266 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 



any kind of hive that anybody wants ; and 

 we sometimes make Simplicity hives with 

 square joints instead of beveled ones, where 

 the brethren think they prefer them that 

 way. But 100 of our customers prefer them 

 with the bevels, where one asks to have 

 them square. Bee-hives without the bevels 

 were the rule before the Simplicity was in- 

 vented, and they are to be found even yet, 

 more or less, in almost every apiary. Lang- 

 stroth, you will remember, adopted the 

 plan of having the upper story slip over the 

 lower one in order to keep out the wind and 

 rain, and to keep the upper story in its 

 place. I thought this took too much lumber, 

 and, besides, I objected to hives with pro- 

 jections. When I used Langstroth hives 

 exclusively, I could get only three hives of 

 bees into my one-horse wagon. The porti- 

 co stuck out in the w r ay, the rim around the 

 outer edges stuck out in the way, the upper 

 story stuck out in the way, and the covers 

 also stuck out in the way, and got bumped 

 loose, letting the bees out to sting my horse. 

 After I invented the Simplicity I could set 

 eight hives of bees in my one-horse wagon 

 and take them to a buckwheat field, with- 

 out the top stories slipping off from the 

 lower ones, or the covers getting slipped off 

 or bumped off. When I wanted to pile my 

 empty hives up under shelter, the Simplici 

 ties could be placed one on top of the other, 

 covers, bottom-boards, and all, clear up to 

 the ceiling. The next tier would go up 

 tight against it. so that it was very much 

 like putting the hives in the wagon. A cer- 

 tain size of room that would hold only eight 

 or ten Langstroth hives would hold twenty 

 or thirty Simplicities. Now, if anybody 

 wants to go back to the old style— if they 

 want hives without the bevels, or even if 

 they want box hives, we shall be glad to 

 serve them. 



DOES WILLOW PRODUCE HONEY? 



I have ten colonies of bees in chaff hives of my 

 own make. One colony made 96 lbs. of comb hon- 

 ey last summer. I should like to know for certain 

 whether yellow willow produces honey. I have 

 watched the bees at work on them, but never saw 

 them get any pollen. I think this is conclusive 

 evidence they get honey; and by the way they 

 worked I think they were getting it in pretty large 

 quantities. Would it pay those living by streams 

 of water to set out some branches? They would 

 save the banks, and give the bees work. 



W. A. Williamson. 



Friendly, W. Va., Feb. 11, 1889. 



Your evidence seems pretty clear, friend 

 W., that bees do get honey from the willow. 

 In our vicinity, willow hedges were put out, 

 perhaps 25 years ago, to a considerable ex- 

 tent. During favorable seasons bees do 

 sometimes work considerably on these wil- 

 lows ; but as a rule I think they amount to 

 but little. Perhaps this is because they are 

 not of the variety that yields honey most. 



shed, and filled in with sawdust. The weather has 

 been very warm here. We have had no cold weath- 

 er as yet. I live in a town of about 30,000 inhab- 

 itants. B. M. Huble. 

 Wallaceburg, Ont., Can. 



Bees do very well in town ; in fact, a great 

 many bee-keepers have their colonies inside 

 of the corporation limits. Occasionally 

 there is trouble with neighbors ; but usually 

 it is a case of ill will from other causes. 

 Most of such troubles can be avoided by oc- 

 casionally presenting your neighbor with a 

 nice sample of honey. 



REP6ffg ENcea^eiN6. 



ENCOURAGING FROM A. E. MANUM. 



tEES in this section of the State are, we think, 

 wintering nicely, as the winter has been 

 very mild fur this climate. They had a very 

 fine clearing flight on Jan. 17th and 18th, and 

 also March 5th and 6th. On the 6th I opened 

 a few hives and found, to my great delight, that but 

 very little of their stores had been consumed, and 

 the bees appeared to be in a healthy condition, 

 with but a few dead bees on the bottom-board. We 

 are very hopeful that this coming season will prove 

 to be one of our old-time honey seasons, as clover 

 made a very fine growth last fall, also the bass- 

 woods made an excellent growth of new wood dur- 

 ing last summer, which indicates a full bloom the 

 coming season. A. E Manum. 



Bristol, Vt., Mar. 14, 1889. 



BEES IN TOWN. 



1 have been taking Gleanings for three years. 

 1 can hardly do without it. I am a beginner with 

 bee6. 1 had good luck with them, but did not get 

 much honey last year, on account of dry weather. 

 I put away 28 colonies in winter quarters, under a 



65 GALLONS OP CHUNK HONEY FROM 11 

 COLONIES. 



I bought a place in this county, and moved to it 

 in the fall of 1887, and with the place I got a few hives 

 (9, I believe) of hybrid bees, in a bad condition, 

 " robbed almost to death," including the spring 

 swarms. After the last winter " starve outs " I 

 have 11 hives, mostly Simplicity. I did not have 

 time to work with them much, nor the foundation 

 to straighten their combs; and having sold my ex- 

 tractor before moving, I decided to " let 'em rip." 

 1 did not weigh the honey, but the vessel's capaci- 

 ty that it filled was 55 gallons, "chunk honey," as 

 the ABC would call it. My bees went into winter 

 with plenty of stores, and are now rearing brood 

 very nicely. W. M. Woolsey. 



Floresville, Tex., Mar. 2, 1889. 



LARGE VERSUS SMALL HIVES ; $1600 AS THE (ASH 

 PRODUCT FOR ONE SEASON. 



* I have 260 colonies, in hives containing 800 inches 

 of comb surface. I use two of them for a hive, 

 and have managed for the last eight years on ex- 

 actly the plan that Dr. Tinker generously offered 

 to give free to the bee-keepers, in the American 

 Bee Journal lately. I like the plan, and secured 

 seven tons of comb honey by it this poor year. 

 I cashed it long ago for $1600. I know that, with 

 the hives and system I now use, the best results 

 are reached with one-half the work in summer 

 management, as compared with the common hives 

 and system. I am wintering 260 swarms in two 

 apiaries. B. Taylor. 



Forest ville, Minn., Feb. 5, 1889. 



First swarm of the season came out Feb. 15th. 

 Sara Sota, Fla., Feb. 17, 1889. S. C. Corwin. 



