1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



95 



come to the cluster of bees, when you can 

 carefully note the amount of sealed honey 

 not covered with bees. If you find plenty 

 of sealed honey along- the top-bars to the 

 frames, you can set that colony down as 

 having enough till April. If plenty in half 

 of the combs, then it is probably good till 

 March. If very little, then it should be 

 looked after in two weeks; and if none at 

 all, it should be fed at once. All not need- 

 ing feeding at once should be left with the 

 hope that a day warm enough for the bees 

 to fly maj' occur, when all needing attention 

 should be looked after; but should no such 

 day occur, then they should be attended to 

 before they starve, no matter what the 

 weather." 



"Well, how shall I feed at this time of 

 the year?" 



"My waj^ has been to take frames of hon- 

 ey from those in which I see much sealed 

 honey, and give to those about to starve, 

 taking out the outside combs of honey on 

 any day when I could best do so, and put- 

 ting dummies in their places. I now place 

 these combs in a warm room for four or five 

 hours till they get thoroughlj'' warmed 

 through, when I go to the destitute colony, 

 take out one or two empty combs on the out- 

 side, divide frames near the center of the 

 cluster of bees, using smoke to keep them 

 from flying, and set in the warmed combs. 

 In this way any apiary which had enough 

 stores on an average, so that each colony 

 could have had 12 lbs., had the stores been 

 equalized in the fall, can be brought through 

 till we can feed in the spring." 



"Suppose the colonies are in the cellar." 

 "The same plan can be used there with 

 all colonies where the combs can be gotten 

 at; otherwise they will have to take their 

 chances. But colonies in the cellar will 

 generally go till they are set out, should 

 they have as much as 6 lbs. in the hive 

 when they were set in." 



"How about feeding in the spring?" 

 "This can be done with feeders in the 

 regulation manner, as given in the books; 

 but feeding with an}^ thing but combs of 

 sealed honey during the winter months has 

 been very unsatisfactory to me." 



NOTES FROM A HONEY=MAN. 



Thick Top'bars Preferred ; Selling Honey ; a Joke 

 on Hershiser. 



BY S. A. NIVER. 



Mr. Editor: — Every little while some item 

 in Gleanings will almost persuade me to 

 get out the old quill and take a hand in the 

 fracas; but my almost insurmountable mod- 



esty makes it easier for you by keeping me 

 silent. Just what makes me bristle up this 

 time is that thick or thin top-bar controver- 

 sy between Pettit and Dr. Strawcutter, for 

 it's many a weary hour did I work at the 

 sticky job of exchanging ^s pine worm-eat- 

 en top-bars for yk basswood ones. Please 

 read that last part over again, and read it 

 slowl}', for it sums up Morton's conclusions 

 after many years of experimenting. You 

 may remember that Morton always had en- 

 amel cloth over his frames or supers in 

 summer, and worms (apologies to Prof. 

 Cook ) would get on top of the pine top-bar, 

 and bore or eat holes enough there to weak- 

 en it so it would sag more than it naturally 

 would, on account of being too thin; but 

 they never trouble basswood. 



I am keeping at the canvassing from 

 house to house with extracted honey, and 

 have handled 8750 pounds this season, and 

 was put out of commission by the grip for 

 four weeks besides. There are many vexa- 

 tious little points to settle before the system 

 will work all smoothly; but every one met 

 and conquered makes it easier. One little 

 incident I want to tell you about, for it 

 makes me feel real toney. 



I am in the habit of going over my terri- 

 tory about once a month, and so in the 

 course of my rounds I called on a customer 

 who had a dollar's worth the first trip. A 

 chap of twenty years or thereabout answer- 

 ed the door-bell, and, to my inquiry if the 

 lady of the house wjis in, replied, " No, 

 she is out." Then I explained the case, 

 and asked if that first lot of honey was gone 

 yet, and if they wanted more. 



Say, Ernest, you would have enjoj^ed 

 seeing the smiles thaw out the frost on that 

 young chap's face. He swung the door 

 open wide enough to let in a pair of honey 

 agents, and said, with a hearty ring to his 

 voice, " Oh! you are the honey-man. Come 

 right in. I'll call mother — she is in the 

 parlor. I thought you were a book agent." 



"There! don't we feel less of that tired 

 feeling, and step a bit loftier, when stray 

 straws like that show how the public begins 

 to recognize our true worth? 



In another house I was told a good yarn 

 on Hershiser, the jolly superintendent of 

 the York State honey exhibit at the Pan- 

 American. The lad3' had been persuaded 

 to buy a jar of extracted honey there in the 

 booth, "And," said she, "what do you 

 think it was? Why, nothing but sugar 

 syrup flavored with cinnamon essence." 



Who would have " thunk it " of Hershis- 

 er — our ferociously virtuous Hershiser? But 

 all my assurances of his honesty were of no 

 avail with that lady. 



The grocers here are selling tumblers of 

 a clear yellowish liquid labeled Pure Hon- 

 ey, which has a sticky eftect to the tongue, 

 and a decided flavor and aroma of cinna- 

 mon. If they will only keep right on han- 

 dling such stock, leaving the honej'^ trade 

 to me, they will never hear a word of protest 

 from me. 



Niagara Falls, N. Y. 



