216 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Juke 



that means, I concluded to let them alone, and had 

 no more trouble on account of toads during- the 

 season. 



To make these holes' effective in entrapping toads, 

 I think they ought to be at least eighteen inches in 

 depth, and so located that the hive, being several 

 inches above the ground, should project over one 

 half of the hole, and the alighting board, slanting' 

 up to the hive, should cover the remainder. If the 

 hole is left open by removing the alighting board 

 about sundown, it might catch toads faster, but a 

 great many loaded bees coming in, would fall in and 

 be destroyed by the toads on the inside. 



Although this article is already too long, I can not 

 close without expressing my disapprobation of the 

 practice of killing toads. They are a part of crea- 

 tion, and have a humble though important office to 

 perform in the economy of nature in the destruc- 

 tion of insects hurtful to vegetation. 



Cyruston, Tenn., May 3, 1879. W. L. Moores. 



WINTERING. 



BURLAP VERSUS ENAMELED CLOTH, THE BEST KIND 

 OE A FEEDER, ETC. 



[MPJ G say that I am surprised to think that you lost 

 J' II so many bees won't express it. I begin to 

 think bee culture a very uncertain pursuit, 

 as I had formed an opinion that what you did not 

 know about bees was worth but little. If possible, 

 give us the why's and wherefore's, so we can guard 

 against such disaster. 



My bees wintered well; I only lost one, and that 

 by uniting it with another, so as to make one good 

 swarm out of 2 poor ones. I think I have learned 

 something this past winter. First, no more enam- 

 eled cloth for winter; it is not an absorbent, by any 

 means. I think burlap is the stuff by all odds, as it 

 permits the dampness to pass off. 



I will state how I fixed my bees for winter. I got 

 them all in a straight row, about 2 feet from centre 

 to centre, and filled the upper story with a sawdust 

 pillow as dry as it could be got. Some were con- 

 tracted by division boards and some Avere not, all, 

 except 3 or 4, with enameled cloth sheets over the 

 frames; these 3 or 4 had the burlap next to the 

 bees, and no enameled cloth. The entrance was 

 about 3x[< A in. I use Cook's bottom. In the first 

 part of Nov., I built a wall with ^x3 in. x 16 ft. chaff 

 hive stuff, all around the hives, about 12 or 14 in. 

 from them, except on the entrance side, and there 

 built the wall slanting in to the entrance so the bees 

 could fly at any time. I then packed straw around 

 the hives as compactly as I could, made a roof out 

 of the same material, in 4 ft. sections, so I could 

 lift a section off at any time, and examine any hive 

 I chose. "When the extremely cold weather came, 

 I covered the entrances with straw and boards, and 

 left them alone until the snow was melted and gone, 

 then let them fly. As soon as another snow fell, I 

 shut them up again. The mice got into 2 hives and 

 cut the combs some, but otherwise did no damage. 

 Two hives, transferred late last fall, had the dysen- 

 tery pretty badly, and a good many died; so I doub- 

 led them up this spring, and they seem to get along 

 well. In the hives covered with burlap, only a very 

 few bees died, not 1-10 part as much as in the others. 

 The Italians and hybrids are a long way ahead of the 

 blacks, under the same treatment. 



We have very bad weather; it is either cold and 

 frosty, or warm and windy. Soft maple blossoms 



all froze as fast as they opened, and every thing else 

 so far; but I am prepared for it, as I reserved, last 

 fall, some 60 or 80 full slabs of honey, enough to 

 winter as many more bees as I had. When I find a 

 comb empty, I take it out and put in a full one. A 

 full comb is the best feeder, I think. 

 Dixon, Ills., May 4, 1879. B. F. Pratt. 



I guess the principal part of the "why's 

 and wherefore's" is that our hees were not 

 all prepared for winter ; those in the house 

 apiary were wintered without any trouble, 

 and the principle of it is about the same as 

 the plan you give, with far less trouble. I 

 wonder if it would not be a good plan, to 

 make some small, portable house apiaries. 

 I have no fear of the enameled cloth, if it is 

 perfectly protected from frost all around, 

 but as this is a pretty difficult matter to se- 

 cure, I think the burlap or our wooden mats 

 are preferable. Your plan of feeding is cer- 

 tainly equal to, if not ahead, of any other, 

 taking all things into consideration. The 

 only trouble with it is that few bee-keepers 

 will have the prudence to keep these solid 

 slabs of honey on hand. 

 — -»••• 



"GALLUP." 



WHERE nE IS, AND WHAT HE IS DOING BY THIS TIME. 



^if%N page 130, April No. of Gleanings, you really 

 WJJ) wish for a photo of a real nice, orderly, Cali- 

 fornia apiary. This is to inform you that Mr. 

 Wilkin is thinking strongly of sending you a photo 

 of his shortly; if he does, I shall try to give you a 

 history of its surroundings, as I know it would be 

 interesting to your numerous readers. He has 

 every thing fixed up in "ship shape," and in so do- 

 ing has copied considerably from Gleanings. 



I am well pleased with this climate. There is 

 probably no better place on the face of the globe as 

 a health resort than some portions of Ventura Co., 

 especially for asthmatic and lung difficulties. 



The bee season is a little backward, but as we have 

 had abundance of rain lately, the prospect is good, 

 and we are working hard preparing for the season 

 as fast as possible. There have been but very few 

 natural swarms yet. We arc using the foundation 

 and it is a splendid success. I don't know but I 

 shall be strongly tempted to start an apiary on my 

 own hook another season; I have not lost any of my 

 old interest and enthusiasm in bee matters. Cali- 

 fomians will have to sell honey cheap, but they can 

 afford it cheap, as there are no drawbacks in winter- 

 ing, and an apiary properly managed need never 

 suffer from drouth or dry seasons. That is, the 

 stock can be kept good and self supporting. Dur- 

 ing the whole of the past winter, we have had 7 

 rainy days when the bees could not fly; in fact, our 

 winter weather is as near like your June weather as 

 can possibly be. E. Gallup. 



Scenega, Cal., April 12, 1879. 



Who does not remember Gallup, and his 

 inspiring articles in the American Be< Journ- 

 al, a few years ago V It is true, he went ve- 

 hemently for bushels of bees when Ilosmer 

 was proclaiming what might be done with 

 pints, but they both gave us some excellent 

 ideas in the directions they were each one 

 working. Go on with that apiary, friend 

 Gallup, and let us hear from you as often as 

 Ave did a few years ago. 



