1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



77:-! 



Manum's, but mine is the thickness of a brood- 

 comb, and twelve of them stand in aHeddon frame. 

 The top is closed by a queen-cell protector, made of 

 tin, with a cover. I can remove the cell without 

 lifting- the cage. My first experiment was to make 

 the cage of perforated zinc, believing 1 the queens 

 would be better if the bees could get into the cage; 

 but I was obliged to cover them with wire cloth, 

 as every queen escaped. I think we sometimes 

 lose a valuable queen by using: the excluder. I 

 found one with her head and shoulders through. 

 The bees above were tryinjr to pull her up, and 

 those below were pulling her down. The legs and 

 wings were pulled off, and yet she was fast, and 

 one will sometimes get through; but all losses are 

 more than repaid by having a fair colony to feed 

 through July and August, instead of a hive run- 

 ning over with bees that has been a waste of mate- 

 rial to manufacture and support. 



FLAT -BOTTOM FOUNDATION FASTENED AT BOTH 

 TOP AND BOTTOM OF THE SECTION. 



I got some of the extra-thin flat-bottom founda- 

 tion of you two years ago. I tried it with poor suc- 

 cess. It was so thin it would curl and get all 

 out of shape; but when I discovered that I could 

 fasten it in, almost like a drumhead, with a ma- 

 chine I made from the cut in your price list of the 

 Gray fastener, we could use it a little lighter than 

 the extra thin. I cut the sheets to inside dimen- 

 sion of the section, and fasten one end, turn and give 

 the foundation a little tuck under and against the 

 presser, which stretches it out and fastens it at the 

 same time. It can be done pretty rapidly after a 

 little practice, and it is a comfort to have the foun- 

 dation so solid that any kind of rough treatment, 

 even a tumble off the bench, will not break it out. 



ONE-PIECE SECTIONS. 



I do not like the one-piece section. Tt is too much 

 trouble for me to twist up one corner of my eyes, 

 and then the other, to get a square look at them. I 

 do not like men, nor the products of their labor, 

 that require a continuous outside pressure to keep 

 them square. They are a little cheaper, which adds 

 to the profit, and a little stronger, which is an ad- 

 vantage in jumping sections. I like the square 

 section and a dash of Carniolan blood, as they are 

 not such sticklers as Italians. 



CHAPMAN HONEY-PLANT. 



This is the best honey-plant I ever saw for its sea- 

 son. Friend C. said at the Indianapolis convention 

 that the seeds were not provided with balloons to 

 scatter it, but ho failed to state that it had a chaff 

 that would adh re to almost all passing objects, and 

 that it had a way of arranging itself in the Huffiest 

 possible manner on top of the ball, as if daring the 

 winds for a trial of strength. I believe it will give 

 our farmer neighbors just cause of complaint 

 against us, if we allow the seeds to ripen. My crop 

 is harvested, and arranged in a pile with balls in- 

 ward, and some evening when it is dry we will have 

 a war-dance around it. 



HOVEN. 



I have never heard of a death from clover-bloat 

 where the wooden bit was fastened in the mouth. 

 The process is described and illustrated in Farm 

 and Household Cyclopedia. A. A. Parsons. 



Avon, Ind., Aug. 31. 1889. 



Neither do I like men that require a good 

 deal of outside pressure to keep them 

 square. But you admit that the one-piece 

 sections are a little cheaper and a little 



stronger. I think these two points alone 

 should settle the question. 



REPORT FROM AUSTRALIA. 



WHAT THE SPIIilT OF CHRIST IS DOING AMONG 



SAVAGES. 



E have just passed through a season of se- 

 vere drought, which has caused us to lose 

 heavily both in cattle and in the honey 

 crop, which was a total failure. We have, 

 however, every prospect of a good crop to 

 come, as the drought has been broken by heavy 

 rains, which, we trust, will give us an early and 

 bountiful spring. We have had floods, but they 

 were nothing in comparison to what it has pleased 

 God to send you. 



I read with much pleasure L. E. Mercer's little 

 note in February Gleanings, entitled "Honest 

 Bees and Honest Neighbors." It reminded me of 

 something I heard the other day, which I thought 

 at the time would please you. I had the pleasure 

 of spending a few days with a missionary from the 

 New Hebrides, who told me that, some years ago, 

 he went home to Canada on a year's leave. While 

 there it was considered advisable that he should re- 

 main and preach mission sermons throughout the 

 Dominion. When he returned to Eromanga he had 

 been away just two years and eight months. They 

 had left their house open— not a key turned in cup- 

 board.or door, and they found every thing exactly 

 as they left it. The trees they had planted had been 

 carefully tended; the house and grounds were as 

 clean and white as lime and pounded coral could 

 make them; and during all that time no white man 

 had set foot on that island. When we consider that, 

 only a few years ago, these people were savages 

 and cannibals, it speaks wonders for the work that 

 has been done among them. 



Sophie A. Bradley. 

 Campbelltown, New South Wales, June 10, 1889. 



Many thanks, my good friend, for the del- 

 icate compliment you pay me. To be sure, 

 it always pleases me to hear testimony that 

 speaks of the power of Christ's love. My 

 opinion is, that that missionary was respect- 

 ed and beloved by his people. It was out of 

 love to him that they kept his house and 

 garden in such neat trim for almost three 

 years ; and the little incident portrays what 

 the love of Christ may do for the human 

 heart; yes, even for the heart of a savage. 

 Just think of the wonderful stride made in 

 a few years, from cannibalism to Christian- 

 ity ! 



A GOOD REPORT. 



AN ENTHUSIASTIC BEGINNER'S EXPERIENCE. 



T HAVE to report from Fillmore Co. a very good 

 M yield of honey for 1889. Although I am a very 

 ]|l small bee-keeper compared with some of my 

 ■^ neighbors, if we may judge others by our- 

 selves, I feel safe in saying that the amount 

 gathered is wonderful. 1 started with four good 

 colonies, and a hive literally raised from the dead. 

 I have always run my bees, for extracted honey, 

 and started out so this year, taking 33 gallons of 

 white clover and basswood honey, and increasing 



