710 



GLEANINGS IN BEL CULTURE. 



Sept. 



interesting- to have him tell us about the Southern 

 snakes, and I hope our Southern friends will avail 

 themselves of this opportunity. I saw some snakes 

 in Florida that would break short off when struck 

 witli a stick, the piece with the head going on as if 

 not hurt. I was told they would grow out again if 

 not broken too near the middle. I have seen the 

 ground-rattler and the coach-whip. The former is 

 said to be very poisonous; the latter is a very saucy 

 fellow. James W. Walker. 



Green Spring, West Va., Aug. 18, 1889. 



We second your request, friend W. By 

 all means let us know all about these nox- 

 ious insects and reptiles. I should especially 

 like to have Prof. Cook tell us about the 

 snake that breaks in two when struck with 

 a stick. Does it break in two without the 

 shedding of blood? 



cellar wintering compared with outdoor 

 wintering; are the latter more hardy? 



I want to ask a question. Are bees that are win- 

 tered in a cellar, or are buried, or kept in any other 

 similar way, more liable to spring dwindling than 

 bees that are wintered in chaff hives? I have kept 

 from 10 to 75 colonies of bees for 15 years. Part of 

 my bees I have wintered by burying them, and a 

 few colonies I keep in chaff hives. I find no diffi- 

 culty in wintering my bees by burying them. They 

 winter equally well in chaff hives, and even better. 

 The bees that I bury seem to be more liable to 

 dwindle after I remove them from the ground in 

 the spring than the bees in chaff hives. But it 

 should be borne in mind that tny chaff hives are not 

 like the ordinary chaff hives in use. 1 have two 

 styles. The style I like best has the brood chamber 

 10 inches square in breadth, and 24 inches in depth, 

 containing 20C0 cubic inches inside of the frames; 

 7 tall narrow frames to a hive only. With this chaff 

 hive 1 have wintered my bees, not finding on the 

 bottom-board during the whole winter and spring 

 over one-eighth or one-fourth of a gill of dead 

 bees. This is not as many as would apparently 

 naturally die from old age. 1 found on the ground, 

 outside of the hive, scarcely more than 25, 50, or so 

 dead bees, and no spring dwindling. 



Willistoh Connor. 



Rensselaerville, Albany Co., N. Y., Aug. 12, 1889. 



We think, as a general thing bees are less 

 liable to spring dwindle in chaff hives on 

 summer stands. Beginners, as a rule, will 

 have better success with the outdoor plan ; 

 but experts, while they will have no better 

 results, will winter with less stores per colo- 

 ny in the cellar. 



In addition to what Ernest says, I wish 

 to add that one great reason why I aban- 

 doned wintering in the cellar or wintering 

 in a house with sawdust walls, was because 

 of what you mention. I could winter the 

 bees very well either way ; but the trouble 

 was to get them through April and May. 

 In the chaff hives we have no such trouble 

 to speak of, while indoor wintering always 

 troubled tis more or less. 



article referred to is there published. The article 

 on bees in that work was written by John Hunter, 

 secretary of the British Bee-Keepers' Association, 

 and, of course, is free from this sort of foolishness. 

 1 have carefully searched through the volumes, 

 and find no reference in any place to this false al- 

 legation; the only mention of glucose in this con- 

 nection being that it is sometimes used as an adul- 

 terant of honey, which statement is, unfortunately, 

 beyond doubt, true in some instances. The fact 

 that a cheap American reprint of the genuine ency- 

 clopedia contains the libel and slander is an in- 

 stance of the common error of purchasing or read- 

 ing cheap books in which cheap popular science, so 

 called, is retailed by cheap writers. Like a mud 

 spot on a bright surface, this slander will remain in 

 perpetuity, no doubt, and as a proof that the adage, 

 " truth will prevail," does not apply to present cir- 

 cumstances, under which truth has no chance 

 against the persistence of a lie once gaining wide 

 circulation. Possibly if the lie were left unnoticed 

 it might remain in oblivion. 



I have frequently referred to this matter in the 

 New York Times as a foolish libel on bee-keepers, a 

 class of men who are specially free from tricks in 

 trade and such like meanness. H. Stewart. 



Highlands, N. C, Aug. 14, 1889. 



We are exceedingly glad to hear that the 

 genuine original Britannica does not con- 

 tain this slanderous falsehood. The whole 

 thing is a sad reflection on the American 

 people in two ways, and every new newspa- 

 per statement in regard to the matter is a 

 disgrace to us as a people. 



falsehoods in cyclopedias; a plea for the 

 britannica. 

 I have noticed the frequent justly indignant pro- 

 tests in Gleanings in regard to the foolish story 

 about the manufacture of artificial comb and hon- 

 ey with paraffine and glucose. But it is not a just 

 charge against the EneycUt-pedin Britannica that the 



WHEN TO EXTRACT; HONEY RIPENED BY BEES 

 SUPERIOR. 



I arranged four hives for extracted honey. Dur- 

 ing basswood bloom all of them filled the upper 

 stories, but only one was completely capped over, 

 the others not being more than half. Now, were 

 the four ripe enough to be extracted, or only the 

 one that was fully capped over? The honey was all 

 gathered in the same ten days. From reading your 

 works I should say no; but common sense might 

 suggest yes. Alfred J. Lamb. 



Jefferson, la., Aug. 11, 1889. 



It is generally better to wait till most of 

 the honey is capped over before extracting. 

 Some bee-keepers extract before and ripen 

 the honey in large open tanks. We never 

 yet tasted artificially ripened honey that we 

 thought was fully equal to that ripened by 

 the bees, although some of the former is 

 very nice. If you wish to get nice thick 

 honey of extra quality, leave the combs of 

 sealed honey on the hives through the sum- 

 mer, and then e xtract. 



CLIPPED QUEENS A FAILURE. 



I should like to ask if you ever had any trouble 

 with your clipped queens in failing to issue with the 

 swarm, or getting them killed by the bees. I have 

 lost 30 out of 40 queens this spring. Two-thirds of 

 my queens failed to issue with the swarm. I had 

 three colonies swarm twice in succession without 

 their queen, and so they became demoralized. I 

 have almost concluded to stop clipping my queens. 



Brackettville, Tex. • R. Heyman. 



Years ago we had some trouble by losing 

 queens, but we had no such proportion of 

 loss as you have had. See Question-Box de- 

 partment for this issue. 



