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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1 



KEEPING UP WITH THE TIMES; THE STINGY 



BEE-KEEPER WHO CAN'T AFFORD A 



BEE-PAPER. 



This subject has been sug-g-ested to me by 

 reading- some mirth-provoking' letters in the 

 "Apiarian" columns of some farm papers 

 which come to me. One correspondent 

 launches forth upon the sea of discussion 

 as to the best method in working- for in- 

 crease and improving- the stock. In mak- 

 ing- first division he says, "Set parent hive 

 to one side and remove two frames of brood 

 to new hive located on old stand, allowing- 

 old queen to remain in old hive and put a 

 new queen in new hive with bees at time of 

 dividing." Now, don't you know that those 

 bees would immediately kill that new 

 queen? In fact, his advice a little further 

 on shows it when he says, "Eight days 

 later make second division as at first, then 

 g-o to first division and cut out a queen-cell, 

 g-iving- it to the second division." How in 

 the name of sense would you expect to get 

 queen-cells built in a nucleus with a g-ood 

 queen ? And, ag-ain, just what a slim 

 chance a queen-cell would stand of not 

 being- torn down by the bees of a newly 

 made nucleus taken from a hive with a 

 queen, unless a cell-protector is used, which 

 he does not mention! He says this divid- 

 ing- can be kept up every eight days as long- 

 as honey lasts. It seems to me, thoug-h, 

 they would be g-etting rather weak about 

 the third division after losing- their field 

 bees and two frames of brood three times 

 in two weeks. 



In the same paper another correspondent 

 says that "queens should be raised from 

 selected workers." If this is true we have 

 been — but, say — if queens can br raised 

 from workers, workers can too, and why 

 bother with queens? Oh how funny! 



But underneath this rippling- surface lies 

 the question, broad and deep, which we are 

 driving- at — i. e., whatever be your business, 

 take a paper making a specialty of that bus- 

 iness, and the information gleaned from it 

 will generally do to depend upon — bee pa- 

 pers especially. Do you know a politician 

 who does not take political papers? or a 

 tradesman who does not read publications 

 devoted to his calling? If you do, you sure- 

 ly know him to be unsuccessful too. Then 

 how easy to see the folly of attempting to 

 succeed in bee-keeping when you depend 

 upon the "bee page" of a paper devoted 

 mostly to something else. The editor is, in 

 one sense, not to blame, for he seldom knows 

 any thing about bees, and has to chuck in 

 his correspondence "bodily," just as he re- 

 ceives it. But couldn't he beat this by get- 

 ting some good authority on bees to ap- 

 prove his bee articles? or, better still, take 

 charge of this department? How is an ag- 

 ricultural editor to know who is good au- 

 thority on bees? Well, all the editors of 

 bee-papers I know are good authority, and 

 do not let bad stuff get into their publica- 

 tions, so most of their contributors are all 

 right. 



It is no wonder so many fail with bees. 



and, getting disgusted, quit the business 

 and boldly denounce the careful painstak- 

 ing bee-keeper who has paid out his money 

 for the best information and best supplies 

 the market affords, and say he can not pro- 

 duce honest honey in quantities. While he 

 may injure the demand a little he can't very 

 much, and in one way he is our safeguard 

 by his failure deterring many who might 

 be successful from entering the field and 

 overdoing the business. While the true art 

 of bee management may be transmitted, a 

 heritage from father to son, one must also 

 be on the lookout for the farmer bee-keeper 

 who has hived a swarm of bees in an old 

 "gum," and hastens to tell his farm paper 

 about the great secret which the unknowing 

 editor thinks is a fact, accepts it, and sends 

 the paper a whole year in return. 



Odin, Mo., Aug. 8. D. B. Thomas. 



IS the wiring of frames a NECESSITY? 



Can GLUCOSE be fed for comb 

 honey? 



Some time ago I read in Gleanings that 

 much useless wiring of frames is done. I 

 have used foundation-starters, full sheets 

 without wire, and also with wire. Now, I 

 can not understand how anybody can suc- 

 ceed in keeping full sheets in the center of 

 the frames without having them wired. I 

 used to keep the sheets in the unwired 

 frames in place by tacks; but this seems a 

 poor contrivance, and I much prefer wiring. 

 Will you kindly explain how others succeed 

 without wiring? 



I noticed some of your articles on comb- 

 honey adulteration. You are, no doubt, 

 quite correct that comb honey can not be 

 manufactured; but can not comb honey (as 

 my neighbor stated to me) be adulterated 

 by feeding bees glucose? When I was con- 

 fronted with this question I could not ans- 

 wer it, and I am looking to you for infor- 

 mation. 



Do you know whether that world-famous 

 bee-keeper (Dr. Gandy), of Nebraska, win- 

 tered his bees in a cellar? and did he also 

 practice spring feeding? If he did the for- 

 mer, he must have had a tremendous cellar 

 for his three thousand colonies or a large 

 number of such. 



Will j'ou give me the address of some 

 standard periodical or journal on garden- 

 ing? 



Is the narrow entrance on the Danzenba- 

 ker bottom-board not too large, so that mice 

 can enter in winter? Will it be necessary 

 for me to reduce to % inch? 



H. A. Burling. 



Cleveland, O., Aug. 23. 



[I don't know how our friends get along 

 without wiring their frames. While I ac- 

 knowledge they can do it, and while I be- 

 lieve I could manage to do it, I would not. 

 I would no more think of getting along 

 without wiring than I would of going back 

 to the old tallow candle. The expense of 

 wiring is but trifling, the labor involved is 

 small. The annoyance that I have experi- 



