182 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



which the whole box can be eiisily handled with 

 one hand. 



To raise the bottom oft the Hoor, and to protect 

 the wire Irom being- broken, a cleat, one inch square, 

 is nailed across each end over the wire, and a thin 

 bottom is nailed to these cleats, which leaves a one- 

 inch space below the wire, open at each side. For 

 smaller colonies I use bo.\es like the above, but 

 only half as wide. These will do for 5 lbs. of bees, 

 if only one or two combs of brood are put in. To 

 hold the combs in place, I use spacing-sticks '2 

 inch square and 8 inches long. A one-inch wire 

 nail is driven thi-ough, ^a inch from one end, so that 

 the point projects^ inch. These sticks are placed 

 between the ends of the frames, so that the point 

 of the nail rests on the top of one frame, and the 

 head on the other. When the sticks ai-e in place, 

 the frames are crowded together, and the outside 

 one is fastened with wire nails. 



Most of my orders are for packages of one pound 

 of bees, one or two combs of brood and a queen. 



For these I use box- 

 esjust wideenough 

 for two combs. 

 As these fall over so 

 easily when single, 

 I fasten two or 

 three together, 

 where several are 

 ordered; and in- 

 stead of having- 

 wire on the top and 

 OLIVER T-oSTEii'S SHipriNO- bottom, I have it 

 CASE. on one side only. 



To fasten the boxes together, a piece of strap iron 

 is placed across, from box to box, at each end near 

 the bottom, and bolted to the boxes,'leaving a two- 

 inch space between the boxes. A hoop-iron handle 

 is then fastened across the top, being- bolted at the 

 cuds to the middle of each cover. This also holds 

 the boxes in place at the top. These bolts are 3-16 

 X 1 inch, with a round slotted head, and they are 

 fastened permanently in the covers and end-boards 

 with the heads inside. To keep the bolts from turn- 

 ing, 1 drive a one-inch wire nail j)art way in, near 

 the cud of the slot, then bend it over into the slot, 

 a nd clinch the point on the other side. As the nuts 

 turn easily with the lingers, the bo.ves can be taken 

 apart and put together quickly without tools. Bees 

 will ship safely in these if properly put up. Most 

 of ray boxes have been returned tp me free by ex- 

 press. Our ag-ent recently referred the (juestion to 

 the Supt. of the American Express Co. His reply 

 was, that bee-boxes do not come under the head of 

 "empties," to lie returned free. If bee dealers 

 would ado])t a standard shipping--box, something 

 light, strong, and handy, as mine are, I think the 

 express companies could be pei-suaded to return 

 them free, as they do other empties. 



10— OIjIVEK Foster, 2.50— :Jit6. 

 >rt. Vernon, Iowa, Jan. :.'5, 188'j. 



Friend Foster, yoiii- points in tavor of a 

 comb of brood, instead of sending a pound 

 of bees without any brood or combs, are well 

 taken, and I grant every one of them. But, 

 may I say there is something to be said on 

 the other side? And as this is ;i very im- 

 portant matter indeed, I hope I shall be ex- 

 cused for going over ground that has been 

 several times gone over already. Your 

 comb of brood is worth a good deal to you; 



and if you send it, you have to get your ;pay 

 some Avay. Perhaps 1 should add, that we 

 do not have brood die for want of bees to 

 cover it. We always have more or less col- 

 onies having many bees and little or no 

 brood. This comes from selling off queens, 

 and waiting for new ones to lay, so there is 

 hardly ever a time in our apiary when we 

 can jiot place a frame of brood of any age 

 where it will prove a blessing to the bees 

 that receive it, and not an egg nor larva will 

 be lost. Now, we lind tliose blocks tilled 

 with Good candy very much cheaper, and 

 easier to handle, than a fram-j of brood. 

 Second, a great many of our purchasers 

 don't want a frame of our combs, because 

 the frames will not lit their hives. A large 

 part of our trade, for instance, is with those 

 who have lost their bees in wintering. 

 They have empty hives and empty combs. 

 Tliey want queens and bees, but they don't 

 want our kind of frame nor our combs. 

 Another thing, a great many bee-keepers 

 have a choice queen, with so small a cluster 

 of bees in the spring, that, if she pulls 

 through, she will be little if any protit ; 

 whereas a pound of young Italians, or even 

 half a pound, would set her right on her feet, 

 so to speak. Some hatching brood might do 

 very well, but she is already able to furnisli 

 more eggs ten times than her bees can 

 jjo.s.^iJdji take care of. In such a case, 

 only 6<"e.s are wanted. If bee-keepers could 

 be made to come down to a standard frame, 

 so that the frames used by one party would 

 be sure to tit nicely the hive used by another 

 party, it would be a grand thing, and right 

 in line with your plan. AVe also furnish 

 brood-combs where wanted and paid for, as 

 you may recollect ; and where we send as 

 many as three or four pounds of bees, we 

 prefer to furnish stores in a frame of comb 

 with some brood. Eiit I should say that 

 nine out of ten of our orders are for one- 

 half or a whole pound of bees Mithout any 

 brood, and, a great many times, without any 

 queen. But while I think of it, I believe 

 that bees without a queen always ship bet- 

 ter if a little piece of brood is given them. 

 Your suggestions in regard to covering the 

 bees so that not much light strikes them, 

 is a good one. I am anticipating a great 

 deal of pleasure in shipping bees in ;i single 

 section of Ileddon's new hive. 



50 COLONIES, AND 2500 LBS. OF HONEY; THE KEL.\- 

 OilTIVE GOOD POINTS OF BLACKS .\^ND ITALIANS. 



T THOUGHT I would send my report. I commcnc- 

 m cd tl\is spring with .W colonies; got 3500 lbs. of 

 ^t honey— 500 extracted, and the rest comb. The 

 '■'■' extracted was all sold at home at from I2'i to 

 15 cts. About halt' of the comb honey was sold 

 at 17 to 30 cts. It will be five years next Ai)ril since 

 I commenced bee-keeping-. 1 have had Italians with 

 the black bees all this time, and I have been trying 

 to find out which arc the best. I have got my bees 

 pretty well mixed, from pure Italian to black. I 

 think the difference is not so much i-n the bees as 

 what they get honey from. I think the black bees 

 will get the most honey from raspberries. They 



