GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



honey my harness breeching gave way, the load 

 striking the horse, which got away. In falling under 

 part of the load, I got my back partly broken. This 

 was the last part of August, and I have never 

 stooped or lifted since, and never will, likely. After 

 35 years of steady beekeeping and working up a, 

 honey market, and a home trade which will take 

 10,000 lbs. of honey from our house, I am forced 

 to give up. My honey trade and good will are worth 

 $1000 cash, for which I shall never get a cent. 

 My conscience has dogged me every week since I got 

 hurt, to warn others. Every wagon used for bees 

 or honey should have brakes on. I have never yet 

 put a pound of honey on the market nor advertised 

 or sold on commission. My trade is never filled. 

 Charles Mitchell. 

 Molesworth, Ont., Canada, June 10. 



A Dust-proof Showcase for 



Honey in Shallow 



Frames 



We have a large walnut 

 showcase, formerly used for 

 something else, that now 

 stands in the grocery to hold 

 shallow frames of honey. With 

 its six glass doors it will ac- 

 commodate 225 frames in each 

 division, 15 deep on each 

 shelf, so 1350 are provided 

 for, and, at 4 pounds each, 

 5000 pounds can be put away 

 safely, and thus protected 

 against moth and dust. A 

 little sulphur will protect a 

 great many combs, empty or 

 full — 5% depth is shown. This 

 case is an object lesson to be- 

 ginners, and traveling men 

 say that nothing approaching 

 it in size of display have they 

 seen in their travels. 



We keep the front attrac- 

 tive, and store surplus combs 

 at the back. It sells honey on 

 sight, and some buy 4 who 

 came for only a section. There 

 was only one year when the 

 crop more than filled it. 

 KKES HIVED FROM A SKYLIGHT 



After unpacking supers of 

 lioney in the back room of the 

 store, four miles from the api- 

 ary, we had a collection of 

 liomeless bees from 60 hives 

 {more or less) that accumu- 

 lated on an overhead skylight. 

 Rather than lose them a hive 

 with a division in the center, 

 filled with combs of honey, 

 was prepared, the bees were 

 taken down and divided into 

 two lots, and a spare queen 

 given to each. This hive was 

 set a foot from a window, 

 having a hole in the glass, 

 with a stick running up to the hive. The bees climb 

 the same path, and divide to their respective sides, 



and are now as lively as any bees. 

 Evansville, Ind. W. W. 



ViCKEEY. 



Space Above and Below in the Shipment of Bees 



We note your instructions in June 1st issue of 

 Gleanings for shipping bees, which are good so 

 far as they go; but I think that full colonies ought 

 to have li/^-inch space underneath bottom-bars, and 

 2 inches above the brood-frames for clustering, and 

 something across the top to prevent piling up, so as 

 to shut off the air. No old field bees nor bees hav- 

 ing the swarming fever ought to be nailed up. We 

 recently received a bunch from the South practically 

 all dead; not a good frame of brood in the bunch; 

 enough bees for perhaps two nuclei. Express charges 

 were $30.75. The whole thing can be considered 

 a total loss. I believe a comb of water ought to be 

 added. 



Bellevue, O., June 5. H. G. Quirin. 



[Your suggestions to have a space above the bees 

 and below them are entirely in order, and we may 

 say that in both carloads of bees that we shipped 

 from the South to the North we had such space. 

 There was also protection above the top of the 

 screen. We thank you for calling attention to this 

 matter, as it is very important to have these pre- 

 cautions observed. — Ed.] 



Number of Bees in Nuclei 



Gentlemen : — Please send me the following in- 

 formation : What is the weight of and number of 

 bees in a one-frame and also a three-frame nucleus ? 

 In a pound package of bees how many are there, 

 measured in bulk? T. J. Jackson. 



EI Dorado Springs, Mo., May 6. 



[A one-frame nucleus contains about one-third of 

 a pound of bees and about two-thirds of a frame of 

 brood. A three-frame nucleus contains a little over 

 a pound of bees and three frames of brood partly 

 filled. The number of bees and amount of brooij 

 will vary. Sometimes there will be more brood in 

 proportion to the number of bees, and other tim.»? 

 more bees in proportion to the brood. A pound of 

 bees will approximate about 4500, which would a 

 little more than fill a quart measure. — Ed.] 



Hybrids Stood the Cold Weather Better than the 

 Italians 



Out of 210 colonies in ten-frame double-walled 

 hives in Fairfield and Litchfield counties, I lost 

 through the winter and spring 20. Of these, 16 

 were Italian, of which 6 were from Miller, in Penn- 

 sylvania; 6 from Doolittle ; and 11 from George E. 

 Hilton. I lost every one of the Italian colonies be- 

 fore March 1, on full combs of honey. They were 

 frozen to death or killed by dysentery. We had three 

 .months of zero weather, with no cleansing flights. 



Out of the 194 hybrids (half black) I lost 4 from 

 starvation through April. The Italian colonies were 

 in the same row as the hybrids. 



Danbury, Ct., May 23. John Nickerson. 



[Were the Italians goklens or leather-colored? — 

 Ed.] 



