GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUltE. 



Nov. 



shut up your hives very securely, and look out for 

 horses being stung, for you had some experience 

 when you hauled them the previous spring, and 

 very likely got into some trouble which made you 

 wish you had never undertaken to haul bees. I 

 may mention, however, that you have more bees in 

 a hive in the fall, and, if there is any difference, 

 they are crosser. C. C. Miller. 



Marengo, 111. 



Friend M., your directions are exceeding- 

 ly valuable. Every line indicates that you 

 are writing from practical experience, and I 

 think it will be well for the ABC class to 

 read this chapter over and over. 



A MODEL BEE-YARD. 



FKIEND BOAKDMAN TALKS TO US ABOUT HAVING 

 THE GROUND CLEAN AROUND THE HIVES. 



HAT'S good enough, Ed. You may con- 

 sider this job begun, you'll not need to 

 hurry; take your time for it, and peel 

 the turf all off the yard as you have be- 

 gun here. There's nothing particularly 

 driving now, and I believe this is a work that will 

 pay well. 



" The apple will be in bloom in about two weeks; 

 and if it does not give the bees a lift I shall have to 

 do considerable feeding. We shall be in time with 

 this work, so that the ground will have a chance to 

 settle and become solid so that it won't get muddy 

 if it should chance to be rainy about that time." 



The next day, toward night, as I came into the 

 yard it presented a most ludicrous sight. The loose 

 turf was rolled up in all conceivable shapes, and the 

 alleys between the hives looked like a very roughly 

 plowed field, with the hives planted down between 

 the furrows. 



"You have it all done, haven't you, Ed? How 

 much time do you think it has taken to make this 

 yard look so horrid?" 



"Oh! about a day and a half— not more than 

 that." 



" Well, all right. I see you have to work with a 

 veil on. This kind of work makes the bees a little 

 cross. I wouldn't blame them, if they take any 

 kind of pride in their surroundings if they should 

 sting every member of the human family at sight. 

 But we'll mase this look better before we get done 

 with it." 

 '• I'll go to the cistern and bathe my eye where that 

 little rascal stung me. Cold water is the best reme- 

 dy for a bee-sting, I know of." 



"The yard is 60 x 85 feet, and contains at present 

 104 colonies. It would accommodate a much larger 

 number without crowding. But I am not in favor 

 of crowding colonies too close together. About 5 

 feet in the rows, with the rows 8 feet apart, gives a 

 very convenient distance between the hives. I 

 want ample room in the alleys to run a hand-cart or 

 hive-carrier; and an open alley through the middle 

 of the yard, wide enough for a wagon, is often- 

 times very convenient." 



After enduring the sight of the yard in this torn- 

 up condition for a few days, with no very good 

 prospects for fair weather, nor sunshine enough to 

 dry it out very much, I gave orders to have the turf 

 gathered up and wheeled outside the yard, and 

 dumped in a pile; and while this was being done I 

 looked about and found a piece of crosscut-saw 



plate, about 2(4 feet long, which I carried to the 

 blacksmith, and with his help I got up a tool to level 

 and smooth the ground after the turf was removed. 



BOARDMAN'S SCUFFLE-HOE, FOR CLEANING WEEDS 

 AND GRASS FROM BEE-YARDS. 



It was made by riveting a clif t - shank upon the 

 flat side of the saw-plate, so that a handle could be 

 put on, and at the same time extending along the 

 plate far enough to give the required strength. To 

 this I attached a handle about 5 feet long. I called 

 this tool a scraper. It has proven a most valuable 

 and efficient tool, and about the only one needed to 

 keep the yard in order. The expense of getting it 

 up was, I think, about 30 cents to the smith, and a 

 little not over-valuable time of my own in putting 

 it together, not including any thing for the inven- 

 tion. If any bee-keeper should want one— please 

 don't hesitate about making it. It is not patented, 

 nor shall I charge any thing for priority of inven- 

 tion. 



I was now ready for business. As I returned to 

 the yard with the new scraper on my shoulder, the 

 first object that met my sight was a huge mound of 

 fresh dirt and turf, and Ed was posing upon its 

 summit, holding a four-tined fork with which he 

 had been at work, reminding me very much of the 

 statue of Jove holding the thunderbolts in his hand. 



" Hello! what have you here? This is a specimen 

 for you." 



"I've got the bee-yard skinned, and this is the 

 skin rolled up here. You are a taxidermist, and I 

 thought may be you'd want to stuff and mount it." 



" Never mind. I consider it properly mounted 

 now. I'll tell you how I will dispose of it. I'll use 

 it in the garden, and I think it is worth all it has 

 cost to remove it for that purpose." 



The new scraper even surpassed my expectations 

 at the first trial, and it was not a long job, nor a 

 hard one, to scrape the yard smooth and level in 

 every part until it looked like a model croquet- 

 ground. I was much better pleased with the job 

 than I should have been with the first plan of mak- 

 ing a dooryard for each colony, for now the scythe 

 could be dispensed with entirely. It is the first 

 time in my whole experience with bees that I have 

 been entirely satisfied with the preparation of the 

 ground in the bee-yard. I had some apprehensive- 

 ness that the ground would be muddy when a long 

 rainy spell came; but my apprehensions were un- 

 founded. It proved always, even during a long 

 drizzling rain, much more pleasant working than 

 on the grass ground. Of course, the ground is tiled, 

 which helps to keep it dry, and no water can stand 



