i>2S 



GLEANINGS IN li^E CULTURE. 



Mat 



sawdust that was perfectly dry, and as fine as the 

 sample I send you? I send you samples of all kinds 

 but the oat chaff, which you are well acquainted 

 with. These samples were treated exactly alike, or 

 as nearly as possible, the temperature being about 

 2 degrees below the freezing-point both days when 

 making the experiments. I was astonished at the 

 result, but am not satisfied yet. I think we need 

 more experiments in the same line. I would re- 

 mark, that the sawdust, being heavier, would pack 

 down tighter around the thermometer than the 

 chaff, the latter being so light and springy. I send 

 you a table giving the time required in warming up, 

 and also the time consumed in cooling off, which 

 shows pretty plainly, I think, the relative power of 

 the different samples to retain heat. 



In using No. 1. clean clover chaff, the temperature 

 rose to ib° in 15 minutes; 50° in 30 m.; 5t)° In 45 m.; 

 60^ in 1 hour; 03° in 1J4 h.; 65^ in IY2 h. In cooling, 

 the temp, fell 3° in 15 m. ; 15° in 45 m. ; 25° in II4 h. 



With No. 3, oat chaff, the mercury rose to 47° in 30 

 m.; 50^ in 1 h.; 60° in IJi h. ; 63° inl^a h. In cooling, 

 the mercury fell 3° in 15 m.; 19° in 45 m.; SO" in 1>4 h. 



With No. 3, dirty clover chaff, the mercury stood 

 at 40° in 15 m.; 52° in 45 m.; 5'i° in 1 h.; 59° in 1^4^.; 

 62° in IVz h.; 63^ in 1?^ h. It cooled 9° in 30 m.; 15° in 

 45 m.: 24° inlU h.; 26° inlV2 h. 



With No. 4, sawdust, the mercury stood at 44° in 30 

 m. ; 52° in 1 h. ; 56° in VA h. ; 59° in 2 h. ; 61° in 2'/^ h. ; 

 62= in 3 h.; 63° in Sii h. It cooled 2^ in 15 m.; 13= in 

 45 min.; 21° in 1% h.; 24° in Wi h.; 20° in lU h. 



Oberlin, O., April 20, 1882. Chalon Fowls. 



Our readers will see at a glance, that the 

 thermometer was colder under sawdust, aft- 

 er Si hours, than it was under the chaff aft- 

 er only H hours. In cooling it off again, a 

 similar result was obtained. I am not at all 

 surprised at this. Had he encased the saw- 

 dust in a tight paper sack, it would have 

 hindered the heat from passing out or in, 

 still more. In adopting chaff, we had in 

 mind the great array of facts that have been 

 for years before us, and brought out recent- 

 ly still more strongly, that bees must have 

 an abundance of air, to keep healthy. Hives 

 without bottom-boards at all, and those with 

 cracks from top to bottom, are a success, 

 where all others fail. See Gallup, in this 

 issue. In support of sawdust, fine and dry, 

 I would say that D. A. Jones is right on 

 that track now, and he talked it at the con- 

 vention, and has recently written me, that a 

 hive made of narrow slats, almost like our 

 wood mats, both outer and inner shell, with 

 an inch or a little more of fine dry sawdust, 

 would winter better than our nicely painted 

 chaff hives with four or six inches of chaff. 

 He may be right about it ; but at present 

 the matter lacks demonstration by experi- 

 ment under all trying circumstances. It 

 seems to be working toward my old " hoop 

 hive," with sawdust packing added. 



RliiSULiTS OF MY TKIP TO JEFFERSON. 



ALSO SOMETHING ABOUT HONEY-EOARDS. 



CHAPTER III. 



to those who have followed me thus far, I will 

 say that my intention was to let the twenty 

 ■ colonies purchased do the honey-gathering, 

 while the remnant of my own apiary would be de- 

 voted to increase; but " the best laid plans o' mice 

 and men gang aft a glee," and my plans went so far 

 "aglee" that the honey-gatherers increased to 29, 



and gathered 1400 lbs. of white-clover honey by July 

 15th (enough to pay for themselves), while the 13 

 colonies and 3 small nuclei that were to do nothing 

 but increase their numbers, persisted in gathering 

 so much honey that the extractor was brought into 

 requisition; and the result was, I soon had two bar- 

 rels full of honey, besides increasing them to 42 

 good colonies by dividing. My object in keeping the 

 two lots of bees separate was to see if those bought 

 would pay for themselves; and as this was accom- 

 plished by July loth the apiary was run as a whole 

 after that date; and by Sept. 1st 1 had 71 good colo- 

 nies of bees, and 5300 lbs. of honey, one-half of which 

 was white clover, and the other half buckwheat, 

 nearly all of it extracted. From this should be de- 

 ducted 600 lbs. of sugar fed to 25 colonies, for winter 

 stores. I am aware that the above yield has been 

 exceeded by many; bat when the weak condition of 

 the colonies (many of them occupying but three or 

 four combs June 1st) is taken into consideration, to- 

 gether with the absence of basswood from this lo- 

 cality, I have reason to be satisfied. 



I will say just here, that my bees are all alive at 

 this date, April 14th, and appai-ently in good condi- 

 tion, with two or three exceptions, and those have 

 too many dead bees to drag out every morning. 

 Twenty-five were wintered on sugar, no pollen; 13 

 on drone combs full of buckwheat honey, no pollen; 

 5 on white-clover honey and pollen, and the rest had 

 fall honey and pollen. Not many lessons learned 

 this time, although I tried hard. 



Now a few words about honey-boards and quiltS) 

 and I am done. I have used the quilts ever since 

 you, Mr. Novice, called my attention to them when 

 Gleanings was young, but have now discarded 

 them for the old-fashioned honey-board, with all its 

 failings. The objections I urge against the quilt are 

 these: First, they are expensive. The first cost is 

 not so much greater than the board; but while the 

 latter will last a lifetime, the former has to be fre- 

 quently renewed. Second, too much labor for the 

 bees. Not only has the entire surface of the quilt to 

 be covered with propolis, but every time it is replac- 

 ed on the hive, a crevice the length of the inside di- 

 mensions of the hive, together with that of both 

 sides of the top-bars of each frame, has to be filled. 

 This, in a ten-frame Langstroth, is equal to a crevice 

 about 440 inches long, while with the board, the 

 crevice would be but about 58 inches. Third, untidy 

 top-bais. The propolis accumulates continually on 

 the top-bars, and, if not frequently scraped off, will, 

 in a few years, raise the quilt from a quarter to 

 half an inch above the frames, while with a honey- 

 board, if smoothly dressed and painted, and the top- 

 bars to frames also smooth, we have only occasion- 

 ally a pillar of wax built between. 



J. L. WOLFENDEN. 



Adams, Wal. Co., Wis., April 14, 1883. 



But you are a little behind the time oil 

 quilts, are you not, friend W.V We have 

 not used quilts, nor advertised them, for 

 years. The great staple now for covering 

 the bees in summer time is the enameled 

 cloth, and we have just bought of the manu- 

 facturers, in one single order, nearly $200 

 worth. The demand this spring is tremen- 

 dous, while honey - boards, and even the 

 cheap wooden mats, seem to have been al- 

 most dropped. You can spread it over the 

 bees without any danger of killing them ; 

 they can not stick wax or propolis to it, and 



