"NOVICE'S" GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



3 



rels of honey on, bring in hives, 

 barrels, etc., and every facility af- 

 forded for keeping the whole place 

 neat and tidy at all seasons. 



Our friend Mr. E. B. Blakeslee, of 

 this place, uses the following modi- 

 fication of this plan. The bee house 

 is placed at the lowest side of the 

 Apiary and a track or tracks with 

 proper switches made to run be- 

 tween each two rows of hives. A bar- 

 rel is fixed low down in the car, and 

 Extractor and implements placed 

 over it. The whole is covered with 

 a light, square tent, made of canvass 

 and wire cloth for an assistant to 

 work secure from robbers. Eoll 

 your car to the top of the slope, 

 hand the full frames from the hive 

 through a slit in the canvass to your 

 assistant until the hive is finished, 

 then roll your car to the next two 

 hives, and so on until you get to the 

 house, when your barrel should be 

 full and ready to roll off for another. 

 This plan really works well and ain't 

 patented. If it suits you, thank Mr. 

 Blakeslee. Next number we will 

 give our plan more fully, and sug- 

 gestions for the construction of a 

 Bee House. 



PROBLEMS 



FOR THE GENIUS OF OUR YANKEE BEE 

 KEEPERS. 



1JJ ST. Some plan by which coffee su- 

 ■Lii gar can be made into solid candy, 

 as cheaply as we can make it into 

 syrup ; so that we can have it in 

 cakes or bars to be laid on top of the 

 frames under the quilt. The most 

 careless bee keeper could then sup- 

 ply destitute colonies with a more 

 wholesome food than honey, and see 

 when they were out by simply rais- 

 ing the quilt. Perhaps our South- 

 ern friends could make us some such 

 sugar. If dampened up with water 

 and dried, the "little chaps lug it off" 

 out of the hive when it crumbles 

 down, one grain at a time. 



2nd. Is brown sugar any cheaper 

 than No. 1. A. coffee sugar, i. e. in 

 a dollar's worth of each, could a 

 chemist find more pure sugar in the 

 cheaper article ? If so, about how 

 much ? Can our Southern friends 

 help us? 



3d. By dispensing with the shaft 

 in the extractor and making the 



frame larger, we can reverse combs 

 inside of frame. Can they not be 

 reversed without making frame larger ? 

 If we use folded tin strips instead 

 of wire cloth, they need not come 

 nearer the edge of comb than with- 

 in one inch of each of its sides. 

 Think of it. 



4th. In tall hivesin springthe brood 

 cluster has generally to be enlarged 

 downward ; in long hives with 

 small frames they are obliged to go 

 over to other combs ; while in long 

 hives with long shallow frames they 

 are only obliged to move along 

 horizontally on the same comb, and 

 the latter has uniformly been most 

 successful with us. We should like 

 the opinion of all bee keepers who 

 have no "rights for sale, 1 ' on the 

 above points. We shall publish the 

 result in a table. 



No form of hive which does not 

 provide for, or admit of the ready 

 use of the honey-emptying machine, 

 can ever again find favor with pro- 

 gressive bee keepers. — Wagner. 



STRAWS. 



[For Novice's Gleanings in Bee Culture.] 

 Nowhere, Dec. 3, 1872. 

 AY I bring a straw for your bundle of 

 gleanings, Mr. Novice ? Throw it into 

 your paper basket if you choose. I am 

 among those who do not like to risk having 

 my upper lip made into a miniature portico, 

 or my ability to "observe the beauties of 

 nature" suspended. 



W. F. Clark says in "Annals," "Happy 

 is the bee keeper, who can get possession 

 of an old fashioned, black lace veil." 1 

 think I understand him. With a veil made 

 as follows, no gloves, and a pair of fine 

 tweezers to draw out the little beard that 

 sometimes breaks off in the flesh, as you 

 take away the sting, you may work with 

 very little fear. Three-fourths of a yard 

 of crown lining, black or white as you pre- 

 fer, three-eighths of a yard of black bobinet 

 lace, (will make the face for two) ; or tulle 

 is nice, only not as durable, and one-half 

 3 T ard rubber cord. Cut off one width of 

 crown lining 19 inches for length of veil, 

 cut lace lengthwise in two pieces, sew a 

 piece of crown lining at both top and 

 bottom, hem and run rubber cord in top, slip 

 cord over crown of the hat, and tuck the 

 veil under the clothing at the neck, or wear 

 loose. Materials can be found at most 

 milliner's shops or dry goods stores, at a 

 cost of 40c. 



N. B. — If you have any very prominent 

 features, don't draw the veil too closely. 0. 



