842 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



To make the rack, yon get out stuff f x i ; 

 this forms the frame. Running lengthwise 

 With the middle of tlie frame is a piece got 

 out about I square. Now a rabbet is made 

 cleiir around on the outside frame, and also 

 on each s.de of the center snip, and this 

 rabbet is I x i inch. If your dimensions are 

 just right, the rtgular Simplicity sections 

 will drop down into these rabbets, and re- 

 main supported just I. or the regular bee- 

 space from the top ( f the frame. Of course, 

 tlie bees have acce^s to the under side of the 

 sections, which feature 1 do not like; but, 

 of course, the crates could be made with a 

 bottom having bee-spaces to match the sec- 

 tions. Each case holds 12 Simplicity sec- 

 tions, full •! inches wide ; or by making them 

 a little uaiTdWcr tluin 2 inches, each case 

 would hold U (7 on a side). The open ends 

 of the Si ctions are closed by a sheet of glass 

 or a thin strip of wood, as you prefer, and a 

 rubber band holds all together while on the 

 hive, in the manner sliowu in the cut. This 

 crate, of course, would not be sufficient to 

 sliip honey in; but where you take it off 

 from your liivts, and deliver it yourself right 

 to the grocery, to be retailed, it would do 

 nicely. The sections would be just as clean 

 as they left the saw, for no bee ever touches 

 the outside, except the bottom-bars, as be- 

 fore mentioned. 



Such a crate or rack could, of course, be 

 made for a very small amount of money. 

 Friend Smith does not tell us his price, but 

 there would be no trouble in making them 

 for 5 cts. each, in the flat. With his per- 

 mission I will mail a sample in the flat, for 

 the above price, postage add( d. Postage on 

 a single crate would be 7 cts. more. For put- 

 ting two tiers over the hive, you use open- 

 top sections, and set another tier right over 

 it, the upper tier having glass or wood at 

 each end, all being held together by a rub- 

 ber band. The rubber band would hold 

 them sufficiently so that when tilled by the 

 bees they CO I dd be readily liandled. six in a 

 strip. If you want to use separators, they 

 are simply pieces of tin, 'i^h inches wide by 9i 

 inches long, resting on the ui)per edge of the 

 rack. These separators are cheaply made 

 and cheaply put in place ; but when it comes 

 to using separators in the upper tier, it is 

 not so easily managed. Some strips of 

 board 4i inches wide would have to be put 

 on each outside, for separators to rest on. 

 Of course, double tlie number of separators 

 would be required, because they are only 

 half the length of those in our regular com- 

 bined crate. 



The cheapness of this arrangement is one 

 great recommendation to it. Our combined 

 crate holds 28 sections, and costs, without 

 glass, 15 cts. Two of these racks, holding 24 

 sections, cost 10 cts.. at the price I have esti- 

 mated. But our crate has a board o\er the 

 ends of the sections, while with these racks, 

 boards must be furnished, or glass. Ours 

 also prevents bees from getting to the bot- 

 toms of the sections, while friend Smith's 

 rack does not. A great many, however, in- 

 cluding friends Ileddon and Hutchinson, 

 say they do not want any thing under the 

 bottoms of the sections. If we made two 

 bee-spaces, and interposed a honey-board, 



we should have something very near like 

 Ileddon's arrangement. I tliink it will be a 

 good idea to adopt a few of these, to try 

 them, any way ; but I wouldn't go into any 

 new thing largely until I was sure it pleased 

 me. Many of the friends will say, very like- 

 ly, '' Your arrangement is nothing new;" 

 and yet friend Smith has a way of putting 

 them" togetiier that makes it a little cheaper 

 than any thing I remember to have seen 

 heretofore. A good msny years ago we us^ d 

 pretty much the same thing, with folded tins 

 10 support the sections, and a folded tin 

 through the center. Several others have 

 tacked tin or sheet iron to the under side of 

 the crate to catch the secthms. The above 

 arrangement is. I think, the simplest and 

 cheapest. The loose pieces required to close 

 tiie ends of the sections, as well as tinkering 

 with rubber bands, I am afraid a good many 

 will find a nu.sance, and perhaps that is the 

 reason why so many such racks have been 

 tried and al)andoned— because a loose board 

 or glass must be used to close the open ends. 



CARP AND CARP-PONDS. 



SO.ME SUGGESTIONS THAT WILL DOUBTLESS BE OF 

 MUCH VALUE TO MANY OF US. 



fRiEND ROOT: -In view of the increasing- 

 interest in carp culture, and the tact that 

 I liave not noticed any thing- on the sub- 

 ject in the columns of your valuable paper, 

 except your i-eference in the last issue, to the 

 fact that you were then constructing- a pond, I 

 herewith offer a few sug-gestions on the construc- 

 tion of carp-ponds, and their advantag-es. If my 

 article does no other good than to assist in awaken- 

 ing- an interest in this important subject it will not 

 have been in vain. My knowledge of the suljject is 

 based upon my experience in constructing a pond 

 on my place, and considerable Investigation and 

 study on the subject before and since. 



Any one having a never-failing spring or stream 

 of water has the chief requisite of a carp-pond. A 

 location that is considerably lower than the source 

 of your stream should be chosen, if possible, in 

 which case the pond can be made principally by 

 building a levee around the site. If the place where 

 you wish to make the pond is but little lower than 

 your spring, or if your stream has but little fall, the 

 pond will have to be made by excavating. Besides 

 being much more cheaply constructed, the former 

 method is much the better, as the soil makes a bet- 

 ter bed for a carp-pond than where the surface has 

 been excavated. German carp are largely vegetari- 

 an in their habits (though not entirely so, I believe, 

 as some writers would have us think), and the sur- 

 face soil is more productive of vegetation than 

 where it has been i-emoved. There are frequently 

 peculiarly favorable locations where a pond cover- 

 ing considerable surface— sometimes several acres 

 —can be made by building a comparatively short 

 levee, and thus cutting off a stream. If, however, 

 the stream does not naturally run through such a 

 location it can be diverted from its original course, 

 or a supply of water led from it to the pond. The 

 latter would be preferable, as one would be more 

 likely to be able to control the amount of water 

 flowing into the pond by this means. During breed- 

 ing season, better results will be obtained if the 



