1885 



GLEANINGS IN JiEE OULTUUE. 



iivt" 



after-swarms for a lady friend, that had been put in- 

 to nail-kegs. The comb was almost all full of brood. 

 These casts were too small to winter; and as she 

 had a large black colony the queen from it was re- 

 moved, and one from the small colonics substituted, 

 as it was a good Italian. I never handled bees be- 

 fore at this time of the year, when they were so 

 docile. 



Goldenrod and asters are rather late blooming, 

 but very abundant. Mrs. L. Hahrisox. 



Peoria, 111. 



m -"^ B^ — 



THE REASON WHY THE COMBS MELT- 

 ED DOWN. 



A LITTLE STORV WITH A MORAL TO IT. 



DITOK GLEANINGS:— Yesterday, after I had 

 put the grape-butter to cook, and the tomato 

 preserves to stew; had poured water on the 

 lye-hopper, and put a tub under it to catch 

 the drips; had superintended the digging of 

 the holes for the posts that my wire clothes-line 

 (price 35 cts. for 100 feet, sold by A. 1. Koot, Medina, 

 Ohio) will be nailed to; after I had set Jessie to 

 shelling the Lima beans, and Minnie to making 

 Dutch pies; had told Mr. Chaddoek to use the spool 

 of wire (annealed and shellacked so that it will not 

 soil the fingers, sold by A. I. Hoot, Medina, Ohio, for 

 10 cts.), to hang up his seed-corn on, instead of 

 poles; when I had given the brass kettle to a little 

 boy whose mamma wanted to make apple-butter in 

 it; had put Sarah to blacking the kitchen stove 

 (using " Dixon's best" bought of A. I. Root, Medina, 

 Ohio, for 5 cts. a package); had hung Hai-ry's liat 

 on the new " hat-rack " (folding, all black-walnut, 

 price 5 cts., bought of A. LKool, Medina, Ohio); had 

 tied up his finger, cut with his new " boy's knife" 

 (sold by A. I. Koot, for 5 cts.), and had cut him a 

 slice of bread with my new bread-knife (bought of 

 A. I. Koot, Medina, Ohio, for 10 cts.), and spread it 

 with butter to dry his tears; in fact, when I had 

 oiled the whole household machinery, and set it to 

 running smoothly, so that no one need call " Mam- 

 ma, mamma," for five minutes, I thought I would 

 begin to get my bees ready for winter. The lirst 

 hive I went to was a dry-goods bo.\ fl.xed to hold 

 Gallup frames, that I had put one of those ]-pound 

 packages of German brown bees in. The box is as 

 long as two Gallup hives; and as there were onl^' 

 six frames of brood in it I thought they would be 

 cool enough without any top box on; and as none 

 of the top boxes fitted, I did not put any on. Well, 

 what do you think V Four of the si.x frames of 

 comb had melted down and were lying in a crumpl- 

 ed mass in the bottom of the hive, and the bees had 

 built new comb in the frames, about half way down. 

 Then I remembered that last week in July, when 

 it was so hot that people forsook their beds and 

 wandered around in the yards at night, seeking 

 coolness and finding it not. I knew that those 

 bees had come out and stayed out for days; but as 

 all the other bees were out taking the air at the same 

 time, I thought it was all right. When I saw the 

 ti.x they were in, my heart rose up in my throat; 

 for I thought if tliese few bees in this long box 

 have melted combs, how will it be with those col- 

 onies that are running over with bees ? I examin- 

 ed them and found them all right — not a single 

 comb down; they all had two honej^-boxes on; most 

 of them had one full and one empty. Top stories 



make a shade; spread-out dry-goods boxes cto not. 

 See how wise I am, after the thing is done! 



Mahala B. Chaddock. 

 Vermont, III., Oct. 3, 1885. 



Why, my good friend. I supposed every- 

 body knew that it would not answer at all 

 to let the sun shine right on top of a hive 

 when the bees in the combs were close up 

 against said top. In the Simplicity hive we 

 ha\e a shallow chamber under the cover, 

 and then have the cover painted white so it 

 will not absorb the heat ; but even with this 

 arrangement the hive sometimes gets very 

 hot daring extremely warm weather. An 

 upper story is better, as you say ; and the 

 chaff hive, with its permanent upper story 

 and chaff-packed walls, is still better for lio't 

 weather, as well as for cold weather. — We 

 are very much obliged indeed for your kind 

 mention of the way in which our household 

 conveniences help things along in the econ- 

 omy of your family duties. It seems to me, 

 that, wlien tiiat boy cut his linger, a piece 

 of conrt-plaster from our three-cent counter 

 would luive l)eeii the (piickest way to have 

 li.xed him up. 



a -^ •»■ 



PREPARING FOR WINTER. 



THE WAV llUENl) HEDDON ADVISES. 



TN reply to inquiries sent by yourself and others, 

 j4? I will endeavor to briefly outline my ideas re- 

 ^ll garding wintering bees in eight-frame L. hives, 



■*■ or my own stylo of hive, as that is what is called 

 for. I nuist say, that for those residing north 

 of latitude 3S or 39, ] consider indoor wintering 

 best,-8afety and inexpensiveness considered. South 

 of this I think I should ju-efer to have my colonies 

 packed, and left on their summer stands. I am 

 aware, that during our most moderate winters, that 

 line should be moved northward; but I think it is 

 wise for us to prepare for the worst, in every case. 

 When so prepared we enjoy a feeling of safety that 

 is a great comfort. 1 feel confident that 1 can win- 

 ter any or every colony of my bees, with certainty, 

 every time. The knowledge^I lack, and so much de- 

 sire, is to know if all of my precautions arc nec- 

 essary. 



now TO PREP.VKE FOR CERTAINTY. 



About the last of Sept. to the 15th of Oct. (accord- 

 ing to latitude and season), remove all combs from 

 your l)ees, and replace others free from all honey 

 and bee-bread. Feed the bees properly with pre- 

 pared sugar syrup till the combs are well supplied 

 (I give them five combs, filling the space of the oth- 

 er three with two fillers, or dummy frames). 

 Now, if you will place such a pre|)arcd colony in a 

 repository where the temperature will never go be- 

 low 45° nor above 50^ F., it will be less liable to die 

 in winter than will your cow or horse. You need 

 take no notice of the humidity of the repository 

 (a cellar preferred), nor of the ventilation, if your 

 cellar is large in proportion to the number of col- 

 onies you place therein. Give no upper ventilation 

 to the hives, but plenty at the bottom. Y'our bees 

 will soon enter that quiescent state in which, ac- 

 cording to Langstroth and Cook, they require but 

 just the least bit of air. 



The above is what I feel quite positive of. I tliiiih, 

 that where that temperature is kept, that, should 

 your combs contain bee-bread, it will do no harm, 

 as it will not be touched. It is also true, that most 



