1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



809 



stolen sweets, tliey will pour right in 

 through the wire tube, every last bee of 

 them, and they will never get out again un- 

 til you see fit to let them out. 



STOPPING ROBBING, A^TITH A 'WET 

 SHEET. 



ANOTHEFi S\VAI{,M1N(!-UEVICE. 



bing. 



NE day our bees i;ot to the honey in our bee- 

 shop, and worked all dtiy. So pa stopped up 

 all the holes to keep them out, for he said it 

 would cause tliein to rob. Sure enough, the 

 nc.\t day in the afternoon they went to rob- 

 We heard a terrible buzzing- outside the 

 house, and ma told ine to go and see what was the 

 matter with the bees. I went to look, and there 

 was a great lot of bees tlying around. I started out 

 through the yard, and there came about half a 

 dozen against my bonnet. I started back for the 

 house, and they followed me clear into the house. 

 I went after pa. He came, and said they were rob- 

 bing. He put on his veil and went out to see which 

 colony they were robbing. He came back in the 

 house and asked for a sheet. I got him one, and he 

 wet it and spread it over the hive. That soon set- 

 tled them. Pa doesn't like to shut up the entrances 

 on a hot day, because he is afraid it will melt the 

 combs and smother the bees. Clara M. Streby. 

 Paw Paw, W. Va , Aug. 28, 1888. 



In the Aug. 15th is- 

 sue, page 054, friend 

 Clara told us about 

 her papa's hiving-box, 

 and how he used it. 

 Desiring to know more 

 about its construction 

 I requested her to 

 have a photograph 

 taken of it, and send 

 it to us to be engraved. 

 Instead of a photo- 

 graph Clara sent a 

 drawing, which we 

 reproduce. 



This swarraing-box is made narrower at the bot- 

 tom than it is at tlie top, as you see in the picture. 

 Then a Simplicity frame is put in with comb in it, 

 the ends resting on the board which is cut down to 

 fit the frame. It is doubtful whether the bees 

 would go in were there not a honey-comb in it. 

 When the bees are taken out to be put in the hive, 

 the frame is just lifted out and put in too, for the 

 bees to commence ou. There is an auger-hole in 

 the bottom of the box to put the end of this pole in, 

 as you see it is made to fit, and these pieces on the 

 sides are to hold the pole to its place. 



Paw Paw, W. Va. C. M. Streby. 



Your description of the hiving - box is 

 clear, and your drawing is good. I am 

 glad to have our juvenile correspondents il- 

 lustrate their ideas by drawings. To stimu- 

 late other young friends who may under- 

 stand some of the rudiments of drawing, 

 and who might, without any very great ditfi- 

 culty, make a fair picture of what they are 

 talking about, I hereby ask Clara to select 

 any article she may choose from our fifty- 

 cent counter. Perhaps I should add, that 

 the drawings must represent some practical 



implement connected with apiculture. Here 

 is a chance, boys and girls, to get some nice 

 present. Your papa, lam sure, has some real 

 nice bee-fixings that no one knows any 

 thing about. Let us see what a good de- 

 scription and picture you can send along, 

 concerning them. — Well, Clara, we can see 

 at a glance how your papa has his swarm- 

 ing-box made ; and without any description 

 we could almost see how it is to be used. If 

 there is any thing whicli will attract a 

 swarm of bees, it is a frame of unsealed 

 larva'. The swarming-box which you have 

 illustrated could be pushed right against a 

 cluster of bees, and a jar of the limb would 

 probably dislodge them on to the comb, 

 where they would be apt to adhere. When 

 this comb is placed in the hive it would take 

 with it probably two-thirds of the bees. For 

 general convenience, however, I believe I 

 should prefer the Manum device. 



SPECIAL DEPARTMENT FOR A. I. ROOT, AND HIS 

 FRIENDS WHO LOVE TO RAISE CROPS. 



"WHATSOEVER A MAN SOWETH, THAT SHAI.T. HE 

 ALSO REAP." 



WHEN it is required of us that we be very cau- 

 tious as'to what kind of seed we sow. I shall 

 take up and allude to the text only in an 

 agricultural sense, and leave the moral part 

 to others^or to yourself. 

 If you will take up a handful of what are called 

 selected and screened seeds, and examine them 

 closelj', if small, under a microscope, you will be 

 wonderfully surprised at their imperfections. You 

 will almost exclaim, " There is none perfect, no, not 

 one." 



My attention has often been attracted to the im- 

 perfect seed, mostly in cabbage. If you will but 

 take a few in your hand and examine them closely, 

 you will be surprised, and your surprise will not 

 cease there if you will sow them in an especially 

 prepared box in your greenhouse, and note closely 

 what a great difference there is in their strength 

 and vigor as 1 hey break through the ground. You 

 follow them all along through, and you will see the 

 difference all through their growth to maturity. I 

 have no doubt but that you have observed the 

 above, and you will see the same great difference 

 in radishes. 



Rich land, good cultivation, and plenty of water, 

 will make a wonderful difference in their growth; 

 but seed is of vital importance, and the very foun- 

 dation to success in good gardening. 



In regard to good cabbage seed, I should greatly 

 prefer to pay as high as J!,50.00 per pound, and get 

 good and perfect seed, grown from good and perfect 

 heads. These heads, during their seed growth, 

 should have Tnost if not all of the side branches re- 

 moved before their blooming, and only the central 

 stalk allowed to bloom and seed, causing all the vi- 

 tality of the stalk to be thrown into only so much 

 as could be perfectly developed, so that, at seed- 

 gathering, there would not be more than a fourth 

 of the number of seeds, but larger, and far heavier 

 to the same number of seeds. For such cabbage 

 seed it would be far cheaper to any market garden- 

 er to pay f.'iU.OO per pound than to take seed, as or- 

 dinarily grown, as a gift; for with good and perfect 



