890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1. 



acre. When once it gets possession it is a per- 

 sistent stayer unless yon ferd or cultivate it 

 out; but if let alone it will stay lor years. Cut- 

 ting it only seems to encourage its growth. 



I have a good seeding now. sown during the 

 late freezes in March, with winter rye. I think 

 that as good as any way of seeding. It has 

 made a good record with me this summer as a 

 forage crop for pasture. ]?nt my stock have 

 eaten it so closely that it will not reseed. and I 

 shall pi-obably lose the seeding for the fnture. 

 I shall be pleased to answer any questions in 

 regard to sweet clover, through Gtranings. 



H. R. BOARDMAN. 



East Townsend, O., Oct. 2,5. 



BINDING ON THE SIDES INSTEAD OF ON THE 

 ENDS OF ENAMELED CLOTHS. 



It would be a great improvement to the en- 

 ameled quilts if the metal bindings were put at 

 the sides instead of the ends, so that the quilt 

 could be rolled up over a portion of the frames 

 in taking one out. As it is now made, the en- 

 tire quilt has to be removed in order to take 

 one frame out. exposing the tops of all the 

 frames to robbers, when perhaps only one 

 frame is required to be taken out. 



W. B. McB^ARLANE. 



Colyton, N. S. W., Australia, Sept. 14. 



[The objection to having the binding at the 

 sides was because there was trouble in lifting 

 frames out of position. Tliis was especially 

 true of the old metal cornered frames on the 

 metal rabbets. With the new Hoffman or fixed 

 frames there would be no trouble; but why 

 have any enameled cloths at all ? We do not 

 use them on our new hives. The new top-bars 

 and the small bee-spaces render any cloth or 

 quilt unnecessary.] 



PROF. COOK SOON TO BK A RESIDENT OF CAL- 

 IFORNIA. 



There is no longer any doubt in regard to 

 Prof. Cook's coming to California. In a letter 

 of recent date he states, "I shall be with you, 

 body and heart, about Jan. 1." It is not neces- 

 sary to tell Californians who Prof. Cook is, and 

 the grand work he has accomplished in the 

 field of science. Horticulturist and agricultur- 

 ist, as well as apiculturist. will rejoice at his 

 return to the Pacific coast, and all will join in 

 giving him a right royal welcome. 



(teo. W. Brodbeck. 



Los Angeles, Cal., Oct. 21. 



[We have known for some time that we of 

 the East were about to lose one of our best and 

 most valuable men in the personage of Prof. 

 Cook. For various reasons the change has 

 seemed necessary. He has been an exceedingly 

 busy man, and overwork, we fear, has told too 

 heavily upon his health, rendering a change of 

 climate and a change of work necessary. What 

 will be Michigan's loss will be California's 

 gain.J 



HOFFMAN FRAMES. NEW AND OLD STYLE. 



PKOOF AGAINST BURR-COMBS; SELF SPACING 



SATISFACTORY, BUT BOTTOM-BARS TOO 



NARROW. 



Friend Root: — I see you are wanting reports 

 on self-spacing frames, so a faultless self- 

 spacing frame will be found out; and I do hope 

 you will succeed, and send out such a one in 

 1894. I will give you my experience on the 

 Hoffman frames, as I have about 900 in use. I 

 have about 200 of the old style, and the remain- 

 der are of the new style. The old style have 

 given good satisfaction so far as brace and burr 

 combs are concerned; but the end of the frames 

 and the wood rabbets become so propolized in 



time that they are hard to manipulate; how- 

 ever, with the tin rabbets it is not so bad. Now, 

 with the new style Hoffmans they have also 

 given good satisfaction in regard to brace- 

 combs. Where they were used exclusively 

 there were scarcely any braces visible; and 

 what few there were, were so small that they 

 were very little trouble. 



Now I'm done with the top-bars. Next for 

 the side-pieces. They are all right to suit me, 

 with the exception of the parts running up on 

 to the top of the top-bar. They are rather 

 light, and are liable to split off. 



Now as to the bottom-bar. To this I have 

 the greatest objection concerning the new- 

 style Hoffman frame. They are all right to 

 use in the bottom part of the hive, or where 

 queen-excluders are used; but here is the 

 trouble: liixcluders are too expensive for one to 

 be used between each body, and. furthermore, 

 there is no more use for a second or third ex- 

 cluder on one hive than there is use for a fifth 

 wheel on a wasron; and if they are not used, 

 the bees will build down against the bottoms. 

 Hold on ! that's just what we want them to do; 

 but they will not hold on, and neither will they 

 stop their work until they have it built down 

 on the sides of the bottom -bars, and against 

 the top-bar of the frame underneath. 



Deer Plain, III., Oct. 26. F. X. Arnold. 



[This is in line with the other reports to the 

 effect that the new-styl^ Hoffman top-bars are 

 an improvement over the old style with widen- 

 ed ends on wood rabbets. If our friend Dr. 

 Miller, who seems to have a liking for the old 

 style, will try the two kinds, we think he will 

 come to the same conclusion as Mr. Arnold. 

 Regarding the bottom-bars, that is a point up- 

 on which we should like to hear from others of 

 our subscribers. So many have exi)ressed 

 themselves as satisfied with the ^^-square bar, 

 that, before making a change, we should like 

 the counsel of others.] 



BROOD-FRAMES— WHAT IS THE BEST STY'LE FOR 

 PREVENTING BURR-COMBS? 



Mr. Root: — I should be glad to have you an- 

 swer the following questions: 



1. In using the eight-frame Dovetailed super 

 for extracting — the same to be used for brood - 

 chambers, interchangeably — what width and 

 thickness of lop-bar. and what width and thick- 

 ness of bottom-bar, do you think would be best 

 to prevent burr-combs between the two parts of 

 the brood-chamber, or between two extracting 

 supers— all of the fi'ames to be self-spacing? 

 (I have used and been in love with that princi- 

 ple too many years to drop it now, even in ex- 

 tracting-supers.) Have you tried bottom-bars 

 for extracting-snpers ^^ in. wide and ^i in. thick? 



2. Supposing the width of the top-bar to be 

 1^^ in., of what thickness must it be to be proof 

 against sagging (in shallow frames)? 



3. I can't see any advantage in having 

 frames so that you can "throiv them on the 

 floor" without breaking. With shallow frames 

 and heavy foundation, wouldn'tone have combs 

 practically just as good as though they were 

 wired ? 



4. With the bee-space on top Ji' in., don't 

 you'sometimes have trouble with the bottoms 

 of section-holders sagging, and so destroying 

 the bee-space where no honey -board is used ? 



5. Is basswood the stiffest kind of wood that 

 it would be practical to use for the bottoms of 

 section-holders? Which should be the heart 

 side— the bottom, the top, or the side of the 

 bottom-bar? John S. Callbreath. 



Rock Rift, N. Y., Aug. 30. 



[1. The frame that we consider best for pre- 



