408 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



Hbo\ e and below it. We knew it wouldn't, 

 but we thought we would try it, and we had 

 just such results as you might expect, in the 

 absence of a bee-space. A plain sheet of 

 zinc without projecting rim did nothing 

 more than to exclude queens. Bridge-combs 

 were built through zinc, up against the 

 sections. It costs but a trifle more to have 

 an additional rim to provide the bee-spaces, 

 and I certainly would not advise anybody 

 to fuss with plain sheets of zinc, unless he 

 thinks he can afford to bother with little 

 strips of wood i inch thick, to bring about 

 the proper bee-spacing. For prices of these 

 wood bound honey- boards, see Special No- 

 tices elsewhere in this issue. 



THAT NEW AUTOMATIC ZINC 3IAIIIINE 



has proven to be a grand success. It punch- 

 es 70 holes at one punch, or 87o0 holes in a 

 whole sheet 28x!t(j inches, every 10 minutes. 

 We find that the perforations (the zinc cut 

 out) will pay for the man's time attending 

 the machine. The price, therefore, of our 

 perforated zinc is very nearly that at which 

 the unperforated sheet zinc can be l)ought 

 for. As to the quality of the work, we will let 

 samples, which will "be sent on application, 

 speak for themselves. See Special Notices. 



WINTERING BEES. 



SEVERE LOSSES IN WINTERING AT THE MICHIGAN 

 AGRICULTtTKAL COLLEGE FARM. 



TT comes a little severe, after nine years of per- 

 |df feet success in wintering, to have to report 

 W severe loss. We put nearly ,50 colonies of bees 

 "*■ into the new bee-house cellar last fall. I sup- 

 posed there was no doubt about the tempera- 

 ture. Each colony had from 12 to 15 lbs. of honey— 

 the amount we have given late years— and all were 

 in tine condition. As before reported, the temper- 

 ature went as low as 28°, and remained there for 

 weeks. I was uneasy; but as several had reported 

 low temperature not only safe but even desirable, I 

 t<Jok no pains to effect a change. Well, the effect 

 is as given above. More, several colonies that died 

 apparently starved, as all the honey was gone. 



1 am now confirmed in what 1 have believed and 

 taught for years: A cellar should preserve a tem- 

 perature varying within 38° F. and 48° F., and 

 should not be subject to abrupt changes of temper- 

 ature. I have not a doubt but that, in my old cel- 

 lar, or If my new cellar had done what was expected 

 of it, all our bees would now t)e alive. 



Again, I usually feed rather light in fall so as to 

 feed warm thin syrup in spring. This won't do in a 

 cold cellar. In my old cellar the bees would have 

 had enough. The severe and long-continued cold 

 made their supplies too meager. As I have often 

 said, so 1 now repeat with emphasis: The tempera- 

 ture of a cellar must be under our control, else 

 there will be quiet di8turt)ed in winter, and a very 

 disturbing quiet in spring. A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich. 



I am very sorry indeed, friend Cook, to 

 hear of that disturbing quiet alluded to in 

 that closing sentence. Although we have 

 not had it at the Home of the Honey-bees of 

 late years, 1 well remember the feeling it 

 gives ?one when he experiences it. I sup- 

 pose it would not be worth while to suggest 

 chaff hives as we use them. 



Gleanimcs in Bee Culture. 



Published Serni-JHonthly. 



Ji^. I. I^OOT, 

 EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, 



3S^E3DIIsrJi., OHIO. 



TERMS: $1.00 PER YEAR, POSTPAID. 



> ♦ - i 



For Ckbbisg Bates, See First Page of Beading Matter. 



3iv£EiDiiT-i5^, i^^.^^r 15, laes- 



Blessed is the man that eiiflureth temptation ; for when he is 

 tried he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath 

 promised to them that love him.— James 1: 12. 



No more back numbers wanted for April, 1884. 



OPEN-SIDE SECTIONS. 



We learn from the Review that Mr. J. H. Kobert- 

 son has used 1000 open-side sections, and is thor- 

 oughly disgusted with them. He says the bees oft- 

 en connect their combs through the side openings. 

 How is this, friend Foster, in .your localityy We 

 should like to hear from others, both for and 

 against this kind of sections. 



NO FOUL BROOD UP TO MAY 1.5. 



At this date, not a trace of foul brood has been 

 discovered anywhere in our apiaries; but 1 tell you, 

 there is brood, though, good and healthy brood, 

 "with a vengeance." As we do not dare to ship 

 bees, however— that is, not just yet— there is a jtros- 

 pect of something big in the way of comb honey at 

 the Home of the Honey-bees. 



APICULTURAL STATISTICS IN THIS ISSUE. 



You will observe elsewhere that the different 

 States are more fully represented than in our for- 

 mer report. In the present one we have endeavored 

 to give each honey-producing State its proportion- 

 ate number of reporters according to its impor- 

 tance. We have now in the field 170 reporters. We 

 have heard from 133 of this number. The rest of 

 them have either tVirgotten to make their re])ort, or 

 else for various reasons are unable to serve In the 

 position appointed them. We extend our thanks 

 to them all. 



THE GRAND RAPIDS LETTUCE. 



Just as we go to press.'the following is at hand : 



We can beat the record published in Gleanings on the Grand 

 Kapids lettuce. I eot two packages of seed from you for 10 

 cents; rniseil 202 jilants in a space 12 ft. long by 5 ft. wide, and 

 thev were sold for5cts. a head, making 810.10. I will give 

 partiiul.us if vou wish. Ross Knight. 



Westtield, N.' Y.. May 7, 1888. 



By all means give us full jiarticulars, friend K. 

 We should he very glad indeed to get reports from 

 any who have tried the Grand Rapids lettuce. Was 

 my impression in regard to it, when I saw the 

 greenhouse full of it at Grand Rapids, a mistake? 

 More than a thousand of the readers of Gleanings 

 have had samples of the seed. 



apicultitral statistics. 



FuiEND Hutchinson, in his very excellent iJecieit' 

 of April 10, says: 



Mr. Root has inaugurated in Gleanings a sys- 

 tem of gathering information in regard to bee- 

 keeping that promises to be of the most value of 

 any thing yet attempted in this line. 



After giving our plan of securing the statistics, 

 friend Hutchinson says he has long contemplated 



