514 



GLEANJ:N(iS IK lifiE CULTUIIE. 



JtTLY 



her sex. As she did not take any part in 

 the discussion, somebody desired to hear 

 Mrs. Harrison on I lie question, "■ Is bee- 

 keeping suitable for ladies?'" she arose and 

 said, very quietly, that she did not know as 

 she could answer as to whether bee-keeping 

 was suitable for hi dies or not; but added, 

 very promptly, " Bee-keeping is suitable for 

 ibmhen.'' And then she spoke of the poor 

 health which had always been one of her 

 trials, and mentioned the relief and help 

 she had found in studying and caring for 

 honey-bees, and in open-air work of a like 

 nature. 



The following, just from her pen, will per- 

 haps give our reailers a fair illustration of 

 her descriptive powers in writing: 



Mr. Root:— 



I was in the same condition this spring that tlie 

 Dutchman was who g'ot his son John to help him 

 tame anjunrnly bull. The:.old man got him by the 

 tail, but soon was calling, "John, help me let go!" 

 I wanted to let go some of my bees, but no one 

 would help me. 



The income from our apiary thus far this season 

 has been the dead bees for manure, and the scrap- 

 ings of the hives for wax. There is not one spoon- 

 ful of new honey in our apiary at present (June 19), 

 and there has been scarcely a day's rations ahead 

 this season. In pearly spring, our partner in the 

 sweets and stings said, " Do not feed the bees un- 

 less to prevent 8tar\'ation, for there will be no 

 white-clover honey." So our bees were left to fol- 

 low their own sweet will, and I am pleased with the 

 result. Formerly I did a great deal of very hard 

 work, lifting bees from their hives to clean ones, 

 spreading brood, uncapping honey, strengthening 

 the weak with brood or young bees, etc. I must be a 

 poor doctor for diarrhetic bees; for when 1 gave 

 them a clean hive, fresh combs of honey, and tucked 

 them up warm, they died; but this year, when I let 

 them alone, they lived. They were so weak and 

 sick that I thought it impossible; but this week, 

 when I changed them to a clean hive, they were 

 quite respectable colonies. Mks. L. Harrison. 



Peoria, 111. 



Please notice, friends, that she gives us 

 the plain facts of the case. As we have had 

 two poor seasons already, it will be a little 

 consoling to some to receive a cheering re- 

 port, even if the prospects so far are not 

 very flattering. She tells it, however, just 

 exactly as it is, and yet one gathers from 

 her manner of speaking that her cheerful- 

 ness and liopefuJness are not to be disturb- 

 ed or upset by even three seasons of scarcity 

 of honey in the lields. I want to add, that 

 my experience in tucking up bees in the 

 spring, moving them into clean new hives, 

 etc., has been such that 1 often tell the boys 

 they will do more harm than good when 

 they feel like overhauling the hives in 

 March, and even during the cold weather of 

 April. Give them plenty of stores in the 

 fall, and then don't fuss with them until we 

 have settled warm weather. Giving them 

 clean new hives sounds very well to the be- 

 ginner ; but I am inclined to suspect that 

 the old hives, all waxed and gummed up, 

 just ;is the bees fixed them the fall before, 

 are a great deal better for them than the 

 brand-new ones, supposing, of course, that 



the old hives were construdted in the first 

 place as they ought to be. 



ANOTHEH OPEN-SIDE SECTION. 



ONE THAt CAN BE GOTTEN INTO AND TAKEN OUT 



READILY FRO.M AN OROINARY SURPLUS AR- 



RANGKMENT. 



§0 far as theory is concerned, we believe 

 there is no question but that the open- 

 side stction possesses points of superi- 

 ority over closed sides. This may or 

 may not be true in ])ractiee ; but so 

 far hardly sufficient time has elapsed for 

 them to be thoroughly tested. Mr. J. H. 

 Robertson, from an experience with KMiO, is 

 thoroughly " disgusted with them." Mr. 

 Foster and quite a number of others, how- 

 ever, think them to be a good thing. 



With any of the open-side sections hitherto 

 constructed, there is certainly one quite se- 

 rious difficulty ; and that is, getting them in 

 and out of an ordinary surplus arrangement 

 without hitching and catching. Those jut- 

 ting corners are a perfect nuisance. Be-- 

 sides, they must necessarily hinder some- 

 what in scraping off propolis. The former 

 defect can be obviated by having a case 

 with adjustable side or end, or a case large 

 enough to admit the use of a follower and 

 wedges. We have never yet seen any ad- 

 justable side cases which really struck our 

 fancy. Although we have never tried them, 

 it seems to us they are too complicated, and 

 too difficult of manipulation. But perhaps 

 the one used by friend Foster is as good as 

 any thing. 



Partly to obviate the aforesaid difficulty 

 of leady insertion and removal from cases, 

 and partly to get a section possessing the 

 advantage of the regular open-side, and yet 

 one which would hold separators, our friend 

 Walter S. Ponder has constructed another 

 open-side section, or rather a (;losed side 

 with open corners. The following is the 

 cut representing the section, together with 

 Mr. Pouder's description. 



POUDER S OPEN-SIDE SECTION. 



Mr. Root:— In regard to open-side sections, I send 

 today a sample of my own get-up. They are not 

 exactly open-side sections, yet the bees have ac- 

 cess in every direction. They please me more than 

 anj' other section that 1 have ever seen, and I have 



