192 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



culiar plague of the apiary. I am also convinced 

 that we must have a light warm porous covering over 

 the frames; and as forest-leaves have proved a suc- 

 cess in every instance with me, I shall stick to it 

 that there is nothing better. 



I do not believe in upward ventilation to the ex- 

 tent of causing a direct draft through the hive, but 

 consider it indispensable for outdoor wintering, to 

 allow a chance for excess of moisture to pass off im- 

 perceptibly from the tops of the frames. I 

 consider the Hill device, or some substitute there- 

 for, that will allow at least Ji inch space above the 

 frames for the bees to cluster in, and allow them to 

 Intercommunicate with every frame in the hive 

 safely, indispensable also. A good strong colony, 

 packed in 6 or 7 frames, L. size, with upper half full 

 of scale honey, a Hill device over the frames, cover- 

 ed with a porous mat, with 6 inches of forest-leaves 

 poured lightly into the upper story, and entrance 

 contracted to about VA to 2 inches, will, I firmly be- 

 lieve, withstand the severe cold of any Northern 

 winter, on summer stands, and come out bright, 

 strong, and healthy, in the spring; at least, such has 

 been the case with myself for years, and 1 have no 

 more fear of winter, so far as losses are concerned, 

 than I have of any other season of the year. Perhaps 

 as many say, the L. frame is too shallow for winter 

 use; but I find in practice that my bees winter well 

 on it, and what more can be desired? 



Poxboro, Mass., Feb. 25, 1884. J. E. Pond, Jr. 



We have wintered just about as you de- 

 scribe, friend P. Although we use chalf 

 hives, I have, like yourself, been so far suc- 

 cessful. I, too, am satisfied that pollen does 

 not necessarily cause dysentery, although I 

 believe I would a little prefer our colonies 

 should go into winter without any, if I could 

 have them thus. The Hill device (or some 

 equivalent) and a porous covering seems to 

 be the great important thing. We should re- 

 member, however, that bees have generally 

 passed through this severe winter well. 



UPS AND DOWNS OF BEE-KEEPING. 



THE THORNS AND ROSES OF APICULTURE. 



?iT father-in-law gave me a swarm of hybrid 

 bees in the spring of 18'i'8. That begins at 

 the commencement, so far as practical ex- 

 perience is concerned, with us. We quit the season 

 with 7 swarms of bees and 5 gallons of honey. First 

 tvinter, put bees in cellar; lost 3 swarms by May 1, 

 1879, so we had 4 left to work on; quit the season of 

 1879 with 18 sVrarms and a barrel of nice honey. We 

 Were in earnest. We made us a hay house, and 

 packed our bees away in sawdust, but, alas! by 

 spring they had all turned up their toes. We could 

 have folded our hands, and said the business was a 

 failure; but we had learned the lesson of the oM ad- 

 age, that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, and 

 that it was applicable to the success of any thing 

 that is good; so in April, 1881, I sent to you for a 

 nucleus of pure bloods, and ordered them sent at 

 once. The 20th day of June they arrived In Logan. 

 Of course, all I could do that season was to build 

 them up into a good strong colony, and let them re- 

 main on summer stands all winter. In the spring of 

 1882 they w6re strong and nice. I quit the season 

 with 7 swarms of bees and 23 gallons of honey; put 

 our bees away in an old open house; came out last 



spring with 4, only one of them in first-class condi- 

 tion; quit the season with 8 swarms, after selling 4 

 at $10.00 apiece, and 65 gallons of honey. 



DOES IT PAY TO KEEP BEES IN CONNECTION WITH 

 OTHER BUSINESS? 



Now, friend Koot, Mrs. P. has had almost the en- 

 tire control of the apiary for the last 2 years; she has 

 ') children to look after, and no help whatever, ex- 

 cept what she gets out of them. I keep no hired 

 help, preferring to do my own work that is necessary 

 to run 100 acres of land, excepting a little in harvest- 

 ing and haying. Since there is considerable being 

 said just now about who shall keep bees, I thought I 

 would tell what I think about it, and that is this: 

 That any one with good natural sense and plenty of 

 spunk, and who reads the journals, can, with little 

 expense, have all the nice honey they can possibly 

 use, and sell enough to pay expenses. 



n. V. Peckenpaugh. 



Reeder's Mills, Harrison Co., la., Feb. 25, 1884. 



DIPPING WAX SHEETS. 



A METHOD SUGGESTED FOR GETTING SHEETS OF AN 

 EQUAL THICKNESS AT ONE DIPPING. 



f USE a kind of dipping-board for sheeting wax, 

 different from any I have ever seen described, 

 which I think would be appreciated by those 

 who, like myself, make their own foundation, and 

 have to rig up the necessary apparatus as cheaply 

 as possible. It requires no special dipping-tank — a 

 common wash-boiler answering perfectly — and the 

 wax can be used off until it is only an inch, or even 

 less, deep on the surface of the water (which is used 

 to fill up with). The board consists of a disc of gal- 

 vanized iron, of the required dimensions, bent in the 

 form of a half-cylinder, to which is attached a handle 

 at each end, by means of wires soldered to each cor- 

 ner of the disc, as shown in the drawing. These 



LIVINGSTON'S DEVICE FOR DIPPING PLAIN WAX 

 SHEETS. 



wires should be about No. 14, brass or steel, spring 

 wire. To operate it, I take a handle in each band, 

 and give it a rotary motion (which takes a little prac- 

 tice to do properly) first through a very thin flour 

 paste, then through the melted wax as often as de- 

 sired, reversing the motion if dipped twice, so that 

 the sheets will be of an even thickness, then dip in- 

 to cold water, and peel the sheets off. I have used 

 this method two seasons, and consider it in every re- 

 spect satisfactory. T. W. Livingston. 

 Ainsworth, Iowa, Jan. 28, 1884. 



Many of our readets know, I presume, that 

 we for years used sheeting plates made of 

 galvanized iron. We abandoned them, how- 

 ever, for the wooden dipping-boards we now 

 use, because the wood holds the water so 

 much better than the iron. With the wood, 

 however, we do not get an even thickness, 

 even though we reverse the sheet, putting 

 in first one end and then the other. The 

 plan given above might be valuable for niak- 

 Ing sheets of an exact size, like those used 

 by the Given press, for instance. 



