628 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



by one of the representatives of Glean- 

 ings in a year or so. We are impressed 

 with Mr. Manum's system all the way 

 tli rough, and we are not at all surprised 

 that he is a successful bee keeper. We ad- 

 mire his good sense in using snaps on har- 

 nesses wherever practicable, for facilitating 

 hitching and unhitching his team to and 

 from the wagon. We often wonder now 

 why so many farmers and others will go to 

 the trouble of winding a hold-back strap 

 three times around the thill, and buckling, 

 instead of making the same attachment 

 instantly with a snap. In Mr. Manum's 

 case it might save him the destruction of 

 a wagonload of comb honey, and possibly 

 permanent injury to the team itself. If our 

 friend will adopt Mr. S. I. Freeborn's sug- 

 gestion of using a draw-pin to disconnect 

 the team from the wagon itself by a simple 

 jerk with a chain or rope, he will have his 

 harness rig very nearly perfect. On ac- 

 count of our recent mishaps in hauling bees 

 we appreciate thoroughly all these improv- 

 ments. 



MANUM IN THE APIARY "WITH HIS 

 MEN. 



MOVING BEES. 



u 



OOD-EVENING, Whittier. I have brought 

 you a load of bees from Fred's yard. He 

 k?K is getting- short of empty hives; and as 

 *■* j ou have a plenty here, I thought I 

 might as well bring the bees here now as 

 to move the hives. You will find there are but few 

 bees in each box, as I have brought only what bees 

 adhered to the combs after a swarm had issued. 

 While the swarm was in the air he simply transfer- 

 red the combs and adhering bees from the old hives 

 to the moving boxes, and let the swarm return, to 

 find nothing in the hive but foundation or empty 

 combs. The honey season is so nearly at an end with 

 him that I thought it better to get some more in- 

 crease now than to keep them all in one hive and 

 get nothing. I thick they will both build up strong 

 for winter." 



" Well, I must say, Mr. Manum, that you have a 

 very convenient box for carrying bees in." 



" Yes, I like it very much. I can move full colo- 

 nies in very warm weather, without danger of melt- 

 ing down the combs. Last year I moved 100 colo- 

 nies 11 miles when it was very warm. You see how 

 I have got it fixed. It is simply one of my brood- 

 boxes with a thin bottom nailed to it, and a three- 

 inch (high) rim covered with wire cloth for a cover, 

 held in place by dowels and hooks. This forms a 

 three-inch space over the frames for the bees to 

 cluster, which relieves the combs of so many bees; 

 and with 1%-inch holes near the bottom, covered 

 with wire cloth, gives them a current of air, which 

 is very essential in warm weather; and you will 

 also observe that each comb is secure. They can 

 not move, as each end of the top-bars is set in 

 grooves, as well as the bottom-bar. They are so 

 spaced that the box holds but 11 combs instead of 

 12, making a % space between each comb. Now, 

 you see all we have to do is to set the box near 

 the hive they are to be put into. Remove the rim- 

 cover, shake the bees adhering to it in front of or 

 in the hive, and lift out the combs one by one, and 

 Bet them in the hive, and the work is done. My 



wagon-box is set on springs made of steel rods, so 

 arranged that the spring comes from the twisting 

 of the rods. I first set 12 of these boxes on the bot- 

 tom of the wagon-box, then this rack goes over 

 them, and on the rack I place 12 more, making 24 

 swarms for a one-horse load. We carry 50 in the 

 two-horse wagon, so that, when we wish to move an 

 apiary, Fred and I with both teams can move 74 col- 

 onies at one trip. I must now go home and take off 

 what honey there is finished up, as I want to get an 

 early start in the morning; for 1 am going to drive 

 out to Ferrisburgh to see how Leslie is getting 

 along." 



JULY 20. 



" Good-morning, Ed. I just thought I would call 

 a few moments and let old Bill take a rest awhile. 

 I am going out to see Leslie, and it is quite a drive 

 over these hills. How are you getting on requeen- 

 ing your apiary?" 



" Pretty well. I have now young queens in all 

 the hives that had two and three year old ones; but 

 some of them are caged yet. I am to liberate the 

 last lot to-day. You got those queens all right that 

 I sent you, I suppose." 



"Yes, sir; and they were nice ones too. What 

 kind of candy is that that you use for queen-cages'? 

 Is it what they call the Good candy?" 



" No, it is the Manum candy. I have used it for 

 about ten years. It took me two years to get it to 

 suit me— or at least to suit the purpose for which I 

 wanted it. The beauty of this candy is, besides being 

 a perfect bee-food, it will never dry up and become 

 hard. I have kept it four years in an open dish, 

 and at the end of that time it was as good as newly 

 made candy. I kept the secret to myself until three 

 years ago, and then I told only one man how it was 

 made; but within a year I have told several." 



" Then you have no objection to telling me, have 

 you?" 



" No; I am willing all should have the formula 

 now, and here it is:" 



MANCIM'S QUEEN-CANDY. 



Take 8 spoonfuls of coffee A sugar; 1 of wheat 

 flour; 1 of glycerine; 2 of granulated honey. 



"First thoroughly mix the flour with the sugar, 

 then pour the honey and glycerine in a tin dish; 

 then the sugar, and set the dish into another larger 

 dish partly filled with hot water (I use an ordinary 

 glue-pot); set it on the stove and let it simmer until 

 the sugar is dissolved, then remove to cool, when it 

 is ready for use. If the honey is thin it maybe 

 necessary to add more sugar or use less honey. 



"Now one word before I go. Be very careful 

 about exposing honey after the bees stop getting it 

 from bass wood, and that will be very soon now. 

 When you notice them hanging around the honey- 

 house it will be a warning to you to be very careful, 

 as it will take but little to set them to robbing." 



" How do you do, Leslie?" 



"Good-afternoon, Mr. Manum. You are quite a 

 stranger here." 



"Yes, I have rather neglected you this year; but 

 the truth is, I have had my hands full since the sea- 

 son commenced; and besides, I felt perfectly at 

 ease, knowing that you would do as well without 

 me, as you have worked ;it the bee-business long 

 enough now to be thoroughly posted." 



"Well,! have done as well as I could; and by 

 corresponding with you often I have got along 

 pretty well so far." 



"Well, Leslie, T have brought you something 



