380 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



alonj; witli a very inferior implement in a 

 way whicli lie ('(iiild not possibly do with a 

 tool srratlv superior, and with which he 

 was unac(i"uaintc(l. And this is what ac- 

 ronnts for so many different notions. in re- 

 gard not only to iini)lements for handling 

 i)3es, bat tools for doing almost every thing 

 that needs to be done. 



The engraving above shows a little slied 

 arranged to contain all implements for tak- 

 ing down swarms. Wliere we raise comb 

 honey, as almost all of the friends do now- 

 adays, it seems to to me such an arrange- 

 ment will abundantly pay expense. 



lest some other enterprising colony discc 

 er the unusual advantages it affords. Hi 



THE SIMPLICITY HIVE. 

 A Testimonial in Regai'd| to Its Advantage.' 



A NKW AND ALMOST UNEXPLOItEl) TIICLD IX 

 INVE.NTION. 



IIP S I am' one of your ABC students I thought 

 qI|^ I would give you a remarkable instance of 

 J^ll Athe forethought'and retiective powers of my 

 ■^■^ bees. 1 had a Simplicitj', which has present- 

 ed the appearancC;Of being about to swarm 

 for a week or two. About 10 or 15 steps distant, and 

 in the same row, stood a hive full of comb, but no 

 bees except a lew dead ones, they having perished 

 for want of honey during the winter, having been 

 robbed too late last year. Four or five days before 

 this Simplicity swarmed, some bees (now supposed 

 to be from the Simplicity) were noticed cleaning 

 out the vacant hive, carrying out dead bees, etc., 

 from it. Day before yesterday it swarmed, and, 

 after much bell-ringing to settle them, the swarm, 

 which was a very large one, settled on the front 

 side of the vacant hive and gradually went right in 

 upon the alighting-board; and before the whole 

 swarm had gone in, numerous M-orkers were seen 

 carrying in heavy loads of pollen. 



They are in there all right, and seem to be well 

 pleased, and are woi-king like Turks. Could we not 

 teach this practice to our bees by preparing hives 

 Avith frames wired and covered with foundation 

 comb, and set from throe to five feet high near an 

 apple-treeV W. J. Farriss. 



Sparta, c. AVhitc Co., Tenn., May 16, 18S5. 



Friend'F., it woidd seem from the above 

 little incident that ycnir strong hive sent a 

 committee of investigation to report in re- 

 gard to the inducements offered by that 

 empty Simplicity hive. This body of bees, 

 composed, of course, of the oldest and 

 Avisest heads among forty or tifty thousand, 

 went home and delivered a rei)ort something 

 as follows. I sujjpose the cliairinan must 

 have stood up, and, after clearing his thi-oat 

 and wiping his face, made liis sj^eech : "I 

 take i)leasure, friends, in saying that, after 

 having duly investigated matters, it is, in 

 the hiniible opinion of your committee, the 

 best thing we can do to occupy said unoccu- 

 pied hive. The hive is a plain simple box- 

 almost as simple, in fact, as the hollow 

 trees used by our forefathers. One especial 

 (piality that recommends it to your commit- 

 tee is, that it has no patent moth-traps, ven- 

 tilators, or any thing of the sort. AVe lind, 

 by careful examination, that we can get in 

 and out easily, and that the man who made 

 the hive has arranged it so that we can gain 



access to every y)art of the hive ; and if a 

 miller should undertake to deposit her eggs 

 anywhere about it, we could, a lot of us, 

 take after her and 'scoot her out on the run.' 

 It is the sense of this committee that we 

 move into that hive as quickly as possible, 



discov- 

 ntages it affords. Hur- 

 rah for the new home!" Joking aside, 

 friend F., reports like yours have been sev- 

 eral times given ; and 1:he man who will help 

 us to so manage our bees that they will, at 

 swarming lime, go right into hives"prepared 

 for tluMii. without any supervision on the 

 part of the owner, will confer a lasting favor 

 on the bee-keepers of the world. I have 

 commented on this matter several times be- 

 fore during the years past. There is one 

 liappy thouglit connected with it, which I 

 have' hinted at in the foregoing; namely, 

 the ]ti)ssilii]ily of making a liive so much in 

 accord with the notions or instinct of the 

 bees tliat they would select it in preference to 

 any inducements that a hollow tree might 

 afford ; or, in Other words, if a colony of 

 bees were to choose, what kind of a hive 

 would they select of their own free choice V 

 or was it the empty combs that took tjieir 

 fancy? or have they, in fact, any notions in 

 the way of preference as to how" their hive 

 and its surroundings shall be arranged? 



WINTERING. 



Have we or have we Not made Progress in 

 regard to this Matter? 



ALSO SOMETHING ABOUT THE I'OTATO-BOOK. 



DO not know that T should have ordered a copy 

 of your ABC of Potato Cultui-c, had not 

 Brother W. Z. Hutchinson kindly mailed me 

 his to read, as he states on page l?3.j. I certain- 

 ly can not say less of the woi-k than to indorse 

 all that Bro. H. and Prof. Cook say in praise of this 

 praiseworthy book; though, like Bro. H., 1 never 

 expect to raise a potato, I knew I ought to have a 

 copy of my own. I felt sure that such reading 

 would benefit me many times 38 cents' worth, let 

 me follow what occupation I might. 



I think Bro. Doolittle is decidedly mistaken in 

 thinking that we have gained nothing in our ex- 

 periments and controversies regai-ding the pollen 

 theory and wintering problem. He evidently does 

 not understand it as I do. He closes by saying, 

 "What do we know on these points, any way?" I 

 will answer him, by saying that I have always been 

 among the more extensive losers of bees during 

 winter; that 1 have never at anj' time befoi-e be- 

 lieved that I had the problem settled. I fully be- 

 lieve it now; and if, in the future, 1 turn my own 

 tables and become one of those who " never lose bees 

 in winter," will Brother D. not willingly admit my 

 claims? Were it not, as ;^'ou mention, perhaps best 

 to drop this subject just at present, 1 could exjilain 

 wherein lies the difference between my failure of 

 the i)ast and proi)Osed successes of the future. All 

 this, however, can be discussed in due time. 



James Heduon. 



Dowagiac, / Mich., May 18, 188.5. 



That is the kind of talk, friend Heddon, 

 Just keep cool, and prove your position by 

 wintering bees all right next winter, and the 



