390 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1 



time, Langstroth invented his hive and frame. 

 I do not think it matters any whether one 

 invention is a few days earlier than the other, 

 as both hives are different in many respects. 

 If you say the Berlepsch hive is no practical 

 hive, I can't agree. Of course, we prefer 

 our American hives ; but in Germany the Ber- 

 lepsch hive, with some modifications, is still 

 in general use, and I myself handled bees in 

 such hives for about ten years. It is said, be- 

 fore the frames were invented the comb-bars 

 were used in England and by Langstroth. It 

 would be interesting to know whence Lang- 

 stroth received the idea of using these bars. 

 Did he know of any thing of Dzierzon's hive, 

 or was his (Dzierzon's) bar a successor of 

 Delia Rocca's invention ? 



To go back to Dzierzon, he was opposed to 

 frames, and always recommended his bars, 

 till about ten years ago, when everybody in 

 Germany used frames ; and even his nephew, 

 who manages Dzierzon's apiary, persisted in 

 \i&va% frames instead of bars. Since this time, 

 Dzierzon is silent about the demerits of the 

 frames. If we know this, it sounds like a 

 joke to call Dzierzon the inventor of a mov- 

 able-frame hive. L. Stachei.hauskn. 



Converse, Texas, March 25. 



[I received your note after I had prepared 

 the footnote above. From the general facts 

 that I was able to glean I took it that Dzier- 

 zon got the idea of the use of the bar from 

 Delia Rocca, as the former, apparently, had 

 not kept his light under a bushel ; but Dzier- 

 zon doubtless made the use of the bar prac- 

 tical. But when we see the very wide gap 

 between the Dzierzon movable combs, and 

 the Langstroth movable frames, we are forced 

 to the conclusion that Langstroth made a 

 practical invention — one that revolutionized 

 bee-keeping all over the world, while Dzierzon 

 improved an old device that advanced bee- 

 keeping but slightly and in only one country. 

 I do not mean to detract from the glory that 

 really belongs to Dzierzon, but I do believe 

 that credit should be placed right where it 

 does belong, irrespective of the living or the 



dead. — Ed.] 



< ••• t**-^^^ 



POLLEN, AND HOW THE BEES GATHER IT. 



Wintering Indoors with a High Temperature ; 

 the Secret of Success. 



BY IRA BARBKR. 



Our sleighing has just left us— one continu- 

 ous run from the middle of November until 

 April 4, and still there is snow in places four 

 feet deep on some of the roads. 



The bees appear to be all right up to date in 

 winter quarters, for we have not had a day 

 when bees could fly with safety since last No- 

 vember. 



I see in the American Bee fournal Prof. 

 Cook's criticism on bees using their tongues 

 to gather pollen, and claims they never do. 

 Now, that is one of the many mistaken ideas 

 that he tries to give us. Bees have to apply 

 honey to all the pollen they gather, whether 



it is from the flowers or from the corn or oat- 

 meal that we give them, as every pellet of pol- 

 len is made into a little sweet cake when it is 

 gathered ; and how does Prof. Cook think it 

 is done if the bee does not use its tongue to 

 apply the sweetening ? 



I am much interested in the few colonies of 

 bees in the little room you describe that is lo- 

 cated within a room, where fresh air does not 

 reach them. 



Now, you have just the place to prove to 

 your own satisfaction that bees can be winter- 

 ed in a high temperature, and come out better 

 and stronger in numbers than when they went 

 into winter quarters. To do this it will take 

 two or three winters to get the right number 

 of colonies to heat the room to the right de- 

 gree ; and I can assist you to get a start in the 

 right direction next fall. This winter you did 

 not have bees enough in the room to raise the 

 temperature ; but next fall put in twice as 

 many, so that every colony will have from one 

 to two quarts of bees standing out on the hive 

 at all times, no matter how cold it is outside ; 

 for when bees furnish their own heat, and are 

 not affected by outside currents of air, I have 

 always found them quiet and apparently hap- 

 py, for they appear to be just as you find them 

 on a warm muggy morning in August, when 

 nearly every hive is half covered with bees, 

 and they appear to be half asleep, so they 

 are in winter quarters, as I found them in 

 all the years that I wintered them in a high 

 temperature, heated by themselves. 



I always used a small ventilator — a three- 

 inch pipe thirty or more feet long, and venti- 

 lated from the top of the room that the bees 

 were in. 



DeKalb Junction, N. Y., Apr. 9 



T. F. C, Pa. — Referring to your inclosed 

 clipping in your letter of the 9th, the idea that 

 bees become intoxicated is rank nonsense. 

 Bees will sometimes, when they are sick or 

 diseased, behave as described in the clipping. 

 It is doubtful if any honey-producer told any 

 reporter that bees become drunk on the nec- 

 tar of flowers. 



H. IV. C, Iowa. — My faith in self-hivers is 

 very weak. There have been a dozen differ- 

 ent devices invented, and some of them are 

 in the United States Patent Office. The best 

 one I ever saw or knew of is the one devised 

 by E. L. Pratt, at that time of Beverly, Mass., 

 now of Swarthmore, Pa. I think it would 

 pay you well to look up the Patent Ofiice rec- 

 ords on this subject before you consider get- 

 ting out a patent. If you desire to send a 

 model to us, express prepaid, I will examine 

 it and report what I think of it. But I am 

 afraid my prejudices are rather against it than 

 in favor of it, if any thing. If you consult 

 most of our practical bee-keepers I think they 

 will tell you you had better let the subject 

 alone if you wish to save yourself expense. 

 It is possible to hive swarms automatically, 

 and the writer has hived a good many that 

 way by the various devices ; but if you will 

 take my advice you will let the whole subject 

 alone. 



