OIl: VOTED TO BEE« A1SD HONEY, A1VJ3 HOME INTERESTS. 



Vol. VII. 



APRIL 1, 1879. 



No. 4. 



A. I. ROOT, ) Published Monthly. (TERMS: tl.OO Per Annum in Ad' 



Publisher and Proprietor, \ < vance; 3 Copies for $2. 50; 5 for $3. 75; 



Medina, O. ) Esta,t>lisliecl in 1873. (.10 o? more, 6(te. each. Single Number, lOc. 



SCRAPS AND SKETCHES. NO. 1. 



MY CHIP BASKET. 



■■'r^ UNNING a foot-power saw, when the saw is 



tsy 'dull, or the machinery needs oiling 1 , is a loss 

 — ^ of time, temper, and treading. 



WHERE TO KEEP FUEL FOR SMOKERS. 



Let me suggest the putting of another drawer un- 

 der friend Valentine's queen stand, described on 

 page 253, Vol. VI, of Gleanings, to hold fuel for 

 the smoker, and a piece of thick cloth with. which to 

 handle the top of the smoker when it is hot. 



LAMP NURSERY FOR ISREAD MAKING. 



Here is a "chip" that will interest the ladies. The 

 lamp nursery is a splendid place in which to raise 

 yeast. Make the yeast in the evening, leave it in 

 the nursery all night, and you can stir up the 

 "sponge" early in the morning, and get your liread 

 all baked before dinner. 



HOME MADE QUEEN CARDS. 



Mrs. H. made me some queen registering cards 

 out of a paper flour sack. She did the "printing" 

 with her pen, and it took her only two evenings to 

 make a hundred. Of course, she saved only 50c, 

 but that is enough to pay for Gleanings for six 

 months. 



FUEL FOR SMOKER. 



Dry, rotten, elm wood takes fire very easily, and 

 never goes out in the smoker; I think rotten bass- 

 wood burns longer than elm, but corn cobs will out 

 last either. If you have any difficulty in getting 

 cobs to burn, put them in an old pan and dry them 

 in the oven, and your trouble will vanish like 

 smoke. 



CUTTING 2 INCH STUFF BY FOOT-POWER. 



When you are cutting up 2 inch stuff with your 

 foot-power saw, as section boxes for instance, set 

 your table so that the saw will cut half way through 

 the work, then lower the table so that the saw will 

 finish the work, and run it through again. You can 

 do the work quicker, and a great deal easier. The 

 saw must cut true, or there will be a little jog in the 

 middle of the stuff. 



BEE VEILS. 



If you must have a bee veil, buy V 2 yard of black 

 tarlatan, or, what is better, 1J4 yards of grenadine; 

 get your mother, sister, wife, or sweetheart to make 

 it into a veil by sewing two of the edges together— 

 thus making a sort of bag without a bottom— hem- 

 ming it around the bottom, and putting a "pucker- 

 ing string" around the top. You can slip this over 

 your hat, tuck the bottom inside your shirt collar, 

 and you are ready for "bees— iness." 



CONVENIENT HIVES. 



When you have only a few bees, and your hives 

 are new, you may get along very well with a com- 

 plicated hive; but, as your bees increase in numbers, 

 you will find that the management of a large apiary 

 is somewhat different from that of a small out. 

 You will sometimes be hurried, yes, fairly driven 

 with work, and would welcome with delight any 

 quicker method of management. Then you will 

 discover that a complicated hive, with the frames 

 and "rigging" all stuck up with propolis, is about 

 the meanest thing thy.t was ever invented. 



TAKING A BEE JOURNAL. 



"Good morning, Mr. Beekeeper; wouldn't you like 

 to subscribe for a good bee paper?" 



"No, I guess not; can't afford it; a good many of 

 my swarms went to the woods last summer, and the 

 rest of them may die this winter; if they do, I shan't 

 want any bee paper, so I guess I'll wait and see how 

 they come out. 



"But, say, hold on Mr. H.; don't be in a hurry; I 

 want to talk with you a little; you seem to be pretty 

 lucky with bees — how do you prevent swarms from 

 going to the woods? and how do you keep your bees 

 from freezing during the winter?" 



W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Rogersville, Genesee Co., Mich. 



Thanks for your valuable hints, friend II. 

 Your last point is one I have often had cause 

 to notice this spring. Quite a number have 

 sent in orders for goods, saying they were 

 too poor to take a bee journal. Many times 

 they have told how badly they wanted one, 

 but that it was out of the question. These 

 good friends have almost invariably ordered 

 something with their money that was out of 

 date, or superseded, and they almost always 

 send more money than required, because the 

 goods have declined in price; to be sure, the 

 amount is placed to their credit, but their 

 goods have gone and they are obliged to 

 send again, and pay an additional express 

 bill, which is almost always more than the 

 price of the journal. You may think I have 

 a selfish motive in it, but I cannot help say- 

 ing, before you pay out a single cent for sup- 

 plies or anything else for the apiary, take a 

 bee journal. You may be able to get along 

 without everything else, but you cannot get 

 along without that, if you are going to keep 

 bees. In the matter of keeping you posted 

 on prices alone, it will pay you. 



^ ■•■ ^ 



CHAFF HIVES, ETC. 



Iff N Feb. No., you ask for reports in regard to chaff 

 Ji| packing; therefore I will give you mine, lwent 

 ~-«J into winter quarters with (53 full stocks, and 3 

 nuclei; 2 of the nuclei were on 4 frames, and 1 on 2 

 frames; all were on their summer stands, and 

 packed in chaff, in various ways. Some were 

 packed inside the hive and some on the outside; a 

 few had nothing but cushions on top of the frames. 

 Twenty-two are in L. hives, 2 in chaff hives, and the 

 balance are in hives 2 ft. long by 13 in. wide, with 

 the frames hanging the short way. 



For those packed inside, I made chaff cushion di- 

 vision boards, by making frames of lath 1J4 in. wide. 

 On each side of these I tacked Indian head muslin, 

 and tilled them with wheat chaff, then laid them on 

 a board with another board on top, and pressed 

 them flat and smooth. This makes what I call a No. 

 1 division board for wintering. These I set close up 

 to the bees, and filled the space between them and 



