404 



GLEAl^lNGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



stress on such simple matters ; but, my 

 friends, are we sure that God did not honor 

 this little closing act, much as Christ did the 

 little mites that tlie poor widow cast into the 

 treasury ? A few days ago I heard of a 

 young Christian who was stumbled, and 

 went back to the world again, because an 

 old professor, with wliom he was riding, told 

 a deliberate lie to tlie toll-gate keeper, to 

 save only about four cents. IIow far will a 

 profession count on a dying bed. with such 

 little things in the record back of it V 



UNCAPPING-KNIVES — A MASON'S TKOWKL. 



If you wish to furnish the best uncappiug-knife in 

 the world, get a medium-&ize Henry Disston mason's 

 trowel. I have used Muth's, Koot's, ard Bingham & 

 Hethcrington's honey-knives; but Disston's is the 

 best for all pui poses. It takes up the capping very 

 uicely; have used one for two years, and fur my 

 own use I want nothing better. J. S. Tadlock. 



Luling, Texas, July 3, 1882. 



Did you everV It has often been said, in 

 describing honey-knives, that they are like 

 a mason's trowel, somewhat; but it seems 

 it has been left for our friend Tadlock to 

 discover that a mason's trowel itself is what 

 is wanted. I lind, by looking over Disston's 

 list, that we can get a Disston trowel, first 

 quality, for about 7.5 cts.; that is, of about 

 the size of a Bingham honey-knife. I have 

 sent for samples of different shapes, and 

 will supply the friends who would like to 

 try one. As a mason wants the very best 

 steel and temper he can get, I presume we 

 shall find in a trowel just what we want for 

 a honey -knife, so far as that part of it goes. 

 Since the mention of it, we have sold a great 

 number of our little steel garden-trowels, for 

 cheap honey-knives. Will somebody tell us 

 how they answerV 



ABOUT SOME YELLOAV SAVEET CLOVER. 



I have some sweet clover, of which I think a great 

 deal. It is six weeks earlier than the white kind I 

 got of Mr. Newnmn some years ago, which was rec- 

 ommended to be the best kind, and is a good honey- 

 plant. It commences to liloom about the 20th of 

 June, and lasts about six weeks. My early yellow 

 commences about the 10th of May, and continues 

 till the 1.5th of July. It gives twice the number of 

 blooms; it produces more pollen than the white, 

 and, I think, more honey, by the way the bees work 

 on it. It has a little finer straw than the white. 

 Now, I want to know if any other bee-man has any 

 of this kind. Seme may be curious to know how I 

 got it. I did so Ity accident one day. As I was pass- 

 ing my stock-yarrt I saw a nice yellow bloom in a 

 group of weeds. I stepped out to see what it was, 

 and saw it was sweet clover, and I saw it wa? much 

 earlier than the white. I saved the seed from that 

 little spear, and I have now a bed well set, 6 by 3 ft., 

 and it would do any bee-man good to see how the 

 bees swarm over that little bed. I have no seed U> 

 sell yet. I can't tell how the seed came there, for I 

 never saw any before, and I think it is as hardy as 

 the white, and will be a great addition to our honey- 

 plants. S. J. SOWEHS. 



Dunlap, Morris Co., Kan., July, 1882. 



I believe, friend S., that yellow sweet clo- 

 ver is not uncommon, but yours may be a 

 little different from any we have, and, of 

 course, you will either give or sell the friends 



some seed, when it ripens. I presume it 

 does not blossom until the second year, al- 

 tliough you do not say so. The blue, it will 

 be remembered, blossoms in about o weeks 

 after sowing. 



THE STltAW HIVE ON THE COVER OF OLEANINGS. 



Let me call your attention to a mistake on the 

 cover of Gleanings. What you cull a primitive 

 straw hive is only the outside co.-ering (f suoh a 

 hive. It is what the (>ld writers call a "hackle." [ 

 inclose a cut from ITamct, in which this straw "sur- 

 tout" [overall] is shown in a more linished stylp. 



Oxford, O., .^pril 0, 1881. L L. Langstroth. 



ANCIENT "WINTEl! PROTKCTION. 



The above was received over a year ago, 

 but we never got the engraving ready until 

 now. It would seem that our artist must 

 have got his idea from some picture of a 

 hive prepared for winter, and it was my 

 suggestion that a hive in its most primitive 

 form was simply a bundle of straw, tied at 

 the top and separate al the bottom, so as to 

 leave a hollow underneath. Many thanks 

 to friend Langstroth for setting us right; 

 and this is the more interesting, because it 

 shows that the idea of chalf hives, or, rath- 

 er, straw protection, is very old. This pro- 

 tection may be to keep off the hot rays of 

 summer, as well as the frosts of winter. In 

 the engraving, one of tliem is shown placed 

 over a straw hive, and another over some 

 kind of a box or wood hive. 



ENAMELED CLOTH; HOW TO USE, ETC. 



In using enameled cloth for covering the brood- 

 frames, which side down do you put it,— cloth or 

 enameled? 



We use the enameled cloth with the enam- 

 eled side down, because the bees can not 

 bite into the hard smooth surface, and also 

 because they can not make wax slick to it. 

 If they do build on to it, the sheet can read- 

 ily be peeled from the wax, so as to come off 

 clean and bright. It is also so soft and 

 light it can not kill a bee, and, all together, 

 it seems destined to be tlie thing to super- 

 sede all other devices for covering frames, 

 where the hive has to be opened often. The 

 demand for it this season has been enor- 

 mous, and we received, in one single ship- 

 ment, 100 pieces, which are nearly all sold 

 now. 



BEST PACKAGE FOIJ RETAILING EXTRACTED HONEY. 



Which dt) you consider best for retailing extract- 

 ed honey, a pail holding a pound, a bottle, or a glass 

 jar? What do pound pails cost a hundred? Please 

 give me diameter and depth of pail necessary for 

 holding a pound. 



