so 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CUETLTRE. 



Jan. 



rroiii Different Fields. 



WINTER PASSAGES OVER THE COMBS. 



fIjIIE practice of giving winter passages over the 

 combs is one of my hobbies about wintering- 

 I have practiced it for the past three winters, 

 and have not iost a colony when so prepared and 

 chaff paclied. I formerly used corn cobs, the same 

 as Mr. feihane did; but I have thrown them aside, and 

 use now in their stead a new, clean, well-seasoned 

 pine shingle, nine or ten inches wide, with a cleat 

 one-half inch square on each end. I think it has 

 some advantage over Mr. Hill's device, as illustrated 

 in November Gleanings. It is easier made by per- 

 sons not having the use of machinery. It prevents 

 the fine dust from rattling through the burlap di- 

 rectly among the bees, and I think retains the 

 warmth of the cluster much better than burlap and 

 chaff alone. The moisture will pass off at the sides 

 of the shingle as well as if not there. I have exam- 

 ined a number of colonics so arranged to-day, and 

 find the bees clustered close up against the shingle 

 in all of them. I consider the cleated shingle of 

 equal value for cellar wintering. I winter half my 

 bees in cellar; the other half outdoors packed in 

 chaff; sofar with about equal success. To sum up 

 with, if it wore :iot for the trouble, I would use a 

 board similar to the old-fashioned honey-board, fit- 

 ting close around the side of the hive, and glued on. 

 with a half-inch space above the frames — the board 

 to have from four to eight one-inch auger-holes, ac- 

 cording to the strength of the colony; those to be 

 covered with burlap, and the whole well protected 

 with chaff. L. D. Gai.t.. 



Stedman, Chaut. Co., N. Y., Nov. 14, l^Sl. 



Why, irieuds, it looks almost as if we were 

 going" to swing around to the original air 

 space above the frames, invented by our 

 good old friend Mr. Langstroth, pretty well 

 toward 30 years ago. I have before spoken 

 of the fact, that a nttmber of our neighbors 

 who use the old-style Langstroth hives with 

 honey-boards, winter, year after year, with 

 but very few losses comparatively.' 



CANDY FEEDING IN WINTER NOT IN.JTJRIOUS. 



I see on p. 490 of Oct. Gleanings, that friend Hub- 

 bard claims that the " honey-board, or substitute 

 thereof," should not be loosened too late in the sea- 

 son for the bees to wax all up tight again before 

 cold weather; and that you agree with him. That, I 

 will not question ; but I will give some facts on the 

 subject, from the experience of the past winter. As 

 above stated, the season of 1880 was very dry. There 

 being no fall pasturage, I had to feed my bees for 

 winter supply, which was done in October. Freezing 

 weather set in the latter part of October, and con- 

 tinued all winter with but few days during which 

 snow would melt. Now for the facts: About the 

 first of January I found that one colonj' was dead. 

 They continued dying until I had last four — starved, 

 as I supposed, by being unable to get to the honey 

 in the outside frames. With the mercury standing 

 below the freezing point, and the ground covered 

 with snow, 1 opened every hive I had, and put in 

 cakes of candy, made as you direct, on top of the 

 frames. Thus I continued feeding those in the 



weakest condition, always, of course, selecting the 

 warmest days. After giving the first candy I never 

 lost a single colony, and succeeded in bringing my 

 remaining 15 colonics through the winter in fair 

 condition. I was away from home during the win- 

 ter, teaching school, being at home only at intervals. 

 I believe that, had I been at home where I could 

 have watched them, that I should have lost none. 

 Orleans, Ind., Nov. 5. 1881.' J. H. Heed. 



Since you mention it, friend K., I recall to 

 mind tliat I have done the same thing, 

 tlirough pretty severe winters too, and now 

 I am inclined to think disturbance does 

 harm only when the bees are confined to nat- 

 ural stores, or stores not easily assimilated 

 when they can not lly. If given pure sugar 

 candy, disturbance in Avinter, or at any oth- 

 er time, is not necessarily detrimental; if 

 conlined to natural stores, and threatened 

 with dysejitery, it may. as in your case, 

 prove (juite the contrary. 



" OirT OF THE WOODS." 



Mr. Iiont, if you remember, you told us last spring- 

 not to crow until we got out of the woods. I think I 

 ha\ e got out now. Our honey is not all weighed yet, 

 but I will crow about 1000 lbs., all comb honey, and 

 j 48 good swarms of bees. This is my second summer 

 { with bees. I worked in the tannery every day 10 

 I hours except Vi days with my bees. I have a wife, 

 j and twin boys 10 years old. They would come to the 

 1 tannery to tell me when the bees swarmed; and I 

 ! have one girl, 13 years old. I sent to H. Alley; got 3 

 queens, Hungarian, Cyprian, and Holy-Land. I in- 

 troduced them all right, and raised two queens from 

 the Cyprians. 1 like Gleanings (you can put me 

 down for one year more), and I like jour advice; 

 but I don't like those fault-tindiug letters that you 

 sometimes receive. 1 ga^•e Mother Robins one swarm 

 of bees the ITth of June; they made 75 lbs. of surplus 

 honey. F. RouLO. 



Portvillc, Catt. Co., N. Y., Oct. 12, 1881. 



HO.NEY AT 25c. A PAILFUL. 



On page 570, Nov. No. of Gle.vnings, you say that 

 I'/c-lb. tin pails of ext. honey sell readily for an even 

 25c. Is that the wholesale or retail price? If the 

 latter, it is not enough; for no one can expect to re- 

 1 tail a large lot of honey. I can not get grocers to 

 i handle a package of extracted honey for less than 

 10c. ; deducting this and price of pail, loaves 10c. for 

 honey, label, and putting up. Ten cents for the gro- 

 cer, I know, is too much; but what are we to do? 

 Salem. O., Nov. 19, 1881. M. Frank Taber. 



Friend T., you will see, by the Honey 

 Column, that extracted honey can be bought 

 by the barrel at an average price of about yc. 

 Well, call it 10, and your pails, by the hun- 

 dred, 4c.; labels and putting up should not 

 make all over 20c. Well, if your grocers 

 -will not sell such pails of honey for a com- 

 mission of 10 per cent, for just handing out 

 the pails, you have an excellent locality to 

 start a grocery. 



ELEVEN INCRliASED TO 20, AND 1100 LBS. OF HONEY. 



Here is my report for 1881: In the spring I had 11 

 colonies, mostly weak, and all in box hives; they are 

 black bees, with just a trace of Italian blood. I 

 transferred 4 into Simplicity hives. These 4 gave us 

 no swarms, but they increased so as to fill three 1- 

 story hives, and made GOO lbs. of surplus honey. The 



