1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



379 



them up firmly together, so that they were propo- 

 lized only on top and bottom. This propolis was 

 scraped off before removing the sections from the 

 case. I think the trouble in using them has been 

 that the ease was not adapted to them. They must 

 be clamped up tight together, so that no propolis 

 can be got in between them. A T super will not do. 

 I am not very much interesteil in this comb-honey 

 business at present, as about a year ago I decided 

 to run my bees— 330 colonies— for extracted honey, 

 yet I dislike very much to see a good thing, like the 

 open-side section, defamed by those who have not 

 given it a fair trial. T. P. Andrews. 



Farina, 111., May .5, 1890. 



BAD BOYS, AKD HOW THEY WERE SERVED. 



I went iato winter quarters with 119 hives; lost 

 20, and the boys upset six and rolled some down 

 the hill, anil killed three colonies for me. I sold 

 nine others, leaving 87 colonies to commence with 

 this spiing, all in good shape, as they commenced 

 breeding early in February and March, and are all 

 getting strong now. The three boys that upset 

 six of my hives and destroyed three, belonged to 

 three different families; so I made theii- parents 

 pay for the bees f 10 for each colony destroyed, 130 

 in all, and settled it without going to court. 



Norristown, Pa., Apr. 19. J. W. Swartley. 



Friend S., I think you did exactly right. 

 Where boj s tip over bee-hives, or destroy 

 valuable colonies for the small amount of 

 honey they obtain, I think the good of the 

 boys demands they should be made to pay 

 roundly for it. 



A LOSS OF 110 OUT OF 161 TUT INTO WINTER QUAR- 

 TERS, WITH THE DIFFERENCE GREATLY IN 

 FAVOR OF CHAFF HIVES. 



I have been watching 1o see the reports of the 

 losses of bees this spring, but I have seen eg re- 

 port. I have lost 110 out of 161. I put 117 into the 

 cellar. I left 44 outdoors in chuff hives, two of 

 which died this spring. Most of those that were in 

 the cellar were very weak. I set them out twice. 

 There was a good deal of honey-dew last fall. It is 

 cold and backward for bees. There have been big 

 losses through this section. Some have lost more 

 than I have. James Mabkle. 



New Salem, N. Y., May 1, 1890. 



Your great loss in the cellar, and compar- 

 atively small loss in chaff* hives, speaks well 

 for the outdoor method, though the past 

 open winter was much more favorable for 

 outdoor wintering. We rather doubt wheth- 

 er the food was the whole source of loss in 

 the cellar. Did your liives have plenty of 

 bottom ventilation, and no toj) ventilation? 

 Ventilation from an ordinary entrance in 

 cellar is not enough. Another thing : Was 

 your cellar darkened and perfectly dry, and 

 (lid it maintain a comparatively even tem- 

 perature? Let us hear from you again. We 

 want to know more about your loss. 



THE HOFFMAN FRAME. 



Mr.Roat :-Tbe wide and thick top-bar is the only 

 one that ought to be used in Ice-hives. We have 

 used such for six or seven j ears, and many near us 

 are falling into line in regard lo ilum. We did not 

 like the brace-combs luilt above frames, nor the 

 use of burlap? over them, neither the U5e of honey- 

 boards. The frame we ueo is a trifle different from 

 the Hoffman-Langslroth, but only in the wdth and 



thickness of the top-bar. We call them the Hoff- 

 man-Langslroth. The use of wide and thick top- 

 bars allows us to have no use for them, for we can 

 use a plain board that comes off clean. Honey- 

 boards, burlajjs, etc., are too much machinerj' for 

 us. You can do no better than the Hoffman frame, 

 made as we make them. F. A. S.\lisbury. 



t^yracuEe, N. Y., Jan. 31, 1890. 



You will observe that the frame he de- 

 scribes is quite similar to the modification 

 we spoke of on page 330 of last issue. We 

 are sure that bee-keepers would like to dis- 

 pense with quilts, honey-boards, burr-combs, 

 and "all sich," and we hope the above 

 frame will enable us to do it. 



HONEY- MOONS. 



We extract the following from the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, as many, like ourselves, 

 may not before have known the origin of 

 the term : 



Honevmoon, it is said, is a term of Teutonic ori- 

 gin, and df rived from a lu.Yurious drink prepared 

 with honev by the ancients. It was the custom to 

 drink of diluted honey for thirty days, or a moon's 

 ase, afier a weddiug feast. It is good to "keep 

 sweet" for a month after mat riage; but it is better 

 when that "sweetness " e.vtends throughout not 

 only the months, but the long years of wedded life. 



We heartily indorse friend Newman's 

 closing sentence. 



BEES CLUSTERING ON THE E\ST SIDE OF THE 

 HIVE. 



In examining my beea last week I notice! that in 

 all the four hives the bees were clustered on the 

 cast side of the hive. Is this usual? I winter out 

 of doors on 8 S. frames, stores on each side of the 

 cluster, 4 frames with the bees in center, 2 frames 

 of honey on each side of cluster. J. F. Barton. 



Chicago, 111., April 21, 1890. 



Friend B., if what you say is true it is be- 

 cause the morning sun has so warmed up 

 your hives as to call the bees over to that 

 side. I have seen them cluster on the south 

 side of a hive in preference to the north, 

 and for a similar reason. 



DOUBLE-TOP-BAR FRAMES. 



On page 201 is illustrated and described a 

 double-top-bar frame; and in our answer 

 we refer to a sample which we held in our 

 hand, and which, by propolis accumulations, 

 we judged had been used for some time 

 At the time we did not know from whom it 

 came. The letter, with reference to it, was 

 attached to an order ; and as it is now sepa- 

 rated we take pleasure in presenting it to 

 our readers. Friend Teuton was among the 

 very first to use the double top-bar— perhaps 

 the itirst. 



Friend Root:— I send you by mail one of my thick- 

 topped frames, to let you see that there is in prac- 

 tical operation a deep top-bar combining all the ad- 

 vantagjs called for by the fraternity, unless it be 

 in the width. I have adopted this for the purpose 

 of making more distance between the brood and 

 the upper frames, or sections, the prevention of 

 brace-combs, and the necessity of a honey-board. 

 The queen will never trouble the upper story. The 

 bees will not pile up the bee-space, and, summer or 

 winter, packed or unpacked, the bees have free ac- 

 cess to all the combs in the hive. I am aware that, 

 if the top-bars were all of one piece, and cut out 



