554 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 1 



he had just the " American machine " to make 

 them with, and madethetn. And, gentlemen, 

 I can tell you now, as I place them on nice flat 

 ridges of earth, it is with a feeling that I shall 

 be grown old and gray before the meanest 

 one begins to even show decay. The man who 

 made them said they would last for ever. Just 

 think of a nice bottom-board lasting for ever, 

 and cjsting only ten cents ! If you have no 

 tile-factory to apply to, concrete or cement 

 will make them— are cooler than the coolest 

 in summer, and warmer than the warmest in 

 winter. 



As many wonder why the Hoffman frame 

 has been pushed so to the front, I will explain 

 the matter to my readers. G1.EANINGS has an 

 editor of rare ability as an observer, and a 

 hard thinker, coupled with long years of ex- 

 perience and observation in many parts of the 

 country. In contact with the bright lights of 

 apiculture, he knows a good thing for the 

 average bee-keeper at a glance ; and the Hoff- 

 m in frame, for the average bee-keeper, is the 

 oaly thing tor the average bee-keeper. Why ? 

 Because, without the Hoffman or a self-spac- 

 ing frame it is almost impossible to induce be- 

 ginners to space properly. I have taught bee 

 culture to many, and find they all hang on 

 spacing — can't space brood - combs close 

 enough. The Hoffman frame does it, of it- 

 self, and is, of course, the only thing for the 

 beginner, and rightly belongs in the front 

 ranks ; and as the old story holds true about 

 the lady who carried a cow on her back, the 

 Hoffman frame to begin with is always the 

 frame. The way the lady came to carrying a 

 cow on her back is this : She lived in a city, 

 and had a little calf given her ; and as it was 

 not possible to leave it in the street nights she 

 began carrying it upstairs, and got used to it, 

 so it didn't bother her to carry a cow on her 

 back. The Hoffman frames are the same way 

 — only need to get used to them. I heard a 

 leading light once say that they were beauti- 

 ful, from the fact that they were absolutely 

 " fool-proof." 



Those staples for end spacing, +hat the cat- 

 alog shows so plainly, should be driven in at 

 the bottom corners of all frames, not at the 

 top corner, as in cuts in catalog. When at 

 the bottom corners you can snatch frames out 

 or in, in a hurry, and not a bee be killed. W. 

 L. Caggshall is the leader, and user of such 

 staples, and has been for years. Just try them, 

 and you will wonder why any one ever put 

 them at the top corners of frames. 



Caimito, Cuba, May 12. 



[We are very glad to get any thing of this 

 nature, even if it is in the way of criticism of 

 the goods put out by us or by any other manu- 

 facturer. But the Excelsior covers, the Hig- 

 ginsville, the Danzenbaker, and other three 

 and four piece covers, are designed for the 

 average of localities in the United States. 

 But such covers, I am free to confess, proba- 

 bly are not as good as the plain flat board cov- 

 ers for hot and dry climates such as we find 

 in Colorado, California, and even in Cuba ; 

 and it is possible that locality may have a sim- 

 ilar bearing on bottom-boards. But it is al- 



most impossible to get up a cover or bottom 

 board that will suit all classes and all climaies; 

 and my impression is that the sooner supply- 

 manufacturers make such covers for special 

 climates, the better it will be for them and 

 for their customers. 



If there are any of our subscribers who de- 

 sire to raise a good-natured ''kick," or any 

 other kind of '' kick," I hope such a one will 

 be free to let drive his pedal extremity clear 

 into the editorial sanctum of Gleanings, 

 which, for the time being, and for the con- 

 venience of "kickers," will be found any- 

 where from Medina to Calif ornia and return. 

 —Ed.] 



MAKING SWARMS. 



" Busy at the bees this morning, are you, 

 Mr. Doolitlle.? Well, I'll hinder you but a 

 few minutes." 



" The man who is interested in his calling 

 will always be busy with it, friend Junes ; and 

 when his body is not busy with them, as in 

 the case of the bees, his mind will usually be 

 actively engaged in planning for them, or for 

 their future welfare. But what do you wish 

 to hinder me about? " 



" Only about two-thirds of my bees have 

 swarmed, and I wish to make the rest swarm, 

 and done with it ; and what I want to know 

 is, how best to do this." 



" Many plans have been given in the past 

 to make swarms of bees, other than by natu- 

 ral swarming, those advocating these plans 

 believing that the apiarist could make his 

 swarms to better advantage to himself, if not 

 to the bees, than to have them swarm as their 

 instinct directs ; and from this cause many 

 modes of artificial increase have arisen with- 

 out much, if any, reference to the laws which 

 govern natural swarming and the general econ- 

 omy of the hive, thereby causing a failure to 

 a certain extent." 



"Are there any special laws that govern 

 bees in swarming ? I thought they came out 

 haphazard, just as each one feels at the time." 



" I do not think there is any hap-hazard 

 work in this matter. Evidently, the same 

 laws that governed bees in their primitive 

 state govern them now ; and in all of the va- 

 rious operations conducted in the apiary, the 

 bee-keeper should conform to these laws as 

 nearly as possible, if he wishes to be a suc- 

 cessful apiarist in the fullest sense of the 

 word. A plan for making swarms, to be suc- 

 cessful, must carry with it the taking of bees 

 of all ages, and making them stay contented- 

 ly where put, the same as does a natural 

 swarm." 



"Do you think that nece.ssary ? My old 

 neighbor, Smith, claimed that it was mostly 

 old bees which went with the swarm." 



' ' Many think that way ; but after careful 



