1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



785 



so fiiFl of bees thiit tlie liorses iirc afraid to cross 

 the brook when cultivating. Perhaps otliers 

 may malve use of such brooks. Your reniai'ks 

 about catlish suggest something that I have not 

 thouglit about before; namely, that carp-ponds 

 are really a part of a bee-keeper's outfit. Our 

 bees seldoin go to the carp-pond, howevin-, be- 

 cause the brook below it is so much handier. 



KEENEY S METHOD OF WIKING; VSING TACKS 

 INSTEAD OF WIKE NAILS. 



I have been using the Hatch plan of wiring 

 frames, as given on page 561. and I have found 

 something I like better than either staples or 

 wire nails to fasten the wire on. It is 14-oz. 

 Swede-iron tacks. Drive the tack about >« of 

 its depth in the -'n -inch end-bar. placing them 

 in the same position that Mr. Hatch does the 

 staples or wire nails. Take spool wire (not 

 coil), and run the wire the same as he does, 

 leaving all wires loose except those running 

 from 2 to 3 and 4 to 1: draw those tight. After 

 the wire is on, stand four frames on end, and 

 drive the tacks home, or until the wires are 

 drawn as tight as you like them. I find the 

 wire will break every time before the tack will 

 pull out. The advantage over staples is. one 

 can work much faster, and no waste of wire; 

 and over the wire nails you can draw your wires 

 just where you want them. The wire should 

 be wrapped two or three times around the tack, 

 to make it hold well. If the above is of any 

 use, give it to the bee-keepers. 



Delavan, Wis., Aug. 11. F. E. Burrows. 



You can use tacks, but you are obliged to 

 sacrifice the two side perpendicular wires, 

 which we regard as so necessary. On this ac- 

 count we should much prefer the hooked wire 

 nails. 



CANDIED irONEY FOR WINTERING. 



Will the bees winter safely on candied honey ? 

 If not. what can I do, not having any extra 

 brood-combs? Frank W. Lighton. 



Willianisport, Pa., Sept. 14. 



As a rule, bees will winter all right on can- 

 died honey; but sometimes, when it is candied 

 very hard, as honey from special plants does at 

 times, it seems some seasons the bees do not 

 seem to get along so v.-ell with it. When the 

 weather becomes very warm, however, say late 

 in the spring, they will bring water and work it 

 up. When there happens to be a dearth of bee- 

 pasturage between fruit-blossoms and white 

 clover, so that the bees need feeding, candy can 

 be used to good advantage. 



a good report from MRS. AXTELL. 



Our bees are again nicely at work filling their 

 hives with honey. We have strong hopes they 

 will fill up for winter without having to feed. 

 Our home apiary here on the prairie is getting 

 more honi'y than the timber apiary, foui- miles 

 away, although there is much more waste land 

 in the vicinity of tin; timber apiary; but our 

 bees at home always average more honey per 

 colony, except early in the spring, when they 

 get more from tlu' trees. If we do not have to 

 feed the honey taken from them in the spring, 

 there will be fair returns f(ji' the men's labor 

 u|)oii tliem, and the jjieasure I have had with 

 tliem \\ill repay me for my work. The bees 

 come in heavy laden now. They look so big 

 and heavy an I yellow and soft and clumsy, like 

 baby bees, that it is easy to handle them now. 



What a delightsome business this bee-keeping 

 would be if they were storing honey the whole 

 year round! Everybody then would be bee- 

 keepers, and honey would be so cheap we could 

 hardly give it away. Mrs. L. C. Axteli>. 



Roseville, 111., Sept. 5. 



WHAT I DO WITH PROPOI.IS. 



When my husband wentinto the bee-business, 

 propolis used to he a souire of trouble to me. If 

 thrown on the ground, it stuck to the children's 

 bare feet, and to every thing thatcame in contact 

 with it. I now save it and use it to seal jars of 

 fruit with. I have gooseberries, currants, and 

 other fruit, put in jars. Any ordinary cover 

 will do. Seal it well around with propolis, and 

 it will keep well. Mrs. Kurr. 



Braceville. 111., July 25, 1890. 



Well done, my good friend. I have insisted 

 for long years that propolis must be good for 

 something, and now you have hit it exactly. 

 We all know that it will stick to tin, glass, or 

 any thing else; but does it never get soft in very 

 hot weather ? 



miller's PLAN OF AN APIARY; FURTHER 



SUGGESTIONS. 



Allow me to say, in reply to Ernest's com- 

 ments on my article, page 524. July 15. that, 

 after I had written the article, I concluded the 

 distances I had allowed were too little, but 

 thought I would not re-write it. as every one 

 would be likely to make the distances to suit 

 himself, if any should try the plan. I would 

 allow ample space, yet not more than necessary, 

 as this makes more work for the lawn-mower. 

 I prefer to use a scythe to keep down the grass 

 outside and around the apiary, as it does not 

 need to be cut as often as that among the hives; 

 and one accustomed to using a scythe can, with 

 a good keen one, do a respectable job on a lawn. 



QUEENS, LAYING OF. 



Some time ago. in passing through the apiary 

 I concluded to look at some young queens that 

 had hatched in colonies that had cast swarms. 

 The que(Mis wer(^ some two oi' three weeks old. 

 I opened a hive and found two. three, and some- 

 times four eggs in a cell. I was somewhat sus- 

 picious, and concluded to see what kind of a 

 queen there was in the hive, if any. In a short 

 time my eyes caught sight of her, one of the 

 most beautiful queens I ever saw. I went to a 

 second and third hive, and in all of them I 

 found the same state of affairs. The colonies 

 were strong, and from one of them, a one-story 

 ton-frame hive, I had extracted 2(5 lbs. of honey 

 a short time before. Those queens ai'e all good, 

 and I write this as a warning to beginners not 

 to be too hasty in deciding that thi-y have fer- 

 tile workers oi' poor queens. S. E. Miller. 



Bluttton, Mo., Aug. 9. 



DIED FROM A BEE-8TIN6. 



We inclose a clipping from the Syracuse 

 Evening iIer«7cZ, of Aug. 28. The doctor that 

 lives next door to us says Mr. B. died from the 

 shock. He says some i)eople have died from 

 the shock caused by having a tootli extract(>d. 



Syracuse. N. Y., Aug. 28. F. A. S.xliskurv. 



La Fayette. Auo- 28.— The death of Alexander S. 

 Haker yestetilay occurred under very peculiar cir- 

 (•unistiiiices. He diefl fioiii the effects of ii small 

 Iioiiey-bee stinfr, mid williiii ten minutes after being- 

 stung-. August 8th Mr. IJaker wiis stung- on the 

 back of his neck and hecame unconscious, remain- 

 ing- in tliat condition tor an liour or more. On 

 Wednesday he was stung: on the end ot his nose, and 

 the effect "was similar to his first experience, and 

 proved fatal. 



Some years ag-o Mr. Baker kept an apiary and 



