1885 



GLEAXIKGS IK BEE CULTURE. 



29 



lind any, and therefore they did no damage, 

 more than to leave the covers off ; and my 

 opinion is, that it was more because they 

 did not think any Ihing about it, than be- 

 cause tiiey did it purposely. I once myself 

 helped to eat hdiiey that I knew was stolen 

 from a minister's bee-hives, and I was a 

 Sunday-school boy at the time. Had some 

 .i?ood kind Christian friend taken me in hand 

 just about that time, and prest^nted to me 

 the full aspect of the case in all its bearings, 

 I believe I should have repenlcd with tears, 

 and perhaps gone to the minister and made 

 reparation to the fullest t^xtt-nt in my power, 

 and I believe it is much the same with those 

 who went to your hives. It is lack of teach- 

 ing, and, may be, lack of (iod-fearing teach- 

 ers. The harvest is great, but the lal)orers 

 are few. 



FKIENU VANliKLFF'S UNCONDITlOXAt, SUiMlKNUKU. 



My report this season will be small. I began the 

 season with 18 colonies, with the majority of them 

 weak. I doubled my number by feeding over a 

 barrel of sugar. I tool< less than 200 U)S. of honey. 

 The spring bloom was good; never saw it lietter, 

 and the bees got a fair start, and I never saw a bet- 

 ter show for Avhite elover. The fields were fairly 

 matted with it, and T expected a large yieUl of hon- 

 ey. There wore plenty of bees, and a large in- 

 crease of colonies. But, oh the dry season: Well, I 

 almost got into Blasted Hojies. The white clover 

 was just malting a nice start, but it needed rain, 

 and I was hoping for rain just in a day or two for a 

 week or two; and seeing the elover all dying and 

 drying up, and yet no rain, I had to mak«' an uncon- 

 ditional surrender, and take oir my section Ijoxes, 

 and make the best out of it I could. Yet I don't 

 mean to give up; we don't often ha\(' such dry sea- 

 .<ons; it is not the only pursuitjthat fails. I i)eliev(; 

 we bee-keepers can winter our bees with less ex- 

 pense and trouble than any farmer or stock-raiser 

 can his stock. I now have IW colonies prepared for 

 winter, and T think they will all winter. 



THK ( AHMOLANS. 



\'ou wanteil to hear from the Carniolans 1 got of 

 Frank Benton. Well, the season was so dry I had a 

 poor chance to give a fair trial. I did not get to try 

 them in section boxes, but I believe they are very 

 much inclined to swarm. They swarmed twice, as 

 poor a season as it was for swarming. But u good 

 season may make them all right. They arc as c)uiet 

 as any one could wish, yet I think alliinos are as 

 i)uiet. T have a colony of albinos I got last spring 

 of S. Valentine & Son; they are beauties, and as 

 (|uiet and gentle as kittens— that is, tame ones. 

 They don't even scratch; likely they don't know 

 how. W. S. Vankiukk. 



Kirby, I'u.. Dec. 10, 18^. 



SC B-EAUTU VENTILATION. 



I shall probably send occasional subscriptions for 

 Gleanings in future, as I am not only pleased 

 with its excellence of practical information on api- 

 arian subjects, but 1 am more esi)ecially pleased 

 with its loftiness of moral tone. May God bless you 

 in your editorial work, and aid yon in keeping up the 

 morals of the bee-keeping business. 



I have devised a cheap house for wintering bees, 

 which I think is as good as the more expensive 

 ones. Admitting air through a drain, or any un- 

 derground passage resembling a drain, is, it seems 

 to me. consummate folly. Vou would not like to 



have your bedroom filled with such air. My plan is 

 to make the floor, walls, and ceilings, of hay, 3!4 ft. 

 in thickness. Outside of this is a wall of boards, 

 and over it a roof. The wintering-house for thip 

 part of Canada must be cheap and warm. 



T. HOWLAXD. 



Ormond, Ont., Can., Xov. 25, 1881. 



(xently, my good friend II. If you have 

 never used sub-earth ventilation, how do 

 you know that the air that comes through 

 the pipe is bad V In draining fields, the wa- 

 ter that comes from our underdrains is as 

 pure and sweet as any well or spring water, 

 and the workmen often fix a place at the 

 outlet to get a drink. Xow, my opinion 

 is that passing either air or water through 

 the ground in no way injures it. either for 

 breathing or drinking. In speaking of drains 

 we often think of tubing put under ground 

 for carrying off soap and water, and other 

 slops fi'om the kitchen. Of course, we do 

 not want the air we breathe brought into 

 the house in such a manner ; but if it comes 

 through a clean pipe, laid three feet or more 

 under groimd. where nothing gets into said 

 pipe except the water that might percolate 

 through the soil, I do not see how the air 

 should be objectionable. Tlie air in under- 

 ground caves is, if I am coiTect, very pure, 

 especially where tliere is good circulation, as 

 there would be through our sub-earth pipe. 

 \'ery likely hay would be good for walls for 

 a wintering-house. With sub-earth ventila- 

 tion, air is taken directly from outdoors, 

 away off in the lots, perhaps, where there 

 are no buildings nor smoke. This air simply 

 passes through the underground pipe, and is 

 in on way altered or changed in this pass- 

 [ age, except to have its temperature raised to 

 I the temperature of the ground through 

 which it passes. You suggest a caution 

 which we thank you for: that is. our sub- 

 ! earth venlilation-tubes must be so placed 

 '': tliat no foul water from sink-drains can get 

 . into them. If it did, we might have typhoid 

 fever or cholera right speedily. 



KEATH OK ONE OK THE VETEHANS. 



W. VV. Rowley, of Eaugalle, one of the largest bce- 

 keepci-s in this part of the country, and one 

 whom you have dealt with some, is dead; he died 

 very suddenly at this place, when taking off some 

 honey to market, to .St. Paul. 



HAVING NOTHING lUT YOUNG BEES l.X THE SPRING. 



There is a nuin in this neighborhood who winters 

 his bees in a sawdust house (walls U inches thick). 

 About the middle of the winter they commence 

 breeding, au<l the old bees die off. He boasts of 

 the amount of dead bees he carries out in spring, 

 and says hi-* l>ees are all joung to begin work. He 

 has had good success for several years. 



I want that book on gardening, when I can get it 

 and pay for it. We are trying to make ourselves 

 "«*iek>i»." W. FcLLEU. 



Woodville, Wis., Nov. 27, 1884. 



We are very sorry to hear of the death of 

 friend Rowley. 11 is name has been for 

 years a familiar one with us. — In regard to 

 having all the old bees die off, I do not be- 

 lieve I should like that way. even if it does 

 succeed well, for several seasons. I have 

 seen them die off" after the l)ees were set out 

 of the cellar, at such a rate that the yotuig 

 ones turned in and followed suit also. 



