178 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mak. 



cakes, and cookies of several kinds, honey-candies, 

 honey vinegar, honey wine, honey-knives, founda- 

 tion, beeswax, and Bingham smokers sent by Mr. 

 T. F. Bingham for exhibition. At the right of the 

 exhibit, but hidden by your Sturwold show-case, 

 is another of your Sturwold cases filled with fine 

 comb honey, and, standing on its top, one of Mr. E. 

 O. Tuttle's bee-keepers' medleys. 



A description of what was on the other side of the 

 building, and of your section machinery, etc., with 

 some incidents connected with the exhibition, may 

 be given in the future. A. B. Mason. 



Auburndale, O. 



Now, doctor, I am going to complain a 

 little. From the above it is quite evident 

 that, day after day and week after week, 

 you explained things, and showed your vis- 

 itors all around— told them long stories ; 

 ves, you even took pains with every old 

 lady, and I suppose every juvenile too ; and 

 yet vv hen I came around myself you did not 

 show me about nor tell me any of these 

 wonderful stories at all— at least if you did 

 I can not remember it— that is, I do not re- 

 member very much about it. I did not 

 know until just now that there is a bee- 

 keeper in Michigan who still keeps bees in 

 straw hives. You say the man's name is 

 Burchard, and that " he lives in Michigan ;" 

 but how in the world are we going to visit 

 and see an old-time apiary, without know- 

 ing what part of Michigan it is in ? I want 

 to tell vou, friend M., that Michigan is a 

 very big place. Your story is so interesting 

 that I feel now as if I would give a good 

 deal to see " Uncle Aaron " and all the rest 

 of those other good friends we always meet 

 at our Columbus conventions. By the way, 

 I have just asked Ernest why we did not 

 have a convention this winter. He says we 

 had our convention in conjunction with the 

 great national, and the bee-keepers thought 

 that that was convention enough for quite 

 a spell. I do not agree with him, however, 

 and 1 hereby give notice that, when there is 

 another Ohio bee-keepers' convention, I 

 wish to be invited. — Just a word about that 

 sign. Mr. Weed wrote me that he thought 

 we ought to get a good nice big sign, even if 

 it cost several dollars. I told him that I 

 thought something transient would do very 

 well. But when I got down there I said to 

 myself, " There, the boys have gone and 

 paid out quite a lot of money for a sign, aft- 

 er all ; " but as we went there to have a pic- 

 nic I thought I would not scold, but just 

 make believe that 1 was pleased, you know. 

 Pretty soon I remarked toMr. Weed, " Why, 

 Will, you did go and get a nice sign, after 

 all, didn't you? But, didn't it cost a good 

 deal of money V " And then they had quite 

 a good laugh when somebody said it did not 

 cost half a dollar all together. Now, friends, 

 you can make very handsome signs, to be 

 put up indoors, not exposed to the weather, 

 with a pair of scissors, some tacks, and some 

 colored paper. Why, there was not a pret- 

 tier nor a plainer sign on the whole centen- 

 nial grounds than that one.— Doctor, you do 

 not tell us who got up that little house and 

 dooryard, etc., with the house " chuck full " 

 of honey. Did that little sign bring a cus- 

 tomer V 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS. 



DR. A. B. MASON'S OPINION OF THAT NEW PRESS 

 STRAINER. 



T AM glad you have the press strainer for sale, 

 M that you illustrate and describe on page 130; 

 W and so cheap too. I told one of your men at 

 "*■ the centennial that you ought to have them 

 for sale. At the earnest solicitation of " Uncle 

 Aaron " Goodrich, one of the exhibitors at the Ex- 

 position at Columbus last fall, who lived nine miles 

 away, I went home with him one Saturday night to 

 spend the Sabbath with him and his family; and 

 nicer potatoes than were on their table it had nev- 

 er been my privilege to eat. (I hope Mrs. Mason 

 will not hear of this.) Monday morning at break- 

 fast I got up courage enough to ask for their way 

 of fixing them so nicely, and learned that it was 

 done with just the kind of press you describe. 

 They had been sold from house to house by an 

 agent, for one dollar each. I found them for sale 

 at a "general store "near where "Uncle Aaron" 

 lived, and bought one for fifty cents. I would have 

 willingly paid a dollar for it, and felt that I had the 

 worth of my money. Mrs. Mason makes as nice 

 bread as I ever tasted (I don't care if she does hear 

 of this), and uses mashed potatoes in doing it; and 

 when I showed her how the press (or " tater smash- 

 er"! call it) made the potatoes so "fluffy" you 

 "just had oughter seen" her smile. Try to induce 

 every husband to get one for his better half, and 

 every " feller " to get one for his " best girl," if her 

 father hasn't already got one for her mother. 

 Auburndale, O., Feb. 30, 1889. A. B. Mason. 



CONTRACTION, AND HOW FAR IT MAY BE CARRIED 

 IWITH ADVANTAGE. 



If the brood-nest is contracted to 5 or 6 frames in 

 the Gallup hive, will the queen be more likely to lay 

 in the surplus apartments? If so, is not side stor- 

 ing preferable? Do bee-keepers always use queen- 

 excluding honey-boards if contraction is|practiced? 

 When the brood-nest is well tilled with brood in the 

 spring, is it advisable to spread the combs and in- 

 sert about two empty combs in the center, in order 

 to increase brood-rearing? E. S. Mead. 



Olivet, Belmont Co., O., Feb. 6, 1889. 



Friend M., if contraction of the brood- 

 nest is carried to extremes, of course there 

 will be a greater liability of the queen going 

 above to deposit eggs. If the colony is good 

 and strong, a brood-nest of 8 Langstroth 

 frames ordinarily will not require to be con- 

 tracted. With a colony of moderate 

 strength, and in a moderate honey season, 

 it may be desirable to reduce the brood-nest 

 to 5 or 6 frames.— As we have had but very 

 little experience with the Gallup frame, we 

 could not advise you in regard to contrac- 

 tion for a frame of that dimension.— Queen- 

 excluding honey-boards are, we think, an 

 advantage where the brood-nest is reduced 

 to t or possibly t of its full capacity. A 

 great many prominent bee-keepers do not 

 consider their use essential, while others are 

 just as positive that they are an advantage. 

 In regard to spreading brood, we advise you 

 to see an article from the pen of G. M. Doo- 

 little, in a late issue. 



