608 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1. 



touched. Where people persist in cutting it 

 down on the roadside, leaving all other weeds 

 standing, it would be a good thing to get it cut 

 before any sign of blossom. 



For years I've gone around during the hon- 

 ey season with the neck- band of ray shirt black 

 from my bee-veil. This year the lower edge of 

 my veil is white for an inch or so, and I don't 

 have to wear a dirty-looking shirt on :Monday. 

 [Do you mean to say that you tuck your veil 

 down between the neck and shirt-band?— Ed.] 



President Abrott maintains that bees move 

 eggs. To a queenless black colony without 

 ipggs he gave an outside comb of Italian eggs. 

 In '^ or 4 days these eggs were gone, and a lot of 

 eggs in center of hive, also a queen-cell from 

 which an Italian queen issued. He asks, 

 " Where did they come from, if bees never move 

 eggs?" 



" The REE- business Is one that is rather un- 

 certain nowadays, when the sole dependence is 

 white clover."— Gi-EANiNGS, p. 589. I read that 

 over carefully, read it slowly and sadly, but 

 could think of no argument in reply. The 

 saloon business is more certain, but some fea- 

 tures of it I don't like, so I'll stick to the bees a 

 while longer. 



Friend Root, on p. .59:2 you think, and think 

 wisely, that an ofifice should be tilled by the 

 best man, not the man that works hardest for 

 the place. The question is, which man do you 

 vote for? When the day comes that good men 

 vote for none but good men, we shall no longer 

 have to blush for the rascally way they do 

 things at Washington. 



In repi-y to a query in A. B. J., opinion is 

 divided between a J^-inch space and somn kind 

 of cloth as a covering for sections. Manv liave 

 changed from the cloth to the space. 1 think 

 few have changed the other way. [The prin- 

 cipal reason why cloths are used at all is be- 

 cause the bee-spaces are too large, and the old- 

 fashioned thin top-bars render them almost a 

 necessity. With thick top-bars and proper 

 bee-spaces, or with proper bee-spaces over the 

 sections, a cloth or quilt is worse than useless. 

 —Ed.] 



I i.AUOHED, Ernest, when I read what you 

 say on p. 584. I used to lug around a tool-t)ox 

 with a variety of tools; but nowadays it has 

 been laid aside, and I seldom have more than 

 veil, smoker, and sciewdriver. What do you 

 do with the knife? Pry frames with it? And 

 is it better than a screwdriver? [The knife- 

 handle was used to pry between the frames, 

 and is better than the screwdriver, because 

 it is ever ready— in the pocket; but now the big 

 nail spoken of elsewhere is bett«!r, and can be 

 carried in the leadpencil pocket.— Ed.] 



"The division-board, as a rule, should be 

 removed before any of the frames.'— Glean- 

 ings, p. .590. Just what I believed and practiced 



for years; but I'm getting to think it's easier to 

 take the frame out first. [Use a ten-penny wire 

 nail or spike, and then see if the division- 

 board does not come out easier first. With the 

 head of this very handy tool, catch hold of the 

 top rail projecting over the division-board, and 

 it will come easy. Afterward, use the other 

 end of the nail to pry apart the frames. Try it 

 and see how much better it is than a screw- 

 driver. The nail is cheap; and if you lose it 

 there are lots more for a few cents. Last week 

 we blundered on to this handy tool, and now 

 have abandoned the use of both screwdriver 

 and knife.— Ed.] 



APIARY OF H. LATHROP. 



A CHEAP BEE-CELUAR. 



Bu H. Latlniip. 



Mr. Root:— I send you by this mail two pic- 

 tures showing a part of my apiary. They were 

 both taken by Samuel Rockstead, of Albany, 

 Wis., a master of this kind of work. One was 

 takpn in April, before the trees came out in 

 leaf. This one shows my bee-cellar, which was 

 described some years ago in Gleanings. It is 

 very much like Doolittle's, except that only 

 oak timbers and slabs are used in place of 

 stone. In this picture may also be seen myself 

 and family, consisting of wife and two chil- 

 dren. 



This apiary is, in some respects, better locat- 

 ed than any other I have ever seen. It is in a 

 valley, well sheltered; and early in the spring, 

 when bees will fiy out at the peril of life to pro- 

 cure water and pollen, they can get both just 

 over the fence to the north, among the poplar- 

 trees. It is very seldom that I have any thing 

 like a case of spring dwindling, even when the 

 bees come out of winter quarters in a weak 

 condition. The trees seen in tlie May picture 

 are young oaks which grew from sprouts, and 

 were trimmed up each year. They furnish 

 just shade enough. 



Brovvntown, Wis., .Iiine 10. 



[We selected for engraving, as you will see, a 

 view showing the bee-cellar, which, taken in 

 connection with the descriptive matter, will 

 give a pretty fair idea of how to construct a 

 cheap and serviceable bee-cellar. It might be 

 well to call attention to th(^ fact that Doolit- 

 tle's original cellar was covered with slabs and 

 dirt, the whole covered with boards so laid as 

 to shed water and keep the dirt dry; but on 

 account of the slabs supporting the dirt be- 

 coming rotten in time, he subseciuently adopted 

 stone llagging. and is using it to-day. We have 

 no doubt that, for the locality of Mr. Lathrop, 

 and many others in Wisconsin and Minnesota, 

 a bee-cellar gives better results in wintering 

 than double-walled packed hives on their sum- 



