1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



847 



school toac'lu'i'. She asked for tlicso gicat in- 

 sects a IV'w Siiiidays ago. to show her class. 

 She said tiicy iiitci'cstcd licr pii|)ils gi'catly. 



It would bo iiitcrcstiiig to know whether this 

 Floiida locust is very destructive. If very 

 numerous they must he. as it would talvo no 

 little lieihage to till so corpulent an ins(>ct. 

 P.irds are great enemies to the locusts, aud 

 usually keep them from doing much harm. 

 Other insects also feed on locusts: hut occasion- 

 ally they become so numerous even here that 

 they ai'e exceedingly destructive. Usually the 

 oat crop is tin- greatest suft'ei'er from these 

 gormands. The locusts can be poisoned, but 

 this is laborious; and we may well protect the 

 birds, or. out west, set tr(>es to attract the birds, 

 and thus escap(> tlu^ raids of these teri-ible 

 destroyeis. The name of the insect is Dictijo- 

 j>]ioniN icticiihttiN. 



A sTRAX(;i-: bp:eti,k. 



Mr. II. \V. Mitchell. Hawks I'ark. Fla.. has 

 sent nie a strange beetli' for which he wishes a 

 uam<' thi'ough (Ilkanixo.s. The beetle is dark 

 brown, very large, nearly V^ inches long, and 

 an inch broad. It might wcdl be called the 

 "I'liinoceros" lieetle. as it has three long curved 

 horns on its thorax. These make it look very 

 savage. The real name is Stnitcnii^ diitinin. 

 Fab. It belongs to the same family as the com- 

 mon June beetle, wiiich it res<'mbles slightly. 

 only this is broader in i)roportion to its Icugtii. 

 It has similar habits. That is the larva which 

 has six legs, lives in the gi'ouutl. and feeds on 

 roots. The l)eetle does little if any harm. It 

 eats foliag<' a little, but not seriously. 



Agricultural College. Mich. A. J. Cook. 



Friend ('.. we are not only interested in lo- 

 custs, but I for one am very glad to know that 

 Katie is now a Sunday-school teacher. As the 

 years go swiftly by, we forget that these little 

 ones are constantly growing old; and it is a 

 glorious thought, too. when we can think that 

 they are growing old in the service of Christ 

 Jesus. 



ANOTHER OUTSIDE WINTERING CASE. 



TRIED FOi; Fort! YKAKS. AND A SUCCESS. 



I see in your foot-notes, in reply to Rambler, 

 page 743. where he mentions ^Ir. Wm. B. 

 Stephens as wintering his bees outdoors, packed 

 in outside cases. Now. I have been pi'acticing 

 tlie same ])lan for the last four winters, with all 

 the success that could lie desired. I now have 

 70 colonies packed on their svuniner stands, and 

 I do not anticipate the loss of one per cGnt dur- 

 ing th(> winter. My cases are made to admit a 

 packing 4 inches thick on the bottom and on 

 each side, while on the top it is (i inches. 1 

 make tliem in two sections for convenience in 

 packing and unpacking, and the bottom is 

 made a ti'itle snuillei' than the inside of the 

 case which I'ests over it its thickness, and rests 

 on the corner-posts, w liicli are ]}.jXP._; inches. 

 My hives are made with an enti'ance the whole 

 length of the end-board: and in order to make 

 the same free from the outside of the case to 

 the inside of the hive I take a board 4 in. wide, 

 and aslongasth(;hive is wide (outside measure), 

 and nail a i)iece 1 in. wide by % in. thick, just 

 far enough from each end and across the board, 

 so that, by letting the ends project a little, they 

 will slide into the I'ntrance close up to the side 

 boards, and hold it fast. These cro.ss-sticks 

 must be long enough to receive the alighting- 

 board, which is to be naih^d on the other side of 

 the cross-sticks from the other board, so that 



the edge of tlie first board furthest from the 

 hive will be just opposite the edge of the alight- 

 ing-board next to the hive. I nail mv case- 

 bottoms to pieces of scantlings, and mv hive- 

 bottoms to pieces of ;ix4. w liicli, when ph'iced on 

 the bottom of the case, leaves a space for |)ack- 

 ing. as above stated. Now cut a |)iece Irom the 

 center of the front end of the bottom case, as 

 long as your hive is wide, and as dec^p as the 

 distance from the top of the cross-pieces to the 

 entrance- board to the lower side of the case 

 bottom, and set on th« lower section, and pack 

 it. Then put on the other section, and pack 

 that, and you will, in my opinion, have the 

 best security for bees that can he devised. 

 Lanesboro. Pa.. Oct. 37. 189U. P. L. Noirrox. 



The reason for proposing an outside winter- 

 ing siiell or case was to g(>t something cheaper 

 than a double-walled hive; b\it I fear, from the 

 description of yours, it would cost as much or 

 more than a double-walled chaflf hive. We 

 want something that will not cost over 3.=> cents 

 at wholesale, and all in one piece. have no 

 doubt but that your case would winter the bees 

 successfully. E. R. 



ERNEST'S NOTES OF TRAVEL IN VERMONT. 



Ar .f. E. CRAXE 



MIDDEEBL'RY, VT. 



I look the steamer up the lake to Ticondero- 

 ga, a town of 4;)iK) inhabitants, at the head of 

 the lake. A short distance out is the celebrat- 

 ed old fort bearing that name. As I retired 

 that niglit at the hotel I promised myself the 

 pleasiu-e of se(>ing (it least the site and'a pun of 

 the wall of that old historical spot. Next 

 morning I took the train, and was told that the 

 fort was on the right-hand side in plain sight. 

 I thought that I should surely be able to pick 

 it out when I got to it: but^ lo and behold I 

 the lirst thing I knew I was three or four miles 

 beyond it, and had not seen it. 



My next point was Middlebury, Vt., the home 

 of a prominent and extensive bee-keeper, Mr. 

 J. E. Crane. As I neared the place I began to 

 notice the big hills that I had left back in York 

 Sta^te, and over in the distance the Green 

 Mountains. I alighted at the depot, and in- 

 quired my way to Mr. Crane's. When I had 

 arrived almost there, a handsome residence 

 was pointed out to me. with ample lawn and 

 commodious barn and shop. I inciuiriHl at the 

 house, but found INIr. Crane was out in the back 

 yard, in his garden. Like some other bee- 

 keepers, small fruits are one of his hobbies. He 

 began to talk about the diffenuit varieties, as- 

 suming that I understood all about them: but 

 T had to confess, that, despite all the opportu- 

 nities I had had. I knew little or nothing about 

 such tilings. lie schemed a little surprised, but 

 1 told him that 1 did not f/'/rc to get much in- 

 terested in any thing outside of l)ees: for if I 

 did, I might lose interest in my real pursuit. 



In the front part of th(> garden were a few 

 hives. Most of his bees — 500 or ()(X) colonies — 

 were in out-apiaries. The liives were of the 

 Manum type, although he was using the L. 

 frame. He did not see l)ut that he wintered 

 his bees just as widl as his friend and neighbor 

 with a frame more nearly so.uare. We repaired 

 to the barn, wherein was his bee-shop and hon- 

 ey-storage room. 



Our friend Mr. Crane has lieen rather more 

 fortunate than mo.st of his neighbors whom I 

 visited. He obtained, I think, 11.000 lbs. of 

 honey. The season had been a little better 

 than with his friend Mr. Alanum. only eight or 

 nine tniles distant. 



