12 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 



in later years were highly prized. He seldom failed 

 to detect any flaw in what was submitted to his 

 judg-ment, and his deliberate "yes" or " no " had 

 greater weight with mo in bee-matters than that of 

 almost any other person. 



Mr. Gary's location was inferior in honey-resourc- 

 es to those who in this countiy have achieved the 

 greatest pecuniary success from the keeping of 

 bees; he was also quite lame, from an accident in 

 his youth; yet notwithstanding these and other ob- 

 stacles, he built up gradually a large apiary. He 

 was not only a strictly honest man, but a highly 

 honorable one in all his dealings; and in cases of 

 doubt he made it his rule to give his customers the 

 benefit of tluit doul.t, instead of claiming it for him- 

 self. Jiike myself he had the help of an only son in 

 the niarmgement of his business; but, happier in 

 this respect than myself, he was not called to la- 

 ment his premature death. 



Mr. Gary's interest in bees ceased only with his 

 life. A few weeks bcfoi-e his death he was able to 

 be out iu his apiary, where he witnessed with much 

 pleasure some novel arrangements for the safe 

 wintering of a colony in the open air. 



Samuel Wagner, Moses Quinby, Richard Colvin, 

 Adam Grimm, Koswell C. Otis, Wm. W. Gary — they 

 have all passed away I And probably no one knows 

 better or appreciates more highly than their old 

 friend who still survives to honor their memories, 

 how much their various labors contributed to the 

 splendid success of the movable-frame principle in 

 American bee-keeping. L. L. Langstboth. 



0.\ford, O., Nov. 10, 1885. 



Perhaps we should apologize to our readers 

 for giving the above so long after it has ap- 

 peared in other journals, especially as the 

 main part of Gleanings is, as a rule, orig- 

 inal matter. In sending to lis the coj)}'. 

 friend L. requested that it should not be 

 put in print until the engraving of friend 

 Cary was sent us, and it has only just come 

 to hand. 



REMOVING THE FEAMES FROM THE 

 UPPER STORY OF CHAFF HIVES. 



AN ADVERSE IIEPOIJT FROM SOUTHERN OHIO. 



fOR some years past I have been a silent but ap- 

 preciative reader of your .iournal, and have 

 gained many valuable hints from its pages. 

 It is always up to the times in advocating the 

 use of new implements that are of real value 

 to bee-keepers, and its columns are alw.,ys open to 

 suggestions as to any alterations of implements, 

 hives, etc., which have cheapness, practicability, 

 and real merit to commend them. As I am some- 

 what engaged in the manufacture and sale of hives, 

 etc., using and advocating the Simplicity and chaff 

 hive, 1 am interested in their being as near perfect 

 as it is possible to make them. The chaff hive, as 

 far as I can see, has but one objection as to the ma- 

 nipulation of the frames; that is, having the frames 

 in the upper story run crosswise of the lower-story 

 frames. This subject, 1 know, has been brought up 

 many times; but I have never seen it settled to my 

 satisfaction. Almost every one that I have ever 

 talked with upon the merits and demerits of the 

 chaff hive raises this objection. Friend Stansbury, 

 of Long Bottom, Ohio, made me a short call a few 

 days ago, and he objected very strongly to this fea- 

 ture of the chaff hive, and thought it a great detri- 



ment to its use. I think 1 have arrived at a solution 

 of the problem; and though it may not be entirely 

 new, I have never seen it mentioned. It consists of 

 a movable bo.x inside of the upper story, made of 

 about 94-inch lumber, and of same inside dimen- 

 sions as the lower story, which makes about 20 in. 

 long by Ib'S wide. In fact, a Simplicity body, if a 

 trifle short, will answer the purpose admirably, es- 

 Dccially if the upper story of the chaff' hive is, in 

 turn, a little long. This inside story being only 

 about 16 inches in width, leaves ample room to get 

 the hands down at the sides to catch in the hand- 

 holds to raise the story out of the hive. Now place 

 your frames in this and you have as near a Simplic- 

 ity hive inside of a chaff hive as you would wish. If 

 you would utilize the vacant space left, you can 

 easily arrange it for a single brood-frame at each 

 side, and give the bees access to them. But I think 

 the bo.x will give sufficient room for most localities. 



Now, any one can see that the tiering-up sjstem, 

 of which Mr. Heddon is so earnest an advocate, can 

 be easily used by making a thin upper story for the 

 chaff' hive, just high enough to admit of another box 

 or Simplicitj' body being placed on top of the one in 

 the upper story of the chaff hive. The advantages 

 of this system are, that free access can be had to the 

 bi-ood-chamber, and no necessity for having 10 wide 

 frames standing around in every direction while 

 you iieiform the necessary manipulations. 



But there are seldom great advantages without 

 some disadvantages. The only disadvantage, so far 

 as I can see, is, that when the upper and lower 

 frames are fastened together with comb, the lower 

 frames (especially if metal-cornered) will sometimes 

 follow the upper story when it is lifted out, and 

 there is no way to loosen them as in the Simplicity. 

 But I think if they are adjusted so as not to have 

 over 'i-inch bee-space there will be no trouble. I 

 think, also, that a modification of the Heddon hon- 

 ey-board could be used advantageously. 



Now, friend Root, do not bring in the verdict of 

 " too many contrivances, contraptions, etc.," for the 

 hive need not be changed in the least. Although I 

 have not put this into practice yet, I believe it will 

 be a success, and therefore submit it to the bee- 

 keepers for trial ne.xt season. This plan lessens the 

 cost of a complete hive, as it dispenses with three 

 wide frames, and requires only a cheap body instead. 



MY REPORT. 



As yet I have seen no reports of this season's 

 work from this section of Ohio. I suppose one rea- 

 son is, that there are no reports to make. The 

 freezing weather of last winter, while there was no 

 snow on the ground, resulted in an entire failure of 

 the white clover, and therefore a failure of the 

 honey crop. My report is about as follows: Increas- 

 ed from 18 to 25, and doubled back to 21; took four 

 sections of honey, worth about 10 cents apiece, and 

 extracted about .'^O lbs. of sumac honey. I shall 

 have to feed about 100 lbs. of sugar. I suppose this 

 is about as good a report as any bee-keeper in this 

 section of the counti-y can give. We hope for a bet- 

 ter season ne.xt year. 



QUEENS HATCHING FROM THE CELL WHILE EXAM- 

 INING THEM. 



I had a rather unusual occurrence iu the queen- 

 hatching line this summer. While waiting for an 

 after-swarm to settle I opened the hive from which 

 it issued, to save some queen-cells. The first cell I 

 came to I laid upon a hive near by in the shade. 

 While looking further I happened to glance around, 



