30 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE- 



J AX. 



FRIEND HAMMON'S DIVISION-BOAHD. 



Herewith I send jon the kind of division-board I 

 have adopted for winter use. By " looking- throug-h 

 the knot-holes " you will see a pai)er inside lining, 

 then sawdust, that covered with paper, then the 

 wood outside, then it is ready for use. I have put 

 ui) 55 colonies of Italian bees, each hive put into a 

 bo.v with a space of three or four inches, and that 

 tilled with dry leaves. 1 use the Lang-stroth ten- 

 frame hive. I have prejjared them for winter this 

 waj% taken out the two outsidef rames, and substitut- 

 ed in their places the "sawdust" division-boards, 

 and covered the frames with quilts my wife made 

 by cutting up partly worn bed-blankets. The bees 

 had a tine lly on the fifth inst., it being ^ery warm. 



Bristolville. ().. Dec. .M.S84. H. IJ. Hammox. 



I will e.\i)laiii- to our readers, that tliis di- 

 vision-board is simply a common frame with 

 thin sawed veneeriii<j nailed on eacli side. 

 The veneering is sucli as is usually found on 

 the back of picture-fiames. This veneering 

 extends beyond tlie ends of the frames so as 

 to till the hive, and also below the bottom- 

 bar, so as to nearly if not (juite strike the 

 bottom-board. The device is hardly new ; 

 but the sheets of paper to put over the saw- 

 dust, and next to the board, are somewhat 

 new. The hoaid would be about as warm as 

 a chaff-packed division-board, only thinner, 

 and the expense w'ould be considerably less. 



them honey and water only, we find the capping of 

 brood-cells progressing as well, if not better, than 

 before. I have seen new combs produced from 

 basswood honey, that presented the appearance of 

 a fibrous conii)osition, but I remember that they 

 were built by old bees, and at a time approaching a 

 dearth of honey. C. W. Dayton, 114. 



Bradford, Iowa, Dec. 4, 1884. 



UKCIPK FOR HONEY-CAKE. 



I saw something in Gleanings about honey-cake; 

 and as 1 have been experimenting a little with hon- 

 ey I will send what we think a good recipe for hon- 

 ey-cake. Two cups honey, one cuj) sour cream, one- 

 half teaspoonful of soda; flavor, mi.v quite soft. 

 Some do not care for any flavoring, as the honey is 

 sufficient. If you have not a better recipe you may 

 publish this, as I know it to be good. This makes 

 just a common every-day cake. Perhaps some may 

 have a nicer one. We have Gleanings, and like it 

 very much. I have put up all my fruit this season 

 in honey, and have even made jellies with it. 



Mrs. L. M. Haudison. 



Santa Paula, Cal., Nov. 18, 18S4. 



« iMATERlAL FOI{ CAPPING BUOOU-CKLLS. 



On page 80i, Mr. A. A. Fradcnburg's theory as to [ 

 the miit^r:al of which the caps to brood-cells is com- 

 posed, and the manner in which it is obtained, is 

 nearly as thin as the "pollen theory." I have seen 

 all sorts of trash— sticks, sand, plaster, wire, paper, 

 and any thing that happened to be in the way, fas- 

 tened in the eappings. the bees' only object (seem- 

 ingly) being to get a lid for the cells. They some- 

 times do very rough jolis of brood-cai)ping when j 

 there is an abundance of other labor on hand dui<- 

 ing a heavy honey-flow. As to the bees " raking " a j 

 fibrous or lint substance from wood surfaces, if this 

 is true in the brood-rearing season, when there is 

 brood in 9 combs, and bees enough to cover only 6, I 

 should e.x-pect to find nearly all the bees in a colony 

 "raking hay," and, in ace )rdance to bee nature, I 

 should e.xpect to find more of them on weatherworn 

 basswood boards than on the fi-ont side of well- ! 

 painted hives and pieces of glass which I keep lean- ] 

 ing against the front sides of my hives. ' 



I believe it has not been reported, that bees cap 

 honey-cells with any thing short of wa.v, and we | 

 find the capping to some honey-cells that resemble 

 that of brood-cells insomuch as to defy distinction. 

 .\ndif we shut a colony in a glass bo.\, allowing 



feeders AND feeding— A CALTIOX. 



The hive of bees you expressed to me last June, 

 was received on the 10th in good condition. The 

 one you expressed to me in July, IH.Sl, a fine big 

 swarm, was led out on the 20th of June. Another 

 young swarm was led out July 4. At the time of 

 swarming, wet windy weather prevented the bees 

 from working. I fed the young bees sugar syrup 

 in tin cans, on their alighting-boards. This way of 

 feeding started the old bees to robbing. The young 

 bees would fight at their own hives, and would go 

 to the old hives and fight there too. Their fighting 

 lasted ten days; not one of thera was beaten, but 

 were all much reduced. The rest of the season, the 

 bees in the old hive kept a standing army at the 

 entrance of their hive, to keep the young bees from 

 robbing them. I got no honey this season. I think 

 they have i)lcnty to bring them safe through the 

 winter. John Hamsworth. 



Sunny Meade, Assiniboia, N. W. T., Can. 



Friend II., that is just about the way feed- 

 ing works, if you arc not careful. You just 

 about express' it when you say the old hives 

 kept up a *' standing army." Be careful 

 about feeding. 



WH.VT TO DO WITH BEES TH.\T COME OUT AND DIE 

 OX THE SNOW. 



I should like to have one question answered 

 through Gi-EANiNGS, if you can give it room. Is 

 there any way to prevent bees from coming out of 

 their hives, and dying by the hundreds on the snow? 

 Will it do any g. od to shade the hives? 



E. D. Barton. 



East Hampton, Ct, Dec. 3. 1884. 



Fripnd B.. bees seldom if ever come out 

 and die on the snow, unless something is the 

 matter with them. It has been suggested, 

 that sometimes they come out because the 

 sun shines directly on a tliin hive, and 

 warms it up, when they would not come 

 out if the hive were shaded. This may be 

 so, but I am a 1 ttle inclined to doubt it. 

 However, I greatly prefer to have them in 

 chaff-packed hives, not only to keep the sun 

 from heating them up too quickly, but to 

 kecj) the frost out as well. When bees have 

 unwholesome stores, and are affected by 

 dysentery, or some like disease, they come 

 out and die on the snow in all kinds of weath- 

 er, and I do not know that any thing can be 

 done for them, unless it is to srive them good 

 honey in place of the bad, or. what is the 

 same thing, sugar stores. A few bees will 

 always come out, such as die of old age and 

 other causes, and in a very powerful colony 

 the number might be so great as to cause "a 

 novice to feel worried by it, when it is noth- 

 ing more than what miglit lie exiiected. A 

 strong colony will probably throw out, say a 

 handful of bees, after a cold spell of three or 

 four weeks ; and when these happen to be 

 scattered about on the bright snow they, 

 give one the impression that the number is 

 much greater than it actually is. 



