GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



brood again, putting another frame with an inch 

 starter between. I find that I can produce much 

 more honey this way, as the more the bees are 

 divided the less comb they can build. This gives 

 them the entire hive body to cluster in, and pre- 

 vents swarming to a great extent. 



The honey is just as good as that which is se- 

 cured in sections, and so far as the disposing of it 

 is concerned I find it easier than selling section 

 honey. For instance, I cut out about two and a 

 half pounds, put it in a bucket, and then pour 

 over it enough extracted honey to make five pounds. 



"When I ask a customer if she wants some honey 

 she may say that she gets it from the grocer on the 

 corner. I always insist, however, that she get a 

 spoon and taste the honey. It does taste "just like 

 that we used to get on the farm years ago," and 

 she takes a bucket. I can dispose of all the honey 

 I produce, and much more ; and the joke of it all 

 is that I get 25 cents a pound while my neighbors 

 get only 20 cents for their section honey. 



I will admit that this plan will not work where 

 one has no home market ; but I can see no place 

 in the central part of the United States where one 

 can not build up a home trade for all he can pro- 

 duce. Sometimes a beekeeper thinks it necessary to 

 ship his honey away to a large market, when, if he 

 would only try, he could dispose of it all at home. 



Indianapolis, Ind. E. S. Hudson. 



as dust or grit, in the cylinder, or your lubricating 

 oil may not be good. Possibly the wrist-pin hai 

 worked loose, and is scoring the cylinder. — Ed.] 



The Advantage of Blending Different Kinds of 

 Honey for Mariiet 



I find that properly blended honey gives much 

 better satisfaction than most kinds alone. Even 

 our very fine sourwood honey gets more body by 

 blending with honey from winter huckleberry, or 

 with that from cotton or coreopsis, either of which 

 is nearly as clear as water. The two latter do 

 not have quite enough of the distinctive honey 

 flavor. Our early honeys here in Northwest Georgia 

 are nearly all dark and strong, with the distinctive 

 honey flavor ; but that from persimmon bloom, and 

 from the hickory honey-dew, are of a dead sweet. 

 Blending properly brings them right. 



We have also a bitter honey from the bitter 

 oak. This is thick and rich, and blends well with 

 a thin honey, and some strong kind, using about 

 one-fourth of the bitter honey. Poplar is given 

 more honey flavor by a mixture of other kinds. 



I find that many people when tasting honey ex- 

 pect the flavor that the honey had that they used 

 to get out of grandfather's gxims; and if they don't 

 they think that it is manufactured honey. If they 

 can get a little of the old taste they are satisfied. 

 Many do not know that there are as many kinds 

 of honey as there are kinds of flowers and sources 

 of honey-dew that it comes from. The kind that 

 they know is the kind that is produced in their 

 locality at a certain time, and taken out at the 

 only time that grandfather used to "rob" his bee- 

 gums. 



For my own use I like to keep a few kinds 

 as nearly pure as practicable ; but I find that, for 

 the market, it pays to blend almost any kind with 

 something else. I have lately been selling honey 

 for the principal honey dealer of Chattanooga, and 

 he was quick to see the advantages of my blend- 

 ing. 



Kensington, Ga., July 22. 0. W. Ltjdlow. 



Scored Cylinder of Gasoline-engine 



After standing for some time idle in a warm 

 place I started my gasoline-engine without cleaning 

 the cylinder. The piston and cylinder cut on the 

 under side, but not so as to cause a leak. What 

 shall I do to stop this cutting? Subscriber. 



[Your trouble must be due to a poor grade of 

 cylinder oil. If you use a good oil the piston 

 should not cut the cylinder, no matter how long 

 you leave it in a warm place without cleaning it. 

 Of course, if it were left a year or more in a damp 

 place, and the cylinder had not been thoroughly 

 oiled at the time it was laid away, rusting might 

 set in so that you would have to take the piston 

 out and thoroughly clean it and the cylinder with 

 kerosene, then supply plenty of lubrication when 

 you put it back. Be sure not to use any thing but 

 the highest grade of gas-engine cylinder oil. Do 

 not use steam-cylinder oil. If your piston keeps 

 on cutting, there may be some foreign matter, such 



Outside Cases for One and Two Hives 



As my bees have not wintered well in my base- 

 ment, which is too warm, I thought to try it out- 

 doors ; so I have made the following arrange- 

 ments, and I should like to hear through the 

 columns of Gleanings what yourself and some of 

 those who have wintered outdoors think of my 

 chances of wintering the way I am going to. 

 I have made the case of lap siding, four boards 

 in height, and large enough to hold four inches 

 of planer shavings on each side, and three inches 

 on the front, with about six or eight inches on 

 top : then I have made a cap of inch lumber and 

 covered it with two-ply roofing. This telescopes 

 over the case two inches. I have made 40 cases 

 to hold one hive each, and 50 to hold two hives 

 each. For the entrance I have entrance blocks 

 out of 1x3 by cutting out a piece %x5 on the 

 flat side of the 1x3, the same to lie down on the 

 entrance on the flat side. My bee-yard is well 

 protected from all cold winds. I have a nice bee- 

 cellar under the residence, but it is too warm. I 

 have a hot-water plant in the basement, and the 

 bee-cellar is partitioned off with stone from the 

 rest ; but there are two sets of radiator pipes that 

 go through the wall into the bee-cellar. I have 

 had a window under the porch wide open all win- 

 ter, but could not keep it cool enough. I am 

 going to try 25 colonies in the basement, and the 

 rest outdoors. 



Mora, Minn., Sept. 4. C. H. Harlan. 



[It will doubtless depend a good deal upon the 

 winter as to whether your colonies will do best 

 outside or in the cellar, although if you have trou- 

 ble in keeping the temperature of your cellar low 

 enough we presume the colonies would winter out 

 of doors better. 



You have gone to considerable expense, prob- 

 ably, in making these cases. You could have saved 

 somewhat by making your cases to hold four colo- 

 nies, and also conserved the heat by so doing. 

 When outside cases are built in this fashion it is 

 customary to put in four colonies rather than 

 two or only one. — Ed.] 



Full Sheets of Foundation in Sections no Longer 

 Wanted 



For some time I have been experimenting with 

 starters in sections; and instead of full sheets or 

 short starters at top and bottom I have found that 

 a certain shape of top starter with a bottom starter 

 (a la Miller), and side starters similar to bottom 

 ones, have given the best results. 



In over 500 sections, not one comb was fastened 

 in the least to the fence, as is so often the case with 

 full sheets. I never used a split section. I have 

 one section with every cell except three filled and 

 capped all around next to the wood, and only one 

 pop-hole in it, and this was when there was plenty 

 of room above for storage. I am done with full 

 sheets. 



Springfield, O. J. Waeren Arthur. 



A Way to Catch Skunks without Endangering Other 

 Animals 



A few years ago my attention was attracted by 

 the ground being smooth in front of a few of my 

 hives ; and after looking closely I satisfied myself 

 that it was a skunk's work, by an occasional track 

 in the fresh dirt. The next thing was to find how 

 I could catch him and not catch my neighbor's cat 

 or dog. Well, I took a small barrel, drove a nail 

 on each side near the center, and hung it by the 

 nails resting in notches in two stakes in the ground. 

 Then I dug out the ground between the stakes, so 

 the barrel could swing down in an upright position. 

 I tipped the barrel over endwise, and put some old 

 scraps of meat or honey in the back end. 



When the skunk walks into the barrel it will tip 

 up, and he can not get out. In the morning the 

 barrel can be carried away and tipped down. The 

 skunk will walk out slowly, and you can shoot him 

 or drown him. Skunks will make no smell in the 

 barrel unless molested. I have caught several in 

 this way. 



Campbell, N. Y. F. D. Look. 



