788 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Nov. 



Gleanings in Bee Culture. 



PiihlLshed St-mi-Motithhf. 



J-^. I, IROOT, 



EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, 



MEDINA, O. 



TERMS: $1.00 PER YEAR, POSTPAID. 



For Chttitg Sites, Sco First Page of Eeidi:; llittsr. 



Our bees are all ready for winter (a little over 

 COO); how are yours? 



BUSINESS AT THIS DATE. 



As we could easily manage a g-ood deal more busi- 

 ness just now than we are having, we will allow the 

 same discount mentioned in our last issue until 

 Dec. 1. 



FKOSTY WEATHER. 



An excellent physician once said that cold weath- 

 er should have the effect of a tonic on a healthy sys- 

 tem; and I believe it is true, that those who live 

 temperatelj^ generally feel stiri-ed up to more good 

 works as the days shorten, and the air becomes 

 keener. If your work is outdoors, you have fewer 

 hours to labor, therefore these brief hours should 

 be made to count. If you arc working for somebody 

 else, let him see you recognize the circumstances, 

 and give him a good fall day's work, in the amount 

 acccuiplished, if not in hours. 



PRESENTS FOR SUBSCRIIUNO EARLV. 



It is a pretty hard matter, dear friends, to give 

 very much monej' in premiums, when Gleanings 

 is sent twice a month, as it is nowadays; but for all 

 that, in order to wake the clerks up a little at this 

 dull season of the year, we will give the new seed 

 microscope (or any utlicr article from the 10-cent 

 counter) to every subscriber who renews for 18J5, 

 before Dec. 1. The new subscriptions will count 

 the same, and the rest of this year will be included 

 also. The condition under which we give this pi-e- 

 mium is, that you tell what article you want, and 

 send the proper amount of postage, as per our 

 price li.st. Here is a chance for the children. If 

 you want articles from the other counters, you can 

 send the balance in cash, or get more names. 



a SEED-.MICROSCOPE FOR ONLY 10 CENTS. 



Several of the friends have had pretty hot dis- 

 cussions about small seed in aisike clover, and a 

 great many times we have had to explain that the 

 seed of the aisike clover is not all of a size nor of a 

 color, and that what many call sorrel is only quite 

 small dark grains of aisike. To see it with your 

 own eyes, you need a microscope or glass of low 

 magnifying power. While you are about it, it is a 

 good plan to look and see if there are any seeds of 

 weeds among anjj seed you are going to sow ; and 

 while a microscope is not always necessary, you 

 might look over all the seeds you expect to sow, in- 

 cluding wheat, and see what you find in it. It is 

 true, there ought to be no small seeds in the wheat, 



but sometimes you want to compare it with differ- 

 ent samples. Well, a seed-microscope is worth a 

 dollar or more, any way; but here we are with 

 quite a pretty One, with a sample of seeds of differ- 

 ent kinds for you to test it by, and the whole is only 

 10 cts. If wanted by mail, 6 cts. more for packing 

 and postage. 



BE SURE TO TELL WHAT YOU WANT, AND HOW 

 MUCH OP IT. 



I PRESUME few of the friends realize how much 

 trouble it is for us to find out, oftentimes, just what 

 our friends want. As an illustration, a customer 

 away off in New Zealand ordered a number of arti- 

 cles, and then closed by saying, "Send the balance 

 i in tinned wii-e for brood-frames." Some of the ar- 

 ticles cost more than he expected. There was not 

 any balance, so the clerks sent off' the goods with- 

 out any tinned wire. Weeks and months had to 

 pass, and then he complained that we did not send 

 any tinned wire, and he wanted that most of all; in 

 I fact, that was the principal thing that induced him 

 I to make the order. Now, this friend's credit is per- 

 I fectlj- good: we should have been glad to send him 

 I half a ton of tinned wire, if we had known that was 

 what he wanted. While his letter of complaint is 

 before us, another shipment is going to a neighbor 

 of his. How much tinned wire shall we send him? 

 The clerks can not decide, neither can I. May be 

 he had in mind a pound, or it might be a hundred 

 pounds; don't you see? Now, then, always tell 

 what you want, and how much ; then if we can not 

 fill the bill, we will do the best we can. 



KEEPING A RECORD OF THE CONDITION OF HIVES 

 IN THE APIARY. 



A GOOD many of the friends, especially those just 

 commencing, have their hives numbered, either Ly 

 numbers iiainted on the hives, or by a movable 

 number on a piece of metal, and a book is kept with 

 a page for each number. Now, doubtless a good 

 many will prefer this way; but after having used it 

 for several years, we have discai-ded it as expensive 

 and complicated machinery. A sharp bee-keeper, 

 even though he have a hundred hives or more, will 

 usually keep in mind the condition and qualities of 

 each separate colony, to a great extent. When 

 more than this is needed, a slate, it seems to me, is 

 very much more direct, and simpler than any rec- 

 ord in the book. If you are doing it for the fun of 

 the thing, and have leisure time on your hands, it 

 does not matter so much; but if your time is valua- 

 ble, I do not believe you can afford to fuss with a 

 book with numbers in it. If you hire help, and a 

 new hand should take hold of things occasionallj-, 

 the record on the slate is self-evident without any 

 explanation. If you wish the marking on the slate 

 to be permanent, wet the slate, then write with a 

 red lead-pencil. Such a record as this will not be 

 affected by rain, snow, nor frost. If I am not mis- 

 taken, not a few have found that the gi'css receipts 

 in cash from the bees will not pay for any work that 

 may be readily dispensed with. 



SENDING AN INVOICE WHEN YOU SHIP GOODS. 



When you sell goods, make an invoice. Almost 

 daily our book-keepers have trouble because they 

 do not know what to credit somebody. One friend 

 sent us a lot of strawberry-plants. He filled the 

 order, it is true, but he wrote never a word in re- 

 gard to how many plants he sent, nor what they 

 were worth. Perhaps he thinks we know what we 



