1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



S51 



space. I am indebted to Mr. Reese for this es- 

 cape. H. L. Jeffrey. 



New ]\Iilf()rd, Ct., Nov.. ISUO. 



Our engravers have made the super too deep. 

 If half the depth, its proportion would be about 

 right. There is no question but that this es- 

 cape will work. In our special number, some 

 time ago, on bee-escapes, it was shown that a 

 space belmo the escape, of two or three inches, 

 was a decided advantage. There has never 

 been any question as to whether the origiiuil 

 Reese would work; but because it stuck up in 

 the way, the "horizontal " was devised by Mr. 

 Dibbern. His pear-shaped model has worked 

 very nicely with us, and is much less liable to 

 be damaged than the perpendicular Reese. The 

 latter form is cheaper to construct. 



EDITED BY DR. ('. ('. MILLER. 



Charming fall weather. 



It seemed lonesome without the Michigan - 

 ders, Prof. Cook and editor Hutchinson, at 

 Keokuk. 



Henry Alley believes in closed -end frames, 

 and will hereafter use 7-franie hives. 



Alley wants to spot the fellow who invented 

 pulverized sugar and honey for shipping-cages. 



A prominent manufacturing concern takes 

 control of one of the l)ee - journals Jan. 1. 

 " Which one ?" I won't tell. 



The name "International American Bee- 

 association " has been changed back to " North 

 American Bee-keepers' Society." Good! It's to 

 be incorporated. 



Is it because Doolittle raises capital queens 

 that he always says " Queens " in his book, or 

 did his publisher run out of lower-case q's ? 



I took 27 colonies into the cellar Oct. 38. The 

 last of my bees were not taken in till Nov. 8. 

 Four are left out for experiment. 



Elwood, the new president of the N. A., Is a 

 man of weight — some 300 pounds of it. And 

 that's not the only kind of weight he has. 



Hutchinson thinks an editor and publisher 

 should keep out of the supply-business — if he 

 can. Can he? The Review isn't very old yet. 

 It's a good paper, though. 



Delegates of affiliated societies sat on the 

 platform at Keokuk. If ever the society be- 

 comes truly representative, it will have to meet 

 in a hall whose floor is all platform. 



My bees don't hang in such large clusters 

 under the bottom -bars as they did last winter. 

 They seem as heavy with honey and as strong in 

 bees, but perhaps they are not. 



The Ontario Bee-keepers' Association not 

 only sends a delegate to the N. A. convention, 

 but pays his expenses. Canadians can't brag 

 with us. but sometimes they beat us in having 

 something worth bragging about. 



President Taylor and Vice-president Secor 

 are alike i)i uwc respect, both having faces so 

 barricaded witli beaid tiiat they look as sol- 

 emn as un(hM-tuki'i-s. l>ut there's lots of fun 

 back of tiie bai'rieade. 



Does the roaring of ;i jiarticular colony in tiie 

 cellar mean any tiling wrong? Doesn't ev<'ry 

 colony have a periodic rousing-uj). to tui'u over 

 in bed. take a luni-h. or sometliing of tliat sort ? 



Samuel Cuslnuan. supci'inlendent of liiiode 

 Island Exi)eriment Station, aftci' several \ears' 

 ti'ial, recommends Simmons" di-y-sugar feeding 



in spring — C sugar. ^JUt in a feeder wheic the 

 heat and moisture ot the liive are conlined. 



In his paper at Keokuk. Rev. W. F. Clarke 

 says I called him '•long-winded," and makes 

 the secretary his authority for it. I don't know 

 that I ever said so. Is one of them a mind- 

 reader ? 



The old vice-president and secretary of tlie 

 N. A. were re-elected, but E. R. Root beat me 

 for treasurer. That's always the way. When- 

 ever I get at any thing that lias money in it, I 

 always lose my job. 



What's the reason that that $5000 has l)een 

 kept so still ? I mean that r)000 to which Prof. 

 Cook referred in iiis essay at the North Ameri- 

 can convention. Ought not the bee-journals 

 to tell us all about it? 



Isn't there a fading-out of the strong advocacy 

 for upward ventilation? A good many of the 

 former upward ventilationists, myself among 

 the number, now want every thing glued up 

 tight on top. in winter. It's lots handier. But 

 larger bottom ventilation lias come. 



Is it true, as a general rule, that, the nearer 

 you get to a lot of bee-keepers, the brighter 

 ihey seem ? I had no idea there were so many 

 bright bee-keepers within hail of Keokuk. I 

 was disappointed in not seeing Dibbern and 

 some others there. 



Three-sixteenths of an inch is what the Api. 

 calls a bee-space. That's the least space I be- 

 lieve in which a bee can stand up straight; and 

 if any one attempts to make it less, so the bees 

 will have to get down on their hands and knees, 

 there'll be trouble. 



UNITING. 



Considerable testimony is given in the Brit- 

 ish Bee Journal, to show that bees may be 

 readily united by simply dredging the bees of 

 botli colonies with flour, whether they be on or 

 off the combs. Some say they have practiced 

 it for years. It's easily tried. 



The C. B. J. reports two cases in which a 

 cluster of bees without combs or stores has 

 hung a good many days in the fall "without 

 visiljle means of support," but bright and lively. 

 It raises the question as to whether it may not 

 be a good plan to keep bees in this condition 

 " between the close of the surplus-honey harvest 

 and the putting of the bees into winter quar- 

 ters." 



H. Alley and E. L. Pratt agree that colonies 

 heavy with stores at the close of the honey sea- 

 son consume these stores, and are no better ofiE 

 in the fall than those that were light. Alley- 

 says, " We have come to the conclusion, that, 

 9,t the end of the, honey-flow another season, we 

 shall remove nearly all the honey from the 

 brood-combs, and thus compel the bees to make 



their own living from day to day It 



strikes me that this plan for retarding brood- 

 I'earing and also in economizing the consump- 

 tion of stores, will be successful. If necessary 

 to feed back in the fall, the honey will be on 

 hand for the purpose." This is closely in line 

 with D. 'A. Jon(>s' swarm hanging with no 

 combs. It may lead to something. 



Can't Gi>EANix(is put the name of each writ- 

 er at the J)e(jlinil)i<j instead of the t'/if/. of his 

 contribution? It isn't pleasant to wait till a 

 man is through talking before yon see who he 

 is. Also, it would be a comfort if" A. I." or 

 " E. R." were signed to all the editorial com- 

 ments. It's a bit confusing soiiietiines as it is. 



The Apicidliirist commends A. I. Root for 

 Ijaying •'f.'iO.OO to Uenton for th(^ benefit of his 

 experiments in shipping - cages. I wonder 

 whether Bi'o. Root's opposition to patents 

 doesn't arise fi'oin a desire to crush out the 

 government and iiioiiop(ili/.e the l)usin<'ss. In 

 sevei'al cases I tliiiik he lias paid more for in- 



