1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



that the few extra dollars spent for all these im- 

 provements can not be replaced by the few extra 

 pounds of honey produced. I am humanitarian 

 enoug-h to wish, with Mr. Root, that honey could be 

 placed within the reach of the poorest. But how, 

 at present cost, can it be done, if done at all? if 

 honey in the costliest style must be sold at half 

 what it used to be in bulk, in which form it is scarce- 

 ly salable, the price of supplies must decrease in 

 corresponding: ratio, instead of increasing as they 

 have done in the last few years. 



To novices, then, I repeat: Do not overdo; go 

 slow; pick your way. As to details, even beginners 

 must be largely left to judge what they should do, 

 and in what they shall invest. But from the stand- 

 point of present experience, I think I can give some 

 valuable hints. 



SHALL WE TRANSFER? 



Do not be in a hurry to transfer. Our oracles 

 may shake their heads at this. But I repeat with 

 confidence. Do not be in a hurry. Of course, I 

 would not advise you to put now swarms into bar- 

 rels, cracker-boxes, etc., nor buy lumber, however 

 cheap, and make box gums if you can help it. If 

 you have a surfeit of hives and combs you wish to 

 put bees into; if the hive is rotten, or the bees not 

 yielding much honey, or in other cases we might 

 mention, it is doubtless best to transfer. But if the 

 hive is good; if the bees are doing well; if you have 

 to buy hives, leave it alone until you ai-e convinced it 

 will be a saving to transfer. It causes some waste, 

 it takes time and money. You can fix a rack of 

 section boxes in the cap of almost any hive; the few 

 extra pounds of honey you may get will not pay for 

 the investment, and, mark the fact that bees will 

 winter much better in a tall hive filled with old 

 tough combs without care, than in any other. 



CONCERNING OLD-STYLE HONEY-BOXES. 



Do not be in haste to throw away your old bulk 

 honey-boxes. You may want them. When I first 

 started in apiculture I promptly discarded them. I 

 was not going to be any old-fogy bee-keeper. I 

 wanted none of their old-fashioned boxes. I was 

 going to raise honey in the new, improved style, I 

 was. I tore them to pieces, or kicked them aside. 

 This year found me washing and mending them for 

 use. Many persons about home will pay as much 

 for honey in that shape as for that in the costliest 

 form, and they will return the boxes in order to 

 deduct the tare. I find lots of folks who do not like 

 to buy lumber, and call it honey, and you are saved 

 investing that much. 



ZINC HONEY-BOARUS. 



I do not think it best for beginners to invest in zinc 

 honey-boards. I know they must be a great con- 

 venience—I should like to have them; but when 

 trouble and honey are cheap, and zinc costlj, I 

 think it is better to endure the bother than spend 

 the money. The one queen out of a dozen (mine 

 have not averaged that often) which will go into the 

 surplus boxes, will not cause trouble enough«to 

 warrant the expense of a dozen boai-ds. Think also 

 of the objections that have been urged in G lean- 

 ings. 



the use op fdn. in frames. 



The use of wired frames of fdn. is often neither 

 necessary nor advisable. It is true, they give us 

 stout, straight combs, and prevent the nuisance of 

 drone comb. In shipping, extracting, and artificial 

 swarming, they are valuable; but otherwise they 

 ^re not necessary, and beeswax and fdn. are high. 



I use the L. frame with triangular top-bar. I take 

 a half -sheet of fdn., lap it about '« of an inch over 

 the comb-guide, and with a few "swipes" of my 

 pocket-knife blade it is fastened on securely. This 

 secures straight combs, gives the bees that much to 

 woi'k on, saves the expense of wire and wiring, and 

 the fdn. does but little sagging. I have used it this 

 way extensively this year; In only one case did it 

 sag at all, and that was the top of some of the mid- 

 dle frames. I moved them to the outside of the 

 brood-nest, where brood will seldom if ever be rear- 

 ed in them. Some drone comb will, of course, be 

 built in the lower part of the frame; but we want a 

 little of it; and if there is moi-e than we want, while 

 honey is cheap and wax dear, we can cut it out and 

 render it into wax without much loss, or use it for 

 natural starters. However, to manufacturers and 

 dealers, and those having a thousand frames to 

 wire at once, it may be economy to use full wired 

 frames. Geo. F. Bobbins, 39—64. 



Mechanicsburg, Ills., Sept. 11, 1884. 



Friend R.. your remarks are, in the main, 

 good ; but where one has bees not in a 

 movable - comb hive, I think I would advise 

 transferring at once, when the propei* season 

 of the year comes. To work intelligently, 

 we want our hives so that all the combs are 

 interchangeable. — If your customers will 

 pay as much for comb honey in large boxes, 

 it may be as well to use sucli; but, why not 

 cut it right out of new and clean brood- 

 framesV You get more honey in this way, 

 and a frame is cheaper than a box.— I, too, do 

 not believe in investing much money in zinc 

 honey-boards; but as others think different- 

 ly, and as there has been a very large call 

 for the article, we as supply-dealers have 

 been obliged to furnish it. 



ADVANTAGES OF THE REVERSIBLE 

 FRAME. 



some valuable suggestions in the matter 



FROM friend DUTTON. 



JAM no enthusiast in the matter of reversible 

 frames, for it is only under certain circum- 

 stances in connection with the production of 

 comb honey that I can see any benefit result- 

 ing from their use at all. What these circum- 

 stances are, I shall leave the reader to judge from 

 the following comparison of the relative merits of 

 the two styles of frames, a comparison I shall en- 

 deavor faithfully, and without prejudice, to give. 



Four points of excellence are claimed (I believe 

 justly) for the reversible frame: 

 1. More brood can be obtained in less compass. 

 3. The bees can be driven to work in the upper 

 sections. 



3. Almost the last drop of honey of the season 

 can be sent above. 



4. Solid combs are secured. 



These four points appear to be weighty considei-- 

 ations in favor of the reversible frame, certainly ; 

 but before we discard our old frames, or resolve to 

 adopt those which are reversible, if just beginning 

 in apiculture, let us first ascertain how far these 

 four very nice features can be discovered in our 

 old friends. 



Point 1. After the fi-ame has been reversed, pro- 

 viding the cells have not been too much lengthened 

 out, and you possess a prolific queen, she will, in all 



