l88o 



(JLEANINGS IN JJEE CULTUliE. 



747 



than 250 carp, varying- in sizo from one to three feet 

 in leng-th Ihnt ^v(l•(' uttemptiiiK' to effect their es- 

 cape. Mr. Doty warns all laruiers having: ponds 

 containing- carp not to shoot into the water, since 

 he believes it will surely result in the fishes aban- 

 doning their liome. He says lie was greatly aston- 

 ished at the ease and celerity with which these fish 

 moved aiono- on dry land. 



Friend P., your story is a '• llsli story.'" i 

 without any mistal^e. i)ut 1 think there' is ! 

 soniethin.o; of value to be gathered from it, i 

 after all. It is doubtless e.xaggerated, about 

 as newspapers often do exaggerate ; but ! 

 from my own ol)servation 1 am satisfied that ' 

 carp may 1)6 frightened so as to be put into I 

 a, panic, and I think it is likely, under some i 

 circumstances, they may desert the water ; 

 and get out upon the ground, may be some 

 little distance, especially if the ground is 

 wet and marshy. I told you, a few months 

 ago, how greatly astonished I was to see a 

 great fish make his way over the ground I 

 near the edge of our pond, witli apparently 

 no very great difficulty. ]Mr. IVin-e. in our 

 carp-book, warns us against frightening carp i 

 in dravring otf the pond, lest they bury them- 

 selves in the mud to such a dcptii they may 

 never get out. ! 



WHAT MAKK 



i:X(I,UDES 



PERFOKATED 



QUEENS? j 



On page rdtJ ol Aug. 1st Gleaxinos you ask if it is | 

 the D. A. Jones make f)f perforated zinc that has ' 

 siiceessfullj' restrained the queens. I suppose that I 

 it is, as I ordei-ed the zinc of you some 18 months : 

 ago, and understood it was Mr. Jones's make; at all j 

 events.it is just I'lijhl, as ] have never yet in a single 

 instance known a r/i((€» to get throujili, an<l this Is 

 my second season to use it. I 



Instead of using a full-sized slieel ot the zinc to , 

 cover the whole top of the hive, 1 u.se a wide strip 

 of enameled cloth across the center of the hive, of | 

 sufTicient width to recjuire only ")-in. strips of zinc at 

 each end of the frames, lieing careful to lap the zinc 

 '2 inch or more on; to the cloth. Having used 'M 

 hives this season for lioth extracted and comb hon- 

 ey in this way, I have not had a queen go above; ; 

 and in case of necessity in opening a brood-nest, I 

 the two strips and the enameled cloth are much eas- i 



ier to remove and replace than the full sheet, be- 

 sides the economy in using the zinc. 



1 have no fears of losing a swarm wnv while ofl' to 

 meeting or Sunday-school. On Saturday eve I go 

 around to, all the Mrowj colonies that ai-e at all llkclu 

 to swarm, and adjust a queen-guard to each (>n- 

 t ranee, and then we all go to meeting with as nuich 

 assurance of saving our swarms as if we stayed and 

 watched them. In only oMr instance have I lost a 

 swarm by being otf to meeting, and in that single 

 case 1 found that I had not fastened the guard 

 l)roperly, so that the force of the swarm issuing 

 moved it away from the hive, when, of course, the 

 queen got out. n. K. R.'ubakei!. 



Maxwell, la., Aug. -t, 1S8.'). 



Thanks, friend 1)., for your report. The 

 zinc you mentitm was neither tiie American 

 zinc nor that furnished by 1). A. Jones, if I 

 am correct, but some tliatwe imported from 

 England. We have recently received a 

 communication from friend .Vlley, who has, 

 l)erhai>s, had more experience with drone- 

 Iraps than any of ns, and he is quite em- 

 l)liati(' in favor of the imported zinc, although 

 there is i)ut a minute fraction of differnnce 



between it and the Jones zinc, in regard to 

 the size of perforations. We are just now 

 making preparations for making machinery 

 for perforating in our own country, that we 

 may be enabled to save the amount that we 

 have heretofore been obliged to pay in the 

 way of duties and transportation.— I am 

 very glad indeed if any arrangement can be 

 contrived, so that none will have to be ab- 

 sent from church or .Sunday-school on ac- 

 count of bees. 



a BEGIXSER'S experience, who I.IVES .NEAR 

 GEORGE K. HILTOX. 



I began the bee business by purchasing two colo- 

 nies of black bees last fall, for which I paid four 

 dollars each ; and with the advice and showing of 

 the man I bought of I built two hivesto winter them 

 in. They were in Langstroth frames, ten frames to 

 the hive. I built another hive, 3 inches larger, and 

 packed the space with fine dry sawdust, and let the 

 outside hive come up about 10 inches above the in- 

 side one, and covered the frames with a cloth, and 

 then put in about a bushel of fine dry sawdust on 

 top of them, and loft them standing out, exposed to 

 all the cold of last winter; and I tell you it was the 

 most severe weather ever known here. But my 

 bees came out all right this spring, so I bought sev- 

 en more. Thej' had been wintered in a cellar, and 

 seemed all right; but before I was aware of it one 

 stand was robbed out by the others. Then I con- 

 tracted the entrance of the hive, and had no more 

 troubleof that kind. They were all in single-walled 

 hives, so I made all new hives. I now make my 

 outer hives large enough to take about four inches 

 of packing, and am filling them with fine dry pine 

 sawdust. I have nowlS colonies, all very strong. I 

 have taken off about .'ioOlbs. of comb honey in 1 and 

 1'; lb. sections; and right here comes a question I 

 should like to have you answer. 



WHY DO MV HEES CM'STER Ol T :- 



1 nmde my inside hives to take the Langstroth 

 1 rame, eight to the hive, or 12 inches wide, accord- 

 ing to the recommendation of an apiarist near me 

 who has a large apiary. He told me that 12 inches 

 is better than 1.5 for wintering; but yesterday I 

 found a set of lioxes filled by a young colonj-, and I 

 took them oil, placing the enameled cloth on top of 

 the frames. The bees went in largo numbers out 

 on the outside of the hive, and stayed there all 

 night. To-day it has been raining incessantly, and 

 still they are on the outside, in the rain. About 4 

 p. -M. I looked into the hive, raised the cloth, and it 

 seemed to lie perfectly full of bees. The question 

 with me is. Is there not room for them all in the 

 hive'/ Ff)r fear there is not, I have placed a set of 

 empty sections on top again; yet if there is not 

 room for them in the hive, how shall I winter them'? 

 One new colony made and finished 70 lbs. of fine 

 comb honey in IJ.") days, and have 30 lbs. more about 

 ready to cap. That is doing very well, I think. I 

 intend to winter them on their summer stands. 

 They were all black bees, but I have introduced two 

 queen-cells and two virgin Italian queens, from the 

 apiary of G. R. Hilton, near me. I did according to 

 his directions; that is, when a new colony came out 

 I let a virgin queen run into the old hive. Was that 

 right, and will it succeed? 



now TO DETERMINE AVHEX A COLONY HAS WIN- 

 TER STORES ENOUGH. 



Please tell me hoAV you determine whether there 

 is enough honey in a hive to safely winter. Do you 



