1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



277 



one particular trait of character, so that I am con- 

 vinced that, with proper width of top-bars, and 

 proper spacing and very careful breeding-, we can 

 very much lessen the building of burr-combs, with- 

 out using thick top-bars." 



"Mr. M., your explanation and experience are 

 very interesting to me. Let us go in to dinner, as 

 mother has just called." 



Dinner over, my friend John harnessed one of 

 their many horses and took me across the lake — on 

 the ice— to the thrifty town of Ticonderoga, N. Y., 

 and thence to old Fort Ticonderoga; and after 

 walking over the ground that Ethan Allen and his 

 brave men did on that memorable morning, we re- 

 turned to spend another pleasant evening in the 

 home of the Larrabees. The next day being Sun- 

 day, the time was very pleasantly spent in discuss- 

 ing the different religious creeds, and the various 

 theories and beliefs in regard to the life beyond. 



The next morning found us up bright and early, 

 and at 7 a. m. Manum boarded the train to renew 

 his acquaintance with the conductor who caused 

 him such an unpleasant walk a few nights previous. 

 But as the pleasant visit with the Larrabees had 

 completely extinguished the Are within, I returned 

 the gentleman's smile as he took me by the hand 

 and oifered an apology for his blunder, which was 

 accepted, and we were soon on friendly terms. 

 Thus the matter ended pleasantly between conduct- 

 or and traveler. A. E. Mandm. 



Bristol, Vt., Mar. 10. 



I read your articles, friend M., with a great 

 deal of interest, and I have considered you 

 sound on almost every thing you discuss. 

 In the present article, however (if you will 

 excuse a junior in years and experience), 

 on the matter of brace-combs and thick top- 

 bars, there is one place in which you appear 

 to me to be a little lame in your argument. 

 In brief, you say, because there are fewer 

 cells to the frame, with thick top-bars, there- 

 fore there are fewer bees to the hive. Now, 

 friend Manum, you would not argue, that, 

 because your frame — a crosswise L., or very 

 nearly so— is only about f the size of the 

 standard Langstroth, you would, for a like 

 reason, secure only i of the bees that you 

 would in a Langstroth, would youV It is 

 not the size of the frame, nor the reduction 

 in length and depth, that has so much to do 

 with the number of bees, as the size of the 

 hive. It is true, that a thick top-bar re- 

 duces the number of cells to the Langstroth 

 frame ; but, bless you, there is plenty of 

 room in the surplus apartment, and there is 

 where you want the extra amount of honey 

 to go. A correspondent in the last issue 

 made the statement that thick top-bars 

 cause the combs to be built clear to the bot- 

 tom-bar. With thin top-bars, the bees will 

 usually leave a little space just above the 

 bottom-l)ar. If our friend's statement is 

 true, there are actually just as many cells 

 with the thick top-bar frames as with the 

 thin ones. You say you have a few burr- 

 combs ; but. friend M., don't you want to 

 do away with their building altogether? Ac- 

 cording to the best authority, it takes from 

 5 to 8 lbs. of honey to make one of wax. A 

 friend who sits by me, Mr. Francis Danzen- 

 baker, says that, when he used the thin top- 

 bars he scraped the combs off from 50 colo- 



nies. At the end of the season he found 

 that each colony had built i-lh. of burr- 

 combs, which would mean the consumption 

 of from 3 to 5 lbs. of honey. Now, can't we 

 manage, by having thick top-bars, to have 

 this useless energy, waste of honey, and 

 waste of time on the part of the apiarist, 

 concentrated in the right direction? You 

 are correct, if the testimony thus far receiv- 

 ed is of any value, that close spacing does 

 diminish burr-combs. Ernest. 



I think I should side with friend Manum 

 in regard to thick top-bars. It is true, we 

 can enlarge the hive; but even then we 

 shall have the bees breeding, and keeping 

 warm great heavy sticks, right in the center 

 of the brood-nest. It seems to me it is like 

 mixing wooden eggs with the good ones un- 

 der a sitting hen, especially if the good ones 

 are scattered all among the wooden ones. 

 May I venture to suggest to friends Manum 

 and Larrabee that such a way of spending 

 the Sabbath is very commendable, provid- 

 ing you attended church one or more times 

 during the day, and had open Bibles before 

 you when you discussed the various creeds. 

 " He that doeth the will of the Father shall 

 know of the doctrine." 



BEE-KEEPING IN CUBA. 



RUNNING EXTRACTORS BY STEAM-ENGINES, ETC. 



Friend Boot:— Our surplus season was a very 

 short one this year, and our crop correspondingly 

 short, for we secured only 53,000 lbs., which we con- 

 sider not more than a two-thirds crop. The rea- 

 son, we have had and are still having the most pro- 

 tracted drouth I have ever seen in Cuba— only two 

 small showers since October. We have had no 

 bloom since January, to speak of. But I have un- 

 bounded faith in Cuba that the rains will come, and 

 the bloom with them; and in proof thereof I will 

 say we are going right on with our increasing. I 

 shall fill every hive on the place, and have ordered 

 more. Had we had as many again bees as we did 

 have, through the months of December and Janua- 

 ry, we should have got nearly as much again honey. 



Mr. Root, I do not pretend to understand other 

 people's business, but I know a little something of 

 the honey resources of Cuba, and of thu manage- 

 ment of bees to secure extracted honey. On page 

 175 of March Ist Gleanings you say, " Don't be 

 troubled about Osburn's extractor run by a steam- 

 engine; . . . but it will be a good while before he 

 gets the steam 24- frame extractor to going." Well, 

 now, friend Root, perhaps it will. I shall not try to 

 put the engine and said extractor in this year, for I 

 have made arrangements to pay for this property 

 here, including 7 acres of land, bees, house, and all 

 fixtures belonging thereto. I have just completed 

 an addition to the house, 12 x 22, which makes our 

 living-quarters very comfortable indeed. Wuen I 

 wrote you iHst, I said we had extracted 15,000 lbs. 

 with the Stanley extractor. That was so; but the 

 next day I got a man to run the extractor, and in 

 two hours he had it so badly crippled that the bas- 

 kets would not revolve; and being in a great hurry 

 I did not take the time to examine the machine, 

 but set it out and put the old machine in, and threw 

 out the rest of the crop, 38,000 lbs., making 53,000 lbs. 

 altogether. After we were done extracting I ex- 



