662 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Sept. 



the tiltliy. sinful liabit of tobacco-using, I can 

 not indorse Bro. [Stenger's last sentences "To- 

 bacco does even more harm tlian the lieavy 

 hinl\s.'" Tlie tobacco vice is money, and pos- 

 sibly health, wasted on tilth and general nasti- 

 ness, and is, in the winter's j\idgnient, jjosi- 

 tively sinful. Knt alcoholism is reason de- 

 throned, morals debauched, health destroyed. 

 Iiope blasted, money wasted, and souls damned. 

 Tobacco robs home of cicanliucss. and gives to 

 a wife foul lips to kiss, while di-ink robs iiome of 

 hapjjiness. and for kisses gives blows and dire 

 distress. 



f'OVKKS FOl! CHAFF HIVES. 



I want to tell you how I have made some cov- 

 ers for chatT hives that suit me exactly — hand- 

 some, light, ti'ue. and tight. I found the comb, 

 or two-piece cover, almost sure to warp, so that 

 moths, robbei's, etc., could readily crawl undei'. 

 After considerable study Idecideil on the follow- 

 ing: After tlu^ hive was furnished ready for 

 cover I fitted and nailed strips on to the hive- 

 roof so as to raise the npper story or surplus 

 chamber one inch at the back, and three inches 

 at the front, with sides sloping from three inch- 

 es to one inch, thus giving two inches jjitch for 

 roof. 



I made my roof of very narrow half-inch 

 matched linn, by nailing same to %-inch-sqiaare 

 cleats, so that these cleats would lit neatly over 

 the end-pieces, front and back, mentioned 

 above. I also nailed similar cleats under the 

 edges so as to tit down over sloping sides, thus 

 forming a complete cap-cover. 1 leaded the 

 matched joints, and painted both sides. I bored 

 a hole in the three-inch piece under the front 

 end of the cover, and tacked a wire net inside 

 and outside for ventilator: and now I think I 

 have a perfect cover, 



keeney's method of wikinc; a sucrEss. 



I have tried Keeney's plan of wiring, with 

 Ernest's suggestion of wii'e-nail hooks, and I 

 regard it as just the thing. I tilbnl some of these 

 frames with stri|)s of four-inch section founda- 

 tion by turning the edge of the foundation over 

 the comb-guide so as to cover the guides on 

 both sides. These have been built out beauti- 

 fully, and I think it would take considerable 

 pounding to knock out the combs, and I feel 

 sure the top-bars will never sag. 



SKUNKS AND BEES. 



Your answer to E. W. Easter, as to why the 

 bees dwindle, is most probably correct: bnt had 

 I asked you a similar question a few weeks ago. 

 and had added the fact that they had a prolific 

 queen, what would have been your answer? 

 In fact, I have had quite a remarkable case of 

 dwindling, which I fancy might have puzzled 

 some of th(^ veterans had they not. like myself, 

 by accident discovered tlie cause. And now I 

 want to say to the A B C class, and mav be the 

 veterans might do well to lend an ear," beware 

 of .skunk dwindling. These little varmints 

 nearly skunked me out of one good strong colo- 

 ny, and .seriously damaged several others; and 

 had I not tumbled on to their depredations ear- 

 ly in the game, I don't know what the result 

 would have been. 



I happened to use some coal ashes to level up 

 a place for a hive: and shortly after, and while 

 the ashes wei'e still fresh. I discovered one 

 morning after a rain, tliat the alighting-board 

 was smeared over with wet asln s, and the ash- 

 <'S in front ti-unpled down in a sus()icious man- 

 nei'. Having gone carefully through my A BC. 

 I at once recalled the few lines on skunks as 

 among the enemies of bees. I kejjt watching 

 for furthci' evidence of their misebief, but saw 

 nothing for several weeks, and had almost for- 

 gotten the matt(M', But while I was absent 

 from home, Mrs, B. discovered one of our best 



colonies dwindling rapidly from day to day: 

 and recalling what I had said of skunks, she 

 set our lr2-year-old boy to watch at night; and, 

 sure enough, he <liscovi'red not (»ic but tivo of 

 the rascals at their mischief. He was afraid to 

 tackle them, and went to a neighbor's for a gun. 

 but when he cann^ back they had gone, or at 

 least he could not find them. Next night they 

 jjut in an ai)pearance. and he tackled one with 

 a stick: but aftei- giving it a beating it got a 

 shot at him. and hit him in the eyes, blinding 

 him so he could nt)t see. Still he beat at it un- 

 til his stick bi'oke. and the rascal escaped. The 

 bold little marauders returned the following 

 night. I. having that day returned hojne. set 

 poison for them. My son has seen one of them 

 onc( since. l)ut we have no further evidence of 

 theii- rascality. Xow. beai' in mind there was 

 absolutely no odor to betray their presence un- 

 til my son struck one of them. May it not be 

 possible that their mischief is much more com- 

 mon than has ever been- suspected? 



Wheelersburgh, O.. Aug. 4. J. M. Bhown. 



Friend H.. it is no doubt true that tobacco 

 does not do the harm directly that alcohol does: 

 but it is the opinion of many of our best and 

 wisest teachers and jjrofessors of colleges, min- 

 isters of the gospel, etc., that, indirectly, tobacco 

 does more harm than alcohol. It paves the 

 way for the stronger stimulants. An intemijer- 

 ate man always uses tobacco, and I feel sure 

 that it is quite likely that, had he never used 

 tobacco, he would never have had a craving for 

 a stronger stimulant. Dr. Kellogg says that 

 the young man who coolly and deliberately 

 takes hold of a stimulant that he has no crav- 

 ing for, will, without question, have little scru- 

 ple in gratifying himself in something that his 

 lower nature does crave. If our boys can be 

 kept from using tobacco, they can likely be kept 

 from intemperance, licentiousness, and all these 

 other low passions. 



BEE-ESCAPES. 



THE DIHBEIJN AND AVKIGHT ESCAPES A SIX f ESS. 



Some two months ago I I'eceived your siiip- 

 ment of Dibbern horizontal bee-escai)es, and 

 prior to that I had mach^ several after the pat- 

 tern illustrated on page 380. (teeanings (W. W. 

 Wright's). Both have given entire satisfactio)i 

 in pi'actical application on the Dovetailed hive. 

 Usually from 10 to rJ5 bees can be found in the 

 super after its removal. Once I met with an 

 utter failure: but on examination I found the 

 queen in the super with the bees. So far I have 

 found the best results with an eight-cone 

 Wright escaije. I have tried them in various 

 ways, and sometimes have taken off the super 

 in three honi's, and sometimes have left it on 

 two days. 



In practice I have had the best results by 

 placing the escape over a super of empty sec- 

 tions, so that the bees are not forced down into 

 tlie hive nor com|)elled to lose any time. The 

 conditions under which tln^se tests have been 

 mad<' are peculiar. There is here /(o./Ztictua- 

 tJof/ in the flow of nectar. Through a term of 

 years I have found that I can depend on a mod- 

 ei'ate honey-flow c^very day foi- five months. 



S. W. Shebfey. 



Mesilla. New Mexico, Sept. 8. 



