



(iLEAXlJS'C,^ JN BEE CULTLKE. 



.Tax. 



from.tht; brood-nest iuto.lht'.sections netted me, up- 

 on an'average, IS^cts. per .pound.^the sugai-^needed 

 to.take its place injthe ;brood-conibs.'.cost only 7 cts. 

 l>cr^ll)., and^is a safer^winter food than'Jioney, do 

 you think^it.fair.iiiy.fiiend, to .say " the method of 

 nianag-ement'was not <iuite_th<' thiufr"? 



This (juestlon of Idn.'or no [fdn. in the,brood-nest 

 is.an imjiortant oup. and.l'hope that a larg^e number 

 of experiments will, be ^niade another season. Let 

 all remember, however, that.wbeu fdn. 'or combs 

 are placed in the sm-plus ^department, and the 

 ))rood frames left enii)ty,'a queen-excluding^honey- 

 board is needed. 



THE IIEUDON FEEDEU. 



As 1 have used the .Heddon feeders ('M of them) 

 two years, and.fed about 4000 lbs. of feed, part of it 

 l)eing:|.honey andj part sugar ^syrup, perhaps I may 

 be'allowed to.answer your objections to it. They 

 are Jsuch shape that* they pile' away quite snugly, 1(5 

 of.themjmaking- a pile only (5 feet high; but, as they 

 are.paintedjhey can be^piled up. out of doors, if 

 there] is ,'no' room inside. L,The7 cover is simply a 

 hoard (the hive-cover) cleated at each end, so that it 

 ran nitt warp. I.have never had a pcaticU' of trouble 

 in this direction, and no weights are used to hold 

 the cover down. The feed used is not thin, like wa- 

 ter, and the pressure is not great enough to cause 

 it to "spout" through the saw-cuts; it comes 

 through;them, and then downL:the side of the parti- 

 tion; at least, this is the way I should explain the 

 matter, as I have never shoved the cover back far 

 ♦^nough to see exactly in what shape the feed comes 

 through ; but 1 »?•) know that I have never seen any 

 daubed bees, or those that gave evidence of having 

 been daubed, and T have never hoiUd the sugar 

 syrup as mentioned by Mr. Heddon, simply having 

 dissolved it witn hot water, and it crystallizes quite 

 l)adly until the bees get it iuto their cells. I do not 

 think there are half a dozen dead bees in any one 

 feeder, and they'have boon in use two years. To 

 prevent the feeder from leaking it is only necessa- 

 ry to paint with white lead the edges of the pieces 

 before putting them together. This feeder, and the 

 grooved hoard to bo used with a fruit-jar, are the 

 only ones I ever thought well enough of to even 

 try. W. Z. Hutch iNSON. 03-94. 



Kogersville, Genesee Co., Mich. 



With the expl.aimtion giveu by yourself, 

 and that of friend Cook at the convention, I 

 have no doubt you are rigtit in re.ufai-d to tlie 

 matter, friend IE; and in your remarlvs 

 above you suggest one tiling tliat I have oft- 

 en mentioned before, but l liad not thoujxht 

 of it in connection with this matter; viz., 

 that a new swaim of bees seem to do better 

 where they have mmc comb to build than 

 where tliey have all linished combs already 

 furnished. I once urged tliis as a reason why 

 wesliould n )t till oursectitm boxes complete- 

 ly. IJut youi' idea is a new one. of lilliug tlie 

 section boxes completely, and letting the 

 liees indulge their proj^ensity for comb-build- 

 ing, and use tlie wax that exudes out of their 

 bodies, in the brood - frames below. In the 

 extract you make, however, from what I 

 said last month, I now for the lirst time dis- 

 (^over that the word On-idr, in the last part of 

 the sentence, is not the one I meant to use. 

 1 simply meant to suggest that we could not 

 decide any thing at i)rcsent, and that before 

 deciding, we should innstiiidlc your method 

 of management, and ,^ee if it were just the 



thing. Most of the friends who know me 

 well, are aware that I often use a word that 

 does not express exactly the meaning I in- 

 tended.'J'or the siini»le reasonlthat the word 

 1 want (loi-s not just then occur to me. I 

 had no thought of conveying the idea as you 

 put it.— 1 am very glad to kiH»\\ you succeed- 

 ed in making feetl without boiling, because 

 boiling does seem to me an unnecessary nui- 

 sance ; not only a nuisance to yourself, but 

 to your wife and ^family, unless a special 

 stove be provided : and this special stove, in 

 the hands of the average bee-keeper, is gen- 

 erally a pretty big nuisance. I am also glad 

 to have' so good a report from the feeder : 

 for not having used it myself, I was not pre- 

 pared to decide. Vou i)robal»ly purchased 

 your feedersaand covers of friend Heddon. 

 and I hope you will excus3 me ior still sug- 

 gesting that the feeders and covers botJi be 

 purchased of^friend IL, or of some supply- 

 dealer who makes his work carefully, or 

 there will be great trouble from leaking and 

 wari)ing covers. 



THE MICHIGAN STATE CONVENTION. 



V. H AT I SAW AND LEAR.NKII. 



JSTAliTEl) one day earlier, in order to 

 ; visit the State hsli-liatcliery at Sandus- 

 ky. In order to make connections! had 

 to ride on a freight train two or three 

 liours. Three or four other individuals 

 sharetl the rather dismal freight car during 

 this long ride, and the slow monotony of the 

 trip was improved by getting ac<i"uainted 

 with each other. Some scinned disposed to 

 I talk, and talked (iiiite freely, and others did 

 I not. I. for want of something better to do, 

 j fell to studying liunianity. I had but little 

 time tc> stop at Sandusky. I knew, and 1 was 

 ! very anxious to find out where the State 

 i lisliery was located, and therefore I asked 

 every Hew comer as he came into the car if 

 1 he Avas ac<iuainted in Sandusky; and if so. 

 j did he know any thing about the tish-hatch- 

 I ery. Nobody knew any thing al)out it, nor 

 jhad^ever heard of such a thing. One indi- 

 j vidual volunteered the remark, that he did 

 I not know much about (ierman carp, but he 

 j did know something about feedin"' lish. lie 

 vised to be connected with an eating-house 

 on the dock by the lake ; and the cook, in 

 order to get rid of his slops, just hoisted it 

 I out of the window. Well, in due time a lot 

 I of voracious cat-fish learned to hang around 

 the said window, for the choice morsels thai 

 I came to tliem every time the table was 

 j cleared. These fish got so tame they would 

 come clear up and hang around like a lot of 

 1 pigs or chickens, lor their daily meal. Fret- 

 ! ty soon the cook took the hint and threw 

 out a baited hook, and not only suiiplied the 

 table with cat-lish. but presented his friends 

 right and left with great wiiopi)eis for bakes. 

 The narrat(n- luul one such, and the family 

 voted it so delicious that he apjilied for aii- 

 other. This time they got a larger one still. 

 Ihit, oh dear niel in prei)arhig him for the 

 oven a great horrid dead wharf rat was 

 found inside of the big lish. None of the 

 family ever wanted any more of the cat-fish, 

 and mv friend sai<l it 'sickened him for all 



