1882 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Gl 



as not to interfere with the combs within. There 

 is a ventiliitins tube as above. Dimensions, six and 

 three-quarter inches in diannitcr, and Ave in height. 



Turning back, we find something more on 

 the same subject on pp. 181—183 : — 



Guirte-oombs can also be used with R-lasses. These 

 may be filled, with great reffularity, by adop ing- the 

 fi .11*0 winj? directions, which, we btlitve, have never 

 before appear* d in print:— 



Procure a piece of clean, new, empty, worker 

 honey-coml), which has not had honey in it (b( cause 

 honey will prevent adhtsinn to the glass); cut it into 

 pieces of about ihree-iiuartirs of an inch squ^a-e. 

 Gently warm the exterior of the glass (this we tlnd is 

 best done by hulding the glass horizont:ill> for a 

 short time over the flame of a candle); then apply 

 one of the pieces of empty comb inside at the piirt 

 warmed, takinir care, in fixing it, that the pitch or 

 Inclination of the cells is upward — in fact, place the 

 guide-c nit) in the same relative position that itic- 

 cnpied in the hive or glass from which it was taken. 

 There is some danger of making the glHSS too warm. 

 which will cause the wax to melt and run dmvn the 

 side, h-aviug an unsightly appearam^e onthcglas-t; 

 but a little experience will eiiatile the operator to de- 

 termine thedegieoof warmth sulticient to make 

 the comb adhere without any of it being melted. It 

 is hardly necessary to slate, that only the whitest 

 combs ought to be used. A short time shoul 1 be sil- 

 li) wed before changing the position of the glnss, so 

 that it may coi 1 sulHeicntly to hold the omb in its 

 place. Six or eight pieces may thus be fixed so that, 

 when the glass is lilU d, it will present m st^r stiape, 

 all the ci;mbs radiating f r( m the ^^s^f^ 

 center. The annexed illustrii- / g?^^ ^31g;U 

 tion shows the Hppearance of si y^^^>j^5>;;£2i^3| 

 glass as worked by the tiees, in ^^^^/i^^^^^'^^^ 

 which guide-combs were fixed in '■'•''^•~ — 

 the manner described above. 

 The drawing was taken from a 

 glass of our own, filltd after be- 

 ing thus furnishec. Tn the Old 

 Museum at the Koyal Gardens, 

 Kew, may be seen a Taylor's 

 glass, presented by us, some of the comlis in which 

 are elongated on the outside to the breadth of six 

 inches. 



We believe that not only does a glass present a 

 much handsomer appearance when thus worked — 

 and will, on that account, most fully reward the 

 trouble of fixing guide-comb — but that more honey 

 is stored in the same space and in less time than if 

 the glass be merely placed on the hive in a naked 

 ccmdltion for the bees to follow their own course. 

 This mode of fixing guide-comb does not solely ap- 

 ply to the above-shaped glass, but is equally useful 

 for all kinds of glasses, it is introduced in connec- 

 tion with this glass because, from its having a flat 

 top and no knob, the regularity is more clearly ap- 

 parent. 



The working of bees in the bell-glasses illustrates 

 how tractable their disposition reiilly is if only scope 

 is allowed for the due exercise of their natural in- 

 stinct. They have no secrets in their economy, and 

 they do not shrink from our constant observation 

 asthey daily pursue their simple policy of continuous 

 thrift and persevering accumulation. Yet it is only 

 owing to the labors of successive inventors that we 

 ate now enabled to watch '• the very pulse of the ma- 

 chine " of the bee commonwealth. 



Lonpr from the eye of man and face of day, 

 Involved in darkness all their mstonis lay, 

 Until a sase. "'ell versed in Nature's love, 

 A genius foniicil :ill sc-ieiirc to exiiloie. 

 Hives well euntiivcd in crystal fi-anics disposed, 

 And there the busy citizens diseloseil. 



— MfRi'iiy's Vanikkk. 



Now, friends, I know we have tried bell- 

 glasses, and discarded them ; and so far as 

 producing honey in this shape, to be sent to 

 distant points, is concerned, I do not believe 

 we want to do it ; but could not a good many 

 such be sold to advantage in your nearest 

 town, and at a price, too, that "would pay V 

 Tiering one glass above another is, without 

 doubt, quite an advance over the old way ; 

 and just imagine the si^ht of a pyramid of 

 rot*nd glasses of honey like these, exliibited 

 at some of our fairs ! It the glasses are pur- 

 chased in nests, I do not believe they will 



prove to be very exi)ensive, and I will at 

 once see about having some m;ide. 



AL.SIK,K fXiOVEK. 



SOME SEASOXAUtiE HINTS. 



^ 



S I am often asked, " How do you raise alsike 

 clover? when do you sow the secdV" etc., 1 

 ** thought f would answer through Gr,i:AMNOS. 

 The time to sow depends on the season and the con- 

 dition of the ground ynu wish to sow. I have sown 

 it alj the way from the firstdf March to the 16th of 

 May, with good rcsult.i. I have sown it with wheat 

 in the fall, and received a good crop of honey tlic 

 next September; but if the winter is not favorable, 

 it is apt to winter kill. It is like other clover — if 

 sown in the spring, the earlier you get it started the 

 better. It will grow on any land that is well culti- 

 vated and mellow. Does best on low, black, or 

 sandy land; it does well on any land that will grow 

 good red-top; it will bloom about one week earlier 

 than white clover, and remain in bloom longer. It 

 is the best honey plant I know of; will produce 

 about two tons of very fine hay per acre; it is not as 

 dusty as red clover. If mown early, about the first 

 week in June, the second crop will yield honey all 

 through July and part of August. The seed must 

 be saved from the first crop; thrashed with a com- 

 mon clover-huller with timothy sieves. If you are 

 not very careful you will blow the seed out with the 

 chafif. It will pay to run the chaff through a fan- 

 ning-mill, rigged to clean timothy seed. Three or 

 four pounds of seed are enough per acre; but if 

 sown with oats or spring wheat, without any other 

 grass seed, I sow 5 or 6 lbs. It is best not to sow 

 timothy with it, if you wish to save the seed. Never 

 harrow the ground after the seed is sown. The seed 

 is so fine it buries it too deep. 



If timothy and alsike seed arc mixed they can bo 

 separated by wind, or a wind blast. 



H. B. Harrington. 



Medina, Ohio, Jan. :J4, 1883. 



-l^^o^SB 



BEE-KEEPING VS. X HOT-HOUSE. 



m S there have been various experiments in this 

 ^^ line, and as this is the season to try it, possi- 

 — ^^^ bly my experience will help some in the de- 

 velopment of a system of management by which 

 bees can be imMahly manipulated during the winter 

 months. 



I have succeeded in getting the bees to fly freely 

 without darting against the glass, or worrying upon 

 it, and also ii having them return readily to the 

 hive. The room that I used last winter is 8x12, and 

 Tfeet high at the sides, and the ceiling is slanting 

 with the roof. It is lathed and plastered, and has, 

 in the south slope of the roof and at one end, a largo 

 skylight. These are the only windows. 



I placed a barrel on a box in a corner under the 

 window, and a hive of bees on the barrel so that tho 

 entrance at the top of the hive would come near the 

 window. A stove and the door were in the opposite 

 end of the r ora. I spread a sheet over the window 

 to keep tho bees from darting against the glass. 

 W^hitewashing the window inside would probubly 

 do. Ikept the temperature at almut TO". The beea 

 would sally forth in lai'tfc numbers, and every bee 



