SOB 



GLEANINGS IN liKE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15. 



attention to the leading bee - l\:eeper of this 

 place, Mr. Jim Stewart. He was greatly in 

 favor of the Italian bee, and we immediately 

 commenced discussing their merits. He had 

 about twenty colonies, and said every one of 

 them was fine Italians. Upon examination, the 

 first s\\arin we pronounced genuine old-fash- 

 ioned blacks. 



THE RAMBLER TRYING TO GUESS A RIDDLE. 



" Oh, no!" said he; "you are mistaken. Ital- 

 ians are very dark until the third year; then 

 they get their yellow bands." 



" Then you expect this colony of black bees 

 to turn yellow in three years '?" 



" Yes, that has been my experience with 

 them." 



" Did you ever send for an Italian queen and 

 introduce to your colonies ?" 



'■ No, sir. I leave such fancy processes to my 

 neighbor, Nat Goodwin, who lives about two 

 miles down the valley." 



Our friend's three-year theory was easily ex- 

 plained. The wonder is, that his neighbor's 

 Italians did not change his blacks to Italians 

 at a more rajnd rate. Nothing we could say 

 would shake his three-year theory. 



In Elmira we made a short stop. The only 

 bee-keeper we called upon here was Mr. Rutan, 

 a carpenter by trade, owning about forty colo- 

 nies. These were quite near the sidewalk, 

 with no intervening fence, and we were informed 

 that pedesti'ians were hardly ever disturbed or 

 stimg. and Mr. E,. seemed to be enjoying his 

 right to keep bees in a city. His hive was pat- 

 ented, and has the high - sounding title of 

 " King of the West." A neat honey - house 

 stood convenient to the apiary, and was well 

 filled with honey and fixtures. 



Our next stop of any importance was in Nor- 

 wich, Ciienango Co., where a hammer factory 

 attracted our attention. The Rambler's cou- 

 sin has much to do with this factory, which 

 made it the more attractive; and as i^very bee- 

 keeper is a wielder of some kind of hammer, 

 perhaps a few facts about this establishment 

 will interest. 



Several years ago, David Maydole, an hum- 

 ble blacksmith, invented the adze-eye hammei-, 

 and made one for himself. A carpenter saw it 

 and wanted one, and he was supplied; then 

 several men who make nail-driving a business 

 wanted hammers. Thus orders continued; 



more men were employed, a nmv shop erected, 

 machinery invented, and tiie Maydole hammer- 

 works arose to their pi'esent proportions, occu- 

 pying a large bi'ick liuilding, and employing 

 over one hnndi-(>d men. Ovei' sixty different 

 styles uf hammcis arc made, and tons of steel 

 iirc manufactured into oni' of the best hammers 

 known; for a hammer with the Maydole mark 

 upon it has a solid reputation. The hammer 

 was never patented; and during our trip, every- 

 body was harping on the one string, "dull 

 times." IJut ill answer to our question as to 

 dullness in the non-patented-hammer trade, 

 I was told that the business had never seen 

 dull times. Their oi'ders were away ahead of 

 their manufacturing capacity, and they were 

 preparing to enlarge their works. Mr. May- 

 dole now i-ests in the cemetery, but his works 

 live after him. The Rambler. 



Friend R.. there is a bright moral to your 

 story of the Maydole hammer. The originator 

 was an energetic, go-ahead son of toil, and he 

 reaped his reward. Opportunities are constant- 

 ly opening up in almost every avenue of work, 

 to go and do likewise. " Seek, and ye shall find; 

 knock, and it shall be opened unto you." 



CLOSED-END FRAMES. 



A FURTHER DISCUSSION OF THE SUBJECT. 



I had begun to write about a few results of 

 moving bees with the wide and narrow end- 

 bars, and the use of reversing wires, when to- 

 day I received Oct. 35th (iLEANINGS. In it I 

 see that you have nearly if not quite decided 

 on the wide end-bar and the follower. I have 

 in my possession a letter from you concerning a 

 hive I wrote to you about, and almost fac-simile 

 in parts: and iii it you say that it is too compli- 

 cated. Now, I wish to give you two points tliat, 

 within the past five years, I have had to deal 

 with enough to make me cautious. First, that 

 the follower must not come nearer than ^g of 

 an inch to the bottom of the hive, or there will 

 be some expensive mashing some time of a 

 queen. Second, if you allow a lialf-inch space 

 between that follower and the hive side, one of 

 these days there will be some comb built in 

 there during a sadden flow of honey, when it is 

 least expected. 



On page 745 you have pictured a cross-section 

 of nearly the hive that I have used and seen 

 used — the staples and all. Now. I must say 

 this for hives that are to be moved; and, in 

 fact, for any other purpose. Those staples are 

 not worth a fourth what your reversing wires 

 are. I have carted bees around from place to 

 place for over 15 years. Until I oiitained some 

 of those reversing wii'es. I have not been with- 

 out more or less frames and combs l)eing bro- 

 ken from the top-bar. A sudden jar will start 

 them somewhere, and those jars come when 

 least expected; but with the reversing wires, 

 all the strain comes on the center of the end- 

 bar; and if the combs have been proi)erly han- 

 dled they have been reversed enough to make 

 them solid in the frame. 



Another feature of the wire is, that the 

 spring in the end of it is of value in moving be- 

 cause of the give that there is to it. I have 

 just be(Mi moving quite a numbtn' of hives to 

 have them in a safe place for winter: and al- 

 though all tlu^ narrow hanging frames were 

 wedged as tight as they could be, some of the 

 all-wood top-bars were started, as they have 

 been in years before. Many of those witli tin 

 corners needed to have the pliers used on them 

 to straighten them; but those with reversing 



