180 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15 



Heads of Grain 



From Different Fields 



BEE-KEEPING AND FARMING; A GOOD SHOWING. 



White clover is about all dead here, but about 

 three-fourths of the alsike is alive I don't ex- 

 pect much honey next season. 



I have been keeping bees since I was nine 

 years old; am 64 now. I have four yards of 

 bees strung out for twelve miles. I tend them 

 myself, and oversee the farm. I sold $1530 

 worth of honey last year. Henry Hastings. 



Kenton, O , Jan. 12. 



DO BtES OF ONE COLONY ALWAYS WORK ON ONE 

 KIVD OF FLOWER.? 



If it is not always true that all the bees of the 

 hive work at one time upon one kind of flower, 

 p. 18, Jan. 1, it certainly is true sometimes, for I 

 have many times noticed and wondered at the 

 difference in the surplus honey from different 

 hives standing perhaps side by side. One may 

 have dark honey or honey with a strong tarweed 

 flavor, while the other has fine light-colored hon- 

 ey with a superb flavor. J. P. R. Hall. 



Bostonia, Cal., Jan. 13. 



SPLINTS AND WIRE FOR SUPPORTING FOUNDA- 

 TION; THE ALEXANDER METHOD OF EXTRACP- 

 ING AND FEEDING BACK INDORSED. 



My experience with Dr. Miller's idea of wood- 

 en splints for supporting foundation has shown 

 me that the splints are all right when used with 

 wire; but when used alone there seems to be too 

 much warping. If splints are too long they are 

 not satisfactory; and if used out of season for 

 comb-building, say in July, they are eaten off at 

 the bottom and some in the middle. If the hon- 

 ey-flow is good, the splints and wire together 

 make an ideal support. 



I was well pleased with the Alexander method 

 of extracting honey from combs in the spring, 

 and feeding it back. I extracted three combs 

 from each hive, and fed it back with some sugar 

 syrup, and my colonies were just booming by ap- 

 ple-blossom time. I intend to try it again next 

 spring. Geo. A. Mathews. 



Bedford Station, N. Y. 



UNCAPPING WITH BOTH AN UPWARD AND DOWN- 

 WARD STROKE; THE COLD KNIFE PREFERRED; 

 THE HEDDON CLOSED-END FRAME FOR EXTRACT- 

 ING. 



The first eight years of my experience I used a 

 heated knife; but I found I could do just as good 

 work with the cold knife, and did not have the 

 bother of heating water, and saved the cost of fuel 

 in heating it. I think I can do more rapid work 

 with the cold knife, as 1 do not have to place the 

 knife in the water, and I also save the honey that 

 adheres to the knife. 



I use both the upward and downward stroke in 

 uncapping. The first stroke downward takes 

 about two-thirds of the capping clear to the end- 

 bar. The upward stroke finishes the work to the 

 other end-bar. I thus get the use of both edges 

 of the uncapping-knife, and have a sharp knife 

 longer than I would if I used only one edge in 



cutting all one way. I can say that I prefer the 

 cold knife to the hot one. I have used the cod 

 knife nine years. 



I have three kinds of extracting-ffames — the 

 regular Hoffman, full size; the half depth Hoff- 

 man, and the Heddon frame. The Heddon beats 

 them all for easy uncapping, and is my pr> ference 

 for an extracting-frame. D. I. Wagar. 



Flat Rock, Mich. 



A STRAIGHT-HANDLED KNIFE PREFERRED. 



According to my experience, Dr. Miller is 

 right when he says in his fourth Straw, p. 1303, 

 Nov. 1, "Are not those places depressions, and 

 would they not be better reached with a straight 

 handle and a curved blade.? " I have always us* d 

 a straight-handled knife with practically a straight 

 edge, except about a quarter of its length, which 

 tapers with a long curve toward the point. I a^k 

 for nothing better. 



The main features of a serviceable uncapping- 

 knife are a thin blade, but not one too flexible, 

 faultlessly bright, and an almost razor edge; and. 

 I emphasize, the more scrupulously bright and 

 sharp, the more and better work it will do. I 

 have never found it necessary to warm or heat an 

 uncapping-knife, and consider all arrangements 

 for this purpose a waste of time and labor. 



It is also necessary that the blade reach clear 

 across the frame, with a little to spare, although 

 I hardly ever find combs as wide as the Jumbo, 

 which I use, that can be uncapped with one 

 stroke. There are generally a few depressions 

 toward the bottom-bar that have to be touched 

 with the curve. With frames five or six inches 

 wide, one stroke will do the business in most 

 cases; and I feel somewhat like Mr. Hutchinson, 

 of the Re'vie-Tv. I should like to race it with an 

 uncapping-machine. 



FEATHERS FOR BEE-BRUSHIS. 



It has been claimed by otherwise good author- 

 ity that the use of feathers for brushing bees has 

 a tendency to make them cross. This is not so, 

 if we accept the experience of many years as con- 

 clusive evidence. I know from close watching, 

 having used different kinds of brushes, that there 

 is nothing about a feather that will irritate bees 

 any more than any other material that may be 

 used as a brush. During extracting-time I do a 

 great d^al of brushing, using a feather, of course, 

 and I very seldom use a veil. I always keep a 

 number of feathers scattered all through the bee- 

 yard. They are placed between cover and cleat, 

 where they are held in horizontal position in 

 plain sight and easy reach from any place where 

 I may happen to need them. But generally, 

 when I expect the steady use of a feather, I carry 

 one in my hip-pocket. G. C. (iREIser. 



La Salle, N. Y. 



A SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENT IN EXTRACTORS. 



I have often thought that, if the cans for four- 

 frame extractors were made as large as those 

 for the six-frame, it would be a great improve- 

 ment. It would also be a help if there were a 

 funnel-shaped guide at the top of the comb-bas- 

 kets in order to lessen the time needed for plac- 

 ing the combs in the baskets. When there is 

 only half an inch of room to spare we often 

 waste time in getting the combs in. 



Mangas, Cuba. C. F. Hochstein. 



