106 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mak. 



GLEANINGS JMBEE CULTURE. 



J±. I. ROOT, 

 EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, 



MEDINA, OHIO. 



TKKITIS: $1.00 PER YEAR, POST-PA1U. 



iDvgEIDIISrA, IMIAIR,.. 1, 1879. 



And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, 

 I nit walk contrary unto me; then I .\*U1 walk con- 

 trary unto you also in fury. Lev. 20: 27, 28. 

 ■ — — » i « i m 



We have 3,939 subscribers, and it is only Feb. 28th. 



We have sold 85 mills for making fdn., and, so Ear 

 as I can learn, every one of them is doing- a good 

 business. 



The Northeastern Bee-Keepers' Association will 

 hold its annual convention in City Hall, Syracuse, 

 N. V., on the 11th, 12th and 13th of March next. 



There, that is just my luck! The Jan. Nos. are 

 nil gone. If you will sell yours, I will give you 10c. 

 for it. Very 'likely I shall have to give :20c. before 

 the year is out. 



Mapi.e sugar, with ^ flour, stirred until it grains, 

 makes beautiful candy for bees to start brood rear- 

 ing'. By the use of it I verily believe a colony may 

 be made to swarm in April. 



Evrrv one of our advertisers, 1 think stricliy re- 

 liable. If you do not find them so, it is a mutual 

 agreement that you are to report to me. Are we 

 not all agreed on this, boys? 



We can furnish you a double edged, (18 in.), prun- 

 ing saw for cutting limbs in swarming time, such as 

 is shown on page 98, for 75c. A larger size (20 in.) 

 for 85c. Either will be sent by mail for 15c. extra. 

 These are the celebrated Boynton, lightning saws. 



Friend Nellis has been considerably delayed on 

 the first No. of the Kxchanga, but we now look for it 

 daily. Three other bee journals are already started, 

 or are to lie started, this year. As sample copies 

 are ottered tree, the public can judge i)l' their merits 

 without the investment of any mohcj . 



We were very much delighted to receive two spec- 

 imens of Air-Plants from Geo. Wolfe, of Jackson- 

 ville, Florida. To us Northerners, who have always 

 been accustomed to the orthodox kind of plants 

 which draw nourishment directly from the earth. 

 these Air-Plants are simply wonderful. 



When I closed the Feb. No., 12 colonies had died. 



To-day, Feb. ~'7th, 15 more are dead. All were weak 

 colonies, in Simplicity and L. hives, with plenty of 

 stores. None were old strong stocks, and none were 

 in chaff hives. It is a "burning shame," neverthe- 

 less, to be writing bee books, and letting the bees 

 die. 



We clip the following from the circular of W. F. & 

 .Too. Barnes : 



"Bead what the largest honey dealers in the world 

 say: 'Comb honey in one pound caps or box.es, 

 measuring 4' £x4 ] ^x2 not glassed, packed 24 in a neat 

 crate, sell more readily and bring better prices than in 

 any other shape. H.K.& F.B.THURBBR & Co., X.V.' " 



sizes, in proportion. I can hardly aff ord to make a 

 rebate on those I have sold this season, yet 1 will 

 do so, if you think it right that I should. The prize 

 sections are just such as Boolittle and BetFinger 

 have sent out, unplaned. They will be planed for 

 $1.00 extra per thousand. 



"the blessed bees." 



Were I desirous of making all the money possible 

 out of my business of manufacturing bee-keepers' 

 supplies, without regard to what became of my cus- 

 tomers, I think I would purchase 10,00(1 copies of the 

 above little book, and distribute them, gratis, to all 

 who were getting the bee lexer. 1 am sure they 

 would sit up all night reading it, and then borrow 

 money if they possibly could, to invest in bees. 

 hives, etc. Hut. alas', in less than a year a wail of 

 "blasted hopes" would come up, such as the world 



has never heard before, and 1 should not sleep 



peacefully. 



Is it full of truth? Yes; and that is where the 

 trouble is. n^d the author dated it on the moon, or 

 at the north pole, our ARC class would have known 

 how to take him; but, on the contrary, he has start- 

 ed out by linkinar himself with Prof. Cook, and the 

 Agricultural College, in such away that T cannot, 

 even now, decide whether he means to claim his 

 most incredible statements as facts, or only pure 

 fiction. He, fresh from a couple of years' study in 

 college, a boy of onlv 17, without having ever seen 

 1 he inside of a bee hive, starts with 3? colonies in 

 box hives, and obtains over $3.50 > cash for the hon- 

 ey produced by them the first year, besides increas- 

 ing them to 97 stocks of Italians. He obtained 2.500 

 lbs. of box honey from maple and apple tree blos- 

 soms. 



The worst feature about it is that the book is be- 

 ing reviewed right and left, as a truthful story. He 

 very gravely states he has now colonies byihethon- 

 sand. Why could not a writer of so much talent be 

 satisfied with a statement frank and truthful, in- 

 stead of one that will craze the brain of our youth 

 with the idea of sud leu wealth to be obtained In- 

 going into a business, already entrancing enough, 

 even without the money to be obtained by it? To 

 be sure, he tells how he did it. and very ingenious 

 are the explanations, [shall be glad to send you 

 the book, but this very caution mu-t lie p rsted in- 

 side of every copy I sell. Price $1.00 postpaid. 



We have made two fdn. mills, that make the flat 

 bottomed cells; we can make them from $1 to #3 

 cheaper than the usual kind. After a careful exam- 

 ination of some combs built on this kind of fdn. 

 furnished by Mr. Nellis, I found that nur bees, after 

 (Hi, leave the greater part of the cells Hat at the bot- 

 tom when the comb is worked out. With such 

 comb, the bees cannot cluster as compactly, nor can 

 they use the wax with as much economy, and I can- 

 not therefore, at present, recommend them. 



GREAT REDUCTION IN THE PRICE OE SECTIONS. 



In consequence of lower prices on lumber, im- 

 provements in machinery, and because other folks 

 were underselling us, we have decided to make the 

 4?4 by 4J4 sections, for $6.00 per thousand; the so 

 called prize sections, for $5.00 per thousand; other 



FEEDING IN MARCH. 



Main colonies will probably require food during 

 this month, and those who wish to forward brood 

 rearing as fast as possible will be likely to make 

 much better progress, if they feed in the right way. 

 Unless you are pretty careful, you will make mi-- 

 chief if you undertake to feed liquid food; 1 would 

 use nothing but candy. 



In the spring, before pollen can be used, I would 

 by all means use the Hour candy, made as described 

 in the A B C Part I. The point I wish to touch is 

 about the manner of feeding. In warm weather, 

 the candy slab in a frame is just what we want, and 

 a single frame of candy might do no harm in cold 

 weather in a very strong colony, but a whole slab 

 hunt;' in tin' center of a weak colony would divide 

 the cluster like a cake of ice, and would be sure to 

 kill them outright. 



My attention wa«n called to this by a correspondent 

 who hung slabs of grape sugar in his hives for win- 

 ter food, alternating them with frames of comb. 

 During the past year, I have almost constantly 

 warned our readers against depending on grape 

 sugar for winter stores, and in our printed direc- 

 tions given in Nov., and sent with every box sold, I 

 took especial pains to make the matter plain. In 

 cold weather, the candy or sugar must be given in 

 small lumps, placed directly over or in the cluster. 

 so they can thoroughly warm it up, or it will be of 

 no use to them. 



Again; if you place these lumps in carelessly, so 

 that they leave openings in the quilt, to let out the 

 warm air, this alone will often kill a weak colony. 

 Now if you till a table spoon with candy, so as to 

 make a cake Hat on one side and rounding on the 

 other, yon can put this over the cluster, flat side 

 down and have your quilt tit closely over it. This 

 would last but a little while, so we have made a tin 

 dish with a rounding bottom, somewhat like the 

 spoon, and about 8 it . long. A cake of candy made 

 on this is just right to lay over a 3 or 1 frame nu- 

 cleus, and it will last them 2 or 3 weeks. After it is 

 put in place, and the duck or burlap pressed closely 

 over it, we cover the space above and at the sides 

 closely with chaff and chaff cushions. 



