1882 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



449 



yesterday we fouud the young queen hatched out all 

 right, and found her to be just like the one j'ou sent 

 119, and we now want instructiona what to do, as she 

 is now about Ave or six days old, and we have no 

 Italian drones. ]. C. Johnson. 



Drake Creek, Ark., July 21, 1883. 



I should say. things are going on all right, 

 friend J., without your doing any thing. 

 Your queen will (ind drones somewhere, un- 

 less I am very much mistaken. The old 

 queen leading out the swarm, leaving the 

 young one to preside over the old colony, is 

 the natural order of things, and just as it 

 should be, I believe. Wnere no bees are 

 kept near you, your young queen may have 

 to go out several times, but I think you will 

 lind her laying when she is about two weeks 

 old. 



TESTING TIN CANS; A SCIENTIFIC WAY. 



How do you test tin cans? I test such cans by 

 putting about a quart of boiling water into them 

 and then screwing the top down tight, and shaking 

 them. A leak will very quickly show itself. 



Many thanks for yotir suggestions, friend 

 G. Your plan of testing cans is exactly the 

 one Ave use in testing honey-barrels when 

 we wax them, but I never before thought of 

 it for tin cans. We will use it hereafter, 

 and it will very likely end the complaints of 

 leaky cans. The ]iiulosophy of it is, that 

 you have cold air and hot water in the can 

 Avhen you screw down the cap. Shaking tlie 

 two together suddenly warms a large volume 

 of air, and its expansion generates consid- 

 erable force. 



THE 3-CENT HONEY-TUMBLERS. 



Your half-pound honey -tumblers is a most ex- 

 cellent package for a small quantity of liquid honey. 

 In selling honey in tumblers heretofore, I have al- 

 ways had much trouble with sticky, dauby glasses, 

 and this year the grocerymen complained so that I 

 was obliged to devise some way of making them 

 perfectly tight. 



HOW TO MAKE ANY JELLY-TUMBLER " HONEY-TIGHT." 



I have it now, and it is very simple. Just lay a 

 piece of paper over the tumbler, and then force the 

 cover down over that. This keeps the cover on 

 tight, and not a drop can ooze out, even if the tum- 

 liler is laid on its side or turned upside down.' Such 

 paper as the tumblers are wrapped in does very 

 well, but I prefer such paper as Gleanings is print- 

 ed on. If the edge of the cap is wet just before 

 putting it on, the surplus paper can be torn off pret- 

 ty smoothly, but it is hard to do it rapidly and do a 

 good job. Can you not cut paper into round pieces 

 about three-eighths of an inch larger in diameter 

 than the top of the tumbler? You could sell them 

 with the tumblers at so much a hundred. If these 

 paper caps were dipped in melted wax, and the tin 

 cap put on while the wax was warm, the tumbler 

 wouli be very securely sealed, and would stand 

 shipment as well as other glass goods. 



J. A. Green. 



Dayton, La Salle Co., 111., July 31, 1883. 



The idea of making jelly-tumblers tight 

 by a piece of paper is hardly new, but it 

 does ns good many times to revive old mat- 

 ters. We can easily furnish the circular 

 papers, and could also wax them, but I pre- 

 sume most bee-keepers will prefer to wax 

 them themselves, with their own wax. I 



will name, at present, a dollar a thousand 

 for round pai)ers, to lit any of our tumblers, 

 but very likely we can do better when we 

 get the necessary machinery. 



OUR TEN-CENT GARDEN T150AVEL FOR AN UNC.VP- 

 PING-KNIFE. 



Inclosed please find Id cents, for which send me 

 one of your garden trowels (10c. for trowel and Oc. 

 for postage). I want to try it for uncapping. 



Ironton, Iron Co., Mo., June 37, 1883. Wm. Hills. 



I have tried the trowel uncapping-knife; it works 

 splendidly-. I ground mine from the inside; I don't 

 want any thing better. Wm. Hills. 



August 1, 1882. 



The above seems to settle the question 

 pretty decisively. I fear, however, the 

 temper is not as "hard as it should be ; but at 

 the small price of lOc, it would seem that 

 no one should be without at least some kind 

 of an uncapping-knife. And here we have 

 been all these years paying nearly a dollar 

 for that wliich might have been bought for 

 10 cents ! It were no more than fair to add, 

 however, that these trowels have never been 

 sold before for a dime, until we made a large 

 purchase of them for our counter store. 



FRIEND TYLER'S REPORT. 



I bought one colony of Italian bees last August. 

 They tilled their hive (10-frame Simp.) last fall, and 

 this spring they have given me three swarms, and 

 are now working in full upper story of sections. I 

 gave their first swarm sections yesterday. 



LEARNING T5Y EXPERIENCE. 



I bought 7 swarms of blacks in box hives last Sep- 

 tember (bad calculation, but a good way to get ex- 

 perience at the expense of capital); one died of 

 worms; one of dysentery and dwindling; one robbed; 

 two killed trying to unite in March. The other two 

 I transferred in May. I use No. U wire for transfer- 

 ring-clasps instead of tin, and I like it better. It is 

 firmer, and does not cover as much brood. 



A NOVEL WAY OF FASTENING THE COMBS IN, IN 

 TRANSFERRING. 



I seldom use smoke about my bees. I transferred 

 one colony without smoke, and succeeded quite as 

 well. And now, by the way, let me tell you how I 

 fixed my frames so that there was no need of clasps, 

 except for small pieces. I selected some thin comb- 

 guides that would slip through the groove easily, 

 and sharpened one end, leaving a long bevel on the 

 lower side, which I brought to a knife edge, and aft- 

 er a comb was cut and in place in the frame, this 

 guide was shoved through endwise, cutting its own 

 groove in the center of the comb. D. S. Tyler. 



Clio, Mich., August, 1882. 



If I understand, friend T., you think you 

 would have raised your bees cheaper from 

 your Italians, than to have invested in the 

 seven black stocks. Very likely ; and you 

 might also have done it about as quickly, 

 the way it turned out. You see, my advice 

 to buy one or two, and then build up, is not 

 very far wrong.— Your plan of holding the 

 upper edge of a comb in transferring is in- 

 genious and valuable. We often put in 

 combs without any clasps, where they are 

 straiglit, and lit, aiid are not too heavy with 

 lioney. The top edge, however, is quite apt 

 to slip, unless it lits very securely, and your 

 plan makes it very secure, besides adding 

 stiffness to the top- bar. 



