1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



849 



Eight sijooiil'iils of I'ottVt' A sugar: onv ol' 

 wlicat flour: one of glye'crinc: two of gi'anulat- 

 ed honey. First mix tho tlour with the sugar, 

 then adtl tiie glycerine and luiney. Let it sim- 

 mer on tiie stove until the sugar is dissohcd, 

 and then remo\'e {o cool. 



MAM.MS CLAMI-: TUK ADVAXTACiF.S OF ( OM- 

 PliESSION. 



Of coui'se. I was interested in his clamp, as 

 he calls it: and surely it l.s- a clam}). It is sim- 

 ply a small case for holding Ki sections, and the 

 sanu' are pi'essed togelhei' with thnmh-scrcw s 

 and a follo\\('i'. jNles^rs. Crane and Planum 

 both use a similar airangc nient; and ] am sat- 

 isfied, fi'om what I saw at their places, that it 

 is cerlainly an advantage in compressing the 

 .sections. In the a])iaries I visited I noted {xir- 

 ticuhii'lij. that, wheic c< impression was used on 

 the sections, there was a most ilcfidal IcssciiirKj 

 of tin' i)r<>i)(}Jis (tcciiiiiiildiioiis on the sides of 

 the sections coming in contact. The time 

 saved in scraping aft( rwai'd will more than 

 save the exi)ense of compression. We I'egard 

 the wedge and follower so important that we 

 have put it in all the supers for the Dovetailed 

 hive. 



Not the least advantage of the follower and 

 wedge, or the thumb-screw . as the case may I.e. 

 is the facility in renu)\ing sections: by simi,!y 

 loosening the thumh-screw or \^•edge. the sec- 

 tions are I'eady to lie slippetl out of the case. 



>rAXl'M"s I.KATI[Ei:-f'()L«)i:EI) rrALIAXS. 



That (n'ening. \\iiiie I\Ir. Manum was doing 

 his choit's. I sirolhd ou.t among his bees, and 

 I'aised tie' covei's over his hive s. and. although 

 the ail' \\as a little chilly — enough so to mai\e 

 the bees a little ii'i'italilc — 1 pulh tl up the cov- 

 ei's and looked down upon the bee; — yes. thos(> 

 leatliei'-colored chaps that know how to gather 

 honey. They were as gentle as kittens. I 

 would not have blamed them at all for showing 

 a little light for coming ujion them at such an 

 inaus])icious time. In fact, theii- geneial ap- 

 pearance is much like that of bees from import- 

 ed queens, and their temper was strikingly the 

 same. T do not say this to ])uff up our imi)orted 

 stock, but simply that Mi'. Mannm. through a 

 careful selection of years, has laised a lot of 

 bees possessing strikingly the characteristics of 

 those reared in mother Italy. One thing that 

 struck me as I was looking over those bees from 

 those hasty glances. A\as the fewness of burr- 

 combs. This matter' has been already touched 

 upon in this journal by Mr. Manum and my- 

 self elsewhere: see page'839. 



^manum"s chaff htae. 



Although Mr. Manum had carefully describ- 

 ed his hive, with appropriate illustrations in 

 Gleanings, some time ago. I never understood 

 before that he uses virtually an outside i)rotect- 

 ing shell over and around the ordinary brood - 

 nest — single wall. His "■ bi'ood-liox,"' as he calls 

 it. is 7nade of Js stiilT. and sits right down on 

 the large bottom -boa id for the outside protect- 

 Ing-shell. To enter this hive, the bees ])ass 

 under the bottom-board through a hoh'. The 

 outside shell is sim|ily a large case having a 

 hinged cover, leaving some three or four inches 

 space around the lirood-box. or. as we might 

 call it. an ordinary single-walled hive. Com- 

 mon i)laner shavings are poured in around the 

 brood-box until they are l<'vel with its height. 

 Wlien the bees are packed for winter, an ordi- 

 nai'y ciishifin sits dow n over the whole. 



In very maii.\' resjiects I like Mr. ,Manum"s 

 hive. If he should so prefer, he can remove his 

 bees in the ordinary single-walled hiv<>s, and 

 afterward bring along the outsider shells. In 

 other words, he is not obliged to lug along a 

 great big hive in order to carry an ordinary- 



sized colony. Ill' simply lifts out its inside, 

 and then he can lay the narrow outside cases 

 in a large wagon liaving a hay-rack, or any 

 tiling suitalile for carrying something so bulky. 



It was getting dark, so 1 coidd not pursue my 

 investigations furtlier. iiopiiig to reserve tin* 

 rest lor ihe morrow. That evening Mr. Manum 

 and I had one of those uncoii\( ntional bee- 

 conventions all by ourselves. His son Fred, 

 who has charge of oiieof his apiaries, was jjres- 

 eiit part of tiie time. When I asked where he 

 was. his father smilingly said, "' When I have 

 visitors, and we begin talking about bees, he is 

 ui) and off." 



I have no doubt that Fred is as I used to be. 

 Before I forget it. I might say that h(^ is a 

 young man '.'1 or 2;.'. He is (luite an expert api- 

 arist, and isoueof those fellow s who like to ha\'e 

 every thing neat and tidy, but hedoesnot like to 

 talk bees everlastingly. Hisfatlu'iseemstohave 

 lost none of his old entliusiiism: and as each 

 new subject was brought up. his face would 

 light u]) with pleasiu'c. for he always has some- 

 thing ijractical to relate. \\'e ditl not sit up 

 and talk nil night — no: we went to bed at a. 

 late hour, and the next morning we were ready 

 for business. Hut. oh dearl it was raining. 

 rainii:,!; ruining, and It looked as if it ■would 

 continue all day. and it did. W(> employed the 

 time prolilably. I think, by talking: but. how 1 

 ili<l want to go out into that apiary again I 

 Finally, along in the afternoon, with uml)rellas 

 and gossamers, we went out into the yard in 

 spit<' of the rain, and then I had a chance to 

 M'e thos*^ leallHi'-colored bees a little more 

 plainly. I asked Mr. Manum wh:it bethought 

 of the golden Italians. They are too short- 

 liv<'d and delicate for the business — at least for 

 him. lie did not object to their being yellow, 

 but. as a general thing, the bees that do the 

 best work are after the darker (jrder. 



As was explained l)y JNIr. Manum. he had de- 

 signed to take me among the bee-keei)ers of 

 that section, but it rained so furiously that that 

 was out of the question, and I bade my friend 

 good-by, expressing the wish that I might come 

 again and make my visit a little longer. 



I found Mr. Manum to be all that I expected, 

 from his writings. He is progressive, ingen- 

 ious, systematic, and thoroughly practical. I 

 said "systematic." He is extremely so: and 

 this may account in no small degree for his suc- 

 cess. From what 1 saw of him I should judge 

 he has a very pleasant faculty of getting along 

 with his boys, and making them do just what 

 he wants them to do, with few oi- no rebukes. 

 Tn fact, there .is nothing I should like better 

 than to work a season ^\•ith him myself. 



As I am about to close I regret that more 

 bee-keepers can not have the time and money 

 to visit each other more than they do: and I 

 hope, therefore, that I can make these notes 

 more of a permanent feature than I have done 

 lieretofore. If there is any thing that our read- 

 ers wish to know, that I have not sulficiently 

 touched u|)on. please write, and I will either 

 give further iiarticulars or ask the bee-kec^jiers 

 directly concerned to answei' it. This linishes 

 my notes of travel on my eastern tour. Next 

 time I hoi)(> to tell vou something about the Da- 

 dants and Dr. Miller. 



KEEPING RECORD OF HIVES. 



MOW FIME.M) MlTIl-HASMrsSK.V DOES IT. 



Friend Root: — Dui'ing this lioney season I 

 have kept track of the work in the ajiiary by 

 using your slate taiilets in connection with 

 small stones in different positions on the hive- 

 covers. On the side of the slate, turning toward 

 the hive. I note any thing that has to be pre- 



