780 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Oct. 



cheap, and much better than tin. I have not used 

 any of it. I have just received samples, and I be- 

 lieve it will answer the purpose. You see any kind 

 of lumber can be used that is picked up, almost, and 

 make a good cover. C. H. McFadden. 



Clarksburg, Mo., Sept. V, 1889. 



I have never seen any rubber roofing that 

 was a success for any length of time. I do 

 not believe there is any thing made that 

 would compare favorably with tin. 



CHAFF-HIVE ENTRANCES TOO SMALL. 



I was visiting- a bee-keeper lately, and had quite a 

 discussion with him concerning the hives he was 

 using. He had 107 stands, I believe, and only about 

 13 or 15 of them were chaff hives, while the rest 

 were Simplicity. He told me that there was not 

 room for ventilation in the chaff hive, with an en- 

 trance 8 x % inches. He says it is almost impos- 

 sible to keep the bees inside in very hot weather. I 

 have had the same trouble this summer. 1 have 36 

 chaff hives, and with all the shade I could give I 

 would frequently have the front of the hive cover- 

 ed with bees. Will you please tell me what is the 

 matter? My bees have given little or no honey this 

 year. I am proud of Gleanings, and wish it and 

 its publisher success. S. R. Holbert. 



Watson, W. Va., Sept. 5, 1889. 



Our chaff-hive entrances heretofore have 

 been too small, and we now make them the 

 full width of the hive. The clustering on 

 the outside has been caused largely by en- 

 trances being too small. 



SKUNKS AND BEES. 



Skunks sometimes trouble me late in the fall. 

 One hive has a place where they have scratched 

 more than a fourth of an inch deep in the front of 

 it. When grasshoppers, crickets, and the other 

 bugs and worms they live on are mostly gone, they 

 go for the bees. 1 use a box trap to catch them. 

 One fall I caught four. They seldom scent if 

 drowned in a trap, and their hides and oil in No- 

 vember are usually worth from 75 cents to $1.50 

 each. J. L. Hubbard. 



Walpole, N. H., Sept. 11, 1889. 



SKUNKS; AN EASY WAY OF CATCHING AND KILL- 

 ING THEM. 



To help friend Doolittle and others out a little, I 

 will tell him how to destroy these pests. Some 

 years ago, when I lived in California, I set traps to 

 catch foxes, and soon caught, in all, 13 skunks in 

 box traps; but to get clear of them without spoiling 

 my traps, and not have other disagreeable results, 

 was a question at first difficult but afterward easy 

 to solve. I will now talk direct to Mr. D. Make a 

 box trap of the old-fashioned kind, with a fall lid, 

 say 10 x 10 inches, and 3 ft. long. Smear a fresh egg 

 on the bottom and inside. Bait with an egg, and 

 set near your bees where the skunks come. The 

 next morning you will be pretty sure to have the 

 gentleman. The terrible odor of a skunk is his 

 weapon of defense, and is never used except as a 

 last resort, and in an emergency. As it is as offen- 

 sive to themselves as it is to any thing else, no fears 

 need be entertained. Pick the trap right up under 

 your arms, on your shoulder, or in any way, and 

 carry it as far as you wish, only handle it without 

 thumps or jars. Into a pool of water fully large 

 and deep enough to surely cover the whole trap, 

 immerse it and hold it there live minutes, and very 



seldom any smell will be raite d p.t all. Once in a 

 while one will give a fcent when immeised in the 

 water, but not often; but you need have no fears 

 in handling the box so long as you do it gently. I 

 handled the thirteen so, without any trouble. 



A. A. Fradenburg. 

 Port Washington, O., Aug. 2, 1889. 



MINERAL WAX ; SOMETHING FROM ONE OF OUR 

 SUBSCRIBERS IN THE REGION ; SEE GLEAN- 

 INGS FOR JULY 15. 



I live about 30 miles from the wax referred to in 

 the clipping. This is the only mine from which 

 wax has been shipped, as yet, in this region. The 

 mine has been worked about 3 years. This is near- 

 ly pure asphaltum. It is sent to Price Station, 100 

 miles, in wagons. The mountains near Price River, 

 on the D. & R. G R. R., also abound in mineral wax 

 of various kinds. The best is elaterite, or mineral 

 gutta percha; ozocerite, and others of less value. 

 There are large quantities containing paraffine 

 wax. Tnis, in i'.s crude state, is good chewing-gum. 

 These latter have just been discovered, and are 

 still undeveloped. They are all jet black, and noth- 

 ing like beeswax, and never will compete with that 

 article. There is no other wax of that description 

 in Utah, that I know of. Bart Bartlett. 



Vernal, Utah, Aug. 26, 1889. 



Many thanks, friend B. Near the Ojai 

 hot springs, in the vicinity of San Buena- 

 ventura, 1 saw mineral wax, or bitumen, ex- 

 uding from the hills in such quantities that 

 for quite a distance it made a hard roadway 

 for the horses. At other points it was so 

 soft that the turkeys got it daubed on their 

 feet, and were in great distress because the 

 leaves, feathers, and every thing else, clung 

 to them so as to impede tneir walking. This 

 wax was, however, as you say, black, and 

 nothing like beeswax. 1 am inclined to 

 think, however, that there is something 

 somewhere in these great Western wilds 

 that is a pretty fair substitute for beeswax 

 and paraffine. (Jan anybody else tell us 

 about it V 



HONEY from ground ivy, after jack frost. 



Last fall, after Jack Frost had already destroyed 

 all visible flower life, I prepared to store away my 

 pets for the long dreary winter; and upon an in- 

 spection several days thereafter, I found, to my 

 utter surprise, enough uncapped honey to equalize 

 three pounds, in the hives. The question now 

 arose, Where did this honey come from, and where 

 did the bees obtain it? As the honey-house was in- 

 tact, they did not get it from that source. After 

 close watching I noticed the bee-line leading toward 

 the river; and being well posted about the sur- 

 rounding flora I skirmished the country over hills 

 and valleys, but all in vain, as the frost had done 

 its work completely. At last, and not far distant 

 from my house, 1 found my truant yellow jackets 

 busily engaged on a heavily overgrown piece of 

 ground ivy, Glechoma hedaacca, the tops of which, 

 being affected by the frost, yet left the lower parts 

 in a good state and in lull bloom. On tasting the 

 honey 1 found it to be very bitter; and fearing it to 

 be injurious to my bees I extracted it and destroy- 

 ed the plants. The honey granulates easily, and is 

 of a greenish-white color. As stated before, I ob- 

 tained three pounds. In its proper soil, the plant 

 becomes of a strong, creeping growth, the blossom 

 being of a blue, purplish color, and is one of the 



