1879 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



383 



THE SHINGLE TEVEMBNTCHAFFHIVE. 



3«S|52iHEN friend D. C. Underbill intimates that 

 ■ /*'// the dwellers in "Michigan— my Michigan," 

 -' -* take no pride in having things in good 

 shape, he touches a tender spot in, at least, one 

 heart. If there is anything that I take pride in, it is 

 in the neat and tidy appearance of my apiary and its 

 surroundings; I should not only have them neat and 

 tidy but ornimzntal, "if I only had the money" to 

 spare; but circumstances compel me to "count the 

 pennies." Therefore, when the idea of making a 

 tenement hive out of cheap shingle 5 came to me, I 

 felt truly thankful. Just think of it, friend U., that 

 tenement hive has a capacity equal to four, two- 

 story, chaff hives, and the materials for its construc- 

 tion cost me just mir dollar; while, if you should see 

 it, I do not think you would call it very had looking 

 cither. One thing more; the interior being made of 

 shingles, the chaff is brought right close up to the 

 bees. W. Z. HUTCHINSOX. 



Rogersville, Mich., Sept. 2, 1879. 

 Well now, my friends, we think the shin- 

 gle hive is just handsome ; and to prove it, I 

 submit the picture of the one as it stands on 

 our grounds, near the house apiary. 



OUR OWN, SniNGLE, TENEMENT, CHAFF 

 HIVE. 



I think a small town of such hives would 

 be really pretty. The only objection I find 

 to it is, that the cover is so heavy to slide 

 back, but when I get it hinged, like friend 

 Hutchinson's, perhaps I shall like it better. 

 I do not know how we can get the materials 

 for a good chaff hive any cheaper, than 25c. 

 each, but our carpenters find it a pretty big 

 job to make one of the shingle, tenement, 

 chaff hives. 



DAXiEK OF ADILTKK ATION I1V BEES- 

 WAX. 



jffr^ Manufacturer and Builder published in New 

 York, might be of interest to bee-keepers, 

 give it in full. 



AMERICAN MINERAL WAX. 

 For some time, there has been in the trade a min- 

 eral wax, from Austria, called "Osokerite." It is 

 very much like beeswax, except the honey flavor, 

 and is now largely used for the adulteration of bees- 

 wax, white as well as yellow, as this osokerite can 

 also be obtained bleached, when it is as white as 

 white beeswax, and is sold as such at a great profit, 

 as it does not cost half as much. It appears that we 

 have everything on this continent, and that, too, 

 often better and in greater quantities than in other 



countries. This is the case with this substance also. 

 It is reported that an immense bed of this, or a very 

 similar substance, has been discovered in southern 

 Utah and Arizona, and we expect that this discovery 

 may turn out to be as important as the petroleum 

 discoveries in Pennsylvania. The substance is sim- 

 ilar to the Roumanian mineral wax called "Zietris- 

 kisite." as verified by Prof. Henry Wurtz, of Hobo- 

 ken, N. .1. 



The beds here arc said to cover many miles of 

 surface, and reach to a depth of UU feet; while, in 

 Europe, it is found in comparatively small quantities. 

 We ought to add that the difference between these 

 substances and paralline is that their melting point 

 is higher, while they do not dissolve in ether, as 

 paraffinc does; therefore they are much better 

 adapted for the adulteration of wax than paraffinc 

 is, which is very easily found out, paralline being 

 semi-transparent, while this substance is more 

 opaque. James A. PritchARD. 



St. Gabriel, Iberville Par., La., Sept. 8, 1S79. 



I have for some time feared the wax of 

 commerce would lie adulterated with this 

 substance, which is really the same thing as 

 the ceresin which we have had and tested ; 

 but my greatest ground for security has been 

 in buying the wax in the usual cakes, of all 

 colors, and, as much as possible, from the 

 bee-keepers themselves, or from country 

 merchants where it is brought in. I have 

 feared that we should have these dirty cakes 

 imitated, and, if we do, the readiest means 

 of detection will be to test the wax by mak- 

 ing some fdn. of it, and hanging it in the 

 hive. If it makes good comb, without 

 stretching, we pronounce it pure wax. As 

 this substance answers every purpose of 

 beeswax, except for fdn., it is quite a gain 

 to our manufacturing industries, and it is 

 this that has reduced the price of wax so 

 materially, I suppose. So much has been 

 sent in at 22c, that I have been compelled 

 to reduce the price to 20c. until further 

 notice. 



« n> i ^ 



A VISIT TO ONE OF THE ABC SCHOIi ARS 



WHO It VISES QUEENS INSTEAD 



OF HONEY. 



DOES QUEEN REARING PA A' V 



IT does us good to go around and see other 

 J^ folks, and see how they do things ; it 

 ' knocks the corners off from conceits we 

 are all liable to fall into. My neighbor II., 

 came in yesterday, and asked me to go out 

 with hint and visit his apiary. Said apiary 

 is about four miles from his home, and I 

 have been talking to him almost all summer, 

 about trying to make bees pay. and having 

 them away from home in this manner. II., 

 like some of the rest of us, lias his own ideas, 

 and his own ways of doing things. We 

 climbed into the buggy, and, almost before 

 we could get seated, off went "Patsy" like 

 an arrow from a bow. While I iield my hat 

 on and stuck fast to the seat, I expostulated 

 on the folly of having a horse that started 

 before you told her to go ; but he said that 

 was just the way he wanted her to do, for it 

 saved time. The buggy creaked and bounc- 

 ed in the air, as we went in and out of holes 

 and bumped against bridges, and I told him 



