1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



675 



upon his Held of autmiiii l)lo()in. with tlic fjold- 

 enrod predominatiiijr. lie would liardly criticise 

 our venorabie f'ricml. cNcn from tlie staudijuint 

 of icstlietics. 



But ;ostli('tics was not in our friend's mind: 

 lie was thinking of honey and his pocket-boolv. 

 and well might he: for. many a yeai- his chief 

 honey product luis l)een from these same au- 

 tumn flowers. 



Friend Root, you and I have picttu'i'd to our- 

 selves tlie joy wliicli must come to the desert 

 pilgrim as iu' comes to an oasis. AVell, that is 

 the jNIicliigan liee-kee|)er"s condition just now. 

 who has a wealth of autumn bloom to draw 

 upon. Our bees liave been idle tlie whole sea- 

 son till now, when they are just •■whooping it 

 up" as our boys say. VVe can snudl the honey 

 in the <'vening for lods from the ajnary. 



I wisii. ]Mr. Editoi'. any skeptics on tin' mat- 

 ter of goldenrod as a honey-plant might visit 

 me now. Our bees an- just swarming on it. 

 Yesterday I saw asters, 'goldenrods. bom^sets, 

 and tlie tall sunflowers jusi alive with liees. I 

 have never seen bees very much on the snn- 

 tlowers {Hel iaiitli us}. -diKl so I was veiy inucli 

 inUn'ested in this observation, ^\e tind the 

 bees are not working much on the buckwheat. 

 It may be because they i)refer the autiiinn 

 flowers. If this is the explanation, we are glad 

 of tiieii' jiicference. as we iirefer the goldenrod 

 to the l)uckwheat honey. A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College,' Mich. 



We are very glad indeed, friend Cook, to 

 know that we are going to have some honey, 

 even if it does come at the eleventh hour. 



00^ QaEg3Fi@j\[.B@^, 



With Replies from our best Authorities on Bees. 



(^I'KSTiox 1(J8. — / icdilt to start (uf (i}(t-<iiii(inj. 

 (tnd ii'ill luive to hiniJ tnij bees hack ami forth, 

 fall <iii<l si_)rin(i. Would you (ulrisc me to 

 adopt sonw device to space tJic frames at fixed 

 distances, for the sake of security hi hauliim. 

 and to nutkc sure of e.nict spacing f 



I would. 

 Illinois. N. W. C 



Mks. L. HArtiusox. 



I think it would pay you well to do .so. 

 New York. C. C M. Doolittlk. 



Until I learn better 1 should advise you to 

 do so. 

 New Yoi'k. C. P. H. Ei.wooi). 



I am not autlioritv. Imt I think not. How is 

 this. Dr. Miller? 



Michigan. C. A. J. Cook. 



Koi' this, as well as for several other reasons. 

 I want m\' frames at lixed distances. 

 Illinois.' X. ('. J. A. (Ji!i;kx. 



I use small blocks between the frames at the 

 bottom for moving short distances. The tops 

 will usually stay in i>laci'. It is a ver.\ short 

 job to block the frames perfectiv secure. 



Ohio. N. W. II. R. HOAKDMAN. 



If I were hauling mv colonies I should lake 

 care to have my flames stationary. A device 

 such as we us(> for shipping bees. ])laced on top 

 of the frames, at the front and back, ki'eping 

 them apart, is sufticieiit. and is easily put on 

 and taken off. 



Ohio. S. W. C. F. MiTH. 



I liav(> a hori'or of tixed fraines. and therefore 

 advis<> the (luestioner to do a pile of thinking 

 about other devices tirst. Perhaps for that 

 style of gipsy l3(>e-keeping that keeps coiitiiiu- 

 ally roving about, tixed frames mav be best. 



Ohio. N. W. E." E. Hasty. 



I would advise you to use my patented hive. 

 There are two reasons why I riiight giv(> such 

 advice — one that I am dealing in them, and tlie^ 

 other that I think it to be the best for the pur- 

 pose you mention and every otiiei'. I leave you 

 to decide from which I gather my insijiratioii. 



Michigan. S. W. James 1Ii.;i)I)ox. 



Fve used movable frames a quarter of a cen- 

 tury, and they have always been movahle. I 

 never tried a tixed frame, and it seems to me I 

 should feel hamjM'red with them. Still, in 

 liauling, a hive W(nild he more movalile if the 

 frames were immovable. If a somewhat exact 

 distance is required to avoid brace-combs, tixed 

 distances mav become a iiecessitv. 



Illinois. X. C. C. .Mii.i.Ki!. 



That depends upon w liether you handle your 

 coiubs and bees or not. If you manipulate your 

 combs as I do. I answer, no. but have spacers to 

 apply when liauling. IJutifyoudo not over- 

 haul yoiii' bees occasionally it is well enough to 

 have the combs at tixed distances, or. what 

 woukl lie as well, nail them (low n with lO-pen- 

 iiy nails: or. what would be cheaper still, use 

 old-fashioned box hives or log gums. 



Vermont. N. W. A. E. Manum. 



That depends. If the frames are fastened to 

 the (piilt or honey-board by the bees, and you 

 use a spring wagon. I should say no. If a wag- 

 on without springs is used, and six or eight 

 inches of straw is placed under the hives, and 

 care is exercised in driving, there will be no 

 need of fastening the frames. I have taken 

 them in the last way ten miles, and not a frame 

 liroke loose. 



Ohio. N. \V. A. K. Masox. 



Yes. I would advise you to adopt (oi'. better 

 yet. invent) some simjile (le\ice for holding the 

 sus|)eiided frame when mo\ing: and if patented 

 I should like an interest in it to the exti'iit of 

 one individual right, for it has lieen a great 

 bothei- to me to fasten frames wlien moving. If 

 I could have tlii' (^iiinby closed-end in moving, 

 and the (Jallui) after they were moved, I should 

 lie suited: tnit I doiTt know of any sleight-of- 

 hand whereiiy I coukl change them at will. 



Wisconsin. S. AV. S. I. Fkkkbohx. 



All the fi'ames of our liives have a space-wire 

 to ke(^p them separated at the bottom, thus: 



/ \ / \ — / \ — / \ — susjiended frames are 



glued to the rabbets, we haul our bees from 

 one apiaiy to another, when necessary', without 

 any other de\ice. //( spi-ijKj. Hut we would iiol 

 liaiil them in the fall, when the combs are full 

 of honey, without lixing tliem by small wire 

 nails half driven in the arms. See pages KIT. 

 1(W. of oiii' book. 

 Illinois. X. W. Dadaxt i<; Sox. 



If it is necessary to haul i>ees to and from the 

 out-apiary I should t).v all iNeaiis adopt a close- 

 litting vn(\ frame of some kind. We are just 

 moving aiiout-a|)iary in which half of the hives 

 liave closed-end frames, the others hanging. 

 The closed-end frames can be jirepared in a 

 minute without opening the hive. Tlii' loose 

 frame re(iuii<'S any amount of tinkering and 

 waste of time. Ifloo.se frames are used I should 

 certainly apply some of the many devices for 

 keening them at lixed distances. .\ny device 



