1889 



GLEANINGS IN 13EE CULTURE. 



!)] 



providing the pollen theory is correct, as myself 

 and others well know it to be. Hoping I have shed 

 some light which will be received by Bro. Hamil- 

 ton, I will leave further notes for future articles. 



James Heddon. 

 Dowagiac, Mich., Jan. 10, 1889. 



Friend II., I am not so sure about the pol- 

 len, but I am sure that there is a great deal 

 of sound sense in your concluding para- 

 graph. Even if we could save a colony of 

 bees by removing the pollen, or, if you 

 choose, by taking them into the greenhouse 

 and giving them a fly in the middle of the 

 winter, so long as bees can be purchased in 

 the spring as cheaply as they are now offer- 

 ed it would be cheaper to take the chances, 

 as you say. Of course, every prudent bee- 

 keeper will see that his bees have enough 

 to keep them from starving. But while it 

 is by no means certain that the honey they 

 have is going to prove disastrous, I would 

 not throw it out and give them sugar syrup 

 instead. Neither would I fuss to get all the 

 pollen out of their hive, when it is by no 

 means certain that they will not winter 

 very well just as they are. 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS, 



SECTIONS BULGING ; HIVES BY FOOT POWER VER- 

 SUS FACTORY-MADE HIVES. 



ILL putting on a whole crate, or from seven 

 to eight wide frames, prevent bulging? or 

 is the only expedient separators? 



Which is cheaper— to buy my hives, pay- 

 ing $1.20 for chaff in flat, 75 cts. for Sim 

 plicity, or to buy a Barnes foot-power? 

 Penrose, 111., Jan. 3, 1889. B. F. Hoover. 



Putting on a whole crate of empty sections 

 without separators will discourage, although 

 it will not prevent the bees from bulging the 

 combs. When separators are not used, 

 bulging is caused principally by taking out 

 the completed sections and putting empty 

 ones in their places. The bees are then 

 inclined to bulge those partially tilled into 

 the spaces occupied by the empty sections. 

 Separators are the only sure expedient ; and 

 while you can dispense with them, most 

 bee-keepers prefer to use them. 



It is a little hard to answer your second 

 question, as so much depends upon freight 

 rates, the price you would have to pay for 

 lumber in your locality, and the requisite 

 skill you may have. Generally speaking it 

 is cheaper to buy the hives, if your freight 

 rates are reasonable. The principal ex- 

 pense in a hive is the lumber. The cost of 

 making has been reduced to such a low 

 point it would be a very difficult matter in- 

 deed for an inexperienced person with a 

 foot-power buzz-saw, even if his time were 

 not worth much, to make any thing. 

 Where one persists in using odd-sized hives, 

 a Barnes saw, without doubt, would save 

 money. In regard to a foot-power buzz- 

 saw, let us say that it takes lots of hard 

 work ; and if one is not used to manual 

 labor he will find himself considerably the 

 worse for wear after running one of these 



machines. If you are a good mechanic, and 

 can buy surfaced lumber for less than 3 cts. 

 per square foot if your freight rates are 

 high, and if, too, you are used to manual 

 labor, it would pay you, probably, to buy a 

 Barnes saw and make your hives, providing 

 you have odd spells which you can not de- 

 vote profitably otherwise. Where hive- 

 making is made a specialty, certain fixed 

 gauges are employed ; hence, accuracy and 

 nicety of work is almost the inevitable re- 

 sult. 



NAPOLEON, AND HIS MORAL CHARACTER. 



I can not allow your remarks, p. 854, regarding 

 Napoleon, to pass unnoticed. The sentiments at- 

 tributed to him did not influence his life; and if we 

 look at his actions, where can a greater monster be 

 found? I was born, and lived in the earlier part of 

 my life, in the part of England where it was sup- 

 posed, if he paid us a hostile visit, he would land, 

 and opposite to which he had actually prepared a 

 flat-bottomed flotilla for the purpose of crossing. 

 As to his cruelty, I will give but three instances. 

 First, his directions on the birth of his child, that, 

 if it was necessary to sacrifice either, it was to be 

 the mother. Second, when his sick had become so 

 numerous in Egypt as to become troublesome, his 

 direction to the doctors to poison them. Third, in 

 his retreat from Moscow, after crossing a bridge 

 himself, directing it to be destroyed, regardless of 

 the consequences to his followers. For the sake of 

 my country, I have always regretted that he did not 

 fall into the hands of the Russians. I can not doubt 

 that they would have made short work with him. 

 It was no doubt wrong; but on standing on his 

 grave in the island of St. Helena I feltsome satisfac- 

 tion in knowing the enemy of Europe was under 

 my feet. W. P. Taylor. 



Fitzroy Harbor, Ont., Can., Dec. 21, 1888. 



Friend T., I am much obliged to you for 

 the facts you give us. I did not intend to 

 convey the idea that Napoleon was himself 

 any thing remotely approaching a follower 

 of Christ ; but I am pleased to know that he 

 recognized the true character and mission 

 of Christ Jesus. The Bible tells us that 

 even "the devils believe, and tremble;" 

 but I fear that Napoleon believed without 

 trembling, from the report you give of him. 



REPORT OF THE SEASON; THE VALUE OF UNFIN- 

 ISHED SECTIONS. 



The past season was here a poor one. My winter 

 losses were heavy, saving only 34 out of 85 colonies 

 in the fall, and 8 of the 34 were very weak. I in- 

 creased to 53, and took only 65(1 pounds of honey— 

 550 of extracted, and 100 comb. The latter was se- 

 cured in trying an experiment to know whether 



IT PAYS TO SAVE UNFINISHED SECTIONS OF 

 COMBS. 



I selected three colonies of as equal strength and 

 condition as my judgment dictated, and placed on 

 one hive sections of empty combs in crates left 

 over from the previous year. On another hive I 

 placed sections filled with foundation in crates. 

 On the last hive I placed sections with foundation 

 starters only, also in crates, adopting the tiering- 

 up plan. Now for the result: From the hive with 

 the unfinished sections, I took 56 sections weighing 

 63 pounds, and took the first premium at our coun- 

 ty fair, on case of 12 best-filled sections of honey 



