108 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Stray Straws 



De. C. C. MiiiiiEB, Marengo, 111. 



That symposium of 40 years ago, p. 97, 

 takes you back, doesn't it? If those 50 or 

 more young fellows could meet now, what 

 an interesting convention they could hold! 

 I'd like to be there to hear them. 



Oh yes! Alfred J. Fisher, p. 100, there 

 can be abundant crops of white clover with- 

 out sheep. It is my chief dependence as a 

 honey crop, and I don't know of a sheep 

 within three miles. For best results white 

 clover must be grazed to make its season 

 longer; but I don't know that it makes any 

 difference whether it is grazed by sheep, 

 cows, or some other stock. 



This kink is from Arthur C. Miller: 

 " Wrap a queen-cell in a piece of thin 

 foundation, bringing it snug to the cell 

 near the tip (which just protrudes), pinch- 

 ing the foundation together over the cell- 

 base, when the cell will be safe from at- 

 tack, no matter what colony you give it to." 

 Handy in case a cell has been injured, or 

 where a colony is not yet fully conscious 

 of its queenlessness. 



The windbreak question is well discussed, 

 p. 38 and p. 55, and that reminds me. Years 

 ago my apiary was surrounded by gi'owing 

 corn and dense shrubbery. In the center of 

 the apiary, combs melted down and the hon- 

 ey ran on the ground. It was not caused 

 by the direct rays of the sun, for the sun 

 never shone on the hives all day long. It 

 was because the dense growth prevented 

 the circulation of the air. If that kept the 

 hives warm in summer, why should it not 

 have the same effect in winter? 



Mr. Editor, I have a large stock of igno- 

 rance about outdoor wintering. So I may 

 repeat, in all good faith, the question I ask- 

 ed on page 74, whether you ever saw a solid 

 comb of honey projecting down through 

 the cluster of bees in winter, applying it to 

 bees wintered outdoors. Reasoning upon 

 the case I should say that the same rule 

 would hold outdoors as in cellar; and so 

 while empty combs would be found below 

 the cluster, the bees would never allow hon- 

 ey below the cluster. But reasoning is not 

 always safe, and I may be utterly wrong. 

 Can we have a positive statement of fact? 

 How is it at Medina, and where J. L. Byer 

 lives? [We can not answer your question 

 directly, but we do know this : In early win- 

 ter, when a cold snap comes on, and after 

 the bees have been fed up so that their 

 combs are well filled except the winter nest, 

 you Avill very often find the cluster clear 

 up to the top of the brood-frames and over 



them. An examination shows that the bees 

 are above the honey, because we can look 

 under the cluster when the sunlight is right. 

 Yes, sir, 'e; we feel very sure we have had 

 many cases like this where the combs of 

 honey project below the cluster. It could 

 not be otherwise, or else the cluster would 

 not be at the top. Now for your side of the 

 proposition, we may say the normal posi- 

 tion of the cluster is down near the bottom- 

 bars next to the entrance, with the honey 

 above. — Ed.] 



Lock-cornering of hives, or dovetailing, 

 mentioned p. 91 as one of the improvements 

 of the past 40 years, recalls the prophecies 

 that were made upon its introduction that 

 it would be an utter failure. Hives with 

 that featuie could not last; the corners 

 would pull apart ; the moisture would work 

 in, rotting the wood, etc. But the hives 

 didn't seem to mind the criticism, and to- 

 day not many would want hives without the 

 condemned featui'e. [Yes, we remember very 

 well the prediction, and how we were scored 

 for putting out the lock-cornered hive 25 

 years ago ; but they were never more popu- 

 lar than now. All the manufacturers in the 

 country have adopted the principle. It was 

 a case where theory did not " dovetail " 

 witli actual practice, because the " dovetail- 

 ing " actually held. We have now in use 

 hives that were never painted, and which 

 are still good for 25 years' use so far as 

 the dovetailing or lock-cornering is con- 

 cerned. — Ed.] 



Arthur C. Miller says, p. 81, " Another 

 word about soft sugar and I am done — no, 

 not out of sputter, but just holding up for 

 a future time." That recalls a story of an- 

 other individual who was " not out of sput- 

 ter," but who was shoi't on another commod- 

 ity, and who was " just holding up for " a 

 fresh supply : 



A wide-awake five-year-old had been giv- 

 ing his mother all sorts of trouble one day 

 when she had company. Finally she shut 

 him up in a closet. His screams could be 

 heard a mile or less. Suddenly they ceas- 

 ed, and there was a dead calm. His mother 

 waited in vain to hear him say, " Mama, 

 I'll be good." Visions of her darling, dead 

 from suffocation, floated before her, and 

 she opened the door, only to find him calm- 

 ly seated on the floor. " What are you do- 

 ing, my son ? " " Nothing. I spit on your 

 new hat ; I spit on your new coat ; I spit on 

 your new dress; and I'm just waiting for 

 more spit," 



