18C 



GLEANINGS IN iJEE CULTUilE. 



Mar. 



etc. You can imagine a little its great capacity. I 

 am loolcing I'orwaid to the time I can control my 

 cellar tor the bees to a dead certainty. Over 4000 

 stoves in Findlay are being heated by gas this win- 

 ter. The charges are $i;.'.00 a year for one stove; 

 but the probability is, that it will be one-half less 

 next winter. That is as cheap as wood, and you 

 don't liave to carry out ashes, and there is no muss. 

 As I look out to the east, I now can see the great 

 light Vi miles away. I should have said, perhaps, 

 that while the gas escapes it makes a wonderful 

 roaring— so nuich so, that a train of cars can't be 

 heard when equally distant. S. H. Boi.ton. 



Benton Ridge, Hancock Co., ()., Feb. 11, 1886. 



Thanks for your sugsestion, but Ernest 

 lias his liands full at the Home of the Honey- 

 ]>ees. Al)ont the time father started in 

 bee-keeping lie had the natnral-gas hobby 

 too. He accordingly sunk a well, but he 

 didn't even ^ strike ile." \"ery recently one 

 of our townsmen sunk a well to the depth of 

 about 1200 ft., at a cost of as many dollars, 

 but the attempt resulted in an entire failure 

 as far as obtaining gas was concerned, or 

 any thing else, for that matter. Ernest. 



TVPE-WRITERS— WHAT ONE TO ItVY. 



Referring to page .54, Gleanings, let me say, do 

 not be fooled by the pretty irritiiHi of the Hall type- 

 ■writer. The cost is $40.C0. I have used one— ??eaf 

 work, but hard alow work. I Avas in love with my 

 Remington, but was induced to try the improved 

 caligraph, and I willsay that the improved caligraph 

 has about twenty good points over the best Reming- 

 ton. The same man invented both, and controls 

 his patents. Several of the departmentP in Wash- 

 ington are now using caligraphs. 



D. H. Kelton, Captain lOtli Infantry. 



Cantonment on Uncompahgre, Col., Jan. ;J8, 1886. 



We are very glad indeed to get your opin- 

 ion in this matter. Captain K., for we have 

 known you for a good many years, and feel 

 sure that your opinion is unbiased, and that 

 you seek only the best good of bep-friends. 

 Very likely the Hall type-writer might do 

 good service where there was not a very 

 large amount of business. 



IS reversing of frames necessary 'i 

 Some have said to me that they did not favor giv- 

 ing new swarms much brood. Why not? This is just 

 what they make for themselves as soon as they 

 can; and if left to themselves it will be three weeks 

 before their number will be reiiKorced by young 

 bees, during which time the force of working-bees 

 is continuallj' growing less. If it is desired to com- 

 pletely fill the brood-chamber with brood, as per 

 the reversible-frame plan, alternate the frames of 

 brood with fdn., when the combs are given to the 

 new colony. If not so desired, place the brood in a 

 body in the center of the hive, with fdn. at sides of 

 hive. This latter plan, I am inclined to think, will 

 prove more satisfactoiT in the end. This is on the 

 ground that a shallow hive be used. T have one 

 with 10 frames, regular L. size, but not so deep. I 

 much prefer them to deeper frames, liaving cut 

 down a lot of L. frames, and 1 would not change 

 back again. I much prefer this method to the 

 Heddon system for the prevention of after-swarms. 

 And just now let me ask those who intend to use 

 the Heddon system another season, to try this plan 

 with a few colonies, and sec for thcmsehes if it 



hasii't decided advantages. It also affords a good 

 opportunitj' for those who wish to raiSe any num- 

 ber of "swarming-impulse" queens, which may be 

 taken from the colonj' on the old stand. This 

 method, or a similar one, was suggested l)j' W. li. 

 House about three years ago, in Gceani.n'GS, since 

 which time I have heard nothing of it. I have given 

 it several years' ti-ial, and am well enough pleased 

 with it to continue, and without the use of reversi- 

 l)le frames. Now let us see if i-eversible frames are 

 not generally discarded by those who now are fore- 

 most in advocating them. C. W. King. 

 Kibbles, Mich., Feb. 10, 1886. 



MOTH WOR.MS THE CAt'SE OF BAIiEHEADEO BEES. 



I want to corroborate the tlunujht oX (\ C.M.\\\e\\ 

 in (iLEANiNGS for Jan. I."), in regard to "bare-head- 

 ed" bees. I know, and am satisfied that it is caused 

 by wa.\-worms. Several years ago I was worried by 

 occasionally finding a comb with more or less bees 

 uncapped, and was disposed to blame the queen; 

 but accidentally I found a worm in the line of uncap- 

 ped bees. l'\irther investigation proved this to be 

 the cause. I invariably found the worm. They in- 

 variably run in rows or circles, and the dead bees 

 are generally fastened to the bottom of the cell by 

 a web. I had to accept this theory as the cause. 

 This last summer, noticing a row of uncapped bees 

 in one of my combs, I said to myself, " Here is a 

 worm;" and on digging out the row witli my pen- 

 knife, out comes the expected worm. This was the 

 more noticeable to me from the fact that I had not 

 seen a moth or worm since I came to this State, three 

 years ago. and had come to the conclusion that bees 

 were not bothered with them here: and in tact 

 this is the only one I have seen. I have no doubt 

 but you will find the worm, nine cases out of ten, 

 upon investigation. • M.H.Snyder. 



Arkansas City. Kan., Jan. 2:5, 188(1 



Friend S., I am quite familiar with uncap- 

 ped brood caused by moth Morms, and I 

 tind it exactly as you describe. The bnre- 

 headed bees I have described in the A B (' 

 book are quite a different matter indeed. 

 The patch is not oblong, but a complete clus- 

 ter of cells. The capping is not torn, as 

 Avhere moth worms have been at work, but 

 the cells are carefully fixed up in regular 

 order around the heads of these uncovered 

 bees. See reports elsewhere. 



"WHAT TO DO, AND HOW TO BE HAPPY WHILE 



DOING IT," HAS GONE DEEP .\ND TAKEN 



root; REVERSIBLE FRA.MES. 



I was very much amused when I read the article 

 of Dec. 15, " What to Do," etc. On page 861 it saj's, 

 "Get some experienced farmer to tell you how 

 much it would be safe to offer for old manure 

 piles." Why, bless you, if you were out here you 

 could get a train load for hauling it awas'. Your 

 articles have gone down deep, and have taken root 

 at Sunny Eden, a little farm of four acres. We do 

 not think the cobblestone drains would work in 

 this locality. Do you think a sandy clay will hold 

 water? The subsoil is two feet deep here. T ex- 

 pect to give your advice a practical test. 



As we have not used reversible frames, we are in 

 a dilemma as to whether they are an improvement 

 or not. We should like to have this decided, as we 

 wish to use only the best hive and frames. We do 

 not want to make too rash a blunder by changing 

 from this hive to that, just because some one ad- 



