stand in one posi- tion, and manipulate two hives, and neither cart imi' man be in the way of Hying bees. San Diego, Cal. Rueus Morgan. I think, friend M., that California, as well as almost every other locality, needs energy to go with its natural advantages as a honey state. You are doubtless correct in regard to the cause of the honey found on the oak : the matter has been discussed before, in our back volumes. It is not honey dew. Very glad to hear the fdn. mill pleases. IS I CAKING FEUT1LG, LAYING QUEENS, IN A HIVE CONTAINING A FERTILE, LAYING QUEEN. CAN IT NOT 15E DONE? ffillAj the reader please turn to page jjw 361, Sept. No. V Now, read the item - J headed "Two Queens in One Hive," and my comments upon it. Then read the following : A NEW FEATURE IN QUEEN HEARING. The last queen you sent me is a clipper; although she cost only $1.25, I could not wish a better one. 1 wrote you last month that I had two queens in one hive. I took the young one out and gave her to an- other hive, and she is the largest queen I have, and very prolific. Well, there are two queens in the same hive again, and both laying queens. I was looking through the hive yesterday and saw the young queen laying. She is like her sister, very large. They are both daughters of the $3.00 queen you sent me this spring. J. J. White. Clinton, Mich., Aug. 19, 1879. Now all we have to do is to develop the disposition of the bees reared by this queen, and we are done with the troubles of queen rearing, and also with artificial queens ; are we not, friend Foster? See page 436. I wonder if friend Hasty has time to leave bis clover heads long enough to take such a queen, and produce plenty of queens that would always have a sister or two in the hive with her, when swarming time came. Friend White, I will give you $10.00 for the queen just as she is now, and if she raises a third daughter while sbe remains prolific and fertile, I will give you $25.00 for her. You see I will have an apiary then, all alone by myself ; and how do you know I shall not get a race of queens that won't kill each other at all, but "let love through all their actions run, and all their 'ways' be mild." HOW FAR WILL BEES GO FOR HONEY? f'HE precise distance that bees will fly in search of forage, I am unable to state. Some consider J three miles to be the extreme limit, while others place it as high as twelve miles. The most satisfactory results may be expected, if abundant stores can be found within two miles. It is evident that they will work more freely upon blossoms at some little distance, than when these are very near the apiary. If I were to sow anything with a view to a supply of honey, I should prefer that it should not be in the immediate vicinity of the hives. Their flights are evidently modified by local conditions. During the large yield from basswood in 1871, as the blossoms failed in the valley, the bees continued bringing in the same quality of honey, following the basswood day by day, as it opened on the hills, until the first week in August, when they still came in heavily loaded, but very tired from a long flight. I drove to the hights, six miles distant, and found (hat basswood was there just coming into bloom. I immediately moved 48 swarms to this location, and in the following week these 4H colonies gave me one ton of surplus honey, while the 71 swarms left at home, did not secure one-half that amount, yet they continued working upon the same ground during the entire period. This is a tine illustration of the advantage of obtaining forage within a reasonably 442 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Nov short distance. I have never had direct proof to the effect, yet there is ground for the belief that if hon- ey could not be found nearer, bees would not tly the distance named, without being- gradually led along by newly opening blossoms as in the case mention- ed.— Quinby 8 New Bee-Keeping. A IC1 UIMII It. GETTING BEES READY FOR WINTER. ^jrmRIEXD ROOT :— InGL jSp p. 123, you request me .eanings, Vol. VII, No. 4, me to remind you to turn to that page about next Nov. My name has been so often brought before the public in connection with chaff packing, that I very much dislike to say anything farther in relation to it, but prefer rather to leave the discussion of its merits and demerits to others who have given, and are giving, it a trial, feel- ing confident, not only from my own experience but also from what information I get from other sources both public and private, that, notwithstanding the inconvenience of using heavy, bungling, chaff pack- ed hives, the day is not far distant, when, in the northern states, the plan of keeping bees on their summer stands, packed in chaff summer and winter, always prepared in a moment's time for either, will be quite generally if not nearly universally adopted. But, Mr Editor, is not Nov. rather late ? we some- times have quite severe winter weather in Oct., and I prefer to have the bees prepared for winter before such weather comes ; neither do I like making up wintering colonies by uniting small, queen raising stocks ; or taking brood from strong colonies to build up weak ones, later than about the first of August. In fact, I prefer to disturb the brood department of stocks intended for wintering, as little as possible after that date. Perhaps it may be a conceit of mine, but I imagine at least, that such stocks usually win- ter best. How was it with your house apiary last year, as compared with the bees out doors ? If you must make up stocks for wintering later, crowd the hive with bees, leave off the enameled cloth, put duck, carpeting-, or some better conductor of mois- ture in its place on the frames, put on the chaff cushion, or, what last winter's experience indicates as better, leave off the cushion and cover the frames with four or more inches of loose chaff. In short, put the bees in such shape that their own heat will make the interior of the hive so warm and dry that uncapped honey, in any part of it, will keep thick and waxy till spring, and I think you will have little cause to complain of spring dwindling. Mr. Presi- dent, you are correct in saying that this "malady" affects young as well as old bees. I have known good stocks, composed largely of young bees hatched in the spring, to die off by the dozen, during the months of April and May. And now a question or two. Are not your young queens that are laying drone eggs in straight, smooth, worker comb, five cells to the inch, artificial queens? Did you ever know a natur- al queen to be guilty of any such "misdemeanor," unless she was old, and her time almost out? J. H. TOWNLEY. Tompkins, Mich., Oct. 14, 1879. You are right, friend T. ; when I asked you to remind me to read that passage in Nov., it was not that I expected to delay putting my bees in the chaff hives until then, but that 1 might remember my promise not to try to winter any more in Simplicity hives. The chaff hives have been made, with good tin roofs, and the bees were mostly put into them some time ago. If bees that are strong and well filled up for winter are lifted out of Simplicity hives and set into chaff hives in Nov., or, in short, at any time in the winter, I think it would be better than not to be in chaff hives at all. Some of our weak colonies have been used to keep queens until late in Nov., for the accommodation of those who are always wanting a queen late, to save some accident- ally queenless colony. Now we shall have quite a number of stocks that are made up from these weak stocks, or nuclei, and rath- er than let them be lost, 1 shall try to unite and winter them, although I know from past experience it is rather a difficult matter. I hope, by profiting by past failures, I may be able to succeed better this winter witn such stocks. I agree with you, friend T. ; I would prefer to have stocks that had not been tinkered with and the combs mixed up, later than their last yield of honey ; but, as we who raise queens for sale cannot well do this, we must take the consequences, for aught I see. I agree with you also, that loose chaff in the upper story of the hive is apt to make a better protection than the chaff cushion, but if the cushions are tucked down carefully, I think they may be at least nearly as good, and they are vastly more convenient in looking into a hive. DRONES IN WORKER COMB. I presume, friend T., your question refers to the occasional drones that I spoke of, in worker comb. It is not confined to artificial queens, and I think I can find an occasional drone in almost any hive, in the summer season, among black bees in box hives as well as Italians. If you, by careful looking, cannot do the same, please remind me of it the next time I come to see you. %ftfld§ c§ ^min, From Different Fields. cutting a "bke tree." ¥OU say, in the Sept. No. of Gleanings, that you like to hear of cutting bee trees, so I will _ tell you how 3 men who work in the same shop with myself cut one a short time ago. They found the tree about 2 months ago, and have been talking about it ever since. They even contracted to deliv- er 25 lb. of honey to a party. They got permission to cut the tree on condition that they would cut and trim it into logs. They worked oue night about 3 hours chopping it (it was a solid basswood tree, 2'/2ft. through). Alter getting it down, they began look- ing for the entrance, and one of them, running his hand into a crotch, felt something peculiar, and call- ing for a lantern, the 3 bee-hunters found— not a nice lot of honey, but a large hornet's nest. You can imagine how they got away from there. Fortunate- ly, none of them were stung, but they won't hear the last of it for some time to come. F. H. Wilmarth. Gloversville, N. Y., Sept. 15, 1879. REPORT FROM AN A B C SCHOLAR. I commenced a year ago last spring, with four swarms of blacks. 1 bought one late last fall, and bought three queens during the season, increased to IS, and took about 300 lbs. of surplus. I wintered my 18 all right, and increased this season to 52, all good, strong stocks, except 4 or 5 which I think I will double up, and have taken about 1000 lbs. of surplus honey. The season has not been very good here. Me'rton, Mich., Sept. 17, '79. Harvey Auton. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 443 HONEY DEW HONEY. I send you, by to-day's mail, a sample of granulated honey. Jt was collected by the bees in May and June, from common honey dew. It granulated very soon after they collected it, and it was, at first, white as A coffee sugar; but, from some unknown cause, it turned a little yellow, and, as you will discover, is melting- now. This sample is just as it was collected by the bees. There is no adulteration in it, and I would like you to show the sample to as many of the experts as you can, and see how many will pro- nounce it pure, and give us the result in Gleanings. Quite a number of men here pronounce it grape sug-ar. A. S. Smith. Atlanta, Ga., Oct. 15, 1879. The honey is fair to the taste, but was quite soft when it reached us, being but little like grape sugar in taste or appearance. I think the bees would use it for winter stores if as soft as this. The taste is much the same as that of honey dew honey which has been sent us heretofore. On account of its strong taste, like molasses or brown sugar, I should fear dysentery, unless the bees could rly out almost daily. where did the queen come from? The next day after sending- my postal, the section boxes came to hand, all right, the freight being- 75c I have tOO on Lives, and most are working- very nice- ly. Nothing- can be handsomer than those sections nicely filled with white clover honey. I have a query for you. On May 1st, I had one queenless hive. I inserted a frame of brood and watched it carefully, but no queen cell was built. As the swarm was quite weak and in a poor hive, I thought I would let them perish. Ten days ago, I saw they were work- ing quite actively, and examined them. Ihey were quite strong-, and had three or four frames filled with capped brood. Where did they get a queen? Salem Centre, Ind., July 5, '79. W. E. Kimsey. You say your hive was queenless. How do you know it was queenless? The very fact of their not starting cells on the brood you gave them seems to me to indicate that they had a young queen all the time; and, as soon as she became old enough, she be- gan to lay. "LAZY bees" and what to do with them. Friend Root .*— I am vexed at my bees. I have them in L. hives, and have given them the best of care, and am in what I call a good location, there being plenty of white clover, basswood, &c. I gave them plenty of room and kept them well shaded, but they would lie out during clover bloom and ever since, and eat all the honey a few industrious bees gathered. 1 have ten stands, but they never reward me with a little honey to eat. I wintered so that I lost none. They were strong this spring, but they have given me but few swarms; some have not swarmed at all, and are strong colonies. I got my start from a couple of swarms that came into two L. hives I had sitting in the yard. One of them was a hybrid swarm and the other black. They came to me in 1876. The hybrids have about run out, so that I have nearly all blacks now. I like bee-keeping, but it has, so far, been an expense to me, without any returns. I think 10 colonies ought to pay for their hives and other expenses, and if you can tell me how to make them do it, and give me a surplus, I shall be truly grateful. 1 read all the bee litera- ture I can get. I have "Langstroth on the Honey Bee," three numbers of the A B C, and take Glean- ings and the A. B. J., but find nolhing applicable to my case. Now, if you can tell me what to do, please say it and you will truly oblige Henry J. Ar.vis. Montrose, la., Aug., 1879. Friend A., the frame of sections which we advertise, I invented especially for such ob- durate cases. I would put one of these frames of sections right into the midst of the colony, and, after they get well started at comb building in the sections, move them against the outside of the hive, having the tin separators turned toward the brood, of course. When they get well to working on them, in this position, put on an upper story, and hang in it one or more of these frames which they have started, and they will stop loafing on the outside of the hives when there is honey to be gathered, I can assure you. IS THERE DANGER OF BROOD IN THE SECTIONS? Does the queen ever put eggs in upper story of your 1% story hives? SHORT L. FRAMES AND LONG ONES. Do you think the full length Langstroth frame is as good as the short 13 1-2 inch frame, in the spring, for building up? Also, is the short as good as the long frame, after they are built up and are strong? Libertyville, Mo., Aug. 13, '79. J. B. Dines. We very rarely find that the queen has used our small sections under any circum- stances, and I have never known of eggs in the single tier of sections, on the 1* story hives. We have used this season, frames running crosswise in the Simplicity hives, in one small apiary of hives, but 1 cannot see that nuclei have built up any faster with them, than with the usual L. frames. After they were built up, I have not been able to discover any better progress in brood rearing. I have always supposed we could build up nuclei better with the short frames ; but, so far, practice has not seemed to corroborate the theory. CHAFF HIVES BEST FOR SUMMER AS WELL AS WINTER. Here is my report: I had, last fall, 22 stocks; this spring, 21; and from the defunct colony, one queen that I saved in a cage until May, then gave her to one of the other colonies that had lost their queen. My stocks, this fall, number 43, 3 or 4 of which are nucleus colonies on 4 frames, that I shall try to keep, as they have nice queens. 1 also took l,600tt>. of extracted honey, l,2 of it white clover; and, best of all, as much of it as I care to sell is sold. I always keep 100 or 200 lb. to feed in the spring, if I need it. Chaff Hives are best for summer use (I had II in use), and I hope now they will prove as good for winter. Many persons have lost Dees by worms this summer. All box hive men say that this is the poorest season for 20 years. Many of them lost al- most all their bees last winter, and what they had left made neither honey nor increase, and J4 of them succumbed to the worms; so that, taking all in all, they are pretty well discouraged, and want to sell out. Next spring, I think there won't be a very large stock of bees around here. If mine only live I won't care much, as it is almost impossible to get my queens mated right, there are so many black drones. B. F. Pratt. Dixson, 111., Oct. 12, 1879. AN A B C SCHOLAR'S TRIALS IN INTRODUCING. I am one of your ABC scholars, and, if I am not intruding too much on your time, I will give you my little nay. I began last spring, with 5 colonies, one being queenless. I now have 11 colonies. Iheprog- eny of the little, dark colored queen I purchased at your establishment in May are very handsome yel- low Italians. I tried in vain to introduce her in my queenless colony; they balled her every time that I released her. 1 found a little worker brood in the hive. 1 then united them with another colony, and smoked them thoroughly, but still there was war. I removed the queen from another hive, and was suc- cessful in introducing the purchased queen. I love to be among the bees, and shall see that they go in- to winter quarters well supplied. Wooster, O., Aug. 27, '79. P. S. Ihrig. THOSE NICE HAMMERS. I was going to say something about that nice ham- mer, but Mrs. E., who takes such a lively interest in "Novice and Blue Eyes," has just come into the room, and says I must not mention hammer. I sup- pose you have heard the saying about the "wink and nod to the horse that could not see." Stateburg, S. Ca., Oct. 7, 1879. W. J. Ellison. 444 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Nov. HONEY CANDYING IN THE CELLS DURING WARM WEATHER. In many of our strong swarms, the honey has granulated, presenting a very white appearance, and, in some instances, when the cells are reversed, the granulated honey will run out like grains of wheat. Much of it is quite solid, and most beauti- ful in taste. We have never witnessed the like be- fore in warm weather. The question is, will this granulated honey return to its natural state, as when gathered? If not, will the bees winter on it? A. F. Moon. Rome, Georgia, Aug. 15th, 1879. I should be inclined to think the bees would use it for brood rearing in warm weather, but if it is solid in warm weather, I should be afraid of it for winter stores. I have known bees to tumble out the candied honey in winter, in their search for mois- ture. The hardening in the cells is the diffi- culty with pure grape sugar, and this hard- ened honey must be very nearly identical with pure grape sugar. If you can shake out these grains, or throw them out with the extractor, and add some cane sugar to them, as I directed last month, it will prob- ably make them permanently liquid. ITALIANS KILLING OFF THE BLACKS AGAIN. I am in search of light. I bought several queens of you this season, and introduced them all success- fully; but, think of my surprise, after they had filled their hives with Italians, and become very strong, when the Italians commenced killing off the blacks, dragging them out, carrying them off, and leaving thousands of them in the yard! This occur- rence is so strange that I want some information on the subject. The word bee sounds very small, but their true nature is certainly a very deep subject, and one that will take years to comprehend. This occurrence seemed to me so unnatural, that I must confess it gave me some trouble. Bees have done but little in the way of honey, but have strong colo- nies. I think I will be able to go into winter with fair prospects. Jackson Wills. Greenfield, Ind., Aug. 21, 1879. You will see on page 401 of last month's journal, what I think of this charge against the Italians, friend W., and even now, I must think it is for some other reason than their color, that the blacks are seemingly expelled. Are you sure it is anything more than bees that have died of old age ? The young bees are all Italians, and the old ones all blacks ; may not this fact have something to do with it V Can we believe it possible that the bees themselves have any partiality for those of their own color V This would be giving them more intelligence than I should feel like ascribing to the wonderful little fellows. May it not be that the blacks were exercising their natural disposition to rob, and the Italians being the better fight- ers drove and killed the blacks? It is also quite difficult to tell whether a dead bee is an Italian or black, as the body is usually so contracted that the yellow rings do not show much, if any. IS IT FOUL BROOD? I wish to ask you some questions concerning bees, as I see you are always ready to help beginners. I discovered one of my colonies dwindling, and, on examination, found what I supposed was foul brood, and destroyed hive, bees, and all. Since then, I have read more concerning the disease, and now question in my mind whether or not it was really foul brood. The brood combs were filled with brood, about one half of which was dead. They were in all stages of development, from the egg to the full grown bee ready to gnaw out. I handled the frames, but notic- ed no disagreeable smell. Some of the capped cells were slightly sunken, but those further developed were full and round. The combs were about five years old and pretty hard. I found, in another hive, the same thing on a small scale, and found that the frames affected were those taken from the old hive, with brood, for holding the new swarm. I cut out the cells with dead brood, and did not destroy the whole comb. Friday, I examined this hive and found all traces of the disease gone, but it was en- tirely destitute of brood. Now, why was there no brood? and what do you think of the case? I bought an atomizer and salicylic acid. Would it do any harm to use it on combs which are questionable? I started last spring with 16 colonies and now have 19 ; 18 are very good, with plenty of honey and plenty of bees. I think one cannot afford to sell comb hon- ey for 20c, so I wish you would send me an extractor. I would be proud to show you my home made section boxes plump full of clover and basswood honey, as white as snow. Thirty of the finest came from a swarm two months old. H. O. Mack. Benzonia, Mich., Aug. 18, 1879. I am inclined to think it was foul brood, in one of its milder forms, friend M., but we may be mistaken, and the dead brood you found may have been due to some other cause. The application of salicylic acid would do no harm in any case. I should be very glad to see your nice sections of honey, but we think here, that 20c. is a pretty good price, when every thing else is so low. HOW AN A B C SCHOLAR "CAME TO GRIEF," BUT FINALLY SUCCEEDED, AFTER ALL. I received the queen in good condition and suc- cessfully introduced her. I got into a fearful muss, however, overhauling the hive to find the black queen. The day was warm, and I selected a new swarm. The comb, being tender and full of honey, fell out of two frames, and I began to think all was up; but 1 closed up the hive, without the broken comb (there was some left in the two demolished frames), and put the queen cage, bees and all, on the hive, where I left her 60 hours, and then released her with her bees. They killed all the workers you sent in a few minutes. She was released on Friday, and was all right yesterday (Monday), for which 1 was very thankful. Jas. J. Church. Waterford, Canada, Aug. 19, 1879. MORE ABOUT INTRODUCING QUEENS. I have to ask a few questions again to-day, about introducing queens. First, 1 will tell you my expe- rience with the queen I purchased from you. As soon as she came, I sat down and read your instruc- tions carefully. After that, I put the cage, with the bees, right into the centre of the hive, to which I wished to introduce her. After leaving her 48 hours in that way, I released her, but she was balled by the bees at once. I took her out and caged her again for 24 hours; then I let her out, but the bees balled her again. Just at the same moment, there came a very heavy rain shower, so I had to let her go, and run for shelter, as soon as I had closed up the hive. It rained all day long, and I would not get wet and catch cold for all the queens in this world, so 1 left her balled up, to fight for her life as well as she could. The next day was pleasant, and I went for that hive to hunt up my certainly dead queen, but could not And her in front of the hive, so Hooked over the frames inside; there she was, just as lively as any other bee, and had already deposited an egg here and there, just as if she had tried to see if she had not forgotten her profession, on her long confinement. Now for the questions: Do you think the bees try to kill her by balling her? Why don't they sting her as they do other strange bees? Or, do they just ball her (as we would do with a friend when he returns from a long trip) to show their joy and gladness? M. K. Olmsted, 111., Aug. 18, 1879. Although your plan succeeded once, there is little probability of its succeeding again ; for, although a queen sometimes holds out until they get ready to let her loose, it is the exception and not the rule. I am afraid my explanation as to why bees ball a strange queen will be something like the doctor's 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 445 explanation to the old lady, as to why some people are born deaf and dumb. "My dear madam," said the Doctor, "it is owing to the fact that they are born destitute of a perfect development of the organs of hearing and speaking." "La, me !" said she, "what a thing it is to have a physic edication. I have asked my old man that ere question more than 40 times, and all the answer I can ever get out of him is, 'Caze they is.' " I do not think it is because they love them, friend K., but rather because they consider them an enemy, much as they gather about a robber bee ; also, because a strange queen always arouses a queer kind of excitement in a hive of bees. THE HONEY SEASON IN GEORGIA, AND THAT COMB A "FOOT THICK." The latter part of the season has been quite favor- able. Rain began to fall about the 20th of July, giving- life and vigor to the floral world, which caus- ed it to bud and blossom, and the flowers seemed to contain their usual amount of nectar. About the first of Sept., bees began to swarm and continued for about ten days. To these swarms, we gave frames of brood and honey, which, with what they gathered, placed them in tine condition for winter quarters. Bees are still gathering considerable, and the most of them are in prime condition for winter. The little piece of honey, mentioned by us, of the size of a cubic foot, is now nearly completed. It, with the casket in which it is completed, will weigh over one hundred pounds. Should our life and health continue, we will, at no distant day, compel them to make comb from eighteen to twenty-four inches thick. This, for me, would be more easily done than to raise queens that duplicate themselves every time. A. F. Moon. Rome, G a., Sept., 1879. DO BEES DESTROY GRAPES? Friend Root: —You and perhaps all the readers of Gleanings have had the blessed bee denounced as a nuisance for the mischief it does to fruit, especial- ly ripe grapes. I have heard them vehemently de- nounced for biting open and sucking out the juice of the grape. Well, I have one favorite grape vine that I have let run up to the top of a large cherry tree. I went to it one week ago, and found the bees roaring in it, as if it was in full bloom. What could they be getting? Some were sucking the juice out of the grapes, and some were running over the bunches of grapes, evidently hunting something. On examination, I found some grapes punctured with a small round hole, as if with a pin. 1 selected a nice, handsome, ripe bunch, went to a hive, open- ed it, laid the cushion back, and placed the grapes right on the bees. They examined it closely; that was all. I left it on 21 hours; then opened the hive, and found the grapes all perfect. I then took a sharp nail, punctured one-half of the grapes, put the bunch back as before, and they commenced sucking the juice before I got the hive closed. I left it 21 hours, then opened the hive again, and found those grapes which had been punctured com- pletely used up; but the others were untouched. I have left them in a hive 3 days, and found them as nice and plump as ever. Now, if there are any doubting Thomases, let them go and do likewise. Seeing is believing. J. Elliott. Easton, Wayne Co., O., Oct. 3, 1870. But even seeing sometimes deceives us, friend E. You saw that the bees would not tear open whole grapes when placed in or near their hives, but I think, if you had looked a little farther, you would have found that some of them, at least, had learned the knack of tearing open sound grapes while on the tree, or vines. Bees can, with their strong mandibles, tear through a substance much stronger than the skin of a grape, when they set about it. I have often cut branches of basswood blossoms, and placed them before the hives ; but, although the trees were alive with them, they would pay no attention to those blossoms before the hives. The remedy for bees destroying grapes is to pick them, for the bees never tear them, until dead ripe; even then, they never molest them, unless there is a great dearth of pasturage. Give me sweet grapes, dead ripe, during a severe drouth, and I can teach almost any hive of hybrids or Italians to eat them. MAKING THE BEES REAR DRONES OUT OF SEASON, AND DRONE BROOD BY MAIL. I have been some time trying to get my Italian queen to lay in drone comb, and cannot succeed. 1 put the drone comb in the centre of the brood nest, and she would lay a few eggs and then stop, and the comb would get filled up with honey. 1 extracted it, but it did not do any good. Please inform me how I could get her to lay in the drone comb. If you can not, what would you charge me for a pound of drones? I would like to get some Italian queens fertilized by Italian drones. M. H. Mendelson. Accord, N. Y., Aug. 19, 1879. This is a very difficult matter, friend M., and I never, but once, succeeded to my full satisfaction in making bees rear drones, after the season was over. Then I fed a single colony a barrel of sugar, in Sept. and Oct. The combs, when filled and sealed, were given to other stocks, and the queen finally produced an abundance of drones, but it was rather an expensive experiment. Eood must come in for some time, and in great plenty, to secure drone brood. The man who will succeed in having drone brood for sale, during the fall months, can get al- most his own price for it. I think it might be sent by mail, from localities where Fall pasturage 'is plenty. WHY DON'T THEY SWARM? AND HONEY FROM SMART WEED. I have four very strong swarms of bees. Three of them are common bees, and one is an Italian swarm. They have hung out all summer and have not swarmed yet. 1 have Simplicity tops on my hives and have taken 74 one-pound section boxes of honey from them. Please tell me the cause of their not swarming. They are working lively on smart weed, this morning. Is there any honey in smart weed? Chillicothe, la., Aug. 18, '79. Joseph Ball. You have done fairly, friend B., according to the season, and your bees, in all probabil- ity, did not swarm because there has been so little honey for them to gather. You could easily have secured increase while they were hanging out. by artificial swarm- ing, but you would, probably, have lost your honey crop by so doing, and perhaps would have been obliged to teed besides. Smart- weed does furnish a good deal of honey where there is plenty of it, more especially, the large kind called, in our seed catalogues, black heart. FROM THE A II (' SCHOLAR THAT "GREW SO PAST" LAST YEAR. I have 28 swarms at present, all reared from 8 wintered. 1 have taken only 3009). surplus comb honey this year. My hives are in good condition for winter— 115 Italian swarms, and 15 blacks. I have sold all my comb honey at home, readily, for 20c. per tr>. I have transferred 62 swarms this season, at ¥1. KEADY FOR WINTER. 'E have had a poor honey season, on account of the drouth. I had 16 stocks in spring', in Simplicity and chaff hives, and have tak- en 5001b. section box honey, and increased to 24. They are in good condition for winter, except that they are not very heavy with honey, and may need some feeding in the spring. They are all packed with chaff division hoards on each side, and cushions cm top, of frames. R. I. Barber. Bloomington, 111., Oct. 10, 1819. IMPORTANCE OF ANSWERING .A T.I. LETTERS PROMPTLY 11Y RETURN MAIL. Every thing you send conies promptly. I have sent to parties not 200 miles from here, when the same mail that carried your orders carried theirs, and received your acknowledgement first. Samuel Griscom. Montgomery, Ala., Sept. 21, 1879. HONEY CAUSING SICKNESS. Do you know of any receipt that will prevent strained honey from causing sickness (I mean when used in moderation)? [.Nothing, unless scalding will help it. By the use of the extractor we can keep the different kinds of honey separate, and those who find it difficult to eat one kind will often find another to agree with them perfectly.] SCALDING TO PREVENT CANDYING. Also will scalding it prevent its candying? [Scalding- will liquefy all candied honey, but it will soon candy again, if exposed to cold, unless it is her- metically sealed while hot, according to the direc- tions given in A B C] HONEY YIELD IN OCT. IN VIRGINIA. The honey yield is just commencing', and the little fellows have filled every cell this last week. John Williams, Englishman. Barton's Creek, Va., Oct. 30, 1879. Lit really does me good, to hear of a honey yield in October, in any part of the world where Gleanings goes.] REPORT FROM AN A B C SCHOLAR. I commenced with 4 colonies, and increased to 9 the first year. The next, I increased to 21; and this year, increased to 49 and took 700ft. of extracted honey, ami 300ft. of comb honey. I winter on sum- mer stand, packed in chaff, and have never lost by wintering. While % of all the bees exposed in the old box hives perished in my neighborhood, last win- ter, mine came through all right, and I had a swarm May 5th. My plan is to increase by dividing, in which 1 have always succeeded. Francis Danzenbaker. Gettysburg-, Penn., Oct. 13, 1879. ANOTHER REPORT FROM CANADA. The weather is warm like summer. Gnats were biting me this morning before it was light. What a pity we could not have had such weather in Sept. It was so cool then the bees did not get much honey from golden rod or other fall flowers. Our whole surplus was from fruit blossoms and white clover; basswood only yielded a taste. This has been the poorest season I ever knew; still we have taken 401b. surplus to each old stock, and 1 have sold nearly 100 queens. Ila Michener. Low Banks, Out., ('a., Oct. 7, 1879. [Pretty well for a bad season, friend Ila, but how does it come that D. A. Jones gives such a good re- port? 1 presume his good fortune does not extend all over Canada.] THE NEW PLAN OF INTRODUCING QUEENS. After 1 received the August number of Glean- ings, I tried your plan of introducing queens, and was perfectly successful. I think that will prove to be a better way than the old plan of caging them 24 to 48 hours. O. A. HOAG. West Union, Mo., Aug. 10, 1879. introducing queens. I received the queens the 4th inst., and have re- leased her every day since, except the two Sundays, and, to-day, after having been several times "ball- ed", she was accepted and is laying. The native queen proved to be a very small one, really not as large as a worker. Hence the trouble to find her. C. C. Shipp. Spring Dale, Miss., Oct. 13, 1879. [Depend upon it, my friends, this is the only way we can succeed with stubborn colonies. The' plan's often given, of allowing the bees to liberate the queen, caging her on the brood and letting them gnaw her out, &e., will all fail when you get a colony like the one mentioned above.] OUT OF PRINT(?). Can your book, known as the "A BO of Bee Cul- ture," be obtained any where in New York City? I have inquired for it of the O. Judd Co., and Ameri- can News Co., and they say it is out of print. 1 would like to know your price for mailing it to me, provided it is not for sale in this city (New York). Chatham, N. J., Oct. 13, 1879. G. M. Swaim. [Rather a joke on the A B C, is it not, friend S.? It rather looks as if some of the city folks had a stereotyped way of excusing themselves for being out of a book. I think you will find the O. Judd. Co., at least, supplied in future.] I came through with 50 swaims last spring. My average yield per stock is 53tr>., or 2,150ft. in all, 200ft. extracted honey being included in above. A. W. Anderson. Oambridgeboro, Pa., Oct. 7, 1879. [Pretty well done for this season, friend A.] A CAUTION ABOUT PUTTING MANY QUEEN CELLS IN ONE HIVE. I write you asking you not to put your article on "Economy in Maturing Queen Cells," on p. 301, Aug. No., into the A B C. Ilhought it would be a nice thing, and put about 70 in one hive, when the yield of honey suddenly ceased, and the bees, oncluding not to have so many, tore all down but about 10. So you see I lost $15.00 worth of cells in three days, and 1 do not wish ethers to lose in the same way. F. L. Wright. Plainheld, Mich, Aug. 15, 1879. [Thanks, friend W. I have never had the cells destroyed as you say, tort as we have never given the matter a lengthy test, you may be right.] THE COLD BLAST SMOKERS. The '; dozen cold blast, Simplicity Emokers, ob- tained of you early in the season, were at first dis- carded a< a nuisance. Latterly, however, I have had the small chimney, or cone, supplanted wifn a larger one, and find them to work in a very satisfac- tory manner indeed. J. S. Woodburn. Newville, Pa., Aug. 9, 1879. Will not cheap brown sugar or raw cane sugar be used as readily as grape sugar, by the bees? and cannot cheap syrups or molasses be used for feed- ing: bees? H. P. Nichols. Bridgeport, Conn., Aug. 21, 1879. [Not as readily as the grape sugar now made; be- sides it is not as wholesome, or as cheap.] PURE DRONES FROM HYBRID QUEEN. Will a pure Italian queen raise pure drones, when she is matfd with a black drone? or will the drones be the same as the workers, only half bloods? LDroncs will be pure, I think. See A B C] SOUR HONEY. Will it be hurtful, to feed bees sour hi ne\ ? If not, what way would you feed it? [Will do harm for winter stores, but may be fed safely in spring and summer, if they will take it.] Honey has been almost a failure here this season. Alexis, 111., Sept. 2?, 1879. E. L. Dunn. THE ASTER AS A HONEY PLANT. We have a flood of aster honey here this fall. W. L. Moores. Cyruston, Lincoln Co., Tcnn., Oct. 17, 1879. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 451 ITALIANS VERSUS BLACKS. I have 10 stand-; of boos, 9 black and 1 Italian. The Italians, or their queen rather. 1 bought of I), s. Given late in the summer. Not any of the blacks have been seen out of late, but the' Italians are out early and late to work for dear life. I think more of that one stand than of all the rest, and then they are so tame and active, that it is a pleasure to handle them. I want nothing but Italians after this year. Bees all through this part of the country have not made honey enough (on an average) to keep them, excepting- the Italians. Is this the gen- eral experience of others? \V. H. Shedd. Watseka, 111., Oct. Iti. 1879. EXTRACTING UNSEALED STOKES IN THE FALL. Should unsealed honey be extracted now, or wait until November? [I hardly feel like advising to extract in the fall at alt my friend, but if you have had an unusual How of honey, perhaps it may bo host to extract that which is unsealed. I think L would at least wait un- til some warm day in Nov., and then if there was not a great quantity I would not extract at all.] CONTRACTING SPACE FOR WINTER. Should I put in any more frames for winter than the bees can well cover? [Put the bees on the fewest frames possible, but see that these few frames contain ample stores.] SUGAR SYRUP VERSUS HONEY FOR WINTER. Is sugar syrup as good to feed foi winter stores as honey? [Syrup from coffee sugar, if fed early and well sealed up in the combs, as a general rule, is more wholesome than the general run of natural stores, and much better than the most of the late fall hon- ey. If you have not fed until now, use candy in place of syrup.] APPLE JUICE OR CIDER FOR WINTER STOKES. I notice -the bees working on apples, and this morning I extracted a little uncapped honey and it was decidedly acid. Will such honey cure so as to be good for the bees? MRS. A. M. Sanders. Sheridan, Mich., Oct. 5th, 1879. [If your honey tastes acid. I am inclined to think it crimes from the bees having been to some cider mill, for they would hardly get enough from apples to do them any harm. You will see by the ABC, cider is -\ery dangerous where bees collect it for i winter stores.] COMBINING THE MAT AND ENAMELED SHEET. Why not tack the slats to the top side of the en- ameled cloth, and thus get the advantage of both? [I have tried the plan, but it does not seem to be as convenient, and it kills bees. The enameled j sheet kills less bees than any other device I know of, because they readily crawl out from under it.] Could the entrance be made in the end of the hive? i [Yes, or any where you wish.] FLAX CHAFF, ETC. Is flax chaff good for chaff packing? Wheeling, Ind., Aug. 17, 'TO. O. P. M. Head. [Any kind of chaff that is warm, and will absorb the moisture will answer. Flax chaff has been used, but buckwheat, oats, or wheat seem to keep dry \ rather better.] BUCKWHEAT SOMETIMES A FAILURE, AND WHAT TO DO WITH COLONIES HAVING LITTLE OR NO COMB. The buckwheat was nearly a total failure. The young swarms in this country have no comb or hon- ey. I had quite a lot of honey in boxes, got before I divided the bees, but I used' it up, expecting they would till up on buckwheat. Our oldest bee man can not account for the buckwheat's being a failure; the crop was tolerably good. Will you please an- swer the above and tell me what course to pursue to save my bees. < . g. Shannon. Shannondalo, Pa., Oct. 22, 1879. [It is rather a bad case, tfi attempt to winter colo- nies without combs. It may be best to unite them with colonies having combs; but, if they are strong in bees, you can perhaps save them, by feeding the candy mentioned last month. A farmer once came to me, saying some boys had robbed his bee hive, leaving the bees clustered against the stubs of the combs, in the top of the hive, where the comb had been broken out. By my advice, he carried them into the cellar, fastened a fanning mill seive over the hive, which was inverted, so the bees could not get out, and fed them coffee sugar syrup, through the seive, all winter; and they came out in the spring in good shape. The syrup was poured on them a little at a time, so as not to daub their wings. He did better than I expected.] ARTIFICIAL QUEEN CELLS, AND WHAT CAME OF THEM. May I inquire how "nice queen cells to order. Strung on a stick, for 10 cents per dozen (!) sent bv mail, post paid," has "panned out?" Are vou and tnend Boyd satisfied with the results? I fear that each of your shares of the proceeds will be some- what similar to the old freedman's in Mississippi, who was to get one-fifth of all the crops raised; but, when gathered, the old man found 11ml there was no one-fifth to get. Bees are O. K. K. C. Taylor. Wilmington, N. C, Oct. 18, 1879. [The artificial queen cells were partially a success, but the bees were so notional about raising queens in manufactured "bee cradles" that we dropped it. I am not sure after all, though, but that it may be made a success.] KOOF TO THE ONE AND A HALF STORY HIVE, AND THE FORTY. CENT CASE OF SECTIONS. Your one and a half story hive is (in my opinion) a humbug and a nuisance. The cover leaked so bad- ly. 1 was forced to take my bees out of it. The 40c case of 28 sections is another humbug. I lost about 20 lbs. of honey by it, for while the bees were seal- ing the sections over, they had nothing to do for want of room. They were a very strong colony of blacks. Perhaps you will say I ought not to have put it on such a swarm. Well, this is my first year with bees. I will know better next year, if I live. I don't write in a complaining spirit, and have no hard feelings in the matter, but am iust a little dis- appointed, that's all. W. E. Flower. Shoemakertown, Pa., Oct. 15, 1879. [I must think your cover a bad one, friend P., for I have had no complaint before of their leaking. If water does get through them, we may be compelled to use tin. as we do on the chaff hives, but it will lie considerable additional expense. In regard to the case, you will see, by the reports from others, how widely opinions differ; some claim thev have found it ever so much ahead of the broad frames, and oth- ers right to the contrary. Perhaps another season might cause you to decide differently.] THE QUEEN THAT FLEW AWAY, AND WHERE SHE WENT. Queens came to hand promptly, and I have suc- ceeded in introducing them. Both are laving now, and seem to be very prolific. 1 had a little trouble with one of them. The next day after laving the cage on the frames, 1 looked and found the 'bees all dead but one. I concluded to put fresh bees with her, and put one in. It attacked her. As I bad not intended to turn her loose at that time, 1 bad neglect- ed to prepare smoke, but blew my breath on them two or three times, and could not separate them. The queen commenced screaming, anil I tore off the wire cloth and separated them, and attempted to put her back in the cage, but she slipped my lingers, soared high, and alighted on a peach tree. I at- tempted to catch her, but she Hew again, and I lost sight of her. I watched around thpre for an hour or two. hoping that she would come back, but failed to see her. Well, I walked into the house, feeling very much like the boy that let the bird go. Next day, I opened the hive with some thought of restoring 'the old queen, when, to my surprise ami gratification, I found my lost queen, moving about pert and spry as a cricket. She had introduced herself. We have had a very poor honey season here this vear, until about two weeks ago. Bees are gathering honey faster now than they have any time this season. Uussellville, K'y., Sept. 22, '79. Josiah dokris. A FEW QUESTIONS FROM AN A B C SCHOLAR. Are there always robbers buzzing about the en- trances of the hives? Is that common in all apiaries? [Robber bees are not common only when there is a dearth of honey. Unless your bees are badly de- moralized, not a robber should be seen, for at least two months, in the height of the season.] 4.52 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Nov. EARLY ITALIAN DRONES. How can we get our Italian drones hatched very early next spring? We want them pushed ahead of the blacks, if possible. Would you advise putting drone fdn. in the hive to get them very earlv? Pocahontas, Tenn., Oct., 1879. C. M. Reed. [Feeding1 will start drones earlier, if done skillfully; but it is a pretty hard matter to get them out much before they make their appearance naturally.] BLACKS VERSUS ITALIANS. Now, if you care to hear it, I will say a word about mv black bees. There i* an apiary of Italians 12 miles from here, but my blacks outstrip them "tee- totally," making hundreds of pounds of surplus honev, while his, so to say. make none. If I should succeed in getting three banded workers, I should "try them to their bottom:" and, if they prove themselves superior,— well, I suppose I must then Italianize. J. H. Johnson. Middagh/s, Pa., Oct. 21, 18:9. [That is risrht: give us reports from practical work. Your locality may be a better one than your neighbor's.] WHEN TO PACK BEES IN CHAFF. What time do you generally pack for winter? [As soon as you have frosts any way, and, if pack- ed a month before, it will be all the better.] My bees did middling well. They doubled them- selves in numbers, and gathered considerable sur- plus honev. Jno. II. Kephart. Shueyville, la., Oct. 15, 1879. HOW LATE MAY QUEENS BE FERTILIZED? Is it too late for virgin queens to meet with drones this season? Tit depends on the locality, weather. &c. We have never had queens fertilized, here, later than the middle of Oct.: but. with such a fall as this. T pre- sume we might get them fertilized even in Nov. Tt is so risky, however, it hardly pays to take the chances so late.] WINTERING IN BOTH FTORIES. Will strong colonies winter well, in two stor'-. Lana-stroth hive<=, without honev board, when both stone* are filled? Isaac Kneeland. Newburn, la., Oct. 20, 1879. [Very strong colonies are sometimes wintered in that way, but, as a general thing-, T think it rather a riskv experiment. It would virtuallv amount too nearlv to the old box hive system, and we have ex- amples all around us, of how bees winter in these.] PARALYZING WITH PUFF BALL. Friend Harding, a bee man, purchased a "dollar" oueen of t<~vu a few davs ago, and introduced her as follows: He removed the native queen, and near sundown, in order not to be disturbed by robber bees, placed the cage containing the queen in the hive where he wished to introduce her, and, with his smoker charged with puff-ball fuel and Are, pre- cepted to smoke them until all were paralvzed. Then he opened the cage, put m Italy, for raising voung queens? Best's, Lehigh Co., Pa., Oct. 23, '79. D. E. Best. [This is an important point friend B., and I have been for some time thinking that a selection of good queens from our own stock mi^ht be even better than those we import from Italy. If I were going to raise honey alone, I am not sure I should use a queen from Italy. See what I have said on page 431. If I were raising queens for sale, it would be another matter; for, insomuch as there has been so much disputing about what was pure and what was not pure, it is a comfort to any one, and it would be to me, to know that the queens purchased are unques- tionably daughters of queens right from Italy.] THE PICTURES. T can not afford to give up Gleanings, for the pictures are worth the price, besides the amount of instruction on bee keeping. I. R. Green. Unadilla, N. Y., Sept. 24, 1879. A man who bought an A B C book and a smoker, at our fair, said it was of more benefit to him than all the rest of the fair. I). C. Underhill. Seneca, Illinois, Sept. 10, 1879. A GOOD REPORT FROM BUCKWHEAT, AND ALSO A GOOD REPORT FROM THAT SUNDAY SCHOOL. My bees are all Italians and hybrids. Late frost in the spring killed all the maple and elms, and the dry summer killed the remainder. What saved my bees was an acre of buckwheat; and I count that worth $50. to me in surplus honey, not saying any- thing about winter stores. Now about our Sabbath School; we have had a sr>nd meeting and 24 conver- sions recently. Now I don't think there are more than 8 or 10, over 12 years of age, in our large school of 100, that are not Christians, and my praver is that God may give us them. We have such a pleasant school! It does mv soul good to see them come in and enjov themselves so well. I wish you could step in some Sabbath morning and take part with us. James Parshall. Union Valley, Nodaway Co., Mo., Sept. 22, 1879. [I am glad to hear so good a report from a single acre of buckwheat, but I am more glad still, to hear that that Sabbath school is prospering so well. Such work is not only laying up treasures in Heaven, but the influence will spread and widen upon earth, long after you and I have passed away. As I feel that I have a sort of a share in that school, I am go- ing to make them a present of an imported queen, to be koot and cared for by you, for the benefit of the school, in such a way as you may think best.] BEES THAT WORK ON RED CL.OVER. f]HE following came to hand after what I had written on p. 431 was in print. Yon may be sure, I read it with inter- est, and I hope yon may too. Referring to Mr. Vankirk's letter, on page 413 of Gleanings for October, I would ask, is he not a trifle hasty in pronouncing the queens impure be- cause they are dark colored? Having, during the past week, visited the apiary of Capt. W. F. Wil- liams, of Liberty Centre, O., my attention was drawn to numerous colonies that hud stored a large surplus of honey from red clover, and this during the time when blacks and hybrids were not making a living. During the past 3 years, friend Williams has se- cured large quantities of red clover honejr, and he endeavors to improve his stock, breeding only from those that possess the ability to gather the honey from red clover. In order to do this, he practices a novel method of measuring (he tongues of his bees, in order to select those he breeds from. I noticed, particularly, that the choicest colonies were a little "off color," and, by a person not experienced in this particular, would be considered hybrids. The ability to gather honey should be taken into consideration above every thing else (for it is the honey we are after), and among the other essentials are prolificness, industry, gentleness, and lastly color. Friend W. states that his brightest colored Italian bees do not store the amount of honey that the darker ones do, and that he can clearly distin- guish a difference of a sixteenth of an inch in the length of tongues possessed by some colonies over others. Taking these facts into consideration, would it not be well for our friend to make haste slowly in his decisions? Jno. Y. Detwiler. Toledo, O., Oct. 6, 1879. 451 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Nov. f m, love, and might, Foes may hate and friends may scorn me, Show thy face, and all is bright. I really believe the very happiest hours of my life were during the height of public feeling against me, and, in breathing the last four lines of the little hymn above, it seemed as if the very presence of my Savior were going about with me through my daily duties. My poor wife lost courage and faith and worried about it when I was absent at my work, but when I was present, her faith returned. Said she one day, "When you are away, I see troubles insur- mountable, but when I see your face, and hear your cheerful voice, all doubts are gone at once, and I have not a particle of doubt but that God is with you, and will take care of you." Those days were so very quiet and peaceful, without a single chiding voice from conscience, that I began almost to wonder if she had not deserted her post, and I had gone crazy, as the people said • but, in less then one hour after that thought, God show- ed me the fallacy of it. It was Saturday, and a comb fdn. mill had been positively promised by a certain time. By some carelessness, the wood work for the stand had not been sent to Mr. Washbv as it should have been. As there wasj school, I told my boy to get up the horse! wagon, at once, and take it up to Mr. " shop, and that he must also deliver some lumber to another man, enjoining him to be sure and do it right off. The roads were terribly muddy, as they are often here in the spring of the year, and it was almost all a horse could do to draw an empty wagon. Towards noon, Mr. W. came down for his wood work. "Why, did not Ernest bring it to you ?" "I have not seen him." I made inquiries. Finally, one of the ii tiie • urn, w's 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUBE. 457 hands said he came down with the wagon, but that some one told him it was too muddy to draw the lumber, and so he took the horse and wagon back home. "But. I have been in the office all the time ; why did he not ask me who gave him his or- ders, before taking advice from some one else V" I finally found that Mr. Gray, not know- ing of the fdn. mill, had supposed all he came with the horse for, was to carry the lumber, and he had told him it was too muddy. It was simply a misunderstanding, but I rea- soned that my boy, when he was right close to me, should, at least have notified me who gave him his orders, before going back home, through the deep mud. As I also told him most emphatically, about the fdn. mill, I could not see any excuse for such vexatious conduct. I forgot that one of the most nat- ural and besetting sins of boyhood, is a want of thoroughness and care, until they have learned the need of it by experience. I was fast getting- into a mood, to scold severely, and the more I thought of it, the more my "righteous(V) indignation" rose up, and in spite of the voice of conscience to look out, and "go slowly,1' I pushed ahead, got my hat, and started for home with rapid strides. On my way, conscience kept warning me, and I had no doubt then, about its being there all right, but my old self kept saying that man must have his fdn. mill as agreed, and that my boy ought to be taught a lesson, for such heedless disregard of what I told him to do. I forgot his good points, and I forgot that he never objected in his life, to any thing I asked him to do. Alas, I forgot all, but to rush ahead on the spur of the moment. Satan had got hold of me for the time being, and he was not slow to use things to his advantage. On the way, a neighbor stopped me, and commenced remonstrating about my course in the Home Papers. With- out breathing a prayer to God. and trusting to him, I commenced defending myself. Conscience again implored me to stop, and as we got to talking so loud that the neigh- bors were looking that way, and passers by overheard our words, conscience spoke in words that fairly made me tremble, saying, "Mop / Stop ! STOP ! If God is going to take care of you, must you take up the cause in the streets V " I did stop then, and hung my head like one condemned. Bemorse commenced at once, but I was not conquered for all that ; I was simply smarting under its sting, and feeling out of patience with myself, and all the world beside. Just then, my boy came along. I tried to commence mildly, but the more I said, "the more I felt like saying more." lie, poor fellow, confessed his fault, that he had forgotten what 1 said about the fdn. mill, and he did not think to go to me when he had the horse down at the factory. Notwith- standing, I pressed on, and then ordered him, a young man larger and heavier than myself, peremptorily, to get the horse this in- stant, and follow my bidding. He went off without a word, and, for a little while. I tried to feel I had done right. Satan gave a little comfort and encouragement, by saying it was my duty to teach my boy to be prompt ! and thorough, but soon commenced that aw- ful remorse. That gentle spirit and presence I had had for days and weeks past was gone, I was an outcast on the face of the earth, like Adam and Eve, after their transgres- sion. I dared not pray. Oh ! what would I have given, to have had those hard, cutting words back again I I wandered to the facto- ry, and then back home, but the boy had told his mother, and, amid his tears, had de- clared he would go away, and work for some one else. He had lost all faith in me, and at this critical moment, when it was most important that his faith in his father should be unshaken, he condemned me in the whole, and perhaps like the rest, thought me crazy and not to be trusted. I prayed God to for- give me, and I asked my boy's forgiveness, but, for the first time in his life, he replied to me with coldness, and a sort of indiffer- ence. O ye fathers, I implore you, beware how you "provoke your children to wrath." Let your property go, let your money and your customers go; but do not let the respect and confidence of your grown up sons depart from you. Speak gently, reprove kindly, and let not your after days be haunted by the memory of bitter words spoken in anger, between you two. Alone in my room, I plead for forgiveness, and asked God to take me back to himself, and to restore my boy. The answer seemed to be that these demons go not out without long fasting and prayer, and I was told I must regain my boy, by my daily conduct in the future. I have told you, reader, about the boys who are so sure, that they will nev- er get drunk again. Well, I fear I wras too sure, that in my own strength I would never scold again. It is now the worst besetting sin I have on earth, to get out of patience and scold stingingly. I generally pull up pretty soon, but I ought to pull up before I get started. Now there is a moral to this experience after all. The moral is this : One who is praying earnestly to be guided every step of his life, will always be told when he is doing wrong. Conscience never sleeps, and lets men go crazy, without a learning voice. It seems my faith was to be tried with some real trials, instead of talk simply. Pub- lic attention, in our town, had been turned toward my "Bee Gleanings" as they termed it, as it had never been before. The editor of our county paper is also post master ; he remarked that my journal was but an adver- tising sheet, when we came right down to it, and it ought not, by good rights, to be al- lowed to go through the mails, at journal rates. I thought this pretty hard, but al- lowed the subject to pass by. A few days afterward, he came to me with an official pa- per bearing the stamp, Washington, and signed by the Post Master General, declar- ing that the publication known as "Glean- ings ix Bee Culture" had been declared unmailable at pound rates, under the section including periodicals whose primary purpose was to advertise the editor's business. I, of course, remonstrated, and asked who it is that decides these matters. He showed me 458 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Nov. a law, wherein this duty is assigned to the P. M. where the magazine is mailed, and sta- ted that he had pronounced it an advertising sheet, but, to be sure, had mailed a copy to Washington, and they had also so decided. I made inquiries of those who should know in regard to getting such a decision revoked, but it seemed pretty certain that a decision made by the P. M. G., whether right or wrong, was seldom if ever recalled. (Queens by mail for instance. ) It was like the law of the Medes and Persians. I asked our P. M. what feature of my journal I should remove, in order that it might pass through the mails. If I recollect aright, his reply seemed to in- [ dicate that it was all objectionable. I do not \ Wish any of you to think hardly of the man, j for he has many excellent qualities, and, I be- [ lieve. thought he was faithfully discharging j his duties, according to the law. I remembered the lines, and, "Man may trouble and distress me 'Twill but drive me to thy breast. "Foes may hate, and friends may scorn me, Show thy face, and all is bright." I went off alone, and told God all about it. The answer came very quickly, "All things work together for good, to those that love the Lord." Now, the point was, "Do I really love the Lord and my fellow men, or do I love to have all the business in furnishing bee supplies, and is not the real primary pur- pose of my journal to build up my establish- ment, and make a great show in the world? What is the primary purpose of the publica- tion of Gleanings?" It did me good to go over the ground, and as I prayed over it, it occurred to me that God had sent this trial, to caution me in regard to selfishness, and that Gleanings might be remodeled into a shape . where it would do more good . I wrote briefly to the P. M. G., asking what features of our journal must be omitted to allow it to pass through the mails, sending them copies of our letter heads, envelopes, etc., consent- ing to the giving up of the manufacturing business, and every advertisment of any thing I had for sale from its columns, if it was demanded, and closed with something like this: "I do not know, to whom I am writing, whether it be to one who believes in the Bi- ble and Jesus Christ or not, but, if I know myself, the primary purpose of Gleanings is to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, and to benefit my fellow man; and especially to this end are the last two leaves devoted. In behalf of the hands I emyloy, and the many whom Gleanings helps, I beg that your decision may be revoked/1 I told the hands at the noon day service of the blow that threatened us. and I told them, too, that unless God helped us, I knew not where to go for help. The decision exclud- ing Gleanings came just after our April number was mailed; and before our May number was out, one day, one of the clerks called from the top of the stairway, and say- ing "Good news!" sent a paper floating down, which fell at my feet. I raised it and read .as follows: Washington, April 35, 1879. The decision of April 1st, 1879. excluding- the pub- lication named Gleanings in Bee Culture from goina- in the mails at pound rates, is herehv revoked. Signed, J as. H. Mark. First Assistant Washington, D. C. Post Master General. As I give the above from memory, I may not have got the wording exactly, the paper having been mislaid. Furthermore, the news also came that, in- stead of paying 3c. per lb. as I had hereto- fore done. Gleanings could go at two cents per lb., and sample copies, for which we had before paid eight cents per lb., could also go for two cents per lb. Now, do you know that the greatest motive I have had in giv- ing away these thousands of sample copies yearly, has been that the last two pages might, like tracts cast by the wav side, reach hearts and do good, even if they did not bring subscribers and customers. If you, dear reader, should care to have any of the Home Papers go to any one you know on this wide earth, just send us the name and address, and it will be sent them cheerfully, whether they are bee keeners or not. At our noon day worship, I read the naner to the hands, and we had a rousing singing of the little hymn, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." Just try, my friend, giv- ing up something, or taking up for Christ's sake, some task, that seems like cutting off your very "right hand," and see if a blessing- does not come of it. The following letter from one of our young friends, shows how this spirit may help bee- keepers. Mr. Hoot, Dear Brother: — I call you brother be- cause I feel that we are brothers in Christ. Please bear with me. I want t • come to you i his miming as to a father. Your "Home Papers" have caused me to place implicit confidence in you. T believe you are earnest I v trying to overcome all your bad qualities, and I think it the dut\' of Christiins to give each other an enconragin? word now and then; this is the rea=on we should heed the admoni'ion, "Forget not the assembling of yourselves together." Dear Bro , do nor let the Home Papers di-* down; they help us lonely bee keepers when we are in tri- al help u-» to "look up." 1 must tell you something a bout my bee keeping. I started (four years ago) with one swarm, when eighteen, helped a neighbor log one dav with the ox- en topayforit. I ha* efoundit a pleasant study, and have spen' many happy hou'-s among them. Shall start into winter with 2fi swarms; all are Italianized. The past season I have had a great call for queens, and felt that I needed an imported queen. I decided the matter in Aug. '79. Y<>u did not have anv on hand at that time, and Miss Andrews did: so I sent her a draft for $5.00. In 3 davs, I had the queen safe «t Randolph, and liberated *afelv on 4 combs of hatching brood. Everything was done according to the best knowledge I could glean from Gleanings. In 5 days, I cnuld scoop out little "tauntv" larvae to gr^ft into queen cells. Oh! ho* happy I felt! Just to think; a queen of known purity, come across the *- great water, owned by unworthy O. F. Bowen! About this tim°, I had to go to Horuellsville, N. Y., to help fit up a camp ground. I left mv queen in care of brother Tyler. He fed that nucleus every night, so when I got home she had two combs partly filled wilh brood. I now set about preparing bees fur wintering. This 1 friime nucleus was not strong enough to winter, so [ decided to unite it with a good queenless Ftock by its side. I caired the im- ported queen, and united the bpes. They commenc- ed clustering on the cage, and building cells on her brood. I cut out the cells, and, in two davs, they ceased to knot ihemselves on the cage, so I ventur- ed to liberate her. She crawbd about among the bees and they acted kindly to her. In 10 minutes, I raised the frame she was on. and all appeared riaht; tho bees were performing their usual ceremonies. GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 459 In 15 minute? more, T looked again; she was on the boltf m board, wiih bees piled on top. I gave them a puff of smoke; Ibe bees got off, and she darted out of 1 he hive, quick as flash, up,— up. I watched faith- full;,- till dark, but she did not come back. Then these words came to mind, "Have we ttials and tr mptations? !■» there trouble anywhere? Wp should never be discouraged, Take it to the Lord in prayer." I felt badly. I went way back in the sugar bush, and prayed (kneeling by a maple) to the Good Fath- er. He seemed near and precious to me. I then could realize that I had thought too much of that queen. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." 1 now could see that I had let that queen get between me and my Saviour, although 1 had not meant to do any such thing; but our cruel enemy knows just how to deceive us, and ( ntice us away from God. I tell you ttuthfully Mr. K., 1 was a happy Christ- ian when I came from the woods, which was bed time. Next morn I watched for the return of the qui en but have looked in vain. I am to day with- out an imported queen; she is not in any' of the hives. Please write to me yourself when you can spare the time. 1 know you have good clerks, but I want some of your own words. It would do me lots of good to get a letter from you. O. F. Bowen. Randolph, N. Y., Oct. 3d. 1879. I am glad to be able to add, that God sent our young friend another imported queen ; lie always sends his children every thing they need, just as soon as he sees he can do so, without doing them harm rather than good. It was brought about by sending me a large lot of fine ones, at so low a price, that I was enabled to help some of the unfort- unate ones, at a price that was within their reach. "Only trust him." I often think since seeing your wonderful Ency- clopedia of Bee Culture, the ABC series, of the lines in Goldsmith's "Deserted Village." "And still thev gazed, andjstill the wonder grew, That one small Head could carry all he knew." Bl .untsville.jAla., Oct. 2, '79. A. W. Bryan. [Now, friend B., I just think that is too bad to go to abusing your old friend in that way, after he tins done the b.st he could. If you don't stop, I will get mad and go off, and never write any mote at all for you.] RA«PBERIUES AS HONEY PLANTS. You say tint you are going to plant a field of rasp- berries especially for honey. If so. and you have a side hill that you don't wish to cultivate but one or two seasons, on account of wash, &c, or if honey is the first object "and fruit second, and you don't wi*h to cultivate them, plant 'Brandy wines; for they will take the ground and keep it, sprout thoroughly, and sell for the highest price among red berries. If you wish to cultivate and fruit is an object as well as hom-y, plant Sweet Homes. D. D. Palmer. New Boston, Mercer Co., 111., July 21, "i9. Bees have not made much honey in this country this season. It has been the worst honey season for many years. The most I have got from a hive has been 401b. nONEY FROM RED CLOVER. Tell'E. E. Hasty that I have red clover that our bees have worked on all the season, on first, second, and third crop. I think I got more honey from red clover than from any thing else. SUN FLOWER AS A HONEY PLANT. But I havenever seen bees work on Sunflowers, and I have raised them for ten years and I have watched closely. D. D. Lightneh. Hobart, L-tke Co., In 1. Oct. 1, 1879. [Italiaus always work on red clover with us, and sometimes on sunflowers; but, this season, although we have raised a large crop of the latter, the bees have worked on it so little, I shall hardly dare to class it with honey." plants.] OUR CARTOON FOR NOVEMBER. THE BEES AND THE SPIDER PLAINT. DRAMATIS PERSON.*!. Novice, ivho has just got up. Tiie Bees, icho have just "got up" too. "Old Sol," who has just '■'■got up" too, and who seems to have a lively interest in the proceedings, as he shows his "shining face" just over the top of the wire fence. TIME AND PLACE. SCENE, — The flower garden adjoining the Factory. TIME, — Half ixtst five, o'clock, in the morning, Oct. 11th. For particulars of the "play," see page 430. 4r,o GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Nov SYIHPIIORH ARIMS VULGARIS. SINCE your notice in Gleanings of the Sj/m- phortcarpw, I have had many letters and postal cards concerning it, some containing stamps, and requesting their value sent in plants and seeds. I have; compliod with thoir requests up to this time, but so much letter writing taxes my time and pocket so much that I would have you tell them, through Gleanings, that I will send, post paid, l>y mail, six or more plants at 10c. per plant, or 5c. per plant for fifty or more, if sent liy express. Money sent in 3c. stamps, or post office order if over COc. That price will not more than barely compen- sate for cost, and time consumed in procuring, packing, and delivering to the office. For 15c. in stamps, 1 will send a package of seed; but the best way would be for several persons to join, and have a box of plants sent by express or freight. Our nearest rail road communication is twenty miles, with stago daily to Warsaw. Wo will have a rail road to Warsaw by next April. I am willing to accommodate the readers of GLEANINGS in any way I can. I do not suppose there will be demand for plants sufficient to pay for planting a nursery, and advertising them for sale, but will do what 1 can to oblige our brother bee-keepers. Warsaw, Mo., Oct. 25, 1879. W. ('. Smith. We have to-day, Oct. 31st, 43fS8 subscribers. We are compelled to advance the price of tin sep- arators to 81.75 and $2.25 per hundred, instead of the price given in the price lists you have. Since the rise in iron, nails have come up about So, per »>. above the list price, given In Aug. Glean- ings. It is now October 30th. We have had another frost, and a heavier one, and the spider plant has Stepped off the si age, no more to appear until next July, unless Novice shall coax her Into earlier bloom- ing, by some sort of an arrangement to start the plants in doors. -»- •••-»■ WINTER PASSAGES. If your combs have no holes in them, 1 think it would be well to make winter passages, .say one in the centre of the comb, about 2 inches below the top bar. A sharp stick will do it very well. With the L. frame, two holes, about 4 or 5 inclr.'s apart, would be still better. AliE YOUR BEES HEADY FOB WINTEB? [ HOPE Our readers have all their bees in winter trim by the time this reaches them. If in chaff hives, with sealed stores all around the cluster, and the upper story nearly tilled with chaff, either loose or in a cushion, they are, so far as 1 know, in as good condition as you trim well huvo them. If the colony is not strong, I would reduce the 8 inch entrance to about 2 inches. Pushing bits of woolen cloth in at each side will make a sure joint, and one that will keep out wind. If the bees have not stores enough at this late date, it will be a pretty hard matter to feed them liquid food, but it may be done, on warm days, by crowding the cushion over enough to get a simplicity feeder in at one side. You can hold the cushion away, enough to let the bees up, by a block or piece of wood. A pepper box feedor may bo used in the same way, and would bo used, perhaps, when the other would not. Candy may be fed any day in the winter, and I have wintered colonies on it successfully, when they had almost nothing else. Put it under the cushion right over the cluster. If you prefer to put them in the cellar, I would pack them in chaff the same way, and set them in some cool, dry day, and do it without bumping them. The cellar must be dark, frost proof, and dry, or you would better leave them out. }mHnUcn§. Notices of Conventions, condensed so as to occupy not over two lines, will be inserted free of charge. 187!). Nov. Dec. 1880. Jan. Feb. CONVENTION DIRECTORY. TIME AND PLAGE OF MEETING. 10.— Lancaster Co., Pa., at Lancaster. 10.— Michigan Bee Keepers' Association, annu- al, State, at Jackson, Mich. 13.— North Western 111., and South Western Wis., annual, at Davis, 111. 11.— North Eastern, at Utlca, N. Y. GROWING BETTER! We have the most Uattering testimonials from the most eminent bee-keepers that the Bee-Keeper*' Exchange is growing better at every issue. We are using every exertion to make the Exchange both useful and entertaining. The editor's business ability, tact, and thorough knowledge of bee-keeping, exactly qualify him to present a really valuable bee paper. The very best proof of these statements is the fact that all who subscribe for the EXCHANGE, renew their subscriptions at their expiration. We guaran- tee the Exchange to please and be worth the small sum asked, or "we will refund the money. Send for a sample copy and judge for yourself. Wo want 1000 Active Agents to work for the EXCHANGE, and oiler as inducement to such, n liberal club list, and a magnificent premi- um list. We send the Exchange postage paid, to any ad- dress as follows: One yearly subscription 75 cents. Two subscriptions at one time, each 65o. Three to live, each, Boo. Five to ten, each 65c. Ten or over at one time, each, 50C Our December number will be issued November 20th, and will contain our Empire Club List of peri- odicals and a condensed price list of Apiariiin Sup- plies. Do not fail to send for this. It will save you money. To Advertisers. We will circulate 10,000 copies or more of our De- cember EXCHANGE to live Bee-Keepers. As the number will contain much that is valuable, it will bo preserved. Advertisements must, be here by the lot Ii of November, and will be received as follows: Six lines or loss, per line, 40c. Twelve lines, (one inch), $4.50. Twenty four lines, (2 inches), $8.50. Four inches, $16.00. One-half page, $30.00. One page, $50.oo. TERMS:— Cash In advance, or satisfactory refer- ence. Address all letters and remittances to J. II. N EL, LIS, < .iii.i join ii. . N. V. DOOLITTLE Desires to place his Hoe Keepers' Club List in the hands of every bee keeper in the laud. If you wish to save money, put your address, plainly written, on a postal and direct to G. M. DOOLITTLE, lid Borodino, N. Y. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 405 IMPLEMENTS FOR BEE CULTURE ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED. For description of the various articles, see our Twenty-First Edition Circular and Price List, mailed on applioal Ion. For directions How to Make all these various arti- cles and Implements, see A B C of Bee Culture. This Price List to be taken in place of those of former date. Mailable articles are designated in the left hand column of figures ; the figures giving the amount of postage requin d. To Canada, merchandise by mall is limited to %% oz., and nothing can be sent for less than 10 cents. A 11 C of Bee Culture, Five Parts complete in one, paper cover 1 00 The same, neatly bound In cloth 1 25 Single Parts, in paper, each 25 Alighting Board, detachable (See A B C) $ 10 A lslke Clover. Sec seeds. Balances, spring, for suspended hive (00 lbs.) 8 00 Barrels for honey 2 50 " " waxed and painted.. . . 3 50 Basket for broken combs to be hung- in the Kxt raetor "5 Basswood Trees for planting. See price list. Bees, per colony, from $7 to fit). See price list. Bee-Hunting Box, with printed instructions 25 Binder, Emerson's, for Gi.eaninus 50, 00, 75 Blocks, iron, for metal cornered frame ma- king 15 Buckwheat. Sec seeds. Burlap for covering bees, 40 in. wide, per yd 10 Buzz-Saw, foot-power, complete 35 00 Buzz-Saws, extra, 85c, to $3.50. Sec price list. Buzz-Saw mandrel and boxes complete for 6 inch saws (no saws included) 5 00 The same for 7 and 8 in. saws (not mailable) 7 00 Cages for queens, provisioned (See price list) 10 " " " per doz 100 Candy for bees, can bo fed at any season, per lb. 07 Cans for shipping extracted honev (Sec Honey), f rom 2Sc to $1.00. Cards, queen registering, per doz 06 per 100 40 Chaff Cushions for wintering (See ABC).. 30 without the chaff 15 Chaff Hive (See Hives) 5 00 Cheese cloth, for strainers, per yard 06 Clamps for making section boxes 75 Clasps tor transferring, package of 100 25 Climbers for Bee-Hunting 2 50 Comb Basket, made of tin, holds 5 frames, has hinged cover and pair of handles 1 50 Comb Foundation Machines complete $22 to 100 00 Comb Holder to put on edge of hive 25 Comb in metal cornered frames, complete 25 Corners, metal, per 100 50 top only, per 100 60 bottom, per 100 40 Corners, Machinery complete for making $250 00 Crate for shipping comb honey. See Ilives. Division Boards of cloth and chaff 20 Duck, for covering frames and for feeders, 20 inches wide, per yd 20 Enameled Cloth, bees seldom lute or prop- olize it, per yard, 45 inches wide, 20c. By the piece (12 yards) 18 Extractors, according to size of frame, $6 60 to 10 00. " Inside and gearing, Including Honey-gate 5 00 " Hoops to go around the top 50 per doz 5 00 Feeder, Simplicity (See price list) 1 pint Feeders, 1 quart, tin, The same, half size The same, 0 <)ts, to be used in upper story Feeders, open air Files for small circular rip saws, new and valuable, 20c ; per doz. by express... " The same, largo size, double above prices. " 3 cornered, for cross-cut saws, 10c; doz Foundation. See Comb Foundation. Fountain Pump, or Swarm Arrester Frames with sample Rabbet and Clasps... 2 00 1 00 18 | Galvanized Iron Wire for grapevine trellises per lb. (about 100 feet) 25 | Oates for Extractors tinned for soldering . . I Gauge for planing lumber, brass " making hives (See Hives) 50 I Gearing for Extractor with supporting arm I (ilass. See price list. 0 I Glkamnus, per year 1 For prices of back vol's, see price list. I Gloves. See Rubber Cloves. J Grape Sugar for feeding bees. See price list. Grape vines for shading hives. See price list. | Hammers and nails. See price list. I Hives from 50c to $H 25. See price list. Honey. See price list. " Plants. See seeds. 0 Honey Knives, straight or curved blade... 1 " " H doz 5 " " % doz by Express 4 Jars for shipping extracted honey. See Honey. Labels for honey, from 25 to 50c per 100 ; for particulars see price list. Lamp Nursery, for hatching queen cells. . . 5 0 Larvae, for queen rearing, from June to 50 50 50 1 25 00 Sept Leather for smoker bellows, per side. Lithograph of the Hexagonal Apiary Magnifying Glass, pocket " " Double lens, brass, on three feet 75 Medley of Bee-Keepers' Photo's, 150 photo's 1 00 Microscope, Compound, in Mahogany box 3 00 Prepared objects for above, such as bee's wing, sting, eye, foot, &c, each 25 Muslin, Indian head, for quilts and cush- ions, pretty stout, but not good as duck, per yard 10 Nails. See Hammers and nails. Opera Glasses for Bee-Hunting 5 00 Paraffine, for waxing barrels, per lb 20 Photo of House Apiary and improvements 25 Planes and Planers. See price list. Pruning saws for taking down swarms, 75 and 85 Queens, 25e to $6 00. See price list. Rabbets, metal, per foot 02 Rubber Gloves, $1.50 and $1.75. See price list. Rubber Stamps, $1.50to 3.00. See price list. Rules. (See Pocket Rules) 12and20c. Salicylic acid, for foul brood, per oz 50 Saw Set for Circular Saws 75 Saws. Sec Circular Saws. Scales for weighing honey, etc. See price list. 0 | Scissors, for clipping queen's wings 40 0 I Screw Drivers, all metal (and wrench com- bined) 44 inch, 10c; 5 inch, 15c. Very nice for foot-power saws. Section Boxes, fancy, hearts, stars, crosses, &c, each 05 Section Honey Box, a sample with strip of fdn. and printed instructions 05 Section Boxes in the flat by the quantity, $6 00 per thousand and upwards, accord- ing to size ; for particulars, see price list. Case 01 8 section boxes, showing the way in which the separators are used, suitable for any kind of hive (Sec price list) 10 SEEDS OF HONEY PLANTS. Seed, Alsike Clover, raised near us, per lb . . 30 " Catnip, good seed, per oz. 10c; per lb. 1 (X) " Chinese Mustard, per oz 15 Mellilot, or Sweet Clover, per lb 35 " White Dutch Clover, per lb 35 " Motherwort, per oz. 10c; per lb 100 " Mignonette, per lb. (20c per oz) 140 " Simpson Honey Plant, per oz 50 " Silver Hull Buckwheat, per lb 10 " " " " peck, by Ex press 75 " Common " per peck 50 •' Summer Rape. Sow in June and " July, per lb 1ft " Spider plant,' per oz 25 A small package of any of the above seeds will be sent for 5 cents. Separators, tin, for section boxes. Sec Seel ion Boxes. Sheets of Enameled Cloth to keep tho bees from soiling or eating the cushions 10 Shipping Cases for 48 section frames of honey 60 The same for 24 sections, half abovo prices. This size cau be sent by mail In the Hat, for 75c. Slate Tablets to hang on hives 01 15 466 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. SMOKERS. Smoker, Qulnby's (to Canada 15c extra)l 50 & 1 75 " Doolittle's, to be held in the mouth 25 Bingham's $100; 150; 175 " Oca own, see illustration in price list 75 Soldering: Implements 1 00 Swarming- Box 75 Tacks, tinned, per paper, (three sizes) 05 For larger quantities sec Hammers and nails. 5 I Thermometers 20 10 | Transferring clasps, package of 100 25 | Tin, see price list. Veils, Bee, with face of Brussels net, (silk) 75 The same, all of grenadine (almost as good) 50 Veils, material for, grenadine, much Btronger than tarlatan, 21 inches in width, per yard 20 Brussels Net, for face of vail, 29 inches in width, per yard 1 50 Wax Extractor 3 50 Copper bottomed boiler for above 1 50 g Wire cloth, for Extractors, tinned, per square foot 10 Wire cloth, for queen cages 10 Above is tinned, and meshes are 5 and 18 to the inch respectively Wire cloth, painted, for shipping bees, 14 mesh to the inch, per square foot 05 | Wire for grape vine trellises. See Galvan- | ized iron wire All goods delivered on board the cars here at prices named. A. I. BOOT, Medina, Ohio. Names of responsible parties will be inserted in either of the following departments, at a uniform price of 20 cents each insertion, or $2,00 per year. $1.00 Queens. Names inserted in this department the first time with- out charge. After, 20c each insertion, or $2,00 per year. Those whose names appear below agree to furnish Italian queens for $1,00 each, under the following conditions : No guarantee is to be assumed of purity, or anything of the kind, only that the queen be reared from a choice, pure mother, and had commenced to lay when they were shipped. They also agree to re- turn the money at any time when customers become impatient of such delay as may be unavoidable. Bear in mind that he who sends the best queens, put up most neatly and most securely, will probably receive the most orders. Special rates for warranted and tested queens, furnished on application to any of the parties. Names with *, use an imported queen ipother. If the queen arrivws dead, notify us and we will send you another. Probably none will be sent before July 1st. If wanted sooner, see rates in price list. *B. W. Hale, Wirt C. H. W. Va. 1-12 *A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. *H. H. Brown, Light Street, Columbia Co., Pa.7-3tf *E. M. Hayhurst, Kansas City, Mo. 1-12 *J. M. C. Taylor, Lewiston, Fred. Co., Md. 1-12 ♦Paul L. Viallon, Bayou Goula. La. 8ttd *J. Oatman & Sons, Dundee, Kane Co., 111. 2-1 Miller & Hollam, Kewaskum. Wash Co., Wis. 4-4 •J. T. Wilson, Mortonsville, Woodford Co. Ky 4-4 J. L. Bowers, Berryville, Clarke Co., Va. 7-12 *King & White, New London, O. 8tfd * F. J. Warden, Urichsville, Tusc. Co., O. 12-12 Hive Manufacturers. Who agree to make such hives, and at the prices named, as those described on our circular. A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. H. Scovell, Columbus, Cherokee Co., Kans. 4-3 P. L. Viallon, Bayou Goula, Iberville Par., La. 9tfd FLAT-BOTTOM COMB FOUNDATION. High side walls, 4 to 16 square feet to the pound. Circu- lar and samples free. J. VAN DEITSEV & SONS, Sprout Brook, Mont. Co., N. Y., 12 Sole Manufacturers. Growing Better! We have the most flattering testimonials from the most eminent bee-keepers, that the . BEE-KEEPERS' EXCHANGE is growing better at every issue. We are using eve- ry exertion to make the Exchange both useful and entertaining. The editor's business ability, tact, and thorough knowledge of bee-keeping:, exactly qualify him to present a really valuable bee paper. The very best proof of these statements is the fact that all who subscribe for the Exchange renew their subscriptions at their expiration. We guarantee the Exchange to please and be worth the small sum asked, or we will refund the money. Send for a sample copy and judge for yourself. We want 1000 Active Agents to work for the Exchange, and offer, as inducement to such, a liberal club list and a magnificent premi- um list. We send the Exchange postage paid to any address as follows: One yearly subscription, 75 cents. Two subscriptions at one time, each 65 cts. Three to five, each 60 cts. Five to ten, each 55 cts. Ten or over at one time, each 50 cts. On trial 3 months for only 20 cents. Our December number will be issued Nov. 20th, and will contain our Empire Club List of periodicals and a condensed price list of Apiarian supp lies. D j not fail to send for this. It will save you money. Address all letters and remittances to J. H. NELL.IS, Canaooharie, N. Y. SEED-TIME AND HARVEST, The Latest, Cheapest, and Best. A New Illustrated 24-page Magazine devoted to the cultivation and improvement of our American Gar- dens. Price only Fifty Cents per year, and each number contains as a supplement a packet of some New. Rare,, or Novel Flower or Vegetable Seeds, which alone are worth more than the subscription price. One sample copy free. Address— Seed-Time and Harvest, La Plume, Lack'a Co., Pa. 12-3 Sections ! Sections ! Before ordering elsewhere, send us a 3-cent stamp for a sample of our beautiful, snow-white, poplar Sections, dovetailed or to nail. These are the nicest and cheapest in the world. (This none will deny). HIVES AND OTHER SUPPLIES made to order very cheap. Illustrated circulars free. A. E. MANUM, 12-2d Bristol, Addison Co., Vt. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 467 THE A B C of BEE FOR several years, it has been my ambition to lie . able to write a book on bee culture, so clear and plain that not only any boy or girl,lbut even an old man or woman, with the book and a" hive of bees, could learn modern bee culture, and make a fair, paying business, even the first season. This is a great undertaking, I grant; and it will require some one with far greater wisdom than mine, to do it the first time trying. After watching beginners, and an- swering their questions almost constantly, for years, I came to the conclusion, that the only way to do it was to "cut and try," as carpenters say, when they can't get the exact dimensions of the article they wish to make. To cut and try on the A B^C book, I have invested over $2,000 in type, chases, etc., sufficient to keep my whole book standing constantly in type, that can be changed at a moment's notice. The books are printed only as fast as wanted, and just as soon ; s I see I have omitted anything, or have made any mis- take, the correction is made before any more books are sent out. To show you how it works, and how it succeeds, I will give you an illustration. A beginner writes to know if it is of Jany use to keep a queen, after she is eighteen days old and does not lay. Now I know very well that a queen should lay when from ten days to two weeks old; and also, that they will sometimes not commence until they are three weeks old, and then make good queens. Now, although I directed that they should be tossed up in the air, to see if their wings were good, when they did not lay at two weeks of age, I did not say, if their wingsjproved to be good, how long we should keep them. If 1 could spare the time of the colony, I would keep a' good looking queen that could fly well, until she is 25 days old; if crowded for a place to put cells, I would kill all that do not lay at 18 or 20 days old. I have just put the above in the ABC, and that is just the way I am going to keep dning. You see, you beginners are, ultimately, to build up the book. The book, as it is now, contains nbout 275 pages and about 175 engravings. It is furniahod complete in one, or in 5 different parts. The contents and trices are as follows: Part First, will tell you all about the latest im- provements in securing and Marketing Honey, the new 1 ft. Section Honey Boxes, mak- ing Artificial Honey Comb. Candy for Bees, Bee Hunting, Artificial Swarming:, Bee Moth. &c, &c. Part Second, tells all about Hive Making, Diseases of Bees, Drones, How to Make an Extractor, Extracted Honey, Feeding and Feeders, Foul Brood, etc, etc. Part Third, tells all about Honey Conib, Hon- ey Den', Hybrids, Italianizing, King Birds, 'I'he Locust Tree, Movins: Bees, Tlie Lamp Nursery, Mignonnette, Milkweed, Mother- wort, Mustard, Nucleus, Pollen, Pro- polis, and Queens. Part Fourth tells all about Rape, Raspberry, Kat-.in, Robbing, Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, Sage, Smokers, including instructions for making with illustrations. Soldering, Sour- wood, Stings, Sumac, Spider Mower, Sun- flow* r, Swarming, Teasel, Toads, Trans- ferring, and Turnip. Part Fifth tells about Uniting' Bees, Veils, Ventilation, Vinegar. Max, Water for Bees, Whitewood, and Wintering. It also includes a (Glossary of Terms and Abbrevia- tions used in Bee Culture. 1^~A11 are Profusely Illustrated with En- gravings. Nothing Patented. Either one will be mailed for 25c; »/» doz., $1.25; 1 doz., $2.25; 40, $6.00. The five parts bound in one, in paper, mailed, for $1.00. At wholesale, same price as Glkanings, with which it may be clubbed. One copy, $1.00; three copies, $2.50; five copies, $3.75; ten copies, $fi 00. The same neatly bound in cloth, with the covers neatly embellished in embossing and gold, one onpy, $1.25; three copies, $3.25; five copies, $5.00; ten copies. $8.50. If ordered by freight or Express, the pi >stayre may be deducted, which will be 3c on each 25c book, I0e on the complete book in paper, and 12c each, on the complete book in cloth. A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. 463 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. *onfynUcM. Notices of Conventions, condensed so as to occupy not over two lines, will be inserted free of charge. WANTED to exchange— Thorough Bred Poul- try for Novice Extractor, Comb Foundation, or angthing necessary in the apiary. Correspond- ence solicited with enclosed stamp. E. H. NICHOLS, Williamston, Mich., 12 Central Michigan Poultry Yard. CONVENTION DIRECTORY. TIME AND PL4CE OF MEETING. Dec. 10.— Michigan Bee Keepers' Association, annu- al, State, at. Jackson, Mich. Jan. 13.— North Western 111., and South Western Wis., annual, at Davis, 111. Jan. 13.— Indiana Bee Keepers' Association, at In- dianapolis, Ind. Until further notice, we will pay 22 c. in cash, or 25 c. in trade, for beeswax. Our Medina Postmaster wishes it stated (see png-e 458 last month), that it was not his individual opin- ion that Gleanings should be excluded from the mails. He was simply undecided in the matter, and therefore sent a copy to Washington, etc. Oh dear, Oh dear! this number is full, and much that I had decided must go in is crowd-d out; some nice pictures, too, including the prettiest match box (sent by mail for 10c.) that yon ever saw, and can be used on any smoker. Oh dear! A PRESENT EOR EVERY SUBSCRIBER. Any one who sends u-< $1.00 for Gi.eanimos, before Jan. 1st, 1880, the subscription to begin with Jan. 1880 is entitled, for so remittiug, to any one of the pre- miums mentioned below. We make this offer main- ly to avoid, if possible, the necessity of taking- down our subscription list at the end of the year, and the mistakes that always occur more or less in setting- up a new one. In ordering Gleanings, simply give the No. of the premium you wish. No. l.-Two bee-keepers' badges, described on page 4' 1. Mo. 2.— \ one foot, boxwood, folding, pocket rule. No. 3.— A 10c. tray of new grape sugar candy. No. 4.— Any two, 5c. packages of honey plant seeds. No. 5.— A two oz. package of comb foundation. No. 6.— A pint bee feeder, either simplicity, Hains, or pepper box. No. 7.— A 10c. hammer. Or a good Glass-cutter. No. 8.— A lithograph of our old apiary. No. 9.— A sample of our Medina to., white clover honey. No. 10.— Three samples of the new tin plates to give away with the honey, when retailing it. No. 11.— An all metal screwdriver. No. 12.— A two quart honey pail, japanned and ornamented. No. 13.— A steel for your wife to sharpen her cooking knife on. No. 14.— A spring balance, to weigh 24 lb. No. 15.— A two horse steam engine and boiler — hold on I hold on! it won't go into the post office, but I will tell you what I will do. Since I wrote a- bout the importance of every boy's having a pocket rule, I have sold many hundreds of the 12c. rules. Well, I talked, too, about every boy's having a good, sharp, pocket knife, and I have been looking for one that just suited me a whole year, and it has just come. Look at it. Sawing off a log, Easy and Past. Our latest improved sawing machine cuts off a 2-foot lopr in 2 minutes. A $100 PRESENT will be given to two men who can saw as much in the old way, as one man can with this machine. Circulars sent free. W. Giles, 741 W. Lake St., Chicago, 111. 1 SHALL continue to keep on hand, and offer at reasonable rates, a full variety of Bee-Ke.pers' Supplies; such as Mulli's All iTIetal Honey Extractors, Uncapping Knives, Wax I vliiiitiiis etc. Also Lang'stroili's Bee Hives, and any Parts thereof, 1 A 2 lb. Square Glass Honey Jars, with Tin Foil Caps and Labels, [Corks, lA lb. Glass Tumblers, Fruit Jars, etc. Comb Foundation, Bee Veils, Gloves, Straw Mats, Alsike Clover, and a variety of Garden and Field Seeds, etc., etc. For further particulars, address CHAS. F. MUTH, 9T6 and 978 Central Ave., eom Cincinnati, O. WANTED.— By a farmer, aged 23 years, a situ- ation with an experienced apiaiist who is up with the times. Reference given and reference re- quired. F. MINNICH, Gratiot, 12 Licking Co., Ohio. HEADQUARTERS FOR WHITE LEGHORNS. Stock first class. For sale, shipped in light coops, at $3.00 per pair; $4.00 per trio; 20 splendid breeding L'ockerals at $2.00 each. Eggs pack- ed in light baskets, $.'.00 per 13. Postal cards promptly answered. Address all orders to j JOHN VV.THORNRURG, IQ12 Winchester, Randolph Co., Ind. fl!AR Bee-Keeper's Magazine, 75 c. ; A. B. Journal, ikUili), $1-25; Gardener's Montblv,$ .75; Seribner's "■"»' Monthly, $3.05; Rural Life, $1.46; Fruit Re- corder, 90 c, and a large number of other papers at reduced rates. Subscribe and save money. 12d E. H. WYNKOOP, Catskill, N. Y. OUR 15C. AMERICAN POCKET KNIFE, FULL SIZE OF CUT. SENT BY MAIL AT THE PRICE GIVEN. It is an American knife made by the Empire Knife Co., West Winsted, Conn. The blade is of the best English steel, hand forged, and the whole is bcantifullu finished. If it wouldn't make any boy turn sum- mersaults on Christmas morning, I don't know what would. If your family is more girls than boys (like ours), you can have a beautiful, white-handled knife instead of it. Either of these knives will be sent in place of the " steam engine." If you wish to buy any of the above articles, the first 11 will be 10c. each, post paid; the last 4, 15c. eac'j post paid. DEVOTED TO BEEH AISD HONEY, AJVr> HOME INTERESTS. Vol. VII. DECEMBER 1, 1879. No. 12. A. I. ROOT. Publisher and Proprietor iTIedina, O. •L Published Monthly Established in hly. ("n < va 1873.(10 FERIWS: Sl.OO Per Annum in Ad- ance; 3 Copies for S2.50; 5/nrS3.75; 01 more, 60e. each. Single Number, lOc. SCRAPS AND SKETCHES. NO. 12. MY BEE-XEEPIVG TACTICS. EHAVE often hoard a bee-keeper compared to a genei'al haviug an arrnyund^r his command; and I think the comparison a good one, al- though it is getting to be a little old. I have known bee-keepers who, if they should manage an army of soldiers with as little skill as they do an army of ''workers," would m^et with greater loss on the battle-field than they do in the apiary. They do not seem to have any definile plan, and d> not; know whether to work for comb honey or for extracted,— to swarm their bees artificially, or to let the bees do their own swarming; they seem to "kind o' take things as they c une," and let the bees manage things to suit themselves. Although we are depend- ent, to a certain extent, upon the season, I think it is better to have a definite object in view— changing our plan of operations, of course, if circumstances demand it. What that plan should be, every one must decide for himself. I will give you my plan for '78, not as a model, for what is a success with one might be a failure with another, but as an example. In the spring, the swarms were kept as nearly equ»l as possible by giving the weak swarms frames of brood from the strong ones. When a colony showed a disposition to " hang out," it was given an upper story supplicdwith f dn. As fast as the combs in the upper story were filled with honey they were emptied with the extractor. This mode of " war- fare " was continued until the basswood-honey har- vest was almost over, when nearly all of the colonies were broken up into n uclei for queen rearing. Late in September, the nuclei were united and the extra hives sold to a man who wished to use them in pre- paring his bees for winter. Last spring, I made rnore hives to take the place of those sold. Now that the "campaign" for '78 is over, and I can look back to see if I made any mistakes, I find that 1 made on y one wrong movement; th t was in not beginning to rear queens earlier in the season. In most of seasons, my campaign would have been a brilliant one; but, in '78, the yield from basswood, in this locality, was— well, in my diary I find this ex- pression: "Basswood didn't amount to 'shucks.'" Still, I do not feel the least bit like surrendering, as my profit from eight swarms was $122.26; just about $15.28 per colony. Brother bee-keepers, be sure and plan your cam- paign before hostilities aro commenced, and. in time of action, never be found without plenty of supplies and accoutrements. TWO LITTLE TWIN BEE-KEIPEKS. Novice, you have told us of your little " Blue Eyes," and now I'must tell you of our little " Brown Eyes-es." The same day that brought the November No. of Gleanings, for '78, also brought us two little brown-eyed girls. Considering that these are all the "little folks" there are at our house, don't you think I have been— well, modest in not saying any- thing about them until they are more than a year old? They send greetings to "Blue Eyes" and the " new baby." W. Z. Hutchinson. Rogersville, Genesee Co., Mich. May God bless that little household, and especially the brown-eyed little girls! You have certainly been modest, friend II., to have given us all these homelike articles without saying one word all this time about the little " chicks." Blue Eyes returns the greetings, and I presume the new baby would if I could make her understand it, for her greetings threaten to raise the roof off the house almost every day. OUROWN APIARY. INTRODUCING QUEENS IN COLD WEATHER. OV. 6th.— On the 3d, we received 31 more queens from Bianconcini, Bologna, Italy. All were alive but three, which we think pretty good, considering the cold frosty weather during transit. Friend B. puts in two, pretty good sized combs, and plenty of bees, and his queens compare favor- ably with any we have ever received. The weather was freezing cold when they were received, and stormy and windy besides. The problem was, how to introduce them. My plan was to cover the little hive with wire cloth, and invert it over the cluster ; we could not let them out at once, for most of the hives had just been made queenless. My idea was that the cluster was sufficiently large to keep them warm, when the upper story was well packed with chaff cushions, and then the process would be something like uniting. The result was, that the bees, imported queens and all, were cold and stiff next morning. We brought them in and warmed them up. and no great harm was done, but it 470 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Dec. was evident that this plan would not work in wintry weather. The trouble was that the bees in the hive drew down away from the cages, and chaff cushions having no warmth of their own are only a protection, when the cluster of bees is enough to give out warmth which they can confine. Will finally improvised a cage for introducing in cold weather, that answers the purpose nicely. INTRODUCING CAGE FOR COLD WEATHER. It is simply a piece of wire cloth, 3x4 in- ches, rolled lengthwise, so as to make a tube f in. in diameter. An inch of one end of the tube is filled with soft candy, and a 2 dram vial, with the usual notch in the cork, is put in the other end. The queen is put into the cage, and it is then pressed between two combs, in such a way that the bottle is at the upper end. Of course, the cage is put right in the midst of the cluster, where the bees cannot help getting acquainted with her. • So far, we have had no failures with it. We can furnish such cages, candy, bottle, and all, for 5c. CHAFF HIVES VERSUS SIMPLICITIES. As the past season has been generally a poor one, our neighbors, many of them, have been discouraged, and have come to me to have me buy their bees. I have already bought so many, that our apiary now num- bers about 325 colonies. We have delayed uniting, on account of the last shipment of imported queens, and because there are al- ways so many wanting a queen the very last thing. I do not know that I have ever be- fore been able to supply all orders very late in the fall. Our last dollar queen was sent off yesterday, and now we have nothing but tested and hybrid queens, aside from the imported ones. 7th.— We have had a severe, freezing, wintry spell; but to-day it is so warm the bees are out again. In front of the Simplic- ity hives, almost without exception, wTe find handfuls of dead bees ; but, at the entrances of the chaff hives, almost no dead bees. Worse than that, a good many of the Sim- plicity hives containing weak colonies or queen rearing nuclei have been balling their queens. This occurred mostly in hives where there were many dead bees found on the bottom board, and after looking at the matter carefully, I am convinced it was the imperfect protection that has got them thus dissatisfied and demoralized. Out of about 20 colonies in the Simplicity hives, six had balled their queens, and two imported queens were killed by the operation. Will it not pay to have even nuclei in chaff hives? I am convinced it will, and into chaff hives they shall go to-morrow. NEIGHBOR RICE HAS JUST BEEN HERE, and he says he has only six or eight colonies in his house apiary, and that he will soon take his bees all out, for the simple reason that he does not like to work with bees in a building. As his house apiary cost him quite a sum of money, this is a very impor- tant matter to those contemplating building such structures. As he extracts all his hon- ey, it would perhaps make a difference if he worked his bees for comb honey. He uses it to set his hives in, in winter, and likes it very well for that purpose. COVERING THE FRAMES — WHAT SHALL WE USE FOR THE PURPOSE V Neighbor R. uses old carpets, and says he likes them better for the purpose than any- thing else— especially as they cost him no- thing ! " But they do cost you something, friend R." " Why, no ; we alwrays have carpets wear- ing out, and, after they are washed clean, they are much softer for the bees than a new carpet even. My wife hems them all round, and when they are just the right size they are warm, and no bees can get above them." " But the bees bite holes through them after a while." " Why, yes ; they do in time, and some colonies will eat a carpet much faster than others ; but, after they get too bad, Ave give them another." " The bees will also cover them with pro- polis, in time, so that they kill bees unless you are very slow, and very careful in put- ting them down, will they not V " " Yes ; but we then give them a new one, as before. They last a good while, and I have got so used to carpets that I like them better than anything else." Now, my friends, there is perhaps a good deal of truth. in the above, and as I can not well manufacture soft old rag carpets, per- haps each one would better make them at home. Unfortunately, there are a good many bee-keepers who will go without a thing before they will make it themselves. For such, we will make sheets of burlap, and hem them all round, for 5 cents each. This, like the carpet, is good until some adventur- ous bee bites holes through it. The wooden mat, we have decided to try at the same price next season ; but the tin-lined sheet of cluck or enameled cloth, preferred by a great many, we can not furnish for less than 10 cents. THE NEW GRAPE-SUGAR CANDY. After severe cold weather, this has par- tially hardened in the cells, after all ; but, as it is still as soft, or softer, than pollen, I do not apprehend any trouble from it. Some of the colonies that emptied one tray very quickly seem to be a good deal slower in emptying the second. I do not know whe- ther it is because they have got tired of it, or whether it is because of the different wTeather. At any rate, it has caused the rearing of quite a lot of new brood, late in the fall. Nov. 26.— "It never rains but it pours." Fiorini sent us 52 queens last month as I told you ; Bianconcini sent us 32 shortly after, and last Saturday Tremontani sent us 20 more. Just think of it, an invoice of queens from Italy as late as the 22nd of Oct. Thanks to Wills new cage, they are all successfully 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 471 introduced, and we go into winter quarters with towards a hundred imported queens. As all three of these last lots were unexpect- ed, it would seem that our friends in Italy must have confidence not only in my ability to care for so many, but in my disposition to pay for them. You see we can be prompt in filling orders uext spring, if if well, we can fill orders promptly this winter, any way; and I will get them safely at your ex- press offices any month in the year, if you will take care of them after they are there. Our bees are now all in chaff hives, except a few having queens yet to be sold. We shall go into winter with about 225 colonies, 150 of which are in chaff hives and the rest in the house apiary. II. ItlGRRYBANKS TRIALS IN BEE CUIiTURE. HOW HE SAVED MONEY. ¥OV see, our friend, after some sad ex- perience in sending his wax a great ■ way off by express, and paying more money for express charges than the wax was worth, to say nothing of the express on the fdn. back again (he was obliged to do it all by express, because he had small quantities and was always in a hurry for it), finally de- cides to have a fdn. mill of his own. The money is scraped up, the mill purchased, di- rections carefully read over, all needful ap- pliances—such as soap bark, starch, etc., procured, and now all that he laeks is a stove OUR CARTOON FOR DECEMBER. MR. MERRY15ANKS MAKING HIS OWN COMB FOUNDATION. on which to melt his wax, and a room for his tub of water, mill, etc. He finally decides to use his wife's cooking stove, but thinks it will make less trouble to do the work during her absence. As he does not know exact- ly how it may turn out, he decides to say nothing to her about it. It seems his wife (as wives often do) re- turns rather unexpectedly, and the scene that meets her astonished gaze as she opens the door, our artist has tried to depict in the sketch above. Do not be frightened, my friends, it is not melted wax that the little one has fallen off the table into (our artist would never allow that, for he has a little boy and girl of his own), but only a tub of cold water. It is nothing strange that children of "inquiring minds" should wish to see every thing done, and, at our friend's house, it seems even the dog and cat are taking a " lively " interest in proceedings; but, if I am right, the dog seems a little undecided as to whether the splash before him was a bona- fide part of the programme, or a slight acci- dental hitch in the machinery. As I was obliged to leave just when the above took place, I really cannot say how the husband and wife adjusted matters, nor how many pounds of fdn. friend M. made that day; but I hope and trust the day ended in tranquility. Moral:— When you go to work with wax, candy, glue, honey, or anything of the sort, be careful. Accustom yourself, by practice, to handle any of these things without soiling your fingers, or getting a drop on the floor or any where else. If you cannot work with- out scattering things all about, do not try to do any such work, but hire some body to do it for you, and remain poor and helpless all your life. Don't you see how naturally scolding comes from me V Tell your wife, when any scolding is needed in the family just to send for me. Our friend, A. C. Kendel, of the Cleveland Seed Store, wants some white clover, extracted honey. I hope some of you will send him some, for a man so prompt and trustworthy as he ought, to have every* thing he needs — to carry on his business. 472 GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTURE. Dec. THE NEW SECTION-BOX ALIi IN ONE PIECE. A NEW AND VALUABLE INVENTION. M FEW days ago, Mr. Gray brought me a Jrh piece of thin wood that he had by acci- s=* dent sawed nearly through, and, fold- ing one piece at right angles across the saw cut (as shown in the cut below), asked me what I thought of his new folding joint for section-boxes. I thought at once it would make fun for the boys who have buzz saws, and so it has proved. The engraving our artist has given you will explain the matter almost of itself. Get out of planed, 2 inch plank, blocks long enough to make the four sides of your sec- tions. With a wide cutter-head or suitable tool, cut wide shallow grooves across the plank near the ends, where you wish the en- trances for the bees to come. If you want a closed-top section, cut them across one end of the plank only. If you wish the box to go together with a dovetail joint, dovetail each end of the plank; but, if more con- venient, you can omit this and nail them with the wire nails. When your plank is ready, pieces ripped off should be exactly like the long strip I have shown in the cut, partly folded up. After ripping off, you are to cut most through where each corner come3, with a thick saw, such as we use for dove- tailing. Saw a thin cut for slipping in the fdn.j if you choose ; but I believe the latest and quickest way is to put in the fdn. with rosin and wax, as given in our catalogue. Almost no machinery is required where the one corner is nailed, and we have a strong section that can be put together quicker than you can think. For making the crosscuts rapidly, you want a long arbor with three small thick saws on it, held at the right dis- tances with suitable sleeves. Mr. Gray and Mr. Washburn are now at work at an au- tomatic machine that is to pick up the pieces, saw the grooves, count them, and put them in boxes, all of its " ownself ." Next month I will try to give you a picture of it. The sections made by it will be at the same prices as the old style. If you wish, I will send you one by mail as sample, for 5c. You will see that the invention can be applied to a vast number of other purposes. OKAY'S NEW SECTION BOX, MADE ALL OF ONE PIECE OF WOOD DEPOSITORY OF Or Letters from Those Wlio Have Made Bee Culture a Failure. *f5p AM disgusted with bee-culture. After some ex i|| pcnse and considerable labor I have made a i~») complete failure. Send me one more copy of Gleanings: it may be that I will get into the notion to " tru, try aoain." G. S. Henderson. Soltillo, Miss., Oct, 27, 1879. Perhaps you would like to hear from this locality in regard to bee keeping. I have met with nearly all the principal bee keepers within 20 miles of me, representing nearly 2000 colonies of bees, mostly black or common bees, and the uuiversal cry is, we have no surplus honey this season. Many of the young s Warms have not gathered supplies sufficient to carry them through tha winter. Last season my bees averaged over 10} lb3. of honey each, largely extracted; and I sold at 13 to 14c per lb. Last win- teri the loss of b»es in this locality was great, U of all the bees through the country died, except those of the most practical bee keepers, who lost from 1-5 to M of their colonies. I lost 12 out of 69. I go into winter quarters with 90 colonies, all in fair condi- tion. H. S. Halkm.vn. Peru, 111., Oct. 25, 1879. Thanks, friend II. such reports remind us that if we do get 100 fb. of honey per colony one year, we must not base our calculations on doing the same every year. It occurs to me, you may not belong in this department, but your letter comes the nearest of any I come across. This has been a verv dry season. Two-thirds of the bees here will die if not fed this winter. There was no fruit tree bloom and therefore no brood rear- ed until white clover and basswood, the bees having become weak in the time. I have 50 colonies and not a pound of surplus. W. C. Smith. Warsaw, Mo., Sept. 20, 1879. TRIALS OF A BEGINNER. It seems from Nov. Glbanings, that thU season has been rather trying to bee men, especially In this region, aud I hare my share. More than one- 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 473 half the bees hero died last winter, and many more will die this winter. Wo have had the poorest sea- son this country ever knew. BUYING 22 COLONIES TO ST.VHT WITH. Last spring I bought 2 2 colonies of bees, of Hardin Rains, of Vermont, III., which he claimed in his cir- cular and advertisement to be pure Italians, and I sent him his pice for such, but he sent me blacks and hybrid-s. I worked all summer with them, sot 200 lb. of honey, bought s queens, tried to Italianize them, went into winter with 42 colonics, and came out with 37. It was a very poor season's work. Then I real In Glkanivgs how much others got, and it made me a little sick; I thought, however, I would mike it up this year, but worse and wors>'! I have fed mv bees nearly all summer. Some have gone, some died, and, after uniting the weak ones this fall, I have 21 left with little to winter on, and not a taste of honey for U3. BUYING 4 QUEENS TO START WITH. The 5th of last June. I seat friend H. Alley $5.00 for queens, 1 tested, and 3 "dollar" queens, but he forgot to sead them until r»o:ne time iu August. QUEENS BY MAIL. Then he sent 3 by mail, in an envelop, and two died; so I got one and that is a hybrid. I notified him of the fact, and he sent me a card asking if he should send m? triors queens. I told him yes, or the money, but have not heard from him since. SENDING $5.15 IN A LETTER. Then I sent you $5.15 for goods, and that chap that 1 suppose you have looking through the iron bars stole it. You made it all right on the goods, but the money was lost. SORREL SEED IN ALSIKE CLOVER. Then that clover seed you sent me last fall had lots of sorrel seed mixed with it, so I have nearly as much sorrel as clover, but the bees don't like it half as well. Probably you are not to bl one for that, for you probably bought the seed, but look out next time and not buy of sorrel men. So you see b>-e-. keeping has been rather expensive and a little dis- couraging: but I wish to make one trial more with your discovery; that is the GRAPE SUGAR CANDY FOR WINTERING. You say bees will winter on it; so I will send you an order for some, as vou recommend it in Oct. and Nov. Gleanings, and try the bee one year more, and if no better, then 'I sells out an goes mit the West." Not "Blasted" nor bursted hopes yet, Sumner, III., Nov. 11, 1879. W. Umerick. Truly, my friend, it seems you have reason to feel discouraged, if any one has. If you will excuse me. I should say your first mis- take was in buying 22 colonies to start with. If you will look hack over Gleanings, you will see those that have commenced with one i or two colonies have done the best, and they ! seem to enjoy it more, too. I can well re- member when most of our most successful honey raisers commenced with a very few stocks, and worked out the problem and test- j ed their abilities, with those few. Those \ who "are faithful with few,1' very soon be- j come "rulers over many,1' and that, too, | without purchasing. I think you made a : mistake again, in sending for 4 queens. One, or two at farthest, would have been better. I Again; had you read the journals faithfully, . you must have known that our friend Alley has almost always been noted for being be- hind hand in filling his orders, and it was therefore unwise to send to him for things you wanted at once. If this is hard for Mr. Alley, it is kind to beginners like yourself, , friend E. "Whoever has things to sell must '■ build up a reputation for promptness, or i suffer the consequences. Once more, SpS.OO in an unregistered letter was rather careless, my friend. In regard to the Alsike; if it I contained an oz. of sorrel seed in a bushel, I \ will return you the money you paid for it. It does not make any difference whether I bought it or raised it, it is my business to have it free from other seeds. You will see from back volumes, that this charge has be.en made before, but it was shown that the sorrel seed was in the ground. Alsike seed is always of different colors, which leads many to think the dark red seeds are sorrel. Count out a dozen sorrel seeds and plant them in a pot. Read what is said to Anna L. Gray, on page 487. Now, friend E., take the best care ot your bees you know how, but stop paying out your money for them. It won't hurt you, and some of the rest of the A IS C class, if you practice, for at least one year, "being stingy" so far as the bees are concerned. I like to sell goods, and I am very much obliged to you for the order you have just sent, but when I hear of one's having such bad luck as you have had, it worries me for fear I am giving you, uncon- sciously, bad advice. Above all things, I want the ABC class to make a sure thing of their bees, even in bad seasons ; to be prompt, and able to pay their debts at any moment. If bee culture will not help them to do this, I much prefer they should give it up, and never send me another copper. Here is another friend in the " same boat ; " listen to him. My bees have done poorly during the last two years. 1 have lost $400. worth, t'ause, commencing too heavily in that branch of business. Please send those feeders by rctm n mail and directions if needed. Hesperia, Mich., Nov. 19, '79. D. C. Lanphere. Ifi« "iwihiru" This department was suggested by one of the clerks, as an opposition to the "Growlery." Ithink I shall venture to give names in full here. GOOD REPORT FROM CHAFF HIVES. WRJHE season has been a very dry one. White jSJI"1 clover, our main honey plant, was almost a "r^j failure,, hence our honey season was a very short one, not more than two weeks; but it was astonishing what strong colonics gathered in so short a time. I have a few colonies which stored me 1001b. in surplus combs. 1 took 60tt>. of section honey from a neighbor's colony which I transferred early in the spring. A few others report d >uble Simplici- ty hives full. This I consider good for the season. Those colonies in chaff hives did far the best. I now have all of my bres in chaff hives. I consider them far superior to any hive that I have ever used. You don't know how comforting it is to me, when I pass my bees these frosty mornings, to know they are all snugly packed away in chatf, and will need no more attention until early spring, when I shall commence stimulating. By the way, your imported queen ha* been filling sheets of comb with eggs this fall. 1 think she means business in the spring. I presume I shall astonish some of your readers at the amount of beautiful dollar queens I will send out next season. Vou may put my name in the dollar list. I shall endeavor to give satisfaction in every respect. Many, many thanks, for the world of pleasure you have opened up through your pub- lications. May the God of wisdom continue to lead you. F. J. Wardell. Uhrichsville, O., Nov. 10, 1879. Really, friend WY, you make one feel that it is a most pleasant task to edit a bee jour- nal. I think I will turn over to the " Growl- ery'1 and read a page or two, lest I get proud and puffed up. 474 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Dec. INTRODUCING OUR HONEV INTO ENG- LAND, AND THfi PREJUDICE A- GAINST THE YANKEES. GRAPE SUG4.R, ETC. fjJIIE following I found on a torn scra,p i of paper. VICTORIA'S HONEY. It is a curious commercial fact that, whereas, a year ago, no American honey in comb was exported to England, not less than a million pounds will be sent during the next twelve months. The trouble was, honey could not be strained and canned, for the reason that it would candy. American honey is by far the best honey in the world, as regards flavor and purity of appearance. Knowing this, a New York firm hired Mr. Hoge, a well-known honey ex- pert, to introduce it in England. Over the water went Hoge, with a big lot of the sweet stuff in the comb. It required skill to pack and unload it, but it arrived all right, not a cell being burst. The Eng- lish dealers in honey gave him the cold shoulder. They had the editors of the "British Bee Journal " give • im a raking down, and they themselves added all the mean things they could say. Mr. Hoge made little headway. He was about to give it up as a bad job when a brilliant thought struck him. He must get the honev on the Queen's table. How was he to do this? While picking his teeth after dinner and ruminating upon the sub- ject, his eye lighted on the pickle-jar. It bore the name of a man who had been his-h steward at Wind- sor Castle. "He's my man," said Mr. Hoge to him- self, and away he went for the pickle man. Did he rush up to him and blurt out, " I want to put my honey on Victoria's table"? Not a bit of it. He began to talk pickles with the man - asked a thou- sand questions about how they were made, ate a score or more of them, and ended by proposing that the pickle man furnish pickles to the American house he represented. The pickle man was delighted. The New York man grave him an order. They had a bottle of wine together, and then the American said: " Now 1 have helped you, you must help me. Can't you put American honey on the Queen's table? " "Of course I can," was the reply; and in no time the arrange- ments were made. " A case of honey was given to the pickle man, and another was sent to the high steward, and in a short time some of it was before the royal family. The young folks liked it so well that Victoria gave orders that it be kept in the cas- tle. That was enough. American honey was from that moment in demand. Mr. Hoge has just sent orders for the shipment of 500,000 pounds of this year's crop. The "British Bee Journal " flopped over to the other side, and was loud in praising the Ameri- can article. Every fashionable person's table must have American honey.— Cincinnati Enquirer. But it seems the "British Bee Journal" is not quite satisfied yet, or else they were con- vinced against their will, and have gone hack again, as the following from their Nov. number seems to indicate : YANKEE HONEY. The ingenious descendants of the manufacturers of wooden nutmegs are forcing, by all the means they can command, the sale of their honey (?) in this land of ours, and as an advertisement they have published a woodcut showing the back of a bald head, beneath which are the words ' Utilised at last 1 Wanted twenty bald-headed men willing to have their heads painted, and march through the streets as perambulating signs.' On the bald part of the head the words (painted) are (in dreadful zig- zag), ' Thurber's New Styles of Honey! ' and on the collar, ' Ask your wife to buy it ' (sic). ' But,' said a trustful lady friend, ' why could not the forehead be made the advertising medium, and the poor men be allowed to wear their hats? ' ' Why,' said one who had had experience, ' they who vaunt the rubbish are afraid to look one in the face, or let it be known until after they have passed that they have aught to do with it. ' ' But, ' said speaker No. 1, ' how do they mxnage as regards followers? ' ' That is easy,' says No. 2; ' they let them^fol'ow.' The secret being, that those ' utilised ' are chosen for their celerity in avoiding followers. Expe- RIENTIA DOCET, Lower NoTWOOd. While I cannot exactly approve of Thur- ber's taste in his ways of advertising, I feel pained to see such expressions from our friends across the water. Thurber does more than, perhaps, any other house in the world, to encourage the industries of differ- ent nations of the earth, by both buying and selling the products of different nations. If his goods are satisfactory (even to the Queen and her household), and his ways successful in calling customers, shall we not have char- ity for his ways of advertising, though they are not according to our ideas of dignity? If Thurber's goods are not as represented, and he fails to attend to complaints, give us the facts, and we will give the people warning. Although I feel very much tried with Mr. Hoge, because he will not pay up his little debts here at home, I feel we owe him a vote of thanks for his energy and zeal in disposing of so much of our American honey, in foreign parts. The cry of adulterated comb honey, like that of adulterated sugar, I believe, has been fairly shown to have been a fraud and a sensational scare. Grape sug- ar, so bitterly persecuted and misrepresent- ed, has now taken its place among the legiti- mate products of our Indian corn, and its manufacture has become a great industry, benefitting many classes of people. SENDING QUEENS TO WASHINGTON TERRITORY, ETC. V RECEIVED the package of six queens, Sept. 8th, at 10 o'clock p.m. You shipped the 18th of August, which makes 21 days of rail and steam- boat travel. I will now give you the condition of each package as I opened it. The first package was the section-box with hoaey. The queen and one bee were alive. The honey was all gone on one side; an inch and a half square of capped honey on the other side had the wire cloth pressed into it so that the bees would have to cut the comb to get it. Neither queen nor bee was able to fly. The next package was the section-box with candy, and water-bottle. Only six bees were dead. The queen and bees were able to fly to the window, and were as bright and clean as though they had been but an hour from the hive. The third package was a large comb cage. All were dead ! The honey was all gone, and five or six white worms, about half an inch long, with brown heads, were in the box. I suppose they were moth worm3. I never saw one before, as we have none here. In the fouith package, the queen and about half the bees were alive, but so swollen up with the dys- entery that I thought they were all queens. They were just able to crawl on the table; but, after emp- tying themselves, they became quite smart. The queen seemed all right. About half the honey was left. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 475 From the fifth, also a frame cage, the bees came tumbling- out with a whizz, queen and all, and flew to the window. About ten cells of honey were left, and the honey not candied. Both queen and bees were looking- as black as though daubed with honey. In the sixth package, a frame box, all were dead but the queen. She was able to fly to the window. About one-third of the honey was gone, and the rest was candied in the comb. Now, Mr. Root, the bottle cage is king. About half of the candy was gone, and "but a teaspoonful of water left in the bottle. I introduced them all according to instructions in A 15 C, and to-day 1 opened the hives and found all of the queens all right. All but one were laying-. HOW TO FIND BLACK QUEENS. Now I should like to tell you how I found the black queens. I tried according- to instruction in ABC; that is, I lifted the frames out without smoke, set them in the comb-basket, and looked them over again when I returned them, but it was "no go"; I could not find her. I waited half an hour, and tried again with no better success. The weather was cbol, and the bees all in the hive. I bpgan to think I should have to give it up, or try Quinby's plan of sifting. At this stage of affairs, my wife came to the rescue. We laid some boards, about four feet long, from the alighting-board to the ground, and, on the boards, spread a table-cloth. Now we took the frames, one at a time, and shook the bees on the cloth, and with the smoker drove them up the cloth to the hive. After looking them all over, we shook what was left into the hive, and then took the next frame. On the third shake, we found Iter ladyship marching up the cloth with her children, and had no trouble in securing her with a dozm young bees, and put her in a Root candy-cage for safe keeping. In that way we found live queens in less than an hour, and had our Italians in the hive. The bees, by the time we were through, had be- come so demoralized that they seemed to think the Italian queens always belonged there. They showed no disposition to cluster over the cage, and only one hive f mined queen cells. I never saw the above plan in print, but it's the only sure way that I know of to find a Hack queen. In one bive, we failed to lind the queen, after shaking all of the frames. We then took the section -boxes, smoked and shook them, and there found her. H. A. March. Hidalgo, Whatcom Co., Wash. Ter., Sept. 15, 1879. I always rejoice at an order from a great distance, for it enables me to try my skill. The six queens spoken of above were put up in three different ways. As Miss Andrews' case, shown on page 209, had never failed, we allowed her to put up 4 of them; the fifth, I put up in the section cage shown on page 210; the last was in a section cage, with no honey, but with a large bottle of water, and a large cake of candy. Perhaps 200 bees were put in this. QUEENS FROITI THE EGG, AGAIN. Mit. EDITOR:- In your remarks under our artii ule headed "Queens from the Egg versus ~ Queens from Worker Larvae" (page 430), you look for experience to prove the position there ta- ken. This we had intended to give, but, finding it so lengthy, decided to leave it for another article, to fall back upon, yoti know. In the first place, we wish to be " classed " as an A B C scholar of 22, wishing rather to learn than to teach, giving our humble opinion upon this question, backed by a few facts and observations, that it may pass for what it is worth. We began bee-keeping on the improved system seven years ago, and have practiced artificial swarming, etc., ever since. Our bees, until the present season, in spite of our sys- tem, have suffered much more from winter malady, spring dwindling, and swarming out, than those of our neighbors who have kept 100 or 200 on the old plan. Many of ours have also balled and killed their own queens, while we have never known their bees with natural queens (with which we have worked somewhat) to do so. We have also found their queens more uniformly large and prolific. Five or six years ago a neighbor got six or eight queens of Mrs. Tupper, and began raising (artificial- ly) queens and bees for sale, and sold many in the neighborhood. About seventy-five per cent of those sold died the first winter, and the remainder are con- sidered no better than the natives. Last summer, we purchased eight swarms of him. One queen was dead the next morning, three turned "drone-layers" before spring, and three out of the other four were superseded. For the past two sea- sons, he has allowed them to swarm naturally, and this summer they have done much better than be- fore, while others have not done so well. This spring, the only black queen we had among 22 was also the only natural one, and the best one In your remarks, you say: " We often raise queen cells by giving a oueenless stock nothing but newly laid eggs to build them over." Exactly so, and that is what we call " queens from the egg." If we had seen no better way, we should not have objected to the old plan. This summer, in Italianizing our own api- ary of 50 colonies and some for our neighbors, we hnd the cells built upon strips of comb from which all larvae were destroyed, leaving only eggs. As the queens were removed the day before, the bees were all ready to begin. The result is, we have the finest lot of queens and the best lot of bees that we have ever had. Instead of hatching in eight or ten days, it took these queens from fifteen to seventeen days to hatch ! A waste of time, eh? But give us one such, rather than a half-dozen of the former. Let natural queens be raised from as carefully se- lected stock as the forced ones, and then see if there i3 not a " difference." But, has not Quinby's state- ment been contradicted by "actual practice," to some extent? What American apiarian with his forced queens (we mean queen3 from partially de- veloped worker larva?), has been able, for the past seven years, to bring forward an annual report like that of friend Doolittle, with his natural swarms? You think the secret of his success lies not in his hive or in his locality, but in the man. Yes, it is the man who complies most perfectly with nature's re- quirements, who will succeed best, we think. If "queens from larva? that are nearly ready to seal are one-half workers," and worthless, how about these from larvae one-half or one-fourth ready to seal? I think we will agree on all points, but should we not follow nature as nearly as possible I Pardon us for speaking thus boldly. It is our object to bring out the truth of the subject, and then accept it, even though it is contrary to our theories. Oliver Foster. Mt. Vernon, Linn Co., la., Nov. 6, 1S79. 476 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Dec. All right, friend F. I have no objections at all to queens from the egg ; in fact, the greater part of ours have been so reared. In grafting, we have been obliged to get larvae that have just broken the cell, but perhaps we shall succeed just as well in grafting eggs ; who knows V I know very well, bees will winter better where surplus honey is stored in boxes and natural swarming is practiced, for I have tried both ; but, my friend, is it not because the combs are well filled with honey, all around the brood nest, just as they need it naturally, and in a much different shape, from those where a novice has divided and subdivided all summer ? Does Doolittle increase entirely by natural swarming V Will friend D. please stand up and say Y If I am correct, he reduces his number greatly, both in spring and fall, and you may be sure he keeps the best queens, and destroys the others. Well, I declare ! Friend D. obeys a sum- mons pretty quickly. The following postal was just handed me, and although it does not quite tell what we wanted, it verities my last remark. Friend R.:—l have just been reading' on page 431, November Gleanings; please book me for a queen from the queen told of as producing- the honey gath- erers, early next season, if — if she don't die in win- tering. G. M. Doolittle. Borodino, N. Y., Nov. 15, 1879. Before your remarks, friend F., I had thought seriously of having an apiary next season devoted to rearing queens from im- ported mothers by natural swarming. How much more will the friends give for such queens ? I have several times wondered if it might not stop the balling, swarming out, spring dwindling, etc. ; but the farmers all over the land, with their box hives, have about as bad dwindling as any class I know of. . They, neither in bees nor honey, come anywhere near the educated, modern bee men of our day. I shall hardly expect the ABC class to escape spring dwindling as well as do the old bee-keepers ; but do not " wisdom's ways " admonish us to glean from both and from all systems ? BEE BOTANY AND ENTOMOLOGY. A RELATION OF THE SIMPSON HONEY PLANT. ^jf^iNCLOSED, please And a sample of a honey flpUi plant. I counted as many as 87 flower stems '-i-Xll on one stalk. It commences to blossom in July, and remains in bloom about 2>4 months. Bees work on it late and early, wet and dry. If you know any name for it, I should like to hear from you, and to learn if it is worth anything' for honey. Buchanan, Mich., Sept. 26, '79. Wu. Blake. Prof. Beal replies as follows :— It is the top (a very poor specimen) of Lophanthus ecrophular if alius. It is a sort of g-iant hyssop, of which there are several in this country. They are tall herbs belonging- to the mint family. Bees are fond of all mints, in which they can reach the honey. The word scrophularifolius seems to indi- cate that it is a relative of the Simpson honey plant (Nodosa scrophularia), does it not V I should be very glad indeed to see even a distant relative ; will you not send me some seed, friend Blake ? ' ASTERS. I heroin send you a twig of a bush that is quite a honey producing plant, just coming into bloom. I would like to know its true name, if you will please answer by card or in Gleanings. Hani mersvi lie, O., Sept. It, '79. J. L. Shinkle. This is a small aster (probably A. miser), of which th^re are many species, all good for bees. The spec- imen is imperfect. W. J. Beal,. Mich. Air. College, Lansing. Enclosed, you will find a branch of a plant that grows on low lands. Tae frost has not hurt it yet, while all other vegetation has been hurt. The bees are busily working on it. C. L. Gage. St. Johns, Mich., Oct. 6, 1879. The above is a poor specimen of some kind of aster. These are very common in autumn, and all good. There are many kinds. Pkof. W. J. Beal. Bees cover this plant; what is it? Oxford, Penn., Oct. 6, 1879. S. W. Morrison. Prof. Beal replies,— This is another aster,— a poor specimen with no leaves. actinomeris squarrosa. Enclosed, I send you a good honey plant. Please tell me the name of it. It is very dry and hot here now, and scarcely anything else yields honey. Buck- wheat is drying up, but the bees are on this plant from morn till eve. It grows from 5 to 8 It. high, in the timber lauds along the creeks, and has now been in bloom about a week. I send you some seed pods, and flowers in full bloom, some buds and a full grown leaf. M. M. Stover. Table Rock, Neb., Sept. 1, 1879. Answer by Prof. W. J. Beal :— This is Actinomeris squarrosa, a tall perennial, somewhat resembling coreopsis and helianthus. These are all good for bees wherever found, and there are many kinds. Enclosed, please find a plant of which bees are quite fond. 1 have inquired of several persons for a name for it, but no one can tell. The stalk and leaves resemble smartweed. There are acres of it in this section, and when the weather is fine, the bees are very busy upon it. It grows from one to four feet high, on low wet land. Do bees get honey from it? Please reply through Gleanings. Fielding, 111., Sept. 12, 1879. Joseph Mason. It is of the family Polygonaecai (Buck- wheat) ; the genus, I think, is the same as smartweed, Polygonum; the common name is blackheart. WILLIAMS' HONEY PLANT. Prof. Cook:— I send you by to-day's mail a sample of a weed which we call the "Honey Plant." It grows on all kinds of soil, and on no soil at all. I have all kinds of ground from a rock quarry to the richest bottom lnnd, and it grows well on it all. The sample I send you grew on dry and fine rock which was thrown out of the rock quarry 10 feet be- low the surface. The stalk was 6ft. high, it com- mences to bloom the first of July, and blooms till hard freezing. We have had 3 light frosts already, an uncommon occurrence for this climate. This is a species of Composite^, near to bone-sot. Mich. Ag. Col., Lansing. Prof. A. J. Cook. SYMPHORICARPUS AGAIN. The bush with the red berries grows every where about here. It grows in stools like the gooseberry bush, and about the same size. It has a cluster of blossoms under every leaf, which begin to open in M ty, and the last ones are now just gone. Bees work on this and the plant mentioned above from morning till night. We call this buck bush. Please send the name and description to Gleanings. Port Scott, Kan., Sept. 16, '79. F. B. Williams. This is Symphoricarpus vulgaris. A. J. Cook. SEVERAL HONEY PLANTS, ETC. Please name enclosed plants. Bees have been working on Nos. 1, 2, and 8, about a week. They grow along fences and in uncultivated places. Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 grow on low land and meadows. Bees work on them during August and the first of Sep- tember. No. 9 is very valuable, for it keeps our bees busy between basswnod and buckwheat bloom. No. 10 grows in trreat quantities on sand bluffs, where nothing else will grow. Bees have been working on it about 6 weeks. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 477 AN ASTONISHING DAILY YIELD FROM WISCONSIN. This has been a pood season for bees, since the middle of April. Basswood bloom only lasied 11 days, but bees gathered honey Aery fast from it. One of my best Italian colonies, placed on scales, gained in weight 181b., the 121 h of July, and 17 'a lb. ihe loth. This colony had not been helped in any way. Several others gained nearly as much. Eau-galle, Wis., Sept. 8, '79. Frank McNay. We sent the specimens to Prof. 13eal, who said they were too incomplete to analyze. One of our girls who is studying " bee bota- ny," then took them and reports as follows : Nos. 1, 2. and 6 are species of Golden Rod. No. 8 belongs to the same family as the above, the Com- posite, but is of a different genus, the Aster. No. 7, which has been mentioned quite frequently by bee men lately, belongs to ihe mint family, and is called Melissa officinalis, or bee-balm. Other specimens are too incomplete for analysis. Just think of it, boys and girls ! 18ft. in a dav. from one colony ! If this result is due to these honey plants, we would better all have some, unless we do a still better thing, and move up to friend McNay's neighbor- hood, bay, friend M., does it " do so always " (every summer), up where you live? LIPPIA nodiflora, again. I will send you a few seeds of the honey plant that Prof. Beal calls Lippia nodiflora (see page 346, Sept. No.), which is in lull bloom now, and has been since about the first of May. It is our main dependence lor honey, especially in a dry year like this, for it blossoms 7 mt nihs or over, and my bees have done very well on that al< ne, or nearly so. The honey is equal to the best white-clover honey. I have 180 swaims, and there are about 500 more within a mile or so of me. I would like you to plant the seed, and report the result next st ason. The plant lives from year to year in the ground, and also comes fiom the seed. You won't want more than about one plant to every square yard, for it runs and spreads rapid- ly, and stands dry weather well. Qhe blossom re- sembles the while clover, especially at a little dis- tance. If any of your readers wish to try it, I will send them some of the seed at about the cost of gatheiing and postage. O. E. Coon. Many thanks, friend C. I would suggest that we make 5c. a uniform price for sam- ples of seeds. If tbey are plenty, a good lot can be sent, and, if scarce, only a few. bitter honey; where does it come from? I send specimen, from which bees make bitter honey— in some years, thousands ol pounds; in oth- ers, scarcely any. They get pollen from it every year. C. R. Carlin. Shreveport, La. Oct. 17, 1879. Prof. Beal replies: This is Helcnivm tenuifolium. There are ten spe- cies of Iklciiium east of the Mississi pi. One of the species is common in Michigan and south, and is sometimes called "sneeze-weed" {Helenium autum- nalcK 1 he latter plant has quite often been sent in, as a good b< e-plant. 1 see no reason why one should make very biiter honey and ihe oiher not. Sneeze- weed is usually in rather limit* d quantities, and per- haps apiarists are not certain about the quality of honey this makes. SIDA SPINOSA. Find inclosed a bunch of flowers that bees are working on all day, from morn till evening, wn» n it iswaim enough for thim to fly. It ou^ht to be a good honey plant, as it is not a bcautilul plant, by any means, and without a doubt is good for some- thing. It is about one loot high. Please tell me the name. S. H. Lane. Whitestown, Ind., Oct. 14, 1879. Answer by Prof. W. J. Beal : — The plant is Sida spinosa. It is a weed common in the South, and was introduced from tropical America or Africa. It belongs to the mallow family. SYMPHORICARPUS VULGARIS. After seeing the statement of W. C. Smith, of Warsaw. Mo., in Gleanings, No. 11, Volume 7, con- cerning Symphoricarpu8 vulgaris, I wish to say to the readers of Gleanings in Bee Culture, that I will deliver on boai d the cars at Reed's, Mo., in good condition, plants at the following rates, and will warrant them to be good and healthy: — Per 100, $1.25; 200, $2.50; 500, $5.50; 1(00, $10,25; 2000, $19 00. And where ten dollars' worth are taken at one time, I will take one-half their value in Italian queens, at prices in Gleanings. I have my bees packed in wheat chaff, as per Gleanings, which is the " man" ot my counsel. Norris C. Hood. Reed's, Jasper Co., Mo., Nov. 20, 1879. The above is pretty near advertising in our reading columns, but as it is unlikely that any one will care to invest largely just yet, and the price is also extremely low, we let it pass. Besides, it is from an A B 0 scholar, and we always rather expect youth and in- experience from them. I this day send you, by mail, 5 specimens of our flora, which I would like to have you name (common namet, as the flowers are all new to me, and 1 can't tell whether your magazine speaks of them or not. I also send, in' a little box, specimens of insects, which appear in buckwheat and other flowers, and must rob our bees, as they come in millions. M. H. Porter. Western Park, Elk Co., Kan., Sept. 26, 1879. Answer by Prof. W. J. Beal :— - Number 2 is Hdianthvs gigantcus. There is no definite common name, except large wild sunflower, and several plants are entitled to the same common name. In the Eastern part of the United States are 25 or 30 species, all good for bees, and all found in abundance in certain places, some in one place and some in another. Number 4 is SoJidago rigida, one of the golden rods. This looks so unlike many of the golden rods, that none but an expert would know it. Every bee- man knows, by this time, that golden rods and asters are all desirable. Number 5 is Salvia longipcs a sort of wild sago. Sages, like all other mints, are favorites of bees. REMARKS ON BEE BOTANY. Plants are coming in every few days from various parts of the country. There are some repetitions. New species are also among them; I mean speci- mens unlike any before sent. Those who read the journals must begin to realize that the species good for bees are not a few, but exist in many hundreds of species. These cannot (many of them) be learned by any except botanists. If a set were named and placed belore any oiher person, he could not be trusted to compare other plants with them for identification. This the writer has seen exemplified in ihe case of many sorts of plants, for twenty years past. The same is true of insects, or other small animals. W. J. Beal. Mich. Ag. Col., Lansing. The November number of the American Bee Jour- nal contains a very full repoit of the convention at Chicago. Among the valuable papers read was one from Prof. Cook in regard to the bee's tongue, illus- trated with diagrams. Wte clip the following good advice from the Cin- cinnati Grange Btdlitin: Seiape up all y( ur beeswax on rainy days, but do notsend it off by mail or express and lose half in charges; if you cannot sell it near home, club with your neighbors and s. ud a barrel of it by freight. Mr. James Boston of Cincinnati, Neb., has a tene- ment hive- with the roof in two pieces, each piece hinged so as to be raised like the lid to a chest. The connection with the ridge board, where the hinges are, is made waler*proof by a strip of enameled clotb> 478 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. \e% cgi%e, f^ar%pii HOW TO WINTER BEES IN BOX HIVES. Ij^.LEASE accept thanks for the fine ABC book wr^ which I received of you. It is just a splendid «j bee-book. It is all any person needs to make a successful apiarian. But, friend R., could youjnot give us a little sketch now and then as to the best method of handling bees in the old box-hive— espe- cially about putting them up for winter? It would, I think, interest a great many readers of Gleanings to hear a little more of the best management of the box-hive. There are plenty of bee-men who won't use any other hive. 1 am going into winter quar- ters with 15 box-hives that I expect to transfer, in the spring, into the Langst oth frames, and would like to know the best way to put them up for win- ter. You say, packing straw around them is no pro- tection at ail; and about ventilation, how much on the top and how much for the bottom? Now, if you think it worth while to give us a sketch on the sub- ject, all right; if not, it will be all right any way. A. H. Duff. Flat Kidge, O., Nov., 1879. Why, my friend, I have been trying, al- most ever since Gleanings started, to keep up a box-nive department ; but as the box- hive men seldom take a bee journal, it starves out for want of material for it. My experi- ence in wintering in box-hives last winter was so poor, I do not know but that you will regard me as poor authority. 1 had 15 or 20 that I had bought up, or taken for subscrip- tions, and, as they were full of honey, I thought 1 would let them winter in the good old way. Now, these stocks came from all over the country, from widely different local- ities ; their stores, too, were of honey as nicely capped, and as thick and nice, as any one could ask for ; but almost every colony died, and what didn't die had the spring dwindling in the most approved form. After we transferred, in April, the few that were left, they were so disheartened and demoral- ized they would hardly go out after pollen, when other colonies in chaff hives were just roaring with business. In the fall, we put chaff cushions over the holes in the top, and covered them with a box, but that seemed to do but little good. With a winter such as we had last, I can not but feel that box-hives are rather precarious property — especially where they are very large and roomy. If the hive is small, so that the bees come pret- ty nearly up to the walls all around, I should set them in a large box, and pack chaff all around them, bridging the entrance, so they could fly when the weather permitted. This arrangement, with a good roof over all, would come very near the chaff hive. If the box-hive is not small, I would saw off the bottom, or cut down its dimensions in some way, until the bees could pretty nearly fill it, and allow the chaff to come up near enough to be some protection. WINTERING BOX-HIVE COLONIES IN A CEL- LAR. Should the winter prove a severe one, it will, without doubt, be a great saving to car- ry them in, providing you have a dark, dry, frost-proof cellar. Should it, on the contra- ry, prove an open winter, and your cellar is not proof against warm days as well as frost, your bees will get uneasy, come out of their hives, and often prove more troublesome and do worse than if you left them on their summer stands. You see, it is like this : Should you try half in doors and the other half out, one winter they will do best one way, and the next the opposite way. From this you will see why I advise beginners to i winter bees out of doors, in this latitude. A great many times, bees in box-hives come through the winter strong, without any pro- tection ; but, of late years, this is rather the exception than the rule. You will constant- ly meet such cases, and they are often quot- ed to show that bees do best when let alone. Sometimes considerable apiaries winter well ; without care, but, taking the country ' through, this is very far from proving the [ rule. VENTILATING BOX-HIVES IN WINTER. If there are no holes in the top of the hive \ or cracks where the breath of the bees can escape, I should have some, by all means ; ! but, instead of leaving them open for a draft of air to pass through the hive, I would cov- er them with a box of loose chaff, or a thick chaff cushion. If you can pry the whole top i of the hive off, it will be much better for winter, as well as for box honey next sum- i mer. Spread over the exposed combs a piece of old bagging or burlap, and put over this a ' box to hold (5 inches or more of chaff, and then a rain-proof, cover that can not be blown off by the winds. Close the bottom up as i tight as you can, leaving only an entrance | large enough to let out two or three bees at a time, and then, when a day comes that bees ; liy, see that none of these entrances are i clogged with dead bees. If I were going to \ carry the hives into the cellar, I would pack ! them about in the same way I would to leave them on their summer stands. Chaff pack- ing, in connection with cellar wintering, has J given some of the best results that have been reported. This is for all kinds of hives. When you set them out, they do not feel the sudden change, as they do in unpacked hives. THE HONEY DEW AND WHERE IT IS FOUND. A NEW THEORY AS TO ITS ORIGIN. MpHE theories as to honey dews seem to be va- J>| rious; for nearly every one who finds it is confirmed in his opinion, that the plant upon which he found it is the rare producer of it. The trees are numerous on the leaves of which it may be found, among which are the papaw, cherry, sugar, and oak. The dew is not a depo.-itc on the leaf which ac- cumulates by atmospheric changes, as common dews are deposited, but it is an exudation of the leaf itself, which occurs in the latter part of summer or the beginning of autumn. When the leaves are near the time of ripening, they exude a gummy saccharine substance, which dries and hardens dur- ing the bright summer and autumn days. This is moistened by the dews of night, and converted iuto a thin nectar, which the bees readily take up and carry to their homes, and make it into honey by their own modus operandi. HONEY DEW NOT DETRIMENTAL TO THE BEES. Honey dew has always been welcomed by the bee- keepers in this locality, and is considered a great 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. •479 benefit in aiding the bees to complete their winter stores. We cannot think it an injury to the bees, as stated by friend L. W. Reed, in his article that was clipped from the Lewistown (Mc.) Journal, and pub- lished by Brother Root, in the Nov. Gleanings; neither do we regard the rains of August and Sep- tember as special blessings in washing- away the honey dew. These rains prove to be a decided injury instead of a benefit as will be fully established by referring to September and October, 1868. These were unusu- ally wet months. That year, I had twelve colonies of black bees. Next spring, all had perished, but the greater part of them died before winter set in, of what was then styled the dysentery or cholera. Hence the washing away of the honey dew was no blessing to these colonies, and the disease could not be attributed to the collecting of honey dew, but must be ascribed to some other cause. My friend and neighbor, P. G. Stuart, from an apiary of fifty colonies, lost forty-five the same year I lost mine; and Judge P. B. Swing fared even worse than P. G. Stuart, losing forty-seven out of fifty-one colonies. When the fall months have been dry, the bees have generally wintered best, being more free from disease, other than famine; hence we regard honey dews as beneficial to the bees. In regard to where the honey dew is found, I stated, in the beginning of this article, that it is found on the papaw, sugar, cherry, and oak. Mr. P. G. Stuart has been one of the old time bee-keepers since 1844, and possessed the largest apiary known in the county. He is a regular progressive, and keeps up with the present day in the improvements, having most of his colonies in movable frame hives. He is a close observer, a man of strict integrity, and whose opinion is entitled to due credence. He has found honey dew on the papaw, sugar, and sparingly on the cherry, but never on the beech, yet does not de- ny its existence there. HONEY DEW FROM THE OAK. On the 22nd of September, 1879, I was walking through a wood's pasture, in which stood a few iso- lated trees. All of a sudden I heard the hum of honey bees. I took it for an absconding swarm, but soon found that I was mistaken, for the buzz was stationary. The noise attracted me to an oak tree, with a very bushy top, where I imagined 1 had found a swarm of bees; but, on close inspection, I saw they were working on the leaves, in as great num- bers as I ever saw them on the linden when in full bloom. The thought of honey dew flashed through my brain, and in my unbounded enthusiasm I felt like shouting "Eureka! Eureka! ! I have found it" —the dew. So I plucked some of the lower leaves, and soon found one with a drop or two of dew on the upper surface, which I eagerly tasted and found to be sweet as nectar. I then plucked more leaves, all richly laden with the delicious sweet. Then I went to the other side of the tree, and found it more abundant than before. I plucked a leaf to take home with me. This one was so full of honey dew that I had to carry it in a horizontal position to keep it from running off the leaf. It had several drops on it. There were no acorns on the tree that I could see. My old friend Stuart was shown the leaf, and pronounced it the most copious lot of it, on one leaf, he had ever seen. He has the leaf in his possession. The time was ten o'clock, A. M., when I first visited the tree. In a few days, I went there again, about three, P. M., and, to my surprise, found my little pets still spending their time among the branches of the oak. As to the dew's being produced by in- sects,—it is too Homeopathic a dose to merit much attention. J. B. Cline. Perin's Mills, Clermont Co., O., Nov. 10, '79. Your account, friend C, makes me think of the honey on my spider plants ; hut mine was only on the hlossom, and not on the leaves. There was plenty of dew on the leaves, hut it was just water, and not sweet at all. I presume you are aware of what has heen reported in hack numhers in regard to honey from the oak buds in the fall, and that your oak tree was entirely a different case. What kind of an oak was it V Who can give us more light V Is it really a fact, that trees sometimes bear honey from their leaves, as well as blossoms ? «0~ «&» -CM EXTRACTING TJNSEAL.ED MONEY IN THE FALL.. REPOKT THAT LOOKS AS IF IT WAS A WISE THING TO DO. S the advice given by you on page 451, in this month's Gleanings, regarding extracting un- sealed stores, is not what 1 should like to fol- low, I would like to ask you, if you think the un- capped honey that is in brood combs at this season, and especially after so long a spell of beautiful dry weather, is ripe, or fit to leave in hives for winter use. We (my wife and I) have been busy extracting from our 130 colonies for two days; are only about half through at this time. We take out every frame and extract it, if it even has five cells of uncapped honey. I find some of this uncapped honey very thin indeed, and after trying many frames of the capped honey, I found it good and thick. My advice would be, throw out every drop of unsealed honey be- fore putting bees in winter quarters. I am satisfied after last winter's experience that it pays to do this, extracting thoroughly. Those that had no uncapped honey had no dysentery, and those that did have uncapped honey, did have dysentery; but I hope to get through this coming winter without dysentery, if good, ripe honey for food, and a dry, well venti- lated, frost proof cellar will do it. Surely, it does seem as if bee culture is going to be profitable. We ought, at least, to save our bees this winter, for, I assure you, they have not been very profitable to us the past season. We had 62 colonies in the spring, and now have 100 fair and 30 light colonies, and have had 3.000 lb. of honey, about 1.400 lb. comb, and 1.6001b. extracted. In 1878, we had more than this amount of honey from 30 colonies. This year we got seven eights of our honey from basswood, but no surplus from white clover. Harry Blackburn. Webberville, Ingham Co., Mich., Nov. 15, 1879. Many thanks, friend B. Much has been said about extracting the unsealed honey from the brood combs, but this is almost the first report I remember to have had, showing that it is a preventive of the dysentery. Are you sure that, in a few days after extracting, more unsealed honey would not be found V Do they not uncap it, and then bring water to dilute it, before they can use it to good advantage? If it prevents dysentery, and helps them to winter, extract it, by all means. Our hives contain so little unsealed honey, 4S0 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. I can hardly think it would be ;m advantage to extract it, but this is doubtless owing to the small amount of fall honey. I had sup- posed the bees would evaporate and ripen any unsealed honey, during a dry fall such as we have just had. Will you please tell us about what quantity you succeeded in get- ting per hive? — ■»—»— SCREW -DRIVERS THAT WON'T GET LOOSE l\ THE HANDLES. s^pjf^E have sold so many of the all-metal wjw screw-drivers, 1 have often thought J J of something of larger size, made in the same way. Screw-drivers of all sizes are in great plenty in the market, but they are either of poor temper or they will work loose in the handle, or, as it oftentimes happens, they have both faults. A short time ago, I sent to our wholesale hardware store for some good screw-drivers. They cost nearly half a dollar apiece ; but, as they were beau- tifully polished, and had ebony handles, I thought they were perhaps worth it. Yes- terday, failing to get a window up, after a rain, I went tor one of these screw-drivers, and, the first I knew, it had " pulled out of the handle." I went down to the blacksmith and told him I wanted a good, large, stout screw-driver, of exactly the right temper, that could not come out of the handle. With some half-round iron, we bent up a handle and welded it most securely to the blade, in the way shown in the two cuts below : nOME-MADE, ALL-METAL, SCREW-DRIVERS. The hole in the handle makes it lighter, is convenient to hang up the tool by, and ans- Avers for a wrench to turn nuts not very heavy. However, if it should be objected that it is not so easy for the hands, a piece of blackwalnut can be neatly inlaid, and then you have a wood-handled screw-driver that can never split or get away. If you can not get your blacksmith to make you one, I will furnish them as follows : Eight inches long, 25 c; 12 inches long, 40 c; inlaid with wal- nut, each, 10 c. more ; if wanted by mail, add 5 c. and 8 c. respectively. » ♦ — • 1UOLLIE O. IiARGE'S SPIDER PLANT. BY OUR FRIEND MOLL.IE HERSELF. MO doubt, you all remember a puff I gave the spider plant last fall, and, friend Root, I be- lieve you have eulogized it as highly as I did; but our experience with it this year, as a honey pro- ducing plant, will justify it. I had a few pet stalks in the garden, that bloomed the 20 tb of June, and those plants were in bloom until frost, which came to us about the middle of Sept. All through the dry weather, when there was not dew enough to moisten your slippers, you could shake the nectar off from those plants, providing you were outbeforethe bees. I believe our bees are not as greedy as yours to overload themselves, but I have seen several in a plant at the same time, and three jostlingeach other from one floweret. G. G. was examining a nucleus near those plants, late one evening, and must have shaken the stalks s >me, as the bees were busy on the ground in the morning, as much as to say, " No waste here". But there are two sides to every thing, so I will give you the other side for the col- umn of " Blasted Hopes". EXPERIENCE OF 1879. As soon as spring opened, we sowed spider plant seed in beds, also expecting a great m iny volun- teers; but the extremely dry spring and summer was so against us that we almost failed entirely. It was only by watering, and a great >\e»l of labor that we saved any. We tried it in drills and br.iad east, but the only way we g< t any was by transplanting: from the beds I intended to have four acres, but only succeeded in getting about on«- sixth of an acre to live, ni>t getting any rain for weeks at a time. When i he plants are set and have grown about six inches high, nothing but frost will interfere with them. I would not advise any one to try the spider plant on a large scale, until he is convinced i>f its merit, then he will put forth every effort to make it a success, and, after all, from some cause or other, it may be he will be disappointed, as we were this season, expecting to have barrels of extracted, and crate-* of sec ion. honey to stow away ; but, alas! for blasted hopes How much more liresome to carry out sugar syru» than to cany in honey! Ah well, it works all light alter nil; for. if the bees in Chiis- tian Co., kept on increasing as they did a year ago, there would soon be a swarm in every bush, and no honey after all, for they would consume it for their support, and ive not even get a smell of it. MeLLIR O. LAWGE. Pine Hill Apiary, Millersville, Ills. Nov., 1S79. Under this bead will be inserted free of charge, the names of all those having honey to sell, as well as those wanting to buy. Please mention how much, what kind, and prices, as far as possible. As a general thing, I would not advise yon to send your honey away, to be sold on commission. If near home, where you can look after it, it is often a very good way. By all means, develop your home market. For 25cts., we can furnish little hoards to hang- up in your door yard, with the words "Honey for Sale" neatly painted. Tf wanted by mail. 10c. extra for postage. Boards saying "Bees and Queens for Sale," ;ame price. CITY MARKETS. Chicago. —Honey— Choice, in single comb boxes, 10@12c Extracted, 6@8c Bees-war.— Choice, yellow, 20@22c Darker grades, 12l/i@15c. St. Loui*. —Market for honey is good, demand greater than the supply. We quote: Choice White Comb, in 1 and 2 lb. sections, nicelv crated, 36 to 50*. in ci ate, 18 c. to 20 c. p^r lb. Fall Honey, 2. to 4 c. per ft. less. Extracted, in fair demand, — White Clover and Basswoon", 11 c. to 13c: Buckwheat and Fall Honey, 8c. to 10c. Beeswax.— Prime. 22c, and in demand. R. C. Greer & Co. For Sale, several hundred ft. of first class White Clover H ney, in 1ft. sections, at very low prices for cash in advance. Send for price. D. E. BoST. Best's, Pa., Nov. 2, 1879. T will sell, and deliver at R. R. in Jackson, 2 bbls. of 360 ft. each, of ch< ice clover honey, at 10c per lb; the same of basswood honev, \ ery fine, at 9c. and 2 bbls. <>f dark honey at 8c. The cash mu«t accom- pany the order. Reference, A. I. Root. J. H. TOWNLEY. Tompkins, Jackson Co., Mich. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 481 CUTTING A BEE TREE "BOW.Y SOUTH." -"anywhere, anywhire, out of the' HOW THEY (JOT 1 I 13) <>:-' H:)\'EV AND -S:)MS STINGS TOO. BEAR NOVICE: —As cutting bee trees seem3 to have a fascination for you, Iwill try to relate my experience in cutting one, so;ii3 two years ago. The swamp containing the bee trees was lo- cated about two miles from me, and I learned that the bees had occupied one of the trees (there were two) for a period of about five years; the other, some 60 feet from th3 first nam.3i, had been a bee tree for three years. Owing- to th3 swamp? all a- bout, the trees being from 3 to 4 feet deep in water, no one had ever had the "brass" to so in and cut the trees. Besides, no one ,in the immediate vicinity knew or eared much for bees or bee trees. We managed, four of us, to get through the swamp to the bee trees, by la, ins- poles, as impromptu bridges, and walking on them, supported by a pole in our hands, one end being constantly kept on the bottom, in order to retain our equilibrium. That voyage was a very "precarious travel," you can rest assured. We went in proudly erect, laughing, jok- ing, &c. ; but, alas ! our spirits were not long to re- main in this joyous mood. I was accompanied by friends, W and Lamb; also by a young colored man, named Isaac. None of us were familiar with cutting bee trees; in fact, the colored boy, Isaac, knew nothing about bees at all. Upon cutting into the tree, which was a large ex- press about three feet through, we soon found that it was hollow, a mere shell, in fact. The two entrances used by the bees were probably forty feet from the ground, and about four feet a- part, and each perhaps four inches in diameter. While cutting- the tree, I casually remarked to the colored boy, that as soon as the tree fell he would better run out upon the trunk and stop the en- trances, so that the bees would be unable to come out too numerously, and sting us. I had no idea that he thought I was iu earnest, but, as soon as the tree had reached the ground (having- fallen partly on smaller trees, it did not get clear down into the wat- er, remember), Isaac was tar out among its branches. He was bravely attempting to stop the holes in the tree, but, alas! he found that he had prepared noth- ing- with which to do so. Upon the impulse of the moment, in his wild ex- citement, he yelled "I've got'em, boss." I looked up between "dodging- times" (bees were thick out at the stump by this time), and beheld him with one bare foot over each of the holes. Just about this time, the bees were pouring out from a crack in the tree, on one side, out of Isaac's view, at the rate of a pint per second. Isaac's per- son was enveloped in only a thin muslin shirt, open at the back, and low in the neck, and thin, cotton pantaloons; he had no hat or shoes, or any protec- tion for his face! I gazed upon him in this trying dilemma in awe. I ft It, that there was going to be a "red hot" time in that swamp, in a few moments. I looked upon Isaac's devoted person as "sacrific- ed;" aye, for an instant, thoughts of the "boy on the burning- deck," "Fourth of July," and divers such brave sentiments flashed through my mind, at the sublime scene before me. In just about three sec- onde, Isaac- seemed to have a cloud upon his manly countenance; then he realized that "There is no place like' bees! He made one frantic plunge toward us, on his way to liberty, delivering a wild an 1 fiend like yell, that would have curdled the blood of our western settlers, who are U3sd to hea-ing the war Whoop of the wild red man. I looked after him as best I could. He had, apparently, a full peck of bees working dil- igently upon his head, neck, and face; his naked, black shoulders were livid with the hybrids sticking thereto. One partial glimpse of all this, and I was gazing upon vacancy. The bees reminded me of the tail of acomet, as they followed the boy at lightening speed. By this time, the bees were making it hot, terribly hot, at the stump of the felled tree, and, upon look- ing round, I beheld an intensely interesting tableau. Friends W and Lamb occupied safe, if not grace- ful, attitudes. W was in a hole of water up to his waist, with a whole mosquito-bar enveloping his head, shoulders, and arms. Lamb had fallen upon his knees, in the attitude of prayer, with his hands and arms plunged into the water to his elbows. He had about four cubic yards of wire cloth made into a bee hat, and in consequence could crawl under his bee hat and be pretty safe, excepting his hands and arms! He couldn't begin to get them under! No amount of persuasion could induce friend W to leave his damp situation just yet though,to cut the thing short, I will briefly say, that we finally took about one hundred pounds of fine honey from the tree. I am sorry I can't end this by saying, "I took the bees home, put them in a movable frame hive, gave them an Italian queen, and to day they are as fine an Italian colony as any one would desire to see." No, we left the bees; we had enough honey, and bees (stings) to lust us f»r several weeks. Three hours later, we interviewed Isaac. His feet were terribly stung on their bottoms, his shoulders were in a bad fix, his head well, it was like 16 heads rolled into one. It was swelled as large as a ten gal- lon keg, and reminded me somewhat of one, painted . black. His eyes were entirely closed up, and ever and anon, as a sickly smile passed over his dreary look- ing and saddened visage, his mouth appeared like an elongated bung-hole in a molasses hogshead. He turned his head in my direction, and in plain- tive tones wailed "Mr. Taylor, what made you gin me away in dis style for?" I of course, told him, that I supposed he had more sense than to think that I was in earnest. He says that he "don't b'leive dem insex likes niggers noway." Anyhow, said he "I's done wid'em for ever more; fore goodness, I is!" Gleanings, your A B C, A. B. J. and B. K. M., all combined, would not be able to make a bee keeper of Isaac now. I will tell you some day of that other bee tree in the same swamp, if you survive this letter. Yours Bee Trecially, R. c. Taylor. Wilmington, N. ('., Nov. 5,1879. WHAT BECOMES OF ALL THE DRONES' A NEW THEORY. JUDGING from what has been published of late, on the subject of drones, the question as to how long- these live under ordinary circumstances, the manner in which they perish, &c, is still an open one. In August last, some beautifully marked 482 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. drones were hatched in one of my colonies, the progeny of an extra fine queen which I purchased from E. M. Hayhurst. The colony was fed daily, and the drones were permitted to go in and out as in the hight of the swarming season. In less than thirty days from the time they took wing, not one drone could be seen, although the weather was beautiful and warm. If their home became intoler- able to them, by reason of persecution, they might have taken shelter in at least two other colonies, which retained a succession of drones, but not one of these finely marked drones were to be seen any where. If drones live as long as the authors of bee literature would have us believe, what became of my finely marked pets? Now I claim to have made something of a discov- ery. I think I may assume this much, as I have never seen anything in print, concerning what I am going to suggest. It is now well understood, that if the abdomen of a drone is pressed between the thumb and finger, he will explode with a convulsive jerk and die instantly. No one can try the experi- ment without being impressed with the suddenness of the death which follows. I have for a long time been of the opinion that this curious feature in the organism of the drone is no mere accident, but the handiwork of an all wise Creator, for a wise pur- pose, though we may not fully understand it at the present. Can it be that a beneficent Creator has provided the drone with the means of his own "sudden des- truction," as some compensation for his hard lot? Whether or not the poor drone, when driven from his home, outlawed and persecuted, ''having no where to lay his head," can "burst," quiver, and die, at his own option, I am not prepared to say. (Per- haps he "sort o' " remembers how his "daddy" did it, Brother Root.) But one thing I do know, and that is that drones do, at certain times and under certain circumstances, burst like the ripe pods of the "touch-me-not," while on the wing, and fall lifeless to the ground without any apparent cause, except that it is their nature to do so. This, I think, ac- counts for the sudden disappearance of drones when no succession is kept up. G. W. Demahee. Christiansburg, Shelby Co., Ky., Nov. 1, '79. . of comb honey. These few sections sold well, in the village. Perhaps it would pay me better to extract than work for comb honey. Now, a few questions. How many L. frames are used for brood rearing? What is the average num- ber of frames your bees cover when ready for win- ter? Should chaff cushion division boards be used in a chaff hive when there is room for one or more? Are colonies larger in some localities than in others? Fairfield, Ct., Oct. 27, '79. Wm, S. Morehouse. If I understand you correctly, friend M., I do not think you have any cause to worry. If the cluster of bees extends to 5 frames, during freezing weather, it is a very fair colony. If the brood that would go into 3 frames is scattered through 7, it is an indi- cation that you have given them more room, a little too fast. More brood will be raised, if you make them fill each frame full, before 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 485 you give them another. Of course, each frame must contain some honey, and some pollen, but there should be no cells in it without brood, pollen, or honey (unless oc- cupied or ready to be occupied with eggs), when you give them an additional frame. The honey may be in the way when honey is coming in, but I should have little fear of honey being in the way when they have ceased gathering it, for they would soon eat out some empty cells to cluster in. During freezing weather, our bees usually contract into a round ball, and, if this ball includes -5 frames, it is a pretty fair colony. A still heavier colony, in a good chaff hive, may till the hive so completely that they will seldom contract into a ball, and any colony is aided in this, by reducing the size of their winter- ing chamber. To do this, I would take out all the frames I could (and still leave them plenty of winter stores), and put in their places chaff cushions. Colonies are gener- ally larger in localities where there has been an uninterrupted how of honey during the whole season, but I do not know that locality makes any difference otherwise. The size of the colony depends very much on what kind of a queen they have. A good queen will often fill, pretty fairly, every one of the 10 combs in the lower story. WHAT SHALL WE PUT WITH WAX TO MAKE THE COMBS TOUGH? FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS. SN the Oct. No., I noticed the inquiry, "What do the bees do with the fur they nibble from each — ' other," and "Why are some combs dark colored when first built?" You seem anxious to investigate the cause, therefore I will give you my observations in relation to it. Last April, after setting my bees out from the cellar, I fed a weak swarm with flour candy to in- duce breeding. I put it in a small frame such as I use in the upper half story, 5 inches deep, with an ounce vial filled with water, cork, and wick. They took it readily, and began to build comb of brown greyish color, very tough and tenacious. It would bend without breaking. After building about 3 in. in diameter, and filling it with eggs, they continued to build below the frame to the bottom of the hive, and raised a fine comb of brood before there was any in other combs. I have never noticed anything like it before or since. It appeared strange to me, and I thought, at the time, I would write you about it, but have postponed it. Now, if you could make fdn. out of such material, what an improvement it would be to prevent sag- ging! I have been using soft carpet paper, nailed to frames for division boards, but found the bees cut it to pieces so badly, I had to abandon it in a measure. A gocd deal of the fibre was found in and about the hives. Did the bees use it to mix with wax for brood combs? Did the flour candy have anything to do with it? If you would obtain some fine pulp from a paper mill and incorporate it properly with the wax and work it for fdn., you would get the result. Ann Arbor, Mich., Oct. 28, '79. N. A. Prudden. Many thanks, friend P. Our boys have been at work at the wax with their micro scopes, and had just decided, when you letter came, that the "stiffening" in wax is the fibres of the cocoons from brood combs. Perhaps this is generally the case, when they are building these dark, tough combs, near old brood combs, but I was pretty sure I had seen just such comb building as you describe, yet I could find no piece of it when they were making their investigations. I think it is quite probable that the comb you mention was made with the fiber of the pa- per mixed in with the wax. If you can find the piece now, send it and I will have the boys examine it under the microscope. I think the Hour candy, without doubt, assist- ed in the matter. \adi^ ^jiarh^nh MR. ROOT:— We received a postal from you, and the bees arrived the day following that i on which the card came. We postponed writ- ing in acknowledgement, until we had something of moment to communicate concerning the bees. Mr. Price thinks there are no beauties to match his Italians, but he introduced them before he found there were directions accompanying them. He had not one particle of trouble with them, but / have trouble with Mm. His Italian queen has succeeded the American wife in his attentions. Every thing about our home is flavored with bee conversation. Wre thank you for your promptness (in which you are not a "novice") in sending the bees. The queen bee has grown since her arrival. I dropped a very ripe watermelon in the garden, yesterday, and it broke in halves. This morning, I found it lined with Italian workers, extracting the sweetened water. In regard to the photograph, I cannot thank you enough. "Little Blue Eyes" is certainly a child to be proud of, and her picture will be treated with as choice care as the little lady herself deserves. In regard to your age (which I certainly think was a rather indelicate topic for me to have questioned you upon) you just drew the bordering line nicely between my husband's idea and mine. I detect an abundance of fun in your countenance, and your little girl's pleasant expression gives a good index to the kindness in her father's disposition. Enclosed, please find $1.00 for your Gleanings, for one year. 1 find that, as the bees receive in- creased attention, our "wood-pile" receives increas- ed neglect; and, that I may regulate the order of things in that direction, please address the books to me. Anxiously awaiting Sept. No. of Gleanings, I am respectfully, Mrs. Charles E. Price. Smithtown Branch, Suffolk Co., L. I., Sept. 6, '79. I have four stands of black bees, neither of which swarmed this summer. I have taken about one hundred pounds of honey this season, which is bet- ter than some of my neighbors have done, who have 25 or 30 colonies. This has been a bad honey year here. I have never seen an Italian queen, and was very anxious to have one this fall, but my husband persuaded me to wait till spring; "But a woman persuaded against her will" has the same anxiety still. I just must have them in the spring, and early too, if I can get them. I am a young ABC scholar, and take Gleanings (which I think splen- did) with a neighbor, ami read until my head is so full of bee reading, I am in the same condition in which Mr. Merry Hanks is in the August number. Mrs. L. C. Carpentfr. Ilustunville, Lincoln Co., Ky. Oct., 1879. REPORT FROM AN A B C SCHOLAR. On the 15th of May, I received from Mrs. Lizzie Cotton a hive of Italian bees, with "Directions for Managing Bees." Being a novice, I at once pur- chased "Qulnby'8 New Bee-Keeping," "Cook's Man- ual," and the ABC book, and also subscribed for the Gleanings. The bees came 50 miles by rail, and 12 by stage. The apple trees were then in bloom, and later wild cherry, which abounds here, white clover, and melilot, motherwort, catnip, mignon- nette, &c. I noticed that they frequented the sweet 486 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Dec. clover and mignonnette in large numbers, but sal- dom saw any on the catnip, although in some places they were planted together. As soon as the mother- wort commenced to bloom, I saw them busy on that. They seemed to favor mignonnette and motherwort. It was the "Giant Mignonnette," of course. They sent out a large swarm July 15, which I had some difficulty in hiving. They staid on the outside two davs, and then 1 drove them in with smoke. I had no" farther trouble with the swarm, but not so wth the old hive. Thus far, I had received no stings. The bees would often get on my fingers, but I was careful not to injure them, and escaped stings, though I used neither gloves nor veil. But, during the latter part of August, I noticed the bees were growing cross. If I ventured in the vicinity of the hive, they gave chase, and gave me a badly swollen eye, if not a black one. I frequently saw them coming to the hive in droves, and when a shower came up suddenly, they would come home in droves, and cluster on the out- side by the entrance, and it would be several min- utes before they would all get in. This, and their being so cross set me to thinking. The other stand was some little distance from the old hive, at the base of a hill. I frequently went from one stand to the other but saw no disturbance at the latter until later in the season, and then it was trifling in com- parison. Neighbor A. who lives a few rods from us has 4 hives of the native bees. They stand close together in a covered frame, are in old box hives, and quite small ones at that. Mr. A. had kept bees for 3 years, on shares. At the commencement of this season they had 2 colonies. One hive sent out 3 swarms, and the other 2. Two swarms absconded; one staid in the hive 2 days, the other 10 days. An- other, after staying on the outside of the hive i days went back in. "Well, about the middle of September, some 2 weeks from the time 1 first noticed anything unusual about the hive, I had notice from neighbor A. that my bees were plundering their hives, and that they had closed all the entrances, and were throwing boiling hot wa'er on my bees which were clustered at the entrances aud on the tops. They were on every hive. I at once wrote to Mrs. Cotton for advice. She wrote me not to move the bees, nor meddle with them at all, for they could take care of themselves. 1 lost quantities of bees, but they grad- ually gave up going there, and I began to feed both hives all they would take, and thought my troubles were over. But, to-day, I had a note from the own- er of a cider mill a quarter of a mile off, that my yellow jackets were about his mill, getting into the cider and on the pomace and into mischief generally, and stinging occasionally. Now, Mr. Editor, what shall I do? The ABC book tells me cider is death to bees, providing any escape being drowned. Must I give up bee-keeping? for the cider mill is a fixture. I wait a reply. The bees are storing in the boxes now. When is the best time to put in the division board and do up for win- ter? Please tell me through Gleanings what to do to keep my bees at home. Tyro. Alna. Lincoln Co., Me., Oct. 23, 1879. I am very glad of one point in your letter, my friend, and that is, that Mrs. Cotton does, sometimes, till orders, and answer letters. Perhaps she shows a preference toward her own sex ; or is she beginning to do better, and getting ready to fix up all her old ac- counts V She has not yet sent my goods, or returned the money, but she has a great many times promised to do so. When she does, there is quite a little crowd that are really anxious for theirs. After your old colony sent out a swarm, it would probably become hybrid, and is not this what made them cross? Bees are usu- ally cross in the fall, after the yield of honey is over. It was rather rough in your neigh- bor, to throw boiling water on your bees, after he had got his hives closed. Can you not curtain the cider mill, when the bees trouble it, as I directed in the ABC? I fear you are borrowing trouble somewhat. Many seasons, the bees will not go near the cider mill at all, and it is only for a few weeks that they do so, in any season. As the weather gets a little cooler, they will get over it. Mrs. Cotton's advice happened to be about right, I guess, this time. Put in the division boards at any time you choose after they have ceased getting honey. You will have no trouble in keeping your bees at home when honey comes again iiext season, and, if they trouble you next fall, you must get that neighbor a little better posted, and you two together can fix the robbing. Do the same with the cider mill man, and carry each of them a nice plate of honey. This is a "heap better'' than quarreling, or hard feelings. SPRING dwindling; cause and cure. As others are writing their theories on spring dwindling, I would write mine. It is simply starva- tion, with plenty of honey in their cells, but all granulated; they can neither eat it, nor feed it to their larva*, so they dash out to the first mud hole, filled with ice or frozen mud, where the sun has thawed a little water. This they suck up, then to warm themselves and the ie? water in them, you will see them on the fence, old boards, chips, or any place where there is a bit of suushiuo to be found, apparantly enjoying themselves to the utmost of their ability. This ice water chilling them, they in turn chill the bees in the hive. The cold water mix- ed with the honey and pollen fed to the larvae chills them, so they all die together, leaving honey in the hive. Your description of the symptoms, friend A., is all right, but I fear your deductions are wrong. We often have spring dwindling, where the honey is too thin and watery. tested queens turning hybrids. Like you, I do not believe L. R. Jackson's queen wa9 fertilized the second lime, after having her wing clipped (page 392 Gleanings), but his, like Wm. L. King's, demoralized queens come and go after their own sweet will (304 Gleanings). Soui'j other queen entered the home of his clipped Italian, and filled her combs with hybrids. Queens, as well as drones, are freebooters during the honey season. If it were not for this fact, we could never introduce a queen. All would have to stay in their own homes or be killed. I think your explanations may be right, in at least some instances. WAX extracting ; HOW to clean the cloth bags. In regard to getting out wax, you say it is best to throw away the cloths through which it has been strained. Now, I think that poor economy. They can be cleaned easily by putting a layer of wood ashes into a kettle then a layer of strainers, and so on alternately, until the kettle is full. Then fill with water, boil, and wash as you would other clothes. This takes the wax all out. The lye with- out the ashes will not take off the wax. Olivet, Mich., Oct. 17, 1879. Alzaida. Thanks: lam very glad to see economy, where the time is not of more value than the article. The lye from the wood ashes is very easily tried. I do feel just a bit inclined to scold. After writing way out to Ohio, and necessarily wailing a week for a reply, then to get an answer so brief that it does not satisfy or fully cover my questions, is a little too bad: especially, as the weather will not consent to moderate till I can hear from you. I know you have a great deal to do in the way of correspondence, but so have a great many business houses who write longer letters. I really beg pardon, friend Anna, if I did not answer your questions as fully as I could ; are you sure you do not give me cred- it for more wisdom than I really possess V I will try again, and scrape up all the energy I have from a multitude of other things that 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 487 press, and I fear, sometimes worry me. Now I am good natured, and ready for busi- ness. What is it ? One of my leading question? remains unanswered. I will re-state my case, r have 3 hives of bees that are not sufficiently provided with food for winter. HOW TO FEED 1ST THE WINTER. Th^y will not take syrup from behind a division board, or from the top of frames, from either pep- per box or Simp, feeder. What an I to do? Why, bless your heart, I knew they wouldn't, at this time of the year; havn't I told you so often? Give 'em candy, to be sure. Candy? Well, I don't understand candy; wn 1 give them enough candy at once, to last through the winter, or must it be fed at intervals? If all at once, then where should it he put in the hive? and how much will it take to feed an ordinary single swarm ? There ! There ! do you suppose I have got sense enough to keep all this in my head at once, and not miss the leading question of the Avhole again V Let me see. You can make the candy as I told you how in the A B C book, you can buy it of the confec- tioners, or you can send to me for it. Yes ; you can give a colony enough at once, to last all winter, but I do not believe I would un- dertake to do so, because it will require so large a block, that it will lie like ice over the cluster, and they cannot keep such a lump warm near as well as they could some small lumps or sticks, right on the frames, just over the cluster. To make it sure, you want them to come up and cluster on and among the lumps or sticks. I have given colonies enough candy to last them all winter, by giv- ing them two cakes, just about the size and shape of ordinary building bricks, say from 3 to 4 lb. each. ' Cover it well with warm woolens, or chaff cushions, and tuck them up as snugly, to keep out the frost, as you would one of the children. I would prefer not to o- en a hive during the win- ter, but if it is necessary to feed at intervals, how much and in what way should it be given? Very well, you can give them enough to last until the next warm spell. You can open the hives and see to them any day Avhen it is warm enough so that the snow is melting slightly. Put it right in the cluster among them, and if they have no honey, be very sure they don't get entirely out. 1 shall make my candy, if I must use it, of coffee A. Very well ; coffee A is just as good as any thing else, and, as it will go farther and che bees like it rather better, it may be safer for you than grape sugar, unless you put in a little of the grape sugar to stop the tendency of the candy to grain. What I would like to do, is to feed, now, sufficient stmes to last through. You can do it. if you wish, as I have told you. I also have the idea that, in case several frames were filled with, candy, the bees would eat the one nearest to them, aud then be unable to cross the intervening space to the next, and so starve. Ami right? Please let me know. Anna L. Gray. Bloomfleid, Conn., Nov. 10, 1ST9. Yes : such will be liable to be the case, unless your colony is very strong in bees, and then I should hardly like to risk more than one frame of candy in a hive at the same time. If they once get well to work on it, it seems to furnish them heat to with- stand the cold ; but, in such a case, they consume quite an amount of stores, compar- ed to what bees do when they winter in their quiet natural way. 1 have rather preferred the tray right over the bees (mentioned in Oct. No.) to candy in a frame, but even with this, I find that, in cool weather, they only consume the candy right over the clus- ter. It is on this account that I would, for cold weather, rather risk the small lumps or sticks right over the cluster. Trusting to candy alone is rather risky, especially in the 1 lands of a beginner, although bees can be wintered on it, without any other stores. Cakes of maple sugar answer nicely in place of candy. Now, Miss Anna, if you do just as I say, and your bees all die, I will give you one of mine in the spring. Havn't I been real good this time V NOTES FROM THE BANNER APIARY . NO. 1. THE BANNER APIART. Don't think that I'm conceited, Or wish to put on style; For names, when first repeated, Will often cause a ■smile. I'll tell you how 'twas christened, The reasons all explain; Please wait until you've listened, Before you call me vain. My tenement hive, noted For shingles and for chaff, O'er which a banner floated From a nice, painted staff, Had bees that robb'd the posies, With flights that ne'er did lag; While they turned up their noses At hives that had no flag. Their neighbors saw their manners, And then began to shirk; And 'till they, too, had banners. Declared they would not work. At last, these bees were humored, And furnished with a flag; And then how soon 'twas rumored. That they'd begun to brag:. These pranks the bees kept noting (I wished them all to thrive), So banners soon were floating- O'er almost every hive. And when in such a manner, My own bee-yard was decked, Its name, of course, was banner; What else could you expect? My apiary's glowing With pride o'er such a name : I'll work to keep it growing, And worthy of the same. W. z. Hutchinson. Kogersville, Genesee Co., Mich. 488 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Dec. From Different Fields. CHILLED BEES REVIVING. 5nj? HAVE learned a lesson this morning-. I tipped JSjl my box hive over, and found a pint of dead ~) bees on the bottom board. I brushed them on the ground, and took a handful and threw them to the hens, but they did not touch them. I went out 3 hours afterward, and my dead bees were coming to life again. The night had been very cold, but a nice day followed, and that is what saved the bees. There is not comb enough for all of them, so they clustered down below the combs. To-morrow I shall pack them in a box, with 8 inches of chaff around them, and shall feed them so that they can till up their empty combs. 12 o'clock.— They still are coming to life. "Live and learn" is a good motto for beginners as well as old ones. I think that bees which are frozen in winter could often be saved by putting- them in a warm room. Jerry Moffitt. Oxford, Worcester Co., Mass., Oct. 26, 1879. I think your bees had been chilled but a short time, friend M. They will revive in the way you mention, if they are warmed up and fed inside of 24 or 48 hours ; but if you let them lie more than that time, they are dead "for sure." No one yet has succeeded in freezing bees up in the fall, and thawing them out again in the spring, so as to save their stores, although it is a matter that has been frequently discussed in our back num- bers. PACKAGES FOR EXTRACTED HONEY. T want some kind of a packag-e for candied honey, and have been thinking a tin box, 4 x 6 x 2, to hold two pounds, would be about the thing, if it would not cost too much. If the honey is kept in a cool room until wanted for use, by slightly warming the bottom of the box and running a knife along the sides, the honey would come out like so much maple- sugar and would look almost as nice as comb honey. I have some that I caked in section boxes, that looks very nice. By lining the sections with writing paper, the honey slips out very nicely when cold. What do you think of the idea? and what could you make the boxes for, by the hundred? 1 suppose the covers could be pressed out also. At what price can you furnish two quart pails with bail and cover? Chas. Oliver. Spring, Crawford Co., Pa., Oct., 1879. We can make the boxes you mention, by the hundred, for 5c. each ; the 2 quart tin pails, by the hundred, 10c. each. I have thought of the section box for a package of extracted honey, and it will be much cheap- er than the others, if we can get our candied honey so dry that it will not be sticky and dauby. A BIG report from an a b c scholar. Would you advise water and candy so late as this, to incite brood rearing? Do you think I could keep them going slowly all winter, that is raising- brood, or would it be better to leave them until Feb.? I have 21 stocks, and chaff hives for all of them. I am going to try to bring- them all through in good style. I had 7 in the spring, increased to the above number, and took of box honey 500to. in 4 *4x4 ^sect- ions, and 230ft. of extracted honey. It all sold like hot cakes. I didn't have half enough. Extracted honey sells here better than comb honey. I got 10c per ft. for extracted honey and 16c a section, as thev 5'iDl. w. (J. Saltford. Poughkeepsie, N. Y., Oct. 27, 1879. Why, you did splendidly, friend S. Over lOOrb. each from your original stocks, and trebled your number ! Doolittle will have to look out for his laurels. I should be a lit- tle afraid to undertake feeding for brood rearing at this time of the year, but it might turn out all right. I have fed the flour can- dy, and with it reared brood all winter long, but I have never given water in cold weather. still another hint on introducing. I received the two queens you sent me, Saturday night. They were the first queens that ever got off the cars, at this place. I removed the queens from two hives, and placed the cages on top of the frames as directed, and left them there until Monday. As they seemed all right, 1 thought I woidd let one out. Robbers were flying around as thick as hail in a hail storm, and when the Italians came out of the cage, they treated them the same as they did the robbers, queen and all. Of course, I didn't let them hurt the queen, but put her back into the cage, and began to wonder how I would ever get her in there. Finally, I thought I would try another plan. I got all of the Italians out of the cage but the queen, then took from the hive to which I wished to intro- duce her, ten bees that were so full of honey they didn't care about stinging, and put them in the cage with her, and put the cage back on the frames, and left it there until next day, when J let them out a- gain. This time, they let her run down between the combs all right. I next tried the other queen which had been on the frames 60 hours, but had to treat her the same. I looked at them to-day, and they are all right. AND A BIG REPORT FROM A CANADIAN ABC SCHOLAR. I had 11 colonies of bees last fall, wintered them all, transferred them all this spring, took 1,800 lb. of clover and basswood honey from them, and increas- ed to 26 strong colonies. * James McIntyre. Lynden, Out., Ca. Sept. 30, 1879. BEE CULTURE IN THE BLUE GRASS REGIONS OF KV., ETC. The honey season, proper, is quite short here, in the best of seasons. The great honey months are May and June. Natural swarming takes place, gen- erally, between the 15th of May and the 15th of June. Swarms coming after the latter date do not often get a living from the fields. The flow of honey is prodigious, some seasons, from white clover, &c, but it does not last long enough to make the yield great. My best stock, in 1878, made about 90B>. of comb (surplus) honey and gave a large swarm on the 18th of May, which made a surplus of about 451b. So you see, this colony and its increase made about 1301b. of honey in comb; but this was an exception. Fifty lbs. of comb honey is a good avei age. My bees averaged but about 30ft. this season. I did not extract. The season was too poor, I thought, for that. Your experience with the locust tree differs from mine. I believe the locust always bears honey here, when there are blossoms. A SUBSTITUTE FOR ENAMELED CLOTH. The most satisfactory cover I have ever used for covering frames is a piece of duck, or something similar, painted with "oxide of iron" paint, mixed with linseed oil, nothing more. This is the only paint I know of that leaves the cloth pliable, like rubber goods. These covers lie so nice and flat! and you know "how important that is. To paint them, they should be stretched on a smooth surface and filled with paint (one coat), then suffered to lie till the paint begins to harden. When they should be taken up and dried in the sun. If taken up too soon, the paint will run out of the goods. Try it, if not old, and be convinced. Natural swarming was nearly an entire failure here, this season. 1 had only 2 natural swarms. An abundant flow of honey did not last long enough, at any one time to insure natural increase. < hristiansburg, Ky., Nov. 1, '79. G. W. Demaree. 100ft. of honey and didn't know it, &c. I thought that I should not renew Gleanings this year, as the times were so very hard, but on reading Our Homes for Nov., I thought that I could nut do without it. I would be glad if I could get it into every family in our county. I have only 7 stands in my apiary. I was taking the top stories off yester- day and putting on blankets for the winter, and, to my astonishment, I found about 100ft. of nice comb honey which I am selling- at 20c. per ft. So I found that there was more money in the bees than I thought for, as they had been neglected so much. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 489 I hope to give them more attention than I hitherto have done. Hut, Mr. Root, every time that I take honey from them, they sting me on the hands. I always protect my face with a veil, then they go for my hands, and I thought that I should have to send to you for a pair of gloves. Let me know the price of gloves and oblige, W. C. Hilt,. Jefferson, Texas, Nov. 6, 1879. Thanks for your good opinion, friend II. But do you not need a smoker, rather than gloves? There must be something wrong somewhere, when the hees sting your hands as you say. CAN'T AFFORD TO TAKE GLEANINGS. I wish I could afford to take Gleanings 1his win- ter, but cannot. A hail ftorm, July Kith, destroyed almost all our crops, especially buckwheat. Still, thanks in great measure to Gleanings and A B C, I can make a good report for a beginner. I had 17 stocks in the spring, and have 38 now, in fine con- dition for winter. In the spring, 2 stocks were Ital- ians, all the rest blacks in box hives. Now all are transferred, and all but 5 Italianized. 1 took 257ft>. of section honey, and about 200 of extracted. I made all my own hives, frames, sections, &c, which is too much work for lazy folks. I think bee-keep- ers earn all the honey they get. They have to work as hard as the bees for it. Hut then the bees are our ^jets. I am quite insensible to the effects of stings. Wm. H. Hakt. Poughkeep: i !, X. Y., Nov. 6, 1879. Perhaps, my friends, you will say I have a sehish motive in what I am about to say, and perhaps I have, but as it is for your good too, as well as my own, I think I would best say it. When going to school, did you ever notice the way in which a boy who lias ••staid out" a few days looks, when he comes to recite V Do you remember his vacant stare when a part of the lesson comes up. which hinges directly on the one of the pre- vious days V When he tries to make up by shrewdness, what he lacks in knowledge, it is sometimes pitiable to those who are post- ed and familiar with the ground. Now the journal for this winter will cost you, friend II., less than 25c. ; less, in fact, than 1-10 of the value of the poorest one of your 38 colo- nies of bees, or the value of 2lb. of honey, and yet you cannot afford it. There! I beg pardon ; I shall get to scolding, if I keep on. I hope you will take one or more of the other journals, if you do not take Gleanings. INTRODUCING A QUEEN BY A NOVEL METHOD. I received my second imported (jueen all right, and have had the opportunity of seeing a limited number of eggs, deposited by her, which I had not expected, as The most of my queens had ceased lay- ing. I had quite a time getting a nucleus started for her with just hatching bees, as we had no very suitable place to keep the combs warm. I just took a glass jar and went to a hive that had plenty of young bees, and picked off young bees just hatched, bne or two at a time as I could catch them, and put them in the jar. Wrhen 1 got about a double hand- ful, I put them in a hive with a couple of combs without brood, turned the queen loose, and kept on picking young bees every now and then for two or three days, until I had' enough to cover and keep warm a frame of brood, and have since been adding frames of brood as fast as needed, and hope to get them strong enough to be in good condition for win- ter. 1 commenced in the spring, with 15, and expect to go into the winter with about 40 good colonies. I have taken about 600ft. of surplus besides. I made mv increase bv artificial swarming. Centreville, O., Oct. 1, '79. Geo. W. Lawson. Your plan is not quite new, friend L., and I am sony to say it is not always successful. 1 have known young hees to attack a queen, when they looked as if they could not be more than a day old; but I have never known a bee hatched in the hive with the new queen to attack her. We always brush every bee from combs of hatclwng brood, when introducing a valuable queen; still, I suppose your plan will succeed in the great majority of cases. It is a slow process, as I know by experience. ARE LARGE SWARMS ALWAYS THE MOST PROFITABLE TO WINTER? I wish to tell you of a small August swarm of bees that came out and lit on a small bush, was hived in an old fashioned hive, set on a bench and kept there until cold weather came, then was placed on a shelf in the wood-house, with probably 101b. of honey to keep it all winter, and it finally made a live of it, and that same swarm sent out 3 very large swarms that summer. Does not this show a very prolific queen? 1 judge from this, that it is not always the large amount of bees which are kept over winter, that does the extra business. I was talking with a friend to-day, who had 8 swarms of bees, and lost all but one, and he told me that he had corked them up tiuht, and they had sweat themselves to death. The water had run out of the hives. I think bees should be kept dry and warm, and the man that fails to do this can surely count some loss. Now, friend Nov- ice, do j ou keep all your bees all winter without loss of any kind? 1 am trying to find those who are most successful in wintering bees, and am going to try to imitate them. K. A. Labar. Portland, Penn., Nov. 8, 1879. Large stocks are not always the most prof- itable, and there are those who go so far as to say they would as soon have a quart of bees to commence with in the spring, as to have more ; but I can by no means agree with them. I never saw a colony with too many bees in it, either in the spring or at any other time; but, at the same time, a quart of young bees in the spring might be of more value than a peck of' old bees. The colony you mentioned being a second swarm, probably went into winter quarters with all young bees. I once obtained swarms from neighbors who were going to brimstone them, and filled my hives to overflowing. They ate a great quantity of food, and then (as they were all about of the same age) all died in the spring at pretty nearly the same time, and left my stocks little, if any, better than if they had not been given such a drove of boarders through the winter.. Had I made them raise brood in the fall, by feed- ing, the case would, probably, have been different. You are right in regard to keep- ing the bees dry in the winter. A NEW FEATURE IN SIDE STOKING; HONEY BY THE "JUG FDLL." A box hive man, a friend of mine, was telling me of a new side storing box, a 2 gal. jug that he acci- dentally left by the side of one of his hives last sea- son. The bee's filled it with honey this season, and when the nights got cold in the fall, they returned to the hive, leaving the jug full of honey. He did not get any surplus, so he is like friend Hasty, he wants that honey. He is afraid that he cannot get it without breaking the favorite jug. Don't tell Mitchell: he will have a patent on it. Whitestown, Ind., Oct. 11, lt79. S. H. Lane. Now those bees were very inconsiderate, to go and put comb honey into a jug; any Itees of common sense should have known it could not be poured out. By the way, friend L., was it not a small second swarm that took up its quarters there ¥ I should hardly suppose they would go into a jug to store their surplus honey", unless the nose of the jug were inserted in a knot hole in the hive (this last idea is my invention, mind you), or something of the kind. 490 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. COVERS TO ONE AND ONE H VLF STORY HIVES. I see on page 451, Nov. No. of Gleanings, that friend W. E. Flower complains that the cover of his story and a half hive lea'ts. I am surprised at that. I bought 'one of yon last winter, in the fiat though, and put it up mvself, in a few minutes. The top boards both work into a groove cut in ridge piece, and I gave a good coat of paint (white lead, very thick! inside the groove, and then drove the pieces in tight. This top has never leaked one drop, and, in fact, cati'i leak when put together in the manner described above. CASE OF SECTIONS TO THE V/t STOKY HIVE. The case of 28 sections I like. 1 place a broad frame upon each side of lower story, and watch them below, as well as above, and as fast as one sec- tion box is scaled over, I take it from the bees sub- stituting another box with fdti. starters. I believe that friend F. will be better pleased with them if he does try them another season. I think, in future, that I shall use the half story, exclusively, instead of having two stones. I believe in fdn., Italian bees, dollar queens, and Gleanings. K. C. Taylor. P. S. — I am fast becoming a convert of friend Townley's. I "believe" in chaff packing, even in th is climate! ft. C. T. Wilmington, N. C, Nov. 10, 1879. One is impressed with the idea that you will soon get to be a believer in a good many things, friend T. Thanks for your kind words. Here is another friend who has some good ideas on covers. COVERS TO l!i STORY HIVES; STILL MORE ABOUT THEM. If you will construct the covers to your hives like the sketch shown below, I think you will have no trouble with leaking roofs. END PIECE FOR COVER. HOW TO MAKE A COVER THAT CAN'T LEAK. The trouble with yours is (beg pardon), you have no way of fastening the side covers to the ridge board, and it is a fact that lumber cannot be so well seasoned that it will not draw to some extent, when exposed to the weather. As soon as your side covers draw enough to break the paint, just so soon the storm will commence to beat in. In this cover, a rabbet is cut on each lower corner of the ridge board, with a pitch to accommodate the sides, and wide enough to admit a lap of % of an inch. The joint should be painted when put together, and the sides permanently locked to the ridge board, by means of screws driven from beneath so that no portion of them is exposed to the weather. I have not used these covers long enough to give them a thorough test, but so far they do nicely. I have not designed this for publication but simply endeavor to aid in producing for the public, a roof proof against storm, and cheaper than tin. D. 13. Baker. Rollersville, O., Nov. 11, 1879. DRY FUEL FOR SMOKERS, AND HOW TO MAKE A COLD-BLAST SMOKER BURN EVEN DAMP FUEL. I have ordered several Simplicity smokers for neighbors and friends, though I furnished the smo- kers at your prices to me, paying postage myself. I have been anxious the goods should give satisfac- tion. The following complaints of the cold-blast smoker have been made: After the fuel was partly consumed, what remained would shake about and the Are go out; the fuel back of the tube would not burn; the tube fills with soot, etc. Now, complaints, no doubt, are the result of imperfect fuel. I find tlie rotten wood must be entirely free from moisture to work well. Who of U9 has not almost lost pa- tience to And, after the smoker is filled and we ready for business, that our fuel has gathered damp- ness by lying? A brother for whom I ordered a smoker last spring, declared he would not " bother with that smoker another time" I asked to be al- lowed to try his smoker. Smoker and wood were brought. He said the wood was "perfectly dry," and so it seemed; but experience had taught me that it is be3t first to put wood into the oven, and when I lit the smoker he fairly laughed with delight. Now, friend Root, some will be "careless," not- withstanding the dry wood and printed instruct ons that accompany each smoker. So I began to think whit could be done. I took an awl, and made 2 small holes in the tube, close to the bottom of the cup, nearly opposite the draft hole. I find it obvi- ates all the above-named difficulties, and works splendidlv, even if the wood is somewhat damp. The small holes keep the fire alive by blowing in a little air, and yet not enous-h to perceptibly affect the cold blast. With very dry wood, the draft can be very nearly, if not quite, closed. All T order hereafter I shall certainly fix, if not already fixed. L. I). WOKTH. Reading Centre, Schuyler Co., N. Y., Nov. 12, 1879. Many thanks, friend W. Your idea is not new, and I some time ago decided I did not want such a hole, for direct draft ; but since so many will not have their fuel dry, I pre- sume we would best make our smokers, with very small holes in the center tube, as you suggest. Our friends will have to see that these holes do not get clogged with soot and ashes. One day later.— 1 have had a nice machine made to prick two small holes in all the cold blast tubes. The girl who puts the smokers together finished up one of these nicely, and brought it to me. Surely enough, it worked splendidly— filled the room full of smoke, and made everything " red hot," almost, in no time. But there are two serious objec- tions ; one is, that it draws smoke back into the bellows, through these small holes. The quantity is small, it is true, but I am sure we do not want a particle of smoke to get into the bellows under any circumstances. The other is, that such a blast of flame blown right against the side of the cup solders the door fast. Said the girl, "Mr. Root, I do not see how anybody can ever complain about not smoke enough with any smoker we have sent out in the past (i months, " and after trying them, I confess I feel the same way. With any one of them I can " smoke your eyes out1' when you are 10 feet distant. However, wre will prick holes in the blast tube, for all who want them so. WANTED, A SPIRIT LEVEL, PLUMB, AND COMPASS COMBINED, FOR FIXING UP HIVES. Friend Novice: -There is an implement I feel in need of. and perhaps some of the rest of the frater- nity may be like me; that is, a spirit level that will go into the Simplicity hive and rest on the rabbets. Then we can level our hives exactly, which is very important. Have it fixed so we can plumb our trel- lis posts, and have a compass set in the side so we can set our hives all just right. The size of it you can proportion according to the length. I leave it for your decision. ITALIANS VERSUS BLACKS. My Italian queen I bought of you, the lot hot' June, has now enough provision for winter, and some to spare, and the hive is chuck full of golden bees, while the black swarm, which I hived the same day I received the Italian queen, has not half as much honey, or bees either. The queen had three combs to commence with, while the swarm had one comb, a peck of bees, and frames filled with fdn. With the same chances, the Italian will more than double the blacks. C. M. Reed. Pocahontas, Hardeman Co., Tcnn., Oct. 16, 1879. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 491 INTRODUCING A QUEEN' WITH HER ESCORT BEES. I once wrote to you, saying that bees would some- times kill a queen in consequancs of the accompa- nying bees being put into the hive with her, when introiucin? (see page 11, Gleanings of 1878). You then stated that, if further experiments verified the fact, you would put it into the ABC. Since then, a number of bee-keepers have testified to the fact, and, if I am not mistaken, you are one of them. This summer, f got an imported queen fiom Da- dant, just as she came from Italy. 1 felt that it would be cruel to drive the pior bees out into the cold world without a home to g > to, s > I tried to in- troduce them with the queen, I lost queen, bees, and all. Now put it Into the book. You need not mind about giving ms credit, as I am not working for glo- ry. I condole myself for my losses with the thought that others will profit by my experience. Uuionville, la., Nov. 12, 1879. G. B. Replogle. Thanks, friend R. The matter shall be put into the A B C at once., and you shall have the credit too. GRAPE-SUGAR CANDY. I have made up the barrel of sugar into your new bee feed, and think it is the boss feed. I am feeding tin stands. Many thanks for your discovery. We had no honey here this fall; the weather was too dry, and the rl >wers gave but very little nectar. UPPER STORIES, BALDWINS DEVICE FOR REMOVING. I send you a small model of my invention, for lift- ing off the upper story of the Simplicity hive. MACHINE TO LOOSEN THE UPPER STORIES, WHEN FILLED WITH HONEY. You put the lower end of the brace in the lower hand hold, and the end of the lever in the upper hand hold, and bear down lightly, and you have it nil loose; take off the upper story, turn it upside down, lift right up, and you have the broad frames all clear without any trouble. Make the lifter out of half-inch, hard wood. I use one made out of walnut. If you think it is a good thing, give it to all bee men. I would not do without one for one hundred dollars. W. M. Baldwin and Brother. Mattoon, 111., Nov. 8, 1879. Many thanks, friend B. I have practiced lifting off the upper story as you advise, but they are so heavy to lift, that I rather prefer lifting out the broad frames one by one. Be- sides, when we raise the upper story, if there are metal-cornered frames below they are raised up with it, or at least go up part way, and then comedown with a crash ; however, this may be prevented by raising it slightly, and then, with a screw-driver or similar tool, pressing down into its place each brood frame that comes up. SUGGESTION IN REGARD TO MAKING SECTIONS BY FOOT-POWER SAWS. As it is getting near the time to prepare supplies for next season, I have a word to say to those hav- ing foot-power saws, giving my plan for making seel ion-boxes. First, plane your timber on both sides; then rip it up into strips l3;x2 inches wide; next, saw your strips into lengths of 4'i inches (if that is the size you wish your section-boxes). Now take a board of suitable size (say 10 x 18 inches), nail a straight-edged strip on the side nearest you, and one across the left end at an exact right angle to the first strip. Prepare some glue, and have a brush that will cover two inches. Have your blocks and glue-pot in front of you, just beyond your board. Take a block in your left hand, dip your brush in the glue, and pass it over one face of the block; now place it in the angle made by the strips on your board, edge up, end toward you, and glued side to- ward your right hand. Glue another and place against the first in the same position. Proceed with other pieces until you have a block as long as will pass between the saw and pulley. Set it away and proceed as before until you have the blocks all glued together; in a few hours th«y will be ready for the dovetailing table. The advantages of this plan are: First, you save all the scraps of lumber. Second, ihere is no outlay for, nor fussing with, clamps that are needed for no other purpose in making hives. Third, sawing short stuff on a foot-power saw is not nearly as f ttiguiug; and sluing the blocks together Obviates the necessity of having your hands so near the saw, and of handling so many pieces when saw- ing up into sections. Chas. E. McKay. Canon City, Colorado, Nov. 10, 1879. FEEDING BEES POTATOES, PHOTOGRAPH OF THE APIA- RY, ETC. I must have some seed of those spider plants. I have been working with bees ever since I was old enough to do any thing (though I am only 19 now), and, according to your description, I have never seen any thins' that would half way equal it. Please aceppt thanks for the picture of 'your apiary given in Nov. number of Gleanings; it is worth twice the price of Gleanings. I will take my oil paints, and make a ehromo out of it. I have been feeding my bees on a candy made of potatoes, flour, and sugar; about one-fourth potato and flour. D > you think it would be likely to do them any harm? They seem to be doing well on it; those that have been fed with it are still raising brood, while the others are not. Chas. E. Kingsley. Greeneville, Green Co., Tenn., Nov. 13, '79. I do not fear the Hour, but, without hav- ing given the potatoes a trial, I should be somewhat afraid they might give them the dysentery. Any food that will start healthy brood rearing will at least answer for warm weather. I am glad to know that you are pleased with the picture of the apiary. I am just this minute paying the bill to the en- graver,which was $7o.00, besides nearly $5.00 more to the photographer, for the photo- graphs to assist the engraver. BADGES FOR BEE-KEEPERS, AND WIRE CLOTH FOR BEE VEILS. Have you done anything in the way of making that queen-bee pin suggested to you by J. H. M., Jan. No., page 2a? In the ABC, under veils, you speak of taking steps to have a cloth made of fine wire with large meshes. Have you succeeded in making1 such a cloth? L.Heine. Smithville South, Queens Co., N. Y., Nov. 12, is;!). I don't believe, friend H., that many of us have got any money for pins just now ; but friend Kellogg has sent me a sample of a pretty blue-ribbon badge, with a queen bee on it, in bronze. Read what he says about it. Dear Novice;— Inclosed please find one of our Western Illinois Bee-keepers* Society's badges. I would have sent sooner, but I have only just receiv- ed Gleanings from home. I hope we shall see something " neat and pretty " come of it. They were made by Thos. G. Newman & Son, of the A. li. J. Will M. Kellogg. Now, we will get up as pretty a badge as we can, of silk, with a bronze queen, and motto on it, and one of them will be sent to every subscriber who sends us $1.00 for Gleanings before Jan. 1st. If you want them for conventions, the price will be 5 c. each, or -50 c. per dozen. In regard to the wire cloth for bee veils : we stopped our investigations, after receiv- ing the following from friend Baldridge : Some use a hat made of wire cloth, but that is very bad lor the eyes. 1 nearly ruiued my eves by its use some twenty years ago. M. M. Baldridge. St. Charles, ill. 492 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. Dec. BUCKWHEAT, AND HOW IT DOES IN GEORGIA, ETC. Bees have done remarkably well here this season. Our honey plants begin to open about the first of April, and* continue till the first of October. My last sowing of buckwheat is just now in full bloom. I have used various kinds of honey plants, but none give as much satisfaction as buckwheat. We have, I might say, thousands of wild flowers that yield an abundance of very tine honey, but we find that they do better in their wild state. SENDING ME HIVES TO TRY. I am using the Honey Cr*eek (sweet name) patent bee hive (don't get mad, brother Root), invented and patented by myself. I want you to use one of them - just one. I will make and send you one if you will use it. I am glad to hear that buckwheat does so well in the South. I am also much obliged, friend II., for your offer to send me a hive; but as the principles embodied are most like- ly those I have already gone over in my ex- periments, your better way will be to give me a brief description of it with a simple sketch. Many hives have been sent me, covering ground I am already quite familiar with, and it was therefore a needless ex- pense to both myself and friends, when a pencil sketch would have answered as well. I send you herewith a plant from which the bees gather a great deal of pollen. I can't find anyone who knows the name of it. It is a wild plant, but a very valuable one at this season of the year. The plant is the common golden rod, of the variety called ISolidago Canadensis. FEEDING BEES SORGHUM. We have but very few bee-keepers in this state. A great many have tried bee-keeping, but failed. They generally knock the poor little bee in the head with their honey-knives. Some people are very much like one of my neighbors, who thinks that a bee can actually make honey out of almost any- thing. So much impressed was he with this idea, that he fed his bees very largely on sorghum syrup in the fall. He gave them all they would carry into their hives. They tilled up every available place with it. The following spring they were still heavy with what he supposed to be fine honey manufac- tured from sorghum; but, "great spoons! " when he cut it out it was sorghum still! It seems from your remarks, that sorghum is a safe winter food with you. Had your experiment been tried here, it would not only have been a failure in making honey, but it would most likely have killed the bees too. A NEW KIND OF SORGHUM. A neighbor of ours has a new kind of sor- ghum, received from the government at Washington, that ripens its seed perfectly in September ; and from it he has made sugar that grains, without any process or machin- ery. Now, sugar that will grain will be safe to feed bees, without any question ; and the amount of sugar contained in the stalks is so great that our friend thinks he could raise twenty barrels of sugar to the acre. I guess this is pretty high, but as I twisted one of the stalks and tasted the juice, I told him I thought likely it would prove the most suc- cessful rival to my spider flower. If you want a little of the seed to try, mention it when you are renewing your subscription, and we will send you some. I have about 60 stands of bees. I realized from one stand last year, 192 pounds of fine rich honey. I find bee-keeping a very profitable and pleasant busi- ness, and expect to devote my whole time to it after this year. I have kept bees for thirty years; but a bee, like a flea, is hard to find out. I think that I know something about them, and I am certain that there is a great deal that I do not know about them. My bees are as gentle as flies. My little grand-baby crawls on top of the hives, but never gets a sting. I think that anyone can " gentle" their bees who will not work with them too rapidly. Joseph Hollixgsworth. Conyers, Ga., Sept. 25, 1879. REPORT FROM AN A B C SCHOLAR. Two years ago this fall, I decided to sro into bee culture, and subscribed for Gleanings Oct. 1st, 1877. In the course of the fall and winter, I bought 2 col- onies. In the fall of 1878, I went into winter with 11 colonies, having bought some and traded for some. OUTDOOR WINTERING COMPARED WITH CELLAR WINTERING. I packed 5 in straw, out doors, and put 6 in my cel- lar, thinking that if they died in one place, they per- haps would not in the other. Well, out of the 5 out- doors, I saved one, and of the 6 in the cellar, I lost one. So I came through with 6 (which was better than most of my neighbor bee keepers did), 4 strong and 2 weak ones. The 4 strong ones have increased to 13, and given me 3371b. of surplus honey In lib. sections. If all winters were like last, friend C, it would probably pay, without question, to put the bees in the cellar; but if all were like the winter before, the opposite would be the rule. Taking our winters as they come, and our bee-keepers as they come, I think chaff hives out-doors the safest advice to give. From 2 swarms and their increase (which was 4), I have received 2361b., and have 92 sections with nice comb started for next season. The honey brought me $30; so I have 6 strong colonies and $30 in the place of two colonies in the spring. The 2 light colonies only increased to 3 making 16. I bought 5 in the summer, so I now have 21 colonies, 14 in simplicity and 7 in chaff hives. My best swarm gave me 78tb. surplus. Two of my new ones gave me 68 and 65tt>. My honey was nearly all clover and basswood, as buckwheat was a failure on account of drouth, aud fall flowers were killed by hard frosts early in September. SECTIONS IN TWO TIERS VERSUS ONE TIER AGAIN. I think, by using the broad frames and two tiers of sections, I have got nearly double the amount of honey I would have got with the ll/3 story hive. I thought, last spring, that after this season I would make my hives I1 % story, and make the chaff hive 1% inches lower, and use but one tier of sections; but I have changed my mind. I want them just like those I bought of vou for pattern. J. G. Clark. Gobleville, Mich., Nov. 10, 1879. COMB FOUNDATION, WIRE STRENGTHENED. All that may be said against this valuable article cannot cause me to dispense with it; because I have tried it, and found it good. Last July, I purchased, of friend Root, a 31b. box of fdn., and a spool of the fine wire to prevent sagging. I sewed the wire into the frames (the Langstroth) so that each contained seven upright and two diagonal wires. I then pro- ceeded as directed in July Gleanings. What do you suppose was the result? Why, in a few days after these frames of fdn. were placed in colonies of bees, they were transformed into frames of beauti- ful, strong comb, without a particle of sagging, which the queen had visited and filled with eggs. Several of my neighbor bee-keepers, seeing the re- sult, say that they intend to get fdn. next season. Not a frame has sagged to date. bee-keeping. This is my first year of bee-keeping, and I like the business exceedingly well. I want to get a colony with an imported queen, and raise queens next sea- son. My object is to have every queen in my apiary (except the imported) a tested daughter of an im- ported mother. When this shall have been accom- plished, if I do not have golden Italians, why, I would like to know why. What do you think of my project, friend Root? I think your project a good one, and I am very glad to know you have succeeded so well with the wired frames. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 493 MY EXPERIENCE WITH ROBBERS. Sept. 10th, of the present year, I had my first ex perienee with robbers. About half past one o'clock 1 walked out into the apiary, and, to my surprise, bees were roaring around two hives, in great num- bers. I smm ascertained what they were doing-, and proceeded to stop them. 1 contracted the entrances until they were so narrow that but one bee could pass at a time; but that did not seem to do any good. They would rush in "whether or no." Bo I closed the entrances entirely, only leaving airholes. They soon left these hives after they were closed; but, bad as ever, attacked another one, which was treated in like manner. So they continued until the sun was sinking- in the west. About dusk, T opened the hives, leaving- very small entrances. The next morning, they were working busily on the buck- wheat, showing no sign of robbing. 1 thought that I had stopped them "for good." Every thing- went all right until about the time when they began the day before. Then they commenced business more lively than ever. The apiary was getting in an up- roar fast, and I, almost a fit subject for "Blasted Hopes," was running from hive to hive closing en- trances. The third day they commenced again; but each colony seemed to understand that they must fight, if they wished to thrive. Every time a robber tried to enter, he was nabbed by two or three guards. I have not been troubled with robbers since, for which I am thankful indeed. J. P. Moore. Morgan Station, Ky., Sept. 30, 1879. The reason your bees did not rob in the fore part of the day was because the buck- wheat yielded enough to keep them busy. In the afternoon, after they had gathered all the buckwheat honey, they had tune to take up the robbing again. How much do you suppose, friend M., it would be worth to have just bee pasturage enough, every day in the year when bees could fly, to keep an apiary of 500 colonies occupied so they would not rob V This is what I hope the Simpson and spider plant will do for our own apiary. SECTIONS PLACED ON THE FRAMES, ETC. Will you be kind enough to inform me if you find that sections are much more conveniently handled when in frames than when simply placed on strips of wood resting on the frames? This has been my plan, and the separators are very troublesome to keep in place when introducing fresh sections and removing them filled. Zinc is cheaper here than tin, so of course I use it. You will see by back volumes, friend E., that my original plan, which I used two sea- sons, was to set the sections on the frames as you suggest. Like yourself, I found it an immense amount of labor, compared with 8 sections in a frame, as Ave use them now. Are you not mistaken in saying zinc is cheap- er than the thin tin, which is really the bet- ter for separators? AN AIR SPACE BELOW THE BEES IN WINTER. HaviDg had previous experience of the very great benefit of an empty space below the combs, in our cold, damp winters, when the lower edges of combs so often get moldy and rotten. 1 have this, year ar- ranged for wintering two hives on this principle: In one, the bees nearly fill the frames in the upper sto- ry—the lower story being empty, and the entrance at its lower edge. In the other hive the bees (a smaller stocki are inclosed on five frames (Wood- bury) between two double-walled winter -shield frames. The bees occupy the center of the hive. This hive will be placed on an empty hive. This great additional cubic space of air will, I anticipate (from my past experience), preserve the combs trom injury by moisture, and be in several respects an advantage to the bees. May I ask you to try a hive or two on this plan that is, packed with chair on your most approved winter plan, and placed upon an empty, chatt'-packed lower story or empty hive? In the September A. li. J., I see two or three bee- keepers remarked, at a convention, that they " want- ed better ventilation." By my plan (the entrance being at the bottom, and small), they have this with- out a draught. Upward ventilation seems so contra- ry to the instincts of bees, that, with sufficient bot- tom ventilation, I doubt if bees could not be winter- ed in a glass box. It may be that bees could be wintered in a shallow glass jar, if it had a large mouth and an open space below it ; but I think it would be poor economy, even then; although it might be far better than to have the bottoms of the combs damp and moldy. An open space below the combs lias been tried year after year by bax-hive men, with tall hives only half full of combs. With a chaff hive, well tilled with bees, we have the bees clus- tering, during the severest weather, not only against the top and sides, but on the bottom also, keeping it warm and dry all the time, and keeping every particle of frost out so thoroughly that neither dead bees nor damp- ness are ever found in the hives at all. Is not this a better way, friend E.V "THINGS NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD." 1 want to propose to you an additional column for Gleanings, headed, " Things Not Well Understood," or words having- a similar signification. It might be started with, " How many pounds of honey or sugar are consumed in the production of a pound of wax?" " How best to winter bees in-doors and out? " The experience of readers requested. " What is the spe- cific gravity of different kinds of honey?" I am glad to see your report of the doings in your own apiary and bee garden. I consider this as one of the most interesting parts of Gleanings. With all my heart ; but there are so many things not well understood, will it not em- brace the Avhole journal almost V SPRING DWINDLING "ACROSS THE WATER." I had a case of spring- dwindling in 1878. The stock only recovered by being fed almost through the summer. It became a strong stock bv autumn. J. W. Eldridge. Earlham Roads, Norwich, England, Oct. 14, 1879. A PLEA FOR THE GALLUP FRAME. Noticing in Gleanings a sketch of all the princi- pal movable frames now in use, 1 see you are a little in favor of the Langstroth, and, in your explanation of their origin and the inventors^ I see that you think the Gallup frame is not suitable to use in a two-story hive. I have used and handled the Lang- stroth, Adair, and American, and have in my own apiary the Gallup, and will give you the result of a two-story hive of 15 frames each. I extracted 108 lbs. of nice honey, and took from them one swarm of I u i is and 73 lbs. of comb honey, in sections from on top of the second story, making a total of 271 lbs. Can any one show a larger result from any other hive of no greater dimensions— each hive being 12 x 20 inside? I have also taken 151 lbs., in one-lb. sections, from a hive holding only 11 frames, and section-crate hold- ing 27 sections. I write this, not to condemn other hives, but to show that bees will carry honey even two feet from the alighting-board, and in large quan- tities. I should like to hear from some others who have had as good or better results. B. N. Bennett. Springrport, Mich., Nov. 2, 1870. Thanks, friend B. I have no doubt but that good or even large reports can be fur- nished from any of the frames mentioned, but I still think the advice I gave holds good generally. QUEENS TO CALIFORNIA, STINGS, &C. The last queens you sent came in such good order that they seemed able to stand almost anything, and no dend bees with them. One Lgot nicely introduc- ed and she is laying well. The other, after being accepted for one day and night, was balled. I then save her to a nucleus wDich also concluded, after a day, to kill and throw her out of the hive, and went to work to raise another from some black brood I put in. But, to-day, having found a bee tree, we 494 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. brought over the bees having- plenty of drones with them, and put them with the nucleus, giving them some larvae from the Italian to raise a queeu from, and taking tbe partly made cells away. 1 am satis- tied there is something in getting used to stings, for, six months ago, they were very painful to me; now they are not much worse than an ant bite. Bakersfleld, Cal., Oct. 17, '79. Isaac B. Romford. THE BAR OF TIN IN THE WIRED FRAMES. Your postal is received; al*o the tin strips for tri- al in wired combs, which give better satisfaction than anything else I have tried. All six are in frames with fdn. built out, and no holes eaten in the fdn., as when I used wood strips. 1 put in the tin with the edge out, and one edge nearly even with the wire, which gives perfect cells on that side: on the other side there will be some imperfect cells, and some drone cells at the sides of the tin. It will be too late after this to experiment with any satis- faction this season. I think the strips of tin could be a little narrower and still have the requisite strength, and would give fewer imperfect cells on that side. C. R. Carlin. Shreveport, La., Oct. 17, 1879. I am glad to get so good a report from the bars of tin. As I have made some decided improvements in making the wired frames since the article on page 254, July No., I will give the following extract from our new price list : cjip in \ \ / 7 J WIRED FRAMES OF FOUNDATION. These, as you will see from the cut, cannot sag, and the comb cannot break out, in either extremely hot, or extremely cold weather. The fdn. fills the frame completely, and the diagonal wires make it impossible for either the top or bottom bar to sag, even with the greatest weight of honey which a frame may ever contain. Besides all this, the whole frame is made very much lighter than any ordinary frame. The wire used is No. 30, tinned, iron wire, and about 8 feet are required to a frame. The place of the central wire, is taken by a light, stiff bar of fold- ed tin. To put in the wire, double it in the middle, and start from the bottom of the folded tin strip; carry both ends to the tipper outside corners, one to each; then bring the ends of the wire each over on the top bar, and down through the first hole; then under the bottom bar, toward the centre, and up through the top bar again; then down through the bottom bar, and finish by twisting the ends together at the point of starting. The diagonal wires (which were first suggested by L. W. Betts, Milton, Dela- ware), should be drawn tight enough to make the bottom bar slightly crowning; when the wire is all in, spring in the bar of tin, and you are done. TO PUT IN THE FDN. Cut the sheets to just fill the inside of the frame, warm them in the sun, or near a stove, lay them in the frame on the wires, and imbed the wires by run- ning over them the roller shown below. ROLLER FOR PUTTING FDN. INTO WIRH.D FRAMES. No melted wax or other fastening is needed, and your frames of fdn. are ready to hang in the hive, or to ship to customers, as you choose. Price of roller, 20c ; by mail, 25c. PRICES OF THE WIRED FRAMES, PER HUNDRED. Frames filled with fdn. ready to hang in the hive $14 00 Frames without fdn., as shown in the cut. ... 5 00 The same in the flat, wood pierced for the wires, wire and tin bars included 4 00 No. 30, tinned wire, per lb., (enough for 253 frames) 35 The same, on 1 oz. spools, each, 8c, or 75c per dozen; if sent by mail, add 2c each extra. Bars of folded tin, per hundred 5 ) To show the necessity of something to support combs, even after they are built out, in the South at least, I give the follow- ing card, received from friend Carlin last June : My hives are in the shade of trees, with entrances the full width of hives, and % inch high. The cov- ers are raised 1! j to 2 inches above the quilt. Fdn. of pure wax, 5 to 6 L. sheets to the pound, worked out in cooler weather, with no apparent sagging, is now filled with honey, and many hives have from one to three combs broken down. They break about- three inches below the top bar. What a success fdn. is, without wire, in this part of the ccuntry! Natu- ral combs do not break down so for me, when hives are shaded as mine are. The wired combs look well, and have not broken down. C. R. Carlin. Shrevepoit, La., June 25, 1879. QUEEN DEAD AT THE ENTRANCE. I have but 3 stands of bees and I have found one of the queens dead at the mouth of the hive. 1 don't know but it is too late in the season to ship bees, but, if you think there is a chance of the queen's living to get through, I would like to have it sent. Sandwich, 111., Nov. 13, 1819. G. S. Treat. I should be glad to send you the queen, friend T., as we have a large number to spare, but I am quite certain, from the cases 1 have met of the kind, that the dead queen is an old, discarded one, and that they have got a nice, young one in her place. At this time of the year, when there is no brood, it may trouble you some to find her, but if the stock is a good one, in a normal condition, I am pretty sure she is there. OUTFIT FOR AN A B C SCHOLAR. I received ABC, in good order. It has many val- uable hints in it for a beginner, I believe. This is as far as 1 can go, for I know ntf more about the bee business than a hog does about a holiday. Now I will try to give you an idea of my outfit. J have four colonies; one in an American, one in a Lang- stroth, one in a Quinby, and one in a Simplicity hive. I got a present of one swaim in a nail keg. This is my variety; I don't believe I want any more in kegs. Lee Warner. P. S.— No relation of that P. O. clerk, Warner. Allison, HI., Nov. 13, 1S79. I think, friend W., you should have just one more up in some tall tree top ; you could then see the subject on all sides. If you have plenty «f time, and money too, that you wish employed in some way, I think you will find your apiary a source of great satis- faction. Should you, on the contrary, wish them to pay their way, without very much time bestowed upon them, I would, by all means, transfer them next spring, during fruit bloom, into one kind of hives. EXPERIMENTS WITH SECTIONS IN DIFFERENT POSITIONS, ETC. ^0[§Sj)EE CULTURE in this part of our state is in the MQsj) dark ages. We are among men who keep a ' few box hives of black bees, standing from year to year in the weeds, in fence-corners, or under fruit trees, wherever the swarm happened to light, who never get any honey unless by brimstone, or by prying off the top, cutting down to the cross sticks, and taking out combs which may have been used as brood comb for years. This disgusting stuff, in the comb and strained, is brought to the stores and sold 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 495 at any price they can get, demoralizing the honey market, and discouraging legitimate bee-keepers. I went into winter quarters last winter with 9 hives in rather poor condition, and came out last spring with 9 very weak stocks. Fruit-blossoms were a failure, except apple. White clover was a failure on account of drouth. I have increased to 19, and got over 500 lbs. of honey from fall flowers, half in sections and half extracted. Bees commenced stor- ing honey about the middle of August, and contin- ued until October 101 h; but September was so cold they worked very little until the last week. section-boxes; shallow veesus deep ones. 1 tried a series of experiments this fall with sec- tions, and find that bees build comb faster with two tiers of sections in a frame than with one, all other things being equal. I use L. frames, with broad frames holding 2 tiers of 4^x4}^ sections, in the top. I made a few sections double length, so that 4 sections just filled a frame, either placed on their sides making two tiers, or stood on end making one tier, to the frame. These I placed on a strong hive, some frames being filled with small sections, others with huge sections placed on their sides, and one frame in the center with large sections stood on end. When the small sections, and the large ones placed on the side, were filled, those standing on end were only a little over half full. I tried this on sev- eral hives, with the same result. Now for the rea- son: In two tiers of sections, the bees have two points of suspension to one point in one tier; hence, a given number of bees will build 2 combs 4 inches long sooner than the same number of bees will build a comb 8 inches in length. For the same reason, I think a swarm of bees will build combs more rapid- ly in L. frames placed as they should be in a hive than standing on end. On taking out the frames, I found only a'jout as many bees at work in the sec- tions standing on end, as in the small sections, prov- ing, I think, that only a certain number of bees can build comb in a given space, from one point of sus- pension. HOW TO GET A SWARM OF lil ES HOME, "ON A PINCH." On the 28th day of last June, I found a small swarm of bees hanging on a little willow by the roadside, in a large prairie, about seven miles from home. I could not leave it; so, removing the bottles from my medicine-chest, I hived them in it, and, as the day was hot, I left an air space of about an inch, on one side, between the lid and chest. Taking a thin fly net off my horse, I rolled it around the chest to keep the bees from flying out, put them in the buggy, and brought them home without the loss of a dozen bees. As they were a second swarm, I pinched the young black queen, gave them a yellow stepmother, hived them in a Simplicity hive, and have now an excellent colony of Italians, that has given me considerable surplus honey. Who can beat it? My bees are all Italians and hybrids. Black bees in Ihis section have given very little surplus, while Italians have done well. My two best hives have given me a little over ICO lbs. of section honey each. From those that swarmed I got very little. I had one swarm about the first of September, from which I have taken about 30 lbs. of section honey, 10 lbs. of extracted honey, and they are in good condi- tion for winter. A. P. Coulter, M. D. P. S.-Now, friend Boot, I did not intend to write such a long article, but somehow got wound up and had to run down. If you find anything in this fit for publication, use it; if not, throw it into the waste- basket and no offense will be taken. A. P. C. Marissa, 111., Oct. 22, 1879. Thanks, friend C. I am always glad to get reports of just such practical experiments as yours, and I hope yon will get " wound up often," if this is the way you "run down." You have, hy careful experiments, demon- strated what I have long held, that every strong colony would fill two tiers of sections almost as quickly as one, and that a shallow section, say less than 5 inches, is better economy than deeper ones. I have credited you SI. (JO for the experiment. m m * CUSHIONS FOR WINTER. W\ MEND TOWNLEY told us last month Jgl" that loose chaff had given rather bet- ' ter results than chaff cushions. The reason must he, that the Indian head we have been using for our cushions is too close and tight to allow the moisture to pass up through the chaff, as it would if we used a more porous fabric. I have before thought of burlap, but objected to it, because it was so porous as to allow the dust from the chaff to be sifting out constantly. Well, after putting them in use I do not see that this is any great objection after all— especially for out-door hives. Another thing, the burlap works up into cushions without a particle of waste. The figure below will show you how thev are made. CIIAFF CUSHION FOR WINTER, MADE OF BURLAP. As the burlap is just 40 inches wide, we have only to cut off pieces clear across, 20 inches wide. Two of these pieces make a cushion. The way in which they are laid i across each other 'and the seams sewed up will be readily understood from the engrav- ing. But little over a yard is required for a good large cushion; and, counting the bush- el of chaff to fill it at 5 cents, we have only 15 cents as the cost of the materials. Allow- ing 5 cents for making, and we have the cost only 20 cents instead of SO cents, and we have a larger and better cushion than those made of the Indian head. I need hardly say, you must not put these near the bees or they will eat through in time and let out your chaff. Put an extra sheet of burlap (or, what is more durable, a piece of bag-stuff or duck) over the frames, if you have not the mats we make specially for that purpose. The cush- ion above is just about right to fill the upper story of the chaff hive; but it can be pressed into' an upper story of the Simplicity hives, if you choose to winter bees in the Simplici- ties. The cushion ready for the chaff will be 15 cents. 406 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Dec. $&§& and §u$riq$. EXTRACTING UNSEALED HOSEV IN PREPARING BEES FOR WINTER. fl^EES have done very poorly in this pirt of the f[f. of sugar. As grape sugar is made from corn, is it not likely it would, to some extent, follow the same rule? It should be borne in mind, that honey is, principally, grape sugar. Since grape sugar has risen to about half the price of cane sugar, we are very much in need of some accurate experiments in regard to the cost of "boarding" bees, when fed on different sub- stances.] FINE FLOUR VERSUS MIDDLINGS E3R BEES. Is patent process flour (ground middlings) better or worse than the other for bees? Oliver Foster. Mt. Vernon, Linn Co., Iowa, Oct. 31, 1879. [I do not know about the kind of Hour you men- tion, but I have experimented a great deal with all kinds of substitutes for pollen. When the bees were given little heaps of fine Hour and middlings, they invariably chose the fine flour. They also preferred rye and oats ground together, to the wheat flour, and I am just taking steps to substitute this for wheat flour in our bee candy.] NUMBER OF CJLOXIE3 TO BE PUT INTO A WINTERING ROOM. Honey is so scarce, 1 hat my bees hardly pay ex- penses. I was surprised at some of the advice on wintering; I always supposed that a dry, dark cellar which would keep potatoes would keep bees. Mine have always wintered well, and I have put in from three to sixteen. Hannah W.Williams. Springville, Linn Co., Iowa., Oct. 30, 1879. [Thanks, friend Hannah, for your correction. The ABC has been changed so as to warn against trying to winter a few stocks in a room above around, not including cellars. It must have been a fit of absent mindedness, perhaps occasioned by my growing old(?), that caused me to include cellars, 1 do not know but one colony can be wintered in a dry, frost- proof cellar, as well as more.] DRONE-LAYING QUEENS. Bo stocks having drone-layers ever destroy their drone brood at the end of the honey season? I have a stock that has been carrying out young drones, nearly matured, for the past week. My business takes me away from home during the day time, or I should have examined and found out the cause. II. L. Lankton. Wethersfleld, Ct., Nov. 3, 187a. [I think it very likely the bees destroy such drone brood in the fall, for I have often wondered what be- came of it. The worker-bees, knowing their span of life would only be the shorter for keeping these use- less consumers, evidently destroyed them as a means of self-preservation. Stocks should be examined oft- en in order to prevent such a state of affairs from ever occurring.] GOOD REPORT FROM THE SIMPLICITY HIVE. I made more honey in the Simplicity hive I got from you last April, than with 8 others I had of a different pattern. It is the hive, according to my notion. J. W. Pearman. Nebraska City, Neb., Oct. 29, 1879. chaff hives; transferring bees erom simplicity into them, in the winter. Should the weather keep open, would you advise transferring from Simplicity hives into chaff hives, as late as Bee? I could make chaff hives enough to put the rest of my bees in by Bee, and, if we have a broken winter, I am afraid my cellar will be too damp. J. G. Clark. Gableville, Van BurenCo., Mich., Nov. 10, 1879. [Yes, or in any other month in the winter or spring, whenever'a day occurs not below 40 degrees. If it is freezing weather, you will have to be care- ful about bees that get out and get lost ; but, as they will soon drop down, you can gather them up and put them back over the cluster, and they will revive all right. With metal cornered frames, we can usually get the frames into the ehaff hives before the bees rouse up enough to get scattered; but, if you have to pry each frame loose with a snap, it may be best not to undertake it until you have weather permitting them to fly.] 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 497 A GOOD LONG "NOTE AND QUERY." T am going to ask you a question. (I haven't ask- ed many so far). SWARMING OUT IN THE FALL. What was the matter wit h my friend's bees? Last week, I looked over his liees for him (I mean those which I transferred into Simplicity- hives for him). They were all right; at least, I ih<>nght so. They had plenty of honey and bee*, and g-ood queen*. L-ist Sunday his best hive swarmed out and left while he was away from home. .At the time I looked 1hem over, they had a good-looking- queen and plen- ty of brood and eggs, and Ihey left a fine M of hon- ey and si me ur hatched biood in the hive I think this question will "stick " you as it did me: and I do not think any man can answer it, because our season is so unusual. [That is a rather hard quest ion to answer, friend W., especially if ihe colony was a go< d strong- one. If a part of the bees remained, to build up another colony, I should call it natural swarming in Novem- ber; but, if the bees all left, I sh uld call it abscond- ing, such as we have had. of late, in the sp'ing-. I think we shall, for the present, at least, eonelude it was on account of the queer warm fall weather, and 1h-.it the bees imagined it was spring time, and the proper season for cutting- up such tricks.] FRUIT-BLOSSOMS IN THE FALL. My bees were working- on apple and pearblonm to- day. What do you think of that? This is a fact which make* many a man in ihis county draw a long- face. 1 h«- long faces include, too, not only bee-raisers, but those who raise fruit and whe'a^and with good reason; because, if this weather con- tinue*, we will have no fruit, and, consequently, no bloom for the bees In the early spring. [I, too. have seen bees work on fruit bloom, to a limited extent, in the fall. I do not think it will do any material harm.] My 32 hives of bees will average 25 lbs. of sealed honey now- enough to last till March if it would only get colder; if it doesn't, T shall have to do some feeding in ihe spiing. My bees cleared me $15.00 this y< ar. but they are in debt still on last year. I only credit my apiary with the honey actually sold (I give m< re or ks- away fur sickness). I actually sold 400 lbs. of honey from 18 hives, and this has been a very pi .or year: but from what I was t< >ld while visiting- the A.B. J. office, in Chicago, last month. I may feel quite hopeful. This is my second year in the business, and 1 am "green"; 1 ut I hope to learn more. W. J. Willard. Jonesboro, 111., Nov. 13, 1879. I wintered 10 swaims last winter without any loss and sold 7 of them this last spiing, which left me only 3 colonies. Those that I kepi for my own use were Italians From those 3 colonies, I got 14H lb*. of comb honey in section-boxes, and 286 of exti acted honey, making, in all, 435 lb*., and increased to 8 colonies. All aie in good shape for winter. C. M. Trunkey. Vernon, Trumbull Co., O.. Nov. 15, 1879. does it pay to feed them? Bees are all right yet. One of my neighbors has lost some by starvation already; he says he won't feed » 8 the J did not do anyihing for him this last sea*on. I rather guess he will lose most all bef ore spiing. I fed all of my blacks as long as I C' uld on account of cold weal her. B. F. Pratt. Dixon, 111., Nov. IS, 1879. [It might satisfy one's feelings a little to let them starve, but it seems tome it will be rather slim sat- isfaction to find ihem dead, when the profits of the year come to be f noted up. It reminds me of one of our boys who bought several queens to Italianize a black swarm. I heard he gave the swarm away, and asked him why he did not sell it to me. His reply wasthat, as they wouldn't accept aqueen, hedid not consider them good for anything to anybody.] SUBSCRIBERS CHANt.ING THEIR ADDRESSES. Please send my monthly Gleanings in Bee Cul- ture to Millertoh, Tioga Co., Pa., and oblige Frank Sheffer. Mlllerton, Pa., Oct. 24, 1879. [All right, friend S., but how in the world arc we to tell where you used to be? Ve can not affoid lo send it to two places, and, unless you give us your former address, how are we to vet it changed? Our lists are all set up alphabetically by the post-office, you see. In due time comt-s ihe following, from which .\ on see his foi mcr home was away off in Iowa :] I received your card. My old post-office address was Chariton, Lucas Co., Iowa. Frank Sheffer. Milleiton/lioga Co., Pa., Nov. 3, 1879. [Do you not see, friends, how imponant it is that you mention your old address as well as the new?] I am one of your ABC scholars, and have kept bees 4 years. Until la*t year, I kept them in the old way. but was not satisfied. Last winter, I sent for the Gleanings and ABC bo.>k, and a n»w field was opened to me. I have tested your meihort in part, and am surprised at the result. This has been a good season since April; that month came very near killing all of my bees. SEVEN COLONIES AND 100 LB*. OF HONEY FROM ONE COI-ONY, IN ONE SEASON. One of my neig-hbors bought a hybrid swarm last spring, pa< ing $12. 0 for it. It increased hy natural swarming to 7, and gave over 100 lbs surplus. How wa* that for " high lirids"? I think I have got my money back that I paid for the Gleanings, a num- ber of time*, in good suga-Hsl ions. Wm. Hoyt. Ripley Mills, Somerset Co., Me., Nov. 11, 18',9. WATERY HONEY FOR WINTER STORES. I find in my hive* sr me sealed honey that has the appearance of h u ing b^en dipped in water, and. up- on uncapping it, I find it has begun to foment Can vou tell me th^ reason and a remedy? Will it d > to feed with this honey? W. S. Warn. New Smyrna, Fla. IWere it up here in the North, I should fear it mitrht occasion d\ se-itery, I ut in your warm climate with no winter, I Think it can do no harm I suppos- ed your bees never died d >wn there, unless it was from i-tarvaiion; how is it, friend W. If it seems to ha-m them, lift out the combs containing such stores and feed them sugar syrup or candy.] NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN. T am now 72 years old, and enjoying the best of health. I snppo«e vou think it is time I lu-d my " A B C of Bee Cub ure." H. Rowley. Brighton, Ont., Ca., Nov. 14, 1879. BLACK ITALIANS. My Italian queen lhat I got of you produces nice shi >v black bee*. H. Marden. Manchester, Scott Co., Ill , Nov. 17, 1879 [Well, I declare! friend M., I have had black-look- ing queens that produced yellow bees, t'Ut I d > not, know that I ever saw a yellow queen that p-oduced black bees. Do you m< an they are till black, all over? If so, I want her hack, and you shall have an- other. What is the reason you don't " scold " any?] ANOTHER QUEEN WHO ALWAYS KEEPS A LAYING DAUGHTER WITH HER. Last season, a neighbor purchased a colony of bees and requested me to look at them. I soon dis- covered two queens, the old one having her wings dipped. Th s spring, they were still in the hive. The first of May, he removed the old one, and intro- duced her to a h've of blacks. In June, lh« last part, she had another queen helping her. He re- moved her the second time, and she now has help as lief ore. If you want her, please inform me, and I will send her. She will be two years old .June next. I can give you all the evidence you want for the cor- rectness of the above. S. H. Lane. Whitestown, Ind., Nov. 14, 1879. [Very much obliged, friend L. Since the one from friend White died, I shall be very glad indeed for her, if you *ui ceed in keeping her over until spring, but I should wish one that is a daughter of an im- ported queen, if I were going to rear from her large- ly.] STILL MORE ABOUT TWO QUEENS IN A HIVE. I had not less than 3 colonies, in which two queens were working together for sometime. Forau^ht I know, two of them are still dual. I attribute it to the peculiarity of the season. I could not see lhat they prospen d any better than ethers. Ifthex le- main in that rondlllotj until spiing, I shall give them 6pee1al attention f>r exneiinn nt. G. B. ReploGLE. Unionville, la., Nov. 21, 1879. 498 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. HONEY FROM COTTON BLOOM IN NOVEMBER, ETC. Keeping bees this year in this part of Texas has been an up hill business. Westbrook, the black bee man, with his 75 hives, dirl not get a pound; Dr. H. B. Ransom from 20 hives, Italians and hybrids, got 40 gallons; and mine, mostly blacks, gave me only 12 lbs., and I will be compelled to feed in Feb. or March. [ see to-day the Italians coming in from the cotton fields, heavily loaded with honey. Those Simplicity feeders are just nice; to try one, I ttlled it with syrnp, and in three hours a strong colony had the thing empty, and were crawling about hunt- ing for more. LBut how does your cotton happen to be m blos- som at this time of the year, friend O? Is it a usual thing, or only a freak of our warm fall? We folks up here don't undeastand it.] ACCEPTING A QUEEN AND THEN KILLING HER. Something new to me:— I kept one of the last queens caged three days, and when I went to turn her loose 1 raised a card of hatching brood partly up, and let her loose on this. Just as soon as she got on the card of comb she went to laying, and con- tinued to lay until I closed the hive. At noon the next day, she was still laying; but, three days after, I found her on the alighting board dead, with a few bees around her. What made them do this? I found a queen cell started over her eggs, and if I only had drones I could duplicate her. I put a black queen in her place. B. F. Carroll. Dresden, Texas, Nov. 12, 1879. [You will see from another page that I have had some similar experience; I am inclined to think it a feature especially of fall introducing. The queen was introduced so quietly, that it almost looks as if they did not know, for a couple of days, that she was there; but when they noticed she' was a stran- ger, they pounced upon her.] in 50 lb. lots, or 12%e at retail. Sold all at home, and could not supply the demand. W. C. Hutchinson. Acton, Marion Co., Ind., Nov. 11, 1879. CHAFF PACKING FOR WINTER; A NOVEL METHOD. What can you furnish six chaff gums in the flat for? 1 am rather a beginner in bee culture. I at- tempted it some years ago, and last fall and spring bought 3 stands with the view of trying it the third time. If 1 fail this time, the probability is that.l shall finally give it over. One of my stands swarm- ed the first day of July, and, fearing it would die through the winter, 1 took a large barrel and set the hive into it, and put chaff all around it, and took the board off the cup and made a feeder, and am now feeding syrup of coffee sugar, and put rye flour, in a paper, close by the syrup. This warm weather, they seem to be doing well. They are bringing in some little pollen. Where do they get it now? Benj. F. Payne. Bridgeport, Harrison Co., W. Va., Nov. 13, 1879. Everything that I have had from you this sum- mer hns been satisfactory. The $1. queen is doing very well, and breeds pure Italian bees. The smo- ker is tip top, and the story and a half hives are also satisfactory. The bees in this neighborhood did but very little this summer. I have fed a June swarm already about 10 lbs. of sugar, and I don't think it has enough yet to keep it over winter. I think your ABC book is what every man ought to have, that wants to keep bees. 1 am an ABC scholar. S. Yings. Leechburg, Armstrong Co., Pa., Nov. 10, 1879. WINTER PASSAGES. How would it work to cut winter passages in fdn. before giving it to the bees? I did not think of it in time to try it this season. Bees have done but little in boxes this year, but swarmed well. Horace Libby. Lewiston, Maine, Nov. 18, 1879. [They would be almost sure to fill them up. I have frequently used fdn. with holes in it, but the bees would have the sheet all entire, when it was built out. If a hole is made in a finished comb, they are very apt to leave it large enough for a bee to pass.] Bees around here are strong in numbers, but short of stores. Some have already starved. I have doubled down from 23 to 20 stocks, to fix for winter. I commenced in spring with 14 stocks, and have ta- ken 820 lbs. of honey, 100 of it comb in sections, which sold readily at 15c. The extracted sold at 10c TO BE SURE THEY OUGHT TO BE "CONTENTED." I would like a Simplicity feeder for the enclosed. I want to see if it can not be used for giving the bees water before they are able to leave the hive. We cover the brood frames with two or three thick- nesses of old wool carpeting-, and find it very conve- nient. Last springy we put boxes of Graham flour underneath, on top of the frames, and the bees used it gladly. A piece of candy, a dish of water, and a box of flour, with the prospect of soon being able to fly in the air and sting somebody, oueht to content them through the month of March. Mary Simons. Brocton, Chaut. Co., N. ¥"., Nov. 17, 1879. DRONES AND WORKER CELLS. I had Italian drones hatching1 in one hive this week, from cells 5 to the inch. Most of the others quit laying drone eggs last month. Last year, but few drone eggs were laid in the latter part of sum- mer, for the reason that honey was very scarce. Very few black queens laid drone eggs this season, in worker comb. C. R. Carlin. Shreveport, La., Nov. 8, 1879. PIOUS PEOPLE WHO DO NOT PAY THEIR DEBTS. Mr? Alley writes: I wish some of those pious people who read your paper would pay me what tbey owe me, I might be able to pay mv bills more promptlv. H. Alley. Wenham, Mass., Nov. 20, 1879. Now, friend Alley, just give us the names of those people, and they shall be published forthwith, will such please take warning. If anybody needs showing up, it is those who claim to be Christians and do not live up to their professions. If it makes more of a crash than Gleanings can stand, down let it go. DRONES, NO ATTENTION TO BE PAID TO THEIR MARKINGS. I have a drone with the characteristic markings on four of his abdominal rings; if you wish, I will send him on. I have refused an X for his mother (from an old bee-keeper who is "up to snuff.") C Lovf.r. Reisterstown, Md., Nov. 10, 1879. It is comparatively a common thing to find drones with 4 yellow bands, friend L., but I believe general opinion has agreed that no dependence can be placed on the drone markings. Had you worker bees with 4 bands, they would certainly be a curiosity ; - but I am not sure they would be of any more value than the others. If we could get some drones that would get honey from the red clover in the fall, when worker bees don't get any, I would bid high for their mothers. It is the honey, I am after, you see. THE SAD FATE OF THE QUEEN THAT AL- WAYS HAD A GOOD LOOKING DAUGH- TER IN HER HIVE TO SPARE. My offer of $10.00 to friend White (see p. 441 last month) turned out badly. The ac- companying bees, of which there were a good many, were in nice order, but the queen was dead without any reason so far as we could see. It was bad luck for both of us, for thus goes the only queen in the world, that will keep raising a young queen, right by her side, in the hive. Perhaps I would better say it is the only one in the world that I know of. 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 499 The contents of this leaf and the one following are not directty connected with the subject of bee-culture. On this account, I make no charge for them, and, if you choose, you can cut them out ivithout reading. \ur f ovw In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall di- rect thy paths.— Pruv. III. 6. X HAVE mentioned before the great num- bers of applications I have always had = for something to do. After the events narrated in my last chapter, for some reason Which I can hardly explain, the number of applications was, all at once, greatly increas- ed. Not only that, but those who applied to me seemed more free to tell me of their needs, and why they were so very anxious for something to do. A great many offered to work for .Wc a day, and I knew, if I gave them work, this amount would go for the very necessaries of life. In my anxiety to help those who needed help, 1 set one after another at work, until I had over eighty, children and all, in my employ. As it was my wish, or perhaps you might say, one of my pet projects, to employ everybody who asked for employment, — good, bad, and in- different, with the hope of doing them good, I soon had, in some respects, a motley crew about me. Now, I do not want to complain, for every one of these eighty were so willing to do all that I asked them to do, that it sometimes touched my heart to see them so ready and willing. Boys that were so much in the habit of swearing that it came as naturally as to draw a breath, stopped right off, when I told them my wishes, and, provided I could furnish them the wished for employment, nothing more seemed required but to make known clearly to them, my wishes in regard to mor- als, etc. To keep a supervision untiringly, over so many, was no small task, 1 can tell you, let alone the spiritual work I was intent upon doing ; and were it not for many little texts like the one at the head of this, to en- able me to cast all my trials upon my Savior, I should have become demoralized, and broken down in short metre. You see, the amount of talking that need- ed to be done was immense ; and that I might be spared the trouble of saying so many things over and over again, I did once or twice call a meeting of the hands, and told them of the things we needed to do that we might prosper temporally as well as spiritually. There were difficulties in the way of all this, such as getting them all to- gether, unless I paid them for their time, etc. They were all very pleasant and good- natured, and I presume would just as soon be scolded an hour every day as not, if I did it pleasantly and paid them for their time ; but if these talks lasted an hour, it cost me about five dollars, and I felt as if I could hardly afford that either. Finally, I be- thought me of my large printing-press as a medium of talking to my hands (in the same way I talk to you, my friends), and I wrote the articles headed, " Work and Wages," in the January and February numbers. The proof-reader suggested that they were good enough to put into Gleanings, and so they were used, as you have seen, with some al- terations. The articles did good, of which I had abundant evidence ; but the good was, perhaps, mostly far away, for the hands knew me so well they thought I must mean it for some one else, I suppose. Well, when I thought of the needy ones around me who would make a good use of the money, contrasted with those who used their money to ride about on the Sabbath, smoking, chewing, etc., my conscience be- gan to suggest that the business God had given me was hardly being used for the fur- therance of his honor and glory. I have be- fore spoken of the obscenity and profanity that I found written on the out-buildings. Tobacco-juice and •' quids " greeted me more frequently than usual, and a tobacco store was just started in our town, which my bus- iness seemed very likely, at least, to help materially in supporting. The windows of my new buildings were broken almost daily, but it was as impossible to tell who did it as to tell who persistently defied me in the ob- scene writing. Boys who promised me so fairly to go to Sunday-school and church (proposing it themselves, if I would give them work), had apparently forgotten all about it, and the more money they earned the more they broke the Sabbath. I was told that one of my small boys said he did not smoke while going to school, because he had no money with which to buy cigars, but that as soon as he went to work for me again and got some more money, lie was going to smoke again. Several others of my young boys, and some who had always been to Sab- bath-school, took their money Saturday nights and bought a kind of cheap cigar called cigarettes, I believe, and in that way learned to use tobacco. One young man who lived a little out in the country, taught all the boys of a country school how to use tobacco, and he himself learned how while working for me. All this time were widows and poor girls in our town, who wanted work that they might get, honestly and in- dependently, the necessaries of life. There were also young men, at least a few of them, who were anxious to get money to enable them to get an education. It was in my power to throw this money in whichever di- rection I should choose. "Whom should I employ ? If I should decide to take only those who made a good use of their money, I should lose all hold upon and power over the worse class, which I had been helping very materi- ally, at least. Perhaps if I told them just what I wanted, they would alter their hab- its and ways. It would certainly be no more than fair that I should tell them what I de- sired, and give them a chance with the rest. By talking with them, many of them did do better. Now you must not get an idea that it was the boys only of my establishment who needed reforming in their morals. Our town, like many another, has a large dancing hall, and some of our most respectable men and women — I guess there is no mistake about this assertion, is there V — some of our most 500 GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTURE. Dec. respectable people attend and encourage the dancing club. Where is the fault with it, then? Well, it is because, in that dancing hall and club, there will almost always be found as well, quite another class; and most of all, because our reformed boys will, a great many of them, keep sober and steady until the next dance comes off, and then down, clown, down, they go again, until they are lost hopelessly. A leading physician was one night poking around in the dark in a stairway, and when I asked him what he was up to, he said he was trying to make his drug store cellar so secure, if it were a possible thing, that his boy and a lot of others, should not get into it every night when they had a dance, and get on a drunken spree. A young lady who had once been a professor of religion commenced going to dances, and soon ceased taking her place among the church people as a member. While she was one among those who attended the dances, I heard her say that, the next day after every dance, she always felt she was a step lower in her own estimation, than she had been the day before; that never was her own opinion of herself so poor, as on the day after a dance. I know there is plenty to be said on the other side, but, for all that, through all my life, the fruit I have seen of dances has been uniformly bad fruit, when there was any fruit at all. I need not enlarge on other points, such as billiards, card playing, etc. ; suffice it to say, I felt, and feel yet, that God calls on me to use the power he has given me of set- ting people at work, in such a way as to throw the money as far as possible where it will do most good. With these thoughts in view, I had the little paper that I gave you on page 154, of the April No., printed and given to the hands. At the bottom of it, I stated as I thought clearly, that I wished to know how many of my hands would aid me in the matter, by signing their name to the paper. As it did not touch the greater pro- portion of them at all, I confidently expected to get the greater part of their names. I had no intention of getting any body to sign it, unless they would do it of their own free will ; certainly not, by threatening to expel them, for that is something almost unknown in our establishment. The papers were handed them Saturday night, with their week's wages. Monday morning, I found a great part of them standing idly around the time clerk's office, and I had my first experience of any thing approaching a strike. There are two sides to all questions, and while it was my privilege to turn off all hands whose morals did not conform to my convictions, it was their privilege to stop all at once, in the height of the season, and leave me without a single skilled hand to wield the pens, and run the machinery. I was asked by a spokes- man, to go with them to the sample room, and hear their side of the case. Of course, I went willingly, and of course, I withdrew the offensive paper, if it could be called withdrawing, for I had never demanded that any body should sign it. I had prayed earnestly over the matter, and 1 felt that as God was with me, I should certainly be guided aright in the matter. So I was ; but, do you remember what Moses said, after he smote the rock for the children of Israel? "Hear now, ye rebpls; must we fetch you water out of this rock?" — Numbers, XX. 10. Well, after it was all settled, and they were ready to go back to their work, I held up my Bible which I had taken in my hand, and said that, with God's help, this estab- lishment would yet be conducted under those rules. My friends, it was right for me to think that, and to resolve in my own mind that, with God's help, it should be so ; but there was no necessity for my saying it. I yielded to the temptation to show my powd- er, and my speech was a little bit of a threat. One who trusts God, does not always know exactly what he is going to do, and there is no particular necessity of telling long before hand what you are going to do : doing a thing quietly, at such a time, is sufficient, usually. Pretty soon, it was evident that there was dissatisfaction still. They had got the " swarming fever," and there must be some more swarming before they would settle down peaceably to work. " Mr. Root, we want you to promise you will never bring that paper up again." I pleasantly remonstrated, and told them I should be yielding up my liberty in man- aging my business on moral principles, did I do so. They would not go to work other- wise. I finally promised to drop the matter for three months, that we might all have time to look it over ; but I had given way to them once, and they were determined I should again. I am not blaming them, for they were very likely doing very much as I should have done, had I been in their place. It illustrates how much we are swayed, at such times, by those about us. The matter was probably started by a few, and the rest fell in with the current, and finally little boys followed along, and gave up their plac- es, when the rules and regulations did not touch them in any way in the world, and when they really did not know what they were leaving for, as it seemed to me. Thir- ty-five had signed the paper and were at work ; but as the rest stayed around and talked with them, even they caught the in- fection. I asked them to go to work with- out signing the paper, and let it drop, but they were not satisfied. The next morning things bid fair to right themselves, but an- other incident upset it all ; " All things work together for good to those that love the Lord," the Bible says, and I prayed to be guided then, and trusted him, and made up my mind I should not yield any further, if it took every hand I had. Mr. Gray came up- stairs and told me my hands were all leav- ing, even to the children. " Let them go," said I. Here I was in danger of swinging over to the opposite ex- treme again — of too much independence. Mr. Gray felt it and replied, " I tell you, Mr. Root, if you do not go down and counteract that spirit that is get- ting hold of them, you will not have a hand left." I went down and spoke mildly, but told them that all who did not go back to their 1879 GLEANINGS LN BEE CULTUKE. 501 places before the morrow would be treated as new comers, and all new coiners, hereaft- er, must subscribe to those rules. If they would go back to-day, the matter should be dropped. They assented that I had never been severe, and that I had almost never dismissed a hand, even for the worst behav- ior, yet they decided to leave, and, as they wended their way out of the factory, I went up into the deserted rooms, and prayed for them as I seldom pray. I prayed that God would, for their own sakes, show them their error and touch their hearts, since I was powerless. I felt satisfied and comforted, and, lo ! while I prayed I heard footsteps on the stairway. I arose and looked out of the window, and the current had changed, and they were thronging back. Was I dreaming? " Mr. Root, if you will forgive me this time, I will go to work without any more foolishness," said one of my best hands, and one whom I had felt pained about almost more than about any of the rest. I can not begin to tell you how I thanked God, and how good it seemed to have the busy hum of business commence again. Even now, when I look at them all over the rooms, and see the work going on, I think of that morning when I had not a trained hand left, as it seemed. Did God answer that prayer by a miracle V It was a miracle to me, but it all came about through human agencies, as I will explain. Perhaps a half-hour before, my former partner came to her work, and, seeing the state of affairs, came to me and asked if I would waive those rules if the hands would all consent to come up-stairs to a service of singing, Bible-reading, and prayer, for ten minutes every noon. " Why, I have waived the rules already ; and should I mention Bible-reading and prayer, they would object more vehemently than they have yet ! " " They will come if I ask them ; " and, as she went off with her pencil and paper, I had so little faith in such a crazy idea, that I absolutely forgot all about it. I could not see God"s hand in it then, but I see it all now. She who, above all others, had reason to feel persecuted, was just the one to change the current of affairs. How could the most defiant of them refuse her request ? and such an unheard-of request ! She was not a professor, any more than the greater part of them, and the idea was fallen in with, al- most without exception. I had tried in vain to get them to come to the Bible-class Sun- day mornings. Of the whole eighty, I had seldom more than a dozen. At noon they all came up, from the engineer to the smallest boy, and there was I, through no planning of my own, desired to read and pray with them. I felt myself a child in God's hands, and it seemed as if he had chosen these boys and girls to point out to me my path, when I had been trying to point out to them their path. I presume we all felt that God was leading us ; and when some one suggested the little hymn below, with one accord nearly every one joined in. "Sweet hour < f prayer! sweet hour of prayer! That calU me from a world of care, And bids me at my Father's throne Make all r,y wants and wishes known : In seasons of distress and grief, My soul has often found relief ; And oft escaped ihe tempter's snare. By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!" Was ever anything so appropriate ? If the the family, gathered then and there, did not know what "a world of care" meant, who did? "In seasons of distress and grief", put in misunderstanding, and it was our case exactly. "Relief V" if it was not a blessed relief to more than one heart just then, I don't know anything about it. If I remember rightly, I read the xxin Psalm, and then I tried to pray. When I thought of praying for them it seemed more as if I ought to pray for myself; and when I had asked God to help me to be more worthy of the place he h id given me, and to give more wisdom to safely guide so many, I broke down and cried, and I can't tell how many of the rest cried, for I dared not look up. The engraver came up and took my hand, and said he had been terribly troubled about the position I was taking, but he had got all over being troubled now, for he was sure I was on the right track, and he would stand by me as long as I wanted him. "Uncle Nat", an old gray-headed man, came up and said he feared God was not with me before, but that he had no doubt of it now at all ; and the rest looked as happy, as they wiped away their tears, as you might expect a large family of brothers and sisters to do, after coming out of a shipwreck and finding every one of them was saved. It was a shipwreck, truly, but it was one that will bind us together, perhaps more securely than anything else that could have possibly happened. For a time, the hour of exercises was at my own expense; but somebody figured up that the ten minutes was costing me a dollar each day, and then without my having anything to do with it, the hands offered a resolution that each one should bear his own share of it, and the hands should give their time. This was passed, and also a resolution that the hands should all try to conform to my rules and regulations as far as they could, even if they did not sign them. Now, my hearers, you are just in a position to compre- hend the wonderful beauty and power of the little text I have so often quoted of late, just look ! "IT IS NOT BY MIGHT, NOR BY POWER, BUT BY MY SPIRIT, SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS." This was not all, either. We sometimes had trouble in our singing; especially when we tried unfamiliar pieces. As all wanted to sing, and many felt the need of something to pitch our tunes, and something we could rally round, as it were, a project was started among the hands to purchase an organ for our noonday devotions ; and belore I hardly knew it each hand was going to give one day's work for the organ. This idea, too, was suggested by one not a professor, if I am correct, and one who had been rather the leader in the "strike". One of the hands wrote to inquire about organs, and when the manufacturers knew something of the cir- cumstances, they agreed to take more than 502 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. half of the price of an instrument in advertis- ing. The organ is now in use every day ; and as the engine stops at just ten minutes of noon, the org in calls all hands around it, myself included. Do you wonder that I sometimes look on as though I were but a passenger too, and that God was managing this business. Do not the events seem to say,' "My child, you have shown your zeal in trying to do my will, but how I wish you to stand aside and let me take care of these boys and girls a little, and show you that your prayers have not been in vain." Suppose I had beei stubborn and dom- ineering, and imagined it was my duty to go ahead, since I had once started, even if I did smash up my business. Ye shall not need to fight in fhis battle: set your- selves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you. O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor he dismayed: tomorrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you.— II Chronicles, xx. 17. To show you the effect of this service on all of us, even the '•'strangers" that may be "within our gates", I will mention the fol- lowing incident : When we lost so many letters by the mail depredations, one of the government detect- ives frequently called on me. He had a few bee hives, and, on that account, he could go around among the hands and take a look at the clerks, for the evidence pointed out that the guilty one was very near Medina, if not in Medina, and possible among my own clerks. He watched the boy who went to the office daily with his basket, and the clerk who opened the letters, etc. When I suggest- ed that this or that one was an earnest Christian, he did not seem to think that made a great deal of difference ; and after we had had some talk in the matter, he final- ly said that he found the thieves among all classes, even deacons in the church had been known to rob the mails, and use the money to build meeting houses, etc. I felt sure such cases must be rare, but he, in his busi- ness, knew a great deal better than I, and as I pondered the matter silently, praying that God would give him a better view of Christians and Christianity, since I seemed unable to do so, the engine stopped suddenly. If God stopped the engine in answer to my prayer I did not know it, but thought it must be noon, as did the girls in their offices and rooms. Our conversation was in my priv- ate office, and as we were not through, I at first thought I would leave him there until I was through with the exercises. He was a skeptic, and would not care to come to pray- ers. Do you see how hopelessly I was blund- ering, and how small was my faith, when God had stopped the engine just on purpose, to help me V I finally did think best to ask him to join us and gave him a book of the "Gos- pel Hymns". It was 20 minutes to 12, in- stead of 10, and the engineer had been oblig- ed to stop to lace a belt, or something of that kind. As the girls had commenced singing, it was a little embarrassing, but I finally de- cided, we would sing several pieces to till up the interval. Even then, I could see no prov- idence in it, and after" the service (which, in my want of faith, I kept thinking must have been annoying to him)j I asked him to go home with me to dinner. As soon as we were in the open air, he commenced, to my surprise, making all sorts of inquiries about that little "meeting". "Why, Mr. Root, I should be a good man, if I could hear such hymns as those every day. I know those girls are honest. Who got up that 'prayer meeting?' " Some how, every body persists in calling it a "prayer meeting". "It was one of the girls you saw, who got up the meeting, and it was as unexpected to me, as to you." "Is she a church member?" "No." "Why, how did it come ?" "I do not know." "Does not the Bible say something, some- where, about the weak things of this earth confounding the mighty ?" "Yes; 'And God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty'. " I Cor. I. 27. "Mr. Root, I do believe in God, and I be- lieve in religion ; at least, I believe in the kind you have there among your boys and girls. Why, what a splendid thing that is among a lot of factory hands." When the thief was caught, he was not a boy that belonged to the Sabbath schools, by any means, but I found there was a saloon next door to the post office, and he told me that there was where the greater part, or all, of your money and mine went to. Very likely that saloon keeper taught that boy how to drink and smoke, and it was that powerful craving for drink and tobacco, that made him rob you and me of our hard earn- ings. The boy is going to the penitentiary, but the saloon keeper goes on with his busi- ness, of getting more boys ready for the penitentiary, and my detective friend told me yesterday, that our Ohio penitentiary was so full, they hadn't any more room to put our boys, and so this one is breathing his life out in a narrow iron cage so dark, that he cannot even see to read the little Bible I gave him. My friend Fred, who is now bright, happy, honest, and free (thank God), once told me that confining a young man even in comfortable quarters and leaving him month after month with nothing to do, was more terrible than any human being could imagine, who had not tried it. Ye fathers and mothers, in God's name I ask you, shall these saloons go on with their business, without one word of remonstrance from you and me? Towards the first of July, there was talk again among the hands, that I was going to turn off all that did not stop using tobacco, etc. I told them I had made no decision, as to what I should do, when the 3 months were up. But you have promised, never to bring the matter up again, with the old hands, said they. I told them I certainly had not. It was finally referred to the one who went around with the paper to get them to come up to the noon day service. She in- sisted that I certainly did tell her I would throw aside the paper, forever, with the old hands, if they would come to the service every noon. Now I had no thought of binding myself, 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE, CULTURE. 503 for more than the three months, neither had I any thought of bringing the matter np a- gain, but I was galled at the idea of being bound hand and foot, in the matter of tobac- co, for all time to come. "What did you tell the hands when you invited them V" "I told them you had promised never more to bring it up, if they would come up to the service." "I never said so, and I won't be bound " I almost said, ami perhaps I did say a part of it, but conscience stopped me, and sug- gested to wait awhile, and pray over the matter a little. After a little, said I, "But if I am bound, they are also bound to come to the service, by the conditions you made with them." "I suppose they are." The approving voice of conscience told me at once, I had done right. If we expect and want God to guide us, my friends, we must see to it that we are well "halter broke". The noon-day prayers, you will see, stand over us all, as a sort of witness of the prom- ises we have each made, of good behavior. And God said, Tbis is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you, and every living- creature that is with you, for perpetual generations : I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring' a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:— Gen. ix. 12—14. If, during the day, I am tempted to get an- gry and scold, the thought of the noon prayers hangs over me, like the rainbow in the heavens ; and more than once, have I been silenced by the thought of it. When one has gone astray, and needs reprimand- ing, the thought comes up that I have been teaching them day by day, at the noon prayers "forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors". Lest some of you get the idea that I have decided to use no firmness at all, I will men- tion that, before the old hands, I stated that I could not feel it right to allow any one to learn to use tobacco while in my employ, and, if I am correct, all assented to this. All new comers are given the paper to read over, and are told, they can only have places on these conditions. All have agreed there shall be no smoking on or about the premises. I have only discharged one for breaking his promise, and this because he did it persistent- ly and deliberately. Some have been sus- pended for a week or a month, for swearing and the like, but they all seem glad to get back to their home again, and I am sure I am always glad to welcome them back. A word now in regard to answers to pray- er: The one who first suggested the noon service, when questioned, said she did not originate the idea ; the man where she board- ed, who is a Christian, suggested it. Upon inquiry, it transpired that he did not origi- nate it either. He heard some one on the street suggest that I should put away my rules and call all hands together for prayers every noon. Of course, the idea, as he pre- sented it, for me to undertake, would have been a failure ; perhaps because I lack the tact and spirit to call people together in that way. Now, mark you :— God moved this friend— perhaps he may see these lines, and, if so, I want to thank him, too — God moved this man to give utterance to that thought. As it was town talk, and I was having an- other " raking over the coals," this man mentioned it at the dinner table. This one of the hands who had their welfare, all of them, at heart, thought of the suggestion when she came in that morning as they' were all in a state of demoralization. God ordered that she and I should misunderstand each other, or I would never have consented. She, through God's guidance (perhaps un- consciously) swayed the whole of them right about, as you often see a swarm of bees turn suddenly and wheel back to their hives. Three months after, when I had seen the good of the service,'! found that God had so ordered events that I could not, in honor, even if I thought best, stop the use of tobac- co among my old hands. Was there not far more wisdom in it all, than I or any other single person, probably, possessed V Does not God interest himself with all these little trifling accidents V Be careful how you de- cide. Who was it that said, " But even the very hairs of your head are num- bered "?— Luke xii. 7. Now do you see how the opening text comes out ? "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."— Prov. hi. 6. Look out that you do not make a mistake here. This promise, or these promises, are only for those who are doing the best they can — those who are not only hard at loork, but hard at praying, as well. If your cause is one for humanity, and not a selfish one, and you keep praying, God will answer you, but you must have faith to accept the answer when it comes. In what I have told you., God gave me a great deal more than I asked for, but at every step, I stumbled and did not see his hand in it until afterward. I had faith enough to allow him to lead, and that was all. "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass."— Ps. xxxvii. 5. Now, as God in his infinite wisdom has seen fit to take this matter into his own hands, to him I shall pray unceasingly that he will, in his own good time, so order it, that the money sent this institution be not used to foster bad habits. I will look after the new hands that come, but into his hands 1, intrust the old employees. In regard to praying for money : Money has come to us, in answer to prayer, not only from across the ocean, but clear from New Zealand, and from other places nearly as re- mote. Of course, God moved the hearts of these friends to send it long before the pray- er was uttered, but for all that, it came just in time to meet some particular bill or want. Many copies of Gleanings have been sent to missionaries, I presume just on account of these Home Papers, and, through them, bee culture has been introduced and then orders have come. Suppose my boys should use this money to break the Sabbath or to learn to smoke, or should invest it in billiard halls. Would God be as likely to answer my prayers, as if I wanted it, and used it, in scattering Bibles, educating young men for 504 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. missionaries to foreign lands, helping wid- ows, and assisting those who were just on the eve of going to the poorhouse V Suppose my girls were using the money I pay them Saturday nights, to deck themselves in fine- ry for the club dances, or in dressing in silks and jewelry beyond their means or sta- tions in life. Would God send the money as freely as he would should I talk to these girls and tell them this is a religious institu- tion, that the money came in answer to prayer, and that, unless I look to it (as it is for God"s work), it would stop coming V I have no doubt at all, my friends, but that God will send us all the money we can take care of, if we will use it all in such a way that it will do good and not evil. You do not need to ask the people -for it ; you do not need to beg for customers, or to offer induce- ments to people to get them to trade with you in preference to somebody else. Be glad to see others get a share of the business, and to see them thrive ; help those who are your rivals, and then ask God to send enough business for you both, and he will do it. God wants laborers by the thousands ; and if you have not anything to do it is your own fault, because you have not asked him and then complied with his conditions. Praying that these words uttered in weak- ness may be blessed to you all ; thanking you for the support and encouragement you have given me in the year past, and trusting in Him who, through you, will take care of and support G ltcanings in the year to come, I bid you all adieu for this the last number of the year. May his blessing rest over us all! Let us close with the first verse and chorus of No. 94, Gospel Hymns. " C me. every soul by sin oporessed, There's mercy with ihe Lord, And he will snrelv give vou rest By trusting in his word. Chorus- Only trus1 him, onlv trust him, Only trust him now; He will save you. he will save you, He will save you n >w." The tobacco store, failing to pay ex- has moved away and carried the painted Indian, who had a bundle of cigars in his hand, with it. Before the proprietor left, his boy begged hard for a situation with us. and promised to sign and keep all my rules, as have many, many others whom I have been obliged, much against my will, to turn away, because I can not, as yet, take care of so many. P. S penses. %mf §$&a%mnl- ^jjS&LEASB send me a package of the Simpson anc 0jf=^ spider honey plants. Your "A B C of Be( id Bee Culture " c 'me to hand, and I am very well satisfied It is worth 'hree times the money. Your Gleanings in Bee Cilturr is "boss." May you ever ihiive, and m>iy your shadow never grow less! From a ABC scholar of late, but a bee-keeppr of twelve years. N. E. COTTRfcLL. Fayette, Fulton Co., P., Nov. 12, 1879. I am an old man, full of " fid-fad«." standing, month open, waiting for the spider plants. PI ase excuse me for this time. One ot your b"jrs, father B"Ot, only 67. You must be a very old m-in. Love to father and mother, and all thf» bovs and clerks. Edwahd Tunnicliff. Kewanee, Henry Co., 111., Nov. 14, 1879. Well, I declare! boys, I have " put my foot in it " now, for sure. I have gone and put an old man among you, and got him right next in the class to a boy only twelve years old. He talks so good-naturedly and friendly, and wants the honey plants, too ; is it any wonder ? May God bless you both, my friends, and your honey plants too ! It does old men and boys both good to get to- gether sometimes, and if we are obedient children to the great Father who is above all, we shall certainly have love, charity, and sympathy for each other. Our bees are no*- doing even nothing! but we trans- ferred a colony in September, and i am fneding them on brown sugar. Do you think it is as good as the white? I do not know whether they have a queen or not: I have never looked. In fact, I have not seen a live queen yet, in all my experience (?) with bees. Unlpss we gpt a " foot-power saw " this win- ter, the bee", I think, will stand a poor chance on 'his place. I can't stand it to make hives with the hand-saw and plane! I made five this vear. D. S. Bethcne. Snyder, Ashley Co., Ark., Oct. 16, 1879. Now, friend B.. I believe I would keep on making hives by hand until I had opened a hive and seen a " live queen,'1 at least. May be you won't need a great many hives, if vou do not use those you have aiiy better than that. Brown sugar is perfectly safe for feed- ing in warm weather, when bees can fly, but is not safe for winter stores in cold climates. Here is my report: T com nenced last spring, buyiug 2 swarms for $s.00, and increased to 4. X also caught 1 swarm ihat flew over our farm. T did n >t take anv surplus honey ihis year, because 3 swarms are younsr. and I put them in the story and a half hive, and thontrht if they g >t enouah to writer on I would be satisfied. I weUhr-d them about 2 weeks a?o, and found the first swarm weighed 62 lb.; the swarm I cauyht, 53 lb.; and the last swarm 41 lb. I was g<> WITH A QUEEVT.ESS STOCK IN DFC. I believe I have got on« swaim that is queenless, but I don't know certninly. They haven't killed their dr nes vet, and it looks to me a« if they were robbing:, for I have seen the bees clinch each other, and roll around, and there are always a jrreat many bees flying around the hive. If they are as I say, what would you do with ihem? Om» of your ABC scholars, 15 years old. Good by, Uncle, for this time. E. Wilson, N. Y., Nov. 13, *79. Wakhen A. Bush. In the first place, my young friend. I would have tried the combs while they were being built, to see if they would lift out, and then, if they were waving too much, I would have bent them straight. As it is, I think there will be less trouble in taking them out than you imagine. If those heavy colonies are very full of bees, it may be well enough to leave out the division boards, but I should prefer to have them in. The first day when it is warm enough so that the snow is thaw- ing, I would fix them. Smoke them to keep them from flying out, and then find out which comb is the straightest. Choose one outside of the cluster of bees, if you can, and then gently slide the others away from it. In the same way, see to the queenless hive, and if as you suspect, unite it with the oth- ers, saving the combs for new colonies next year, or for table use, if you choose, if the honey is nice enough. If the colony should befutl of bees and stores, unite them and give them some brood in the spring, as I have ex- plained before. INDEX TO VOLUME VII. ABC Child, in June 276 " " that Grew so Fast 47,167,445 Class, One of the 828 " " Sunshine and Shadows among: 298 Scholars, A Couple of 169 " Another from Maine, and His Chaff Hive 416 " Experience of 211, 225 " " Bee Hunting- and nil 401 " From very New 271 " How He Came to Grief 444 " " " Introduces Queens, and Prospers Generally 402 " How He Managed . .425 " " to Become 232 " in Maine 390 " in York State 447 Outfit of .• 494 " Questions from 451 " Keport of, 141, 228, 338, 357, 442, 445, 450, 488, 492 Story of 436 Trials of 229 " " " in Introducing 443 A Beginner 363 Absconding 26 " During Transferring 126 " in Spring 127 " Mania 188 " Persistent »46 " to the North-East 126 Will Two Swarms Cause it? 228 A Chapter from Ileal Life 139 A Complaint 413 Adulteration in Beeswax. Banger of 383 " of Honey and Maple Syrups 1*1 of " in Comb 143 " of " Law to Prevent, in Mich. 143 " of " the New J. Law in re- gard to 229 Advertisements, are Periodicals Kesponsible for Their? ?. . . .427 " What are Suitable for a Bee Journal? 363 Advertising our Wares 25 After ihe Battle, some Good Suggestions as to the Losses 215 A Great Discovery 21 A Lady's Success 168 A Lecture for the Boys 298 A Lesson for Invalids 80 A " on Bee Culture for Women 80 Alighting Bushes 415 A Minister's Trials 102 An Apology for Uncharitable Thoughts 389 An Open Letter to Mr. Corey 90 Ants 298 " versus Queen Bees 484 A Patent-Right Swindler Gets His Deserts 300 Apiary, Another California 43, 130 " Arrangement of , 441 " " " Hives in Large 213 " Bee Carts for | 161 " "Banner," Notes from 487 " "Common Sense" 124 " Description of K.Wilkin's 340 " E. A. Sheldon's 370 Glen Oak 440 " Grounds and Shade of < 268 nouse 272 " " For Twenty Hives. 234 " " How to Get the Bees into 256 Pictures of 370 " How to Italianize an 425 " How to Start, Without any Money 357 ' Keeping Grounds Clean in is:! " Martin's Circular 281 " Of Five Hundred Hives 438 Our Own 46. 301, 342, 387, 430, 469 " Run by Hired Labor, Keport of 390 " Thieves In 276 Artificial Heat for a Wintering House 403 " Pasturage 143 Australia 84 Badlv Demoralized but Bound not to Give it up so. 189 Bee Botany and Entomology 118, 259,304,345, 391, 433, 476 Bee Catechism 167 " Caves 142 " Culture, A Life Business, and How a Woman Succeeds in It 129 " Culture, Instructions in, in shape of Prac- tical Work in the Apiary 389 " Culture In the Blue Grass Regions of Ky 488 " " IntheSouth 24 " " Object Lessons in 270 " " Profit * of 414 j " Dress for Ladies 80 I " Journal, taking a 121,489 " Keepers, Badges for 26, 63, 4«l " " Box Hive 342 " " " WhoUseFdn 208 1,1 " "Exchange" 233 " " Future of Honest . 60 " Keep'ng, A Country Parsons 6 " " First Experience in 168,492 " " For Farmer 63 " " in Virginia 143 " " My Troubles in 142 Bees, A Caution about Shipping .,.. . 345 " A Congress of , 268 " Across the water 59,148 " Age of 337 " Air Space Below 493 " Antipathy of, to the Smell of Coal Oil 345 " Around a Soda Fountain 271 " As Big as Bumble Bees 273 " A Strange Freak of 406 " A ttackina- Their Queen 185 " Black, A Few Words in behalf of 405 " " A Good Report of 233 " " Around a Soda Fountain 318 " " Being Robbed by a Neighbor's Italians 359 " " How to Use in an Apiary 357 " " Blessed " 106, 126 " Burying 318 " Can they Hatch th^ir Egsrs at Will 434 " Cirryingout Immature Bees;... : 319 " Chilled^Reviving 488 " Confining them to their Hives 453 " Deserting: their Hive when Deprived of both Queen and Brood. 275 " Distance* which they Fly ........ .8, 441, 145 " D i they Destroy Grapes 445 " Do they Weigh More or Less After a Journey 276 " Dyiner 84 " Eating Raspberries, Grapes, etc... . ...319, 482 " Fastening them in ...63 " Freezinsr 28 " Getting L"st on the Snow 63, 101, 145 " Giving: them a Fly 232 " Handling them Often 357 " How Friend Bolin Winters and Springs 311 " How Much Food do they Need for a Journey 360 " How they Swarm and Gooff in Mississippi.. 183 " How to Spring 258 " Hunting them .» 59 " In Missouri 271 " Killing: a Span of Horses 449 " Laws in Regard to Where they May Bo Kept ..452 " Lazy and what to do with them 443 " Lots of 381 " Managing by Electricity 432 " Nitrogenous Diet for 131 " OfFgypt 60 " " South Africa 252 " Paralyzing with Puff Balls 452 " Putting in Doors.... " 61 506 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Dec. Bees Raising them in Drone Comb to make them Lnrger 229 " Salting 101, 145 " Selling for $ 1.00 per Pound 208, 227 " Stimulating to Promote Early Breeding 131 " S 'perstition About 144 " Taxes on 274 " That Did not Swarm, and What to Do With Them 371 " " Hang out and Won't Swarm, What to do with them 317 " " Repented 190 " " Won't Work or Swarm 362 " Work on Red Clover 453 " "Versus Doctors and Medicine 80 " What Ails Them and How to Cure 'Em. . . .362 " What is the Matter with Them? 40? " What Made Them Die? 27 " What Killed 'em? 182 " What to Do with Them this Month (Sept.). .372 " When to Buy and v\ hat to Pay 403 " Will They Swarm whether Crowded or Not?188 " Why Did They Swarm 363 " Why Don't They Swarm, and where Did They Go? 447 " Why They Don't Work 360 Bee Settler 168 Bee Trees, Queer 000 " " Cutting 102,442,481 " " Sprinkling Sulphur on Bees to Find. .232 Bee Veils, Wire Cloth for 491 Beginners, A Caution to 21 " How One Succeeded, Simplicity Hives, Sections, etc 26 Blasted Hopes '. .6, 88, 147, 180, 256, 319, 416, 472 Box Hive Department 208, 3i8, 478 Box Hives, Getting Surplus in 63 Boy Power versus Foot Power 188 Boys' Department 148, 172, 269, 298, 369, 433, 504 Brood, Can We Have too Much? 446 '• Drone, in Worker Comb 406 " " by Mail 445 " Frames Kept Apart 25 " Rearing in Winter in Chaff Hives 84 California 122, 232, .271 " as a Bee-Keeping State. . . .342, 382, 440, 484 " Comb Honey in 441 Canada, An Extensive Bee Farm in 454 " Postal Regulations of 403 " Reports from 434, 450, 454 Candy for Bees, 5 c. per lb., How to Make it. .385, 432 " Flour, for Bees 144 " How to Feed in Winter 487 Candving, Scalding to Prevent 450 Chaff, Buckwheat 452 " Cotton Seed in Place of 100 " Cushions for Winter 381, 495 " " Queries About 496 " When to Take off 126 " Flax 451 " For Wintering 226, 227 " Packing for Winter *..86, 188, 498 . " " or Cellar Wintering 452 " Queries About 496 " Rice 126 " Right on the Bees 316 " versus Corn Husks 186 " versus Sawdust 142, 205 " When to Pack Bees in 452 Charity 363 for Those Who Err 165 Colonies, A Large One, and What Came of it 169 " Buying 22 to Start with 473 " (hanging Location of 181 Difference in. as Honey Gatherers 431 " Feeding Through on Sugar Syrup to Keep from B t imstone 275, 341 " Having Little or No Comb, What to Do with Them 451 " Moving the Old, when a Swarm has Issued 273 " Seven from One, and 100 lb. of Hon- ey in one Season 497 " Strengthening theWeHk by Exchang- ing Stands 276 " Sure Way of Increasing the Number, even in Winter 403 " Tinkering with Late in the Fall 181 " Two in One Hive 103 " What One Did in 7 Yeans 145 Comb Basket for Extracting Broken Pieces 316 Comb Building between Upper and Lower Frames. 24 " Di Beps ever Add a Fibrous Material to Give Additional Strength? 401 Comb Foundation Breaking Down 102 " " Cement for Fastening in 453 " " Electrotypes for Dipping 325 " " Fastening in the Frame 167, 494 " " Flat Bottomed 179,234 " '• for Honey for Table Use 27 " " for Italians, after First Swarm is Out 315 " " for a New Swarm 184 " " Four and a Half Cells to the Inch 127 " " from Mrs. Dunham's Machine.. 105 " " Homemade 348 " " How Many Wires are Needed in. 315 " " How to Fasten in a Frame.. 313, 360 " " How to Prevent from Sagging.. 79 " " in Every Other Frame Ife4, 494 " " Made with Thin Pine Board as a Base 317 " " Making at One Operation. .187, 348 " " " by Dipping only 283 " " " right in Wired Frames. 187 " " " Ihicker to Prevent Sagging 185 Newly Made 357 " " New Swarms on 206 " " on Paper 434 " " on Tin Foil 138 " " Practical Test of the Value Thereof 28 " * " Tinned Wire in, not a Hin- drance to Brood Rearing 185 " " That will not Sag 483 " " What shall We Put with Wax to Toughen 485 " " Wired, for the Prevention of Sagging.. 64, 101, 138, 185 233, 276, 492 " " Wiring Frames for 273 with Square Cells 227,239,273 Machines, Cheap. .. .83, 186, i39, 858 for Thick Side Walls. 364 " " " Home made 47 " " Starters, Cup for Melting Wax for Fastening, Im- provement in 231 " " Starters, Falling Down 275 " " for Comb Honey 138 " " " Getting them built Out in Brood Ap't. .319 " " " Made and Fasten- ed in Sections at One Operation 348 44 tfc *i Wire Inserter . . .233 Comb. Gettinsr Natural, for Starters 59, 87 Comb-Holder, Clark's 317 " " Simplicity, and How to Make it. . 6 Combs, Another Destroyer of 391 " Brood, Composition of 316 " " Fibrous Material in 446 " " Tinned Wire for ...406 " Built Crosswise, and What to Do 227 " Getting Lower, out of Chaff Hive 360 " How to Secure Straight 360 " Importance of Skill and Care in Handling.232 " Natural, Breaking Down 272 " Preserving 28 '• Space Required for 184 " Using from Colonies that have Died of Dysentery 147 " very Thick, for the Extractor 170, 347 Corners for Simp. Hives, Our New Beveled 139 Covering" Hives with Glass 452 Covers, Board, for Shade 127 " that can not Leak, how to Make 490 Division Boards, Chaff, Queries About 496 " " fortheQueen 80,225 " " Baker's 500 Doolittle's Report for 1879 386 Dovetailing Machine 165 Drone Rearing, making Colonies small, Not a Preventive of, in the South 185 Drones, Age of 185, 452, 483 " all Winter 452 Color and Markings of 184, 498 " Early Italians 452 " How to Keep Blacks out of the Way 85 inQneenCells 26 " in Worker " 405,4*2,498 Lpnjrth of Life of 26, 299 " Making Bees Rear, out of Season 445 " Over-Produetion of 317 " Pure, from Hybrid Queens 450 " Sendine Off for 426 " What Beoomes of All of Them ? 481 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 507 Dual Royalty 252 Dull Times, How to Cure 318 Dwindling, Artificial Heat a Remedy for 184 in Spring 161,437 " " " Cause and Cure 486 " Winter 381 Dysentery 44. 60, 189, 190 " Caused by Disturbance in Cold Wea- ther 143 Editorial. . .33, 64, 106, 138, 187, 231, 274, 320, 364, 408, 429 Eggs, Several in a Cell 270 Enameled Cloth, A Substitute for 488 " " versus Burlap 216 " " Mats 275 Enemies of Bees 13 " " Bugs, are They Enemies? 346 " " Bumbie-Bee and Laphria Thoracica 304 " " Bumble-Bee, Are We to Con- sider an Enemy? 313, 404 " " TheApathus 304 Engravings, Value of 406 Entrances. North and South 407 " Coal Cinders and Sand Around 214, 357 Emery Wheels 27 " " Speed for 165 Extracting Unsealed Stores in the Fall.. .451, 479, 496 Extractor, Honey Flying over the Top of 275 Faith in Humanity 144 Feeder 124, 296 " A Frame 23 Anot her 168 " Cloth Bag 314 " For Feeding Dry Sugar 184 " Gray's 232 Feeders Simplicity, Arranged to be Used at the Entrance of Hives 82, 402 Feeders Simplicity, Covered 127, 140 " The Best Kind : , .216 " The Capillary, A New Invention 240 Feeding 296, 388 " Broken Comb Honey 270 " Brown Sugar and Cheap Syrups 450 " Cheap Honey : 87 " Dampness from, in the Hive 402 " Does it Pay 497 " Flour and Candy, Experiments on 165 " in March 106 " in October for Winter 3K4 " in Winter 63, 487 " Loss in 453 " Mashed Honey and Dirt from Bee Trees. 180 " Out-door, Improvement in 264 " " with a Barrel Feeder 387 " Peaches and What came of It 88 " Potatoes 491 " Sorghum 492 " Stimulative 25, 131, 142, 4ii4 " Sugar, Public Opinion about 80 " " Syrup in Preference to Natur- al Stores 314 " " Water and Flour 189 " too Much for Safety of Brood 363 " When Bees are Getting Plenty of Honey and Pollen 228 Florida, and How Bees Winter There 182 " Honey Plants of (Pints and Teacupfuls)..258 Foul Brood 49, 347,444 Fountain, for Giving Water to Bees 265 " Pumps, and How They Answer 275 Frames, a Plea for Gallup' s 493 Closed Top 314 " Deep, 2 Stories High 41 " How Many should the Bees Cover? 484 " Movable, Size and Shape of 42 " Pinchers for Lifting 319 " Short L. and Long L 443 " Wired for Fdn., and Bar of Tin 446, 49 1 From Darkness to Sunshine 272, 361 From the Egg to the Perfect Queen, How Long.. 26 Fruit-Blossoms in the Fall 497 Fuel for Smokers 121, 145, 226, 273 Gallup, where He is, and What Doing, by this Time 216 Georgia, Honey Season in 257, 445 Gillespie 371 Glossary to A B C Book 396 Glucose and Grape Sugar 90, 101 Going it Blind 102 Grape Sugar. 61, 83, 87, 182, 315 " " Candy 38.;, 473 " " Difference in Color of 185 " " for Fall Feed 252 " " for Summer , 142 Grape Sugar f orWintering, Seemingly Bad Re- port of 86, 144 " Is it Profitable for Bees? 140 " " One Unfavorable Report of 100 " " versus Cane 496 Grapevines, Shade from, Fi rst Seasi >n 357 Where to Plant for Shade 225 Grass versus Sawdust 81 Grindstone, Family, for Keeping things Sharp -57 Growlery 33, 87, 129, 207, 294, 369, 426, 472 Hammers and Nails 326 Th< >se Nice 443 Handles for Packages of Uees or Queens 402 Heads of Grain 23, 59, 100, 141, 181, 225, 270, 313. 357, 401, 442 Hive, The $25 83 " Novel, Good for Farmers who Want no Trouble with Honey Bees, and Want to get Cheap Honey 168 " Making 42 Water Wheels for 24 Hives, Beveling Boards for 179 " Basswood Lumber for 227 " Caution about Closing in Swarming Time. .80 " Chaff 121, 252 " " A Woman's 129 " " Covers of 100 " " Dampness in 86 " " Do They Need Division Boards? 448 " " During Honey Season 260 " " Expense of Compared with Simpl's... 61 " For Summer as Well as Winter 443 " . .'! For Wintering in Wisconsin 226 " " Good Report from 473 " " Home-made 6 " One Story 24,212 " " Painted Muslin Roofs for 141 " Shingle Cover for 186 " " Stand for 100, Hid " Transferring from Simplicity into... 496 " " versus Common Ones 127 " Tenement 46,48,69,232,361 " Convenient 121 Cost of 60 " Cost and Quality of, in California 129 Decoy 133 " Glass for 28 How to Order 60 Ice in, Why? 61 " Importance of Keeping Free from Un- pleasant Odors 345 " Langstroth, Measurements of 85 " Lumber for 183 Odd Sizes of, Trials of Using 168 Patent 233, 260 " Roof of 477 " Sending to Us to Try 492 " Shade for 124, 230, 270 Shingle Chaff Tenement 293, 364, 383 Wintering 8 Col's. 448 " Simplicities, Good Report from 496 " " Nailing without Gauge Frames 102 " " versus a Deeper Frame for Wintering 144 " Story and a half 73 " " Covers to 490 " Roof for 451 " Tenement 7 " What to Buy 60 Honey, Adulteration of 41 " " New Jersey Law for 229 " An Astonishing Yield in Wisconsin 477 " Bitter, Where from 477 " Boxes, Getting Them too Far from the Brood. . .- 146 " Boxes, Lewis Improved. 72 " " For Farmers 83 " Candying in the Cells in Warm Weath- er 404, 444 " Causing Sickness 450 Chunk , 407 Column 9, 68, 128, 190, 215, 283. 372, 413, 429 " Comb, in California 440 " " Nice from the South 447 " " Without Separators 447 " Crate, Color for 318 " " and Shipping Case Combined 82 " Dew for Winter Stores 313, 346 " " Honey from 443 " " Not Detrimental to the Bees 478 " " Whence Cometh it 440 " " Where Found 478 " Extracted, Tin Cans and Pails for, and their Embellishment 101, 259 508 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. " Extracted Will Keep 402 " " Packages for 488 " Farm 274, 301 " Our own 320,342,387,430 " First of the Season lOt " From Cotti pinosa 477 " " Smart weed 445 " " Simpson's Honey Plant. .301, 1351, 362, 407, 413, 452 Spider 430,480 " " Stickweed .....433 " " Sumac — 91 " " Sunflower 91 "... " Sweet Pepper 170,372,448 " " Symphoricarpus Vulgaris.. 391, 460, 476 " " Turnip 176 " " " Seven-top 387 Whitewood 266,314 " " "Williams' 476 Yucca 137, 190, '361, 440 Honey, Poison ; — 189 " Prices of ." — 414 " Running from Hives in Cold Weather 85 " Selling ..'....270 " Sourwuod — li3 We Must Have That : . . .302 What I Did in the Chase for That. .....:.. .339 " Yield of in October, in Virginia 450 Hopes Not Blasted .188 Horse Power, Convenient One .■ 105 Humbugs and Swindles...9, 68, 128, 172, 189, 255,, 300. 371, 416, 427, 386 Hybrids versus Full Bloods for Swarming. 448 Increase, How to Work for 126 Italians 403 " and Blacks .... 182, 256, 303, 318, 401, 444, 451, 452, 490 " " Dwindling 189 " AreThey Pure 338,446 " Black 497 Just Before Going to Press.' .'.'.'.'.'.'.'.".'.'.'.' .'.'.'239,' 282^ 415 King Bird, not Guilty 23 Labels, Dextrine for Gumming 318 Ladies' Department 80, 129, 168, 253, 295, 341, 485 Lamp Nursery 121, 161 Langstroth 227, 274 Larva3 Transferred, Report Concerning. 86 " Transposing for Queen Rearing 145 Machine for Loosening Upper Stories 491 Making Frames, Sections, etc., by Foot and Hand Power ? ' 99 Manual on Bee-Keeping, Hunter's 364 Mats for Covering Frames 82, 186, 226, 228 273 " Combined with Enameled Cloth 451 " Home-made 316 " versus Enameled Cloth 275 Mice, Look out for Them 143 Minnesota, Good Report from 447 Mistakes, Expensive 60 Mitchell 172, 185, 371, 386, 405, 416, 436 A Good Report from His Hive 228, 231 Money, How to send 30c. in Silver by Mail 128 Moths 275 Moving Bees 85 " " for Fall Pasturage 406 " " in the Fall 59 "» " Short Distances 407 Mrs. Cotton 231, 371, 3t>6 New Zealand 101 Notes and Queries....44, 84, 126, 188, 232, 275, 318, 362, 406, 450 Patents, Bingham's, on cmokers 226 " On nee Implements 186 " t-omething about investing in 79 Pollen, in ections 275 of Bitter Weed 4U6 " Surplus of 271 " Sweet Potatoes a Substitute for 446 " Wheat Bran a - ubstitute for 232 Propolis for "oap Making 100,184, " Greasing Frames and Rabbets to Get off. 127 " How a Bee < arries it l'>2 " Unloads it 122 " Removing by -team 371 Protection against Extremes of Heat and Cold 86 Prussic Acid in Wild Cherry 232 Queen (.age, Bottle, an Improvement on 164 " " >ponyre for 317 " Candy, with Bottle 320 " for Sending out Queens 209 " No Queen in 405 " Section-Box 271 " " " HowThey Answer for long Distances. . .281 " " " " Improvements in 296 Queen Cards 121 Queen Cells, A Caution about Putting Many in One H ive 450 " u Artificial, and What Came of Them..451 " By Mail 313, 361 " " Caging 408 " " Economy in Maturing 301 " " Not Always an Indication of Sw'rmg314 " " With Nothing in Them 314 Queen, Italian, Strange Freak of 402 " Nursery 101 " " Home-made 361 Rearing, Does it Pay? 383 in Florida 358 Trials in 143,205 Queenless, Hastily Deciding a Hive to He 100 Queens, Who always Has a Laying Daughter With Her , 441, 497, 498 " Are there Hybrids in Italy 364 " A Royal Combat Resulting in the Death of Both 404 " Being Accepted and then Killed 498 Black, How to Find 403, 475 " Buying Four to Start With 473 " Caging, on Hatching Brood 408 " Can they be Reared from Drone Larva?. .406 " Dark from Imported Mothers 406 Dollar 64, 315 " " And those from High Priced Dealers 272 " Do Pure, ever Change to Hybrids? 392 " Do They Lay Continuously? 314 " Drone Laying 496 " " Layers, That Turn out to Be 181 1879 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 509 " Eight with one Swarm 337 " Getting them to Lav in Queen Cells 172 " " " Promptly 270 " Giving Room to Young, After Swarming 315 " How Do They Know Their Own? 362 " " Late »la> aQueen be Fertilized? 404,452 '• " They stand a Journey in the New Section Cage 259 " " They Void 1 heir Fasces 273 " " To Get Young Queens to Lay in The Fall 453 " Imported, Dark Color of 319 " " " Is a Pure D mghter of. as Good for Breeding as an Imported Queen *. 453 " " Their Bees not. As a Rule Handsome 426 " Impregnated. Can They Deposit Drone Eggs in Worker Comb? 358 Introducing. .123. 219, 255, '272, : 01, 319, 320, 313, 03, 444, 450, . 488,489 " " A Boy's Experience in 43* A Good "Way of 312 V " A New Invention in the Way of 283 " " Bv Rolling in Honev 318 By Rule, then ShuPing the Hive, and Letting Them Alone 255 " " Do not Introduce Accom- panying Bees, When 387 " " How [ introduce Mine 123 " " Mishaps in 270 " " New Plan of '50 " " To An irtcial Colonies 102 To Stubborn Colonies 319 With one-half Pound of Bees 358 " " " " Pound of Bees 401 " " Their Escort Bees "91 " Loss of During Dwindling Season 190 " Non-Prolific 404 " One that Flew away, and Where She Went <51 " Raising, instead of Honev 383 " Sending by Mail 227, 27 1,300,312, t96,361, 403, 473 " " " " Versus Express 362 " " Safest Packages for 474 To California 493 " " Washington Territory tfi " Shipping in Winter 62 " Straying Away from Heme 30 Tested, Turning Hybrids 435, 486 " That Produce all Drone Brood 407 That Stop Laying 407 " " " " and Commence Again.. 271 " Won't Rai43 " Whose Eggs Do not Hatch 359, 452 " V hy so (.any Die in the Spring 232 " "With One Half Pound of Bees 407 Quickness in Transit 06 " Quinby's New Bee-Keepting" 231 Robbers, How to ( ircumvent, and keep on Transferring and Raising Queens all the -ame 300 " HowtoKnow IS " HowtoKeep Away 225 " How to Stop 17,28 " How to Tell where They l.elong 19 " Mjr Experience with 493 Robbing 102 and * warming Out, a New Feature 260 " Another Remedy for 102 " A Novel Way of Stopping 3 2 How to Stop 81 " How to Tell when Bees Are 146 " in spring 17 Royal Jelly, What Is it ? 407 Sagging of Frames 275 " " On Preventing, an Improve- ment Suggested 317 " Top Pars and Remedy 253 Salt for Bees 50, 61 " to Keep away Moth Worms 226 Sawdust 81 versus Chaff 142 Saw Mandrels, Homo-made 189 " " Length of 166 Saws Circular, Filing 181 " " Foot and Hand Power 182 " " Speed of 313 " Foot Power 81 " " A <"aution Concerning 13 " " A Few scraps Concerning <*25 " " Barnes' Crank Attachment to. .143 " " Cutting 2 in. Stuff with 121 " " H"me-made 163 " " Speed for 166 " " With slow Movement, and Improvement on Barnes' .224, 226 Scales, German Ice 127 Scot land 270 Scraps and sketches..5, 41, 79,121, 161, 205, 249, 293, 337, 381, 425, 469 Screw-Drivers that won't get Loose in the Handle.480 Section Case, Forty-Cent •• 451 " of One Tier versus Broad Frames 448 " " Sticking to Frames 314 " top/, story Hive 490 Sections, Cheap, Made of Veneer 360 " Experiments with in Differ't Positions. 494 In One Tier or Two 228, 401, 492 " Is there Danger of Brood in? 443 " Lewis' Improved 72 " Making by Foot-power Saw, sug's as to491 New 471 " Novice's Dovetailed, in Louisiana 363 " One-pound 10i> " One Tier of 44 Pasteboard 317 " Placed on Frames 493 " Shallow versus Deep 495 " Side-storing 123 Thickness of 103 Tight-Ftting 206 " Time of Putting in the Hive 49 " Shall We Put Them in the Lower story? 49 Separators, Fastening on 275 " or no separators 50,358,414 " Tin, Perforated 447 Wooden 406 Shipping Case and Honey Crate Combined 82 " Cards for 101 Shears, Pruning, for Taking Down Swarms 318 Slates, Wooden 275 Smilery 9, 13s, 165, 21*, 295, 369, 427, 473 smokers 211, 2 8, *73, 276 Cold Blast 126, 14 ', 448, 450 " " " Another Claimant to the I n vention of 275 " " " Another, .-covil's 187 " " " Corey's 72 " " " Friend Hough Contributes to it 270 " " " How it is Developing 89 " " " How to Make 173 " " " How to Make so as to Burn Even Damp Fuel 490 " " " How to Use 267 " " " The New Cone on 362 " Driving Rees with 144 " Good Keason for Needing 36 i Match Box Attached 346,468 Soot in 187 The Artillery 188 Speak Gently 432 Spreading Straw on Snow in Front of Hives, 101 Starting Bee culture, One Way 406 Stings 51, 91 " Are they the Cause of Skin Diseases? 314 Swarming 91 Artificial, Empty Combs for 100 " Automatic 133 " Before the Hives are Full, Will Bees Doit? 127 " Do nees < hoose a Location Before?.133,381 " Excessive 80 Out 260 " inFall 497 " in Spring 126,127,182,188 " Persistent 186 " " with Young Queen when Brood is all Hatched 315 " " Prevention of 80, 142, 173 Swarms, After, Returning to Parent Hive 318 "' V\ hat to Do with 318 " Alighting on >amespot 206,276 " Are L^rge Ones Most Profitable to " Winter? 489 " Bagging 126 510 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Dec. Swarms, hatching Stray 182 " Hiving: on Sunday 183 " How to Get One Home, on a Pinch 495 " New, Leaving Their Hives 295 October 447, 4 '9 " Seven in One 146 " Three in 3 Consecutive Days 225 " To Bring Down, Ringing Bells and Beating: Pans 134 Uniting New 183 Teasels 135 Temperature, sudden and Severe Changes of 86 Texas, Keesand Honey in 315 " Report from 363 Thurber's Defense 103 Toads 135 " WhattoDowith Them 145,215 Townley and Chaff Hives in Past Winter 123 Transferring 126, 'ill, 217, 225. 259 " Aids for 1H " An ABC Scholar's Experience in — 211 " Cautions in 230, 405 Clasps 85, ill " Dead Brood After 1n8 " How to Arrange the Combs in 127 " In Winter 102 Troubles 250 " in Regard to Mail Matter 372 Uniting 220, 261 Veils 221 Ventilation 142, 222, 252 Vinegar 224, 360 Visit to a Box Hive Man 69 Wanted, A Spirit Level, Plumb, and Compass Combined for fixing up Hives 490 Water for Bees 84, 101, 126, 262 Wax 305 " American Mineral 3s-3 " Extracting, How to 'lean the Cloth Bags — 4s6 " Melted, How to .Make a Brush for 360 " < >ur Third Destroyer of 433 " Removing by Steam 371 Wilkin and His Visit to the Old World 124 Winter, Are Your Bees Heady for 460 " ( ontracting Space for 451 " Getting Bees Ready for 442, ^50 " Passages 460, 49s " sugar -yrup versus Honey for .451 " Ventilating B<>x Hives in 478 Wintering 136, 177, 205, 216, 227, 252, 3i9, 393 " Amount of Honey Consumed 182 " A Smiill No. <>f Colonies in one room 496 " Special Repositories 228 " Box Hive Colonies in Cellar 478 " Brown Sugar for 276 " Crowding Bees and Stores on few Combs for 315 " Epidemic 371 " In Both Stories 452 " " Box Hives. 478 " " Cellar, Report in Favor of 16 , " " " Trialsof ..105 " " Doors and Out-doors 189 " " viinnesota 165 " Moving Hives Together for 147 " Out-door Compared with Cellar Wintering 190, -92 " Reports on 1 (3, 206 " Successful t3t " V\ ithout Protection 316 " " Removing the Upper Frames .60 Winters, What Kind Require .Most Honey 103 Winter Stores, Apple Juice or Cider for 451 " " Sugar Syrup versus Honey for — 363 " " Watery Honey for 497 Woods Common Objects on the .microscope 248 Work and V\ ages 15 1 " The Brighter Side 45 Index to Advertisers. Artificial Conib. M Richardson, Jan. to March. J C & H P Sayles, Jan. to Aug. R Stetale, Jan. Feb. Apr. May, and Aug. Valentine & Son, Jan. to April. J" J Farr, Feb. to Apr. J Oat man & Sons, Feb. to May. CFMuth, Feb. to Apr. June, Aug. Oct and Dec. Ch. Dadant & Son, Mar. to Sept. P L Viallon, Mar. to Aug. Everett Bro's, Mar. May, to Sept. D. Royse, Mar. to May. S P Blcmily, Apr. to Juue. E Thew, Apr. and May. H H Brown, Apr. to Sept. J H Nellis, Apr, July. Rev. A Salisbury & Hayes, Apr. to Sep. AFStauffer, Apr. to July. B B Barnurn, May, July, and Aug. D S Given, May. J Van Dusen & Sons, June to Auar. and Dec. Kee«*. E. W. Hale, Jan. to Oct. J. C. & H. P. Sayles, Jan. to Aug. G Grimm, Jan. to Apr. Aug. and Sept. R Stehle. Jan. Feb. and Aug. G B Peters, Jan. and Feb. S D Mc Leon & Son, Feb. to July. Mrs. Capehart, Feb. and Mar. H Roop. Feb. to June. J Oatman & Sons Feb. to May. C C Vaughan, Feb. to Apr. M T Rowe, Feb. J Hoffman, Mar. and Apr. J R Landes, Mar. to July, and Sept. Ch. Dadant & Son, Mar. to Sept. P L Viallon, Mar. to Aug. D A Pike, Mar. to May. L C Axtell. Mar. and Apr. WW Cary, Mar. to Dec. E A Gastman, Apr. June and Sept. H H Brown, Apr. to Sept. J M Brooks & Bro. Apr. to Sept. Rev. A Salisbury & Hayes, Apr. to Dec. B B Barnum, May. A W Vaniman, June. F L Wright, June. G H Goodyear. June. G D Adair, June. F J Farr, June. G W Gates. June. I S Hnsrhes, June. S A Dyke, June. L W Van Kirk, June. J E Vanmeter, June, Sept. and Oct. S Y Orr, June. E M Hayhurst, June to Sept. J P Sterritt, Jul v to Aug. J'HM artin, July to Sept. C W & A H K Blood, July to Dec. S Valentine, July. H R Boardman, Aug. to Oct. V S Hall, Aug. and Sept. R Quiun, Sept. and Oct. W A Eddy. Sept. O Foster, Oct. Comb .EVln. 31a oil lues. J. C. & H. P. Sayles, Jan. to Aug, Fmpty f ombs. F. T. Nunn, Apr. W. S. Boyd, May and June. A Fahnestock, July. Engraving. Stillman & Co., year. Extractors. M. Richardson, Jan. to March. Valentine & Son, Jan. to Apr. C F Muth, Feb. to Apr. June. Aug. Oct. and Dec. Everett Bro's, Mar. May, to Sept. R R Murphy, May and June. Fastenings for Hives. L. C. Axtell, May. Ferns. R. Morgan. Nov. Florida Moss. G. Wolfe, Mar. Foot-power Saws. W.F. & Jno. Barns, year. For Sale. "Chas." care Gleanings, Jan. W. S. Lunt. Mar. Fruit Trees. R S. Johnson, Jan. to Mar. Glass Cutter. H. M. Moyer, July and Aug. Grape Sugar. Davenport Glucose Co., Jan. to July. Hives. M Richardson, Jan to Mar. FA Salis- bury, Jan to May. R R Murphy, Jan to Apr. Val- entine & Son, Jan to Apr. Lewis & Parks, Jan to June. I L Parker, Jan and Feb. F A Snell, Jan to July. J H Nellis, Jan to May. C McQueen, Jan. M L Hudson, Jan. A A Fradenburg, Feb to June. G W Simmons, Feb. J 0;)tman & Sons, Feb to May. C F Muth, Feb to Apr June Aug Oct and D-c. C H Dean, Mar and Apr. T J Elliott, Mar. S Valentine, Mar to May. Everett Bm's, Mar May to Sept- D Royse, Mar to May. W D Parker, Apr to June. E A Gastman, Apr. E Thew. Apr and May. W T Fal- coner, Apr and May. H Scovell, Apr to Dec. New- man & Baker, Apr to June. B B Barnum, May. Nichols & Elkins, Mav to Oct. A Fahnestock, July. P L Viallon. Sept to Deo. Hone) Boxes. J E Moore, Apr. C R Isham, May. R R Murphy. May and Juno. Honey Jars. C F Muth, Feb to Apr June Aug Oct and Dec. M H Tweed, June. Honey Knives. Bingham & Hetherington, Feb Mar and Apr. C F Muth, Feb to Apr June Aug Oct and Dec. Horse Book. B J Kendall, Aug to Dec. Imported Queens. Dr J P H Brown, year. Valentine & Son, Jan to Apr. D Tremontani. Jan to June. C W & A H K Blood, July to Dec. Miss M Andrews. Aug and Sept. Org «ns. Burdette Organ Co, July to Dec. Periodicals. A J Kiug & Co, year. J Vick, Jan Feb Apr to Juuh. T G Newman & Son, year. A C Nellis, Jan. E H Wynkoop, Feb Mar and Dec. J H Nellis, Feb to Apr May June Nov and Dec. Bee- Keeper's Guide, Feb Mar. Purdy, Mar Dec. G M Doolittle Nov. Seedtime and Harvest, Dec. Plants. G Wolfe, Mar. J W Manuing, May. Poultry.-H E Spencer, Jan. J R Landes, Mar. to July, Sept. Valentine & Son, Jan. to Apr. C W Canfleld. Apr. and May. S Greenawalt, May. E H Nichols, Dec. Queens. EW Hale, year. J P H Brown year. J C & H P Sayles. Jan. to Aug. R Stehle, Jan. to June,' Aug. Valentine & Son, Jan. to Apr. H H Brown, year. E M Hayhurst, year. J M C Taylor, year. P L Viallon, year. J Oatman & Sons, Feb. to Dec. S D McLean & Son, Feb. to July. \ F Moon, Feb. and Mar. C C Vaunhan, Feb. to Apr. J Hoff- man. Mar. J E Walcher, Mar. to Aujr. S M Hitch- cock & Co, Mar to Aug. J R Keeler, Mar. to Aug. J 1879 GLEAKINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 511 R Landes, Mar to July. C Dadant & Son, Mar to Sept. M A Buell. Mar. S Valentino, Mar to May, and July. D A Pike, Mar. to May. Miss M Andrews, Apr. to July. E A Gastman, Apr. J Mattoon, Apr., June, and July. Newman & Baker, Apr. to July. Miller & Hollara, Apr. to Dec. D A McCord, Apr. to Sept. J T Wilson, Apr. to Dec. Rev A Salisbury & Hayes, Apr. to Sept. A F Stauffer. Apr., May, and July. H A King, May. S Green.iwalt, May to July. A Johnson, May to Oct. S D Moore, Mav to Oct. *B B Barnum, May, July, and Aug1. S W Salisbury, May, July, and Aug. H S Blkins. M>iy to Oct. F L Wright, June and July. King & White, June, Aug., to Dec. W Z Hutchinson, July to Oct. D S Given, July and Aug. H Smith, July and Aug-. J L Bow- ers, July to Dec. J P Sterritt, July and Aug-. I Mlchener, July and Aug. J H Martin, July to Sept. TG McGaw, July to Sept. H Alley, July to Sept. A W Cheney, Aug. and Sept. 0 Sowtharate, Aug-, to Oct. A L Klar, Aug. and sept. J A Ward, Aug. H R Boardman, Aug. and Sept. Y S Hall, Aug. and Sent. E B Plunket, Sept. L A Best, Oct. F J War- dell, Dec. Raspberries. W. A. Sniffin, Aug. Sawing Machine. W. Giles, Apr. and Dec. Sections. M. Richardson, Jan. to Mar. R. Stehle, Jan. Feb. Apr. May and Aug. F A Salisbury, Jan to Mar. R R Murphy, Jan. and Feb. A E Manum, Jan. Feb. and D°c. Valentine & Son, Jan. to Apr. Lewis & Park*, Jan. to June, Sept. J Oatman & Sons, Feb. to Mav. F L Furbish, Mar. and May. Everett Bro's, Mar. May to Sept. W D Parker, Apr. to June. E A Gastman, Apr. E Thew. Apr. and May. W T Fal- coner, Apr. and May. S D Buell & C i. May. Seeds. C F Lane, Feb. C F Muth, Feb. to April, June, Aug., Oct., and Dec. Sniokers. Bingham & Hetherinarton, Feb. to Mav. T F Bingham, Mar. to May, Julv. L C Root, Apr., Mav, Julv, and Aug. H Scovell, M*v to Aug-. Supplies. J P H Brown, year. J C & H P Sayles, Jan. to Aug-. Valentine & Sons, Jan. to Apr. C F Muth, Feb. to Apr., June, Aug., Oct., and Dec. C Didant & Son, Mar. to Sept. M A Buell, Mar. S Valentine, Mar. to May. P L Viallon, Mar to Aug. D Rovse, Mar to May. E Thew, Apr and Mav. H H Brown, Apr to Sept. J H Nellis, Apr. W D Wright, Apr. F A Salisbury, Apr and May. D T Davis, Apr. L C Root. April, May, July and Aug. Rev A Salis- bury & Hayes, Apr to Sept. C W & A H K Blood, July to Dec. A E Manum, Dec. Valuable Information. J T Clymer, March. Verry & Harper, Apr. N W Ayer & Son, Apr. Wanted. L B Hogue, Jan. H Culp. Feb. Dr J J Adair, Feb. E T Lewis, Mav. 0 S Davis, July. G W Stewart, Aug-. F -linnich, Dec. Well- Auger. W W Giles, Aug- to Oct. Index to Contributors. Arrigan M P., 48; Adair A, 50; Allien N H, 61, 145' 211; Axtell Mrs L C, 81, 275, 280, 295; Anderson LA' 165; Areson A S, 183; Anderson J R, 190, 271, 295; At ch ley E J, 206; Andrews Miss M,209; \dair vlrsJ B,253; Anderson J, 256; Vshton Dr, 256, 403; Ulbee E A, 318; A Friend, 357; Ava-s J Q, 358; Araham C, 401; Auton H, 442; Alvis R J, 443; Ahlstrom vlrs and C, 447; Anderson A W, 450; Alzaida, 486; Alley H, 498. Brantley A H, 13, 67; Byrne J P, 24; Bates C, 26; Beal L, 33; Fliss F, 33; Bitzer W, 50; Burton J M, 59; Boerstler J, 62; Billings 0 R, 62; Bowen O F, 67, 458; Brooks J M, 69, 84, 127, 225, 212, 325: Blackburn H, 73, 479; Buchanan J A, 80, 232, 348, 360; Bassett D S, 82, 233; BareD, 84; Bovd, J E, 86; Bebout W, 86; Bing- ham T F, 90, 226, 390; Bickeaton T, 102; Barger L G, 126, 148; Bowles C, 126, 363; Blood C W and A H K, 127, 233; Bullard M E, 128; Burgess F W, 141; Breece H H C, 142, 232, 318; Kybee C, 143; Bulison 0 E, 147; Blaek- lock K, 147; Beal W J, 148, 345, 346, 392, 433, 476,477; Battle F, 148; Bray J B, 162; Berry If, 165; Bethune D *, 172, 269, 298, 406, 433, 504; Beeler S L, 179; Burt L M, 179; Barber H, 184; Best L P, 185; Black H V, 186; Bethune R A, 186; Barnes H H, 189; Butman C, 189; Balch W H, 190; Blake W, 190, 271, 476: Boardman H R, 215, 320, 348; Breed J E, 227; BettsLW, 254; Bur- ris, W H, 255; Baldwin D, 255; Baldridge M M, 269, 491; Bogel A J, 271; Beeton R, 271; Barb J S, 271; Brown J J C, 276; Browne R A, 295; Bennett 1,298; Bedell J D, 301; Bolin J, 312, 371; Bemis J H, 314; Beckley J, 315; Blachley B 0, 316; Balsiger J, 319; Becktel I, RS 325,372, 414; Boals M B, 362; Brutaker D E, 362; Beginner, 389; Bell \V M A, 390; Brubaker D E, 403; Bodge A 11, 403, 447; Binney B 8, 407, 454; Bellows C C, 407; Barbour K M, 413; Ball J, 445; Bar- ber R I, 450; Best D E, 453, 480; Bryan A W, 459; Ba- ker D B, 490: Baldwin W M, 491; Bennett, B N, 493; Bush W A,.r)01. Cdpehart Mrs JT9; Cook A J 14, 90, 234, 304 346, 391, 433, 476, 496; Collins W B 28; Corey J G 72; Car- roll S 81 ; Colton J B 84, 448; Courtright J A 88; Car- penter C H 89; Clark N 89, 317: Chapman M W 100; case N 100, 1S5; Can then W S 104; Conklin Dr A V 126; C M T 128: Clements W 128; (at hoy B F 129, 361; CorneilS130: Childs J 143; Cooper J B 143, 190 ; Cot- ton IN 145, 146; CarlinCR 145,185,318,372,406,477, 494, 498: Carpenter H F 163; Creighton J H 167; Cor- binGE170; Crowfoot J 185; Chandler Mrs P 188; Cathev B F 188; Cook T J 1*9, 273; Carpenter C A 208; Chapman R T 228; Clark G 255: 'Mark 0 H 270; Cors- caden R 272, 298, 405; Crosby W 298; Cary W W 307; Currie T H, 319, 362; Crossman Mrs E M, 341; Cramer J W, 345; Coon O E. 346, 358, 477; Cortes F; 357; Car- ter J W, 358; Cameron A, 361; Coblentz L H, 401; Chapman F W, 402; Carpenter J B, 402; Cox A, '07; Cravcroft J, 427, 446; CookJM,427; CheneyA W,429; Carroll B F, 433, 498; Church J J, 444; Clark C T, 4i6; Cline J R, 479; Carpenter Mrs L C, 485; Clark J G, 492, 198; Coulter A P, 495; Cottrell NE, 501. Donelson A 6; Denman G H 7, 36?; Dougherty F L 24; Dadant C 41*483; Doolittle G M 59, 303, 33-*, 387, 435, 476; Dickinson J 83, 103; Dudley O US; Davison A S M; Dewev J S 206; D ivenport R -225; Dean G B 2'9: Dean J E '270, 449; Drake E L 273; Dodge S C 275; Doyle A T 276; Dieffenbach J 276; Dfmarest H P 316; Day A P 317; Davis A J 319; DM369; Detwiler J Y 391, 451; Dipman J F 406; Dawson J 407, 4=^3; Dawson W 427; DinesJR443; Danzenbak«r F 450; Dunn EL 150; DorrisJl51; Duff AH 478; Demaree G W 482, 4S8. Edwards J F, 102; Edington W W, 126; Eckman J W, 273; Ebell G, 281; Ellison L,319; Eastman A D,360; Ellio't J, 382, 445; Estey E, 416; Ellison W J, 443; Eldridge J W, 493. Fahnestock A, 59, 85, 416; Flory J F, 85; Fagely G K, 88, 453; Fox, H H, 88: Funk R J, 89; Fradenburg A A, 10% 145, 180, 183, 189, 316, 438: Facey J O, 105; Flansburg G J, 122; French L, 111; Fell F F, 142; Fow- ler J C, U4; Fooshe J D, 226 446; Fisher A J, 256; FrankfordS H, 270; Faville Mrs C, 276: Fergu-on W H, 313; Flourney O R, 315: Fisher C A H, 316; Fisher JS, 318; Flanasan E T, 357, 148: Follit \V H, 369; Fletcher A P, 386; Fitzhugh Jr, N R, 402; Friend Dr G W, 433; Foster O, 137, 475, 496; Flower W E, '51. Green J, 9; Gardner D, 20; Getchell C H, 33: Gunn J L, 60; GoetzH, 60; Gastman E A, 63, 86, 144; Gil- mer J P, 63; Goodhue G O, 101; Gifford W M, 126; Graves ll'H, U7: Gray J L, 165; Garliek Mrs J W, 168; Gardner A E, 181; 'GlazarSE, 184; GivenDS,187; Good I R, 188, 06, 4'7, 53; Gallup E, 216, 341, 342, 382, 388, »40, 484; Gates G W, 224; Grabill A, 228; Gardner J T, 232; Gamble G W. ill; Gillis A W, 272; Gray A L, 275, 447, 487; Green J A, 276; Grimm A, 306; Graham P, 315; Gray L D, 315; Gilbert P, 318; Green G C, 34«; Green W H, 390; Greiner F, 406; Greer & Co, R C. 413, 429, 480; Gage J D, 446; Gris- com S, 450; Green I R, 453; Gage C L, 476. Hutchinson W Z, 5, 4l, 79, 121, 161, 205, 219, 293, 337, 363,381,383,425, 469, 487; Hoodenpvle J W, 20; Hay- hurst E M,23, 210, 23i; Hall W P, 25; Hintz A J, 25; HayhurstE M, 26, 3C0; Haskin S D, 27, 188; Hecker- man E D, 28, 85; Hill S D, i;0; Huffaker M A, 84; Hitchcock Dr R, 91; Hamilton S T, 100; Hopkins 1, 102; Hillis S G, 12 s Hastv E E, 128, 21', 268, 303, 339, 4l*S; Harrison I, 129; Hall L T, 1>2; Hunter J, 143; H ar wood W, 1 43; Hill S, 147; Harris H, 172; Harrison Mrs L, 172; Hudson M L, 179; Hains J B, 182;. Hutch- inson W C, 185, 198; Hinshaw E J, 188, 276, 401; Hor- ton R G. 189; Huddelson J, 189; Hoxsie D W, 212; HurdP, 225; Henry A, 232; Hart W <, 258; Hartwell J L, 200, 313; Hough S H, 270; Howe D B,27.'; Hickok S U, 272; Howard J, 276; Holmes L N, 270; Hollen- back G L, 270, 448; Humphrey W C, 276; Hooper W D, 316; Hall J R, 318; Harrison A. A, 345; Heydt J, 345; Hinds S J, 346; Hower A, 332; Hawkins F G, 363; Holmes F W, 372; Harris J, '07; Henry C E, 416; Housel G W, 416; Harvey W, 4 -9; Hunt A, 449; Hoag O A .450; Head O P M, 451; Hood N C, 477; Hogarty W P, 483; Hill W C, 489; Hart W H, 489; Heine L, 491; Hollingsworth J, 492; Hoyt W, 497. I H C, 314; Irish W P, 359, 417; Israel N J. 363; Ihrig Jones L «, 6, 296: Jones C E, 85; Jackel J, 98; Jar- rett J E, 101; J N G, 104; Jacobs G A, 144; J E L, 144; J B C, 170; Jones G W, U5; Johnston H C, U9; Joiner R L, v26, 347; Jones I, 23'; Johnson E W, 234; Jordan J L, '70; J W S, 294: Johnson J H, 362, 452; Jackson L R, 39.; J G K, 426; JonesDA,43i; Jordan Mrs,i51. 512 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. Dec. Klimitz C, 13; Kingsbury H, 27: King H G 27; Knapp E H, 50; Kellogg W M, 63, 491; King 1FL, 64, 141, l.,2, 143, :59, 30i, 313, 360; Knightlin J R, 1>9; Knight J R, 19; Kitchen J si, IsO; Kline P J, ls:i; Knapp (J D, 190; Kelton D H, 23.'; Kendal A C, 253; Kuenne M, *59; Keeney V W, 313; Kimmel D T, 314, 4*4; Kirk IKHH,3ls; Keeran J IV, 338; Kave A \V, 360; KratzFB, b69; Kepler Mrs S L, 40) ; Kimsey W E, 44a; Kneeland I, 452; Kephart J H, 45-:; Kearns M C, 4.r^; Kingsley C E, 491. Liangstroth L L, 8, 4:, si, 86, 1 >2, 166; Leete Mrs J, 9,100; Long CO, 26; Lossing 1^,60; Larkin J S, 1W; Lafferty J F, 167, 227, 240, 27.J; Lightner D D, 180, 459; Lippert H, 19; Lake J, 242; Leslie G, .70; Liston E, 5:71, .59; Lovell u A, -^76, 44s; Larkin U S, o04, 363; Liston J F, 0O4; Loring Mrs E, 318; Lewelling J M, 401; Locke FT, 40i; Lock wood F C, 404; Lauphere D O, 47 ; Lane 8 H, 477, 4s9, 49i ; Large Airs *l U, 4s0; Lawson G W, 4s9; Labar R A, 489; Laukton ML, 496; LibbyH, 498; Lover C, 498. Martin J ti, 6, 26, 69, 164, 282; McCullough J B, 7; Morgan E A, 23, 167, 260, 319, 446; Alorehouse W, 24, 363, 391, 48i; Mitchell J 44, 26, 272; Moore H S, 44; Muth l F, 44, 429, 447; Morgan R A, 48; Miller C U, 49; Madsen Airs H, 60; mc lurg (J G, 85; WcllwainAT, 85; Merriam G F, 91, 1.3; Metcalfe J K, 101; Magru- der O L, 102; Marsh T 0, 103, 210; Mulliken B, 1-7; Mc ord D A, 131, 1*1, 2:5, 2:7, 232; AlcNay F, 140, 477; Maugrave J VV, 144; Minchen s, 144; Myers W P, 146; Mclenohan J, 147; Michner I, 164, 01,450; MerritJ, 180; iicKaycE, 181, 491; AlcGaw T G, 182; MdKenna PJ,18i; McLay J, 185; vlcQueen C, 185; Alattoon J, 188, 209; Moorhead J N, 189; Moore J P, 190, 493; Moores W L, 2i6, 450; Murphy R R, 224; Moody H A, 225; McKenzie D, 227, 449; Mallory 8 H, 228; Marcum LG,:32; McPhail W A 23i; Aioon A F, 256, 444, 445 ; Mc.laren W v\ , 269; Mattison J, 271; Miller J, 271, 360; Mclntyre R H, 272, 358; A.cGee G H, z76; Morri- son Dr S, 276; Michael J F, 30i, 45:; Aiarr J H,312, 4E8; Aiatthews WAD, 3.5; Meudelson M. H, 358, 445; Moltz T M,359; McCune J A, 363; McDonnell E F, 38,j; Miles C R, ^04, 43.;; Aleade R L, 404; Miller Ai V, 404; Aiagruder A S, 406; Miner E S, 407; Martin C C, MaxfieldJ A, 1I6; uorganR, 4 1; Mack H O, 444; VI K, 444; jiurray J W, 4,7; Meigs F P, 452; March H A, 475; ..orrison S VV, 47choll J, 87, Stair & Kendell, 100, 148; smith Kev 0, 102; Sto- ver Al xM, 122, 476; Smith S D, 126; Southwick E B, 141; Steele N C, 142; blaugh u, 1 6; Snider G VV, 148, Simons .u, 168, 275. 406, 448, 498; S, 168; Seymour A 44, 169; Siutzman AD, 169; Sharprack D vi, 180; Shan- non V O, 181; Sisson O A, 182, 226; Siggins G VV, 1«2; Shedd W H, 183, ls9, ,51; Sierrit J P, 188; Smith J G, 190; Spencer D 0, 209; Smith D 0, 21;; Snider W K, i26; Smith J P, 227; Summers E A 22<; Sniffln VV A, 270; Starabaugh E, 318; Stanley T 0, 318; Squire Mrs T M, 8H: Sewell J G VV, 346; Spencer M L, 347; Shep- ard N N, 36:; Mierfey S VV, 362; Mnith (J T, 368; Sib- ley J VV, 369; Sheldon E A, 379; Simpson J A, 387, s52; Smith VV (J, 392, 460; Stewart VV F, 392; Shore J, 102; ShullJW, 405; s cett H , 407 ; Smith 11, 407; Spencer J, 4,416; Scovell H, 416; Shearer G L, 428; Stearns & Smith, 429; Sweet VV O, 448; Shipp (J C 450; Swaim G M, 450; Sanders Mrs A M, 451; Shannon 0 S, 451; siggins Mrs G W, 454; shinkle J L, 476; Saltford W G, 488; shefferF, 497. Thomson C, 7, 210; Townley,J H", 8, 101, 123, 319, 412, 480; TilmanJ,28; Thew E, 42; TaftJ M.47; Tyrrell D, 59: Templeton W VV, 84; Tavlor R C, 85, 88, 1:7, 275, 451, 481, 490; "Tar-Heel," 100; Tweedy J U & D H, 104; Thorn 1 C, 126; Turner VV P, 127; Thompson HrsR, 130, 25t; Thompson G VV, In, 392; Thurber G, 148,346; Tucker E, 180; Thompson J 0, 182; Thurney CB, 188; Taylor K N, 207, :0s; TurnbullJ, 225; Trice TH.-.H9, 43i; Thompson R H, 273; Tavlor H M, 275; Townsend O H, 313; Tavlor W P, 404; Tietien Rev J, 1I6; Thurber H K & F B, 429; Thomas R, 435; Tuttle A L, 4 »7; Tvro, 486; Treat G S, 494; Trunkey C M, 497; Tunnicliffe E, 504. i;nderhill D C, 7, 361, 453. Van VllenT F C, 89, 101; Vankirk L W, 172, 413; Viallon P L, 209, 3. '5. Wyckoff J H, 9; White F C, 23, 181, 405, 452; Whit- man W R, 24; Wiltse J, 44; Wilder A, 44, 104, 367; VV olcott O E, 59: Williams Dr A C, 61, 369; Willard W J, 1:3, 182, 3D, 497; Wilkin R, 125, 148, 232; Woodman U B, 12ii; Wolf L B, 127; Wood S, 127; Wendelken G, 112; Waldo C E, 143, 259; West E, 147; VV right F L, 181,303, 450; Waters T L, 188; Wood J W, 189; Wil- warth A W, 189; Winslow A A, 190; Williams A R,228; Waldron R P, 271; White J D, 73; Whitmoyer L,27 W H, 3l6; White J J, 361, 441; Wright D, 361; Wa^ D, 0 '; Warner J F, 415; Wvnkoop E H, 416, 483; West J P, 42tf; Willis G A, 433; Wilmarth F H, 44'; Wills J, 414 ; Williams J, 450; Woodburn J S, 450; Worth L D, 452, i90; Wardell F J, 473; Williams F B, '76; Warner L, i9.; Whitehead J C, 49); Williams HW, 496; Warn W -S 497. X, 419. "tfoungJR, 2!; Yoder W E, 51; Yoder J A, 61; YatesPP, 6i; Young S, 18ii; Young WM, 317; Vork M D, 406; Yings S, 498. We have to-day, Nov. 29, 4373 subscribers. During the year ending Nov. 1st, 1879, we have sold 2769 Simplicity hives; 863 1!4 story hives; 133,349 broad frames for sections; 45,314 brood frames; 408,978 sec- tions, and 10,284 lb. of fdn. The regular Simplicity hive seems to be most in favor, as you will see from the above. A brother, in the December " Magazine." says his bees will not eat grape-sugar candy. First try an ounce or two, my friends, as I advised, right in the cluster, under the cushion; if they don't eat it, you have made a very small investment, and need not invest further. . It will not pay, my friends, to order small quanti- ties of grape sugar. The cost of 10, -5, or even 50 lb., by freight, will often be as much as you would have to pay for coffee sugar at your groceries, and I hope no one has got the idea, from what I have written, that grape sugar is worth as much as coffee sugar, pound for pound, for feeding bees. If you order small quantities by express, the case is still worse; and I know of no way in ihe world by which you can get or send away wax, grape sugar, candy, and the like, long distances, by mail or express, as they are often ordered, without charges amounting to as much as, or more than, the articles are worth. Did you ever! Frank Benton is going to start right away for the Island of 1 yprus in the Mediter- ranean Sea, just on purpose to raise queens to send back to America. If they have not got the best in the world there, he will go to Java, Smyrna, Dalma- tia (just think of it), and other places I can't remem- ber, and tell us all about the bees and folks, through the Gleanings for 1880. In fact he is regularly en- gaged as a contributor to tell us all about his travels. Our old friend, D. A. Jones, of Beeton, Tanada, goes with him, and bears all his expenses, and pays him a salary besides. You see, boys, Mr. Benton, besides being a good bee-keeper, is a graduate of the Michi- gan Agricultural <'olle e, speaks French, German, Italian, aud can talk with all these foreigners almost as well as with you and me (I know how he can talk, for he has just spent Thanksgiving with us), and that is how an education pays. « &^»j* ?x*.* ■.:.><- ti J " — l .';*«