212 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



proper fuel. We are just making arrange- 

 ments to send a sample of the fuel with every 

 smoker. 



%\ia "imiW 



This department was suggested by one of the 

 qlerks, as an opposition to the "Growlery." I think 

 I shall venture to give names in full here. 



^ijpTJST now I am feeling very comfortable. Yes- 

 Jil terday morning, I received a new No. of 

 ^H> Gleanings, which always gives me pleasure, 

 and then, in the afternoon, I got the goods you ship- 

 ped on the 23d., all in good condition apparently. I 

 have not yet opened the box of fdn. The smokers 

 are all right. I had been doing without one for 2 or 

 3 weeks, having let a friend have my old Simplicity, 

 and I guess, if you ceuld have seen me about the 

 time I got that box open and got one of those cold 

 smokers out, you would have thought me a fit sub- 

 ject for the "Smilery". Please accept thanks— many 

 thanks. 



My sister (whose bees T managed last season) and 

 I have lost but one out of 28 colonies. 

 Somerset, Ky., May 4, 1879. M. E. Parker. 



Three weeks ago, a swarm came to me and settled 

 on a peach tree in my apiary. I hived it, killed 

 their queen, and gave them brood, and now they 

 have an Italian queen, making me 15 stocks on the 

 15th of April, from 14 last fall. Don't that look like 

 smiling? Mv bees did not dwindle a bit, as they say 

 the Italians'do in the spring. I have no other kind 

 but the vellow backs, and they are strong enough to 

 swarm now. James Parshall. 



Union Valley, Mo., May 9, 1879. 



ONE STORY CHAFF HIVES. 



SEND you a pencil drawing of the chaff hive I 

 am making this spring. I made the pattern last 

 Jan., and have made quite a lot of them since. 

 It is so made that it can be used for a 114 or 2 story 

 hive. It is 2514 in. long, and 2114 in. wide from cor- 

 ner to corner. The corner posts are 12 in. high and 

 % in. thick, cut like those on your chaff hive. The 

 frame on top is 26 in. long and 22 in. wide, made of 

 V 2 in. stuff. On top of this frame, is another just like 

 the top edge of a Simplicity hive, that shows 14 in. 

 on the outside. The box inside is 1814x14 14 x91s in. 

 The end pieces of top frames are % in. narrower 

 than the side pieces. To form the rabbet, the tin 

 rabbet rests on the top edge of the inside box. The 

 drawing represents a Simplicity hive set on a chaff 

 hive. Please give your opinion of it. 



SMITH'S ONE STORY CHAFF HIVE. 



Bees have wintered very badly around here this 

 winter ; a great many have lost from }& to % of their 

 stock. I had 5 stands last fall, 4 in Simplicity, and 



one in a farmer hive. They all wintered nicely. I 

 had one on 5 racks that were not over half full of 

 comb and they came out as healthy this spring as 

 any of the rest. They are building up very fast now. 

 I used chaff cushions and division boards, and let 

 them take out doors for wintering. The coldest 

 weather we had, was 25° below zero ; but it did not 

 stay that way long. It ran from 18° to 23°. 



I traded hives and sections for 3 splendid colonies 

 this spring, getting the bees, combs, and queens, for 

 $10.50. I think if they had been sold to you at $1. 

 per qt., they would have brought $20., besides comb 

 and queens. If I have good luck with my bees, I 

 will have quite a lot by the time I am 21, unless they 

 die off next winter. 



Lewisville, Ind., May 5, 1879. David C. Smith. 



The plan given above has been submitted 

 a great many times ; the principal objection 

 is that it cannot well be made to exclude the 

 frost as perfectly as a two story chaff hive. 

 Whenever there are sticks or lumber that 

 runs through the chaff to the brood nest, or 

 near it, the frost is pretty sure to follow. 

 With the above arrangement, a crack or joint 

 is left right near the top of the brood cham- 

 ber. If I could readily have the bees just as 

 I wanted them, I would have them with 

 chaff on every side, for 4 or 6 inches, and not 

 even a stick of any kind, to connect the out- 

 er shell with the inner one containing the 

 bees. Of course we must have a passage for 

 the bees through the chaff, but I would have 

 them perfectly surrounded with chaff, with 

 this exception". The arrangement given be- 

 low by another friend, and which has also 

 been given a great number of times, is still 

 more objectionable. 



My hive is 2114 in. long, 1714 in. wide, and 10 in. 

 deep, with 8 L. frames in a hive, and room enough 

 each side for a frame of sections, or for chaff cush- 

 ion division boards for winter. Each end of the 

 frames, C, is supported by a movable end, A, that is 

 taken out in the fall, and division boards put in 



their place, m«kino- ohnfF oil nvnund. 



HOXIE'S ONE STOKY CHAFF HIVE. 



The top is about 4 in. deep with a piece of sacking 

 tacked in the rabbet, B, and filled with chaff. The 

 lower edge of the hive is rabbeted and fits over the 

 bottom, which is movable. This is only for a one 

 story hive, and side storing. I have a wind-mill with 

 which I run my 6 in. buzz-saw, and can saw up my 

 hive stuff pretty fast. If this is a good hive, I want 

 to use it. D. W. HoxsiE. 



North Adams, Mich , May 4, '79. 



This amounts, virtually, to having a chaff 

 division board on each of the 4 sides. The 

 spaces and crevices thus unavoidably left 

 will be a serious hindrance to a perfect pro- 

 tection, in a winter like the last. I would 

 rather put the bees and combs into a thin 

 light box, and pack this on all sides, inside of 

 a larger one. 



