340 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



the lieat of the sun is sufficient, it will doubt- 

 less be not only a labor-saving institution, but 

 it will give us a liner (luality of both wax and 

 lioney than is usually obtained by means of 

 fire heat or steam lieat. The machine men- 

 tioned above seems very simple and easy to 

 construct ; and the idea of having it against 

 the honey-house, so that the honey would 

 run inside, is quite ingenious. 



A LETTER FROM MRS. AXTELL. 



SHE ASKS SOMK QUESTIONS .4^B()UT THE WAV 

 BEES WERE PKEPARED FOH WINTER. 



BEAR FRIEND:— I should like to ask you a few 

 qucstious about how you prepare your bees 

 for winter, that they could come out a 

 " booiuiuM'" this spring-. We have lost more 

 than half of the 24t colonies we had last fall; 

 now 12 marked good at Home Apiary, wintered in 

 cellar, and io weak, many of which will have to be 

 helped by brood or bees from the better colonies, 

 or can not even save their queens at this late date. 



At the Timber Apiary, only 8 good ones; about 30 

 that will bai-ely save their queens. We find some 

 dead every time we go through the hives; 38 left 

 from the 13."); we thought 119 would live, wintered 

 in cellar. We knew they were in poor condition to. 

 winter last fall; but we were both of us in such 

 poor health that we let them go. 



I should like to ask how many combs per colony 

 you leave in. Do you extract all the honey before 

 feeding, and about how many pounds of sugar do 

 you feed i)er hive? What month, and what time in 

 the mouth do you feed for winter? Do you winter 

 all out of doors? and do you sweep the snow away 

 from the entrance? or if a hive seems clogged up, 

 do you run a wire or stick in to clean out dead bees? 

 Is it advisable to lean a board up in front of the 

 hive, to keep tlie snow from covering the entrance, 

 and let the snow alone? Would you shovel snow 

 around the hives? How large an entrance do you 

 leave open in winter? Do you extract the honey be- 

 fore feeding sugar syrup? What kind of a feeder do 

 you use? Do you clip your queens' wings in the 

 spring? We do not see that it hurts them any, and 

 saves a good deal of trouble in getting them off the 

 trees. Do you put an enameled cloth under your 

 chaff cushions? If so, 1 should think it would not 

 be porous enough to let the dampness pass off. Do 

 you use the same oil cloth to put on top of the sec- 

 tions to keep the bees down? If so, is there not 

 propolis enough on it to soil the sections? or do you 

 clean the oil cloth, and how? 



We had a circular sent us the other day by a com- 

 pany that makes oil-cloth ducking, etc., for sale. 1 

 wonder if you could not get it at reduced prices for 

 bee-keepers to make covers to hives, as it would be 

 so light, and not leak. Our hive-covers leak some, 

 >ind we are thinking of getting the cloth and cover 

 and paint. 



Tell the girls that a i)art of the bai-rel of hats sent 

 mc were sent to the Indian Territory, and sold; the 

 best were sold, and the mon(>y was used by that 

 earnest missionary, S. R. Keams, to help build a 

 church last year. This past year, more hats were 

 sent him, and he is disposing of them to help build 

 bis third Indian church this coming season. 



Of course, it is not all done by hat-work, but it 



' helps, and those given away also help. One of his 



Sabbath-schools he said was nearly half built up by 



i the children who had been induced to come by the 



, present of a hat. The rest of the hats were sent to 



I Talladega, Ala., for a freedmen's school. 



I If your girls see fit to send me another barrel of 



i hats I will see that they are put to a similar use as 



the last. I always give the donors credit for things 



sent, and ask them to acknowledge them. 



My health has been very poor this past winter; 

 and I am now not able to sit up any; but hat-work 

 I is God-given work, for me to employ the hours 

 ; spent on my bed to further his work, and to help 

 j All my life with sunshine and happiness in that I 

 [ can do something for his needy ones. 

 j Roseville, 111., Apr. S.!, 188."). Mks. L. C. .Vxtei.i.. 



j My good friend Mrs. A.. I am very sorry 

 I indeed that your health is so bad again ; 

 [ and yet it .seems wonderful to think of your 

 working, day after day, while you are not 

 able to sit up. If I should ever be confined 

 I to my bed. I think that is just what 1 should 

 j want to do— work. If I am correct, almost 

 I if not quite every summer, when the bees be- 

 i gin to get out "and store, you soon follow 

 j suit. Surely, Mrs. A., you are able to em- 

 i ploy some careful person to put your bees in 

 I proper order, are you not? With the preca- 

 rious state of your health, it seems to me 

 I your first duty is to have some one with you 

 I on whom you can depend. In my own case. 

 I I scarcely lifted a hand personally to fix our 

 bees for winter, and a great part of the col- 

 onies I did not look at. but advised and di- 

 rected all through. We left from five to 

 eight combs in a hive, according to the 

 strength of the colony. We did not do any 

 extracting at all, and the amount of sugar 

 fed was dependent on the size of the colony. 

 We did not weigli at all, but just kept feeding 

 until the comVjs were solid slabs of sealed 

 stores. The bees were crowded into a pretty 

 compact cluster in the center of the combs, 

 usually having a little patch of brood there 

 when " the feeding Avas finished. Perhaps 

 their stores averaged from M to i!U lbs. per 

 colony. We commenced feeding in Septem- 

 ber, and were all through by the middle of 

 October. \\'e winter our bees all outdoors. 

 We never meddle with snow aroiuid the en- 

 trances at all. Several times last winter our 

 apiarist was a good deal worried about it. I 

 told him 1 was sure that snow over the en- 

 trances never did any harm. The loose chaff 

 over the frames, with only coarse burlap 

 to keep it from rattling down among the 

 bees, made it impossible that they should 

 suffer from lack of ventilation, no matter 

 what happened to the entrances. — AVe did 

 not run any wire or stick in the entrances to 

 clean out the dead bees. The entrances 

 were left open full width, exactly as they 

 were in the summer. With chaff "hives we 

 never put any thing in front of the entrances 

 to keep away the snow, or keep the sun 

 from shining on them. I would not shovel 

 snow around the hives, because it would be 

 likely to create disturbiince with the bees. If 

 the snow falls around the hives, even so 

 as to cover them all up, well and good ; but 

 I do not believe shoveling can be done so as 

 to avoid disturbance. —\Ve did not extract 

 anv honev at all. before feeding; but the rea- 



