80 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



top bar frame is a perfect nuisance, and, indeed, 

 frames so constructed as to be kept at fixed dis- 

 tances must fail to give the best satisfaction. 



My varied experience with almost every form and 

 size of frame has brought me to the conclusion, that 

 any depth of frame greater than 9 or 10 in., at most, 

 is unprofitable; and just in proportion to the in- 

 crease of depth in a frame, beyond this limit, there 

 will be a corresponding decrease, as a rule, ; in the 

 amount of honey stored in surplus boxes. 



Last spring found me with 70 colonies of bees, and 

 using' only 9 different styles of hive. Thirty colonies 

 in Am. hives gave me but little more honey than I 

 obtained from 9 chaff hives containing' 10 L. frames. 



I have been so well convinced of the superiority of 

 the L. frame and Simplicity hive, that I have trans- 

 ferred all my bees into this hive. Although the ex- 

 pense and labor of the improvement was pretty 

 heavy, and trying- to the patience, I do not regret it, 

 as I now have the satisfaction of having- ^0, ten 

 frame, Simplicity hives, and every frame exactly 

 alike, all in hives painted white, which is a satisfac- 

 tion to the person having to work with them, and to 

 ii person of good taste, a pleasure to look upon. It 

 is an easy matter for me now to examine my bees 

 and know their condition, by simply turning- the 

 quilt back, instead of taking- off a movable side and 

 then removing- all the frames, as is the case with 

 frames constructed on the closed top principle, and 

 having- a greater depth than nine inches. 



J. A. Buchanan. 



Wintersville, O., Jan., II, 1879. 



My experience has been quite similar to 

 yours, friend B., and I do not know but that 

 i have arrived at pretty much the same con- 

 clusion. 



tiadiej* ^p/ivhi^nt 



A LESSON EN BEE CULTURE, FOR. WO- 



MEN. 



ALSO A LESSON FOR INVALIDS. 



s f- f A VTNG finished another very busy year, our 

 PlfjS'll bees having increased to 300 colonies, now, 

 l-JLJ ] as they are sleeping in the cellar and in snow 

 banks, 1 will write you how we (ourselves and the 

 bees) are getting along. 



Last spring, we started with 1S5 colonies, in 2 apia- 

 ries 5 l /2 miles apart. Mr. Axtell and myself took 

 care of the bees at home, 135 colonies I believe, and 

 the 50 at the Burwic apiary, our nephew went over 

 each day to look after. 'They are in timber, and 

 consequently had access to a considerable wild fruit 

 bloom, which caused them to throw off 2 large 

 swarms in apple blossom time, which were re- 

 turned. 



SUGAR FEEDING AND PUBLIC OPINION. 



The bees all increased very fast, but stored only a 

 very little honey in fruit bloom. Then a cold spell 

 of weather came on soon after, which retarded the 

 white clover bloom, and our bees came near run- 

 ning out of food. We fed over a barrel of honey, 

 and feared we would have to resort to sugar feed- 

 ing, which we would have disliked very much to do, 

 as the people in our vicinity, far and near, are very 

 suspicious of any who feed sugar to their bees. We 

 have quit it entirety, and would advise anyone who 

 wishes to build up a home market for extracted 

 honey never to feed sugar, and to extract and sell 

 only white honey. If the honey is dark let it candy. 



EXCESSIVE SWARMING. 



Although the season seemed early, swarming was 

 later with us, than the year before; but when it did 

 begin, it was in real earnest. We never had such 

 swarming; nearly every colony swarmed, except ex- 

 tracted hives. At first, we began putting 2 empty 

 frames in the center, cutting out queen cells, and 

 returning the bees, and using the 2 center combs 

 taken out to make nuclei, &c. ; but soon we had to 

 abandon that way of swarming. 



The bees, in a day or two, would be on the wing 

 again, in many cases, having scarcely entered the 

 boxes. Then we took to putting a swarm into a new 

 hive, giving them 2 brood frames, and filling up the 

 hive according to the strength of the colony with 



boxes and empty frames. Wo think we failed in 

 not giving the bees sufficient room at the beginning 

 of the honey harvest. 



CAUTTON ABOUT CLOSING HIVES IN SWARMING TIME. 



We melted and destroyed 3 colonies, by closing 

 the hive for a few minutes, to prevent swarms from 

 going together. This plan we soon abandoned, and 

 would warn people to beware of closing the hive in 

 hot weather, even if ventilators are open as ours 

 were. Two of tue hives had wire cloth on the bot- 

 toms of the hives, as large as my two hands; but 

 the colony was sti-ong and all agitated, which causes 

 them to get very hot in a few minutes. 

 Afterwards, we were very careful to catch the 



I queens, and then let swarms go together. The first 

 swarms would always come back, generally to one 



I or two hives; then we would divide them. We have 

 had as many as ti swarms in the air at once, and 35 

 swarms in a day; hut many of the swarms were put 

 back into the hive they left. 



PREVENTION OF SWARMING 15 Y USING EXTRACTOR. 



Of 20 hives, run for extracting, only 4 swarmed. 

 They were allowed to settle in a box, in front of the 

 hive, and the honey was extracted from above and 

 , below, and the swarm returned. 



For extracting we put a top box on our Quinby 

 ' hive, raising it just high enough to receive another 

 row of brood frames on top. Wc generally extract 

 only the top frames, and are not bothered much by 

 the queen's going into them, if they are fastened a 

 little farther apart than the lower frames. 



We like top frames much better, to extract from, 

 than side frames; but if a division board is put be- 

 tween the brood frames and extracting frames, it 

 will always prevent the queen from goiug on to the 

 extracting combs, or boxes of comb honey. 



DIVISION BOARDS FOR THE QUEEN. 



Mr. A. makes the division boards of lath, nailed 

 just wide enough apart to let the bees pass through, 

 and no wider; if wider, it will cause the comb honey 

 to be bulged. 



For several weeks after the white clover was done 

 blossoming, the bees scarcely made a living. 



The bees at the other apiary, in the timber, got 

 some linn honey, though not enough to amount to 

 much, either last season or this; but still, even a lit- 

 tle of it is a great help to the bees, because it pro- 

 motes brood rearing. 



We got a good harvest from the buckwheat and 

 fall tlowers, about as much as from the white 

 clover. 



BEES VERSUS DOCTORS AND MEDICINE. 



I have been an invalid for about 21 years; have 

 been to water cures and medical institutions 5 dif- 

 ferent times, and have spent hundreds of dollars 

 upon doctors' bills, but have never been benefited 

 so much as I have been by the care of bees, during 

 the past few years. 



Now, from the beginning: of warm weather, when 

 bees may be handled, until they are packed with 

 straw for winter, I am out working with them, all I 

 am able, almost every day, Sundays excepted. This 

 year, in swarming time, even Sundays could not 

 be wholly excepted. 



If 1 am not on my feet working with them, and 

 must lie down to rest, I have my couch in their 

 midst, where I can watch swarming. I also nail the 

 surplus boxes. We like nailed boxes belter than 

 dovetailed, for one reason, because I Can have the 

 starters all on, with no danger of the boxes be- 

 ! ing- "wapper-jawed." 



)■ We hire a housekeeper, and I give my whole time 

 i to the bees. I find it profitable medicine, and am in 

 ; hopes that the out door exercise and the stings of 

 I the bees will in time, with God's blessing, wholly re- 

 ! store my health. I feel that it has been in answer 

 , to prayer, that my health has been so nearly re- 

 stored. 

 My husband often tells me I would rather work 

 i with bees than do anything else, and I confess I do 

 feel a good deal of enthusiasm in the work, and do 

 ; not fear their stings, when properly protected, more 

 than I would fear caring for a fiock of chickens. I 

 like best to have my face protected with a wire cloth 

 sewed in the front of my sunbonnet; it is cooler to 

 the top of the head, if the bonnet is flaring, than a 

 hat. 



BEE DRESS FOR LADIES. 



I like also to have on a largo apron, made out of 



denim, reaching to the bottom of my dress, with a 



' bib in front, and straps to go over the shoulder and 



