GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1. 



fever. I read every tiling I could get hold of 

 on the subject of bee-keeping, especially the 

 ABC, perusing it over half a dozen times. In 

 the fall I put two of the colonies into a large 

 box and packed them with chaff (the third I 

 had lost by robbers). The b(;es wintered well, 

 and were in excellent condition in the spring. 

 They had several cleansing flights during the 

 winter. Thei'- stores consisted of white-clover 

 honey. During all this time I looked about for 

 a good hive, and determined upon the Dovetail- 

 ed hive as the simplest and most easily han- 

 dled. In the spring I transferred the bees to 

 these hives with success. The first honey they 

 gathered was dandelion. Next camd white 

 clover; and last, but not least, buckwheat. 

 These two colonies I increased to U by natural 

 swarming, and they gave me 400 lbs. of good 

 comb honey, besides fliling their brood-chamber 

 with enough honey to winter them. I packed 

 them in the same manner as last winter, except 

 two colonies which are in Dovetailed chaff 

 hives. All my bees are good at this date. 



In regard to the Dovetailed hive, I wish to 

 say that it answers its purpose perfectly. It is 

 the hive for general use, being easy to manipu- 

 late, and perfect in all its parts. The only dis- 

 crepancy I have found is the slotted bars of the 

 section-holders. These should be a trifle thicker. 

 When the super is full of honey they have bent 

 down for me, and thus take away the bee-space 

 underneath. I had plenty of burr and brace 

 combs in my hives, all my bees being on Hoff- 

 man frames. I like them very well ; the V 

 edge is good. I. W. HoFF>rAN. 



Roselle, Iowa. Jan. 19. 



[The next one reads as follows:] 



In Gleanings of Jan. 1, page ;iL I see you 

 ask for reports of burr-combs on different 

 frames. I had 100 frames. K inch thick by Ih 

 wide, that did not have any burr-combs on; 

 but the 100 frames of the same dimensions, only 

 a molding off' for comb-guide, were badly burred 

 together, top and sides. T. C. de Clercq. 



De Soto, Iowa, Jan. 13. 



[These two. taken together with the testi- 

 mony of Dr. C. C. Miller in favor of the old- 

 style thick-top bar, might seem conclusive. 

 Here is a letter just at hand, which confirms 

 our own experience:] 



Friend Root:— 1 see in last Gleanings you 

 ask for reports concerning the improved thick- 

 top-bar frames, in regard to burr-combs being 

 built above them. I have both kinds, and can 

 see no difference in them. Both kinds are free 

 from burr-combs so far, and some of them 

 have been in use two seasons. Doti't think 

 of going back to the old thick-top frames— no, 

 never. Bees are gathering pollen from cedar 

 and mistletoe. Prospects are good for a big 

 honey crop. L. B. Smith. 



Lometa, Tex., Jan. 14. 



HOFFMAN FliAMES. 



We have given the new improved Hoffman 

 frames a fair trial this season in our apiary, 

 and I think they are a great improvement over 

 the old style. We have had no burr-combs 

 built on thfjn. and my combs are not all braced 

 together as they were with the old L. frames — 

 so much so that, when I was manipulating 

 them, the honey was continually running down 

 from where the brace-combs were fastened 

 together. I shall discard all other old-style 

 frames, and have all my combs built on the 

 new Hoffman frames. — M. H. DeWitt in Amer- 

 ican Bee Keeper. 



[The comb-guide is almost a necessity with a 

 good many bee-keepers because they think 



they can not afford foundation. To add an en- 

 tra comb-guide to the bottom of the % bar is 

 carrying things a little bit too far the other 

 way. We seriously question whether, if the 

 bee-spaces are correctly maintained, there 

 would be any trouble with burr-combs on new 

 molded top-bars. By way of a compromise 

 we are preparing to make a slight change, so 

 that the side of the bars will be nearly if not 

 fully % inch wide, and yet leave a sufficient 

 comb-guide for the fastening of foundation in 

 the regular way. or for a guide to comb-build- 

 ing in the old-fashioned way. This is a change 

 which will not interfere in the least with any 

 thing already in use. So far as our own experi- 

 ence is concerned, we would just as soon, and 

 perhaps rather, have the molded lop-bars the 

 same as we have sold for the, last year and a 

 half.] 



Heads of Grain 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS. 



HOW TO MAKE A SUN WAX-EXTRACTOR W'ORK 

 WITHOUT ANY SUN. 



" Necessity is the mother of invention." In 

 the winter of 1889 we made a business of laking 

 Ijees out of buildings, churches, schoolhouses, 

 dwellinghouses, etc. Dr. Plnegar's house turn- 

 ed out 18 colonies and 1300 lbs. of extracted 

 honey. The weather was cold and wet, and 

 the large sun extractor was of no use, and some 

 larva} in the honey had commenced to sour. 

 " What shall we do ? " Lewis George said. We 

 went to the tinshop and had a hot-air furnace 

 made that cost 13.00. This was connected by a 

 hot-air pipe. 33j inches in diameter, to the sun 

 extractor, the i)ipe being attached to the lower 

 end, under the screen. We made a hole for 

 draft and ventilation on top of the screen, in 

 the other end. Into the extractor we put a 

 thermometer, built a fire, and stopped looking 

 for the sun. We could heat that mass into a 

 pudding, stir it up, breaking all the cells, and 

 take it out as dry as chips: most of the pollen 

 went through the screen; most of the honey 

 was candied; but the heat was so intense that 

 the bottom dropped right out of it. The honey 

 and wax came out together, and wax caked on 

 top. Emerson Bros. 



Santa Ana, Cal., Jan. 3. 



threatened conflict betaveen fruit- 

 ralsers and bee-men. 



The relation between the fruit and bee men 

 is becoming critical; threats of poisoning are 

 resorted to by the former, and no doubt, to my 

 mind, have been carried out to some extent. I 

 thought I would try to educate some of the 

 progressive fruit-men in regard to the great 

 value of bees as fertilizers, and help matters 

 from this quarter; so I sent Gleanings, No. 18, 

 1891, with Prof. Cook's article on " Bees as Fer- 

 tilizers." to Prof. Hilgard. State University, for 

 his indorsement, which would have great 

 weight with the fruit- men here. It was refer- 

 red to a Prof. C. W. Wood worth, who replied as 

 follows: ■' Prof. Cook is an authority on bee- 

 keeping, and I think what he says can be relied 

 upon: but we must not forget that there is 

 in California a very different problem in the 

 case. It is the injury to ripe and drying fruits 

 that the fight against bees is based upon." 



I replied that we must not forget nor under- 

 estimate the great value of bees as fertilizers; 

 how nnich fruit would set if it were not for the 

 busy little bee? and is it not ripe fruit opened 

 by birds and yellow-jackets, and in a fermented 



