1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



45 



They made very good results for several 

 days". But within a week after this great 

 yield they tapered down to nothing, and then 

 we had robbing and all such like work. 

 Well, after our bees had been entirely out of 

 business for two or three weeks, I took a 

 trip up into Michigan, and found a friend 

 there right in the height of a beautiful bass- 

 wood flow, and there would have had been 

 ample time for us to have moved up there 

 half a dozen times. One of the main points 

 to consider is, to find heavy basswood tim- 

 ber right along some main railway line 

 where we can get a regular rate of freight at 

 low prices. I think 1 would have bees 

 enough to All a car, and then go right along 

 with them One or two hundred miles at a 

 time is as far as it will pay to go. Either go 

 over the route beforehand, or by correspon- 

 dence have every thing arranged so as to 

 know just where to go. There are many 

 large heavy tracts of basswood timber, and 

 I am well aware it will pay splendidly to 

 move our bees into the vicinity of these 

 large tracts. As clover is usually found near 

 basswood, we ought to manage so as to strike 

 near both as much as possible. As a general 

 thing, I believe clover honey commands the 



best prices. If you get a car, I think it can 

 be managed so that the expense will not be 

 more than oO cts. per colony, each trip— that 

 is, where you manage to have from lUO to 200 

 colonies, by clubbing with your neighbors, 

 or otherwise. In a good locality, in the 

 height of the basswood flow, 200 colonies 

 would do very well in one locality ; but it 

 would not be a great expense to scatter them 

 a little by putting off, say .50 or 100 at one 

 station, and as many more at the next, and 

 so on. Hives should be light, and combs as 

 nearly empty as possible, without endanger- 

 ing the bees from starvation. Some arrange- 

 ment should be made for quickly fastening 

 the combs. Spacing-boards are the best of 

 any thing I know of now. Simplicity hives, 

 with wire cloth over both top and bottom, 

 will do the business nicely. A very light 

 cover might be used for these summer trips ; 

 or if you are all the time in the honey-flow, 

 perhaps you could get along without any 

 bottom-board at all. Who can give us some 

 facts from experience in just this kind of 

 work V I believe it was practiced by quite a 

 number of the brethren during the past sea- 

 son, if they will speak out, we will try to 

 give them space. 



A BIT OF WIRE. 



JOXnEH IMJ»ROVEMENT IN HOUSEHOLD 

 CONVENIENCES. 



BEAR FRIENDS, did yon ev- 

 er want a bit of wire when 

 — ' you could not And it? and 



did you ever have a bit of wire get 



tangled between your legs, and al- 

 most trip you down, when you did 



not want to? Well, the engravings 



are intended to illustrate a way of 



remedying both of these evils at 



one clip. It is a plan to kill two 



birds with one stone, you see. I 



suppose you know that I have for 



years had copper wire wound on 



spools, on our five-cent counter. I 



knew when we started them that 



they were going to sell, for I was 



well convinced that one who had 



discovered what could be done 



with a little spool of soft wire 



would never afterward be without 



it. I think I got the idea from the 



American Agriculturist. Well, our 



trade has run up so that I have 



sold hundreds of pounds at -5 cents 



a, S]wol. And just now some of 

 our enterprising neighbors in Cleveland have started a business of winding wire of all 

 kinds on spools. Each spool has a wire nail in the right place to twist the end of the wire 

 around so it will not get loose, and snarl. Did you ever try to get wire out of a snarl? 

 Well, with these spools, if you take any kind of care, you need never have a snarl at all. 

 Just wind off what you want, catch the end around the nail-head, put it in your pocket, or 

 put it away, as you choose. We have now in stock the sizes shown in the pictures, besides 

 galvanized wire for the grapevines, put up in the same way. The price of the latter is 20 

 cts. per spool ; $1.80 for 10 spools, or $10.00 for lOd. If wanted by mail, 20 cts. each spool 

 for postage. Notice how neatly the numi)er of the wire and the number of feet on each 

 spool is printed on each one. The two sizes shown in the cuts are annealed iron wire, 

 shellac coated, so it will not soil the fingers. The price of these is 10 cts. per spool. Finer 

 size, No. 2-5, you gee 22-5 feet for 10 cts., or 2i feet of wire for one cent, and the spool thrown 

 in. The postage on these sizes will be 7 cts. each spool. Prices by the quantity, h5 cts. for 

 10, $7.50 per 100. On the 5-cent counter we have our usual copper wire put iip on 5-cejjt 

 spools. 



