842 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Dec. 1. 



wintering — wliich I sliall make and watch witli 

 care dni'ing tlie coining winter. 



THICK TOP-BAKS. 



I am not satisfied tiiat tliicl< top-bars alone. 

 \\ithont close spacing, will have miicii effect in 

 l)i'eventing buri'-coinhs, although the difficulty 

 of l)uilding the c()ml)s up between thick top- 

 bai'S is increased in proportion to their thick- 

 ness. Therefore thick tojj-bars and close spac- 

 ing may be more efficient in ])rodncing the de- 

 sired result than those of medium thickness, say 

 % inch. Bvit before lumbering up all my hives 

 with such bungling fixtures I should want to 

 know beyond any question that some very de- 

 cided advantage was to be gained by it. My 

 fi-ames are % full all around. I was quite certain 

 that I gained some advantages in having them 

 so heavy. I have been told many times that 

 they were too heavy — too mnch waste wood in 

 the hive; that the extra thickness made them 

 clumsy and awkwai'd. But it is some I'elief 

 now to find out that these frames which I 

 have used all of these years were not too thick, 

 but they prove now to be much further out of 

 the way by being too thin. The Irishman who 

 said. " Of all the axthrames give me the middle 

 one," quoted a very safe maxim. My advice 

 would be, in introducing these extra-thick top- 

 bars, " Go slow in making (/?? such changes until 

 the facts have been established by the most care- 

 full experiments." These any one can make in 

 a snnill way without wasting very mnch hard- 

 earned money. 



FIXED FRAMES. 



In close spacing, uniformity and accuracy be- 

 come very important. There is just room 

 enough, and none to spare, for each comb; and 

 the n^sult of crowding one comb out of its place 

 in the least would result in an infringement 

 upon the one next to it, shortening the cells, and 

 making it unfit for brood. We might, witli 

 much care, space the frames so tliey would ap- 

 proximate uniformity at the top. But please 

 tip up your hive, and look at the bottom of the 

 franu's' if you really care to detect the errors of 

 spacing in hanging frames. I made a spacer 

 this season for my inexperienced help, which 

 did the work very well and quickly; but when I 

 came to examine the combs at the bottom of the 

 hive afterward, I almost became discouraged 

 witli hanging frames. Close s])aciiig, I am sure, 

 would necessitate the use of some style of fixed 

 fraiiH^s whicli hav(> scniie good features to rec- 

 ommend them. 



I have nioved bees quite extensively for 

 several years, to catch the local honey-flow. In 

 doing tills, the frames all have to be exaniined 

 and secured. During this work this season 1 

 assure you that many times the convenience of 

 fixed frames was foi-cibly suggested to me. 



BEE-ESCAPES. 



Who doubts their being practical ? Certainly 

 no one who has had much experience with the 

 simplest form of wire-cone escape for getting 

 bees out of the supers, and knows how to use 

 them. I use thein entirely for removing all of 

 my surplus, and have used them for several 

 years. I know better how to use them than I 

 did a few years ago, therefore with me they 

 have become more practical. I use the one il- 

 lustrated and described by me in Gleanings 

 about two years ago. I doubt whether any im- 

 provement of importance has been made upon 

 it since. It is so simple that any one can make 

 it, and no one would think of taking off surplus 

 without, after learning its value. I use it now, 

 substantially as described by Mr. Reese. 



.JAPANESE BUCKWHEAT. 



A jiiece of ground sown \\ith Japanese and 

 the old black variety of buckwheat this season, 



side by side, shows the old variety to be much 

 superior for bees, as it blooms fuller and re- 

 mains longer in bloom. 



MOVING BEES. 



I read the very thrilling experience of friend 

 Baldensperger, in moving bees on camels, with 

 intense interest. It brings to the surface some 

 vivid recollections of a similar kind. Although 

 I never moved bees on camels, friend B. can 

 count on my sympathies. I have some methods 

 that are new and novel in this work, so far as I 



know. H. R. BOARDMAN. 



East Townsend, O., Sept. 30. 1890. 



I have read your article with general interest. 

 Perhaps bee-keepers have been depending too 

 much on the season rather than on themselves. 



You are so habitually careful in your obser- 

 vations and deductions, that your notes on the 

 subjects touched upon are doubly valuable. 

 You are drifting in the right direction; viz., 

 fixed distances and dispensing with burr- 

 combs. As to the latter, close and exact spac- 

 ing, with an increase in thickness of the ordi- 

 nary bars, are important. As to fixed distances. 

 I believe that you and a good many others 

 would use fixed distances if you could be con- 

 vinced that they would not retard your present 

 rate of frame manipulations. I may be over- 

 sanguine, but I feel quite sure that time, and 

 not a very long time either, will do it. Your 

 first experience witJi them won't he favorable, 

 but when you learn the " hang " of them you 

 will be pleased. 



About the bee-escape: I am also sanguine 

 enough to believe that its real value is not 

 sufficiently recognized. Mr. Manum uses it 

 very much as you do. and he can take off a 

 whole croj) of honey from an apiary in three 

 hours. E. R. 



SPRING DWINDLING. 



MRS. HARRISON SAYS IT IS NOT AS BAD IN THE 

 CEEEAR. 



Womanlike, I want to put in a word in refer- 

 ence to bees, that are wintered in the cellar, 

 dwindling more in the spifng than those that 

 remain out of dooi's. My experience is, that 

 they do not dwindle as much. Where bees are 

 Avintered on the principle of the good old golden 

 rule, '"Do unto others as you would that they 

 should do to you." whether men, horses, or bees, 

 their vitality will not be injured by cellar win- 

 tering. When our bees wei'e removed from the 

 cellar it was thoroughly cleansed and white- 

 washed. The brick fioor was scrubbed, and the 

 dirty water was not allowed to soak away, but 

 wiped up and carried out. and fresh water used. 

 If there were any dischargers from the bees on 

 the surface not wliitewaslu'd. it was scrubbed 

 oft'. Ever since, the fresh air has been cii'culat- 

 ing through the sub-earth veiitilatt)r and open 

 window above. The cellar is built in dry sandy 

 soil, and there is no dampness — if any thing, it 

 is too dry. 



When the bees are carried into this clean, 

 healthy cellar, the ventilation is kept to suit 

 conditions, and dead bees are not allowed to 

 accumulate and decay, but are swept up and 

 carried out. If the bees get noisy toward 

 spring I infer that they are thirsty, and (>ither 

 wet cloths are put at their entrance, or snow- 



