130 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CQLTURE. 



Feb. 15. 



the boiling water freely, at the same time stir- 

 ring the combs on the sieve. There should be 

 some hot wj,ter in the barrel before the wax 

 drops through the sieve. After the barrel is 

 two-thirds full of water it should be kept from 

 filling fuller by an outlet at or near the bottom. 

 Anybody can melt up a hundred combs in a 

 short time. By emptying the sieve occasionally 

 there will not be a particle of wax remaining in 

 the refuse. We have a large boiler which fur- 

 nishes steam for a 25-horse-power engine. Of 

 course, everybody hasn't the water so handy. 

 A solar extractor will take a certain per cent of 

 the wax out; but quite a little remains in the 

 skins of the cells, etc. G. B. 



East Avon, N. Y., Jan. 24. 



[We have tried almost the same plan, and we 

 find it does not get all the wax out. If you will 

 take the slumgum that is left in the sieve and 

 run it while steaming hot through a wax-press 

 you will get much more wax out.] 



BEES NECESSABY FOR FRUIT; WHERE THE 



CLUSTER OP BEES SHOULD BE FOR 



WINTERING. 



In Stray Straws. Jan. 1, Dr. JMiller quotes 

 from a French horticultural monthly as to the 

 usefulness of bees in orchards. Permit me, 

 Mr. Editor, to relate the following: 



Before my brother and myself engaged in 

 bee-keeping no bees were kept in this vicinity. 

 One of our near neighbors has a large orchard, 

 and in this orchard are several fine large trees 

 of a certain variety, which, however, never 

 yielded fruit. In the spring of 1885 we com- 

 menced bee-keeping, and from that date those 

 trees have always yielded bountifully. The 

 owner of the orchard himself gives our bees the 

 credit, and he related the above incident to us. 



Last fall we packed a number of colonies for 

 winter on two sets of frames — one set of frames 

 above the other, the upper set solid full of 

 honey, and the lower set with empty combs for 

 the bees to cluster in according to the advice of 

 Mr. E. France. One fine large colony, how- 

 ever, we packed according to the directions in 

 an article by E. E. Hasty on the subject, as 

 given by him in the American Bee-heeper, 

 Nov., 1892. In Gleanings, Jan. 1, Mr. E. 

 France pointed out the fallacy of Hasty's meth- 

 od, and I got uneasy lest I should lose my fine 

 colony of bees. To-day. however, the tempera- 

 ture was so that we could make an examina- 

 tion, and it turned out exactly as Mr. France 

 said in his article. The colony packed accord- 

 ing to Hasty starved during this long cold spell, 

 with 30 lbs. of good honey below them, because, 

 as Mr. France says, the bees can work up but 

 not down in very cold weather. All the colo- 

 nies packed according to the method of Mr. 

 France are in excellent condition. Hereafter I 

 will keep in thi^ middle of the road, and winter 

 my bees as Mr. France winters his. By the 

 way, I hope Mr. France will write more such 

 practical articles for Gleanings. The one in 

 the issue of Jan. 1 is worth to me many times 

 the subscription price of Gleanings. 



Maumee, Ohio, Jan. 23. Lewis C. Jessing. 



THE HONEY AND THE LAND OF CANAAN. 



A colored minister of some note once invited 

 a white brother to preach to his people. The 

 latter took the opportunity to suggest to the 

 colored folks that they should be a little more 

 quiet in their demonstrations. Previous to this, 

 some of the boys and girls had been looking 

 through the windows of the colored church, 

 to see the colored people at their devotions. 

 After the sermon, the colored preacher made a 

 sort of summing-up, and excused his people 

 just a little, in the following words: 



"Yes, I. see dem stan' las' winter roun' de doors 

 an' under de windows an laff: an' dey peek in an' 

 laff. An' I 'member wot I saw las' sximmer 'mong- 

 de bees. Some ob de 1 lives was nice and clean an' 

 still like 'spectable nn-etin's, an' the odders was 

 bustin' wid honey; and the bees kep' goin' an' com- 

 In' in from de clover; dey jes kep on flllin' up the 

 hive till tlie honey was a flowin' like de Ian' of Ca- 

 nan. An' I saw all round de liives was de ants an' 

 worms, an' de drones, an' tjiack bugs, an' dey kep' 

 on de outside. Dey was'n bees. Dey conld'n make 

 de lioney for darselves. Dey could'n fly to de clover 

 an' de honeysuckle. Dey jes hung roun' de bustin' 

 hive an' liv' on the drippin's. 



"An' de boys and gals come up yar an' hang 

 roun'. Jess come in an' we'll show you how de gos- 

 pel bees do! Come in an' we'll lead you to de clo- 

 ver! Come in— we'll make your wings grow! Come 

 in ! won't yer ? Well, den, poor things, let 'em stan' 

 roun' de outside and have the drippin's. We's got 

 honey in dis liive! " 



THE V-EDGE TO HOFFMAN FRAMES A NUI- 

 SANCE; VASELINE AND GREASE NOT A 

 PREVENTIVE OF PROPOLIS. 



Last season you requested that bee-keepers 

 try vaseline as a preventive of propolis. Early 

 last spring I rubbed a quantity of my frames 

 with vaseline, especially the end-bars. I used 

 tallow on a few, and vaseline and tallow melt- 

 ed together, about equal quantities of each, on 

 several; and so far as results are concerned, I 

 can't see any difference. None proved a thor- 

 ough preventive. By the first of October, all 

 the frames were '' stuck " fast together with 

 propolis: but the bees were slower to commence 

 the operation than they generally are. 



The V-edges of end -bars, as on your Hoffman 

 frames, are particularly objectionable. Just as 

 Dr. Miller predicted, the bees fill the space with 

 propolis. I want closed -end frames, but they 

 must fit together with a square joint, from this 

 time on. 



PUNICS. 



In the fall of 1891 I purchased a tested Punic 

 queen from an eastern breeder, paying $7.00 for 

 her. So far her bees have not filled the recom- 

 mendation at all. I had three colonies of Ital- 

 ians that surpassed them in gathering honey 

 last year. 



FUNICS BAD STINGERS. 



The Funics are the worst to sting of any bees 

 I ever saw, and the worst robbers. The colony 

 cast one swarm; and when I opened it to cut 

 out queen-cells I expected to find cells by the 

 handfuls, as we had been told that they build 

 cells in large quantities, even using dronec-ells 

 for this purpose; but I was greatly surprised to 

 find only 13 cells. The only thing they come 

 up to recommendation in with me is the vast 

 amount of propolis they gather. I will try 

 them in nuclei another season; and if they fail 

 to come up to recommendation in that, I will 

 discard them altogether and keep only the 

 Italians. The honey gathered and capped by 

 the Funics looks dark and greasy. They cap 

 their honey darker than the Italians. 



T. K. Massie. 



Concord Church, W. Va., Jan., 1893. 



[Your experience tallies quite closely with 

 ours regarding the Funics. Our experience 

 with the V-edge is not yours.] 



THE SEALED-COVER IDEA NOT A SUCCESS THIS 

 WINTER, AND WHY. 



The sealed-cover idea has proven a failure 

 with me this winter. It is not what it appears 

 to be when tested by a cold winter. I have 

 lost one-third of my bees that had sealed covers 

 on their hives, while those with chaff cushions 

 on are all alive. 



In the hives with sealed covers, the moisture 

 from the bees ran down and froze in the en- 



