746 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15. 



them once get into the habit of going to a cer- 

 tain place, and they don't like to change. This 

 summer, before I noticed what was going on, 

 they had commenced visiting the pumi), alight- 

 ing on a half-barrel that stood there with wa- 

 ter for the stock. I moved the half - barrel 

 away a little, and was careful to allow no water 

 to stand in any thing else. After a day or two 

 I set the half-barrel about a rod from the pump. 

 I put a piece of board in the middle of it, and 

 then covered the whole with a gunny-sack. 

 The gunny-sack sank in tlie water and kept 

 moist for some distance out of it, and this seem- 

 ed to just suit the bees. I threw in a handful 

 of salt, so it would not breed mosquitoes, and 

 because I thought the be(?s liked it. Since then 

 the bees have not trout)led at all. although 

 water has stood in pails most of the time at the 

 pump. I recommend for trial a tub or half- 

 bari-el covered with some kind of coarse cloth. 



find than fresh water ? Now, if keeping bees 

 does annoy people around their pumps and 

 wells, it is a matter that should be looked after. 

 When people go to the expense of providing 

 plenty of good water, with pumps and troughs 

 to match, they ought to have the undisturbed 

 benefit of it. — Since you mention putting the 

 sections of broken comb at the entrance, under 

 the colony of bees, instead of over them, it rath- 

 er seems as if somebody had before suggested it. 

 Is any one smart enough to tell us where it oc- 

 curred in the back volumes of this or any other 

 bee-journal ? And, by the way, doesn't the 

 above experiment indicate that the best place 

 for a feeder is under the brood-nest ? 



GETTING BEES TO EMPTY COMBS SPEEDILY. 



Until this year I should have answered W. R. 

 Tate about as you have done on page 716. As 

 you know. I have practiced h'tting the bees 

 clean out sections in the fall by simply setting 

 them outdoors and covering them up with en- 

 trance for only one bee at a time. This works 

 satisfactorily so far as the sections are concern- 

 ed, but you hav(^ no control as to which colo- 

 nies get the honey. Placed over a colony, the 

 bees, as you say, may empty it in a month; but 

 if sealed, and there is no scarcity of stores in 

 the hive, some of it may be left all winter. 

 Now let me tell you how I have reduced the 

 time to two or three days. I have just been to 

 look at some sections that were given to the 

 bees 24 hours ago, and 1 think all the unsealed 

 honey is cleaned up, and they are worlcing at 

 the sealed. If I had uncapped it I think tliat 

 part would have been enii)ti('d first. The sec- 

 tions to be emptied were in T sni)ers, but larood 

 combs could be emptied in the same way. I 

 lifted the liive off the bottom -board; put upon 

 the bottom-board two super's of sections, one 

 on the other: on top of these an empty super, 

 and on top of this I returned the hive. Every 

 thing was bee-tight at the bottom to prevent 

 the entrance of robbers, and you will see tiiat 

 the entrance of the hive was raised some 13 

 inches, but tliis troubled the bees very little. 

 You will see that the empty super made a space 

 of several inches between the bottom-bars and 

 sections. This is essential, for I tried it with- 

 out the empty super, and it didn't work. I 

 also tried the empty space over the hive, but it 

 didn't work. The two essentials are, putting 

 the combs under the colony, and having a 

 space between them and the bottom -bars. 



Marengo, 111., Oct. (>. C. C. Miller. 



Well done, old friend. Your remedy for bees 

 a,round the pump is something like the way 

 physicians work when they apply a blister or a 

 plaster — a counter-irritant. The trouble is, 

 your tub or barrel will not receive the atten- 

 tion that the average pump or well does; and 

 then the bees will go where there is the strong- 

 est inducement. I am glad of that suggestion 

 of yours, that a liaudful of salt will prevent 

 the water from breeding mosquitoes; but are 

 you sure that they like water that has been 

 standing a long while, just as well as that fresh 

 from the bottom of tlie well ? I know they 

 sometimes seem to like stagnant water best; 

 but 1 never felt quite satisfied in regard to it. 

 Is it not because the stagnant water is easier to 



DISCRIMINATION IN DISCOUNT. 



BUYING BY PIECEMEAL, OK BUYING BY 

 WHOLESALE. 



Y'ou state in your catalogue, that any one 

 sending an order for a large amount of goods 

 can have them at a discount. It seems to me 

 tlie poor man who is not able to buy in large 

 amounts should liave the benefit, as the rich 

 one is able to pay for his goods: but it seems to 

 be the rule to make the rich richer and the poor 

 poorer. J. R. Comstock. 



Morrilton, Ai'k., Sept. 1. 



Friend C, this matter has come up a good 

 many times, and quite a number of the friends 

 have seemed to think that we were unfeeling 

 and forgetful of the needs of those who have 

 but little, and must buy in small quantities. 

 One friend even went so far as to say he did not 

 see how a man could he a Christian and refuse 

 sell to a poor man one pound of sugar at the 

 same price he charged a richer one for 100 lbs. 

 Now, those who make such statements are cer- 

 tainly thoughtless, and have not looked into 

 the matter car(>fully. The friends who have 

 tried retailing honey know how it is. After 

 any bee-keeper has sold 100 lbs. of honey, a 

 pound or two at a time, if his time be worth 

 any thing he will say at once that he would 

 rather have 8 or 9 cts. per lb., and sell it all in 

 one lump, making one transaction of it, than to 

 have 10 or even 11 cts., weighing out a pound 

 at a time. Now, this is true of every commod- 

 ity to a greater or lesser extent: and when it 

 comes to keeping books, and charging up a 

 pound or two pounds at a time, and taking the 

 chances of getting your pay, etc., plain common 

 sense dictates that a lower price by the lump, 

 especially if it be a cash-down transaction, is 

 by far to be preferred. Why. dear friends, the 

 whole world is groaning under the burdens im- 

 posed as a consequence, because so great a part 

 of the world will persist in buying a little bit 

 at a time. My wife was greatly astonished a 

 few days ago wlien I told her that a good many 

 customers for our wagon buy half a peck of po- 

 tatoes at a time. Years ago we decided in our 

 household that we could not stand the wear 



