692 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 15. 



so? Say, but if I had run for comb, I am afraid 

 there wouldn't have been so much on those 

 double-deckers. What more do you want me 

 to tell'?— Ed.] 



Rape is a great honey-plant in Germany, and 

 perhaps elsewhere, but is little known in this 

 country. The Stockinan thinks it is destined 

 to become much better known here; and Prof. 

 Thos. Shaw is " certain that it is to be a great 

 factor in solving the problem of cheap-mutton 

 production." "Am pasturing six sheep and 

 ten lambs in fine form on an acre of land." 



If bees steal eggs from other hives, W. 

 Woodley asks in British Bee Journal, " why do 

 colonies ever die out from queenlessness after 

 breeding has commenced in the spring, and 

 eggs can be had for the fetching from other 

 hives?" [It was never claimed, if I am cor- 

 rect, that bees always steal eggs, but only that 

 there was strong evidence that they have done 

 so under pressure.— Ed.] 



I XEVER DREAMED that any one would under- 

 stand that straw to which S. T. Fish & Co. 

 refer on p. (369 as meaning they were not en- 

 titled to having consignments. It simply 

 meant that honey was so scarce that prices 

 must go up before consignments would pour in. 

 The Honey Column for Sept. 1 justifies my an- 

 ticipation. No quotations are lowered, and 

 some have gone up a cent or two. 



Number-tags of manilla well-soaked in oil 

 look very promising. They cost so much less 

 than tin that we can try a set; then if they 

 give out in too short a time we can turn to tin. 

 But I earnestly entreat you not think of giving 

 us figures less than 1% to 3 inches in height. 

 After Mr. Winder has put 1-inch figures to a 

 fair test he'll want to stretch them. [Yes, we'll 

 have respect for the larger figures.— Ed.] 



Mr. M. M. Baldkidge speaks almost com- 

 plainingly of the cropping of sweet clover by 

 stock on the wayside. Nothing pleases me 

 better. For when the stock and its owners 

 both find out the value of sweet clover as a 

 forage-plant it will soon find a permanent 

 lodgment in fields. And I'd rather see every 

 plant on the roadside cut down; but I wish 

 they would cut it before blooming. Then we 

 get greater value in later blooming. 



August 9, put in No. 20 bees with brood and 

 queen-cells. August 26, found present a virgin 

 queen with one wing torn away. Killed her 

 and began distributing the bees and comb, 

 when I found another virgin queen with whole 

 wings, neither of the queens appearing very 

 young. The latter queen began laying Sept. 3. 

 Did each queen have a faction of adherents 

 loyally protecting her, or how was it? [Are 

 you sure the wing of the first queen was torn 

 away? I should guess that she was "born" 

 so. Still, it is not improbable that the wing 

 could have been removed by the bees. — Ed. J 



Spacing-sticks for keeping top-bars at fixed 

 distances, who invented them? After they be- 

 come well glued, and I try to use them, I feel 

 an ardent desire to use one of them to whack 

 the head of the man who got me to try them. 

 [I may as well confess that I was the man 

 who got the doctor to try them. Another chap 

 put the idea in my head; and before I tried 

 them I sent some of the sticks to the doctor, 

 and this is the way he would use me. Well, I 

 don't blame him; for, after I had tried them, I 

 felt just like, like — kicking myself and the 

 "other chap" too. No, sir; I want spacing- 

 devices to be part and parcel of the frames 

 themselves. They are a mistake when made 

 detachable in the way of sticks or when a part 

 of the hive-body itself.— Ed.] 



The house-apiaky described on p. 663, if I 

 understand it correctly, costs S3.36 per colony, 

 besides cost of hive. There ought to be a very 

 big advantage to offset that. [That's true; 

 but this figure covers winter protection — that 

 is, saves packing - cases or more expensive 

 double-walled hives: or toting bees in and out 

 of cellars every fall and spring as you do. 

 Again, it saves in economy of room; saves 

 steps, as the hives are all close together, and 

 saves disagreeable outdoor robbing. The house 

 is a big advantage in the matter of extracting 

 and in fall feeding. It can be locked; and 

 bees, honey, and all be tolerably secure from 

 petty thieves. Tools, such as smoker and the 

 like, always under protection from the weather; 

 and it makes no difference what the weather 

 is, the apiarist can work right along. Last of 

 all, the building may be used as a temporary 

 storage for honey just taken off. The outdoor 

 plan usually calls for a little building for 

 tools, storage, and a general shop. The ex- 

 pense-item, if considered in the long run, is 

 rather in favor of the house-apiary.— Ed.] 



THE HIVE QUESTION. 



extra large hives not always most prof- 

 itable; LARGE AND SMALL BROOD- 

 CHAMBERS COMPARED. 



By B. Taylor. 



Editor Oleanings : — After reading the five or 

 six interesting articles in July 15th Gleanings, 

 on large or small hives, I can not refrain from 

 adding a final word. I have been making some 

 careful observations directly in that line this 

 season. I am now trying to earn a living by 

 raising honey, and am very anxious to find and 

 have the advantage of a hive that would give 

 best results, and would at once use a large hive 



