•272 



GLEANINGS IN BKK Cl'LTURE 



Apr. 15 



A LAKD-PKKSS FOR RENDERING WAX. 



llaviUK some wax to render last spring I noaked 

 iiiy combs well in water and heated them up to the 

 proper temperature. I arranged an lOnterprise saii- 

 saee-stiUfer and lard-press as for lard-pressins: and, 

 liaving made a sack of good burlai) of a size a little 

 larger than the inside of the press I dipped my melt- 

 ed coml) and wax into it and pressed it as dry as 1 

 <-oiild: then 1 took the sack out and put it back in 

 the water and melted the wax. I took the tojj of 

 the sack in one li;ind, and with a stick in the other 

 I piinclied and stirred the sack until it was all soften- 

 ed lip again, then I put it back and pressed it again 

 and got the wax out in fine shape, as good, appar- 

 ently, as a wax-press would have done. The lard- 

 Ijress is something that almo,st every one has, and 

 it does not hurt the press, and saves buying a wax- 

 press. 



Dayton, Va. .S. H. IJi.ossek. 



(There is no question that you can render wax in 

 a lard-press: but unless you repeated the alternate 

 heatings and pressings a numberof times you would 

 be sure to lose .some wax in the slumguni. I'niess 

 you had a small amount of comb to render, you 

 would probably find that you would lose enough in 

 a short time to pay for a good press ada|)ted for 

 ]jressing combs. 



When you wish to heat ui) the contents of the sack 

 again, dip off the layer of wax on top of the water, 

 else the slumgum \vill ciuickly absorb some of it, 

 making it necessary to do that much of the work 

 over .'igain. — Kn.J 



WEKK THE DKONE.S WINTERED OVKIJ? 



I noticed one of my colonies, a strong one, in nf)r- 

 mal condition, that had drones flying which must 

 have wintered over. 1 watched to see if they were 

 kindly received upon reentering the hive. 'I'his 

 they were. A wasp trying to enter the hive was 

 given a warm reception. 



I Introduced alsike clover in this locality, with 

 the result that it gets sown more and more every 

 year, 1 have been thinking of .sowing sweet clover 

 jilong the railroad-track.s. What variety would you 

 advi.se me to sow? Several years ago 1 sowed a small 

 end of it to the yellow kind, and a little of it to the 

 white. The white always gets mown off liefore it 

 gets in bloom: but the yellow does not. 1 would 

 rjither .sow the white, so as to have .something for 

 the bees when grapes and peaches ripen: bnt 1 am 

 afraid it will get mown down before it gets to bloom- 

 ing, on account of its tall growth. II. Stock. 



Augusta, Mis.souri. 



I Drone brood will .sometimes be reared in late 

 winter or very early spring. This Is particularly so 

 if the queen is old or failing. These early-hatched 

 drones are qiiiti- apt to give the impression that 

 they had been in the hive all winter. 



We had one hive in our north yard that had (iiiite 

 a bunch of young diones by the lii'st of March. ( )ne 

 might easil.y suppose that they wintered over, just 

 as you did. Of the two sweet clovers, the white is 

 superior, and the yellow hard to get. N'ou can sow 

 sweet clovei' along the railroad banks: but you had 

 better get permission from the company. Public 

 sentiment (basc-d. of course, on ignoiance) would 

 be against sowing sweet clover in waste places: but 

 tlie public is being educated through progressive 

 farm papers th;it now know that the plant is not a 

 weed bvit a vaUuible forage-plant. It is a gieat .soil- 

 binder for railroad embjinkments. and it won't be 

 long before these great thoi-oughfares will sow the 

 seed them.selves for the protection of their property. 

 When farmers, too. welconu' it we shall expect a 

 gi'eatly increa.sed .soui'ce of honey. .Ma.v the day 

 speedily come. — I'^l). 1 



STINCilNc; NOT FATAL TO (ATTI.E. 



t HI p. 199 Mr. .1. !■'. Senipers inciuires abo\it bees 

 stinging stock, and tlien the stock died. If that is 

 the case I should have .some terrible damagis to 

 pay. I live in cpiite a dairy distric-t. Last season I 

 wintered i:^0 colonies here. When the warm days 

 ciune on, bees went in seai'ch of pollen. :uiil they 

 got into the dairymen's gluten-feed bins, and then 

 into the feed-troughs. The cows would cough and 

 gag and kick, so the men could not milk the cows 

 till the bees <iuit Hying. If it would kill stock, 

 there certainly would have been sf)me dead. The 

 bees became so troublesome that we nu)\ed some 

 of them. This spring it is not so bad. 



KairOaks. Ind.. Maich 22. IIenhv Koouda. 



BIND VOl'R .lOt'RNAL.S. 



Mr. Todd's account of his unsuccessful hunt 

 through the bee-books for .something on flour can- 

 dy, and the editor's reference to old volumes of 

 ( ii.E.XNiNGS, lead me to describe my j)ractice. Whili- 

 there is nothing new in the idea of binding maga- 

 zines, it is not generally practiced among bee-keep- 

 ers. I find that the journals stored :iway in the 

 closet are .seldom referred to, while tluj.se nicely 

 bound and placed on the shel\es are in frequent de- 

 mand. One year's issue of < It.eanincj.s makes a 

 large book. We get it bound in serviceable half- 

 leather for one dollar, and a single volume is worth 

 two or three ordinary books on bee culture for ref- 

 erence. lOight or ten volumes of this kind will make 

 an encycloiui'dla of bee lore that can not be equaled 

 by all the well-known bee-books combined: and one 

 has little idea of the fre(iuency with which it will be 

 used. In almost every issue there aie valuable ar- 

 ticles, not of present interest, that are lost entirely 

 unle.ss preserved in some i)ermanent numner. The 

 first cost of the journal is one dollar: and by adding 

 another dollar to the cost we can increase the prac- 

 tical value not only twice over but many times as 

 the value increases with the years. 



Atlantic, Iowa. Frank f'. 1'ellet. 



TO keep grass down around the entrances. 



The problem of keeping weeds and grass from 

 growing in front of hives .seems to be a vexing one 

 with many bee-keeper.s. It really is very simple. 

 < )ne way is to use boiling water: but it takes a lot of 

 it, and the hot steam in front of the hives fills the 

 bees with the agony of heli)less desijair. A solution 

 of arsenite of .soda also would be etfective: l)ut poi- 

 son, especially a mineral ijoison, should never be 

 used for any puri)ose where something else is avail- 

 able. 



liay a strip of tarred building paijer, such as has 

 been recommended for wraijping around hives for 

 winter protection, along on the ground in front of 

 the hives, extending in under the alighting-boards, 

 and weight the paper down with stones, bricks, 

 sticks of firewood, or any other handy material. 

 This to be done in the glowing season of the weeds 

 and grass, including two or three days of sunshiny 

 weathei-. 'I'lie paper can then be shifted along to 

 some other place, and the oiieration repeated until 

 the whole yard has been attended to. llownuiny 

 treatments might be necessary during a .season 1 do 

 not know, but certainl.v not very man.v. 



(artluige. Mo. B. f. Acten. 



.MORE I'RooF th.vt bees move E(j(;s. 



On ))age 7S(I. Dec. 15. last year. Mr. Samuel Sini- 

 mins doubts the ability of bees to moveegg.s. About 

 the year 1882, one of my strong colonies lost a virgin 

 (|ueen: so a little later I cut out a siiuare inch of 

 coml) with eggs to give to this colony. I laid this 

 piece of comb near the entrance, intending to i)Ut It 

 in the hi^■e: but just then 1 had to go to dinner. 

 After dinner I found all of the eggs gone out of this 

 piece of comb. I did not see thi,«< colony again for 

 moie than a week, and then I looked to ,see if they 

 had a (|ueen. ;ind I found two large queen-cells that 

 were capiied over. 1 was Italianizing at that time, 

 and the eggs which I had given this bl;ick colony 

 were from my first Italian bees. The i-esulting 

 queen was an Italian. If Mi\ .simmins will lay .n 

 l)iece of comb containing eggs against the entrance 

 ofahixe th:it has lost a virgin cpieen he will find 

 that he can raise nice queen.s. 



1 intend to prepare a colony for <iueen-rearing. 

 provide artificial (•ell-cui)s. etc.. and, when the bees 

 feel the need of a queen, place a fi'ame of eggs that 

 are one or two days old. Mat on the bottom-board, 

 and see if the bees won't do their own grafting. 

 This frame must not be suspended oi- the bees will 

 build cells on it. ( '. \'. Kintner. 



Carrollton. ( )hio. 



Wll.l, SI I.IMIITE I'Al'KK-JIII.l.S IN.ICKE HEE.S? 



A sulphite paper-mill is bi'ing built here. .Some 

 .say that the sulplnn- fumes will kill my bees. If it 

 will kill them, tell me how far away I must move to 

 be .sale. I live 1)4 miles Uom the mills now. 



I.adysmith. Wis. ,IOHN .\r.mstroN(;. 



I We have had no personal experience: but if you 

 are 1^6 miles away from the mills it would .seem 

 \ery unlikely that you would notice any great lo.s.s. 

 If others, who are in a position to know, have rea- 

 son to believe otheiwise. we should be gl:ul to hear 

 from them. — lOl). 1 



