n-2 



GLEAN1N(^S NI BkE CULTiJllE. 



Mak. 



this woi-Pe tliiin useless tniffio. If this monstrous 

 evil must be licensed, I insist that all income I'rom 

 such licenses shoull be paid over to the county, 

 and applied to the support of the poor or the pros- 

 ecution of criminals. If all license fees were paid 

 into the county treasury it would talco away from 

 villatres the chief inducements to grant licenses. If 

 we had local ojition by counties instead of by towns, 

 many counties would prohibit, and, step by step, 

 prohibition mig'ht be accomplished everywhere. 



I have great respect for Prof. Cook and his many 

 valuable articles on other subjects; and if he had 

 not asked the intluence of Glkanincs for his plan, 

 I would not have tried to state mine. Nolliing- 

 short of total prohibition will satisfy m(>. 



Mauston, Wis., Feb.. JS8B. V. Wir-cox. 



Now, friends, I think we shall have to let 

 the matter of temperance restwheie it is for 

 the present. 1 am sure the readers of 

 (tLEAXings are all in favor of stopping- the 

 liqnor-trattic ; and althongli we may differ 

 widely in regard to the means to be em- 

 ployed, can we not liold ourselves, all of ns, 

 in readiness to push ahead wherever (iod 

 seems to point the way? 



■ ■ ■ I ^ 



CHAFF HIVES WITH ONLY BIGHT 

 FRAMES INSTEAD OP TEN. 



WHAT THICKNESS OF PACKINC. IS N I-Xl'ISS AU V. KTC? 



'HY not make chalf hives to take eight 

 ■^ frames instead of ten, somewhat after the 

 Falcon style ? Use a Simplicity hive if you 

 want sections in wide frames; but I think 

 cases wilPjtakc the lead for holding- sec- 

 tions. Have the hive tall ejiougli, with the cover, 

 to hold two or three sets of iKi sections. We could 

 have the ends of hive permanently chaff-packed, 

 and one side too, if that would be best. There are 

 some points in the Falcon hive that I think would 

 suit me better than the Simplicity chaff hive; but I 

 think both of them are too larg-e. I think si.v L. 

 combs are enough to winter anj- ordinary colony of 

 bees on; and then if we had eight-frame hives we 

 should have enough combs to take care of. 



I can't see the use in having: a hive as large as 

 the Simplicity chaff hive. I understand they have 

 only three inches of chatf. Now, if M-e have three 

 or four inches of chaff at the sides, and nine inches 

 for the combs to winter the bees in, we should not 

 have such a very large hive. Then have one side 

 of the packing-, or both, for that matter, movable, 

 to put iii the other two or more combs in the spring-, 

 or as they are needed. I have made up my mind 

 that chaff hives are the cheapest in the long- run, 

 for this country, though T have had very good suc- 

 cess wintering in the Simplicity (my style) for 

 several years. Last winter I lost by starvation, 

 dysentery, and queenlessiiess, T colonies out of '^0, 

 and that was by far the heaviest loss I ever had. I 

 should think two inches of chaff would be enough 

 lor the ends of the hive, and three or four at the 

 sides. 



1 have throe colonies of bees in Simplicity chaff 

 hives. I just put them in this fall, therefore I am 

 not prepared to say how I shall like them. I am 

 thinking: of making chaff hives for next year, but 

 am at a stand about what to get. .T. S. Willakd. 



Bedford, Taylor Co., Iowa, Dec. 30, 188"). 



Friend W., an eight-frame chalf hive would 



answer nicely, without doubt ; but it would 

 be making another style of hives for our cat- 

 alogues and price lists, for it wouldn't work 

 with the implements and appliances already 

 in use for the ten-trame hives, and would in 

 many respects complicate matters more than 

 they are already complicated. Yotn- bees 

 woidd also be more liable to starve, if you 

 make the brood -nest smaller. I think it 

 will be far better to us? division-boards to re- 

 duce the space at such seasons of the year as 

 we wish the space reduced. 



aOLAK WAX-EXTRACTORS. 



PUEVENTI.NT, AFTEU-SWAKJIS, ETC. 



SKE on page TTO. Nov. 15, 1885, you ask how many 

 of the friends have used the solar wax-extract- 

 or. I have one I made this summer. It is abo.v 

 -'(I in. wide by ;10 long by l:i deep. I put a false 

 bottom in the middle, about "^4 in. long. 1 got a 

 sheet of tin '^dXUS, cut off' two corners of the tin at an 

 angle, then turned up the edge one inch all around, 

 except the two inches in the center of the lower 

 end; nailed a rim around one end and the sides of 

 the box, with two saw-cuts about U in. apart, and 

 slipped in, fi-om the open end, two lights of glass, 

 20X30, or lights 15X2 J; then close up the end, putting 

 in a pan on the bottom. Your wax on the tin now 

 drips on the raised bottom. Set it on the south 

 side of the house, inclined to give what slant you 

 want, and in a very short time, with the outside heat 

 up to about 70° (1 think it was) the wax will all be 

 melted. You want to look out and not take out 

 some of the refuse with your fingers, or you may 

 shake them as badly as I did. If I were to make 

 another one I would make the sides flaring; and 

 would not a black iron dripping-pan draw more 

 heat in there than the bright tin '/ You want the 

 thing made so no current of air can pass through. 

 It makes the nicest wax I ever saw. 



Our honey crop out this way is very slim this 

 year— only.fiCO lbs. from about 30 colonies in spring, 

 and a little more than that of extracted. I like the 

 Heddon way of preventing after-swarms, first- rate. 



SOME QUESTIONS IN REGAUD TO THE CAKE OV 

 STEAM-ENGINES. • 



I want to know if a steam-engine and boiler cor- 

 rode, rust out, and become worthless, about as 

 quick if it is not used more than two or three 

 months in the year, as it would if it were used and 

 cared for properly the whole time? What causes 

 the boiler to explode when the water gets too 

 low ? Is there any book on the engine, telling how 

 to run and take care of them? V. W. Keeney. 



Shirland, III , Nov. 23, 1885. 



Friend K., we like the solar wax-extractor 

 too, ami I was greatly astonished to lind 

 that the heat of the sun was ample, even in 

 the middle of Febritary, and we made some 

 of the nicest wax with" it that I have ever 

 seen. There is no trouble in getting heat 

 enough. Perhaps a pan made of black iron 

 might do better than a tin one. We will try 

 to test the matter by experiment.— It de- 

 pends upon who runs the engine. If it 

 were properly fixed to lie idle, I think I 

 should prefer to have it so ; but if it were 

 dropped right where it was last used, and no 

 pains taken to prevent rust and damage, I 

 Avoiild rather have it in constant use. If I 



