2m 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



JUNE 



possible; but it is as much a duty to take care of the 

 body as any other duty. The Lord wants workers, 

 for he says, "Pray the Lord of the harvest that he 

 may send laborers into his harvest." I think the 

 advice in Our Homes good and helpful to those who 

 are in the good way. I lilie the Tobacco Column. 

 There will be no tobacco smoke in heaven — the 

 smoke will be in the other place. 



And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth 

 or maketh a lie.— Rkv. 21 : 27. 



How do you think John Bunyan's Pilgrim would 

 have looked if he had presented himself at the little 

 wicket gate, or the house of the Interpreter, or the 

 Palace Beautiful, or even at the gate of the celestial 

 city, with a crooked pipe in his mouth about a foot 

 long ? 



Now if, after this mass of chaff has been run 

 through the editorial fanning-mill, you find some 

 heads that are worth saving, well; if not, consign 

 It to the waste-basket. H. Perry. 



Southbury, N. H. Co., Conn., April 29, 1883. 



Friend P., you see we have found some 

 heads of value ; and, first and foremost, we 

 want to know what time of year it was when 

 you saw those bees at work on the wliite 

 oaks. Was it from bova-fide blossoms, or 

 from nut-galls, or oak-apples? I think the 

 trouble with your catnip is because your soil 

 is not favorable. To illustrate, I will men- 

 tion that we have sumac here, the kind that 

 bears red berries, red and sour, but 1 have 

 never yet been able to find a bee on it. — The 

 children were surely mistaken in thinking 

 that two large swarms came from the same 

 hive so close together, unless it was a stray 

 swarm that went in and came out again. If 

 the first one stayed in its hive, as I suppose 

 it did, you have given us a case of the " au- 

 tomatic swarming'' we were so eager to find 

 out about a few years ago.— I guess our 

 friend would have to put his pipe into his 

 pocket before he went in at the wicket gate, 

 and I am sure I don't know what he would 

 do with it afterward, if he got in.— Thanks 

 for your though tfulness in regard to my poor 

 self. I will try to remember it. 



A REPORT OF ONK OF C.VNADA'S BIG 

 BKE-ITIEN. 



RAISING THE HIVE FROM THE BOTTOM-BOARr> FOR 

 CELLAR WINTERING. 



^pHHERE are not many of us bee-keepers who 

 Jl like to tell of our failures in bee culture. Well, 

 I have failed very often in bringing my bees 

 through the winter when left on their summer 

 stands with little or no protection. Since I have 

 adopted cellar wintering I have succeeded very well. 

 Perhaps it would not be amiss to give a report on 

 the last season, 1880, as I neglected sending one in. 

 I have kept bees for ',13 years, and I find it a very 

 interesting and profitable business. In 1880 there 

 were great failures throughout the country in the 

 honey crop, and I shared the fate of others in that 

 respect. I had very little honey that season. I had 

 quite an increase in swarms by natural and artificial 

 swarming, as I began the season with 160 swarms, 

 and in the fall had increased to 330. When I came 

 to examine them in the fall I found quite a number 

 too weak to go into winter quarters, so I united 30 

 with others, which then left 300 colonies. I sold to 



Rutherford, of Strathroy, 43 of the best colonies I 

 had. On the 15th of November I put my remaining 

 257 in the cellar, and left them there till the 3d of 

 March, when I took out 127, and the remainder on 

 the first of April, some in good condition; but, a 

 few died for want of stores, and some spring- 

 dwindled, and left their hives, brood and all, and 

 went into other hives, which added to their strength, 

 and left a lot of white comb for summer use. 



Now we have our bees through to April 20, 1881, 

 and doing well, and along comes Dr. Nugent and his 

 bee-man, from Strathroj', very anxious to buy bees, 

 as they were scorce then in this part of the country. 

 I sold him 150 colonies, and 50 to others, which left 

 me 20 culls. My sale of bees amounted to over $1500. 

 How is that, Mr. Editor, for a Canadian bee-keeper ? 

 I increased by artificial swarming to 71 colonies last 

 summer. The past season was an extra one for 

 honey. 



The hive T use Is the Ontario, a two-story hive of 

 my own invention. I extract principally from the 

 top story, except in case the brood-hive has too 

 much honey, then extract to make room for breed- 

 ing. 



My bees are now in good condition. 1 set them in 

 the cellar about the 15th of November last fall. I 

 put them up half an inch from bottom-board, leav- 

 ing plenty of space for foul air to pass off without 

 having any upward ventilation. I have wintered 

 eight years this way successfully. I never wintered 

 with better success in my life than the past winter. 

 I lost one hive ; all the rest are in splendid condition, 

 lean not see what the long cold winter has to do 

 with success, so long as the bees are in a proper 

 condition, and have a good laying queen, and are kept 

 in a dark dry warm cellar, well ventilated. I have 

 not yet lost one strong colony thus prepared, having 

 plenty of good sealed honey directly above the 

 brood-nest. I have tried various plans of wintering, 

 but am in favor of the cellar so far. 



Lobo, Can., Mar. 30, 1883. Joseph Aches. 



I think it is tiptop, friend A., for a Cana- 

 dian, or any other bee-keeper ; and I have 

 no doubt biit that many colonies have been 

 lost, both in the cellar and out of it, that 

 might have been saved had more ventilation 

 been given ; and your plan of giving abund- 

 ance at the bottom of the hive may be just 

 what is needed. 



ITIARKETXNG HONEY. 



HOW TO GET RID OF A CROP OF 5300 POUNDS. 



S the honey harvest is near at hand, I should 



like to offer a few thoughts on the above sub- 

 ject, believing that, if more attention were 

 paid by all the bee-keepers to building up a home 

 market tor their honey, that but a small portion of 

 our crop would have to be sent to the large cities, 

 and, as a consequence, our wholesale markets would 

 advance in price, and buyers seek our surplus, in- 

 stead of producers seeking a buyer. In order to 

 give facts and not mere theory, I will tell you how 

 I created a home market. Last July, being busy 

 with my bees, and not having time to go myself, I 

 sent my father to a village of 3500 inhabitants, nine 

 miles distant, with a load of honey put up in one- 

 quart Mason fruit-jars. Right here I wish to say, 

 that I believe Mason fruit-jars the very best thing 



