1879 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



waste time on wild goose chases. Such 

 kinds of business cannot be managed with 

 such secrecy that they can not be found out. 



The Scientific American of Jan. !'•>, con- 

 tains the following : 



The accusation of adulteration made by certain 

 parties against several of our largest refiners of 

 sugars has, according to Mr. Wells' recent report on 

 the subject, no foundation in fact. Careful tests 

 have been made by the highest chemical authorities, 

 which seem to verify his statements. 



Now is it the learned chemists Who have 

 been paraded through our newspapers so 

 much of late, or the Scientific American, that 

 deserve a place in Humbugs and Swindles ? 

 There is no room for excusing both parties. 

 Aggassiz and Tyndal are not the only ones 

 who have talked* learnedly of subjects upon 

 which they had no practical experience. Is 

 it for the sake of a brief newspaper notori- 

 ety that men have written so foolishly V 



Mrs. Cotton has finally sent the bees to 

 one of her customers, and I am very glad to 

 say that she also sent the interest on the 

 $20.00, for the year that she held it. They 

 were promised several different times, before 

 they were sent, but she did send them finally. 

 These bees were to the lady mentioned in 

 our Nov. No. I do not know how far the 

 notices of her work in Gleanings, July, "77, 

 may have influenced her, but I do know 

 there are a great many more of us waiting 

 patiently, especially,' for that wonderful 

 book. I shall be very glad to give her cred- 

 it as fast as things are tixed up. 



ON ANOTHEIS VISIT 



TO A BOX HIVE MAN. 



/<(FK UR objective point was the apiary of Mr. Jes- 

 H_m sie Keech, Fort Ann, N. Y., consisting of 376 

 %^ swarms. Mr. Keech is one of our old fash- 

 ioned bee-keepers. His bees are in a box hive, hav- 

 ing a capacity of 2,000 cubic inches. Surplus honey 

 is obtained in large, rough boxes, holding 12 lbs. 

 each, and no glass in the ends. 



His method of finding filled boxes is to go from 

 time to time, and rap with his knuckles on the top 

 of the box; if it does not resound, he guesses it is 

 full and off it comes. This might be termed the wa- 

 termelon process. 



Mr. Keech's pasturage is good; the mountains 

 near him give an abundauce of chestnut and bass- 

 wood bloom, and the rich farming country in front 

 of him gives willow, clover, asters, etc. He claims 

 that the pollen from the many varieties of willow 

 soils his whitest honey. Chestnut also gives a dark 

 honey, and comes in with bass wood. 



Mr. K. "reckoned he'd never had no luck with 

 movable frames and other tarnal fixin's." He liked 

 the good old way, and reckoned he would get about 

 20 lbs. per swarm; but honey, which, to our mind, is 

 a sure test of a bee-keeper's prosperity, we saw 

 none of. 



Mr. K. also "reckoned" he had a lively time when 

 they were swarming. W r hen he saw a swarm "bilin' 

 out," he "hollered" for Gus., Phebe, and the "old 

 woman;" the dog and cats edged round too; they 

 were all busy, and "sich a roarin' !" Mr. K. said it 

 made him "narvous to think on't." 



Mr. K's. colonies seemed to be all strong, and 

 many had built comb under the benches upon which 

 they were standing. He winters in a not over dry 

 cellar, and packs them in close. 



This section of country, owing to large tracts of 

 forest, is quite prolific in wild swarms, and we think 

 these mountains catch swarms from many miles to 

 the east of them. We saw one hive 12 feet tall; it 

 was a log cut from a tree, and was then chained to 

 another tree. 



Mr. Adams informs me that he" has frequently 



found swarms clustered under large limbs, where, 

 from the quantity of comb, he judged they had set- 

 tled for life; at other times, rocks and stumps were 

 their hiding place. In one instance, a swarm was 

 found in a limb, 13 feet long, six inches in diameter, 

 and filled with comb the entire length. Isn't this 

 the longest hive on record? and ought it not to sat- 

 isfy both the tall and shallow hive advocates? 



This region is on the east shore of Lake George; 

 is sparsely settled, and the black bear and deer are 

 frequently found. 



We did not visit Mr. Adam's own apiary. His api- 

 ary is located on the very last part of the creation; 

 the people carry ladders around with them to climb 

 over the rocks. They would, no doubt, give a largre 

 reward for the invention of a flying machine. (We 

 would say that the above, about Mr. A.'s location, 

 is, as Artemus Ward has it, "sarka&tical.") 



Hartford, N. Y. J. H. Martin. 



HOK!i TENEMENT CHAFF HIVES. 



• f SENp you a pencil sketch of a tenement hive, 

 M or "four in one," as we call it. I wintered 4 col- 

 5=s onies in it last winter, and can say that it was a 

 success. There were scarcely any dead bees to be 

 found at any time during the winter; while a colo- 

 ny left out on the summer stand, without protec- 

 tion, as an experiment, lost as many as '■> gallon. 



I think this plan for a tenement hive the handi- 

 est for the bees and their keeper, of* any I have 

 seen described yet. It is packed 4 in. all around 

 with chaff. It has 2 alighting boards, 12 in. wide, 

 and running across the fronts of each 2 colonies, 

 enabling the over laden bees to crawl up into their 

 hives, without taking wing. 



You will see by the drawing, that by taking off 

 half the roof, we have colonies No. 1 and 2 before us, 

 the frames in each running from right to left, the 

 best position for handling. It has a portico at each 

 end, protecting the bees from sudden dashes of 

 rain, as well as shading the entrances from the sun. 

 The division in the portico keeps the bees from 

 mixing, although I don't think any harm would be 

 done if they should mix. The roof is made in two 

 pieces, and pitches from side to side as shown. It 

 parts at the gables, and either half can be slid off. 



This hive contains 40 brood frames and 112 prize 

 boxes, 10 of tho former and 28 of the latter to each 

 colony. This hive stood out in the sun last summer 

 without shading, and the bees lay out less than those 

 in single hives that were shaded. In winter, I put 

 a quilt and good thick chaff cushion on each colony, 

 and never had bees winter better. 



Jos. M. Brooks. 



Columbus, Indiana. 1879. 



I have given the above, principally, be- 

 cause it seems a very handsome hive. Per- 

 haps we pay to little attention to taste and 

 symmetry ; where the looks can be improved 

 by little or no additional expense, I think it 

 well to consider the matter. If you let the 

 bees mix, friend B., you will stand a great 

 chance of loosing those beautiful queens you 

 raise; keep your divisions in the portico, 

 and J would have those divisions between 

 the hives, extend clear up to the roof of the 

 cap, if it could be done. Our Medina bee- 

 keepers almost discarded double and quad- 

 ruple hives, several years ago, just because 

 the bees would mix and eventually form one 

 colony, if we did not watch them closely. 



