1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



29 



and a faucet on one side, and .von have the thing 

 complete. When the uncapping is d>>ne, the knife 

 can be thrown in the box, the lid closed, and every- 

 thing is secure from dirt or robber bees. 



AN IMPROVEMENT IN WABBLING SAWS. 



1 suppose that you have noticed, when using wab- 

 bling saws, that the board sometimes takes a notion 

 to wabble as well as the saw. A lew days ago I had 

 some grooving to do on long boards, and they would 

 wabble in spite of me. So I began to study up a 

 plan to make them run steadily. After a great deal 

 of hard thinking, I struck on the following plan: 

 By using three saws (two straight ones and one wab- 

 bler), I got the thing that I wanted. The straight 

 saws act like the spurs on a cutter-head, and carry 

 the wabbler straight through the work, knot or no 

 knots. This is the best arrangement for cutting 

 hand-holes in hives that I have tried. H. Scovell. 



Columbus, Kan., Dec. 5, 1879. 



I, too, friend S., have bothered about win- 

 ter passages, but have come to the conclu- 

 sion to cut them every fall, or, at least, all 

 that the bees have closed up during the sum- 

 mer. Your plan will do nicely, but the bees 

 persist in leaving that stick bare in such a 

 way as to cause so much waste room, that I 

 would far rather have the bars of tin, shown 

 last month. In the L. frame, we have two 

 winter passages, about six or seven inches 

 apart. Tne uncapping- box will doubtless be 

 found very convenient by many, and the 

 wabbler made with three saws, I know, will 

 be quite an improvement. I am sure, friend 

 S., that no one but you has ever thought of 

 such a thing before. 



FROM 3 TO 60, IN li YEARS. 



Friend Root:— Please count me in the ABC class, 

 although with a gray beard. In the spring of 1876, 

 we had 3 colonies of black bees in box hives, now we 

 count 60. As I had to hive them when they gave a 

 swarrn that year, I became much interested in them. 

 I think much of my bees, but 1 hope I do not worship 

 them, for that javelin of theirs is tor some good pur- 

 pose; yet, with the use of a good smoker, they may 

 be successfully handled. But few here keep bees 

 except in box hives, and many swarms go to the 

 timber every year. 



A SUCCESSFDL DECOY HIVE. 



In 1878, 1 fastened a box in a tree, about 30 feet 

 high, and a swarm took possession of it, and re- 

 mained there until mid-winter. They were taken 

 down while the mercury stood at zero, and placed 

 by the south side of a house. In May they were 

 quite strong, and gave a good swarm this unusually 

 poor year. How is that for chaff piicking? 



Last winter and spring was noted for a heavy loss 

 in bees; some froze up and smothered, and some 

 starved because too cold to git to the honey; but 

 the greatest loss was by dysentery and spring dwin- 

 dling, or from a cause unknown here. Last fall, the 

 bees did not get a late tiy, and it was about Christ- 

 mas time to them, at Thanksgiving. This year, the 

 bees got a good fly on Thanksgiving day, also on 

 Dec. 1st. I hope they will be the better for it. Suc- 

 cess to Glean inc. s and that honey -garden. 



Limerick, 111., Dee. 4. 1879. E. Pickup. 



INTRODUCING CAGE FOR COLD AVEATHER, AGAIN. 



I have just got out of humor, and will complain 

 some, for 1 see that you have gone and given Will 

 the credit of my invention (the cage described on 

 page 470 of Gleanings). 1 have used that cage for 

 two years, as my neighbors know, anil wrote it up to 

 you more than a year ago. 1 use a wire to suspend 

 it in the hive, and thus can put it right among the 

 brood where the queen will be sure to keep warm. 

 I also make both ends as corks; the one at the end 

 where the candy is, is made of wood ami hollow, so 

 the candy is safe from the bt>es outside of the cage; 

 so also the end which holds the bottle. If you like, 

 I will send you one. I do really think that, after go- 

 ing to the trouble of writing you about it, I should 

 have had the credit of it; but don't be afraid of my 

 ever bringing any suit against you for it, for 7 do 

 not expect to yet it patented. 



I beg pardon, friend K. Since you speak 



of it, I believe I do remember such a letter, 

 and as I did not realize the importance of 

 such an arrangement then, perhaps, I allow- 

 ed it to pass by. Please send me a cage. 



the Cartoons. 

 One more complaint, and I will put the stopper in 

 my ink bottle; I would rather you would cut "Car- 

 toon" short, and put in its stead, some one of those 

 good pictures which you say were crowded out. 



Now, friend K., I thought the cartoons 

 would enforce lessons of care and neatness 

 when nothing else would. From what 

 others write, I am inclined to think the 

 majority do not agree with you. 



EXTRACTORS WITH A VERTICAL MOTION TO THE 

 CRANK. 



Do you ever' make any extractors with vertical 

 motion to the crank instead of horizontal? it cer- 

 tainly is best. I will need one next year. 



We have never made any in that way, and 

 feel sure the greater part of our friends 

 would hud them less handy, if not inconve- 

 niently in the way, but we can make them 

 thus, when Wanted, for about 50 c. extra. 



A pocket compass rigged with a clamp to attach 

 to a common carpenter's level and plumb is what 1 

 thiuk C. M. Keed wauts; it should not cost more 

 than $2.00, and I think one could be got up for $1.00. 



Vevay, Ind., Dec. 8, 1S79. M. G. Keeney. 



COMBS OF SEALED HONEY FOR FEEDING. 



I want to ask your advice about using the extract- 

 or. I have taken about 20 frames all nearly full of 

 capped honey. 1 want to use those combs to build 

 up new swarms next summer. When should I ex- 

 tract the honey? My bees, except one stock in a 

 Simplicity hive, have plenty of honey until spring, 

 when I always take out nearly all the honey left, 

 and feed syrup, or uncap some of the honey every 

 day or two in spring. How would I better feed my 

 weak swarm? They are in the cellar with 13 other 

 stocks. A. M. Hills. 



Clearfield, Pa., Dec. 4, 1879. 



Do not extract, by any means, friend II. 

 I would give 2 cents per pound more for the 

 honey as it is, in the combs, for feeding, than 

 I would after you had uncapped it and 

 thrown it out. Full combs are better than 

 money in the bank, for new swarms, for they 

 can go right to work in the surplus boxes, if 

 they have full combs to start with. Give the 

 swarm in the cellar, which you say needs 

 feeding, a comb or two of this sealed honey, 

 as they need it, and by no means think of 

 feeding them liquid honey, when you have 

 it already sealed up in the combs. Do not 

 uncap any for them while they are in the 

 cellar; but next spring, say in April, if you 

 wish to push brood-rearing, uncap some of 

 their honey, as you suggest. If you prefer 

 extracted honey', I would still leave this in 

 the combs, and do no extracting until honey 

 comes in next season, and you are sure you 

 will have no feeding back to do. I do not 

 know of a much greater blunder made in bee 

 culture, than to uncap and extract honey 

 that you will be obliged to feed back, to be 

 capped over again. There is no feeder in 

 the world equal to combs of unsealed stores. 



EXTRACTING IN NOVEMBER. 

 I am I'm shing extracting honey this week. Bath- 

 er late, you say. Will, so it is; but remember we 

 have no winter quarters here. Your extractor gives 

 entire satisfaction. I have used one of your old 

 smokers two years, and it is pretty go d yet. 



O. R. Flourney, 

 Belmont, Gonzales Co., Tex., Nov. 24, 1879. 



