tio 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feu. 



Friend E.. we have tried saws concaved 

 in tlie \v;iy you mention; but on account ,of 

 the greuter"liability to rattle or shalce at the 

 outside diameter, where tlie teeth are, we 

 linally abandoned them. \Ve get saws to 

 cut just as nicely, I thinlc, made all of a 

 thickness, and the expense is much less.— It 

 seems to me you are hardly qualitied to de- 

 cide in regard to reversible frames until you 

 liave used them, and watched the working 

 of them. Those who use the eight-frame 

 hive expect, as a rule, to get as much brood 

 in eight frames as we have ordinarily in ten, 

 obliging the bees to put their surplus honey 

 in the sections. Where a queen occupies 

 ten L. frames, it is almost always true that 

 more or less honey is stored in some of the 

 frames along the top-bar, especially toward 

 the upper outside corners. 



Gleahincs in Bee Culture, 



Published Semi-Monthly . 



.£^. I. I^OOT, 



EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, 



MEDINA, O. 



TERMS: $1.00 PER YEAR, POSTPAID. 



For Cluliblng Sates, See First Page of Beadias Hatter. 



s, Uuic will .voiii- heart be uls 



f'OMMON nails are '^e. or more lower, pei-. 11>., 

 Ihaii tlie i)rices given in oiu' price list. 



'I'HK iiiiniber of our snl)scribers this :iiith day ol' 

 January is 4tt81; 19 more, and we shall lie .5(i(Hl again. 



Wk take pleasui-e in callinjr attention (o the ad- 

 \ertisenient of our good friend Peter Henderson 

 (to be found in this issuei, whose name w(! have so 

 often mentioned as the great pioneer market gar- 

 dener. 



AI-SIKF, CI.OVKK. 



I'NTTi, further notice, the i)riee of alsike clover 

 seed will be as follows, instead of ^iccoi-ding to our 

 price list: Price per pound, 18cts.; per pock, $3.2.'>; 

 per half bushel, $4.40; per bushel, *8..")(); :J bushels, 



mc>M. 



OUR SKED CATAIiOfUIE. 



Tt Is now ready; but, to tell the truth, when com- 

 pared with the seed catalogues that are sent out by 

 our gi-eat seedsmen, ours does not look very hand- 

 some. Nevermind; we will gi\c >ou some prices 

 on some things that perhaps will help the matter 

 somewhat. 



DISCOUNTS FOR THE .MONTH OF FEBRUAKV. 



T'NTii, further notice, we will give the usual dis- 

 count of 10 per cent on foundation; 5 per cent on 

 sections; and as an inducement for ordering before 

 the great rush comes, an extra 15 per cent on all 

 goods mentioned in our list, ordered during the 

 month of February^ 



BASSWOOD HENS'-EOOS. 



These are not quite as good as the kind they tell 

 about in the papers, that can bo told from the gen- 



uine egg only by experts, but they ai-e tiptop nest- 

 eggs. They do not freeze, and the old biddies can't 

 eat them up. Price ~ cts. each; 15 cts. for ten, %\.'M 

 per ino, or $lfl.0;i per 1(100. If wanted by mail, add 

 one cent each for postage. Supply-dealers who 

 manufacture sections cftii make bushels and bush- 

 els of nice nest-eggs out of refuse bits of white 

 basswood. "Do you see/" 



THE specific (iR.WlTY OF MOIST AIR CO.MI'ARED 

 WITH IlliV AIR. 



On page 89, friend ('. V. Miller calls attention to 

 the statement on page 4:1, that moist air is heavier 

 than dr.v air. Friend (ireen has got off from the 

 track here; but he is usually so accurate, it was 

 passed unnoticed. Years ago. Prof. Wise, the dis- 

 tinguished leronaut, mado a balloon of linen cloth, 

 filled it with common air, and found that, by sprink- 

 ling the outside of the balloon with water, the air 

 inside would be dampened to such an extent as to 

 cause the balloon to rise. Warm air Vi^ill take up a 

 nuu'h larger qiuvntity of moisture than cold air. 

 This we notice by seeing tlie dew precipitated when 

 a body of air is suddenly cooled. 



REVERSIBLE HIVES NOT A NEW THING. 



If our friends will turn to the .4. B..I. for June, 

 1870, they will find an engraving of John M. Price's 

 revolvable and reversible comb hive. The hive is 

 made to reverse not onlj' the brood combs, but the 

 wide frames holding sections as well; and they not 

 only go cither side up, liut any side up, for the frames 

 are perfectly square. Friend Price, at the time the 

 subject was up, urged quite vehementli' the ad- 

 vantages of reversible franus, as well as reversible 

 hives, for his hive reverses Just as well as each 

 frame reverses. Friend 1'. is now located in Flori- 

 da; and with his sixteen years of experience with 

 these reversible frames and reversible hives he 

 ought to lie able to give us some favorable sug- 

 gestions. ( an't you do it, friend P. ? 



SHAM, WE FEED OUR BEES SITOAR STORES FOR 

 WINTER';' 



The statements made by our good frit-iid Wright 

 and Mrs. Harrison may be true; but for all that, if 

 I found by exi)orience that my bees would winter 

 safely on stores of sugar, antl would not so winter 

 on honey, I should winter them on sugar, and tr.\' 

 to ha\o faith in educating humanity to under.^tand 

 these thinj,s as they are. I do not believe my 

 friends and neighbors would conclude I was feed- 

 ing the bees sugar, and selling it for honey, even 

 if they did sec me buying barrels of sugar at a cer- 

 tain season of the year. I believe, however, that 

 the general testimony indicates that stores of good 

 sealed honey are pretty nearly as safe as sugar, 

 and therefore the only advantage in sugar feeding 

 will be when we have got to feed something, and, 

 of course, we may prevent this state of atfairs by 

 laying up a reserve stock of combs full of sealed 

 honey ; and at the present prices of honey and sugar. 

 1 am inclined to think reserved combs are about as 

 cheap feed as we can have, and it is certainly hand- 

 ier than any kind of a feeder. What bee-keeper 

 has not enjoyed having groat heavy combs of stores 

 to give any colony that happens to need food'^ 

 With a hive holding ten frames, unless the colony 

 is remarkably strong in numbers, there ought to be 

 a sufficient surplus in the brood-nest to prevent any 

 such thing as starvation at any time of the year. 



