38 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mak. 



'iOOTE HOME MADE "IVEW I»EAS," SPEC- 

 lAI.LY ADAPTED TO NOVICES. 



BY 1{. L. JOINKK. 



i3[^|RIEND NOVICE --Enclosed flnil 75 cents for the 

 M~' next year's crop of "Glkanings." I have just 

 ■f^EL sowed 1874 together and 1 wouhi not take 15.00 

 tor it if I conldn't get another. My bees are sound 

 asleep in their pic at ])resent, and will remain there 

 until about "St. Pathrick's day in the niornin'." 1 

 look the precaution this fall of planking the top and 

 sides of the pit, also of jjutting two doors in the front 

 end, something as desciiljed in Dec. Gleanings. My 

 observing neighborb tell me that I had better have 

 let well enough alone, and buried them in the dirt as 

 usual, but I thought a permanent jilace if as success- 

 ful, would be better. If you remember, I used to have 

 trouble about my bees smarming as soon as strong. 

 Well as you told" me, I found regular and thorough 

 extracting a perfect reniedj-, but I soon had my hives 

 jam full of brood. The two story plan was "no good," 

 as my hives are practically three story ones now. I 

 did not want to get new hives and I could see no way 

 of building a story, like Pat's house "on behint." I 

 solved the difficulty in this manner, I moved the hive 

 half its width to the right or left and set another hive 

 exactly like it, by its side, with the entrance the same 

 way, and took half of the combs from the old stock 

 and placed them in (without any care which hive hatl 

 the Queen) and tilled u)i each with empty combs, and 

 run them through the height of the season in that 

 manner, supjjlying the Queenless one with brood from 

 the other as I extracted, and carefully destroying all 

 Queen cells as I extracted each week. Of course I 

 only practised this with Queens that were very prolitic 

 and had their hives boilin<i over with bees, and united 

 again as soon as honey failed and the brood was suffic- 

 iently contracted. I foresee and forebear all the ob- 

 jections that will be urgeil to this plan, and the main 

 one will be, "Why didn't vou let your Queenless hive 

 hatch aCJueen-"'" Well, I'll tell you. I wanted to see 

 how much honey /could get from 25 stocks of bees 

 even if some of the stocks did live in what we call out 

 West a "double house." I don't pretend that it is any 

 better than the "long Idea" plan, except that when I 

 wanted to contract my stock I had no "empty rooms" 

 to carry into winter quarters. I am satistiedthat the 

 mammoth yields are from mammoth colonies. My 

 yield is called enormous here but is small to what 

 some rejjort. I started with 17 colonies that had to be 

 fed until June 15th. I increased by dividing, to '25 

 Queens, and gave 3 of them, double colonies as before 

 described, i got 2150 lbs. of honey, 2000 lbs. of which 

 was choice, and i)ut 24 colonies into winter quarters 

 well supplied with stores. I wasted the time of four 

 of the best, for four weeks of the best part of the sea- 

 son trying to get some box honey. All I got for my 

 trouble, was my pains, and the natural swarms, which 

 I summarily returned, after throwing those honey 

 boxes as far as I could send them, extracting every 

 one of their sealcO combs full of honey and destroying 

 their (jueen cells. Let those who can, raise box honey, 

 I had rather raise extracted lor 4c per lb. than to wait 

 all summer for box honey and then get none, for a 

 dollar a pound. The boxes were ])ut on "according to 

 Hoyle," they had nice starters, they were tight, and 

 all right every way only the bees would not move in. 

 I am afraid they are the Novice breed and aren't in 

 the box honey business. After I took oil" the boxes 

 and took their honey, diihi't they work though? 



Well Novice, I've spun this yarn long enough now 

 and am not half done, if you get tired reading why 

 throw the whole away. If I ever come within liftv 

 miies of Medina I am going to stop and see you anil 

 bore you worse than I do by letter. I'll tell you how I 

 solil my honey. 



Wyoming, VVis. Dec. Kith, 1874. 



Don't go to the expense of coming here, friend 

 J., it would hardly pity you we fear, but do 

 keep on giving us just such sketches from your 

 Apiary. We do believe you have hit on a plan 

 that will ])rove many times quite practicable. 

 For instance the Simplicity hive with, Lang- 

 strotli frames, ho long as one .story will hold the 

 beetf, is to us the simplest, and easiest handled 

 of any thing we have ever used in tlie shai)e of 

 u bee hive, and we have studied long and earn- 

 estly in regard to some i)hin of uniting two of 

 them side by side. All of these plans Ve(|ui red 

 too much tinkering. If we made holes for 

 communication, through either hive, bottom 



board, or cover, these holes would have to be 

 plugged up at other times, and would look un- 

 gainly. Your plan of using them without 

 other means of communication, than through 

 the entrance, we confess is novel and so far as 

 your experiment is concerned, seems quite 

 practicable. 



He who shows us how we can keep pace 

 with modern improvements, and still keep the 

 hives we have already in use, is truly a bene- 

 factor. To use the Simplicity hives thus, both 

 entrances should be turned to the south, and 

 the two hives placed close together. The cov- 

 ers in this case should be hinged to the front 

 so as to turn up against the grape vine trellis, 

 or hinges may be dispensed with entirely. In 

 the height of the season, both hives can be 

 pushed, well forward over the bottom boards, 

 thus making the entrances the whole length. 

 Should this prove "too much entrance," bank 

 saw-dust up by the outside corners. In making 

 so many new colonies last season, we governed 

 the size of the entrances to exclude robbers, 

 almost entirely with sawdust, and it answered 

 the purpose more completely to our satisfac- 

 tion, than any other plan we have ever used. 

 Also, when the nights became cool, we banked 

 sawdust clear around the hives, to close the 

 cracks betNveen the hive and bottom board. 

 We are a great friend to sawdust ; it keeps 

 down the weeds, gives you a clean place lO 

 work, is clean and orderly for a small door- 

 yard for the bees, and enables you to make 

 just such an entrance as you desire. Beg 

 pardon we forgot .sawdust wasn't our topic. 



Our Standard hive with its permanent bot- 

 tom board without cracks, and its capacity for 

 18 or 30 combs without any fussing etc. etc., 

 w^ould perhaps be best, but then, "we haven't 

 got 'em," as friend J. says, and just at present 

 we rather prefer to use the hives we have 

 already in use. 



DUTIENSIONS OF FRAMES ETC. 



Mil. NOVICE & CO:--Arn't we grcenics glad that 

 we settled down on our own Standard frame 

 I before you decreed something that one must 



print the dimensions with chalk over his work bench 

 lest he forget it. We dislike the everlasting vulgar 

 fractions and oild and even numbers about the size of 

 frames. ^Ve adopted 12 inches inside of frame— 144 

 square inches of emptiness— until tilled with comb. 

 N<iw any IkhIv can )-enunil)"r this size— and every one 

 can build outside their frumes just what kind of hive 

 he pleases. It is just the nicest frame for taking in 

 one hand, and for tm-ninij this way and that way for 

 insijection and work, and also for leaving one hand to 

 do something else, and we do llnd plenty for the free 

 hand to oo- all it can do sometimes. Then for ship- 

 ping, why they are just the nicest and handiest frames 

 ever made, and for housing too, hives of 10 frames pack 

 away like brick in a wall. So you see we are not a bit 

 sorry for ourselves— and we are so glad to have the 

 ladies with us, we have Mrs. Tupper who is a rejjre- 

 sentative character and carries the women with her 

 in this matter. Of course we arc sorry your wind-mill 

 won't work for us in the wood work of our hives at 

 the "Standard prices" but we can't be driven by wind 

 into abandoning our 12x12— "On this linn rock etc." 

 Why our liives are so iealous they won't let one frame 

 of the Factory of the Wind, enter their yard now— we 

 have no doub't that to set down one of your vulgar 

 fraction and odd numlx'r frame hives would raise a 

 mighty buzz and set all the 12 inches on a revolution 

 against any such vulgar innovation. By the way w^e 

 have got a liivc "the likes on't vou never did see." 

 We took the Alley hive— paid tlie right to it too— and 

 now we have some Alley, and some (,>uinl)y, and some 

 of our own whims, and it is going to he just the nicest 

 and handiest of a' the bee gums thai can be found 

 in Patcntdom or out of it. May be we'll tell you what 

 it is some day if you A\ant us to bother you. 



