780 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1. 



ate layer of grass on top; and, just see how the 

 bees will go for it! Why, sir. It is inspiring. 

 Every hive is represented in working up the 



KETTLE OUTDOOR FEEDER. 



bonanza; and after they get settled down to 

 business there is no effort to rob other hives; 

 and when they get through, all is quiet again. 

 They get -away with a power of feed in a day." 

 We hope the photo will give a realizing idea 

 of the scene. When promiscuous or general 

 feeding is desired, our friend's plan will doubt- 

 less recommend itself to the fraternity as well 

 as to the Rambler. 



You are right, friend R. Japanese buckwheat 

 seems to be all the rage among the farmers and 

 bee-keepers in New York State. Wherever I 

 visited, and from whatever sources I could 

 gather, the yield, both in size of grain and quan- 

 tity, has been so superior that next year they 

 will raise nothing else. 



Say. didn't your cousin's friend have more or 

 less trouble with robbers entering in and around 

 the kettle of melting wax? In our apiary we 

 would have a scene very much like the one 

 shown, where the bees are being fed as above. 

 It would not matter very much whether it was 

 melted wax or syrup— there would be a perfect 

 hubbub and uproar; but perhaps he does it on 

 a cool or rainy day when the bees would not 

 fly very much any way. Almost all our wax- 

 melting has to be done on such days. 



FIXED FRAMES. 



A DEMAND FOR SOMETHING THAT CAN BE 

 USED ON OLD FRAMES. 



It seems we are feeling around for some kind 

 of a spacer arrangement for our frames. We 

 are beating about the bush for something new, 

 while I suppose we have the very thing we are 

 looking for, if we would only lay our pi'ejndice 

 aside and use it. Any thing which will space 

 the top-bars only will not do, for the whole 

 frame must be rigidly fixed if exact spacing is 

 necessary. I am inclined to think some kind of 

 a closed-end-bar frame, or the Hoffman frame, 

 or something on that order, is about the only 

 thing that will entirely fill the bill. I hope you 

 veterans will throw away all yoiu' prejudice, 

 and give us something in that line that we can 

 change to without too much cost. 



'%, 



A great many of us are using your Simplicity 

 hive, frame, extractor, surplus arrangements, 

 etc.; and while we might gradually change our 

 frames, yet we can't very well change every 

 thing. 



Ernest's notes are eye-openers to many of us. 

 I wish some of our friends who use closed-end 

 frames would write and give us their advan- 

 tages. I think we have heard of their disad- 

 vantages. J. H. Hill. 



Venice, Fla., Sept. 29. 



We are veiy glad to inform you that we have- 

 something for just such bee-keepers as yourself, 

 and you form a very large class. The following 

 will just about hit you: 



A CHEAP WAY OF MAKING THE HOFFMAN FRAME 



OUT OF FRAMES ALREADY IN USE. 



Here is another modification of the 

 Hoffman frame. Tack one piece on 

 each end-bar, on opposite sides of the 

 frame. They don't cost much, and are 

 easily taken off when you get tired of 

 spacers. J. F. McIntyre. 



Fillmore, Cal., Sept. 13. 



The idea is not entirely new, as you 

 will find it already mentioned and dia- 

 gramed on page 425 of current vol- 

 ume. There is this difference: You 

 would use it wedge-shaped and 

 beveled at the top as well as at the 

 bottom. In my opinion it is the 

 best spacer for the hanging frames 

 already in use. It is very cheap, 

 and can be easily discarded if not 

 justified by tests. It should be 

 understood that this is not a real Holf 

 man, because the top-bar is not. widened out at 

 the ends. This latter the inventor regards as a 

 very important feature. So if you discard the 

 one above illustrated, it does not necessarily sig- 

 nify that you would the Hoffman, for a similar 

 reason. E. R. 

 ^ ^ 



HONEY CANDYING. 



/ 



POLLEN ON THE BEES' BACKS. 



In your foot-notes to friend Cleveland's arti- 

 cle, page 714. you say that certain kinds of nec- 

 tar will candy very soon after being gathered. 

 My experience, running through several years, 

 is that any kind of nectar will granulate under 

 certain conditions. Friend C. says that lots of 

 his made sugar before being capped over. My 

 honey did the same thing, but not till we had 

 cool wet weather. In I88.1 it was wet and cool 

 prelty much all summer, and the honey would 

 granulate as fast as the bees gathered it. This 

 is my reason for saying that all kinds of honey 

 will granulate. If the weather is warm and dry 

 while being gathered, and remains so till it is 

 thoroughly ripened and sealed, in my opinion it 

 will rarely ever candy. I do not remember hav- 

 ing ever seen any sourwood honey granulated. 

 I wonder if it is not owing to the acid nature of 

 the tree. The aster honey will granulate as 

 soon as extracted, owing, I suppose, to the cool 

 fall weather in which it is gathered. 



As to pollen on the backs of the bees, it is pe- 

 culiar here only to the cotton-bloom. We know 

 when cotton honey is coming in, by the yellow 

 dusty appearance of the bees' backs. I think 

 this is appropriated by the hive bees, as it is 

 gone from the bees' backs when they come out 



