294 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



June 



FILI-ING TIN BOTTLES BY STEAM. 



f||0 fill the tin bottles with water, first cause a 

 vacuum in them by holding them in boiling 

 " — ' water, then quickly submerge in cool water, 

 and it is done — atmospheric pressure, you see. By 

 tying them in bundles I can fill a hundred in five 

 minutes — yes, in two minutes. We have to thank 

 that most excellent and practical gentleman, friend 

 N. Emmerson, of Exeter, Kansas, for this item. Aft- 

 er quietly watching me a few minutes squirting 

 away at them with a syringe, he remarked, " Why 

 not flu them by vacuum, friend H.?" Did I feel 

 " cheap " ? well, the truth must be told, I did. What 

 little practical use I have made of my natural phi- 

 losophy I E. M. Hayburst. 

 Kansas City, Mo., May 1, 188^. 



ADVANTAGE OF THE DIAGONAL, WIRES FOR BROOD- 

 FRAMES. 



I have three hives with wide frames filled with 

 section boxes in second story. The bees are now 

 capping the honey, and it will soon be ready to re- 

 move. Will you be kind enough to tell me the best 

 way to expel the bees? The frames below have 

 sagged so much that the bees fill up the space be- 

 tween the top of lower frames and bottom of upper 

 ones with honey, and it is very awkward to keep it 

 cut out, owing to weight of upper boxes. From the 

 manner in which our Texas bees ignore the fact, 

 that the frames are meant to be taken out at plea- 

 sure of apiarian, they can hardly be as thoroughly 

 civilized as your bees, and I find that showing hives 

 like yours, before the bees are put into them, to ad- 

 miring bee-men (" box-hivers "), is different from 

 manipulating when full of bees. Allen, Root, and 

 King must have straighter combs and more " blessed 

 bees " than I have, notwithstanding one stand in 

 King's "Eclectic" had filled 24 boxes nearly ready 

 to seal by the Stth of March. 



Please pardon the length of this acknowledgment; 

 and if I am not intruding on your time, tell me 

 what to do with the two-story hives. If I get the 

 honey out safely this time, I promise you to try the 

 lYi stories in the future. I have had eight swarms 

 from ten hives up to date. F. F. RoCKWEiiL. 



Leonard, Fannin Co., Texas, April 24, 1882. 



I am sorry to say, friend R., that our bees 

 are just as uncivilized as your Texas bees 

 seem to be. If the top-bar to the frame sags 

 with the weight of the honey, they will as- 

 suredly build comb In it, and lill it with 

 honey just as fast as you can cut it out. It 

 is for this reason I never want any more 

 frames without the diagonal wires and the 

 tin bar, to prevent sagging. You will have 

 just the same difficulty with the U stories, 

 for any thing I know, unless you set the 

 boxes on the frames, and then they will help 

 the top-bars to sag still more, by their addi- 

 tional weight.— We are glad to hear you are 

 getting the honey. 



ANOTHER DEPARTMENT WANTED. 



I see you have three departments you get some of 

 your customers in, but I do not think that either of 

 them will suit my case. You should have another 

 department, and term it the " lilues," into which 

 condition a "feller" falls when he gets such a bayo- 

 neting by the little fellows as I got last fall, when I 

 undertook to take a little of their surplus honey, 

 and I tell you there was war in the camp, and I had 

 to retreat on the double quick; and if the theory ad- 

 vanced, that the sting of bees is good for rheuma- 

 tism, is true, I ought not to have it for the next five 

 years. ' J. L. Porter. 



Pleasant Dale, Neb., March 30, 1883. 



BIG BEE-STORIES. 



I inclose one dollar to renew my " perscription " 

 for GLEANINGS. I think there are some of the hig- 

 gest bee stories in it. I would like to give some one 

 $25.00 for a stand of bees that will make 520 lbs. of 

 honey in 24 days, or I will give it if they will make 

 that much in a honey season. Jas. Bannon. 



Archie, Pa., March 16, 1882. 



So would I, friend B., quickly, for I could 

 sell the honey and come out ahead then. 

 13ut you know it isn't the stand of bees 

 alone. It needs the locality, the season, and 

 the man to manage them, after all the rest is 

 ready. Are you the man? 



LOCKING THE STABLE AFTER THE HORSE IS GONE. 



I had a large swarm of bright Italian bees come 

 out the 2d daj' of April. I was not at home, but the 

 boys hived them, and they stayed in the hive about 

 three hours, and out they came and hied for tall 

 timber; and if you were down here now you might 

 see them passing in and out of a small hollow in a 

 post oak-tree, about forty feet high; and let me 

 tell you, they work in a "sloose" too. If ever I 

 get hold of her ladyship, the queen of that colony, 

 she will lose the point of one wing. 



Miles, Ky., April 6, 1882. W, B. Cloyes. 



THE CORN-POrPER SWARM-ARRESTER, AND HOW TO 



USE IT. 



In regard to your corn-popper swarm-arrester, it 

 will work all right if you fill it with bees. 1 have 

 used a cage of wire cloth, 6 inches long, 4 wide, one 

 deep, with a plug. When your swarm is coming out, 

 hold it at the entrance till it is full; put in the 

 queen, then the plug, and hold it where you want 

 your swarm, and the noise will bring them every 

 time. For a Bwarming-box, I use a box with a han- 

 dle; cage the queen, throw a sheet over the hive, 

 place the box in front, on the sheet, lay the queen in 

 front of the box, and when they begin to go in, let 

 the queen go in with them. Pick up the box, and 

 take them where you want them. 



J. J. SWAUTWOUT. 



Union City, Mich., April 7, 1882. 



Why, you will see, friend S., by the May 

 No., that you have struck on the idea of 

 friend Brooks, almost exactly. It seems you 

 have both been practicing almost the same 

 thing, and each without a knowledge of 

 what the other was doing. 



AN .^ B C SCHOLAR IN TROUBLE. 



You seem so kind, and willing to answer ques- 

 tions, and you show so much patience with dull peo- 

 ple, I thought I would venture to tell you of our 

 difficulty. I don't find any thing in the A B C book 



