188o 



GLExVNINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



169 



i 



FROM DIFFHRENT FIELDS. | 



WATER FOR BEES. 



RECEIVED Gleanings aud the ABC book ia 

 good order, and have been reading where you 

 water your bees, but can not see where you 

 water them as I do mine. I have a trough 13 

 feet long and 8 inches deep. I fill this about li 

 full of clean corn-cobs, then pour on water till it 

 just comes to the top of the cobs. By not having 

 the trough full, the wind does not strike the bees 

 while they are drinking. I think it is better than a 

 board, as the bees seem to like to suck tlie water 

 out of the cobs. I never had any drowned in this 

 way, nor had any bother by my bees going to my j 

 neighbors' horse-troughs, i place this trough fiv(> 

 if)ds from mi' apiary. 



I am ti-ying to winter tiO colonies, but do not 

 know how they will eouie out, as I have tlicin in my 

 cellar. 



My trough is ^'-shaped. 1 like it better lliaii up- 

 right sides, as the bees can run up it and start oft' 

 better. I sprinkle a little salt at one end of the 

 trough on the cf)bs, so that they can get it wiien 

 they choose. William Kdkn. 



Green Lake. Wis., Feb. 10, is,-:.",. 



MV ItKPOKT KO;i ISSf. 



I commenced in the spring with T colonics; I in- 

 creased to 15, and took 250 lbs. of honey. The season 

 was very unfavorable. Old bee-keepers say it was 

 a " bee-famine." I will ask one question. Is it a 

 safe way to feed bees, by pouring sugar syrup i^to 

 empty combs, and hang them in the hives for the 

 Ijces? Jas. E. Thaki', Sen. 



Harmony, N. C, Feb. 10, 18S5. 



Friend T.. your plan of pouring? syrup into t 

 combs is ;i very okl one. It is daiiby. and is , 

 liable to start robbing, is pi'rliai)s the jT;reat- 

 est reason why the plan has not found much 

 favor. Tliereisone thiufj about it. Iiovvev- 

 er. it does not reqiiire any feeder to be put 

 in the liive, or to be taken away, aiul the 

 combs are always all ri<fht for tlie honey 

 •when it comes. 'J'he syrup must lie let fail 

 from a distance, to have it go to the bottom 

 of the cells; and when; much I'eedinp; is to 

 be done, the combs may l)e placed in a tub 

 to avoid wasting and "siiattering, and the 

 syrnp poured tlirough a sort of sieve or 

 skimmer, so that it shall fall in many small 

 streams. By this means combs may be tilled 

 very rapidly. 



HOW TO MAKE BEECAXDV. 



I send you to day a sample of some bee-candy, 

 and this is the way it is made. Take sugar and wa- 

 ter, and boil until it is soft wax, being very careful 

 not to stir after it is dissolved; then set carefully in 

 a cool place until partly cooled, and then stir until 

 it thickiMis, and take immediately in your hands 

 and work. 



A CH1;A1> WAV OK ( O.NNECTING SUCTIONS SO .".S 

 TO KOH.M A liACIv OK CliATE. 



After looking over Mr. Smith's honey-rack on 

 l>age 841, December 15, 1 thought I would give a 

 description of a cheap honey-rack tliat we use. We 

 use 8-franie hives one foot wide. We get strips of 

 tin cut one foot long and one inch wide; the tinner 

 tiu-iis theii) iij) to ii miter in a machine. Take thin 



boards the exact size of the box ; set si.\ boxes to- 

 gether with a board at each end; place a strip of 

 tin over each corner, and tack to the board to use 

 on the hive. We lay a thin strip of wood one inch 

 wide across frame to support the corners of the 

 boxes. This arrangement can be used on almost 

 any kind of a hive. When we want to tier them up 

 we take otf the boxes and put emptj- ones under, 

 and i-everse the bo.xes the bees have woi-ked in; 

 putting them on top, there will be no space be- 

 tween the boxes for the bees to get at. 



Mrs. Oretta Reed. 

 Washingtouvillc, Ohio, Dec. 27, 1881. 



My friend, your lioney-rack is on the plan 

 of the one mentioned on page ](5:i. only you 

 use tin where friend Flory uses wood. " The 

 idea is quite an old one. aud 1 do not really 

 know why it was abandoned, for it certainl> 

 seems to possc.-s very decided advantages. 

 AVith the folded tin strips, you are obliged 

 to have a Itee-space at the "bottom; but it 

 seems to me, as you say. that it would be 

 very much better to have sections come 

 close togetlier in bee-spaces in the second 

 tier, and ilie same in the third tier when a 

 third tier is used. We can furnish folded 

 tins of the length you mention for -"O cts. per 

 ]()<), or any desired length at a cost of ^ cent 

 per foot. Folded they nest into each other 

 so as to be shipped in very small space. 



WHAT to UO with BEES THAT ARE STAUVINC. IN 

 THE SPRING. 



Our bees get water every day that is warm 

 enough for them to Hy. There are a great many bees 

 starving in this country. They are in old-fashioned 

 hives, those that are starving. There are a great 

 many black bees in this country. I have had ',i 

 starving swarms come and try to go into my hives 

 in the last three weeks, which makes trouble with 

 the bees. We had one yesterday, which is freezing 

 to death this morning as they lie on the fences and 

 other places, and there is a brisk northern breeze 

 this morning. What would you do in such cases'/ 

 I have named our apiary ' LivoOak Apiary. ' 



Cedar Valley, Texas. ,1. H. Morroav. 



Friend M.. I shoidd feed the bees, by all 

 means, instead of letting them liang out in 

 the cold to freeze. A very few cents' wortli 

 of sugar wonld fetch them along till plants 

 bloom, and it hardly seems as though there 

 were a locality anywhere wliere bees will 

 not be worth something after being wintered 

 over. Put them in hives., and give them 

 sugar to their hearts' content, and they will 

 repay you. may be a hundred fold in just a 

 few weeks. 



USING A SLATTED HONEY-BOAHD TO PREVENT THE 



BEES FRO.M STICKING DOWN THE CR.^TE OF 



SECTION BOXES. 



The cut of honey-board on page 47, Jan. No. of 

 Gleanings, is nearly the same as the one I used 

 last season. Mine was made out of ij-inch lumber, 

 cutting the slats with a slitting-gauge. The slats 

 were cut the full length of the board, excepting 

 about an inch aud a half of each end, and a i'u-inch 

 square cleat nailed across each end. When the 

 honey-board is on I liavc a "«-inch bee space above 

 and below it. No comb was built between honey- 

 board and sections, but it was fastened down to 

 wide frames. W. E. Thompson, 



X>uddoii:a, Mo., Feb. 11, 1880. 



