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4 3 S.OS' Gr47
Vol. XTIT.
JANUARY 1, 1889.
No. 1.
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SOMETHING ABOUT BEE-HIVES.
FHIEND DOOI.ITTLE TAL.KS TO US ABOUT THEIK PROPER SIZE, AND GIVES HIS REASONS.
T AM requested to give an article in Gleanings, ||[ on bee-hives. Tn doing this I will simply give W the readers a little of my work in the past, and how T was led along step by step till I adopted the size of brood-chambers which I now use. When I first commenced to keep bees, all of the hives then in use contained from 2000 to 2600 cubic inches of space for a brood-chamher. After using such a hive for a year or two I came to the conclu sion that this brood chamber was too large, so ] went to studying on the matter to see if 1 had con eluded right. By many carefully conducted exper- iments I found that queens, as a rule, would not occupy moi-e than 800 square inches of comb with brood for any length of time; hence it was plain to be seen, that, if I used a hive of the usual size which gave 1450 square inches of comb surface, I should have 650 square inches of comb to be occu- pied with honey and pollen. In case I hived a new gwarm in such a hive, I should have from 500 to 600 square inches of comb filled with the best of honey, which would be from 25 to 30 pounds. We were told that this extra room was needed in case of a poor season, so as to insure honey enough for safe wintering. So each year my bees were wintering on from 25 to 30 pounds of the very best of honey, which should go into boxes, and be turned into cash; and in case of a poor season, the bees could be looked after; and if they did not have honey enough for winter, they could be fed sugar syrup, or given frames of honey, if we had such on hand.
Another thing, I found that, in having this amount of honey stored in the hive, the bees were very loth to conimence work in boxes afterward; for in doing this they grot to crowding the queen, and also they had sealed honey next the sections, instead of brood, which brood all know is a great enticer into the sections. In order not to get any pollen in the sections. 1 allowed 200 square inches of comb (above the 800 the queen occupied) for that, so I had 1000 square inches of comb space, or about 1500 cubic inches as the right size for the brood-chamber, regardless of what style of frame is used. Of course, the frames will not always give just the number of square inches inside of them which is required, but we can use the number which comes the nearest to it. For instance: I use nine Gallup frames, which give 1035 6quare inches of comb; while if I used but eight it would give me but 920. To get the square inches of comb in the frame, multiply the length by the depth, then use the number of frames which comes the nearest to 1000 inches. Mr. Gallup used 12 frames in his hive; and as he was my teacher, I, of course, used the same number when I first began. When I came tosee things as above. I reduced them to nine by using three blank boards, or dummies, in place of the frames. The number of frames can be reduced at anytime in any hive, in this way, with but little expense, and that, too, without disturb- ing the hive at all, or altering the space given to surplus above. These boards I made of inch lum- ber, the size of the inside of the hive (fitting loose- ly! helow the rabbets, with the top-bar of a frame nailed thereto, ro that it hangs in the hive .just like a frame. Later years I have used what Is termed •■ the contraction method," and think that at times
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
Jan.
there is an advantage in it; but, so far as I have now explained, there is no contraction about it, for this is as large as I would have a hive when working for comb honey, us it gives the queen all the room she yill occupy, and more room than this is worse than useless. Hives should be made so that all of" the bees can be kept profitably at work; and^fyou have a three-frame nucleus well supplied ' "■' with bees and queen, you should be able to get just as much comb honey from it in proportion to its numbers, as from a full colony. Unless a hive is calculated for this, it is lacking just one important feature. Hives as above described require less manipulation to secure good returns from them than do either larger or smaller hives; yet, do and say what we will, it is the management of hives that gives the practical apiarist good returns of snow-white comb honey— such as sells readily in any market in the world, when a second quality will go begging. Whatever hives we may use, they must be diligently looked after from the time 6pring opens till the bees are ready for winter; and unless a person can thus do. he had better not go into apiculture expecting to make a success of it.
As hinted at above, one secret of success in get- ting comb honey is to get the brood-combs all occu- pied with brood before the honey harvest opens, so that, when it does commence, the bees are obliged to put the honey in the sections. If we use a small brood-chamber it will be seen that the brood comes clear to the tops of the frames or»hive, and conse- quently very close to the sections; hence the bees readily enter them, while with a large brood-cham- ber, the bees store the comb the queen does not occupy, with honey at the beginning of the harvest, so that the sections are excluded from the brood by several inches of sealed honey, which, not liking to pass over, the bees often refuse to go in at all. Gallup saw this point, even though he advocated a large hive; for he said, more than 25 years ago, " We should never allow the bees to get in advance of the queen; for if we do, the prosperity of the colony is checked at once; that is, if the bees are allowed to fill the combs with honey in the spring before the queen has filled them with brood, the colony will be an unprofitable one." This point is one well worthy of our closest attention; and it is only as we look to all of these points, and bring them into line with our work, that we can expect to meet with the greatest success. I have given this article thus early, so that all who are thinking of making hives this present winter can try a few as above, so as to see if I am rinht. Borodino, N. Y., Dec. It!, 1888. G. M. Doolittle.
SWEET CLOVEK.
ITS VALUE AS A HONEY-PLANT IN THE REGION OK 8ALT LAKE C1TV.
C5J EING requested by the editor to write an ar- pji tide on the above subject, I have written up |91 the habits, etc., of the plant. Some of the "*^ points which I shall give are probably known to a great many of the fraternity, but I think they will bear repeating.
Sweet clover grows here along the water-courses, moist waste places, along the roadsides, and in neglected fields. It grows from six inches to as many feet in height, according to the location, and it is covered with an abundance of bloom from top to bottom, yielding in most seasons an abundance
of nectar, which, after being gathered und stored, produces honey of the very best quality and color. It does not generally bloom in the first year; but in the second it commences about the first of July, and keeps up a continual bloom until killed by frost, furnishing bees with pasturage, generally from the middle of July until the latter part of August.
Sweet clover is sometimes used for pasturage, and also for making hay, if cut when young, though it is a long way behind alfalfa for that pur- pose. Though it is sometimes relished by stock, very few would sow it for feeding. If eaten while green it is in a measure a cause of hoven, or bloat, in cows. If you wish good milk or butter you had better not feed it to milch cows, as it imparts a very disagreeable taste to it. If eaten off by stock it will soon recover, and produce an abundance of bloom for the bees.
It is a very fair fertilizer; and it is also claimed that, if planted on alkali land, it will feed on the alkali and exhaust it, besides bringing to the sur- face, with its long roots, elements necessary to plant-life.
As sweet clover is a biennial it is not a very hard weed to eradicate, and very seldom troubles culti- vated fields, though it will sometimes seed a field; and if such field is planted to grain the following season, it will come up, and is cut off only with the reaper. Next season, if the same field be neglect- ed, it will quite likely be covered with sweet clo- ver, and that, too, sometimes as high as your head. If a field is cultivated as it should be for two sea- sons, the clover will entirely disappear. The plant requires a little moisture in the soil the first year; but after that it will grow without. I consider it, for my part, a great deal better to see a roadside lined with it than the sunflowers, etc., that general- ly grow in such places.
Now, to sum up, sweet clover is our main honey crop in this locality. It is our best honey; and said honey, I may say without boasting, compares fa- vorably with the best grades known.
I do not think it will pay to sow it for honey alone, unless on such land as is considered worth- less; but I think it would be a benefit to such land.
As to the amount of nectar it will produce per acre, I am unable to say; but I think it will com- pare favorably with white clover; in fact, I think that it produces fully two-thirds of our honey crop in this locality, and I should consider this a poor country for honey, if it were destroyed; but as it is, we generally get a crop; that is, the bees generally have some';honey to spare. J. C. Swaner.
Salt Lake City, Utah, Dec. 22, 1S8S.
I would say to our readers, that it seems to me friend S. has been quite careful and conscientious in giving the objectionable features of sweet clover in the region of Salt Lake City, as well as the good quali- ties. In that locality there are a very few plants that will stand the fierce drouth of summer ; but sweet clover seems to be one of them, and it might be easily grown on thousands of acres that now bear nothing but weeds of no value. Much of this desert soil is so light that it is very easily prepared for a seed-bed. After sweet clover has once got a start, it furnishes about as per- manent bee-pasturage as any thing I have ever found. In fact, I could not find anv
1889
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
of the bee-keepers around Salt Lake City or Ogden who say they ever have seasons of no honey at all, such as we have had here several times during the past twenty years. Not only does sweet clover yield honey, but, after testing it in a good many places, I pronounced it equal in appearance and fla- vor to any honey we have in the world. When my Notes of Travel get far enough along to reach it. you will see what I wrote down on the spot. The first time I tasted it at friend Woodmanse's I uttered an ex- clamation of surprise, and asked him what was the source of the beautiful honey. Even before he spoke, there seemed some- thing familiar in the delicate flavor; and when he said sweet clover, I recognized it as plainly as if it were but a piece of stalk in my mouth. It tastes very much as sweet clover smells when its green leaves are bruised slightly. The Havor is not rank enough to be at all disagreeable. The extract- ed honey is very thick, and has the same beautiful flavor as the comb honey. It seems to me that these facts give us a wonderful opening for starting a honey-farm where land is cheap, and nothing else will grow on account of the long severe drouths. We should be glad of more facts from those who have had experience with it in desert localities.
THAT ■WINTERING PROBLEM.
pertains to the honey-bee. I love light and truth, and would follow it; but as it turns out, I am cha- grined to think that, after all, I have been follow- ing the blind gropings of a Cyclops around the walls of his cave. I. Hamilton.
Beason. 111.
Friend H., Mr. Heddon can answer for himself. Does the expression, " Can I sell you any thing to-day ? " exactly fit Uncle Amos V If you will prepare your bees in chaff hives, as directed in the ABC book, I feel sure they will winter just as well as our bees do, year after year, here at the Home of the Honey-Bees. ' My experience is, that those who work on Sunday usually have trouble.
CABBAGE AND CAULIFLOWER FOR '89.
H. A. MARCH ASKS ABOUT THE JERSEY WAKEFIELDS.
IS IT OR IS IT NOT SOLVED (
eN the Oth of December, and Sunday at that. I had to set all my strong colonies out of the cellar. It is just one month since they were set in, during all of which time as a whole it was too hot to control them. The result is, most of them have symptoms of disease. They had a good flight, which may help tliem some. I worry more over the wintering problem than all other features of bee-keeping put together. No wonder that I devour every scrap of bee-lore on this topic that falls within reach. Some time ago, Mr. Hed- don came out in his prospectus. "The Wintering Problem Solved." This was taking. ' Twas enough to sell a thousand copies at one clip. If I remem- ber, he stated that "bees could be wintered with the certainty of our domestic cattle." Surely, then, in the interest of our pursuit it i> only fair to ask Mr. Heddon if he has been able to do so. I wish he could gay yes.
I was gratified to observe in the November issue of the Review the semblance of unity in one feature of cellar wintering. 1 felt thankful for that num- ber; for, as it turns up in practice, we have a great deal that conflicts with the theorists. I hold, that, so long as a batch of men continue to disa- gree, and that, too, upon points where "location" won't close up the breach, to put it honestly, I refuse to believe that they know whereof they af- firm. Have we been able to safely anchor any of the speculative barques upon the sea of apicul- ture? I have thought, so far as Gleanings is con- cerned, that Uncle Amos ought to have been a sort of supreme court from whom there was no appeal. But instead he says, " Boys, let us shake hands across this bloody chasm. Can I sell you any thing to-day?" \ am deeply Interested Jn all that
fKIEND BOOT:— I asked you to give me some re- ports (good or bad) on the cauliflower seed I sent you for trial. I haven't received a bad re- port yet. If yours is bad it may take a little of the conceit out of me, fori begin to think I can raise better seed than they raise in Germany or Holland; and, what is better. I can raise it at teas than half the price it costs there. I sent, as you advised me to, some samples to W. .1. Green, Co- lumbus, and this is what he says:
All of the varieties sent give satisfaction. One thing is noteworthy about your seed; and that is, its large size and great vitality, producing very strong healthy plants. If you cau grow seed equal to that sent us, you need not hesitate to make high claims for it.
You see, this is a new industry. Cauliflower seed, I believe, has never been grown in this country by field culture before 1 made the trial here on Puget Sound. All of the best seed has been imported from Erfurt, Germany, at a cost of about $40,00 per lb. Now, here in Washington Territory we can raise just as good seed for $15.1)0 per lb. But preju- dice is so strong in favor of imported seed that dealers are afraid to come out and offer the seed on its own merits. The question is, How shall I push my seed forward so that people can get cheaper seed? Can you advise me? What do you think of this plan? (iet the address of all the ex- periment stations in the country, and send them samples for trial, and publish their reports in a paper like the Rural New Yorker. How to get their address, that is the next thing. Can you tell me how that can be done? H. A. March.
Fidalgo, Skagit Co., Wash. Ter.
i Well, friend M., we raised so many cauli- flowers we could hardly sell them or give them away ; for, to tell the truth, for a long while we offered cauliflower at the same price per pound as we sold Jersey Wakefield cabbages. But our Medina people are so little accustomed to using cauliflower unless it be for pickling, the cabbage rather took the preference, even though the price was alike— 3 cts. a pound. During the fall we had rather better demand when they com- menced using it for pickles, and we have quite pretty heads of Snowball cauliflower down in our greenhouse at this date, Dec i27. Will the friends who tested the cabbage and cauliflower seed last season please tell us briefly how the seeds turned out? If I understand it correctly, friend March does
10
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
Jan.
not care to sell seeds at retail, so you may send your orders to us, if you please. Should you wish seed, however, to sell again, perhaps the better way would be to buy directly of friend M. The above letter was probably not intended for publication ; and while friend M. thinks he can, on alarge scale, raise cauliflower seed at $15.00 a pound, I presume none of our readers will under- stand that he proposes to sell a single pound at that price. In regard to the ad- dress of the experimental colleges, I think our readers in the different States can give friend M. the addresses he desires.
SELLING EXTEACTED HONEY.
MRS. HARRISON GIVES US SOME OF HER EXPERI- ENCE.
IT BEE-KEEPEB of this State wrote to me to
/l\ know it I could not sell extracted Spanish- jf47 needle honey, put up in twenty-gallon kegs. -^*- I made inquiries, and the result was some- thing like this: Going into a drugstore, the proprietor said, " Buy a twenty-gallon keg of hon- ey! Oh, my! that would last us twenty years. I would buy twenty pounds." After trying: the re- tail drugstores I went into a large wholesale estab- lishment. In answer to my inquiries the proprietor said, " I had some difficulty in obtaining honey this fall, but I have a supply now. I had honey in bar- rels offered me at 7 cents per pound; but I did not want it. What I bought is put up in tin cans, like fruit, and will not granulate. I paid from 12 to 14 cents per pound for it."
I kept thinking about that honey that would not granulate, so yesterday I took the street-cars and went to buy a can. There was a placard stuck up, saying, " No goods sold at retail." The clerks said no. I went to the proprietor, and told him I want- ed to buy a can of honey; that I had honey at home, but that I wanted to learn how the trade pre- ferred it put up. He put a speaking-tube to his mouth, and soon had a can upon his desk. I paid 45 cents for a three-pound can.
I weighed this can just now, and it weighed 3% pounds — honest weight, surely. The cover was fastened down with something like plaster of Paris, in lieu of sealing-wax. 1 dug a little place at one side with the point of a knife, and easily pried it up, with the sealing attached to the cover. I should think the can would hold 4 pounds, as there is more than an inch of space above the honey.
WHAT I FOUND IN THE CAN.
The children had a great deal of curiosity to see what was in the can, as well as myself. The first thing I saw was three legs, and a wing and a leg to- gether, floating, which had once belonged to the busy workers. Perhaps these were put in as an evidence that it was bee honey, as the label declared it to be— just as an Irish girl, seeking a situation, showed her hands on being asked if she could make bread. " Sure, here is the dough under me finger- nails from my last baking." I took a saucer and teaspoon, and dipped out some of the honey, and then went out to the honey-house with another saucer and spoon, and brought in what I knew to be basswood honey, while the baby stood by saying, " What are you goinsr to do, mamma? Compare it. I can tell it. That one is brown, and this one is yel- low." She was correct. Our basswood is alight
yellow, while that from the can was dark. The can is labeled, " White clover and basswood," and below it says, " It is not possible in all cases to have the contents of each jar entirely from the blossoms named, yet sufficiently so to give distinctly their characteristic flavor."
1 saw that this honey was the product of this county, and was puzzled to know how it could be white clover, as it has failed here for two years, the label should have been erased, and " fall flow- ers" put in its place, as it is thick, well-ripened honey, the product of Spanish needle and other fall flowers. It will injure the trade in honey in cans, if it is not what it purports to be. The honey is liq- uid on top, but about as thick as hasty pudding below. I will make a selection from a letter before me, with reference to Spanish-needle honey granu- lating.
"I have been in the bee-business for 15 or 30 years; I keep my honey in barrels and cans for a year, and never had any granulate enough so but that it would run out of a bung-hole whenever the weather was not too cold. Nine-tenths of our hon- ey is Spanish needle, which does not granulate when well ripened; but if extracted too green (if that is the word) it will granulate."
In purchasing this honey I thought I was going to find out how to put up honey so that it would not granulate, which would be a bonanza to bee-keep- ers, but I failed. The proprietor of the drugstore thought so, but was mistaken. Our basswood hon- ey is liquid up to date, Dec. 7, but the weather has been uncommonly mild. It is in a tin can which has a cover that fits down closely, while a jar stand- ing near containing mixed honey with a cloth tied over it is solid. I infer that honey that is exposed to the air granulates sooner than that which is not; for a pitcher of basswood honey that I kept to pour out of to customers is now solid.
Peoria, 111. Mrs. L. Harrison.
Mrs. H., there is something a little singu- lar about that inscription on that can of honey you bought. The first extracted hon- ey we ever put up, nearly twenty years ago, I began labeling "White Clover," " Bass- wood, " etc.; but an old bee-keeper at once commenced finding a good deal of fault. He said that the bees never gather honey entirely from one source, and that I could not possibly furnish a jar of honey that was all of white clover, or all basswood, etc. I admitted the truthfulness of his criticism, and at once added to the label the words you quote — " It is not possible in all cases," etc. As you have given it word for word it is a copy of my label, for it could not have been otherwise. 1 believe that any honey is much less liable to granulate when left in the hive until it is thoroughly ripened by the bees. I do not know what process they put it through, but they seem to know better than anybody else just what to do to honey to prevent granulation. I believe that it is at least generally true that well - ripened honey from Spanish needle seldom if ever granulates. We have had it a great many times, and kept it where it was so cold you could almost cut it with a knife, but there was no granulation. Of course, every bee- keeper or packer of honey should be very careful to have the label state correctly the contents of each can or jar.
18»9
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
11
CARRYING HIVES INTO A WINTER REPOSITORY.
DOOLITTDE'S METHOD CRITICISED.
he describes. Perhaps friend Miller's meth- od, described on page 962, Dec. 15, 1888, would be more to your liking.
fRIEND ROOT:— I have read with considerable surprise friend Doolittle's article in Glean- ings, Nov. 1, on placing bees in the cellar. My surprise is, that one person should at- tempt to handle hives at all without assis- tance. Friend Doolittle must be a modern Sam- son. The most of us frail mortals certainly prefer help on such occasions. Where I formerly lived, the apiary was 75 or 100 yards from the cellar, and down hill. We used to employ the two strongest men the town afforded, to carry the bees into the cellar, beginning after supper, and finishing about 10 o'clock. We have paid as much as $3.00 for the job. We used a stretcher, carrying two hives at a time, but it was so laborious that 1 finally insisted on one hive at a time. It is surprising how much lighter one hive is than two. I suppose figures will not lie, but it certainly seems much more than as light again. My apiary is now near the cellar, and level walking, except the decline of two feet into the cellar, which extencs a space of sixteen feet. I have 68 hives. With the aid of a student I took one- half into the cellar the evening of Nov. 21st, and the next evening took in the rest. This comes un- der the head of light work when managed in this way. The cost was 50 cts.
I wish to say right here, that I can now manage my bees alone, with one-third the expense, bother, and work, that it took the entire family of seven, eight or ten years ago. So much for experience.
Now to return to the subject. By carrying with a stretcher there is no occasion whatever for any jar- ring, unless it be when the upper hives are tiered in the cellar. How, under the sun, Doolittle can pile up his fourth hive, and no bottom at that, is more than I know. 1 should very much discourage both methods of carrying in bees, of which he speaks. I like the plan of generous ventilation from below, ex- cept that I fear my bees would all come out on me, especially when taken down to carry out in the .spring. They are always very uneasy at that time.
I have tried an experiment in the way of winter- ing this time. I have often thought that the bees were too warm in the cellar, with the heavy air- tight mats over them, so this time I took off every thing except the piece of burlap, folded it, and cov- ered only the front half of the frames above. This leaves half the hive exposed to the air, and free ac- cess into the cover. It may prove a great mistake, but I do not see why. The cluster can doubtless re- tain sufficient heat to keep the brood if they have any. I suppose, friend Root, you are well aware that the bee does not believe in ventilation at all (ought to be a railroad conductor), as it will seal every crack in the hive except the one small en- trance. I have often thought that, if Nature ever made a mistake, it was in this case with the bee. However, perhaps in the natural wild state of the bee this sealing is quite right.
John F. Whitmore.
Grinnell, Iowa, Nov. 29, 1888.
Friend Doolittle is a big man in two senses of the word. We have not a particle of doubt but that he can lift easily the hives, and carry them into the cellar in the manner
ANOTHER METHOD OF PERFORAT- ING ZINC.
SOME OF ITS ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES.
fRIEND ROOT:— Inclosed you will find a sam- ple of zinc, such as I have been using in the queen excluding wood-zinc honey-boards. I believe this plan of perforating is preferable to the two parallel rows of holes as usually made.
\\\\\
shepherd's perforated zinc.
It certainly gives more openings than any other plan, and at the same time leaves it sufficiently rig- id for all purposes. I will also say, that the work was done on a home-made machine that does the work as per sample, as regards quality; and the cost was hut small. M. W. Shepherd.
Rochester, Ohio.
At first sight, friend Shepherd, we thought your plan of perforation had some very de- cided advantages ; but the more we consid- er it, the more we are convinced that noth- ing is gained; but, on the contrary, there is an attendant loss. You have longer perfor- ations, it is true. Those in our zinc are very nearly -ft. of an inch long. Yours are }■&, making them about an eighth of an inch longer. There may be some advantage in lengthening the openings ; but when ordi- nary perforations are long enough to admit worker bees, why make them any longer V The short perforations might go a great way toward keeping a good long queen from going above, whereas the longer ones might admit her, if she were a slender one. You say your zinc certainly gives more openings to the same amount of space. By laying a strip of your zinc upon a strip of ours, we find that there are more perforations in the same space in ours. If your perfora- tions were the same length, it would make about an equal number of holes.— Another disadvantage, as it seems to us, in your plan, is, that the openings take too much space between the break-joint slats. This would reduce the latter, on If spacing of the frames, down to I ; then if you allow for necessary depth of saw-kerf there will be little solid wood (!) left.— The perforations can be made about as easily on one plan as on the other. Those having hand-made ma- chines, or machines which make a single per- foration at a time, can very easily perforate the zinc in the manner shown, by simply changing the feed.
We should be glad to know what Dr. Tin- ker would have to say upon this method of perforating.
12
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
Jan.
OUR TIN-SHOP. PERFORATING MACHINE, ETC.
T= ET'S sec. We have given our readers a K view of our factory, a glimpse into our \J. saw-room, ami one of our .office. We AJ now take pleasure in giving you a photographic view of our tinning apartment. The picture is an exact repro- duction by the Ives process, and, of course, every thing appears just as it did when photographed, which was ( ne afternoon immediately after shutting down. The view shows perhaps a little over one-half the room. Our tin-shop, including paint- shop, is one spacious apartment 4t x 96
regular intervals. A foot-treadle, shown in the foreground, can be so operated as to throw on or off the power at will. If a punch should happen to drop out, as it did on one occasion, or something else should get out of order, the machine can be in- stanth stopped, and thus avoid an expen- sive breakdown. A man stations himself in the rear, picks up a sheet of zinc. 28 \ 96 inches, from the tloor, and places it on the table. He then slides the two ratchet-bars back far enough to fasten the ends of the zinc to tlu m. A pressure of his foot upon the treadle sets the machine to perforating. At every chank of the great jaw, 70 little oblong pieces of metal drop down into a
OUll TIN-SHOP, WITH Till. ZINC-PERFORATING MACHINE IN THE FOREGROUND
feet, and in it are something Over 40 tin- ning-machines.
•• What do you call this machine just be- fore us ?" you ask.
•• Why. that is our new zinc-perforating machine."' Unfortunately, the engine has just shut down : but a sheet of zinc lias been passed half way through. The balance- wheel is connected by a belt to a pulley be- low. The two sets of cog-wheels, in con- nection with the connecting-rods, as you will readil} perceive, give immense power to the punches. 70 in number, inserted in the sliding carriage. Lying on the front platform, and on either side, are two rat diet - bars. A couple of dogs, operating upon these, cause the zinc to which the bars are attached to be fed through the machine at
keg. When several kegs are full they are sold with their contents to junk dealers, who gladly pay us enough for such scrap zinc to fully pay for the time of a man and the machine for perforating the sheets. We are thus enabled to put the price of per- forated zinc down to nearly the cost of the raw imperforated metal.
The capacity of the machine is something over a thousand feet of metal per day ; and so great has been the call for it that we have sold during the past year about o0 casks of zinc, and our past trade has been such that we feel wan anted in believing that we shall sell very nearly double that amount in the near future.
We have given you these facts in order that yon may get some idea of the demands
1889
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
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of bee-keepers for perforated metal. Where, a few years ago, we sold our tens of square feet, we now sell our thousands. The question is often asked, " Is the zinc prac- ticable, and is it going to be of value to bee-keepers in working for comb or extract- ed honey?" If its large sales mean any thing, it would seem that there are some bee-keepers at least who regard it as of great practical utility.
But, what are these other implements which we see ? Those are tinners' tools and machines, such as you will find in a first-class well-equipped tinning establish- ment. Indeed, in order to turn out and supply the demands of bee-keepers for the various articles made of tin, it is necessary to have such an equipment. We find in looking over our books that we sell from 800 to 900 extractors, from 12,000 to 18,000 smok- ers, from 1200 to 1500 square (30-lb. cans, and every thing else in proportion, such as tin receptacles for holding honey, besides a great variety of other implements of use in apiculture, which can not here be described. Without tinners and tin-shops, bee-keepers would have to dispense with a great many useful appliances connected with the pur- suit.
THE COMMON HOUSE-FLY.
PROF. COOK TELLS US OF THI8 FAMILIAR AC- QUAINTANCE OF OURS.
R. CHARLES SITTS, Brosie Corners, New York, requests that I write up the history of the common house-tiy, for Gleanings. I do not wonder that any one should feel an interest in an insect that forms such an important factor in our domestic affairs as does this insect. It eats our pudding with us, and even out of the same dish. It daintily sips not only of our tea, but of the cream and the sugar that sea- son it. No wonder the great Swede, Linnaeus, named it Musca domestica. It rooms with us, eats with us, drinks with us, and any one accustomed to take afternoon naps would be glad if it would only sleep with us.
This fly is too well known to need description. It belongs to the order Diptera, as it has two wings, suctorial mouth-parts— flies and mosquitoes stab and suck but do not bite— and passes through com- plete transformations. By this last we mean that the first stage— maggot— is not at all like the suc- ceeding stages of the insect. It belongs to the family Muscidw. Such insects have short antennae, with a full plume on the last joint, and heavy short bodies. This fly hibernates in winter as a fly. Fortunately, most of them never wake to life in the spring; but enough of them survive to make things lively about August and September. The house-fly lays more than 100 whitish elongated eggs. These are laid in horse manure, on which the maggots feed. The eggs hatch in about twenty- four hours. The larva, or maggot, looks very much and is very much like that of the meat-fly, or blow- fly, with which all are doubtless familiar. When fully grown it is from one-fourth to four-tenths of an inch long, and is about one week in getting its full growth.
This fly, like many others, pupates in its last lar- val skin. It is rounded and seed-like, as a pupa.
Such pupae, are called puporiums. The pupa state lasts about a week. We now see why these flies become pretty numerous along in dog-days. Bach female lays more than one hundred eggs; and the time from egg-laying to maturity is only about two weeks. Most of us have studied geometrical pro- gression. Here we see it illustrated. Suppose one fly commenced " to multiply and replenish the earth" about June 1st. June 15th, if all lived, would give 150. Suppose 75 of these are misses. July 1st would give us, supposing no cruel wasp or other untoward circumstance to interfere, 11,250 flies. Suppose 5625 of these are females. We might have, July 15, 843,750 flies. For fear of bad dreams, I will not calculate what might be by September 15th. Some of us who have some time stopped at third-rate hotels quite understand it. From what 1 have said, it is easy to see how that a horse-stable near the house is favorable to the fly nuisance. Slops about the wood-shed, of course, attract flies. So the neat tidy housewife is less tormented than one not so blessed with this kinship to godliness.
We provide in three ways against these pestifer- ous house-flies. First, we have screens to all our windows, and to such doors as are much used, es- pecially the outside doors to kitchen and dining- room. The screens to the kitchen windows are full length, so the windows can be opened either from above or below. We believe in fresh air; and with this arrangement we get it. Secondly, the screen to the pantry window, to each of the dining-room windows, and to one window of each of the other rooms, is hinged at the top to the upper sash. Thus by darkening all the other windows, the flies alight on this hinged screen. We now push the screen quickly out at the bottom, brush rapidly with a palm-leaf fan, and, lo! the flies are all out- side the window.
Thirdly, in case the flies get too thick we use pyrethrum, or, better, California pyrethrum, or buhacu. Toward night we try to attract all the flies into the kitchen by darkening the other rooms, and placing odorous sweets, exposed in that room. At ten o'clock— bed time— we scatter, by means of a ten-cent bellows, a little of the pow- der into the room. The next morning the flies are dead, or partially paralyzed, on the kitchen floor, and are swept up and cremated in the kitchen stove before any revive. Mrs. Cook prefers the hinged screens, in the main, as too free use of the pyrethrum does spread a fine dust on the furni- ture, which is not desirable. A. J. Cook.
Agricultural College, Mich.
Friend Cook, I am exceedingly obliged to Mr. Sitts and yourself. One needs, howev- er, to go to California to find house-flies in perfection. There is not any winter there to kill them, and so they just keep on in that geometrical rate of progression of which you have been speaking— that is, un- less the careful housewife makes too vehe- ment a protest, or unless somebody decides that prevention is better than cure, and stops the progression. Now, I want per- mission to introduce a very disagreeable subject, and I do not know any way to tell it without having some of the friends feel like holding their noses, even if they decide not to do it. I am sure you are right in say- ing that flies are bred around stables, for at one time our printers used to set type close
14
GLEANINGS IN HER ClTLTlMiK.
Jan.
to livery-stables, and the Hies were not only numerous, but they were mean and low- lived. I think, however, the stables could be managed so as to breed fewer Hies. When I was a small boy I sometimes used to neg- lect cleaning the stables, when father was gone, until the manure became full of mag- gots. These were probably, as you state it. the larvae and pupae of ih'e house-fly. The chickens, however, used to follow me so that there were not so many Hies raised after all, if I cleaned the stables in season. I had learned in my childhood, also, that llies came out of manure by some process, for I have seen them crawl out by the hundreds; but I made up my mind at the time that there were different kinds of flies that lived in the manure. Now, then, comes in the place for you to hold your noses. In many out-buildings, where the excavation is very shallow, and the contents of the vault are exposed to sunlight, these same larva' and pupae can be seen by the — millions, I was going to say; and the flies go straight from these revolting and disagreeable places di- rectly to the kitchen and dining-room; and J have wondered whether they did not carry typhoid fever along with them. Dry dust, peat, or properly arranged out-buildings, will, if I am correct, entirely stop the hatch- ing of llies around these places; and I feel sure that you agree with me, that much might be done to abate the fly nuisance by prevention in the way I have suggested. Now. friend Cook, please tell me if I am not right about it. Our shorthand writer asks if lime, copperas, or some other chem- ical, will not carry death and destruction to them as well as sweeten the premises. It is a matter of such vital importance, that we can well afford to take a little space for it. Is not prevention better and cheaper than py ret h l'u m V
THOMAS G. NEWMAN.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH BY DR. C. C. MILLER.
fOK fifteen years the American Bee Journal has remained under the management of one man; and, aside from being ably edited, its general make-up and clean typographica appearance impress one strongly, that, some- where connected with it, is a man who is well up in the art preservative of all arts. The secret of it is. that Thomas Gabriel Newman, its proprietor, is himself a thorough practical printer. Born near Bridgewater, in Southwestern England, Sept. 36, 1833, he was left fatherless at ten years of nge. with three older brothers and a sister, the mother being a penniless widow by reason of I hi' father's en- dorsing for a large sum.
The boys were all put out to work to help sup- port the family. Thomas <!. chose the trade of printer and book-binder, serving an apprentice- ship of seven years, and learning thoroughly e\ er> inch of the business from top to bottom, in both branches.
Early in 1864 lie came to Uochester, N. V., where he had relatives; and before noon of the day of his arrival he secured a permanent situation in the job-room of the American. Within two months he took the position of assistant foreman on the
Rochester Democrat, then the leading Republican paper of Western New York. Later on he spent seven years editing and publishing a religious pa- per, called the " Bible Expositor and Millennial Har- binger," in New York, and published a score or more of theological works, some written by him- self. In lstif he moved it to Illinois, sold out the business, and, for a " rest," took his family to Eng- land. Returning in lstiii he located at Cedar Rap- ids, Iowa, where he published and edited its first daily paper. In 187:2 he sold this and removed to Chicago, where he embarked in the business of publishing The Illustrated Journal, a literary 6erial printed in the highest style of the art, and mag- nitieently embellished. The panic of 1873 ruined this luxury, bringing upon him a loss of over $20,000. In 1873 a friend introduced him to the Rev. W. P. Clarke, who wanted to dispose of his interest in the American Bee Journal, which interest was one-half.
THOMAS (i. NEWMAN.
subject to an unpaid contract. This he bought, and afterward the interests of F. Grahbe and Geo. Wagner, thus becoming sole proprietor. For a man not altlicted with the bee-fever, in cold blood to pay more than $2000 for the simple " good will " of a paper with no printing-office or supplies of any- kind, shows an unbounded confidence in the future of bee-journalism. Few men under the same cir- cumstances would have achieved his success. For three years he employed successively as editors, Kev. W. F. Clarke, Mrs. E. S. Tupper, and Dr. C. C. Miller, meanwhile applying himself to the study and practice of bee culture, increasing his apiary from three colonies, purchased for experimental manipulation, to more than 100 colonies in 1879, when he disposed of them because troublesome to surrounding stores. For the past 12 years he has been sole editor, having called to his assistance the
1889
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
15
most successful honey-producers of the continent. With a positive dislike for financial transactions, he is fortunate in his son, Alfred H., who has abili- ty in that direction. Hesides this son he has two daughters, all married, :tnd five grandchildren.
In 1879 he went to Europe, at his own expense, as American representative to the various bee-keep- ers' societies, and attended conventions in Eng- land, France, Italy, Austria, Germany, etc., and was awarded several g-old medals for exhibitions of American apiarian implements. He has been elected an honorary member of 14 bee-keepers' as- sociations, and is also life member of the North American Bee-Keepers' Society (of which he was twice elected president), and treasurer of the North- western Bee-Keepers' Association.
He has been twice elected Grand Commander of Illinois of the "American Legion of Honor," and is an officer of some ten different societies in Chicago, social, fraternal, insurance, etc., and spends much time in visiting- the sick and relieving- the distress of those in fraternal and social relations with him, thus fulfilling the injunctions of the Book of all books, of which he is a diligent student.
In 1885 he was elected the first manager of the National Bee-Keepers' Union, which, under his management, has successfully defended a number of bee-keepers in suits at law brought against them. His successive re-election each year gives evidence of the satisfactory manner in which he has performed the duties of his office.
In no one thing has friend Newman shown the persistence with which he follows up any matter he undertakes, more than in his tight against adultera- tion, and in connection with it what he so con- stantly calls the " Wiley lie." Prof. Wiley, with all the weight of his official position under govern- ment, perpetrated the "scientific pleasantry" that comb honey was manufactured without the aid of bees. Far and near it vas copied by the papers, the professor looking on complacently at the mis- chief he had wrought, without offering a word to stop its course. Mr. Newman demanded a retrac- tion, with no success, for a long time, but he kept up the warfare, denouncing the falsehood with ever-increasing vigor, using such strong language, and such bitter denunciations that one could hard- ly withhold sympathy for the poor professor, so mercilessly belabored. But it is probable that nothing short of such vigorous language would have wrung from Prof. W. a tardy denial of the truth of his statement, and a mingled attempt at apology and self-justification.
Notwithstanding the use of vigorous language on the printed page, in his attacks upon that which he deems unjust or false, in personal intercourse friend Newman is always the courteous gentleman. Hardly up to medium height, he is of strong build, and of active temperament. In convention he is a good presiding officer, and an easy speaker, some- times rising to flights of eloquence on themes which, treated by others, would be but common- place.
Let us all heartily join in the wish that Thomas G. Newman may long be continued at the helm of the good old American Bee Journal. Marengo, 111., Oct. 20, 1888. C. C. Miller.
In addition to the above I will say that my acquaintance with the subject of this sketch began when friend Newman first as- sumed the editorship of the American Bee
Journal. A good many things were in rath- er bad shape when he took hold of it, if I am correct, and I was forced to admire the cor- teou.s and gentlemanly way in which he commenced to put things into shape. Any one who can not get along with friend New- man in business matters, is certainly very hard to please, unless, indeed, it is one of those queer individuals who prefer to have no sort of understanding or settlement eith- er. During our long business acquaintance, very seldom if ever has any thing occurred to prevent a regular settlement of accounts at the end of every thirty days ; and in this respect friend Newman is a good model for bee-keepers at large ; for my experience seems to indicate that the whole bee-keep- ing world, as a rule, has a dislike for regu- lar, systematic ways in finances ; that is, for having a regular settling-up and perfect understanding the first of every month. Things are received that are not satisfacto- ry, perhaps not as ordered ; but some of the brethren will wait a year and then com- plain. It is an old adage, that " two of a trade can never agree ; " and I am sorry to say that at one time it seemed to bid fair to be the rule among bee-journals. May God forbid that it should ever be so any more. Friend Newman has always stood ready to go more than half way toward amicable re- lations toward all the bee-journals publish- ed, so far as I know.
CONVENTIONS ET BEE-JOURNALS.
SHOULD THEY AMOUNT TO ONE AND THE SAME THING? IF NOT. WHY NOT?
|EI| N page 9&5 is an item headed " Conventions Tm versus Bee-Journals." Allow me to change fc<j| versus to et, because there is no conflict. ^* "Bee-journals fill a place that conventions can not fill, and it is equally true that con- ventions fill a place that bee-journals can not fill." Quite correct. "The information then furnished by the bee-journals will have an added interest " (after you've attended a convention), "and you can read very much more understandingly." True also; but with threefold emphasis is it true that you can hear the discussions at a convention un- derstandingly after you have thoroughly read up all that is said in the bee-journals and in the bee- books. I have heard men ask questions in a con- vention that showed they had a poor understand- ing of what was going on, which questions would have been readily answered by any one who had done even a small amount of reading beforehand.
Although bee-journals and conventions are dif- ferent in their uses, and both needed, I do not be- lieve there is any great harm in trying to have a bee-journal approach somewhat in character to a convention. The familiar talk and friendly dis- cussion, getting the views of a number on the same point— such things make the printed page quite a little like meeting our fellows face to face. So. as far as possible. I like to have every bee- journal that arrives seem like a convention; and if v c rmrid have one that should have all the advan- tages of a convention, with only the ordinary cost of the paper, it would be a great gain. But to have a convention modeled after a bee-journal is another
16
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
•Jan.
affair altogether; and it a convention cmdd be made jvsl like a bee-journal, that would be the end of it. for the expense of attendance would rule it out of existence. I am afraid too many conven- tions try to take the place of the bee-journals, and to just so great an extent lessen their value.
It might be a good thing to find out what are the distinctive characteristics of a convention that give to it its peculiar value, and then try to make the most of them. The warm grasp of the hand as we meet our brethren, and the multiplied opportuni- ties for friendly intercourse in pairs or little groups at various times outside of the regular ses- sions—these no one will undervalue who has ever had the privilege of enjoying them. No printed page ran give us these. If nothing more were to he had at a convention it would pay to go some little distance to attend one; but I suspect the at- tendance would be rather slim. The attendance at the regular sessions is, after all, that for which we go to a convention. And what is it that gives spe- cial value to these regular sessions? The time is chiefly taken up with essays and discussions. Which of these should have the preponderance? Which is more valuable, or do they stand on an equality? Could the time be wholly taken up with one to the exclusion of the other? Undoubtedly a session might be entirely taken up with essays, or entirely with discussions. I have known both kinds. How about having all essays? My good friend Prof. Cook will say that well-matured thoughts are given in an essay— hence more valua- ble—and he rejoices in the thought that some of his friends are coming over to bis views. I wonder if he didn't misunderstand them. Well, I admit that a well-prepared essay from one who is accus- tomed to putting his thoughts on paper may be more carefully planned, possibly more condensed, than would be an impromptu talk. Even if every member present were capable of this, would it be advisable to have the time all taken up with es- says? Where is the difference between essays at a convention and the same essays in a bee-journal? Simply that, in the latter case, you read the essay for yourself, and in the former you listen to some one else reading it aloud. If every essay-writer were a fine reader, it is possible that one might do better to listen to the reading than to read for himself. Even then there are some advantages in the latter case, for often one wants to stop and think over a certain point, or perhaps refer again to something passed over. But it is lamentably true that not one writer in ten can read aloud an essay in an acceptable manner, in which case there is nothing gained by having the convention usurp the place of the bee-journal. In case all were the best of readers, would the advantage of hearing the essays read by good readers balance the extra expense? For, be it remembered, the average cost of attending a convention exceeds many time6 the cost of all the valuable essays published in one of our best bee-papers in a whole year. So it seems to me we shall do better to keep each one at its best work the paper publishing essays, and the convention having live discussions.
I know there is more to he said on both sides, and 1 know that all do not agree with me. I think it possible, too, that some may think it hardly worth while to All the columns of our journals by discuss- ing such matters. But thousands of dollars are spent every year on conventions, and it surely is
important for us to discuss how we may get the most good out of them. C. C. Miller.
Marengo, 111.
Friend M., I think I agree with you ex- actly ; that is, I shall decide that I agree until somebody suggests something that I have not thought or, and convinces me that I don't ; and when we attend conventions, let us keep the matter in mind.
THE COMMON HORN-TAIL.
WHY WE SHOULD SET OUT LINDENS INSTEAD OF MAPLES.
R. W. FULMEN sends me two specimens of our common horn-tail, Tremex Columba, of which he writes: " I found them yester- day busily employed stinging a Norway maple. I suppose they were laying their The one had his (her, of course) instrument inserted at least half an inch in the hard wood. Please be so kind as to give name and habits, in Gleanings."
This common horn-tail is nearly cylindrical, about the size of a lead-pencil, and IV* inches long.
eggs.
TREMEX, OR THE COMMON HORN-TAIL.
The figure shows the form nicely. The colors are black, dark brown, and yellowish brown, each shown in the figure by shading. The yellowish brown is lightest; the black, darkest. The name, horn-tail, is significant, as will be seen by the figure. This horn- tail is really an auger, by use of which the insect can bore into hardest wood. This auger reaches on the under side of the abdomen more than half way to the thorax, so it is more than twice as long as it appears when viewed from the back. Thus the in- sect, when boring, can bear its weight on this auger. It is interesting to see them engaged in this work. As Mr. Fulmen suggests, they bore to lay their eggs. The auger, like the sting of a bee, consists of three pieces— the awl, or central piece, the auger proper, and two side pieces, which are doubtless guides or supports to the awl. The male, of course, has not this auger, and is more yellowish.
This horn-tail lays its eggs in all maples, in oak, birch, hickory, and beech. Harris says it also works on elm and buttonwood. Frequently the insect drives its auger in so deeply that it can not draw it out. I have thus caught them hanging to both beech and maple.
The larva which hatches from the eggs laid by these horn-tails is yellowish white. It is nearly two inches long, when full grown. These grubs often do much harm to our maples, as I mention in the work," Maple Sugar and the Sugar-Bush." This is an"
1889
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
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other reason for planting' lindens for shade, instead of maples. We should suppose that such insects, living and feeding- in sound hard wood, would be safe from all foes, but this is not so. We have at least two ichneumon flies that bore into trees harbor- ing- these horn-tail larvie, and deposit their eggs in the tissues of the borers. Thus even these borers are not safe, but often become victims to ichneu- mon parasites. How does the ichneumon fly know where to bore ? How can she know that, deep in the hard wood, the borer is working? 1 surmise that, by walking up the tree, she feels a tremor caused by the gnawing of the larva within. It hard- ly seems possible that scent can guide her. Odors could hardly penetrate solid wood. A. J. Cook. Agricultural College, Mich.
But, friend Cook, there is just one thing I want to know about these augers: To make an auger bore, it must rotate; but the ma- chinery in question, however, can not well rotate. How, then, does this auger work? Can't you give us a drawing of it? In our description of bee-stings the matter was lightly touched ; and inasmucli as it comes in the line of the way in which bees bore holes with their sting," we think it might be profitable to have it fully described, with il- lustrations, in a bee-journal.
CAGING QUEENS JUST BEFORE THE HONEY-FLOW.
E. FRANCE SUGGESTS A VERY IMPORTANT .MATTER.
fHE bee-keeper's summer is past, the harvest is gathered, and what is the result of the sea- son's labor? All who read the bee-papers know that the honey crop was small this year, and smaller last year. I for one don't expect a full crop next year, owing to the dry weather during August and September of this sea- son in our locality. But after all, I individually am thankful for the small crop that we did get, and my faith in the bee-business is still good. I think there are better times coming, when we shall get our re- ward if we stick to the bees. Perhaps it is a good thing for us to have short crops for one or two years. The old surplus will all be worked off, prices will be kept up, and bee-keepers will be made to understand that they are dependent upon some higher power than ourselves to secure a bountiful harvest. No matter how much skill the apiarist may possess, the bees can not gather hon- ey unless it is supplied for them to gather. The supply is beyond our control. But after all, the skilled apiarist can manage and manipulate his bees so there will be a great difference in results, providing there is a now of honey at any time dur- ing the season, of some sort. With us we have had good honey seasons for a long term of years, and so we were able to take a little over 100 lbs. per colo- ny of surplus until the year ISST, when we got only 12 lbs. per colony. Owing to the dry weather of 1886, the clover was nearly all killed. The year 1KK7 was a dry year also, but we had some rain in the fall. A great deal of clover came up from seed, but this was not advanced far enough to give us a crop of honey this year, I8SS; accordingly all the honey we got last year, 1887, and this year, 1888, came from basswood. Last year we obtained 12 lbs., but not half as much as' we should have se-
cured had we managed our bees as we could have done. We had fill colonies, and obtained 4920 lbs., all from basswood, which was the only thing dur- ing the season from which it was possible to ob- tain any surplus. The same is likewise true of this year.
How could we have done better? I will try to explain the situation a little, and then tell how we could have obtained more honey. First, remember we worked for extracted honey. The year 1886 was a good honey season, and we secured a large crop of clover honey before the dry weather set in. Then the dry weather did not affect the basswood. so we got a big crop of basswood. We let the bees All up their hives with basswood honey to winter on, as we usually do. After that there was honey- dew on which the bees lived until winter, so their combs were loaded with honey. When winter set in they had enough honey to eat for their own use, and to feed their brood until the basswood came the next season. When the basswood opened they had the most of the honey used up, and all the combs were full of brood from top to bottom, and n 3 place to put any honey. All they could do was to fill the cells as fast as the brood hatched. The basswood lasted 12 days, and it took 21 days to hatch out all of the brood. It was positively necessary to leave honey in those combs to winter the bees. Could we safely take out any? Yfes, we could ex- tract for a week, and give them time to fill the combs that we emptied; and if we whirled the combs pretty hard, perhaps we could throw out some of the younger brood and give the bees a chance to fill their places with honey. We conclud- ed to do that, and did do it; but as it took a week to go over the bees we got but very little honey the first three or four days. We got out a great deal of young brood, and that gave more room to store honey. Then as the older brood hatched, that gave room to store honey. By the time the basswood flow came to an end, the bees had enough honey stored to winter on. besides the little we took out.
Now, I am aware that I have introduced a strange idea in throwing out brood on purpose to benefit the bees; but under the circumstances it was the best thing we could do. as the hives were crowded full of bees. The combs were full of brood, and no place to store honey. If we had had on hand a large quantity of empty combs, then we could have made good use of them; but we did not have them, and so we had to do the very best we could. How could we have done better, and got more honey? By simply caging- the queens ten days before the basswood flow commenced; then the brood would have been about half hatched out by the time the flow commenced, and (til would have been hatched by the time the basswood ceased. The queens could then have been liberated. The bees would not have tried to swarm when the queens were caged. All queen-cells should be destroyed, ami ten days from that time they should be destroyed again. There would then not be any attempt to swarm until the queens were liberated and some brood started, and not then if the honey-flow were over. Why did we" not do it, and secure more hon^ ey? We did not think of it in time, as we had nev- i i- been in the same flx before. But we have been partially in the same boat this year again. We started in this season with 431 colonies, and had to feed about 500 lbs. in the spring to get the bees through to clover, from which they gathered just
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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
Jan.
about enough to keep them in good breeding: con- dition. We saw that there would be a fair yield of honey from basswood, so, as nearly as we could guess, about ten days before the basswood opened we caged L60 queens, to test our last year's theory. The result was, we got 11,830 lbs. of honey— about 274 lbs. average, and I should think that % of that honey came from the 1">0 colonies where the queens were caged. Remember, our average last year was 12 lbs. We came to the conclusion that we should cage queens again to increase our honey crop. We think it is a good thing if it is rightly managed, any year.
The cages we used were made of wire cloth, about ;i inches long, % inch wide, and % thick. One end was plugged with a wooden stopper, V% inch long; the other end was just pinched together after the queen was in the cage. The cage containing the queen was hung by a fine wire between two combs in the hive from which she was taken. The bees in the hives feed the queens in the cages. Out of the 150 queens so caged, three died; 147 were alive, and in good laying condition. Some of the cages had eggs in the lower end, \ inch deep in the bulk — more than the size of the queen. I don't know whether the bees made any use of the eggs or not, as we kept one or two combs of young brood in the hives, from other colonies; but I know that bees will sometimes take eggs from a caged queen, and raise queens from them. I don't think they will use them to raise workers to any extent. How long did we keep the queens caged? About 20 days— 10 days before the basswood opened, and 10 days after. We destroyed all queen-cells when we caged the queens, and again in 10 days we destroy- ed all queen-cells. After the queens had been lib- erated about a week we examined all the bees we had, to see if all had laying queens, and found all the queens that had been caged were laying nicely. Now, 1 don't want it understood that I advocate the caging of queens, except under certain conditions. When one has all the bees he wishes to keep, and wishes to prevent swarming, then he should cage the queen— after the colony is very strong and about ready to swarm. Of course, the queen-cells must all be destroyed. We have often caged a few queens, but never as many in one season as we did this last one. E. Fkance.
Platteville, Wis., Dec. 15, 1888.
The idea of caging queens at a certain time in order to increase the honey-yield, comb as well as extracted, has been recom- mended and practiced to some extent for a good many years. Some have claimed that caging queens would put a stop to honey- gathering, or, at least, to a certain extent; but my experience has been that, where the queen is removed entirely, the bees ceased work. Leaving them caged in the hive as you have done, however, would probably make little if any difference with their ac- tivity as honey-gatherers. Now, in case there had been an unexpected tlow of late fall honey, might not your experiment have resulted in a big loss ? As our business has been for years selling bees by the pound, it lias been a hard matter for us to accept the idea of repressing brood-rearing in any way ; but as you state it, it seems to me very likely there might be a positive gain in the amouiit of honey secured, and a positive
saving in regard to the amount of sugar that must be bought for winter. We should be glad to hear of the experiments of oth- ers in this matter.
RAMBLE NO. 10 CONTINUED.
A NOVEL METHOD OF PEDDLING HONEY.
HNCLE JOHN runs his colonies for the produc- tion of comb honey. His son Cyrus, not having much love for the busy bees, at- tends to the farm, and makes gardening a specialty. The products of the garden and the apiary And ready sale at hotels and to the boarders themselves; for about 20 miles from the head of the lake, nearly every point and island has a hotel or several cottages upon it. For instance. Ripley's Point has a hotel— Horicon Lodge— and a dozen cottages. During the camping season these must be supplied with vegetables, etc. Mr. Cyrus A. supplied a few of these resorts, at first with a row-boat; but seeing an opening for a little expan- sion in the business he fitted up a boat with a kero- sene-engine. This pretty little craft will carry 17 persons, or over a ton of supplies. Every Wednes- day and Saturday the boat is loaded with a miscel- laneous cargo of potatoes, onions, celery, and every thing from the garden; and last, but not least, a few crates of honey. The voyage is then made from point to point, and the entire day is spent in disposing of the cargo.
PEDDLING HONEY WITH A STEAMEH.
Comb honey finds ready sale at 1(5 cts. per lb. Mr. A. was selling his honey off nicely at 15 and 16 cts., when, upon his next trip, he found the market de- moralized, and the bottom knocked clean out by an outsider running in a load of honey and selling it for 10 or 12 cents per lb. In consequence he is strongly in favor of co-operation, or the buying of all of these stray cheap lots, or, what would be bet- ter, the purchase of their entire stock of bees.
Extracted honey can not be sold at any price, owing to suspicion of adulteration. Even comb honey in regularly filled sections is looked upon with suspicion; and city people, before purchasing, want to prod a jack-knife into the center of it to test it. /
While extracted honey can not be sold, there is a call for maple syrup, and it will be purchased and greedily eaten, and hardly a word be said about its purity; and we all know that maple syrup is adul- terated as much if not more than honey. Is honey held more in suspicion because the busy bee and the production of honey calls forth sensational lies, and syrup free from it, because the noble maple can not be so much lied about? Another question that is beyond my solving is this: Why will people use some articles of diet that are gross- ly adulterated, and know it, and refuse articles like honey, against which they have only a remote sus-
1889
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
I!)
picion? The little steamer is, however, on its mis- sion every summer, and we hope it will exert an educating- influence on all city people who pur- chase what it pleases them to term wild honey?
On Tuesday our visit drew to a close. We cast lingering glances at old Buck Mountain, with its huckleberry paradise; at Shelving Rock, with its rattlesnake dens; at Tongue Mountain, noted for deer and the deer-slayers; at the placid waters into whose pure depths the eye can penetrate 20 or 30 feet; the islands, fairylike in their beauty; the boats, with their suggestions of pleasure and exer- cise; we could scarcely tear ourselves away from so many attractions, and the Rambler would willingly rest from his wanderings, and build a log hut under the sheltering trees, and, Crusoe like, spend his days in hunting and Ashing:.
Our last repast in ("amp Andrews was a picked- up dinner. The most prominent object on the table was the doctor's medicine-hox. with 500 bot- tles, more or less. It was a terrible-looking in- strument of destruction.
The only accident of note was a thrilling adven- ture of Mr. Lockliart, who rushed in one dark night, averring that he had been knocked down by a bur- glar. We prospected with lanterns, and found he had tumbled over a big boulder. It is a mystery how people's imagination will run away with them. Another was a skillful star scene, indulged in by the Rambler. He tried, and succeeded in sitting down in the lake.
The pleasures of the visit will be long remember- ed; and the many kind favors bestowed on the Rambler by his fellow-campers and members of the family, I trust can some time be returned; and that other bee-keepers can some time enjoy a week at Lake George is the earnest wish of the Rambler.
LOT'S WIFE.
DEACON SMITH DISCOURSES ON THE ELEMENTS NECESSARY TO SUCCESS IN BUSINESS.
aEACON SMITH was on the winning side in politics this year. He is therefore more lo- quacious than ever, and more genial, if that were possible. He lias spent several even- ings at our house since election. He brings " Mirandy," and Mirandy brings her knitting-work. Our apple-barrel holds out yet, and the bee-journals have not lost their interest, although truth compels me to state that they were only secondary during- the heated campaign.
The deacon's teeth are a little poor; but our Wealthies are in their prime now, and he is obliged to acknowledge that they are " most as good as the Greenings of York State."
The last evening he spent here, the deacon got to talking about the elements necessary to success in business.
" Now, there was Lot's wife," said he; "what a shining example she was of how not to do it!— not that I blame the poor tired woman for looking back upon the scenes of her childhood. Anybody could have forgiven her for that. Rut Moses was too busy looking after the way ward children of Israel to give us her full history, and you see she wasn't worthy of a page or two in the Riblical record. He only mentions her, as the preacher does the text, to give point to her instability of character. Did you
ever think of it? She hadn't even a name in the book. There's Sarah and Rebekah and Esther and Ruth, and a host of other noble women who have blessed the earth ever since they lived. But she was Lot's wile— that's all. If she had been a wo- man of character, do you think she would have been consigned to everlasting nothingness in that kind of style? Even Jezebel got more distinction than that.
"Just imagine what a rattling there would be among the dry bones if Mirandy should die, and I should put up a respectable monument to her mem- ory with this inscription: ' The late Mrs. Smith,' in- stead of saying, ' Hicjacet (here lie) the mortal re- mains of Amelia Mirandy Sunnyweather, the late consort and worthy helpmeet of Uriah Smith, a wo- man who never turned her back on a duty unper- formed.'
" If you will read between the lines you will dis- cover that Lot's wife was one of those weak-mind- ed, changeable persons who never have an object in life, and are blown about by every wind of doc- trine. When Lot started from Sodom she thought she loved him above every thing else, and she'd share her fortunes with him. But when she got tired, and had blistered her feet on the sand, she thought, ' What a fool Lot was to believe what those men told him: I guess I'll go back.' So she turned back to the luxurious city she had left, thinking perhaps that her husband would soon follow suit. You know the rest.
" Now, that's the trouble with a great many men in this world. They don't know what they are here for. They haven't any purpose. Like a lost dog they will follow the first emigrant wagon that comes along, if the driver only whistles.
"Perhaps they are farming. Things haven't gone first rate. The price ot hogs has gone down, and cholera specific has gone up. Along comes a white sail with the magic word ' protected wool ' on. The hogs are sold, given away, or run into the sea. They are only swine, any way. But sheep are high. By the^time he gets fairly started— has learned how to keep the wolves off by day and the dogs by night, how to save the lambs in spring and the old ones from foot-rot in the summer, he discovers that Texas and Australia can raise wool cheaper than he can, and that sheep-raising is not so profitable as he thought. So he sells his sheep at a sacrifice, and invests in booming cattle. It's the same old story- buying at the top and selling at bottom prices. Old age creeps on apace. By the time he has run the gamut of the industries he is ready to vote with Solomon that variety and vexation of spirit is the common experience of the farmer; whereas, if he had stuck to some one thing he might have com- pel/ success.
"There's neighbor Jones. He bought a lot of bees a few years ago when bees were high and honey ditto. He thought that was the highway to wealth and happiness. He put a good deal of mon- ey into the business— a good deal more than there was any use of. He didn't know any more about bees than a sand-hill crane does about astronomy. He only soared among the clouds. The first winter he lost heavily. The next summer his profits were so fine he couldn't see them. Last year wasn't much better, but he got a good deal of experience. But he got disgusted with them, and put them all up at auction. I boughtthe whole outfit for a song. Now, I know there isn't money in bees every year.
20
(iLEANINGS IN HEE CULTURE.
Jan.
Thej don'l make boney. It's got to be in the flow- ers, or the bees can't get it out, but I'm bound to stick till the Lord Bends the early and latter rain,
according to promise. It's the only thing to do. Vmi know what Poor Richard used tosny: A roll- ing stone gathers no moss.' After a man has got every thing fixed to keep bees, it's the foolisbest kind of folly for him to surrender and admit he is licked because there happens to be one or two bad seasons. There's nothing in Ihis world that I know of that is always on the high road to prosperity without work, and sometimes there's a deal of wait- ing too." Reported by Eugene Secok.
Friend Secor, you are lucky in having Deacon Smith for a neighbor. Don't mind the apples. When he gets a going, ji st give him plenty of rope, especially if he exhibits as much wisdom as he has in the above. While in California I was greatly impressed with the very idea the Deacon has brought out. When 200 lbs. or more of nice honey was obtained per colony, a few years ago, a great many started in the business. Some of them have held on to the bees for a couple of years: but at the present time a great many are deserting their bees, or are offer- ing to sell them for a mere " song,1" as you express it. Xow, 1 do not mean that one should keep on devoting his whole time, and making outlays, while the seasons are so unpropitious that there is little or no in- come. I believe it is prudent to stop out- lays, and let the bees stand still while there is" nothing in particular to be done with them, keeping a careful watch, of course, that they do not get out of stores and so starve to death. It would be very strange indeed if no more crops of honey wrere to be secured, such as we had five or ten years ago. If we talk with men in most kinds of business, especially those who raise crops, you will find a good deal of the same state of affairs. It is terribly expensive to learn a trade, and rig up for the profitable work- ing of any kind of business; aud he who abandons, as soon as or shortly after he has got ready for business, must expect to do it at a great sacrifice. Work at something else Lf you choose, while your regular business can not be followed ; hut do not let things go to ruin, or swap them off hastily.
A GOOD QUESTION.
tin IJEES BUILD HEAVIER COMBS AT ONE II MI.
THAN AT ANOTHEliV
If-* S ('. C. Miller had made some observa- ^fl'. lions on the subject as above, we sent jf* llic following to him:
Friend Root:— On page so:;, you and .). A. Golden tail to understand why bees build hea\ icr comb at some times than at others. I have noticed for several years, that, during a rushing flow of honey :it any season, and from whatever source, whether clover, buckwheat, or aster, the comb is invariably thin and light; but when honey (Mimes slow ly, the combs are heavier. White clover was almost a total failure here, but buckwheat and asters yielded fairly well. Rukdktt Hassett. Howard Center, Howard Co., Iowa. Mr. Miller replies as follows:
I do not know that it i6 of practical importance to know why and when bees build heavier or lighter comb; still.it is a matter of interest, and a practi- cal bearing may attach to a subject, although such practical bearing may not appear on the surface. I have some doubts as to the cooler weather of fall making bees slower about drawing out wax, thus making the comb heavier. Bees keep up the heat in the cluster, summer or fall; and if the wax is soft enough to be worked, I suspect they will work it thin one time as well as another. But it is not unreasonable to suppose that, like the human fami- ly, bees will be more lavish in the use of any article which is plentiful. It is not likely that the secre- tion of wax is in exact proportion to the amount of nectar gathered daily. Suppose a heavy flood of honey is being gathered. The bees will secrete wax enough to take care of it, and this secretion is a mat- ter of time. It can not be started or stopped in a minute. When they stop gathering honey at night, the manufacture of wax keeps right on through the night; and it a heavy rain should occupy all the afternoon it is likely the same amount of wax will be secreted as if the bees worked in the field all day. And 1 see no reason, if the bees work all day in the fields, why there should not be just as much wax secreted, whether the field allows a bee to gather a load in 2.i or -ti > minutes In other words, there should be no difference in the wax production, whether the bees store two pounds a day or twice as much. But if the wax is secreted, it will be used in some way, and I suspect that bees are likely to build thicker combs if they have a double supply of wax. If this be the case they might be expected to make thicker cell-walls when the harvest begins to wane.
Thinking this matter over last evening I said to myself, " If your theory is true, facts ought to sus- tain it. Last summer the yield « as very slow, and you ought to find very heavy comb." 80 1 got a section of honey out of the cupboard to examine. Sure enough, it appeared tome the cell-walls looked thick; but then. I had no other comb to compare it with. I cut out a cubic inch, as nearly as I could estimate it, and chewed it. The resulting wax I rolled into a round ball, and it measured just about half an inch in diameter. That seemed to me like a good bit of wax; but, as before, 1 had nothing to compare with. Friend Boot, try a cubic inch of honey, perhaps of two or more different samples, and tell us how much wax you get from it. Here is another fact that is confirmatory, so far as it goes:
Last summer the bees made more trouble than I remember ever before, in making bits of white comb where not wanted. In a good many instances they made little sheets of wax arise perpendicularly from the separators, as if trying to increase the width of the separator. They also plugged up crevices as if with propolis, only they used pure white wax. So far as I could judge by looking on, the bees were busy every day; but a total crop of less than a ton from 135 colonies shows that the daily yield must have been small, requiring little wax, and allowing plenty for thick cell-« alls and an overplus to be used as bee- glue. By the way, in every lot of bee-glue I think more or less wax will be found on melting.
SIZE OK APIARIEB.
The item on page 933, with its comments, "Advan- tages of Small Apiaries," reminds me that it is not safe to base general conclusions on one or two data. \ sijim H apiary "of 12 colonies gave almost enough
1889
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
21
surplus to supply the deficiency of" a larger apiary of 60 or 70 colonies. Now, friend Weckesser, the small apiary may have given the surplus just be- cause of the few colonies; but the facts you state by no means prove it. The past summer my Wil- son apiary had about three times as many colonies as the Belden apiary; but the larger apiary "gave almost enough surplus to supply the deficiency of" the smaller. But that doesn't prove that the larger number made the yield per colony greater. The Wilson apiary probably had a better field to work on, and probably your 12 colonies had a better field than the home apiary. I do think, however, that in general a small apiary will do better than a large one, just because there will be times during the season when the harvest is so light that even a few colonies overstock the locality. But the differ- ence may be so little that 1 think in general I would not start an out-apiary till my number exceeded 100. So I agree with the comments. Marengo, 111. C. C. Miller.
Friend Miller, your explanation seems to be the more reasonable one. It is a fact, is it not, that bees do at times secrete more wax than they can profitably use, and that these scales are sometimes found on the bottom-board? Friend Hutchinson avers that, in consequence, too much foundation is used, and that this surplus of wax scales goes to waste. According to your request, we tried two or three samples of honey. As the flow of nectar in California is considered to be very rapid, it is reasonable to suppose that California combs would be lighter than combs to hold an equal capacity made here in the East. We accordingly selected a section of California honey well filled out, and of snowy whiteness. From this we took two cubes of honey. From each the resultant wax made a sphere only a quarter of an inch in diameter. ( )f course, this wax was pressed together into a solid ball. We next selected a section of honey which had been filled out during the last season in our own locality, when the yield of nectar daily was very smal 1 . This section was travel-stained, and there was a number of cells not capped over. From this we took a cube of honey, chewed it, and obtained a wax ball half an inch in diameter. As will be seen, the diame- ter of the latter was twice that of one of those from the California honey. Therefore the volume of wax would be just about eight times as much. From this it might be argued that bees will use eight times as much wax in comb building during a slow yield as they will in a rapid yield. These proportions may not and probably will not hold true in all cases ; but as the experiment can be so easily tested, we hope our readers who are interested in the matter will do so and report the result, noting carefully whether the nec- tar was coming in rapidly or slowly. Now, friend M., you start out by saying that you do not know that there is any practical im- portance in this matter ; but you intimate that a practical bearing may attach to it. Well, it may be this : When honey is com- ing in very rapidly, the bees need full sheets of foundation ; when it is coming in slowly, narrow starters will answer just as well and perhaps better. If this be true, may it pot be possible to save foundation, and, con-
sequently, money ? Again, if bees do at times build heavier combs than at others, may it not explain why there is sometimes present the objectionable " fishbone," and that at other times it can not be detected?
FROM DIFFERENT FIELD
CARRYING BEES INTO THE CELLAR; DOOLITTLE'S AND ROOT'S INSTRUCTIONS OBEYED.
T WISH to thank you and G. M. Doolittle for that ||P article in Nov. 1st Gleanings, in reply to my W questions on placing bees in the cellar. ■*■ Gleanings arrived here about four o'clock, Nov. 7; and after reading the article referred to I decided to set the bees in at once, as it was looking like rain, the weather previous having been remarkably fine. There were 82 in all, and we car- ried them in, some before dark and some after, and found no difference. In your remarks you seem to think the bees would be more apt to get out of the hives when the bottoms are removed. Now, if you mean while carrying them, you are wroug; as the bees seem to get confused when they run down and can't find their floor, and very few will fly out of their hives. If you mean that more bees will get out of the hives in the cellar, you are right; but I think we want them to, as, when a bee becomes so weak as to fall from the cluster, it is better out of the hive, as they will sometimes pile up in the bot- tom and make a very bad smell. I did not place my bees as Doolittle does, as I had not room. 1 sim- ply placed two scantling about a foot from the ground, and set a row of hives on them, then two more, and so on. I think it would be a good idea to have the scantling supported independently of the hives, so any hive could be removed if necessary. Alvinston, Ont., Can. W. E. Morrison.
SOD HOUSES FOR WINTERING BEES. AND FOR RAISING PLANTS AND CARP.
Please send me some Grand Rapids lettuce. I have a greenhouse, and am raising plants. 1 have built a water-tank 5 feet deep, 8 feet wide, :>:i feet long, in which I have about 400 carp. I have three- fourths of the tank covered with floor, with a good sod house built over it I have a pipe running in- to it, with a pipe for the water to escape into a hatching-pond about four rods square. My carp are doing well, and so are my bees. You remem- ber I wrote to you last winter about keeping my bees in a sod house. Well, last spring I thought I would experiment a little, so I built a sod wall, and made spaces in the wall, facing the south, to set the hives in; then I took two boards, a little longer than the spaces, and took old barrel-staves and nailed to the boards for cages. I am well sat- isfied with i lie arrangement so far. When I wish to work with a hive I can just remove the cover, as each has a separate one. I have 30 colonies in hives, and one I took from the woods, from a hol- low tree. R. F. Loom is.
Indianola. Neb., Nov. :.'!, L888.
•rill'. COTTON-TREE OF THE SOUTH A PRODUCEH Hi' HONEY.
Iii <i i,K. \nin<;s, June 15, a man in Texas asked you some questions. Among others was this one: " Is tbecottoii I n-c •mhh! for honey? Yoii did not know,
22
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
Jan.
but you stated that the eottonwood-tree of the North and West was not a honey-producing tree. The name cotton-tree is a local, or common name only. The proper, or scientific name, is Paulownia. It grows as large, or larger, than a big apple-tree, with much the same form. It blooms early in the spring, before any leaves appear, and is remarkably fra- grant. One large tree will scent or perfume half a dozen town lots. It is raised principally on account of its strong perfume and dense shade. Its flower resembles a purple Jimson (Jamestown) weed, ex- cept it is only half as long. In regard to its being a good honey-producing tree, I can't say any thing further than this: Bees work on it just as last as they do on an apple-tree in Ohio when in full bloom. But few people here know its right name. I asked a Rieat many before 1 found out, and Dr. Brantley, one of your subscribers, gave me the true name. The doctor is well posted on nearly every thing, and is one of the best conversationalists I ever met. Atlanta, Ga., Dec. 17, 1*88. John Barford.
WATER IN A BEE-CELLAR, AND HOW IT MAY BE SUPPLIED.
I winter most of my bees in the cellar, and gen- erally with very good success. I have just built a cellar especially for the purpose, in which 151 colo- nies are wintering. They are exceedingly quiet, which I consider the best proof of perfect winter- ing in a cellar. Having had positive proof of the heneflts of water in the cellar several years since, 1 wanted a living spriug in my new cellar; and as we found none while digging it I managed to get a cheap artificial one by digging out at one corner, thus. The small room, or projection to the cellar, takes in my pump-pipe (it is a drive-well iron pump). The supply of water for the cellar is simply the waste which spurts out of the vent-hole in the pipe; and as this well furnishes all the water used by two families, besides several head of stock, there is a large quantity of water which passes out of the pipe into the cellar. The cellar is under a part of the dwelling-house, and the pump is at one end of a porch. It has a stone wall full depth, and is lathed and plastered overhead. The surplus water passes off through a drain. 1 expect to utilize the little room for milk and but- ter in warm weather, letting the water pass around the milk-dishes, etc. 0. H. Townsend.
Alamo. Mich., Dec. 11, 1*88.
SMALL SECTIONS, AND HOW TO MAKE THEM OUT OF WOOD SEPARATORS.
Having read of the Rambler's troubles with the Harmer 2-oz. section, I will tell him, and others who may be interested, how 1 made 201) or ISIK) last spring.
Having bought of you a lot of wood separators I look some of them, cut them into lengths of 7J-4 inches, and then cut the lengths into strips ?» inch wide, and marked them oft like this.
Now take a sharp-pointed knife and cut the cross- lines partly through and you can fold them very easily, and they will tit into the frames all right it out accurately. In folding I put a drop of glue where the ends meet; but perhaps a bit of well- gummed paper would be better; it certainly would not be so sticky to handle as glue is. 1 was not very successful in getting them filled, but I think the
trouble mostly was due to there being no honey to gather, as 1 got but 3MI lbs. of comb, and no extract- ed honey this year. I will try the little sections again this eoming summer. 0. G. Josenhans.
Owosso, Mich., Dec. 7, 1888.
HONEY GRANULATING.
I read in Gleanings somewhere of the spraying of honey in extracting causing, or at least hasten- ing, granulation, in something the way that stirring sugar syrup when making taffy will cause it to granulate. When the stirring is slight, the granu- lations may not commence until the taffy is sold, and sometimes several hours afterward. 1 had practical proof of this fact this fall. When taking off my honey I cut out the unsalable sections and filled a jar with them, to sell in bulk to home cus- tomers. After emptying the jar a few days ago, 1 found the droppings not granulated inline least, while honey of the same kind, extracted at the same time that this was cut out, and though in tight cans, and capped up, was granulated so much it could not be poured out without warming; and some in an open lard-jar was solid, while the drip- pings from the uncappings in another jar were granulated but little; this was all late honey, main- ly from Spanish needle, which does not granulate so readily as clover honey. 15. A. Rapp.
Chillicothe, Mo., Dec. 8, 1***.
FOUL BROOD IN NEW ZEALAND.
The Langstroth hive is the one in use in New Zealand by all advanced bee-keepers, and is found quite sufficient protection without chaff packing, to winter on summer stands, owing to the mildness of our climate. I noticed a report in a late issue of Gleanings (July, I think), that foul brood is very troublesome in the North Island. This I believe is correct, but it is not so prevalent in the South; in- deed, we much doubt if the true foul brood exists here at all. It is a very mild form of the disease with which we are acquainted, and readily yields to proper treatment. R. E. D'Oylv.
Dunedin, N. Z., Nov. I, 18**.
ARE QUEENS INJURED BY SHIPPING?
I read with no little interest friend Doolittle's ar- ticle on page 749. It is just so near my own experi- ence in handling and shipping queens, that I am fully persuaded, from practical trial and applica- tion of many of the circumstances mentioned there- in, that friend Doolittle is nearly correct, while our friend ('has. Dadant, on page *4t>, is very much in error, I am sorry to say. It would be furthering my interest very much if I were able to sustain his as- sertion: "The shipment, by mail or express, does not deteriorate the laying of a queen, * * * even when she is taken from a full colony during the height of the laying season." Nearly every prolific queen that I have ever sent out from a full colony in the height of the laying season has been more or less a failure, ever afterward, as a layer. Why this was so, I am not able to say, though it may be caused in a variety of ways. A queen, when once partly starved, chilled, or overheated, is never worth any- thing as a laying queen, though she may lay a few- eggs, and live a year or two. A queen taken from a full colony in the laying season, and full of eggs, may be damaged by the difference in the tempera- ture while in that state, as much as by the stoppage of laying in the regular order. No one, 1 hope, will say that it does not damage inan to eat at ir-
1889
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
23
regular intervals. Which of the two is the more delicately constituted, and liable to injury by a slight diversion from regular order of life— the lay- ing queen or the human stomach? I want to em- phasize the fact that a queen that is but a spare layer is just as good to lireeil from, and better than one that is an excessive layer. And, again, that queens taken from a nucleus hive are more profita- ble to the purchaser than those taken from a full colony in the height of her laying season.
Abbott L. Swinson. Goldsboro, N. 0., Dec. 4,1888.
With the large number of queens we an- nually send out by mail, it is strange that we have not noticed, or, rather, received, many complaints of such deterioration in said queens. There may be an occasional in- stance that seems to point that way ; but that such cases may be frequent is not a matter of our observation. If you and friend Doo- little are correct (and you may be to a certain extent), why is it that we have never heard more frequently of such failure of egg-lay- ing before V Now, it is just possible that your last sentence explains the difference in our experiences. Although our cells are raised in full colonies, the queens, as a rule, are reared in nuclei.
BALLING QUEENS; KEFITSING TO ACCEPT CELLS.
Last spring, a year ago, I bought a queen from Dr. Brown, Augusta, Ga. She proved to be a tine layer, and purely mated. Last month I noticed the bees balling her. 1 smoked them well and closed the hive Now they have a black queen. How did they get her, and why did they destroy their queen? In Italianizing I had colonies which would not receive queen-cells nor build one when given eggs, although they had been queenless for in and 12 days. Is not this unusual? In one of my colonies I often hear a noise resembling the growl- ing of an opossum. You can hear it some 12 or 15 paces off, yet I can find nothing wrong. What do you suppose causes it? D. C. McCampbell.
Harinontown, Miss., Nov. 27, 1888.
Friend M., it is hard to assign a reason why bees will at times ball a good fertile queen. Sometimes they will attack one as soon as the hive is opened — indeed, the dis- turbance is what causes them to behave so unseemly. As a usual thing, under such circumstances, if the hive be closed immedi- ately the bees will let the queen alone, though it is our practice to blow a little smoke in at the entrance. In the instance you give, the balling resulted in the death of the queen; and her successor, it seems, it was a black one. At certain seasons of the year it is difficult to get colonies to accept cells given them ; but if the bees are actu- ally queenless, beyond any question, we feel pretty sure they will accept eggs and raise cells. We should incline to the opinion that the colony you mention had some sort of a queen, probably a fertile worker. The only thing to do is to scatter the brood and frames throughout the apiary. When a col- ony apparently queenless refuses to raise cells we generally come to the conclusion that they have fertile workers, and a care- ful scrutiny of the combs generally confirms this conclusion. —Unfortunately, we don't know what an t; opossum's growr' sounds
like ; we therefore can form no conception of what that peculiar noise is which you no- tice among your bees. During the honey- How there is a low hum that can he dis- tinctly heard several feet away.
jMOTEJS JftND QaEI^IEJS.
STATISTICS.
"Ma LLOW me lo Bay that I am highly pleased with ^llk the Honey Statistics in Gleanings. I think
j$m that that alone should be worth a dollar per ■***• annum to many bee-keepers. 1 see by the latest statistics that friends Nebel & Son, of High Hill, Mo., are away ahead of us other fellows here in Missouri on the average crop of honey se- cured this season, and that with a large number of colonies, if I am not mistaken. How is it, friends, have you a better location, or do you know better how to manage the bees? S. E. Miller.
Bluffton, Mo.
bees and fruit.
I notice a complaint in a recent number of Gleanings, regarding bees working on raspber- ries. I have had the same trouble, the bees being so troublesome as to almost drive away pickers.
Nichols. Conn., Dec. 13, 1888. H. P. Nichols.
A QUESTION COB OUR " SALT-WATER " READEKS.
What is the best paint for bee-hives in a salt-wa- ter locality— pure lead, zinc, lead and zinc, or some other kind of paint? A. B. Mason.
Auburndale, O.
[Will some of our readers located near salt water please answer? But why should proximity to salt water make any difference ?]
APPLE-TREE SILK-MOTH.
Prof. Couk:—J send you by mail for identification, the pupa of some large insect found adhering to the limb of a plum-tree. Please report through Gleaninos. W. 1). Ali.en.
Kosse, Tex., Dec. 17, 1888.
Prof. Cook replies :
This fine large cocoon contains the apparently healthy chrysalis of our apple-tree silk-moth, Platy- samia Cecropia. Next June there will come from this a large beautiful brown moth. A. J. Cook.
FEEDING EXTRACTED HONEY.
I wish to feed my bees honey for winter stores. How shall T do so, so as to have it not granulate in the combs? K. H. Shipman.
Cannington, Ont.
(Feeding back extracted honey is rather unsatis- factory. It is difficult to prevent granulation in all cases. At the price honey is now, we would not think of feeding bees with it. By all means, feed sugar syrup well cooked. It makes a much better food, and if you make the syrup rightly you will have no trouble about its crystallization.]
HUTCHINSON'S PLAN ON EMPTY FRAMES; HED- DON'S NON-SWARMING PLAN.
I have tried Hutchinson's plan of hiving on empty frames, and failed. I have tried Doolittle's plan of hiving in contracted brood-chambers, filled with empty combs, combined with Heddon's plan to pre- vent after-swarms, by hiving on the old stand and removing old hive the 7th or 8th day, and I believe it superior to any non-swarming plan I have ever heard of for surplus honey. Benj. A. Kapp.
Chillicothe, Mo., Nov. 9, 1888.
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
Jan.
SOMETHING PROM THE B. AFRICA MISSION.
Gleanings has come to i his mission regularly lor two years. Native honey abounds in all locali- ties; in nearly every Iree you see large bark boxes put there by the oativ< s. mid many of them are full of honey. From 35 to im tons of wax is shipped from this port every year to Europe.
R. H. Richards.
Mongwe, Inbamibame, E. Africa, Oct. 80, 1888.
JAPANESE III i'KWHEAT A SUCCESS.
I got :.' lbs. from yon last spring-; sowed it on 20 rode of good ground. I harvested 7'4 bushels of nice bueku heat. Bees worked on it the same as on other. They worked sparingly on goldenrod; they worked very industriously on prideweed. You could see from 4 to 12 on one bead. They seemed to be crazy for it when in bloom. I suppose it is one of the goldenrod family. Bees got honey enough to winter on. and some swarms gave considerable surplus, mostly from basswood.
Chardon, O., Dec. in, 1888. W. McBkide.
Repbiws ENcetfRflGip.
FKOM 36 TO till, AM) -*250 WORTH OK HONEY, SOLD PEDDLING.
f^HE first of May found me with 36 colonies, Sji" some very good and some very poor, 8 of which number were so weak that it took them all the season before they sot built up to good swarms. From the 28, good and fair, 1 sold honey, both comb and extracted, to the amount of $2.r>ii. I have a little over a barrel left on hand now. I increased them to 60 good swarms. They are in good shape, with plenty of honey to last them till fruit blossoms.
PEDDLING HONEY A SUCCESS.
I sold most of my honey in my home market. I had some friends in a little town 8 miles from my place, and my wife and 1 were going to see them. I told her 1 would take some honey along, and may be we could dispose of some. We took about 100 lbs., both of comb and extracted. It went like hot cakes; and the consequence was, I made 6 trips and sold $140 worth in that town. M. M. Rice.
lioscobel. Wis.
FROM 8 TO 16, AND PLENTY OF HONEY.
Last spring- I had 8 colonies, and increased, by di- viding, to 16. 1 bad plenty of nice section honey to supply my table. 1 have raised and introduced Italian queens into each colony.
D. C. McCampbell.
Harmontown, Miss., Nov. 27, 1888.
PROM 511 TO 811, AND 8011 LltS. OF HONEY.
I commenced in the spring with 50 colonies of bees, and they increased to 80. I got 800 lbs. of honey. 1 know the most of them had each nearly LOO lbs. left in the hives to winter on, because for the one that made comb honey I left all in the low- er box, from 8 to 1:2 frames, almost solid full of honey. I clip all of my queens, and then let them swarm. I think this is much better.
Senecii. Kan., Dei- 5, 1888. M. A. Wilkins.
pound. I sold at from 14 to 18 cts. per lb., in De- troit. I sell all my unfinished sections that weigh not less than 6 oz., and so on up to 12 oz., some be- ing wholly unsealed, and I find ready sale at from 8 to 12 cts. per lb. 1 think it better than keeping them over. Benj. Passage.
Stark, Mich.. Dec. 14, 1888.
FROM 30 TO 70, AND 1000 IBS. OF HONEY ; ARTI- FICIAL PASTURAGE ; ALSIKE CLOVER FOR BEES AND STOCK.
The honey-flow in this locality has been bounti- ful the past summer, and those who had their dish right side up caught the golden harvest. My bees did as well as could be expected, considering the amount of care given them. From 30 colonies, spring count, I received about 1000 lbs. of honey in 1-lb. sections, and increased to 70 colonies; and I think if I had hived every swarm that issued I should have had 100 colonies at the close of the honey-How. One colony of Italians first swarmed out. This was on June 1st, and it made 49 lbs. of clover and 24 of buckwheat honey in 1-lb. sec- tions, and they had their brood-combs well filled for winter besides. In providing pasture for my bees I had 10 acres of alsike, 10 of Mammoth, and the pastures were white with white clover; and %, of a mile from my apiary were basswood-trees and 40 acres of buckwheat, where the bees could go if they wished to, and they did gather so much buck- wheat honey that it is hard to get 10 cts. per lb. for nice 1-lb. sections. White-clover honey sells readily at 15 cts. per lb. in 2-lb. sections.
I cut my alsike clover, and had it thrashed, and got 8 bushels of very clean seed. I shall depend upon the alsike clover hereafter, not only for bee- pasture, but also sheep-pasture and for seed. On one side of my sheep-pasture there are three acres of alsike clover. It was sown 4 years ago, in the first part of the season. The sheep feed on the other portion of the pasture; but when the other portion gets short and dry, the sheep run and put their noses into the clover, and it shields them from the gad fly. and gives them good feed also.
I have 35 swarms in the cellar and 10 in A. I. Root's chaff hives, on their summer stand.
L. N. Chapman.
River Falls, Wis.. Dec. 12, 1888.
I^ep@i^ Di£<30ai^/iviiN<j.
A POOR YIELD.
T MADE preparations last spring for a good crop |If of honey, and received only about 140 lbs. of W fall honey (in comb, no extracted), as surplus, -*■ which sold for 12& cts. per lb. to apply on a grocery bill. You see the bee-business has not been very profitable for me the past season, con- sidering that I ran over 200 colonies for honey. I had only 15 new swarms during the season. I am not one of the class who can get a crop whether it is in the blossoms or not. O. H. Townsend.
Alamo, Mich., Dee. 11, 1888.
FROM 30 ll> 40, AM) 1300 I. US. OK HONEY.
I began the season with :in swarms -25 fair and 5 weak. I increased to 40, and took a little over 1200 lbs. of comb honey; 4 colonies did not give a
ALL LOSS.
There has been a failure in the honey crop in this locality for two seasons. When we figure the prof- it and loss, it's all loss. As I read in Gleanings recently, 1 hope for a "whopper " next year.
Damascus, O., Dec. 8, 1888. Evan Shreve.
l,S8!t
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
25
WINTERING NICEliY.
Bees are wintering nicely so far here. It was a very poor season; they did not gather enough to winter on. Charles Sitts.
Hrasie Corners, N. Y., Dec. 13, I8S.S.
@0R Q[IKS¥I6N'B^X.
With Replies from our best Authorities on Bees.
All queries sent in for this department should be briefly stated, and free I loin any possible ambiguity. The question or questions should be written upon a separate slip of paper, and marked, " For Our Question-Box."
QUESTION 97.— a. In cellar wintering, do you think top ventilation necessary? b. If not, how much and in what way do you provide for bottom ventilation?
1 do.
Mrs. L. Harrison.
a. I do. b. I also leave open the whole width of the entrance. Geo. Grimm.
Some ventilation is necessary, and the difference in temperature is hound to cause a current.
Dadant & Son.
a. No. b. I leave the entrance of the hive open its entire width, l/2 inch in height. 1 should like bet- ter to have three times the space, however.
C. C. Miller.
It does not make much difference about ventila- tion, and there is a wide difference in opinions re- garding temperature; aud all this comes about be- cause the whole matter of safe wintering hinges on the food. James Hbddon.
A little top ventilation I think to be all right. A good deal might do no harm if a steady high tem- perature is kept in the cellar. As to its being ex- actly necessary in any case, I hardly think it is. b. Set the hive on blocks. E. E. Hasty.
I think not, unless it be required to keep the tem- perature uniform, and at the proper point. If top ventilation of colony in hive is meant, I say no em- phatically. I close at top entirely, but have en- trance wide open. I would raise each colony 2 inch- es from bottom-board if I could easily.
A. J. Cook.
a. No. b. Ventilate at the bottom, only by plac- ing the hives in rows with a space between each hive, then tier up. placing each hive over the space below. Set the first row of hives on covers arrang- ed in the same way, or on stringers. This plan is fully described and illustrated in Gleanings, Feb.
1. 1888, p. !h I. H. R. BOARDMAN.
Upward ventilation is undesirable. I prefer a bottom-board with an opening in the center. I use an opening 5 x 10 inches. My methods all the year round require this. In winter quarters the bees clus- ter well down, and may usually be found in a cluster below the bottom of the frames. They are thus as- sured of their freedom; dead bees also drop out of the hive. L. C. Root.
I don't know that 1 understand the question. If the ventilation of the cellar is meant, then I should say that it needs no special ventilation; if the ques- tioner is speaking of the hives, then my plan would be to raise them off the bottom board from two to I welve Inches, leaving the top the same as in spring or fall when the sections are not on.
G. M. DoOLITTLE.
No. not usually; but with a warm cellar, with air near the point of saturation, a slow top ventilation ma3- be necessary. We ventilate our hives by draw- ing a slide in ihe bottom-board. The slide is ten inches long, and is drawn open two or three inches, or even more, with the stronger swarms and warm cellars. P. H. Elwood.
Not if the temperature is right. If the cellar is moist, the temperature should be higher than if the cellar is dry. I provide for bottom ventilation by removing the bottom-board and raising the hive one or two inches above what it sits on. To econo- mize room 1 place a square stick an inch or more thick on top of each side of the hive, when in place, and set the next hive on these sticks, and so on as high as I can reach. Dr. A. B. Mason.
b. Dr. Jessie Oren, of Laporte City, Iowa, is as successful as any one I know of in cellar wintering, and his method of bottom ventilation of hives with tight bottom-boards is the best I know of. He sets his hives on ends, or, rather, on lower front cor- ners, at an angle of about 45°, leaving entrances wide open. Succeeding hives are leaned against the first and others, and when the first tier is in place, wide boards are laid on top. then another tier of hives, etc. I inclose a rough diagram of the ar- rangement. This not only secures bottom ventila- tion, but allows dead bees and rubbish to drop from the hives during the winter. O. O. Poppleton.
oren's arrangement of iiivks *
The general opinion seems to be that top ventilation for the hive is not necessary, and that a full-width entrance, or else an open bottom, or nearly so, is siifticient. Dr. Oren's plan would doubtless work very nice- ly, and the bottom-board at all times would be clean of dead bees. Friends El wood and Root accomplish the same result by leaving an opening through the bottom of the hive.
question US. —7s your cellar provided with a sub- earili ventilator? b. If so, has your experience taught you, that they are an advantage, either for quieting bees or otherwsie.'
a. No; h. No. Dadant &Son.
a. It is; b. Yes. Mrs. L. Harrison.
No. b. 1 have had no experience in line with this question. B. E. Hasty.
a. Yes. h. I think so, but it is hard to be very pos- itive. ('. c. Miller.
No. I am quite certain that it is worse than use- less. H. R. Boa RDM AN.
'The diagram above is not strictly correct. The adjacent corners should come in contact.
26
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
Jan.
No. My ventilators consist of a chimney and sev- eral tin pipes. Geo. Grimm.
II other conditions be right, I think a ventilator at the bottom of the cellar not only unnecessary, but objectionable. L. C. Root.
No. We tise no aub-earth ventilators. We do not believe any good can come from them which will compensate for their cost. James Heddon.
No. A chimney extends down into the cellar; and a stove set up for use, in case it is needed, will gh e all the upper and lower ventilation needed. I have never been annoyed with bees becoming un- easy in winter, unless they were short of stores or eating too much bee-bread. Dr. A. B. Mason.
Ves. For years I kept bees in such a cellar, with almost perfect success. Properly arranged it sure- ly aids to keep the temperature uniform. Were I sure that 1 could accomplish this easily and cheap- ly, without such ventilation, then I would not ar- range for it. A. .1 . Cook.
Yes; but when I say it has been kept closed en- tirely for the past three years, it will be seen that I regard it of no value whatever. Were 1 to build another bee-cellar, I would make no provision for ventilation, as I believe enough air passes through the walls and ground to meet all of the requirements of the bees while in winter repose.
G. M. DOOtitTTIiE.
Ves. If properly put down they are beneficial. They keep a more uniform temperature. At one time, when the temperature outside was 17° below zero, the air as it entered the cellar was :i7° above. < Mir sub-earth ventilator is made of glazed sewer pipe, one foot in diameter for the first hundred feet; for the second hundred feet, eight inches in diameter. At the end of the twelve-inch pipe is an opening, to be used in moderate weather; but in cold weather the whole length of the pipe is used. The joints of the pipe should be securely cemented to keep out the ground air, which is usually loaded with moisture, and heavily charged with carbonic- acid gas. The last is very variable, however. Were I to put down another ventilator 1 would use six- inch pipe, as being easier to make tight, and multi- ply them for capacity; also, if possible, I would have them extend in different directions, as the direction of the wind makes a difference in the draft of the pipe. 1 would also have one or more of them so laid as to act as drains in case of freshet. Ours is so put down, and last spring it was used to nearly its full capacity. P. H. Er.woOD.
The answers to Question 98 seem to be a little bit perplexing; but Dr. Miller, Prof. <'ook, and P. II. Elwood, all of whom have had large experience with sub-earth venti- latois, declare quite emphatically in favor of them— especially friend Elwood. We hard- ly know how to account for the difference in testimony in regard to the value of these ventilators, unless it be because of the rela- tive warmth and dryness of the various cel- lars, or because of the length or size of the ventilators. Dr. Miller has assured us that, several times when his bees seemed to grow uneasy, he could quiet them by opening the ventilator. We are quite loth to give up the idea just yet, that the sub-earth ventila- tors are not necessary or useful.
Question 99. — a. How many colonies, according to your best judgment, can he wintered with reasonable asswance of success in a dry cellar, 10x10x6, frost- proof, with no special means of ventilation other than is afforded hy the usual cellar windows? b. How many cubic feet of space in a cellar do you regard as best suited for wintering 100 colonies, average strength?
Forty. H. B. Boabdman.
a. .lust as many as you can put in.
Daoant & Son.
You could safely winter 100 colonies in such a cel- lar. James Heddon.
I should say about 40. b. I should like at least 1:200 cubic feet. A. J. Cook.
a. 75 or HO. b. Not less than 1000; and in my judg- ment, 1200 or 1500 would be better.
Mrs. L. Harrison.
All other conditions being as they should be, KKI colonics can be wintered in a cellar of the size above mentioned. L. C. Root.
I am a Yankee, and guess with native freedom; but it would be carrying matters too far to guess t he answer to this. E. E. Hasty.
a. I do not like the proportion of the dimensions you give; six feet high does not suit me. I would sooner have it 10x6x10. b. This question is hard to answer. I have wintered successfully 350 colonies in a cellar about 30x85x8. Geo. Grimm.
All you can get in, providing you leave at least six inches of open space under each hive. Still, I prefer an alleyway through the center of the cel- lar, so I can pass from one end to the other occa- sionally to see that all is right.
G. M. Doolittle.
That will depend upon the temperature at which the cellar is kept, and the size of the hive they are kept in. Over 2.MI in Langstroth hivesmight be kept in such a cellar. I should not care for any special arrangements for ventilation in such a cellar, but should prefer to have not over 100 in a cellar of that size. Dr. A. B. Mason.
a. Two cellars may both answer the above de- scription, and yet be very unlike as to temperature and openness of wall and soil. Perhaps 40. b. The more the better. Perhaps 1500 cubic feet; but best arrangements for admitting plenty of pure air at right temperature might make a good deal less an- swer. (Mind you, 1 don't warrant my answers to 99. They are taken at " purchaser's risk.")
C. C. Miller.
a. This depends upon so many conditions that it is hard to answer. If there is a Are overhead, the air of the cellar will be changed quite rapidly, per- haps more rapidly than with some of the "special means " of ventilation. I should say, with the aver- age conditions, from thirty to fifty, b. The answer to this also depends upon the cellar. Some cellars require pretty heavy stocking to keep the proper temperature Properly arranged, a cellar of twice the above size would do. P. H. ELWOOD.
A cellar 10x10x6 will hold from 40 to 100 colonies ; and 1500 cubic feet seems to be about the capacity that is necessary in order to winter 100 colonies. This would make a cellar about 15x15x7. The answers to all these questions necessarily can not be ex- act ; but surely our veterans can get very much nearer the truth than the average be- ginner, who proposes to winter bees in the cellar, can guess at it.
1889
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
27
dm P0PE&
NOTES OF TRAVEL.
Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.— John 4: 14.
fHE Ojai hot-springs (pronounced Ohi) are 15 miles from Ventura, in the Ma- tilija canyon ; the mountain scenery is some of the grandest I have seen. Right opposite the hotel the mountain rises 1000 feet, almost perpendicular. Sev- eral objects of interest are found in the canyon, besides the springs. One of them,
THE DEVIL'S SLIDE, NEAR OJAI DOT SPRINGS, CAL
called the Devil's Slide, we have reproduced from a photograph. It looks as if the boys, by riding down with their sleds, cut a path, or track, clear from the top of the moun- tain down the whole 1000 feet, to the river below. This appearance is caused by a stratum of rocks of regular and even thick- ness being turned up edgewise, with rock projecting a little higher on either side.
The picture was taken when the trees were in full leaf ; but now the slide is visi- ble clear down to the water.
To Huber.— Papa is in a strange country now. The sun has just gone down, and it is only 2 o'clock, just 2 hours after dinner time. The man who lives here says in a few days it won't get up above the awful big mountain at all for more than six weeks. Behind us is a fountain where the water spurts right straight up, higher than the house ; and right down before us, around the great big clean white stones, is a spring where water just pours out that is smoking hot. Off up the creek a little way is another where the water is so hot vou can hardly bear your hand in it. The men have made a long wooden box to carry the water to a little house where there are a lot of bath-tubs. I just took a bath, and it was real fun, I tell you, to have a big lot of real warm water pour right on to you. It is a funny kind of water, that doesn't need any soap— no, not even for papa's head, and I think even mamma herself would say my head is very clean now. I don't think I ever looked quite so white before in my life. Up in this canyon is a great place to keep bees, and the honey the bees get is the nicest in the world. 1 saw the man who first found out it was a good place for honey. One year he got more than a hundred wagon-loads of honey from his own apiary. The road he made to draw the bees up and get the honey out, you would think an awful road. It just shakes a body's breath out to ride over it. Sometimes he would stay up there in the mountain gorge, all alone, for two weeks, and not see anybody at all. One of the bee-men hired a boy to work for him. His name was El- mer. Well, he used to leave Elmer all alone there to work, and he didn't see anybody at all for days. One day when they came up, Elmer asked them if they couldn't bring him a cat or a dog, or something that had " the breath of life in it," to keep him com- pany. They said one time he took the ax and chopped a great pile of wood, because he wanted something to do, and because he used to chop wood away back in his home, yet no- body wanted wood around here. Well, out here they have a great deal of trouble with bears. They come to the bee-hives and turn them over, and take their great paws and scoop out the bees and honey to eat. One time a bear spoiled so many hives that Mr. Shaw, the man who first went up here, stayed all night up in a tree, with his gun, to shoot him. He made a lit- tle house or cage up in the tree, so it the bear climbed up he could not get at him, and then they waited. About 11 o'clock, along came a great big grizzly bear, and com- menced to paw the hives to pieces. The two men in the tree shot him until he was. dead.
28
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
Jan.
They have a great many California rats here ; and where do you suppose they build their nests? Why, up in the tree- tops ; and the way they do it is, that each rat takes a stick in his mouth and walks up the tree. I saw lots of their nests. These rats are very busy folks ; they are always carrying something. A lady said the rats once got a habit of leaving a pile of sticks on her door- step every morning ; and to get rid of them, she used* them to kindle the fire to get breakfast ; and for a long time the rats gathered her kindlings every morning. Mr. Wilkin once lost his clock-key, and found the rats had carried it up garret and put it in an old stovepipe. They make their nests usually in walnut-trees, where it is handy to gather walnuts. Mr. Shaw says there is a place up near his apiary where the ground is so hot, winter and summer, that you can hardly stand on it.
GENERAL NOTES.
1 supposed, of course, the heat from these hot-springs was caused by volcanic agency ; but the proprietor says it is supposed to be caused by chemical action. These moun- tains are full of minerals ; and when the water from the rains passes over a certain chemical it becomes impregnated, and then dissolves another of just the right kind. Thus great heat is given out. Sulphuric- acid and water, when mixed in the right proportions, will become boiling hot. I think one of the prominent chemicals in this water is a salt of iron. I can not see, how- ever, how this should produce that hot spot in the ground, which Mr. Shaw spoke of.
( 'astor beans here form trees ; and even the beautiful fuschia is a hard-wood tree. Imagine a tree covered with fuschia blos- soms, more beautiful, larger, and more per- fect, than those in greenhouses at home. The century - plant also blooms here. In passing a garden I asked what kind of a tree it was that loomed above all the rest.
" Why, that is the flower-stalk of the cen- tury-plant,** was the reply, r^
" But it isn't possible,1' said I, "that this great tree all grew in one season?'*
" Mr. Root, that great tree all grew in just a few weeks,^ was the answer. After it blooms, the plant dies. The one I saw was said to be about 30 years old. The plant had been all these years accumulating material for this grand finale— the sending-up of the blossom and seed-stalk. I am impressed with the thought that we are something like the century-plant. We are, during this life, accumulating knowledge, and strength of character, for some grand finale in the great future; but while the century-plant dies down after it, we are tohave," life eter- nal."
Dec. 1. Through the kindness of friend Wilkin and Mr. and Mrs. Mercer, I have again had a most pleasant drive through the country to Santa Paula. While there we had a sort of bee-keeper's picnic. I was greatly pleased to meet no less a personage than J.G.Cory, the inventor of the Cory cold blast smoker, who was a resident of the place. Our older readers will remember the story of friend Cory's kind present. Bufus Toucbton, who has written some for
Gleanings, is also a resident of Santa Paula. The great center of the oil regions of Ventura (Jo. is here. A single one of the storing-tanks is 100 feet in diameter, and 25 feet high. From the pipes coming in from different wells, 2000 barrels of oil daily is emptied into this immense tank. While we were there, by an accident to one of the pipes the oil flowed over the ground so that the men had to turn out with shov- els and clam it up until it could be secured. There is quite an extensive oil refinery here. The boilers for working their immense pumps are run with oil as fuel. Between Ventura and Santa Paula are immense farms for corn and barley, and excellent corn was seen all along the way, piled up in im- mense heaps in the field. ( "orn-shellers, run by steam, shell and bag it. Plowing is mostly done by a gang of three or four plows drawn by four or six horses. The valley is one of the finest for fruit and grain, that will succeed without irrigation, of any that I have seen. Apricot and English- walnut orchards occupy mile after mile of the land. Great evaporating- houses for the fruit are seen at intervals all along. Immense corn- cribs, without any roofs, are also found, but I believe the best farmers cover their corn in the winter time. Cattle and horses sel- dom have any roofs over them on the farms. They say, when they have sheds, the ani- mals never go under them, even in winter, when it rains. It usually rains in the night time, and sunshine is the rule every day in the year. It has rained nearly all of one day since I have been here, but I am told the like has not happened before, since three years ago. Winter and STimmer are very much alike, only the days are shorter iii winter. It seems odd to have this beautiful spring weather, and yet see the clays so short. The sun rises now about 7 and sets about 4.
Dec. ^.—Another glorious Sabbath day. I got acquainted with the pastor of the Ven- tura Congregational church on Saturday; but as he was prevented by sudden illness from preaching, it was suggested, as it was late to go to other churches, that we have a prayer and devotional meeting, instead of the regular services, and very soon it was suggested a stranger from Ohio was present, who was quite a Christian worker, and the leader called upon uBro. Hoot'* to tell us something of Christian work in Ohio. At the close a number gathered around me as before, and I tell you it made me feel happy to hear different ones say they knew me be- cause they had read my writings. I felt happy to remember that almost every thing T have ever written, told, sooner or later, for Christ Jesus. At the opening of the Sun- day-school I was assigned the Bible-class ; and learning there was a mission school two miles away that the pastor usually took charge of, by the kindness of friend Mercer we were on hand at half-past two. The key to the schoolhonse was lost, however, and the crowd gathered there had to postpone the school and go home. We got back to town just in time to atteud'a meeting of the Y. M. C. A., and a most able talk was given us by one of the merchants. The attend
1889
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
29
ance was good, and almost all took part. After this we attended the Endeavor Socie- ty, and the leader very soon called on " Bro. Root." The attendance here was nearly all young ladies. The lender told me they were sorry that they had so far been unable to get many of the young men interested. They sent very kiud messages to the Society in Medina. They take the Golden Bute, and think much of it. The leader mentioned in my talk with her that she had but little time to spare, as three of them had in charge a Chinese Sunday-school, and the pupils were probably waiting for them then. I begged to go along, and, on account of a vacancy, 1 was called upon to explain the lesson to a lot of Chinese brothers. Yes, brothers they are, no matter how they came here, or what the purpose. They answered questions quite freely ; and when the teacher told them to let the stranger see how well they could write on the blackboard, they expressed their gratitude to me by well-worded and neatly written sentences in our language. Then they wrote for me in Chinese. At the close of the school they repeated the Lord's prayer, first in English and then in Chinese ; and after the school was over, one of them gave me some of their tea from a beautiful China teapot, kept warm in a padded flannel cushioned basket. The Chinese here are very neatly and cleanly dressed, and the boys in the school were, most of them, in- telligent, fine-looking fellows. I questioned them pretty closely in my talk with them in the class, and the teacher tells me they told the truth when they said they did not drink, swear, nor steal. She also says Chinamen always pay their debts, and seldom waste time in idleness As I talked with them I thought of Bro. Ament* and his labors ; and when I walked home, pretty well tired with the labors of the day, you need not be sur- prised when I tell you I had one of those bright experiences that seem to give a glimpse of the heaven that awaits those who delight in being servants of the Lord. Why, the delight in meeting with such beautiful and grand Christian characters as I have met to-day, both among the men and women, is enough to make one break forth in praises to God ; and it is not to-day only, but every Sunday since I have left home •. and the probability is, that 1 should be able to rind more like them in every town and city, were 1 to travel months and yearn, for I have had the peace of God in my own heart, and this has helped me to find Christian people, and to appreciate their good qualities when found. Does some one suggest that, if I were to live by these people day after day, I would think differently of them? God for- bid ! The person who lias in himself the " living water,1' "springing up into everlast- ing life," will always find good neighbors, no matter where he is. Dear reader, what kind of neighbors are round about you f Dec. 3. — To Huber. Where papa is now.
* The pastor of our church. He has been with us tor about four years. The most of his life previous to that time was spent in China. His people, how- ever, kept sending so continually lor him to come back that he left us a few months ago to resume his labors at his old home
the men who ride on horses carry long leath- er ropes, called lassoes, that they can throw so true as to catch a cow or a horse that is running away, or even catch a man if they want to. These horses with lassoes attach- ed to their saddles are almost always stand- ing hitched in the town ; and whenever a team runs away, one of the Spaniards is sure to lasso the horses and stop them be- fore they have gone very far. They have a slip noose in the end of the long leather rope, that they throw over the head or catch the heels of the cow or horse. Some time ago a couple of Spaniards were riding along, and a great grizzly bear came at them. As quick as a wink one horseman threw his lasso over the bear's head, and tried to choke him ; but the bear chased the man and horse until the other man lassoed one of his hind legs. Then they had Mr. Bear in a fix. When he tried to get one man, the other held him off; and if he tried to get the oth- er, he held him off. In this wTay they tired him out, and really brought him into town, to the great delight of all the town people, especially the small boys. The horses the Spaniards ride are trained so that, when their rider throws a lasso, they brace them- selves and pull with all their might to hold a cow or horse ; in fact, they say they rather like the fun. They tell you here that, if a bear chases you, you must not try to get away by running down hill or up hill, but just run along the side-hill ; and as the bear's legs are not made for side-hill run- ning, he will tumble down and roll over every once in a while ; and this takes so much time that the man can get away from him.
Dec. 3, just before going to bed. Here I am, away up in a little notch amid the mountains. Of all the winding, tortuous roads, I never before traversed one like this. I am staying with Mr. Thomas Arundel, or better known by the bee-men as " Tommy Irondale." Bee-keepers have been pushed back by the fruit-men until many of them have gone way back, where the bees can't intrude or hinder, and in this way friend A. has found his pleasant home. When he found his bees here in .this wild glen gave more and better honey than any of the rest, he persuaded a charming girl, with energy and determination like his own, to share his lot ; and here, three miles or more from any neighbors, they have reared their children, four in number. The oldest is now about 7. It seemed odd indeed to find so pleasant a home after three miles of crooks and turns, without seeing a house ; and when my neat little room was assigued me, with its many little evidences of feminine taste, so cosy and snug and pretty, I could hardly feel as if 1 deserved it. 1 felt like saying, "A. I. Root, what have you done to entitle you to the best of every thing everywhere you go ? Why should these good people labor and toil to fix up nice pleasant homes, and then place them at your disposal ? " To tell the truth, I do feel every day as if I deserved no such kindness ; but every little while I get a hint of why I am thus honored. As we turned the last curve, and came out through the leafy trees in sight of the cot-
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Jan.
tage, friend A. spoke of what I had written in regard to finding that spring of water, of mv talk about hydraulic rams, and the wind- mill, and of a pet project of his own to bring that babbling brook to his house, just above us ; and then I saw that Gleanings had been read*, and my investigations had been eagerly followed by many I did not then know, and in homes I at the time had mi knowledge of. Later, when I heard how the good mother had taken these little ones to Sunday-school at the schoolhouse, three miles away, even when a California lion glared at them through the bushes on their way home, I remembered too of the times when I, in my poor way, had tried to tell of the " living water," " springing up into everlasting life," and that, in all prob- ability, the dear ones in this home too had been interested, and may be had been helped in that way. Prominently on the neat little stand on which I write is a little Bible, evidently placed there by the same hand that fixed the rest of the room so trim and neat, feeling sure that Mr. Root would want it. May God be praised for this act. I do want it ; I want it while I live, and I want it when I die. I want it always near me. Dear reader, I haven't room to tell you of all these homes ; but this one is a sample of most of them, and I hope I may never forget to pray for the dear brothers and sisters T have found here in California. During the day I visited the Sespe Apiary, illustrated in tlie A B C book. Friend Wil- kin now no longer owns it, but it has been turned over to a bright muscular young Ca- nadian, who not only gives it excellent care, but cares for friend W.'s youngest daughter also, and the two handsome children God has given them. Young Mclntyre has the best kept apiary and honey-house I have so far found in California. He brings in the combs to extract on a two-wheeled cart. The cart contains two boxes for holding the combs with cloth covers to keep out robbers. The cloth is fastened to the box at one edge, and a stick i-; fastened to the other edge, heavy enough to keep the wind from blowing it away. I will describe his can for holding the cappings*at some future time, with suitable engravings. As I passed through Santa Paula, Rufus Touchton handed me a box of beautiful large straw- berries. All the bee-friends seem to know of my interest in strawberries, and I was a good deal "touched'' by the compliment and courtesy.
AN OPTICAL ILLUSION.
When you are driving on a level road that runs straight toward a range of mountains, when about a mile away from the moun- tains you will feel sure you are going down hill. Even when going up hill toward the mountains I was so sure it was down that I became almost tried with my friends when they declared it was not down. In fact, I could not believe it until we came to a stream of water, and I was then startled to
* The most prominent thing in friend Arundel's library is volumes of Glean incs. neat ly bound, and lettered on the back in home-made binding: and lettering.
find it running up hill ! If you turn about, however, and look behind you, every thing looks right. Old residents learn to allowr for this deception; but new comers are very much astonished.
December 4-— To Huber. O Huber ! I wish you could be with papa just a few min- utes. All around me are the great moun- tains, with the sun shining on their peaks. Befoie me is a beautiful green tree, just splendid with loads of red berries. Beside me are Frankie and his sister, and Norman is drawing his wagon up the hill, and Louisa is the baby. The boys are bareheaded and barefooted right here in the winter. They are asking me why I did not bring Huber along. I have just been up the canyon a mile or more to see a beautiful waterfall. The water comes down from about as high as the chimney to our house ; and the funny part of it is, that the water itself has made a trough on the back side of the falls, so it just slides down. The water is of a kind that covers every thing with stone. I had to climb like every thing to get up to the fall ; but as the buggy was waiting for me, I skipped back down the rocks pretty lively. I feel real strong and wrell and happy. The buggy is waiting now, so I must stop writ- ing and bid the little prattlers and their mamma good-by. Off wre go among the great mountains again, and tind another bee-man. There are. lots of bears around here, and they trouble the bee-keepers. I have just been looking at a big oak-tree that has great scars on its bark, made by abear's claws. Mr. Reasoner had bad luck with his bees one year, so that only 11 colonies were left. Well, an old bear came every night and clawed the honey out until only one of the 11 was left, and Mr. R. wanted so bad to keep that one that he hung it up in the tree by a rope, so high the old bear could not reach it. lie could not carry it away, for the bees that were gathering honey would be lost ; but if it were hung up they could find it. Well, that night the bear came after more honey ; and as he could not reach that last hive, he clawed up the tree and com- menced to slide down on the rope, to get the bees. Now, the rope held the hive very well, but it wouldn't hold a big bear too, and so it broke, and down came bear, bees, and all. I guess he must have been some- what astonished ; but he gathered himself up and ate all the honey, and then went off. As he had now got the last one, Mr. R. thought he wouldn't come any more ; but back he came the next night. Well, the bees that had no hives wanted to work some- where, and so they went into the bee-house near by, and built some combs under the clock-shelf, and, don't you believe that that old bear smelled the honey under the clock- shelf and wanted that too? but as the hon- ey-house was shut up and locked, he could not get in ; but he made a hole in one cor- ner with his teeth and clawrs until he could get one paw through, and then he reached in as far as he could and tried to claw down that last bit of honey the poor bees had made. 1 saw the place where he made the hole in the bee-house.
And now it is night again, and papa is
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away off alone in the wilderness waiting for a train. The train never stops here unless some one burns a newspaper and waves it across the track to let them see that some- body wants to get on. As it is awful dark, and papa has got to wait over an hour, he has built a fire of sticks, and the kiotes have come up as near the fire as they dare, and are making an awful barking and growling. Papa is almost afraid some bad men might see the fire, and come to rob him. Pretty soon he hears somebody. It is a man who has been up in the mountains digging gold, and he shows papa by the light of the fire the gold he dug to-day. Pretty soon an- other awful big man comes up, swearing fearfully, because he says nobody will give him work, and he hasn't any money. Papa is awful glad the other man is there, and he gives the bad man a real good talking-to, because he swears so bad. Then the bad man pulls out a bottle of whisky and wants us to drink ; but when he finds we are both temperance men he goes off in the dark, swearing harder, and saying he never saw two such men before in his life, that won't drink when somebody offers to give it to them ! Just here the old locomotive came in sight; the gold miner waved the burning paper, and we were soon in the cars among nice people. In just a few minutes more we stopped at a nice town where supper was all ready, and a man was pounding a gong to get us to come in and eat it. Now just think how funny ! This gold miner knows Uncle Hen's cousin, and he is going to help me to find him. He also asked me to go with him out in the mountains and see him dig gold, but I don't think I shall have time.
Dec. 5.— There are now but few small bee- keepers in California— at least I have not found them. I have visited nearly a dozen apiaries, and few of them are less than 300. Most of them admit that a smaller number would do better in one locality, but the con- venience of having all in one place overbal- ances. Most of them live in the towns, and have their bees located in the mountains, and look after them only occasionally, ex- cept during the honey-flow. Mclntyre, Arundel, the Reasoner Bros., our old friend Lechler (who gave us that wonderful report some years ago), Marple, and Sniflin, all live near their bees. I am greatly indebted to the first three for leaving their work and pass- ing me from one to the other, over and through the mountains, and up the can- yons. A good many, I find, are discard- ing the hexagonal apiary, or, rather, modi- fying it so as to have the hives stand in dou- ble rows, radiating from a common center like the spokes of a wheel. The alley form- ed between the double rows is for running a cart or wheelbarrow through, for carrying the honey to the honey-house, the entrances to the hives being all turned outward, so that the operator and cart never stand in the way of the flight of the bees. Friend Reas- oner has grapevines also, planted near the hives for shade, with this form of apiary. His hives are all neatly painted. Friend Lechler has his in long rows under live-oak trees, and says he always gets most honey
from hives in densest shade. This is an im- portant item. Another thing in favor of shade-trees is, that they take the strength (or moisture) from the ground so thorough- ly that no weeds grow, aud the ground un- der the trees is as clean as a floor. Almost all agree that, where many hives are all alike, the bees are constantly going into the hives on the outside of the apiary. I think this should be corrected by having the hives made more unlike in some way.
Friend Reasoner helped me to ascend the first big mountain. I say helped, for I could not well have done it alone. I wanted to see the end, or termination, of a canyon, so we took a light cart, or sulky, and a big strong horse. When the horse began to get tired he walked while 1 drove along on the wind- ing slope, all the time on the edge of a frightful abyss. When the horse got tired with me alone, I too went afoot until we came to the dividing ridge. Here the can- yon ends ; but right over the edge of the sharp ridge another canyon begins, taking the water in an opposite direction, and thus it is there are no mountains without their accompanying water-courses.
Well, my friend said he would stay with the horse on the ridge, while I walked along it until I came to a higher elevation, a real mountain peak. Strange to tell, the ground on these mountain peaks is soft and yield- ing, and mellow enough for a beautiful gar- den. As I went up, up, the sides became steeper ; and as I gazed into the frightful abyss all around I became dizzy ; then my throat began to be dry and to smart, and finally my ears began to feel strangely on account of the rarity of the air. Once I be- gan to think of going back, as my breath got so short ; then I discovered a faint path across the side-hill at an angle, and this I found much easier. Spanish bayonets were all around me, and their leaves were so sharp they went right through my clothing, so I had to pick my way. The summit is finally reached, and from the dizzy height I see only other summits like my own, in ev- ery direction except toward the ocean. I could not see its waters, but there seemed a sort of vacancy in that direction. All around was one vast solitary ruin of nature. My friend and his horse looked like rats, and yet they were up miles from the valley below. I was surprised to find these moun- tain peaks quite well frequented by different kinds of wild animals, as was evident by their excrement, which was so plentiful and some of it of such large size I guessed it must have been from bears and mountain lions, as well as wildcats and smaller animals. I do not know what should call them to these extreme peaks. I judged they were mostly flesh-eating animals. .Mountains are won- derfully deceptive to the uninitiated. Mr. Mclntyre told me a peak before the house was two miles away, when it was apparently right close by. I could not lvalize it until he pointed out some animals near its sum- mit, and asked me what they were. They were little specks that I thought might be small pigs until he told me they were cows. Again, we often came to the " end of the road," apparently. The mountain was sure-
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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
Jan.
Iy entire, and without any crevice or open- ing; vet as we went on, before you knew how it came about, a canyon opened, where, a few minutes before, was the clear smooth mountain-side.
Givntinm ii Jan. to.
Gleanings in Bee Culture.
Published Semi- Monthly.
-&.. I. HOOT,
EDITOR AND PUBLISHER,
IwIEnDiaT-A., OHIO.
TERMS: $1.00 PER YEAR, POSTPAID.
For Glutting Bates, See First Page of Beading Matter.
Is/SIEIOIlSr^, T-^IfcT- 1, 1889.
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to ever lasting, thou art God Psalm 90: •>.
Renewals are coming in rapidly and promptly, for which we tender thauks. We have 8442 names.
Many kind expressions come in in regard to the biographical sketches. See Kind Words elsewhere.
MY VISIT TO CALIFORNIA.
These notes of travel will occupy considerable space in several issues yet— probably until March 1.
A WEDDING-CARD.
The following announcement, gotten up in the latest style of the art, comes to hand:
Married, Thursday, December twenty-seventh, 1XX8, Husted, N. Y., Julia ('. Collin. Geo. H. Knickerbocker.
We extend our hearty congratulations.
LOSS BY FIRE.
We are advised that the first installment of the Langstroth Revised was destroyed by fire while in the book-bindery. As a consequence, the work will not appear as soon as it was anticipated. The loss was covered by insurance, and the delay will be of comparatively short duration.
DEVICES FOR CARRYING HIVES.
We have received a host of letters on the sub- ject as above— more than we expected. We extend our thanks to one and all. The most of the de- vices for the purpose are quite similar in principle. We hope to illustrate one or two of the best soon; but for the present it will hardly be worth your while to send in more suggestions.
AT HOME AGAIN.
1 am once more (Dec. 20) at home again. The past few weeks seem so much like a dream that every little while I have to shake myself and look around tc make sure that I am in wintry Medina instead of away off in California, the land of per- petual flowers and sunshine. I am glad T am here, though, after all.
THE IONOTUM TOMATO.
Ever so many have been asking whether the seed of this tomato is all gone yet. To be sure, it is not. We had about 510) packages prepared to give away to our readers, and I do not think we have given away 1000 so far. Every subscriber of Glean- ings who raises tomatoes may have a sample
package, simply by asking for it when they re- new, or telling us on a postal card at any other time.
GARDEN-SEEDS FOR 1889.
Not only in Florida, but in California and other points in the West and Southwest, we are having quite a little call for garden-seeds, and we accord- ingly submit a list with prices in this issue. I am experimenting with and testing pretty much all of the novelties, but I have not found any of them sufficiently satisfactory to warrant me in giving them a place in our list, exceept those already men- tioned. I would say, however, that some of the new things will be recommended if they behave as well another season as they have during the past.
ACCEPTABLE MATTER FOR GLEANINGS.
There is a big pile of copy on our desk, awaiting insertion. It can't all find a place, and, according to the rule of the survival of the fittest, nome of it we fear will have to go unprinted. At times we have so much copy that even good and valuable matter shares a similar fate. Remember, our space for articles, especially long ones, is limited; but we will make room for short pithy items. Questions are always acceptable when briefly stated, and when written upon a separate slip of paper. Don't expect an answer— at least, not immediately, if you mix your questions up with other matter.
PROFESSIONAL MEN IN OUR RANKS.
Concerning the biographical sketches and the portraits in the ABC form in last issue, one of our correspondents, G. C. Hughes, Pipestem, W. Va., well says: " After a glance at the intelligent faces, one would suppose that the members of the bee- fraternity are second to none — not even those of the legal profession." Very true, and yet it is not surprising; for there are lawyers, doctors (lots of 'em), professors, ministers, and, and— even editors (beg pardon) in our ranks. Of the non-professional men with us, we need not be ashamed. We have great reason to be proud of our representative bee- keepers. They would and do adorn and honor al- most any calling.
ERRATUM.
On page 961, Deo. 15, just below the diagram, in- stead of the expression, " Now, the mountains in the table lands," it should read, " Now, the moun- tains composing our great mountain ranges," etc. The idea is, where we find mountains composed of regular level strata, it indicates that the surround- ing land and rocks have been washed or worn away; whereas the real mountains proper have their strata tipped obliquely, and sometimes clear up to the perpendicular, indicating that they have been thrown up by earthquakes or volcanic action. In Arizona and New Mexico the mouniains like the diagram are quite common; but in California, along the Rooky Mountains, and through Utah and Colorado, they are of the other sort— see p. 27. Of course, the action of the wind and water is con- stantly wearing down and modifying both kinds.
POTATOES— DOES THE VARIETY HAVE ANY INFLU- ENCE ON THEIR ROTTING ?
I have always been a little skeptical in regard to this matter until the past season. On our creek- bottom ground we raised tremendous crops of Early Ohio, Early Pearl, Lee's Favorite, and Em- pire State, with scarcely a rotten potato in several
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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURK.
38
hundred bushels. Well, right on the same ground we planted one row of a choice variety of potatoes sent us to be tested. When the hands were dig- ging the others I thought 1 would dig this new variety. Now, although there was a very good show of tops when they were green, imagine my surprise to find not a potato of any kind or size in the first hill. When the second hill turned out the same way. I called the boys to know what the mat- ter was. The reply was, 'They all rotted quite a spell ago ; " and on looking closely I found the remains of what had been potatoes. I did nottind a potato fit to cook, for a sample, in the whole row. It seems to me that this settles the matter, that some varieties of potatoes are much more disposed to rot than others: and 1 shall have to tell my friend that his new seedling is not a success in our locality. As our potatoes were on rather low ground, and we have had an unusual amount of rain this season, during a dry season the result may not be the same.
CALIFORNIA CLIMATE FOB HEALTH.
I never in my life weighed more than about 130 pounds, without my overcoat; but on my return from California I pulled down 142 strong. I occa- sionally take my before-dinner nap; but I am feel- ing so well most of the time that it is hard for me to sleep. And those spells of nervous prostration, which I have mentioned, have disappeared almost entirely, even if I work steadily in the office all the forenoon. Very likely, however, rambling over the mountains in the open air, and being outdoors almost all the time, would have almost as beneficial an effect in our climate as it would have in Cali- fornia. There is this about Southern California, however: Their climate is such, even in the winter time, that most people prefer to be outdoors the greater part of the time; and even while indoors, the doors and windows are open so much there is but little danger from suffering from stagnated at- mosphere. Another thing: The greater part of the buildings have more or less openings that admit pure air, even if one should forget to open the doors and windows. I heard a good many object to having houses lathed and plastered, because the lath and plaster cut off the circulation of the air, more or less. Our stenographer adds, by way of a joke, "'Climate is good, but 'climbit ' is better."
{SPECIE ]^ICEg.
A BIG BARGAIN IN LETTER, NOTE, AND STATE- MENT HEADS ; ALSO LABELS OF GLAZED PAPERS.
A paper firm near us has recently become insol- vent, in consequence of which we have secured some very fine label stock, also letter and note paper, statements and bill-heads. Any of our readers who are in need of any thing in this line will do well to write for samples and prices.
CHEESE-CLOTH AND COTTON SHEETING AT A BAR- GAIN, n We use both the above fabrics in making strain- ers and covers for our honey-extractors. In mak- ing an order recently, we, by a misuse of terms, got more than we intended. We accordingly offer it to our readers as follows: Cheese-cloth, 5 cts. per yard; 10 yards, 45 cts. By the piece of 60 yards, 3!_ cts. per yard. This is 36 inches wide. Cotton sheeting, 36 inches wide, weighing 11 lbs. to the piece of 40 yards, 8 cts. per yard; 10 yards, 75 cts.
By the piece of 40 yards, 7 cts. per yard. 11 you would like to see what you are getting before you order, we can mail you a small sample on applica- tion. _____
THE CHICAGO SINGER SEWING-MACHINE.
Our readers will remember that, in our premium list issued with the Nov. 15th number of G lean- ings, we devoted a full page to the above ma- chine, offering them as premiums, also for cash. Several of our readers somehow got the impression that it was an advertisement inserted by us for the manufacturers of the machine, and have been writing them direct, only to have their letters for- warded to us for reply. We wish to say that the company do not sell the machines retail, but only through newspapers and journals. If you wish to know any thing further than we have said in re- gard to them in premium list, please write to us, not to the company in Chicago.
REDUCTION IN THE PRICE OF BOXWOOD POCKET- RULES.
We have just laid in a new supply of pocket-rules, and can offer you better value for the money than ever before. The following is our complete list, with prices :
Post. Name and description. Price. 10 100
,— _ 2 | RULE, 1-FOOT, FOUR FOLD, round joint, No. 69
5 | 45 | 4 40 This is the verv same rule we have been selling: for years at 10 ets. each. We have now trot them flown to the live-cent counter.
3 I RULE, 1-FOOT, FOUR FOLD, SaUARE JOINT, EDGE
PLATES, No. 64 10 1 84 | 8 00
This has much stronger joints than the five-cent one ; other- wise it is no different.
3 | RULE, 2-FOOT, FOUR FOLD, SQUARE JOINT,
No. 61 10 | 84 | s 00
An excellent rule tor the money, has better joints than our old 10-cent one.
4 I RULE, 2-FOOT, FOUR FOLD, HALF BOUND,
No. 84 25 | 2 10| 20 oo
This is the very rule we have sold tor years at 35c. It is brass bound on the outside edges.
•"> | RULE, 2-FOOT, FOUR FOLD, No 60, double-arch joint, lull brass bound 35 | 3 10 | 30 00
This is our new35-cent rule; is much better than the old, and I don't believe you will find it sold anywhere else for less than 60 cents.
6 | RULE. 2-FOOT, i FOLD, 1% in.. No. 78J4 50 ] 4 20 | 40 00
This is the best rule of its size made. It is just like the 35- cent one, except it is \% wide, closed, while the 35-cent one is 1 inch.
3 | RULE, 2-FOOT, 6 FOLD, No. 58. Arch joint and edge
plates 35 | 3 00 | 28 00
Closes to 4 inches in length, which is sometimes convenient.
3 | RULE, 1-FOOT, CALIPER, No. 32, arch joint, four
fold 25 | 2 10 | 20 00
We formerly sold this rule for ^50 cts. j but for a year or two at 35; v we have it down to 35.
4 | RULE, 1-F00T.CALIPER, No. 32&, arch joint, brass
bound, fourfold 35 | 3 10 | 30 00
This is the same as the 25-cent one, but is brass bound, and the best rule of its size made.
4 | RULE, 1-FOOT, CALIPER, TWOFOLD,
No. 365-. 25 | 2 10 | 20 00
This is a very convenient rule sometimes, as it will caliper .'■ inches.
2 | RULE, 6-INCH, CALIPER, TWO FOLD,
No. 36 15 | 1 40 | 13 50
We sold this for years at 25 cents; afterward at 80; now it is down to 15 cents.
All the above rules are made of boxwood, by the .Stanley Rule and Level Co., who have the highest reputation for this class of goods of any manufacturers we know of.
, Om- sales in 1888 'rfmWf those of 1887. ,Why? Because we "sell only the Best,a,\
S Reasonable Prices.
EED POT AT OES. large stock, great variety. Small Fruit Plants and Trees. Catalogue Free. FRANK FOltM A SONS, Ravenna, Ohio.
WANTED.— To exchange 250 colonies of bees, for horses, mules, watrons, buggies, and 4 h. p. en- fine, or any thing useful on a plantation, ltfd Anthony Opp, Helena, Phillips Co., Ark.
::i
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
-Ian.
J. FORNCROOK & CO.,
MANI'KACTI'HKKS UK THE
BOSS ONE-PIECE SECTIONS.
W
ILL furnish you. the coining- season, ONE- PIBCE SECTIONS as cheap as the cheapest. WRITE FOR PRICES. U'atertown. Wis , .Ian. I. 18S9. Id
,..ll.i ;ulV(-l1istf!llunt mention fi LEANING!
HEflDQUHRTERS IK THE WEST
FOB THE MAOTFACTUBE AND SALE OF
Bee-Keepers' Supplies.
CHAFF AND SIMPLICITY HIVES FURNISHED AT A GREAT REDUCTION IN PRICE. A full line of supplies always on hand. Also Ital- ian queens and bees at a very low price. Send for large illustrated price list. l-23d
A. F. Stauffer, Sterling, III.
tyin responding to this advertisement mention Gleanings.
FOR THE SEASON OF I889.
Headquarters in the South.
ELEVENTH ANNUAL CATALOGUE NOW READY.
The only steam-factory erected in the South, ex- clusively for the manufacture of Bee-Keepers' Supplies.
ITALIAN QUEENS.
Tested, ready in March. Untested, by April 1st. Contracts taken with dealers for the delivery of a certain number of queens per week, at special figures.
FOUR -FRAME NUCLEUS,
with pure Italian queen, containing 3 pounds of bees when secured— in April and May, $4.00; after, 25 cts. less. Safe arrival and satisfaction guaran- teed on all queens and nuclei.
For more particulars, send for Eleventh Annual Catalogue.
P. L. VIALLON,
Bayou Coula, Iberville Parish, La.
I "In responding to tnis advertisement mention Gleanings.
DADANT'S FOUNDATION FACTORY, WHOLESALE AND RETATL. See advertisement in another column
WE ARE READY
To fill orders for Apiarian Supplies cheaper than the cheapest. Those in want will please write for price list and sample sections. Address Id J. B. MURRAY, Ada, Ohio.
01 TFITS for making 2-Ounce Shaving Sec- tions, consisting of one Form and a sample Frame of 20 Sections made up, ready to lift off the Form; also enough Veneer to make 1.000 Sections. All packed, and delivered at the Express Office, for 82.60. Ad.lress W. II \IC Ml IC.
411 Eighth St., Manistee, Mich.
^^NDTNOWiT
for my 1889 price list of supplies. 4-piece poplar and basswood sections at $:i.5i> to $3.00 per M. Poplar sections for the new Heddon hive a specialty. Price lists out Feb. 1st. H. P. LANG DON,
3-6db East Constable, Frank. Co., N. Y.
I r I ii responding t.. Mils advertisement mention Gleanings.
*<IMew Orleans Apiary.X
Three hundred colonies of Italian and Carniolan Bees for sale at a low price, all in Langstroth hives. No rent to purchasers for the location, or will sell in small lots, to be shipped in the spring.
Address J. \V. WINDER,
l-2d New' Orleans, La.
j3TIn responding to this advertisement mention Gleanings!
if
THE REVIEW.
??
THE BEE KEEPERS' REVIEW for Dec. has four extra pages— twenty in all. Upon the first page is a brief history of the " Review," also an excellent
PORTRAIT OF ITS EDITOR
—one of those beautiful Ives reproductions. The special topic of this issue is: "Sections and their Adjustment on the Hives," and it is handled by such men as Jas. Heddon, Dr. C. C. Miller, R. L. Taylor, Oliver Foster, and Dr. G. L. Tinker. A copy of this issue will be cheerfully sent free to all who apply. Price of the " Review " 50 cts. a year.
The Production of Comb Honey.
Although this neat little book contains only 45 pages, it furnishes as much practical, valuable in- formation as is often found in a book of twice its size. It is " boiled down."
It begins with taking the bees from the cellar and goes over the ground briefly, clearly and concisely, until the honey is off the hives ; touching upon the most important points; and especially does it teach when, where and how foundation can be used to the best advantage; when combs are preferable, and when it is more profitable to allow the bees to build their own combs. Price of the book, 25 cts.
SPECIAL OFFERS.
For 65 cts. we will send the Review one year and "The Production of Comb Honey." For $1.00 we will send all the numbers of the Review for the past year (1888), the Review for this year (1889) and the " Production of Comb Honey;" or, for the same amount ($1.00), we will send the Review for two years from Jan. 1st, 1889, and "The Production of Comb Honey." Stamps taken, either U. S. or Can- adian. Address ltfdb
W. Z. HUTCHINSON, Flint, Mich.
tyin responding to this advertisement mention Gleanings.
Wants or Exchange Department.
Notices will be inserted under this head at one-half our usual rates. All ad's intended for this department must not exceed 6 lines, and you must sat you want your ad. in this de- partment, or we will not be responsible for any error. You can have the notice as many lines as you please; but all over Ave lines will cost you according to our regular rates. This department is intended only for bona-flde exchanges. Ex- changes for cash or for price lists, or notices offering articles for sale can not be inserted under this head For such our reg- ular rates of 20 cts. a line will be charged, and they will be put with the regular advertisements.
WANTED.— To exchange for extracted honey, a 10 h. p. horizontal engine, worth $200. I will give somebody a rare bargain. Speak quick. 15tfdb C. H. Smith, Pittsfleld, Mass.
WANTED.— To exchange one section machine (of A. I. Root's make), which has been in use but little, for bees, honey, or bee supplies. 24tfdb
E. Y. Perkins, Jefferson. Greene Co., Iowa.
WANTED.— One trio Brown Leghorn Rose-comb chickens, and one trio White Leghorn Rose- comb chickens. Peter Metz, Poplar Grove, Ark.
ANTED.— To exchange apiarian supplies for printing to the amount of about $25.00. ltfdb Wm. H. Bright, Mazeppa, Wabasha Co., Minn.
ANTED.— Japanese buckwheat. Send sample, price, and state quantity to sell. 1-d
S. M. Isbell & Co., Jackson, Mich.
1889
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
Contents of this Number,
Apiarian Exhibits 43, 47
Apple Honey 58
Bark-lice, Apple-tree 43
Bees under Clapboards (12
Bees and Neighbors 54
Bee, Dot Goming— Poem 47
Bee-sting Remedies 51
Bee, The Coming, in Sight. . 69
Beetles, Tiger 49
Buckwheat, Jap., for Hon'y. 68 Canning factories v. Bees... 55
Caves vs. Cellars 41
Cellars vs. Caves for Bees.. 41 Colonies, 600 per Sq. Mile.. . . 50
Commission Men 52
Corrugated Covers 56
Editorial 68
Exhibits at Fairs 47
Frames. Dimensions of 69
Garden Story 44
Glass Sections, Round 42
Harrison, Mrs., at Home f)3
Heads of Grain 57
Hives, Painting 51
Hives, Win'gin Bottomless. 57 Hive-cart 62
Hive-covers. Corrugated... 56
Honey from Apple 58
Honey, Securing Comb 55
Honey, To Sell 62
Honey exhibits 47
Jaffa, Letter from 50
Lice on Apple-trees 43
Notes and Queries 63
Notes of Travel 64
Orange Honey 50
Pig Story 62
Plans for Fair-buildings 48
Queens, Caging Surplus 68
Question No. 39 51
Reports Encouraging 63
Sections of Glass 42
Sections, Size of 57
Shelves for Exhibits *. 48
Skunks and Bees 65
Syria, Letter from 60
Temperature, Low..(Q. B.). 69
Tiger Beetles 49
Ventilation, Sub-earth 45
Vinegar, Cider v. Honey 57
Whitewood for Hives 58
Wintering, Mode... (.Q. B.). 60
w
Wants or Exchange Department.
Notices will be inserted under this head at one-half our usual rates. All ad's intended for this department must not exceed 6 lines, and you must sat you want your ad. in this de- partment, or we will not be responsible for any error. You can have the notice as many lines as you please ; but all over Ave lines will cost you according to our regular rates. This department is intended only for bona-flde exchanges. Ex- changes for cash or for price lists, or notices offering articles for sale can not be inserted under this head. For such our reg- ular rates of 20 cts. a line will be charged, and they will be put with the regular advertisements.
WANTED.— To exchange for extracted honey, a 10 h. p. horizontal engine, worth $200. I will give somebody a rare bargain. Speak quick. 15tfdb C. H. Smith, Pittsfleld, Mass.
ANTED.— To exchange apiarian supplies for printing to the amount of about $25.00. ltfdb Wm. H. Bright, Mazeppa, Wabasha Co., Minn.
WANTED.— To exchange one muzzle-loading rifle, 354 ft. barrel : half stock, 200 bore, as good as new, $10.00; for extractor, fdn. mill, comb fdn., bees or nuclei in spring. G. W. McGuire,
2d Dark Ridge, Watauga Co., N. C.
WANTED.— To exchange one of Livingston's farm feed, or grist mills, for hand or power, as good as new, for Barnes foot-power saw. 2-3-4d
H. L. Fisher, Milford, Kos. Co., Ind.
WANTED.— To exchange a Barnes foot-power saw, combined circular and scroll, for a foun- dation-mill, l(i-inch, A. I. Root's preferred. 2d Mathew Dodds, Sauk Center, Stearns Co., Minn.
WANTED.— To exchange buzz-saw, foot-power, 4 saws, 8 to 16 inch ; all good as new. Also a few P. R. Chicks, fine, warranted. C. E. Hatch, 2d Kentland, Ind.
WANTED.— To exchange red - cedar trees, for hives or bees. Write. M. Spring,
2d 607 Louisiana St., Richmond, Va.
BROTHER BEE-KEEPERS,
Order your supplies from a railroad center, and save freight. Goods sold as cheap as elsewhere. Send for price list free. 2tfdb W. D. SOPER, Jackson, Mich. Box 1473.
DAD ANT'S FOUNDATION FACTORY, WHOLESALE and RETAIL. See advertisement in another column. 3tfbd
to all, A WHITE-GRAPE VINE.
Send 10 cents for postage, etc. Point Breeze Grapery, Reading, Pa..
FREE
Our sales in 1888 \,l,,„l,h those of 1887. ^Why? Because we sell only the Best,&t Reasonable Prices. i E ED POTAT OES, large stock great variety. Small Fruit Plants and Trees. Catalogue Free. FRANK FORD eV SONS, Ravenna, Ohio. t^fln responding to this advertisement mention glk.iaim;
kk
THE REVIEW.
39 99
THE BEE-KEEPKKS' REV 1KW fur Dec. has four extra pages— twenty in all. Upon the first page is a brief history of the " Review," also an excellent
PORTRAIT OF ITS EDITOR
—one of those beautiful Ives reproductions. The special topic of this issue is: "Sections and their Adjustment on the Hives," and it is handled by such men as Jas. Heddon, Dr. C. C. Miller, R. L. Taylor, Oliver Foster, and Dr. G. L. Tinker. A copy of this issue will be cheerfully sent free to all who apply. Price of the " Review " 50 cts. a year.
The Production of Comb Honey.
Although this neat little book contains only 45 pages, it furnishes as much practical, valuable in- formation as is often found in a book of twice its size. It is " boiled down."
It begins with taking the bees from the cellar and goes over the ground briefly, clearly and concisely, until the honey is off the hives ; touching upon the most important points; and especially does it teach when, where and how foundation can be used to the best advantage; when combs are preferable, and when it is more profitable to allow the bees to build their own combs. Price of the book, 25 cts.
SPECIAL OFFERS.
For 65 cts. we will send the Review one year and "The Production of Comb Honey." For $1.00 we will send all the numbers of the Review for the past year (1888), the Review for this year (1889) and the " Production of Comb Honey;" or, for the same amount ($1.00), we will send the Review for two years from Jan. 1st, 1889, and "The Production of Comb Honey." Stamps taken, either U. S. or Can- adian. Address ltfdb
W. Z. HUTCHINSON, Flint, Mich.
tS*In responding to this advertisement mention Gleanings.
SECTIONS and FOUNDATION
Sections Only $3. Dealers write for special prices. Free samples and price list. l-12db
(Near Detroit.) M. H. HUNT, BELL BRANCH, MICH.
E^"In responding to this advertisement mention Gleanings.
DADANT'3 FOUNDATION FACTORY, WHOLESALE and RETAIL. See advertisement in another column.
NUMBER ONE OF THE
QUEEN ■ BREEDER'S JOURNAL
Is now ready. Send your name on a postal, and re- ceive a free sample copy of this bright new journal. Only 50 cts. per year. Address the
Q. B. JOURNAL, Marlboro, Mass. E. L. Pratt, publisher. 24d
We want to put an adv't in every bee-book and circular printed this coming season. Don't fail to write us, giving your price.
C^"In responding to tins advertisement mention Gleanings.
FOR SALE, BEFORE MARCH,
30 COLONIES ITALIAN AND HYBRID BEES.
Good condition— Simplicity hives— bargain given. Id P. H. HARRIS, Greenville, Illinois.
t3Tln responding to tliis advertisement mention Gleanings.
Gash for Beeswax!
Will pay 20c per lb. cash, or 23c 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 27c per lb., or 30c 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- eral thing to send wax by express.
A. I. ROOT, Medina, Ohio.
40
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
.Jan.
flWJSIEY (30MMN.
CITY MARKETS.
Chicago.— Honey.— The new year opens up with a quiet trade generally. Honey sells in a single-case way. Prices are lower than in November on all grades, excepting, perhaps, choice white comb in small sections and cartons. This is not plentiful, and brings L7@18c. But there is so much graded "white" by the producer that doe6 not meet the views of purchasers as to cause more or less dissat- isfaction ; and such prices as can be obtained are accepted for the " off " grades. Extracted remains about the same: demand light. Beeswax, 22.
Jan. 7. R. A. Burnett,
161 South Water St., Chicago, 111.
New York.— Honey. —We are forced to report a dull market. Stocks are light, but demand very limited, which we presume is due to the mild and unseasonable weather. We quote: Fancy white, 1- 1b. sections. 14@15c; 2-lb., 12c; fair white, Mb., L2@ 13; 2-lb., Italic; buckwheat, Mb., 10®11; 2-lb.. 9@ 10c: extracted, white, 7l/S@8; buckwheat, do., 6@6y2. The latter is in fair demand, and we would advise bee-keepers who have any on hand to ship here.
Jan. 10. Hildreth Bros. & Segelken,
28 & 30 West Broadway, New York.
Kansas City.— Honey.— Choice Mb. sections, 15® 16; dark 1-lbs.. 12; 2-lbs., 14; dark, 11. White ex- tracted in 60-lb. cans, 8; amber, 7; in barrels and kegs. 5@8. Demand good, prices steady, and stock large. Beeswax.— None in market.
Jan. 4. Hamblin & Bearss,
514 Walnut St., Kansas City, Mo.
Cincinnati.— Honey. There is no change in the market. Demand slow, with a smaller supply than ever before at this season for the last 10 years. Ex- tracted honey brings 5@8 on arrival. Comb honey. 12 Mi, in the jobbing way.
Beeswax.— Demand is good; it brings 20@22 for good to choice yellow on arrival.
Jan. '». Chas. F. Muth & Son,
Cincinnati, Ohio.
Kansas City.— Honey.— Honey is moving more freely. We quote white Mb. comb, 16@17; fall, Mb. comb. 14@1">. California, Mb. comb, 16@17; same, 2-lb.. 12ft 15. Extracted. 7@s. Beeswax, 30.
Clemons, Cloon & Co.,
Jan. 7. Kansas City, Mo.
Albany.— Honey.— Market very slow, as usual after holidays. May do better a month later, but will depend on how much stock is left over.
Jan. 8. H. R. Wright.
Albany, N. Y.
St. Louis.— Honey.— Our market is well supplied with California in cans. Local shipments scarce; demand fair. We quote, barrels, 5'/4@6!4. Cans, 7@7'/2. Comb, 14ft 16. Beeswax, 20.
Jan. 7. D. G. Tutt Grocer Co.,
St. Louis, Mo.
Columbus.— Honey.— No change in our market. Sales very slow. No. 1 white clover, in 1-lb. sec- tions, 11 << 18. Dark, 15ft 16.
Jan. 9. Earle Clickenger,
Columbus, Ohio.
Detroit.— Honey.— White comb, in one-pound sections, quoted at 16ft 18c; sales slow, but the sup- ply is gradually decreasing. Extracted dull at 7@8. li> eswax, M;.''" '.':;. M. H. Hunt,
Jan. 7. Bell Branch, Mich.
No change in honey. Jan. 7.
Blake & Ripley,
Boston, Mass.
For Sale.— A few cases of choice white comb honey in sections at 16c per lb., delivered at ex- press or freight office here. Cases weigh 22 to 27 lbs. A. Fiddes, Centralia. Marion Co., 111.
For Sale.— 800 lbs. or more of a good quality of white honey, in crates holding 12 sections, weighing about 11 lbs. to the crate. I will take 14 cts. per lb., f. o. b. here. John Handel,
Savanna, Carroll Co., 111.
DADANT'G FOUNDATION FACTORY, WHOLESALE AND RETAIL. See advertisement in another column
gPECI7ID ^OTICEfS.
price ok clover seed advanced. Both alsike and peavine clovers have advanced in price recently, so that we can not furnish seed at the prices named in our catalogue. Prices for the present will be as follows: Alsike, 20 cts. per lb.; 82.25 per peck; $4. 40 per ^bushel; #8.50 per bushel. Peavine, or mammoth clover. 15 cts. per lb.; #1.80 per peck: #3.50 per i-bushel; #6.50 per bushel.
JAPANESE BUCKWHEAT.
Any one who is not satisfied by this time of the gre^; superiority of this new grain over the com- mon, or, in fact, all other kinds, has only to read the reports in our agricultural journals. We have at present on hand, ready for the season's trade, between 300 and 400 bushels; and, judging from the prices at which it is offered in the various seed catalogues, compared with the prices we give, it would be nothing strange if every pound should be gone before time for sowing, and very likely we shall be compelled to advance prices as we have done for each season since it came out; therefore it behooves you to get your orders in early. Get your seed by freight, so as to save express charges, and then when you get your ground ready you will not have to telegraph for seed hy express, and per- haps then be told that it is sold, and no more can be had. Compare the prices you And in the vari- ous seed catalogues with our own, which are: Bushel, #2.00; half bushel, #1.25; peck, 75 cts.; pound. 10 cts. By mail, add 9 cts. extra for each pound. Remember, our prices also include bags.
A WATERBURY WATCH ESPECIALLY KOR LADIES AND MISSES.
We are just in receipt of the first lot of small- sized watches designed especially for school-teach- ers or little girls. 1 have often thought that, when the hoys were getting so much enjoj ment and real profit by having a watch that would keep time for a very small amount of money, it was a pity that their sisters could not have one just a little small- er, to help them to be prompt and energetic. Well, friends, we have got it. It is a perfect little daisy- only 1% inches in diameter, stem-winding and stem-setting. In this latter respect the girls will have a big advantage over boys. It is also short- wind, and won't take all the time a girl or boy can spare before breakfast time to get his watch wound up. Then if our little friend should forget to wind it every morning, and let it run down, she can set it with the family clock by simply pushing in the winder which turns the hands, instead of winding the watch. When I was in the jewelry business, if I could hnve offered such a watch to school-teachers for #10.00 T should have called it wonderfully reasonable. The price of this little watch is only #4.00. Sent by mail, registered, post- paid, for 15 cts. extra. Now, then, my friend, if you have got a good little girl at your house to whom you wish to make a good and useful present, I do not know of any thing in the whole wide world that will hit the nail right squarely on the head like the misses' Water-bury. When you order it.be sure to say " Letter L." Letter J is exactly like the one I have just described, only it has a second-hand, and is the size of the ordinary Waterbury — 2% inches across, and is the same price, #4.00.
CONVENTION NOTICE.
The Northeastern Ohio, Northwestern Pennsylvania, and Western New York lice keepers' Association will hold its tenth annual convention in City Hall. Franklin, Pa., "Wednesday and Thursday, January 30th and 31st, 1889 Good hotel accommoda- tions have been secured at SI no per day. C. H. Coon, Sec'y.
New Lyme, O.
PftlCE LISTS RECEIVED.
Price lists I'm- ISS'.i have been received as follows:
P Kauffman. Needy, Oregon. Bees and queens.
W. P. Soper, Jackson. Mich., an 18-page list of bee-supplies.
E B.Cook, Indover.Ct. Club list to bee-keepers. .
M. II. Hunt, Bell Branch, Mich. Bee-keepers' supplies.
We have just printed for S. H. Colwick, Norse, Texas, a four- paee price list of bees and queens.
We have also just printed Paul L. Viallon's eleventh annual price list of bees, hives, etc. Bayou Cloula, La.
We have now in press a catalogue of articles pertaining to the bee ■business, for (i. E. Hilton, Fremont, Mich.
Vol. XV11.
JANUARY 15, 1889.
No. 2.
^3^fi?SKWfs»fiS!l Established in 1873. \^:^^^n\l^t^^}^l
- -am- 1 m...wnEn<c.fi.nn«TinTiv J U d. and Canadas. To all other coun-
TERMS : 81.00 PEB ANNUM, IN ADVANCE ;
10 or more,75cts. each. 8ingle num- \ ber. 5 cts. Additions to clubs may be made at club rates. Above are all to be sent to one postoffice.
PUBLISHED SEMI-MONTHLY BY
\A. I. ROOT. MEDINA, OHIOA
| tries of the Universal Postal Union, 18 cts. per year extra. To all countries not of the U. P. U., 42 cts. per year extra.
BEE-CAVES VS. HOUSE-CELLARS WINTERING BEES.
FOR
SOME THOUGHTS ON QUERIES NO. 94, 95, AND 9b\
^ ELLAK wintering of bees has come to be quite |£ an absorbing thought in the minds of all api- RJJ arists living north of latitude 40°, and, in my ^^ opinion, whoever lives in the year 2000 will see nearly if not all colonies of bees then ex- isting north of this degree of latitude, wintered in an underground repository. If this is to be so, it is of some moment that the ideas which are now as- suming form on this subject be turned into the right channel. Why I make the prophesy as above is, that, with each succeeding year, the timber land of our country is growing less and less; so that, when the year 2000 comes, very few if any of the forests which now exist here at the North will be allowed to stand. In these forests have been our protection from the extreme cold which now is be- ginning to be experienced in many localities where the timber is already becoming scarce. This timber is of a twofold protection against cold: Fir-t, it holds the water in the ground so that many springs exist which otherwise would not; and these springs, where they abound, modify the air to a much larger extent than many suppose; and, sec- ond, the force of the wind is broken, so that, when a warm day appears, the bees in a sunny nook out of the wind jan get a nice flight, while those in an exposed situation can do no such thing. Thirty- five years ago there was scarcely a winter when bees could not fly as often as once in six weeks; and our mill on the stream which runs, or used to run, about 50 rods from where I live, was run by
water nearly every day in the year. Now we often have from four to five months in which the bees can not fly. and the mill is run nearly if not quite half of the time with steam, on account of lack of water. I used to leave two-thirds of my bees on their summer stands, putting the other third in the cellar; now I put two-thirds of them in the cellar, leaving the other third out, packing them for win- ter in the best possible manner; yet, with all of my care, the cellar seems to be winning favor with each succeeding year.
Now, aside from the causes given above, there is another reason why the cellar is gaining in favor. When I first began to winter bees in the cellar I used one under the house, while now I use one en- tirely away from any building; and this latter is so much superior to the former that it is winning my affections altogether. In what is it superior to the former? Chiefly in the temperature being en- tirely controlled without any interference of mine during the whole time that the bees are in their winter quarters. In answering query 94, Dr. Miller and Mrs. Harrison are favorable to a warm room overhead, presumably to keep the cellar warm; while in Query 95, both are compelled to lower the temperature by carrying in ice or otherwise. Now, this is just where a cellar under a superstructure fails. Just in so far as a warm room is of advan- tage in extreme cold weather.it is of positive disad- vantage in a warm spell in winter. Who wants to be obliged to keep a tire in or over a cellar all win- ter, every time the mercury sinks to zero, or open all doors and windows which the cellar contains, carry in ice and what not, every time the mercury rises to 50° or 60° above zero? And even after we
42
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
Jan.
have had all of this trouble, our pets are not nearly as well oil as they would have been had the temper- ature kept evenly at 45°. Of course, where one has no other place in which to winter bees, he must do the best he can with what he has got; but the point which 1 object to is, the recommending of any thing which requires so much fussing and anxiety of thought, above something which requires noth- ing of the kind, and over one, which, after a thorough trial by even the most prejudiced, would be recommended as much superior to the old way.
At Query 94, T)adant & Son "hit the nail on the head " when they say there is no difference, if the temperature can be kept the same; and George Grimm certainly misses it where he says, "The matter of living-rooms above cuts no figure." For many years before I moved to where I now live, I wintered my bees in the cellar under the house we lived in; and during nearly every one of these win- ters there would come times when I had to build a tire in this cellar to keep it warm enough, or else open the doors at night, or carry in snow or ice, or both to keep it cool enough. Several times it kept so warm that there was no snow or ice to be had, and the outside air during the night was warmer than the air in the cellar; then I had such a state of affairs as friend A. I. Root has often feared he might have were he to try cellar wintering— a time which "tried men's souls;" or, in other words, a time when there was a general " roaring," such as Query No. 95 wants to know about. At such times Query 96 is very pertinent; for in a perfectly dark cellar is our only salvation. L. C. Hoot says, in an- swer to No. 95, " The room should be so arranged and managed as to avoid these causes of uneasi- ness." If I were back to where I should be obliged to winter bees in that cellar again, I would willing- ly give him $500 to tell me how to so arrange and manage, in such times as spoken of above; for can- didly I do not know how to do it. Since I built the special repository which I now have, which was fully described and illustrated in Gleanings of last year, the temperature inside, while the bees were in it, has never been lower than 40° nor higher than 48, with the exception of the winter when I kept the temperature up with, the oil-stove, which resulted in almost a total loss, as most of the read- ers of Gleanings will remember; and since I shut off all ventilation, which Prof. Cook and others think necessary, as their reply to these queries would denote, the temperature has not been lower than 43° or above 46°. A properly constructed un- derground cellar, with no building above it, is self- regulating, and of itself sufficient to carry bees safely through the winter, no matter how much the temperature may change outside; and, if I am correct in my opinion, it will be the chief way of wintering bees in the near future. Borodino, N. Y., Jan. 1, 4889. G. M. Doolittle.
Friend Doolittle, I am very much obliged to you for having contrasted these two forms of wintering-repositories. As Cap- tain Hetherington, P. H. Elwood, and oth- ers in their neighborhood, have made some careful and extensive outdoor arrangements for wintering bees, I should be glad to know if their decision corroborates this. If I had a sandy or gravelly side hill, I would start forthwith— yes. right in the month of Jan- uary, to make such a cave as you speak of, for various purposes. I am a little surpris-
ed, however, that you maintain a tempera- ture as low as from 43 to 46. The tempera- ture of the Manitou cavern, away up on the top of the mountain, in the neighborhood of Pike's Peak, is 52 , winter and summer. I am going to have a lot to say about it before I get through with my Notes of Travel. Mammoth Cave, in Kentucky, is 56 . Per- haps you have told us the temperature of your cave in the summer time. If so, I have forgotten it. But I do not see how it can be below 50 , unless the outside temper- ature of the winters keeps it down. Can we have some reports from others who have caves and similar places? Would it do to shut up a cellar tight, in a damp clay soil?
GLASS SECTIONS.
SOMETHING EROM ONE OF THE FRIENDS ACROSS THE WATER.
a EAR MR. ROOT:— Will you kindly say if you noticed in an article in the British Bee Jour- nal of the issue of Oct. 4, 1888, my remarks on glass sections. I shall be glad to hear what you and the Americans think of these. I might also say 1 have had some glass sections made from round honey-bottles. 1 took my glass- cutter and cut slices off the bottles, as shown in the accompanying sketch. It was difficult to cut the bottles, but I suc- ceeded in making suf- ficient to try what I wanted. The black lines will show where the cutter was applied. 1 took two slices for each section, placed a small sheet of wax foundation between these slices, and, behold, the foundation was firmly fixed in a mo- ment! Next each sec- tion was placed in a frame very similar to what was illustrated in Gleanings about six or eight weeks ago, and shown again herewith. I use Heddon's wide frames, and I had a frame made to hold four glass sections. These sec- tions looked lovely. I had them beautifully sealed over— not a single " pop-hole " in any of them. The above block was made so that it could be pushed into one of Heddon's frames. Was it not curious, that a similar idea should occur about the same time to your correspondent Rambler and myself? He used strips of wood, or shavings, instead of glass rings. I think glass cells might be cheaply cast or manufactured, and they would look very attractive. I hope you will not say there is nothing like leather; wood sections are best because, etc. To clean the glass cells or rims, simply boil them— they may be used over and over again.
LANGSTROTH'S PICTURE.
Please do not tell Rev. Mr. Langstroth that I say the portrait on page 843 is one of afine-lookingman. I am sure America should be proud of the looks
HOW TO MAKE GL \SS
SECTIONS.
1889
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.
43
only. I have seen very few finer-looking Englishmen. There is only one likeness that dwells in my mind, and that is Dr. Livingstone. Doubtless you will say Mr. Langstroth is too wise to be made vain.
T. Bonnek Chambers, F. L. S.
Tref Eglwys, Caersws,
Montgomeryshire, England, Nov. 30, 1888.
Friend B., we have noticed what you say about the glass sections; but unless it is for something fancy, or for a curiosity, we should pronounce them altogether too frail ; and glass cut out of bottles, as you men- tion, is terribly dangerous stuff for almost anybody to handle. The objection to circu- lar sections is the amount of waste space between the circles. If they are to be used, I think I should much prefer stiff paper or wood shavings.
THE APPLE-TREE BARK-LOUSE.
IT HAS MADE ITS WAY CLEAR TO TASMANIA.
T LIKE Gleanings very much, especially the ar- ijjf tides written by Prof. Cook. They are really W instructive and interesting. I have his book, ■*■ "Injurious Insects." We are sorely troubled in this part by the apple-tree bark-louse, Myti- laspis conchiformis. I have sprayed some of my trees three times with strong soapsuds, also with soft soap, and still I see some alive. It may be I am too early, and they still keep hatching out. Like yourself, I should like to know more than Prof. Cook tells us