(J.s 



GLEANINGS m BEE CULTURE. 



Auo. 



movable side, cortahily. iij^aiu, the S. hive 

 could never 1)3 made strong, at a reasonable 

 expense, and have one side movable. Why 

 nos make th^ hives double width, as advised 

 in Vol. 1st, and put the brood in the middle, 

 and boxes on both sides and on top ? If we 

 were going to have box* honey, we would like 

 to give them boxes enough lo hold all they 

 mignt be able to store. 



* 1^ EAlv NOVICE :— Here it is the last of June, and 

 Njjw) no honey to speali of yet. I have increased 

 ^-g^ my uees, ('2) colonies), to :>u, antl sold 3 swarms. 

 N'o.v'coinos the problem ; my hives are full of Ijees, 

 urood anii h'jney^ but the honey is not yet ripe, and i 

 intend to lee it .-.-tay there until it is. Uut my bees 

 swarm, anil 1 can't liclp myself. What is the remedy ? 

 i I'Jmpty combs and a largcr liive.— Kd.] Last season 

 iioiidycoald bo taken almost as soon as gathered, and 

 was thi(!k and nica. This season, owing to warm 

 moist weather, it will not do to take until it is all seal- 

 ed. If there was any sale for bees liere I could make 

 a good thing r;tisiag bees, as tliis aUundant supply of 

 i.iiin lioney beats the "Jews" for brood rearing. I 

 sncceeLleil so well last year in preventing the swarm- 

 ing tever, that I thought it was now no trick at all; 

 but thin honey beats me. Tlie lioney after it is sealed, 

 is very thick, and Just etiual to any I ever saw. 



By the way I have an idea which, if true, proves 

 ch'ones to be something more than the loafers they are 

 said to be; it is this: tne more drones there are in a 

 liive, the sooner the honey ripens ; this may be jjartly 

 owing to the extra heat, but cannot be altogether 

 that, a.s some hives that arc almost droneless have 

 twice as nianj' bees by measure, as some of the drone 

 .swarms, au'i their honey is longer ripening. 1 lind 

 liiac lUc more workers, the more iioney, but the more 

 drone comb ia the brood nest, the thicker the lioney; 

 tne honey all being the same number of days old. My 

 theoyjj is [hat the food fed to drone brood is composed 

 of the thin watery ],'aia s of the honey. We, (my broth- 

 er-in-law and myseifj, got your dollar hive and lifty 

 I'rames tliat we orilereU of "you, and he made four more 

 hives, and I have llUetl them with bees. 1 never see 

 them without wishing my hives were like them. 

 Your idea, that we put the frames together wrong, 

 and thus iuade the hive too long, won"t ilo, as it makes 

 out 1-lG inch ditferenee in the length of a frame, 

 wuecai.r tae corners are put on the sides lirst, or top, 

 wiiile that iiive was nearly if not ({uite .4 inch too 

 long, inside, and Che sample frame you sent would 

 fall off one r.ibbet if crowded on the other, and as I 

 umierscand the Simidicitj' hive, there should not be 

 more taan 1-iti inch end shake. Now I am about it, I 

 may as well sjiuak my mind. I don't go a cent on 

 your movabSe uotcom, two story, be\'oled bottom ar- 

 rangeaient. The tvvo s;ory principle is all right, but 

 1 want the bottom of my frames in the hive to be ?i; 

 inch from bottom board, and the top of hive to be >':i 

 inch above frame.s for convenience in tucking (juilt, 

 and when the upper sior_v is on, I want only ;„ inch 

 .space between tiers _of frames. I can have all ihese, 

 witli an upper story' made on purpose, and cannot 

 without; and /don't see any reason in your position, 

 rhat to make one hive serve as this extra story three 

 months in the year, you spoil it for anything else the 

 whole year. I could not be liired to use a hive with a 

 movable bottom board, and i think Langstroth en- 

 trance blocks the best entrance I ever saw. Now for 

 the other bideof the story. I am completely disabu- 

 sed of my old notions in regard to side o])ening, tack 

 infested hives. The Simplicity corners and rabbets 

 and frames hang just beautifully, and it is the easiest 

 hive to work witii I ever saw. 



I cannot describe the hive we made out of your dol- 

 lar hive, but i got all my ideas from you in Glean- 

 ings, and tliaiik you a thousand times for them. If 

 Gljoanings was patented, 1 believe 1 would violate 

 my promise never to invest in another patent. You 

 are right in supposing that my bees stored lots of pol- 

 len last fall. This country has always been noted for 

 the large proportion of Liee bread in the combs of 

 wild bees, and tame ones that are brimstoned in the 

 fall. 1 have known instances where 10 lbs. of well 

 lilled combs from a bee tree strained only 15 lbs. of 

 honey, the rest being bee bread and wax. Thanking 

 you for your patience and attention, as tlie lecturers 

 .say, (if you have read thus far), 1 remain truly yours. 

 K. L. JoiNEU, Wyoming, Wis. June .ioth, 75. 



Friend J., we not only read every thing you 

 send, but ofl en think best to give it to our read- 

 ers also. Wc felt a strong temptation to cross 

 out the part about that hive being rather long, 

 but if vfe had done it, we should feci that we 

 had not been quite honest. 



The wood top to our saw table must have 

 "swelled" or something, for we discovered lo 

 our dismaj', one day, our hives were growing 

 rather long. It is all iixed now, and we don't 

 know what else to do, than to tell you all to 

 send in your bills for damages when we fail to 

 live up to our teachings. 



By the way, on account of propolis that 

 sometimes accumulates, we prefer about fg ov 

 a little more end shake, l)ut no frame should 

 ever allow one end to slip down, by any means. 

 In regard to having upper and lovvcr stories 

 unlike, w^e can only say we feel sure that 

 you will eventually agree with us after you 

 have had several years' experience with both 

 kinds. They are only "Simplicity" by being 

 both exactly alike. After you have once tuck- 

 ed a (luilt down iu place, and allowed it to 

 remain a week or two, you will lind it can bi' 

 worked nicely even with only ^4 inch aljove 

 the frames. We really cannot yet decide which 

 kind of hive is going to be preferred, the two 

 story or doul)le width ; each has considerable 

 advantages over the other, and this season's 

 work strongly inclines us to the belief that 

 bees prefer to store their surplus directly over 

 the cluster. With the metal corners, it is easy 

 to make a two story hive that will allow the 

 upper story to be made a permanent tixture. 

 Such a hive would be beautiful for extracring, 

 but quite unwieldy to carry. With a movable 

 side, we could take out the lower combs inde- 

 pendently of the upper, and with a long ([uilt 

 to cover this side as well as the top, it could be 

 closed v/ithout killing bees. Some stitl" outside 

 cleats or l^races AvouTd be needed for an out- 

 door hive, but in our house Apiary, it all works 

 beautifully. Be thankful for tlie pollen. 



OVU .l,lNI>K?f OIlCSIAiaB. 



I 



-MAGINE our astonishment and delight at 



tinding Ju'd of our young basswoods quite 

 well laden with blossoms, as we passed thi'ough 

 them on the 11th of July, not so much as even 

 thinking of such a thing. The flrst one no- 

 ticed was not more than cue inch iu diameter, 

 and although it contained more than a hun- 

 dred lilossoms, not one of them was higher 

 than our head, in fact every leaf on the trte 

 could be easily reached bj' the hand. A still 

 more agreeable surprise awaited us, in finding 

 that these blossoms from trees that had been 

 cultivated, contained larger drops of honey in 

 the nectaries, than we have ever before seen in 

 any linden blossoms, and this in the face of the 

 fact that scarcely a trace of honey is to be 

 found this season in the blossoms of the trees 

 growing in the woods and fields about liere ; 

 iu fact it looks very much as if lindeu was a 

 failure this season, for it is now, July 13th, in 

 full bloom, and our suspended hive is uot 

 showing to exceed j.i lb. per day, and some 

 days not over one ounce. The young trees arc 

 making a line growth this season on account 

 of the very abundant rains, and if we are to 

 judge by these few, we shall soon have bios- 



