388 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



MAKING FDN. 



I should be pleased to have you describe your 

 present method of manufacturing- fdn., including 

 the manner in which you purify your wax and the 

 use to which you put the refuse, or footings, usual- 

 ly at the bottom of the cake when cold. I discarded 

 the use of the metal dipping- plates last season, as a 

 tax on both time and patience; also in order to ob- 

 viate the necessity of using ice to cool them. 



Toledo, O., July 12, 1880. John Y. Detwiler. 



You are a genius, friend I). I had just 

 got almost discouraged in trying to make 

 the rakes for a cent apiece by the plan given 

 last month, and I thought of tin bars, but it 

 did not occur to me that I could get the 

 points on them without soldering. Our 

 hands went right to making them on the 

 plan you gave us, just the minute your let- 

 ter was put into my hands. We use the stiff 

 IX tin, and, to get a stiff back to the 

 implement, we fold one edge. As shown 

 below: 



DETWILER'S IMPROVEMENT ON TIIE CHES- 

 HIRE "RAKES." 



We credit you $1.00 for the idea, and, 

 should they have a large sale, we will credit 

 you more. 



Our plan of making fdn. is but little differ- 

 ent from that given in the the ABC, except 

 that the wax is melted by steam instead of 

 by a stove, and we use water pumped by the 

 engine directly from the well, instead of ice. 

 The wax is purified by the impurities falling 

 to the bottom in both the melting and the 

 dipping can. We select the dark wax to 

 make fdn. for the brood frames, and the 

 cleanest and whitest for the thin surplus fdn. 



Thanks for the ladder to hold fdn. from sagging. 

 I took strips of wood 3-16x*4 in., and long enough to 

 tack on the top bar and bottom bar, then drove ?s 

 in. cigar-box nails through for teeth, put 3 on the 

 American frame, and it works to a charm. I put in 

 sheets of fdn. that fill the frame full. V. Page. 



Kennedy, N. Y., July 16, 1880. 



No doubt but that your plan will answer, 

 friend P. We have tried the strips of tin, 

 and they work beautifully, and I think will 

 be less liable to be waxed than either the 

 wood or wire. 



" IN THE DAY OF PROSPERITY BE GLAD, AND IN THE 

 DAY OF ADVERSITY, CONSIDER." 



This admonition I find hard to heed; for, when ad- 

 verse things come, I am apt to think of something 

 else. For instance, when I take a look through my 

 bees, and find everything right, young queens lay- 

 ing, I feel proud; but when I look through them and 

 find everything crosswise, and bees cross, then I get 

 cross too. Do you know anything about such things? 

 But what makes a bee-keeper feel better than to 

 find his young queens filling the combs with eggs? 

 Mrs. M. says that I must know just how many bees 

 there are in every hive, I look at them so much. 

 When she sees me hunting up the smoker, she usu- 

 ally says, " There you go to those old bees;" and if 

 she wants me, she usually finds me among "those 



old bees." The result is, I increased this year from 6 

 to 15, and have about 50 lb. of honey to date. 



In last Gleanings, I see you are having some 

 trouble with your customers. Now, I will tell you 

 what I think I would do if I were you, and will take, 

 to illustrate, the 500-section case, at your express of- 

 fice, that was sent back to you. I would make the 

 company safe in every case, so they will have confi- 

 dence in you, and I would take the expenses out of 

 the money sent to pay for the goods, so far as it 

 goes. With the case in question, take the package 

 from the office, pay charges, and deduct the same 

 from the money sent to pay for them. Of the first 

 catalogue I received I could hardly tell head or tail, 

 for I was green, and didn't know anything about bees. 

 I finally, after some study, concluded I wanted a 

 sample hive and the other things you offer for $1.00. 

 So I sent the money, and told you to send the goods. 

 Well, they came by express, and the charges were 

 75c, nearly the price of the goods; but I paid it, 

 have profited by the lesson, and will do some other 

 way next time. I would advise all those ordering 

 goods, to take them when they come, and if you 

 can't afford to pay such charges, do some other way 

 next time. F. F. McGlade. 



Centreville, O., July 12, 1880. 



I guess I do know about " such things," 

 friend M., and, if I mistake not, there are 

 very few of our readers who do not. Thank 

 you for mentioning it, for somehow we are 

 so strangely influenced by each other, that 

 the very fact of your mentioning your trials 

 and temptations helps us to bear with ours. 

 — I, too, decided it would be perfectly right 

 and proper to do as you say about the sec- 

 tions, but somehow the voice of conscience 

 said not. I had no peace, until I had paid 

 the charges and sent the whole amount of 

 the money back. Conscience (or is it God?) 

 said like this : "You have been so strongly 

 quoting l Not by might, nor by power,' but 

 if you keep back the amount of the express- 

 age, contrary to the man's orders, you will 

 be taking might and power both to fix the 

 transaction to your liking. Pay the express- 

 age, and send him back all of his money, 

 but plead with him, and appeal, if you can, 

 to him in such a way that he will voluntari- 

 ly pay all or part of the charges back to you. . 

 If he absolutely refuses to do this, pay it 

 yourself cheerfully, and trust God to make 

 it up to you in some other way, if he sees 

 proper ; if not, consent to be so much poor- 

 er, and go on your way rejoicing." I fol- 

 lowed this voice, and now I have got over 

 feeling hard about it; I feel a great deal 

 happier than I did when I had the money in 

 my pocket, and had it fixed as I thought it 

 should be. 



DO BLACK BEES WORK ON RED CLOVER? 



Yes; at least, they do here. In the summer of '79, 

 it was so dry that the red clover blossoms were very 

 small, and they worked on the first crop lively, but 

 did not work any on the second crop. This summer 

 the red clover blossoms are as large as common, and 

 the black bees worked nearly as much on them as 

 on the white clover. There was plenty of white clo- 

 ver, so it was not on account of scarcity of pastur- 

 age. These bees are pure blacks, and not hybrids. 

 John C. Gilliland. 



Bloomfleld, Ind., July 14, IS80. 



