1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



93 



suspended in his new hive-sling-. The doctor is a 

 public-spirited man. He does not hide his light 

 under a bushel, but freely bestows upon his breth- 

 ren the products of an ingenious mind. " Virtue is 

 its own rewarder," so is generosity. If the doctor 

 were less generous in imparting to others the 

 fruits of his own researches he would not have the 

 gratification of seeing himself in a wood-cut simply 

 because he has discovered that a rope is a good 

 thing to carry hives to the cellar. I refrain from 

 picking at the rope, out of consideration for the 

 safety of the doctor's toes. R. McKnight. 



Owen Sound, Ont., Can. 



NEW ZEALAND, AND THE EARLY SEASON; THE 

 SWARMING-NOTE. 



The swarming season commenced in this locality 

 at least three weeks earlier than usual, and the 

 bees were doing well; but for the last two weeks 

 the weather has been terrible— raining, hailing, and 

 blowing a gale every day, and as cold as we have 

 had it through the winter. There is plenty of 

 white clover now, and if the weather holds good I 

 think honey will be plentiful. I grew a good piece 

 of flgwort in my orchard, also mignonette, and the 

 bees do well on them every year. On account of 

 late frosts, and the difficulty in getting the seed to 

 grow, the spider plant does not do well every sea- 

 son. I am starting an apiary about five miles from 

 home. It is in a splendid locality, and I hope to get 

 a good yield from them this season. 



Masterton, N. Z., Nov. r.»5, 1888. Thomas Dixon. 



RAISING THE TEMPERATURE IN CELLARS. 



In reading your questions and answers in 

 Gleanings of Jan. 1st, in regard to ventilation of 

 cellars, a thought struck me that probably would 

 benefit some of the many readers of Gleanings. 

 The use of a lamp or a lantern would dispense with 

 the use of stoves in bee-cellars. If you place a 

 lantern in a comparatively closed cellar, free 

 from drafts, you will be surprised to see how rapid- 

 ly you will gain one or two degrees of temperature; 

 and if you have a room in your house which is sub- 

 ject to dampness, try placing a burning lamp in it 

 in the morning. By bedtime you will have a room 

 fit for any one to sleep in. If any of these sug- 

 gestions are of any value to the readers, it is re- 

 turning a kindness, for I am very thankful for the 

 many I have received. The biographical sketches 

 of prominent bee-men was quite a Christmas pres- 

 ent. I am reading the editor's Notes by the Way, 

 with delight. Perry Focht. 



Uniopolis, O., Jan. 4, 1889. 



KEEPING DOWN THE TEMPERATURE IN A WINTER 

 REPOSITORY; IS LIGHT DELETERIOUS OR NOT? 



I constructed a small house last fall to winter 

 my bees in. The house is 8% by 13 inside; the walls 

 contain one foot of sawdust. I placed 42 colonies 

 in it. It proves to be too warm, and the only way I 

 can keep the temperature down is by leaving the 

 door open a little. By so doing I can keep it at 40° 

 about all the time. Now, I wish your opinion as to 

 how much harm will result from the light while 

 the temperature is kept at that point. 



Browntown, Wis., Jan. 14, 1889. H. Lathrop. 



Friend L., light is generally considered to 

 be deleterious to the best welfare of colonies 

 in winter repositories, though a very little 

 may do no harm. In your case the question 

 hinges on how much light is admitted into 

 the repository by opening the door a " lit- 



tle." You are better able to answer that 

 question for yourself. If. after examination 

 of the colonies, they appear to be doing 

 nicely, and are clean and sweet, then the 

 admission of a little light by opening a door 

 a trifle would do no harm. We would refer 

 you to the Dec. 15th issue of Gleanings, 

 in the Question-Box department, for partic- 

 ulars in regard to light in cellars or other re- 

 positories. 



In addition to what Ernest has written 

 above, permit me to say I do not think it 

 will do any harm in a bee-house or cellar, 

 so long as you keep the temperature down 

 to 40 ; but in our locality it would be impos- 

 sible to do this. This 23d day of January, 

 the thermometer is up nearly to 60, al- 

 though the day is cloudy. When this tem- 

 perature continues for a couple of days or 

 more, we have found it very difficult and 

 even impossible to keep bees quiet in 

 a winter repository, even when kept in 

 darkness. 



TURKEY BUZZARDS, CUT-WORMS, AND BEE-VEILS. 



I do so-appreciate the photographs of Professor 

 Cook and father Langstroth, that the price of 

 Gleanings would in no way be sufficient to pur- 

 chase them. By the way, we have a professor 

 A. J. Cook, of Alabama, and one of the best men I 

 ever knew; and I am bound to think lie must be a 

 relative of your A. J. Cook. 



You don't know how much I enjoy your de- 

 scription of your journey to California. I was real- 

 ly amused at your scare-crows. What queer no- 

 tions a Yankee has of things at the South' 



In the 15th of June Gleanings, page 481, D. W. 

 C. Mathews asks for a preventive of cut-worms. 

 Tell him that, in the spring of the year, when he 

 first commences to break up his ground to sow for 

 a small garden, say H of an acre, a peck of com- 

 mon salt spread evenly over the surface of the 

 ground, and plowed in, is good. For an acre, one 

 bushel of salt is the proportion. If this is done 

 soon enough it will prevent the cut-worms from 

 breeding, and consequently you will not be bother- 

 ed that year. If you keep it up every spring you 

 will finally' forget there ever was any such pest, 

 and you will also get rid of the little ground-ilea. 

 I know these things from experience. 



Can I not change metal-cornered frames to rever- 

 sible by getting some of your wire attachments? 



Can you make me a bee-hat with rim of galvan- 

 ized wire? My bee-hat is so pleasant to the head I 

 will wear it all the time; and when it gets wet 

 from a shower it rusts through the cloth. I also 

 want a longer veil, with one-half silk brussels net 

 and the other grenadine at least six inches longer. 

 1 am a very tall man, with a long neck. I am six 

 feet five inches. My neighbors say I am just such 

 a looking man as E. France. J. T. McCrackkn. 



Rowell, Ala. 



Friend M., it may not be profitable to use 

 salt in the quantity you mention, on our 

 corn ground, unless, indeed, the salt would 

 have some other beneficial effect in keep- 

 ing away the cut-worms ; but in market-gar- 

 dening it would no doubt be worth all it 

 costs, and more too, where cut-worms are 

 as troublesome ;is they are at times. Some 

 recent reports in the agricultural papers 

 seem to indicate that strong doses of com- 

 mon salt on some soils have a very marked 



