536 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



JulY 



see them plainly as they made a curve to get 

 around the Bartium knoll and a clump of trees; it 

 seemed as though they were running races, and 

 each bee was trying to get there first. I noticed 

 that the homeward-bound bees flew much lower 

 than outward-bound ones, owing, I suppose, to 

 their being heavily loaded. We talk about a 'bee- 

 line,' but these did not go straight, as they made 

 quite a curve around the knoll instead of going 

 over it. I have come to assist you to take off what 

 finished clamps there may be in this yard. Yester- 

 day I was with Henry, and I found he had a good 

 many all finished and ready to come off. He had 

 been so busy that the boxes had been neglected; 

 however, the honey was not soiled a particle. Here 

 are four clamps, well capped, on this hive, and the 

 other two are well advanced; and if the weather 

 holds warm a few days longer they will finish them 

 up. I think we will not put any more on this hive, 

 unless you have a clamp of nearly finished sec- 

 tions." 

 " Yes, sir; Thave two or three such clamps." 

 "Very well; then in two or three days, if it holds 

 warm, you may put on one of them. As we can 

 not expect basswood to hold out more than five or 

 six days longer at best, we must reduce the storage 

 room in order not to be left with a lot of unfinished 

 sections. Of course, we shall have some; but let 

 us try to have as few as possible. You may also 

 now fill up the brood-chambers with comb or foun- 

 dation; that is, wherever you find a colony that has 

 only ten or eleven combs, give the bees the full 

 complement of twelve combs. You know that all 

 the new swarms that came out before June 20 were 

 hived singly and on only ten combs, with a division- 

 board on each side to take the place of the missing 

 combs. Now, then, just draw out these division- 

 boards, and let a comb slide down in their place. 

 This can be done without disturbing the other 

 combs or the bees. These two combs being the 

 two outside ones, I am in hopes the bees will fill 

 them with honey before the queen finds them. A 

 few years ago I did not do this, as then sugar was 

 cheaper to winter on than honey; but now— oh, 

 dear! how things have changed! and it is cheaper 

 to winter on honey than on sugar. I want these 

 combs put in now, because we do not have a late 

 flow of honey here as they do in many places, es- 

 pecially west; and sometimes I think it is all the 

 better for me that I do not; because if I did I 

 should expect my bees to have the dreaded bee- 

 diarrhea, which I think is caused by a poor quality 

 of honey gathered late in the season, as well as an 

 excess of pollen. Now, another thing: I want you 

 to hunt up all the two and three year old queens in 

 the yard. You will readily find where they are, by 

 the records. Kill them, as I do not intend to win- 

 ter a queen that is over one year old. Now is the 

 time to do this work, while the bees are getting 

 honey. They are not so cross now as they will be 

 at the close of the honey-flow, nor will they roll as 

 they would then. You may then introduce young 

 queens from your nuclei; and if you should be 

 short of queens T will bring you some from home. 

 This is the time to commence preparing the bees 

 for winter, and requeening is the first work in pre- 

 paring for winter— with me. You are not obliged 

 to do this all to day or to-morrow, but do it as you 

 have time, without interfering with your other 

 work. A. E. Manum. 



Bristol, Vt. 



I am very glad indeed to see you caution 

 the boys about smoking the bees when there 

 is no need of smoking them. A great many 

 beginners get into such a stereotyped way 

 of puffing smoke into the colonies that they 

 do it even when the bees are on their very 

 best behavior. It reminds me of some 

 mothers who seem to take it for granted 

 that babies must be spanked about so often 

 on general principles. Now, when I see a 

 baby spanked, that is doing its very best to 

 be good, it always puts me in a fighting 

 mood, and I feel the same way when bees 

 are smoked that are just as peaceable and 

 well behaved as any thing can possibly be .1 

 have seen bees go for the cappings right off 

 as soon as they were smoked, when they 

 would not meddle with them at all if the 

 smoke were kept away. — Your hint in re- 

 gard to keeping an eye on the age of the 

 queen illustrates how exceedingly important 

 it is that the bee-keeper be constantly on 

 the watch, and that he know what is going 

 on, even inside of every hive, all through 

 the honey-flow.— I am glad the boys in your 

 neighborhood do not steal. Friend M.,isit 

 not because you are a Christian, and are fol- 

 lowing the precepts of the Master? — I have 

 often stopped and listened to the " sweet 

 music " you tell us about. You say, in con- 

 clusion, that you do not intend to winter 

 any queen that is over one year old. Now, 

 if I understand you correctly, I do not be- 

 lieve we should quite agree on that. A 

 queen that had given us a tremendous crop 

 of honey during one season should certainly 

 have a chance to do the same thing the next 

 season— that is, if she seemed all right, and 

 nearly or quite up to her former vigor. Per- 

 haps, however, you mean that you would let 

 them go through the second season. 



HIVES. 



FUIEND TTEDPON OFFERS SOME SUGGESTIONS. 



fRIEND HOOT:— I desire to level my gun and 

 fire away directly at you; and if there is any 

 thing of sufficient value in this article to pub- 

 lish, do so; if not, read it over and we will 

 have it between us. I have been much in- 

 terested in your Dovetailed hive with my break- 

 joint bee-space honey-board, etc. I eagerly open 

 each number of Gleanings to see what you say 

 about it. I have smiled, and I know many others 

 have smiled, when reading your editorials on how 

 popular the hive is. Now, let me go back a little. 

 All these years, when you have been selling the 

 Simplicity hive, and selling, perhaps, more than ten 

 to every one I have sold of the Heddon-Langstroth 

 hive (as I have named my modification of father 

 Langstroth's great invention). I knew very well 

 that the L. hive, as I used it, was very much better 

 than your Simplicity, and that some time the truth 

 would be known, and it would become very popu- 

 lar; but, of course, I can not reap the reward of my 

 early discovery. You have a mouopoly on adver- 

 tising. Now, I am finding no fault. You have just 

 what you have earned, the same as others do, and 

 the same as the rest of us would have, had we 

 worked it up; I am just trying to tell you how it is. 



