188-5 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



869 



make a 10-ceut garden-trowel do your uncap- 

 ping very well for quite a while. When you 

 need a better uncapping-knife, get it. 



In regard to perforated zinc, and things of 

 this sort, don't include any in your first pur- 

 chase. Wait until you feel the need of such 

 new implements. May be you will never 

 need them at all. 



Even thougli I advise economy in purchas- 

 es, I would have every thing that stands out 

 ill the weather painted. If you say you can 

 not afford it, I wouM liave half the number 

 of hives, and have tliem protected from the 

 weather by paint, leather than increase so 

 fast, and have the weather constantly spoil- 

 ing my implements. Besides, I would pay 

 .something for the sake of having things look 

 decent and in order. A great many times, 

 nice-looking implements encourage us to re- 

 newed energy ; and sometimes just a little 

 extra energy makes all the difference be- 

 tween success and failure, or profit and loss. 



Every man who has honey to sell ought to 

 have some sort of scales to weigh it on. The 

 family steelyards will do to start with ; but 

 whenever you begin to take time enough in 

 the course of a year, in using steelyards, to 

 pay for a pair of scales, get the scales, but 

 don't get them sooner, if you are cramped 

 for means. When your business increases 

 so tliat it will pay to have still better scales, 

 get them. Don't waste the price of a good 

 article in botliering with a. poor cheap one. 



In regard to seeds for honey-plants^ go 

 slow, unless, indeed, you are a farmer, and 

 can raise alsike, buckwheat, rape, or rasp- 

 berries, so as to make it a paying invest- 

 ment aside from the honey. If you can do 

 that, by all means raise lioney-plants. I am 

 led to make these remarks, because some of 

 the new friends seem to think the lirst thing 

 to be done in starting in bee culture is to 

 get a pound of hgwort seed, and four or live 

 pounds of the spider plant, just because 

 these plants yield honey in such quantities 

 as to be visible to the naked eye. Buy a 

 tive-cent package of these seeds lirst; and if 

 they i)lease you, plant more the next year, 

 by which time you should have seed of your 

 own raising. 



In regard to sections for comb honey, as 

 tlie appearance of this product has a great 

 deal to do with tlie price obtained, I think 

 it very likely that the hc-i is the cheapest 

 ever}/ time. 



When you tind you need a smoker (and 

 you may' need it tlie hrst d;fy you can call 

 yourself the owner of a small colony of bees). 

 i should say, try a cheap one to start with. 

 But perhaps you can decide what you want 

 before you buy by examining them at con- 

 ventions, or testing those used by your 

 neighbors. I say tliis, taking it for granted 

 that bee-keepers are always neighborh/. Is 

 it iwt so, friends? 



In regard to hiving-boxes, I have some- 

 times thought I would about as soon have a 

 lialf-bushel or peck basket tixed to a pole, as 

 to have any of those in the market. May be, 

 after having tried them, though, you will 

 think differently. 



When your business arrives to the dignity 

 of requiring a steam-engine, it will pay j^ou 

 to look into the matter very carefully. If 



you can, go and see the engines made near 

 you. But as I said before, be sure you need 

 one before you get it. If you are doing your 

 own work, decide how cheaply you can af- 

 ford to furnish power by treading a foot- 

 power machine. Whenever an engine would 

 save you $25.00 a year for power, if you can 

 raise the money to buy it, without cramping 

 yourself, buy one of one or two horse power. 

 When you need a larger one. you can, as a 

 general thing, dispose of the smaller one, or 

 turn it toward another one as part payment. 



While some folks get along nicely without 

 any veil at all, others save time and save 

 their nerves, by using veils. 'J'he same may 

 be said in regaid to gloves, although for my- 

 self I should certainly never use the latter 

 among bees ; and if I had the entire manage- 

 ment of an apiary, I do not think I should 

 ever need a veil. Cheap home-made veils 

 will answer a very good purpose ; but there 

 are no gloves that will do, except the reg- 

 ular rubber gloves made for the purpose. 



Prudence and economy would dictate 

 some sort of Avax - extractor. But don't 

 buy one until you have discovered you need 

 one. If you commence on a small "scale, as 

 you by all means should do, I would get a 

 cheap one first. 



TAKINC; CAKE OK TIIK TOOLS YOU DO GET. 



Now I am going to talk a little on the 

 above, even if tlie subject has not been as- 

 signed me. A cheap, low-priced tool may 

 be so well at red for that it will always give 

 excellent results ; whereas, the most ex- 

 pensive tool may be so badly j^.sccZthat it Avill 

 very soon give jtonr results. Have for your 

 tools regularly assigned i)laces. Where any 

 tool is wanted in different places, I would 

 have duplicates. For instance, cheap brush- 

 es for brushing off bees should be in handy 

 places in tlKriioney-house. and in several 

 places about the apiary, at least during the 

 summer lime. Tlie same may be said of 

 hammers. L>o not leave any kind of tool 

 out in the rain. Keep every kind of tool 

 not only well oiled on the moving parts, but 

 oil it to prevent rust. Oil the hinges to the 

 door of your honey-house. Rub tallow on 

 the windows so they will slide easily up and 

 down. Keep your lawn-mower nicely oiled, 

 and out of the rain. Have your brooms 

 hung up in broom-holders so the ends will 

 not get rolled up and made useless ; and 

 keep the brooms out of the rain also. If 

 vou use a wrench, keep it nicely oiled and 

 in place. And this matter of "oil is of so 

 much importance that I would have cheap 

 oil-cans filled with oil, on nice little bracket 

 shelves in the barn and in the stables. A 

 little box should also be.there, filled with tal- 

 low, where it can be had in a moment. A 

 great many times the oil-can or the tallow 

 will enable you to use a hand-saw so as to 

 do the work in half the time it would if you 

 had not used it. With steam-engines, and 

 machinery for hive-making, oil is a neces- 

 sity ; and those who neglect to have it 

 handy will sooner or later have to pay heavy 

 bills for repairs that a few drops of oil might 

 have saved. Nails and screws of different 

 sizes should also be kept where you can put 

 your hand on them quickly. Whether you 

 are a bee-keeper or not. you need screw- 



