310 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15. 



been out at least two thirds of the days since 

 Christmas: and to-day, talk about fine winters! 

 We have had a most beautiful and sublimely 

 grand winter— little snow, little cold weather, 

 excellent roads, and every thing that goes to 

 make up a first-class mild winter. Alfalfa is 

 starting up, and from the present outlook we 

 shall have a pretty early spring. 



Although the winter has been very mild, yet 

 I think the bees are coming through in pretty 

 good shape; at least, mine seem to be pretty 

 strong at the present lime. I have been confined 

 so closely at home, building me a honey-house 

 and shop, that I have not visited around much, 

 and have seen but few people to ask in regard to 

 the way that their bees are wintering through. 



Bee-keepers are, I believe, cherishing the id'ea 

 that the old saying that one extreme follows an- 

 other will be verified this season; and who is 

 there but hopes that it will be thus— namely, 

 since the honey crop was so short last season, it 

 will be more than doubled this one? 



ARE THE SEASONS IN THE IRRIGATED ALFAL- 

 FA REGIONS UNIFORM? 



I noticed on page 132, Feb. 15, that one W. H. 

 Upton, of Morning Sun, Iowa, asks whetherthe 

 seasons vary as much in the irrigated districts as 

 in other places. I have seen no statements, pro 

 or con, upon the subject, as yet, so I feel frank 

 to offer my opinion. It is this: The season does 

 not vary enough to make any showing at all; 

 but when the bees commence to gather honey 

 from the alfalfa there is one constant stream, so 

 to speak, of honey coming in every day. It might 

 be said that it tapers ofif toward the close, and 

 you can then see thedifl'erence; but usually, for 

 six to eight weeks there is not much of a va- 

 riation. Theo. V. .Tessup. 



Greeley, Colo., March 8. 



A VISIT WITH NATHANrSTAININGEK, AT HIS 

 APIARY. 



HOW TO KEEP DOW^N INCREASE AND SECURE 



LARGE CROPS OF HONEY; SWARM - 



CATCHERS, ETC. 



It has been remarked, that one valuable fea- 

 ture of a convention is the opportunity it affords 

 for private talks between individual members. 

 Now, if such interviews can be held right on 

 the scene of action, in the apiary, shop, and 

 honey-house, where all original methods and 

 bright ideas may be illustrated and demonstrat- 

 ed, there is not only an added charm, but a 

 clinching effect. 



Accordingly it is becoming customary for bee- 

 keepers to visit around among themselves, and 

 to write up such occasions for the benefit of all; 

 and as I like this fashion, I wish to tell you 

 about a pleasant visit I enjoyed last fall with 

 one of Iowa's most skillful honey -producers. 



For several years past I have had pleasant 

 business dealings with my friend Mr. Nathan 

 Staininger. formerly of Denison. and for the 

 past three years a resident of Tipton, Iowa, 

 which is about 25 miles from my home at Mt. 

 Vernon. 



I had never met Mr. S. until, as an outgrowth 

 of our correspondence regarding some of his 

 methods, he challenged me in a friendly way to 

 come down there and "size him up." or some- 

 thing to that effect. I promptly accepted, and 

 early the next morning I knocked at the door of 

 his neat residence, in the suburbs of the city. 

 Just as I expected, and as his good wife inform- 

 ed me, my friend was in the shop a few steps 

 back. The door was open, and I entered. He 

 was seated in an easy-chair, but in his work 

 clothes, and fully occupied for the time. A 



sleek-looking agent was entertaining hira with 

 some stereoscopes and views. This gave me an 

 opportunity to take in the situation. 



This was his large and very neat and clean 

 honey-room and shop, with a large and well- 

 equipped work-bench in one end, an extractor 

 and other honey-utensils in the other; a foot- 

 power saw at one side, and the whole middle of 

 the room occupied by a huge pyramid of glassed 

 cases of comb honey of snowy whiteness. Sev- 

 eral other piles of nice fall honey stood at the 

 sides. Through the back window and screen 

 door I could see a neat apiary of about 230 col- 

 onies. 



My friend patiently took in the panorama, 

 and, after declining the fervent overtures of the 

 agent, and receiving his retiring bow, he turned 

 to me with an inquiring but businesslike air, 

 which I recognized as the announcement 

 "next!" I introduced myself. We both laugh- 

 ed, shook hands, and were soon lost in bee-talk. 



I stayed all day and all night. You see, I 

 wanted that pile of honey to help supply my 

 customers, and we had no time to talk business 

 until too late for the train that day. 



Friend S. makes a specialty of comb honey, 

 and his system and appliances reveal a tact in 

 selecting the best ideas of others, to incorpo- 

 rate with his own. His brood -chamber is just 

 the right size and shape, he thinks, being cut to 

 fit the brood-nest (?) except that about an inch 

 is allowed for sealed honey above the brood, 

 upon which the bees can wipe their feet before 

 entering the sections. There are eight brood- 

 frames, a little deeper and some shorter than 

 the L. frame, being two square inches less in 

 size. 



He discourages excessive and premature 

 swarming, and keeps the white honey out of 

 the brood-chamber by shifting the two outside 

 combs to the center, replacing them with the 

 two that contain the most young larvte and 

 eggs. If this is done at just the right time, 

 swarming is often prevented entirely, and piles 

 of comb honey are the result. As a proof of 

 this, there stood the only good crop of comb 

 honey that I know of having been produced 

 last season in this part of the country. 



He uses the T super without separators. It 

 is the same size as the brood -chamber, except 

 in depth, and that is just right to take 24 sec- 

 tions, 4J^ X iK' with no space at the ends to be 

 filled up, as with T supers for the L. hive. He 

 fills the sections nearly full of extra-light flat- 

 bottom foundation, 14 square feet to the pound. 

 He gets nearly all of the white honey in sec- 

 tions, and depends upon the fall crop to com- 

 plete those that may be unfinished, and to fur- 

 nish stores for winter, and he extracts what is 

 over. 



Mr. Staininger keeps all of his bees in one 

 apiary at present. He clips his queens, uses a 

 swarm -catcher, and never loses a single swarm. 

 The grass is kept close with a lawn-mower. 

 The yard is smooth and level, but slightly slop- 

 ing to the southeast. With a few exceptions 

 there are no trees nor vines. 



His swarm - catcher is a wire-cloth box or 

 cage, about 4 feet long by 12 inches wide and 10 

 high. It has a board for the bottom or under 

 side, and one end is open full size. This open 

 end is bound with a wooden frame, which is 

 made to fit closely to the front of the hive while 

 doing the catching act. A cloth curtain is at- 

 tached to the upper side of this frame, which is 

 thrown down over the opening as soon as the 

 swarm is secured. 



The bees are sprinkled with water, to keep 

 them from worrying while in the cage, and from 

 taking wing afterward. The swarm is then 

 dumped from the cage into the hive it is to oc- 

 cupy. He has tried, with some success, Dadant's 



