266 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



AVR. 1. 



ing is done either fall or spring, both should be 

 fed alike. I think I need carry the suggestions 

 no farther. The question I want answered is 

 this: Taking a series of years, shall I get more 

 comb honey with eight-frame or with ten-frame 

 hives? 



I beg that you will believe, my dear friend — 

 and I am sure you will take my word for it — 

 that I am not saying a word for the sake of 

 mere argument. I want to know the truth for 

 the sake of the dollars and cents in it. It is not 

 a fondly cherished hope with me that I may 

 find the ten- frame hive is better; but it is to 

 some extent a fear. I shall be delighted to be 

 convinced that the eight-frame is better, for I 

 much prefer it if I can retain it without loss. 

 There are some reasons that I can not take time 

 now to give, that have great weight with me in 

 making me fear that I have been making a 

 mistake these years in working exclusively 

 with the smaller hives. I am Just a little 

 afraid that we all went like a flock of sheep, 

 without knowing fully what we were doing. 

 Wasn't it mostly if not altogether on theory? 

 If there are reasons, theoretical or practical, 

 will it not be for the interest of all to have the 

 matter fully discussed and fully tested? 



Marengo, 111. C. C. Miller. 



[We had supposed that the question of the 

 eight-frame was settled, at least for most 

 localities in the Northern States — localities hav- 

 ing one short spurt of a honey-flow of three or 

 four weeks in early summer and another slight 

 flow of dark honey in the fall. If the question 

 is not settled, let's make the bees tell us. 



Our friends the Dadants will go " agin " the 

 whole of us. and we must acknowledge that they 

 present some pretty good arguments favoring 

 not the ten-frame but a little larger hive, in 

 their book, Langstroth Revised. While Bro. 

 Taylor is getting ready to "talk back" we 

 should also like to hear from the Dadants.— 

 Ed.] 



NOTES AND COMMENTS ON SEASONABLE 

 TOPICS. 



A CHEAP WAY TO BIND GLEANINGS; THE WII>- 



SON BILL ON honey; THE DIFFERENCE 



BETWEEN NATURAL COMB AND 



THAT FROM FOUNDATION. 



By P. H. Elwood. 



It may be a matter of interest to the editor of 

 Gleanings to know whether his subscribers 

 carefully preserve their journals for future ref- 

 erence, or toss them into the waste-basket. I 

 have mine from the beginning; and, although 

 they are not often referred to, occasionally it is 

 quite necessary to do so, while a hasty glance 

 through them shows the progress made in bee 

 culture and bee- journals. Where a subscriber 

 does not wish to go to the expense of binding, a 

 very good way is to place the numbers in order 

 upon a board and drive four or five wire nails 

 through their backs into the board. Then loos- 

 en them from the board and clinch the nails. 

 The nails should be heavy enough not to bend 



with light driving, and long enough so there is 

 from a quaiter to a half-inch for clinching. If 

 the nails are too heavy they do not clinch well. 

 A year makes two volumes. For a cover, nail 

 on a couple of pamphlets of the right size, or a 

 pasteboard cover. This method does not injun^ 

 the journal for future binding, and is a great 

 improvement over having the journals around 

 loose. It takes but a few minutes" time. 



After nailing I look them through carefully 

 to refresh my memory, and to get some points 

 that I may have overlooked in the busy season. 

 I notice that the subject of sealed covers or no 

 upward ventilation was pretty well discussed, 

 both i^i'o and co/i, in last year's Gleanings. 

 The "cons" appear to have it. Years ago, 

 wli'en we wintered out of doors, and, as a con- 

 sequence, bought a good many bees, we found 

 that bees wintered indoors with no upward ven- 

 tilation were decidedly better than those win- 

 tered otherwise. Those wintered in the same 

 way out of doors were also better when suffi- 

 cient protection was given to prevent conden- 

 sation on the upper part of the combs. This, 

 however, is very difficult to accomplish in this 

 severe climate. Too much ventilation is usual- 

 ly given to outdoor swarms. One fall we pack- 

 ed .37 colonies in dry sawdust, from four to six 

 inches thick. All except two were covered with 

 nice new quilts, and all died except the two that 

 had the old quilts, well covered with propolis, 

 over them. Since then I have noticed many 

 similar cases. For indoor wintering, unless the 

 cellar is very damp, no upward ventilation of 

 the hive is needed. We have not practiced it 

 for years, and are well satisfied with the change. 

 The best wintering lever saw or heard of was 

 last spring, where a large lot had been winter- 

 ed with closed tops. 



The Wilson bill, as passed in the House, low- 

 ers the duty on honey to ten cents per gallon. 

 The present duty of twenty cents should be re- 

 tained. Vigorous protest, undoubtedly, has 

 been put in by our National and State societies 

 against the proposed change. If there are no 

 vigorous protests, theiv is danger that the last 

 ten cents will be knocked off. California and the 

 South will suffer the most by the change, but it 

 will be the "last straw" for many bee-keepers 

 elsewhere. Very many are now going out of 

 the business, and but few, comparatively, going 

 in. Market-gardening, small - fruit growing, 

 and intensive farming, are advocated in Glean- 

 ings for those contemplating a change or addi- 

 tion to their present business of bee-keeping. 

 The articles on onion culture, in the Mar. 1st 

 number, are especially valuable for this class. 



Since writing the above I observe by the re- 

 port of the Ontario Association that our Cana- 

 dian friends have their eyes upon our market 

 for comb honey. Mr. Pettit says, in comment- 

 ing upon the report of Mr. Pringle, Superintend- 

 ent of Canadian Honey at World's Fair, Chi- 

 cago, that " it reiterates what I said at Walker- 



