876 



GLEANINGS IN HEE CULTUKE. 



Nov. 



Thomas Caraman would offer some of this 

 wonderful honey for sale, sooner or later. 

 Now, is there any one of our readers who is 

 prepared to tell us whether such trees are to 

 be found in Tasmania ? And has there ever 

 been such an amount as 11,000 lbs. of honey 

 taken from one tree V Until some one can 

 corroborate this statement, I think we can 

 put it down as a humbug, the whole of it. 



0aR 0WN ^PI^RY. 



CpMPUCIED BY ERKEST B. ROOT. 



THE CONDITION OF OUK BKES FOR THK 

 COMING WINTEll. 



'E have now packed in chaff, after the 

 manner we have formerly described, 

 2'60 colonies, 170 of which number 

 are at the home apiary, and the rest, 

 54, are in the swamp. ' In accordance 

 with our usual custom we pack on chaff 

 cushions the first of October— the loose chaff 

 a month later. Why do we not put the lat- 

 ter around and above the lirood-nest at the 

 same time the cushions are placed on the 

 hives ? For two reasons we prefer to make 

 the postponement. First, some colonies, in 

 consequence of the shrinkaj]:e of the stores, 

 resulting from evaporation and consump- 

 tion, require a little more feeding. We find 

 tliat we can not calculate exactly, before 

 feeding, the amount this or that colony will 

 need. Taking advantage of a few warm 

 spells which are sure to take place during 

 the last days of October, in our locality, 

 after we have fed the estimated amount for 

 each hive, we critically examine every col- 

 ony to see if it still possesses a queen, and 

 also whether it has its combs well filled with 

 sealed stores. If any colony is lacking in 

 either requisite, they are supplied. Second, 

 it is much easier to adjust the Hill devices, 

 slip in the division-boards, and pack in the 

 loose chaff, after the bees have begun to 

 contract somewhat in their winter cluster. 

 If these things be done during a warm 

 spell, the bees seem to take particular de- 

 light in crawling over behind the division- 

 boards, and mix up in the loose chaff, as 

 the latter is put above and around the brood- 

 nest. 



It may be urged, that the late feeding of a 

 few colonies might be disastrous to them, as 

 they would not have time to properly ripen 

 and cap over the syrup fed before cold 

 weather set in. That might be so ; but last 

 year we did precisely that thing on a much 

 larger scale, 9 nd did not lose a, smgle colony ont 

 of the 201 placed in winter quarters last fall. 

 At this time of year I believe our colonies 

 were never stronger than they are this 

 fall. They have not been reduced by the 

 sale of bees during the summer months, nor 

 did our npiary become reduced from foul 

 brood. The latter we kept in check, not al- 

 lowing it to get any sort of start. Last year 

 we had only nuclei to go into winter quar- 

 ters, and we wintered every one success- 

 fully. This year, with few exceptions, our 

 bees cover six and seven frames full. Last 

 year I should not have been surprised if we 

 had lost one-half our colonies. This year I 



shall be surprised if we lose any thing over 

 a dozen ; but as this wintering problem is 

 as intricate as itlis^uncertain, we might lose 

 a large percentage of our bees in spite of the 

 fact that every thing is favorable for winter- 

 ing. 



HOW LONG WILL CHAFF LAST IN CHAFF 



IIIVES? 



At the close of this season we had some- 

 thing like 100 chaff hives to disinfect. As 

 the surest means to this end we decided to 

 totally remove the chaff and boil the hives. 

 This might seem like quite a difficult opera- 

 tion, but is not so hard if you know how. 

 We turn the hives over on their sides, and 

 with a nail-set and hammer set the nails 

 clear through the siding— that is, the nails 

 which secured the bottom of the hive. If 

 you are careful to get all the nails set 

 through, the bottom readily lifts out. Some 

 chaff" hives have been in use for a period of 

 12 years constantly; and as we drew out the 

 bottoms of the hives we felt pretty sure that 

 we should find old, rotten, and moldy 

 chaff. On the contrary, we were very much 

 surprised to find the chaff as nice, clean, 

 and sweet as the day we put it in, and from 

 all appearances it would have lasted anoth- 

 er 12 years, which would probably be as 

 long as the chaff hive itself would have last- 

 ed. After removing the chaff it was set 

 aside to be used for bedding for horses, to 

 be worked up into manure. The shell of 

 the hives after the chaff has been removed 

 is immersed in scalding hot water, after 

 which they are set out to dry in the yard. 

 They have all been repacked with clean new 

 chaff, and are now in use again in the apiary. 



Gleanihcs in Bee Culture, 



Published Setni- Monthly. 



J^. X. IROOT, 

 EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, 



TERMS: $1.00 PER YEAR, POSTPAID. 



For Clublsiiie Eates, Sse First Page of Reading Matter. 



The following' note from friend Hutchinson ex- 

 plains itself: 



Friend Root;—] havi^ sold my farm near Rogersville, to my 

 brother -the cine who has been with me several years, and 

 have iniroliasi'd and taken possession of a small place (^ acrei 

 in the suburbs of Flint, Mn li. 1 still own the apiary, and may 

 eventually biiiiK part of the bees here. W. Z. HUTCHrNSON. 



Flint, Mu-h,, Nov. 7, \mi . 



He writes that a good deal of his correspondence 

 is going to Kogersville. Will those who have occa- 

 sion to write to him please bear in mind in the fu- 

 ture to direct all communications for friend Hutch- 

 inson to Flint, Genesee Co., Mich., lock box 1611'!' 



QUESTIONS IN THE QUESTION-BOX DEPARTMENT— 

 FURTHER DISCUSSION OF. 



It occurs to us, that perhaps not a few of our cor- 

 respondents would like to see some of the questions. 



