50 



"NOVICE'S" uLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



then I can arrange the combs ready to be 

 placed on the stand at once." 



"Yes, I have thoughtof that; our "Sim- 

 plicity" hives could be carried in that man- 

 ner very well, bul as most of the hives 

 are the old style Langsrtroih, 'twould be 

 rather laborious. Again, we eould not 

 slide the former back on their stands as 

 we have them arranged as well as the lat- 

 ter. If one was 'big and strong and 'felt 

 s >' aM the time during this hot weather, 

 the combs might be placed in an extra 

 hive after the bees were removed, taken 

 in and extracted, then placed on the 

 stand of tli" next, moving that backward 

 as we have mentioned. 



This; would make less steps and would 

 • xpedite work considerably-, but would 

 necessitate carrying an empty hive, or 

 rather one story without cover (covers 

 should be loose for this purpose), indoors 

 hd out continually. 

 I presume friend Blakeslee's railroad 

 would solve a part of the difficulty ; but 

 J can hardly fancy 1 should like the idea 

 at all of having extractor, barrel imple- 

 ments, etc., perambulating about among 

 the hives.' 1 



' Nor I, either, Mr. X. Our bee house, 

 as it is now, sinew we have two doors, 

 painted, etc., is nice and convenient, and 

 S wouldn't want to be pushed about in a 

 car, no how.'' 



And now, fellow bee-keepers, having 

 shown you just the quandary we are in 

 at present, we should very much like to 

 hear from each and all of yon on the sub- 

 ject; give your plans and ideas, that we 

 may compare notes. 



If the "railroad" solves a part of the 

 difficulty, Adair's "Long Idea" hive would 

 solve the other part, but only at the ex- 

 pense of having double the amount of 

 i over and bottom board for the same ca- 

 pacity as for a two-story hive, and being 

 obliged to carry all the hive or none in- 

 doors to winter, and having no place 

 to keep our extra combs secure unless 

 they are all kept in the hive the year 

 round. 



"P. G." remarks that "extracting hon- 

 . \ by the ton is a laborious operation any 

 way we can fix it," but we know it can be 

 ;o managed that many useless steps may 

 be saved and much heavy lifting abided. 

 It must be done a! a season when labor 

 commands the highest price; few can be 

 hired to work thus among bees at all, there- 

 fore it is of the utmost importance that 

 we economise in the ways we have named. 

 We think in our own apiary, as it is now 

 arranged, two tons of honey can be got 

 ready tor shipment with as little labor as 

 was required three years ago for one. 

 Our barrels are made for us by a cooper 



who keeps 1 s, and so knows how they 



should be made. They hold about forty- 

 four gallons or about four hundred and 

 sixty or seventy pounds, and cost us 

 about $2 each, transportation extra; they 

 are strong enough to ship safely anywhere 

 when waxed. 



Several have written us that the bee 



may be half resin and answer equally 

 wed I, as it can be purchased for about five 

 i eels per pound in quantities. 



P. S.— Mrs. N. thinks we had better ad- 

 vise our friends not to go oil' and leave 

 the resin and wax while melting, for it 

 might''boil over," and also, when on the 

 hot stove, ; t might take lire, besides the 

 mixture might get on divers household 

 utensils and fabrics from which it is loth 

 to quit its hold, unless some one like Nov- 

 ice, who has studied chemistry in his ear- 

 lier years, should happen to be around to 

 inform the "'distracted feminines" that 

 benzine dissolves the waxes and resins as 

 readily as hot water dissolves sugar. Not 

 that we have had any such trouble— oh, 

 no but then considerable trouble might 

 happen in getting the "pesky stuff' of]' the 

 stove before it takes fire and bums up the 

 culinary department. 



P. S. No. 2. ---Novice, thinking it ought 

 to have a good "bile, so that so much 

 wouldn't stick to the barrels, left it and 

 sauntered off to look ai the grape vines: 

 after he had concluded that it would take 

 them until the middle of July to recover 

 from the effects of last winter's severity 

 sufficiently to present a good appearance 

 for the photographs, his attention was 

 called by the erics, of the women and 

 dense clouds of black smoke rolling qui- 

 etly over the "simplicity" beehives. Of 

 course his "chemistry" made everything 

 all right, but Mrs. X. thinks practical ex- 

 perience would give a more vivid impres- 

 sion of the "stickativeuess" of equal 

 parts of resin and wax than anything the 

 books tell about. 



1 uuESS that the man who "raises moth 

 worms" does it for the same reason that 

 I try to make all the weed seeds in my 

 garden sprout and grow (by stirring the 

 ground occasionally during warm weather 

 whenever there is no crop on it) in order 

 to gel them large enough to see them, so 

 that I may have the pleasure of killing 

 them. Am 1 right ? 



When a swarm of bees have already 

 enough honey to keep them till flowers 

 bloom, how much honey or syrup 

 should be U-d daily to stimulate them to 

 breed during March and April? Is it 

 necessary to feed daily? 



Joseph Sixtox, Ithaca, X. V. 



It' eggs of the moth retain vitality dur- 

 iug the winter as seeds of weeds do, your 

 plan would answer, but we think they do 

 not, and that they only survive the winter 

 thai are in the combs with live bees. 

 Will Prof. Cook tell us if we are correct : 



Our "Editorial Corps" are divided in 

 opinion as to whether feeding is of any 

 benefit to stimulate brood, rearing when 

 a colony has plenty of srores. Nbvico 

 says that when you want brood you must 

 li'ivt pollen, that daily feeding is only a 

 bother to both, bees and owner, 



