1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUHE. 



17-5 



erly packed away and sealed over. Don't 

 go to the books for things like this, but go 

 to your hives and examine them by lamp- 

 light. 



METAIi-CORNBRED FRAMES AT FIXED DISTANCES; 

 ANOTHER IDEA. 



On page 99 you ask for suggestions in regard to 

 spacing brood-frames; and after reading friend 

 Phelps' article carefully I have decided to suggest 

 an old idea of mine— one that I thought of almost a 

 year ago, yet I did not use it, as 1 thought it would 

 be hard to make. For example, take a metal-cor- 

 nered frame and a piece of heavy tin or zinc. Cut 

 the zinc ,'s inch wide, and long enough to reach 

 from one side of your hive to the other, on the in- 

 side (of course we shall need a strip of zinc at each 

 end of the hive). Now cut notches in one edge of 

 the zinc, I'g inch wide, and Vs inch deep. Cut the 

 first one i inch from the end of the zinc strip, and 

 the next Js inch from the first, and the next i4 inch 

 from the second, and so on. Now place the arms of 

 the metal corner in these notches, and the frames 

 will not only be perfectly movable, but they will be 

 spaced 1 % inches from center to center, thus. 



fertile eggs I got 168 chickens and raised 140 of 

 them. Ed. W. Cole. 



Kenton, O., Feb. 5, 1890. 



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VAN HOUTEN'S notched RABBET. 



I believe that those who are rushing after thick 

 top-bars just now will soon have thick top-bars 

 and honey-boards too. 



I have been convinced thoroughly, by practical 

 experience, during this winter, that it will not do to 

 shut bees in their hives while in the cellar. I tried 

 confining them, and find it a good way to produce 

 dysentery in a very short time. 



Smithfield, 111., Feb. 3. C. W. Vanhodten. 



I have thought of this same thing. The 

 rabbets could be notched with a die ; but 

 the trouble I fear is, that the metal corners 

 would hop out of the notches over a rough 

 road, in moving. 



AN EXTRACTOR RUN BY A STEAM-ENGINE. 



I have thought that 1 should have to buy me an 

 extractor this season; but from what Bro. Osburn 

 says, I am afraid to buy, for I can't stand it to buy 

 a steam outfit this year. I should like to know how 

 many colonies of bees he has. He must have a 

 " right smart heap " of them. 



How often should we change queens? 



Hammond, Wis., Feb. 6. A. B. Bradford. 



Don't be troubled about Osborn's extract- 

 or run by a steam-engine. He has charge 

 of some seven or eight hundred colonies ; 

 but it will be a good while before he gets 

 the steam 24-frame extractor to going. 

 — A. E. Manum and Captain Iletherington 

 change queens as often as two years. The 

 majority of honey-producers do not. The 

 two bee-keepers mentioned are two of the 

 most extensive bee-keepers in the country, 

 however. 



BEES AND POULTRY. 



Eight years ago, when I was about 16 years of 

 age, I started up with a few colonies of bees. I 

 always made bees pay fairly well, but hardly as 

 well for the money I had Invested as I could poul- 

 try. One year ago a friend who keeps poultry for 

 the money there is in it helped me to construct an 

 Incubator. I knew nothing about running one, but 

 I followed directions; and the first time, out of 300 



SHIPPING BEES BY FREIGHT, WITH HOUSEHOLD 

 GOODS. 



I have 40 swarms of bees, which I wish to ship 

 about 200 miles. Shall I hire a car to put them in. 

 together with some of my household furniturel' 

 Now, how would you fix them for shipping? Can 

 they be stacked up without being in danger of fall- 

 ing? 



Is Missouri a good honey State? Which part is the 

 best? 



Do you know any thing of Macon or Adair Coun- 

 ties as honey-producers? W. H. Heath. 



Strawberry Point, Iowa, Feb. 6. 



Bees can be shipped with household 

 goods, provided you put them on the car 

 and take them ok yourself. They must be 

 stacked up in such a way that the bumping 

 of the car will not endanger tumbling them 

 down. If the frames are not wired they 

 should be parallel to the track ; and in either 

 case they should be fastened. — The State of 

 Missouri gives us some fair honey reports 

 —not greater, however, than other States, 

 on an average. We can not tell you which 

 part is best, nor any thing about the coun- 

 ties mentioned. Better write to the post- 

 masters and ask for the address of those 

 keeping bees. 



staple-spacers an old idea. 



staples for spacing frames have been in use by 

 Mr. Benegar, of this place, since I came here, six 

 years ago. How long he used them before that, I 

 don't know. He makes hie own hives and frames 

 (an odd size), and calls them Benegar's patent hive, 

 the patent being on the staples; I don't think he 

 has ever taken out his patent. Bees are swarming. 



Sara Sota, Fla., Feb. 5. S. C. Corwin. 



Thanks for the information. Whether 

 patented or not they will be objectionable 

 for uncapping with a keen uncapping-knife, 

 and we have abandoned the idea. Staples 

 in the rabbets would be better, and free 

 from this objection. 



sealing honey to prevent candying, etc. 



J. A. Buchanan says jars or cans for extracted 

 honey must be strictly air-tight. In the fall of 1888 

 I heated some honey in the way we can fruit. I 

 put cold water in a boiler, and put Mason jars of 

 honey in the boiler. We have one jar yet. It was 

 not sealed air-tight. We used to open it and look at 

 it. The one jar that we have yet is so clear that my 

 name can be read on the label by holding it to the 

 window, and it shows no disposition to candy. I 

 have heated some thirty jars this last fall, of un- 

 ripe honey, as the honey wanted to boil over on the 

 shelves, etc., and since then the honey seems to be 

 all right, but thin; but it won't canrty, and yet we 

 had it in Ireezing weather. 



Will some one tell me how to use honey vinegar? 

 I rinse the honey-vessels, when empty, with hot 

 water. In that way I get plenty of nice strong 

 vinegar. But if I use it for pickles, or such things, 

 I think it doesn't taste well. Mrs. S. S. Kratz. 



Hatfield, Pa., Feb. 18. 



Mv good friend, it is hard accounting for 

 all these strange things. If you had one 

 jar that did not candy, I should say it was 



