290 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 



more than their equivalent number of young ones, 

 you will be disappointed. 



AUTOMATIC SWARMING. 



The article on page 133, Feb. 1.5, the principle of it 

 has been used for years, and was in practice before 

 Boolittle or I kept bees, perhaps before we were 

 born. The Ohio Combination hive, built away back 

 in the flftiep, was just that thing exactly, and Mr. 

 Phelps, in his book, published prior to 1865, and sold 

 with the Combination hive, calls this method of 

 placing hives side by side, the " Subtended " sys- 

 tem. There were no less than five ditterent makers 

 of hives of the Subtended system, prior to 1867, 

 that I know of, and have seen and used. Phelps al- 

 so describes two other systems, the super and the 

 Nadair systems, and some of these hives are still in 

 existence, one of which I know of, that is 4V years 

 old, and is now in use. Its super parts are less than 

 6 inches deep and 4 in number; so you see, Mr. Doo- 

 little, that your questioner is only waking up the 

 sleening past. From what I have seen of the Sub- 

 tended system for the past 30 years, there is no rea- 

 son why it can not be made practical; but I do say, 

 that tests have given evidence that it is not profita- 

 ble; and to the readers of Gleanings I wish to say 

 that the Subtended system has been used here in 

 Connecticut to the obliteration of whole apiaries; 

 so, go slow and don't fuss with very much. I have 

 tried it to my sorrow. Furthermore, H. D. Davis 

 & Co., Brantford, Vt., are out with a circular of a 

 patent hive, to stand the brood-chamber on end for 

 wintering. That has been in practice away back 

 into the seventies. His sections are held in cases 

 long in use, and the most if not all of his combina- 

 tions are now in many apiaries, giving another 

 phase of original (?) inventions miles apart, for 

 some one to fight over and pay lawyers' fees. 



H L Jeffrey. 



New Milford, Ct., March 3, 1890. 



gan in the bee-business, honey would sometimes 

 hurt my stomach, but not seriously, and I kept 

 right on eating it, and have been eating it for twen- 

 ty years. I have eaten more this winter than usual, 

 and my digestion is better than it was twenty-five 

 years ago. I have eaten extracted honey almost 

 altogether, though, so I think honey agrees with me 

 better than sugar we get at the stores. Friend 

 Root, have you tried heating the honey to the boil- 

 ing-point before eating? If not, try that, though 

 there are people who can't stand honey in any form. 

 But that does not prove it unfit for dyspeptics in 

 general. That is for each to decide for himself, 

 and not take anybody's word for it. Sometimes it 

 is the comb that gives or causes pain, and such can 

 eat extracted honey; and if that gives trouble, heat 

 it; and if they are still troubled, I don't know what 

 to recommend unless it Is to stop eating it. 

 Bedford, Iowa, Feb. ~'6. J. S. Willard. 



putting bees in and taking them out of 

 clamps; huw to do it. 



Would you please let me know how a person can 

 manage his bees in the fall, also in the spring, when 

 putting them in and taking them out of clamps, so 

 that the bees will not get lost on account of the 

 hive being moved? I find if I clamp mine early in 

 the fall, and leave them in the clamp until late in 

 the spring as I should, so as to escape spring dwin- 

 dling, then move them, many of the bees get lost. 



Post Perry, Ont., Can., Feb. 16. C. J. Pearse. 



We infer from the above that friend P. 

 has in mind a clamp made by moving the 

 hives cl'se together, and permitting the 

 bees to fly while in the clamp. In that case 

 there is no remedy that I know of, and his 

 trouble is the principal objection to clamps 

 made in that way. The bees will be con- 

 fused when you move them up close togeth- 

 er, and again when you set Lhem apart 

 in the spring. There are some who have 

 practiced this plan, notwithstanding, but I 

 believe the arrangement is mostly aban- 

 doned. 



honey for dyspeptics. 



As friend Dadant stated in Gleanings, Feb. 1.5, 

 page 130 that honey is hard on dyspeptics, I thought 

 I might give some of my experience in regard to 

 honoy as food for persons affected with indigestion. 

 I had been bothered with indigestion for ten years 

 before I had any thing to do with bees or honey, 

 scarcely ever tasting honey; and when I first be- 



getting bee-suppi.ies made at local planing- 

 mills, and the result. 



I received my goods a few days ago, that you 

 shipped Feb. 17. They were delayed on the road 

 nearly two weeks, but I generally get them in three 

 or four days. On opening them I found them well 

 packed, and every piece ordered, and every thing 

 of first-class work. I am a man of small means, 

 and I go just as far as I think my money will per- 

 mit. It does me good to pay for goods that are first 

 class; but I should hate to pay for inferior or un- 

 serviceable goods. Now, just this one time I tried 

 a carpenter here, who has a regular shop (horse- 

 power) with, as he says, all necessary machinery. 

 So I figured and found out I could save a couple of 

 dollars by having him cut me out the bodies of 

 twenty hives, tops and bottoms, and the two dol- 

 lars stived would pay for what T had to order from 

 you. Well, I have the goods from him, and the 

 goods from you ; and I tell you, if the good Lord 

 will forgive me this time I shall order all I need aft- 

 er this from A. I. Root, for I had an awful time 

 putting the home-made bodies together; and as to 

 your chaff hive I sent for, 1 gave it to my wife, as it 

 was the only one I have; but they are so neat and 

 grand T expect to adopt them as fast as I can. 1 as- 

 sure you it does me good to see a man in so large a 

 business so full of God's work; and I only wish I 

 had as much of his work in my heart and soul. 

 Please print this letter so the world can see what 

 your customers in Central Illinois think of A. I. 

 Root. R. S. Joseph. 



Litchfield, 111., Mar. 5. 



Friend J., I am exceedingly glad that you 

 have found every thing all right so far from 

 A.I. Root ; but I want yon to scrape up pa- 

 tience for the time in the future when it 

 will not be all right. And I wish you to 

 have a little more charity for your planing- 

 mill man. With a little showing and a lit- 

 tle more pains he will probablv make your 

 hives just as well as we can. You ought to 

 be with him and stand by him when he 

 makes the first lot ; also have on hand some 

 samples of our own work to compare with 

 his. 



WHAT SHALL A CHRISTIAN DO IN REGARD TO 

 BUYING AND SELLING ON SUNDAY ? 



I have been trying to find in Gleanings, from 

 the experience of others, what occupation to com- 

 bine with bee-keeping. Since reading your conver- 



