1887 



GLEANINGS IN liEE CULTURE. 



70:^ 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS, 



HOW MANY COLONIES CAN BE KEPT IN A CELr.AR, 

 WITHOUT VENTIT.ATION? 



T|p FTER reading Dr. C. C. Miller's article on 

 gflk "Ventilating Hco-eellars " I thought the 



iPJ^ very point I was looking lor was ijassed over 

 ■^"^ by both the doctor and yourself. He states, 

 " Years ago I wintered 8 colonies in a cellar 

 which was as tight as I could well make it," etc. 

 "Those colonies came through in the finest possi- 

 ble condition— lor the little air forced through the 

 cracks of the ceUar is enough for the few colo- 

 nies. . . . Rut Avhen I put ~0() colonies or more in 

 that xaiiir c!ellar, the case was nuiterially changed." 

 N'erygood; but where between the H and the 3()0 

 would the ventilation in that cellar commence to be 

 needed? What should be the number of cubic feet 

 to each colony, so managed in that cellar as to need 

 no ventilation? It would seem to me, if these 

 ((uestions could be answered from observation 

 taken, we should be on the right road to solving the 

 problem of wintering bees. Even should one wish 

 to put more than that or a certain number in a 

 given cellar, we should know something of the 

 amount of ventilation that would be needed. 



A. E. Smith. 

 Darlington, Wis., Aug. 22, 1887. 



household CONVENIENCES — another VIEW. 



I have been greatly interested in the articles on 

 home conveniences, written by Dr. Miller, Prof. 

 Cook, and others, and can heartily indorse all of 

 them; still, one point has not been mentioned, if I 

 remember right. If we admit, for argument's 

 sake, that our liouses are inconvenient, our women 

 overworked, and we are thoughtle.ss, I still think 

 there may be a little fault somewhere else. The 

 writers I have mentioned have shown us that it is 

 our duty to provide conveniences, and to remove 

 inconveniences. How shall we know what conven- 

 iences to furnish — or, rather, whether a change 

 made by us will be an improvement oi- not? Few of 

 us are obliged to do our own housekeeping: but we 

 are required to supply pi-o\isions, ere; and as the 

 latter duty takes nearly all our time we can not 

 watch others to notice whether they are doing need- 

 less work or not; neither can we realize inconven- 

 iences they may labor under, as we could were we 

 in their places. That is the way I look at the mat- 

 ter now, and I can suggest but one way to remove 

 the difBculty. If the women who do our house- 

 keeping will carefully think over their work, and see 

 what causes them needless steps, and suggest an im- 

 provement, then I think we shall do our part, and 

 their work will be made as easy as jMSSible. If 1 

 were a wile or housekeeper I should do this, not in 

 a fault-Hnding way, but pleasantly. Lots of men 

 would make their wives' work easier if circum- 

 stances permitted. G. A. Hukd. 

 South Acton, Me., Aug. 3!t, 1887. 



Fi'ieiul IL, by all means consult the wo- 

 men in regard to the improvements yon are 

 going to make ; but a good many women, as 

 well as other people, never think of there be- 

 ing a better way, many times, iniless some 

 one suggests it" to them. A t\'W days ago 

 one of our women in the factory was lilling 

 glass jars with tinnatoes. i)reparator.\ to 



canning. She used a table-spoon, and was 

 so long in getting the tomatoes in the jar I 

 feared they would be so cold they would not 

 keep. I asked lier why she did "not use the 

 little tin tunnel we have on purpose. Now, 

 although banging within a few feet of where 

 she was at work, she did not even know we 

 had one. A little more observation showed 

 me that she was trying to get the solid part 

 of a tomato without the juice. I asked her 

 why she did not use a perforated skimmer. 

 She replied to this, also, that she did not 

 know we had such an implement, and I was 

 surprised to tind there never had been one in 

 the kitchen. Right at the head of the stairs 

 — close by where they are at wovk — is our 

 counter store, where four different patterns 

 of perforated skimmers and wire dippers 

 were hanging over the counters, and had been 

 for yeais. In fact, we sell them by the hun- 

 dreds. I carried them one of each, and told 

 them to keep them and use them, and they 

 were astonished to see what a handy thing a 

 wire ladle is. Now, this we meet at every 

 turn. People take slow and laborious meth- 

 ods of doing things, and wear themselves 

 out with fatigue, when implements for do- 

 ing the work better and cheaper aie often, 

 perhaps, right within a few yards of them. I 

 have sometimes thought that we need more 

 brains ;i gieat deal worse than we need more 

 tools; and please, friend II., don't rush to 

 the conclusion that it is the women-folks 

 alone who don"t make use of, or who don't 

 take short cuts with, the appliances that ai'e 

 already riglit at hand. 



K.IKCTED HONEy. 



It seems from the contents of the Amcricnn Bi't- 

 Jouinal of late, that the bee-keeping world is in a 

 rage for a new name for extracted honey ; and 

 every name that could be thought of, almost, has 

 been suggested; but none of them seem to suit 

 Bro. Newman. Well, so far as I am concerned the 

 name " extracted " is as good as I want; but if 

 anybody else wants another name, and nothing but 

 a change will do them, then by all means let them 

 call it by some word that simply expresses the 

 trutli in the case. Now, every Latin scholar knows 

 that the word " extracted " means " drawn out " 

 —from e.r, out, and traho, I draw; and we all know 

 that the honey is not drawn out, but thrown out. 

 W^ell, if it is thrown out, then let us use the word 

 that expresses that, and nothing more; to wit, 

 ejected — from e, out, and jncere to throw or cast. 

 Consequently we will call it ejected honey, if we 

 must have a change; l)ut I insist that a change is 

 not absohUely necessary. However, if you want a 

 change, Bro. Root, and the word T have suggested 

 suits you. I hereby give you all the right and title 

 that I may have (as the first one to suggest it) to 

 the patent. So I shall in a few dajs order of you 

 a " honey-ejector"— ha! ha I 



Bees are working finely on my buckwheat. 

 Weather is dry and cool. J. (!. Nance. 



Bellview, Ky., Aug. :!l. 1887. 



Friend X., the principal reason why I 

 should prefer the name ■' extracted '' alone, 

 is, that I very inucli doubt whether the 

 name could be ch;inged, even if we tried ever 

 so hard. When people get accustomed to a 

 term, and use it a dozen times a day or 

 more, the world over, it is a bigger t;isk to 



