1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



130 



I saw in Gleanings, tiome time ago, that one 

 of your honey-reporters stated that the crop of 

 1893 was not a failure in California, because 

 they "had already received 13 carloads of hon- 

 ey." It is very evident that this firm does not 

 appreciate the honey resources of California. 

 In a good year, 13 cars could be loaded within a 

 radius often miles of my apiary! San Diego 

 Co., in a good year, will produce two and a half 

 million pounds of honey, and not exert herself 

 beyond her strength. This is 135 carloads, of 

 30,000 lbs. each. In ISSH the tirm of Surr & 

 Winchester bought, of the crop of San Diego 

 Co., over two million pounds. There were other 

 buyers too, and many producers shipped direct 

 to San Francisco. Thus it will be seen that 

 Surr ilk Winchester alone had, of San Diego Co. 

 honey, 100 carloads of 30.000 lbs. each. In 1887 

 they still held it, and they made money by so 

 doing, for 1887 was a very poor honey year. 

 You mentioned it in Gle.\nings. but I think 

 you gave no name of the parties who held the 

 honey. Yes. we are waiting for a good crop, 

 and we have been waiting for n*^arly seven long 

 years. But we are in the hands of an all-wise 

 Providence, who knows much better what we 

 ought to have than we do ourselves. 



Escondido, Cal., Jan. 18. J. P. Israel. 



[Here is something that is more encouraging. 

 As it was written some ten days later we may 

 hope that friend Israel's locality has a little 

 share of that'rain.] 



SOUTHEKN CALIFORNIA; PROSPECTS IMPROV- 

 ING. 



I have a number of colonies of bees with from 

 four to seven frames of brood, a month to six 

 weeks earlier than usual. We are now having 

 a splendid rain, and, with favorable spring rains 

 and weather. Providence permitting, the "sil- 

 ver lining " will be at hand. 



Ventura, Cal., Jan. 37. M. H. Mendleson. 



Ud/es' Conversazione. 



MRS, AXTELL'S LETTER. 



HOW GLEANINGS SPOILS THE BAKING. 



Mr. i?oot;— Somehow you make your journal 

 veiry readable. I thought possibly one reason 

 was because I had an article in it; for you know 

 that, when we take a part in meeting, we al- 

 ways think we have had a good one. But I 

 have been so busy for six weeks or more, sewing 

 for the Indian orphan school, mending up old 

 clothing given by people in Roseville, etc., that 

 I could not take time for writing. Yet it was 

 not so much the time as it was my lame right 

 hand and arm. I could not do more than my 

 housework and the .sewing; and yet Gleanings 

 is just a-^ interesting with none of my articles. I 

 often wish it would not drop in upon me when I 

 am baking or doing important work, for I can 

 hardly go on with my work until I have at 

 least looked it through,, and sometimes my 

 bread has got scorched, and I have told Mr. 

 Axtell that Gleanings was to blame. 



bees wintering well. 

 Our 137 colonies seem to be wintering finely, 

 with fewer dead bees thrown out upon the cel- 

 lar bottom than usual. Mr. Axtell says the 

 white clover is all right yet. I think I never 

 saw brood-combs heavier for winter than they 

 were last fall. The colonies of bees seemed to 

 average rather small, however. I think it was 

 on account of crowding the queen. But after 



inserting an empty comb, many of the queens 

 would not put eggs in it, but would confine the 

 brood-nest to one side of the comb: yet I think 

 they have bees enough to winter well, as an av- 

 erage colony with a good queen winters just as 

 well as a large one, unless one could have all 

 the colonies large and the temperature of the 

 cellar to correspond. If we know of a large 

 colony we generally put it in the coldest part of 

 the cellar, and the weak ones in the center. In- 

 stead of lifting our colonies up on to an inch 

 block under the frames, as we have done for 

 several years, we lifted up one side of the hive, 

 which gives them a large entrance in the cel- 

 lar this winter, so as to save the time of lifting 

 up and setting them down on the bottom-board 

 again in spring, which all know is considerable 

 work where one has 100 colonies. If dead bees 

 do not clog up under the frames, I don't see why 

 they will not winter just as well; and if they 

 are not kept sulficiently cleaned out to prevent 

 clogging, we can run in a wire and clean them 

 out some time when the cellar is cool. 



THE AXTELLS' experience WITH BEE-ESCAPES. 



We have tried the Porter, Dibbern, and the 

 Reese bee-escapes, and find them all good; but 

 when taking off the sections in the fall, many 

 supers would have but few bees in them. We 

 took just a little time to smoke the bees and 

 brush them off, and carry direct to the honey- 

 house rather than to take the time to slip the 

 escapes under and return the next day or so for 

 supers, which hive, if not marked, is apt to be 

 forgotten when there are from 50 to 100 or more 

 colonies in the apiary. The supers that had 

 many bees in we piled six to ten high above 

 weak colonies, which built them up nicely; but 

 there must be no escape-board put under the 

 supers, as the bees escaping one by one from 

 the supers will, by some colonies, be killed as 

 fast as they go down; other colonies would re- 

 ceive them all right. But a safe way is to lay a 

 cloth over the brood-frames, doubled over at 

 back and front, or at one side, leaving a pass- 

 ageway out of each row of sections. The honey 

 in the sections invites the bees above, and they 

 seem to pay no attention at all to the bees. In 

 a day or so the top supers may be taken off, but 

 the lower one may have to remain several days 

 unless an escape is put under ; but it is a real 

 pleasure to see how nicely the bees were all ac- 

 cepted, and the colony built up. Probably a 

 few of the bees would, when they flew out, re- 

 turn to ^their own hives; but the...most,,of the 

 bees seemed to remain. 



In using the cone escapes, if too small they 

 will clog, and there must be about an inch or a 

 little more between the„'lower end of the cone 

 and the brood-combs, or they will clog in re- 

 turn. Mrs. L. C. Axtell. 



Roseville, 111., Jan. 6, 1893. 



[We make it a point to let the pages of 

 Gleanings speak for themselves so far as pos- 

 sible, and we are glad that they do, as many 

 letters unpublished show. We are,'not glad 

 that the journal sometimes spoils the baking; 

 but we are glad to have it welcomed when it 

 comes into the homes of the bee-keeper.] 



Heads of Grain 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS. 



HOW TO GET ALL THE WAX OUT OF OLI) COMBS. 



Make a sieve the right size to go into the top 

 of a barrel. Set it over the barrel on a couple 

 of sticks. Throw in several combs; then, with 

 a hose connected to a steam-boiler pipe, let on 



