GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Feb. 



in the matter will help us more than long 

 articles ou the subject. 



SOME NEW TOOL.S, 



FROM A rraEND IN iUSSISSIPPI. 



^p^ E PORTS from this neighborhood are not very 

 M^'?\j] jubilant. Many bee-keepers have lost stocks 

 ^' in midsummer, with only the unsatisfactory 

 reason -moths — to give a^ explanation. I sold 

 down to eight last year, and have had six swarms, 

 one of which took to the woods while I was visiting 

 the sick. However, a volunteer colony came to my 

 apiary from the woods a few days afterward, so I 

 am even. Have taken only about 400 lbs. surplus 

 section honey, part of it goldenrod, that smells so 

 unpleasantly I can hardly tolerate it on the table. 

 I am now Italianizing, and it is amusing to see Mrs, 

 M., who has always been afraid of bees, forgetting 

 her fear in the ardor of queen-hunting, and plung- 

 ing her Angers among the workers to secure a speci- 

 men of black royalty. She is alwa3's first to see the 

 queen. 



SEPARATING THE UPPER FRAMBS FROM THE LOWER. 



I began this letter especially to describe to you 

 two new tools (new to me) for the apiary. You 

 know how troublesome it is to avoid doing mischief 

 wiien the bottom-bar of a frame becomes fastened to 

 the top-bar of the one beneath it. To separate them 

 I use a prying chisel like this: 



RIGHT-ANGLEP CHISEL AND SCRAPER. 



It is made of a piece of iron ?8 of an inch thick, Js 

 wide, and 13 in. long, with the edge at a quite sharp, 

 and the distance from a to h only ?« of an inch. Let 

 the inner angle bo quite square. Slip the bit a gent- 

 ly down between the combs near one end-bar, with 

 the sharp edge next to the " stuck " frame. Insert 

 the sharp edge between the bottom-bar and the top- 

 bar, to which it is stuck; swing the lever over to- 

 ward the center of the frame, and, presto! that end 

 of the frame is bound to rise without disturbing the 

 frame below it. Repeat the performance at the oth- 

 er end of the frame, and it is ready to be lifted out. 



The other implement is even more handy than 

 this. Do all your frames hang plumb? Mine miss 

 it sometimes, and the bottom-bars get stuck fast to 

 each other. Then, too, my bees will propolizo sec- 

 tion boxes to tha separators. Take a piece of J4-inch 

 iron rod 14 inches long. On one end put a handle, 

 and on the other weld a lozenge of steel, beveled to 

 a sharp edge on one face, making a tool like this: 



TOOL FOR SEPARATING FRAMES STUCK AT THE 

 BOTTOM. 



Insert the flat blade between the adhering sur- 

 faces, give the handle a twist, and " there you are." 

 Then the blade is such a nice comb-plow to clear the 

 tops of frames for mats or upper stories. Just put 

 the point, bevel side down, on one end of space be- 

 tween frames; slide it along to the other end, and 

 pick up your shaving of wax. I have used these 

 tools all summer, and have often thought of sending 

 you a description, but disliked to add to your over- 

 grown correspondence. The fraternity have done 



so much to lighten each other's burdens, that emu- 

 lation to contribute my mite prevails. Try the tools, 

 and you will like them. 



Being neither in Blasted Hopes nor the Smilery, I 

 am yours dubiously,— H. A. Moody, M. D. 



Longtown, Panola Co., Miss., Nov. 4, 18S1. 



Thanks, friend M.; but may I suggest, 

 that both tools be combined in one, say by 

 having the latter on the opposite end of the 

 former tool containing the right-angled chis- 

 el? I have sometimes experienced the diffi- 

 culty jou mention, of getting out the first 

 frame from an ujjper story ; b^ut by holding 

 the lower frame down with a thin strip of 

 wood (say a comb-guide for instance), I have 

 always got one out readily, and after that it 

 was easy to get out the others. If the upper 

 story is to be taken off, loosen all the upper 

 combs that are attached to the lower ones, 

 and then it will come off quietly. In putting 

 it back, be sure to drive the bees from the 

 tops of the lower combs before replacing, to 

 avoid killing any. 



SPRING DWINDI.ING. 



WITH SOME OTHER MATTERS FROM FRIEND TOWNLBV. 



Sl'^END ROOT: -la referring to the past in re- 

 JeN' lation to bees, we are apt to forget that, until 

 within the last eighteen or twenty years, we 

 knew but very little about what was taking place in 

 the "bee world" outside of our own immediate vi- 

 cinity. We are apt to forget that wo had no such 

 valuable works on bee-keeping as those of the hon- 

 ored "Fathers in Israel," Mr. Langstroth, and the 

 much-lamented Mr. Quinby. AVe are apt to forget 

 that, previous to 18S6,* we had no bee periodicals 

 making us their weekly and monthly visits, filled 

 with the rich, ripe experience of thorough, practical 

 apiarists from nearly all parts of the civilized world. 

 We are apt to forget that, previous to the publica- 

 tion of these works and periodicals, a large percent- 

 age of the bees in the United States might have been 

 lost from some cause, or causes, without our knowl- 

 edge. In Gleaning.^, Vol. IX., No. 3, page 68, you 

 are asked, by friend Doolittle, why bees did not 

 spring dwindle prior to 1870. Now, I think a more 

 pertinent question would be, "Did not bees spring 

 dwindle prior to 1870?" As evidence that they did 

 not, he refers to a few bees kept in his locality pre- 

 vious to 1870, without loss from this cause; and yet 

 there might have been thousands of colonies lost by 

 it in other parts of the United States without his 

 knowledge. Why, we have now, in 1883, bee-keepers 

 who have never had, and perhaps have never 

 known, a case of what you, friend Root, understand 

 as spring dwindling; viz., a gradual loss (it may be 

 slow or fast) of both the old and young bees in a 

 hive during the spring months, except as they have 

 learned it through the bee jour — periodicals. 



My first case of spring dwindling was in the spring 

 of 1843, The winter had been very severe, com- 

 mencing about the 17th of November, and continuing 

 cold, no weather warm enough for bees to fly until 

 the first week in April, My second loss from this 

 cause was about 1860, I then lost 8 out of 14 colonies. 



*The American Ree Journal was first published In 1801. It 

 was soon discontinued; but its publication was again resumed 

 hy Samuel Wagner in 1866. 



