IbHo 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUIIE. 



Gleanincs in Bee Culture. 



Pill>li.sli><l Sritii-.Uotitlili/- 



.^. X. I^OOT, 



EDITOR AND PUBLISHER. 



MEDINA, O. 



TERMS: $1.00 PER YEAR, POSTPAID. 



For Clubtine Kitec, Coo Firct Pago of Eeid;:; i:i'.t::. 



BUSINESS AT THE PRESENT DATE. 



As we are still up with orders, discounts will be 

 the same as on pag-e 218, last issue. 



OUR NEW POTATO-BOOK. 



We hope to have this ready to be mailed in aliout 

 ten days. It seems to me the hook must certainly 

 be worth the small price ask<;d for it, to every one 

 who is even indirc?tJ}j interested in the cultivation 

 of the soil. We make this proposal: We will send 

 it by mail postpaid for 40 cts. ; and after you have 

 read it through, and you do not say it is worth the 

 money, you may send it bafk at oui- e.xpense, and 

 get your 4') cents. 



THE CANADIAN BEE-.70l'R.N A I,. 



TiiK initial number is at hand, and it certainly 

 gives great promise of much usefulness. Its motto 

 is, "The greatest possible good to the greatest possi- 

 ble number." 1 f friend Jones can keep a weekly bee- 

 journal going, and make each number equal to the 

 one before us, it will, without (|uestion, have a wide 

 circulation, even throufrhout the V. S., and may be 

 some of the brethren may decide to take the C. B. J. 

 instead of Gi,eaninos. Dear mel what a calamity 

 that would bel But if it carries out the spirit of 

 friend Jones's little text, I think I can say amen, 

 and not be troubled either. 



HONOR TO WIIO.M IIONOI! I.S DUE. 



Mit. John Dahij, of Darrtown, Ohio, sent us a let- 

 ter Feb. 10, describing a wire reversing device, 

 nearer to our own than any thing el^e that has ap- 

 jieared; in fact, it was just about it exactly, only he 

 had just one arm for the frame to hang on. I at 

 once decided that it was impracticable, because 

 frames balanced on a single pivot were used and 

 discarded years ago. What I did was to make two 

 arms and a larger hole in the end-bar, so that there 

 were two supports to the device. I should have 

 mentioned this before, but I had forgotten that 

 such a letter had been received till he called my at 

 tention to it. He also mailed mo a sample device. 



MAKING I'lnWOHT AND SPIDER PI..\NTS GROW. 



Almost every spring we have more or less coin- 

 l)laints about these seeds, and, to tell the truth, they 

 are a little bit shy about vegetating. We have just 

 discovei-ed, however, that they all come np beauti- 

 fully, and in a very short space of time, when man- 

 aged on the plan Peter Henderson gives in his Gar- 

 den and Farm Topics; namely, covering the seeds 

 with sifted moss instead of earth, and then keeping 

 the moss damp by sprinkling on water everyday. As 

 soon as the third leaf is well out, the ])lants should 

 be transplanted an inch or two ajiai't, 



Our friend " Lu," the botanist of our office, hy 

 request also furnishes me the following: 



Take a f iminrjii flower-pot with a hole in the bottom, and 

 till witli , nth :is for potting a plant. Sow the seeds in this 



• 111!'! • 1 with earrh, and pack down wfll all around, 



M ! II. Turn over this a g-lass goblet that will fit 



ii_ i I 1 1 of the pot. Fill a saucer with water, set the 



P T ^ Li ' - ihl .1 II. in it. and place i he whole on the reservoir 

 ul till kit II I 'Mil- I an old-fiashioned elevated res- 



ervoir. \ I , li ; ., full of water, and. no matter 



how I1..1 ti 1 I.e all right. ISy this method. 



spider-pl .1,1 -• ' , .1,, 1; I.: ,;i lour days. As soon as you see 

 the eartli liumi ^ c! ii|i ui iiUlc heaps you will know that the 

 seeds have staited. and should remove the pot to the win- 

 dow and give all the sun possible. 



WHAT IS TO BE DONE WHEN THE BEES AIJE ALl, 

 DEAD? 



Whv, put some more bees in the hives, to be sure. 

 At this season of the year, half a pound of bees 

 with a queen put on to combs of honey will make a 

 good colony by July 1, with proper attention. There 

 is a little trouble, however, in g-etting so small a 

 quantitj- as half a pound to take care of the eggs 

 the queen will lay, unless the weather is favorable. 

 A little piece of brood to hold the whole together, 

 even though it were no larger than a cooky, would 

 keep the little colony together; and the young bees 

 that would come out of such a piece of brood would 

 come in just the right time to keep the thing- going. 

 Now, I do not believe very much in sending otf to 

 sui>ply-<lealei-s for half-pounds of bees with hybrid 

 quciiis to get a start, so long as you can buy bees 

 for :in\ (Icii'Mt kind of a price aroifud home. You 

 may have to send off for (juecns, because old-style 

 bee-keepers would not have as many queens as you 

 need. But bees and brood can almost always be 

 bought near home. In order to cut the little piece 

 of brood I spoke about, take just such a cooky-cut- 

 ter as you have to cut out cookies. Take a comb 

 out of your old hive. Cut out a circle. Then with 

 the same cooky-cutter cut a circle out of the brood- 

 comb. Swap the pieces, and you have no mutilated 

 combs to bother. If the cake-cutter does not cut 

 the combs readily, file it sharp, and then roll it 

 around as you make the cut. If your time is limit- 

 ed, it may pay you to buy several py.ckages contain- 

 ing half-pounds of bees, and a eh(-ap rjueen of some 

 kind. Some years, after l)ees have died, wo have 

 done (juite a trade in sending out hybrid queens 

 with half-jiounds of bees each; and the friends who 

 Iwuglit them, I believe, did nicely with them too. 

 They will cost more during the month of May, but 

 they are worth almost as much again as if bought a 

 month later. If the weather is nice you can get 

 along without any brood; but a little piece, such as 

 I have mentioned, just about such as the bees can 

 cover nicely, will be a great help. I suppose every 

 thing in the shape of a queen, black or hybrid, will 

 be eagerly bought up this season; and it would be 

 a great boon to the friends who have lost, if those 

 further south would put up half-pounds of bees 

 with a cheap queen, at a moderate price. A thou- 

 sand such packages would be a real blessing now, 

 and I will g\w the names of reliable men one inser- 

 tion, free of charge, in our May number, who are 

 prepared to ship promptly, at a low price, just such 

 packiiges. While there are thousands who have 

 lost all their bees during the past winter, and have 

 i nothing but empty hives and empty combs, there 

 are still other thousands who have wintered splen- 

 didly, and who would doubtless be glad to divide 

 with the sufferers, at a moderate price. Now, 

 friends, let us help each other. As I am situated I 

 do not well sec how 1 can sell for less than advertis- 

 ed inices: but I hope there are hundreds who will 

 undersell me. AVhat we do sell in the way of queens 

 and bees we expect to have go promptly, and we 

 want to send queens as we have heretofore, the 

 very day the order is i-eceived, the season through. 



A HINGED ALIGHTING-BO.VRD. 



O. F. Hilton, Fremont, Mich., sends us a samp 

 hnir hive having a good-sized alight ing-boai 



