934 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



UEDUCINfi THE SIZE OP THE SECTIONS SO THAT 



"kOUK ok THEM WILL -JUST GO INSIDE OF 



A STANDARD 4^4 SECTION. 



Ill reg'ard to small sections, why not make one- 

 piece sections small enoug-h so that four of them 

 will just fill a standard section / 



(iroesbeck, O., Nov. 12, IHHS. Walter S. Pouder. 



The thing cau be done ; but the greatest 

 objection that occurs to us is the amount of 

 wood that encircles the honey, to the actual 

 amount of honey. Even with one-pound 

 sections, consumers have sometimes com- 

 plained that they have been obliged to buy 

 foiu" sticks of wood that were of no use to 

 them. Consumers would have three or four 

 times as good reason to complain if we should 

 make sections the ordinary thickness of 

 wood, and one-fourth of the size of the one- 

 pound sections. If we make small sections, 

 it is highly essential that the amount of wood 

 be reduced correspondingly. Friend Ilarmer 

 lias carried out the proportion very nicely. 

 But the difficulty with tne most of us is in 

 preparing and getting the sections ready for 

 the bees. 



NESTUCCA, OREGON, AND THE ADVANTAGES OF 

 THE PLACE FOR BEES. 



We have an excellent bee-country here, within a 

 few hundred yards of the Pacific Ocean. The bees 

 make a large amount of honey, and the honey is of 

 the best quality. We are not very well stocked up 

 yet. 0\ir best bee-keepers have scarcely a hundred 

 stands. I have reference to our country here 

 along the coast only, and not to the Willamette 

 Valley or any other portions of Oregon. The 

 scarcity of bees is owing to the fact that the 

 country has been but recently settled. But we 

 have much better facilities now lor obtaining bee- 

 keepers' supplies than ever before; and the proba- 

 bilities are that bee-keeping will be one of the 

 leading industries of this country. 



Wc have a thriving little town here— Woods- 

 near the ocean. It is a pleasant place to live— not 

 too cool in winter nor too hot in summer. It is 

 pleasant all the year round. We do not put our 

 bees in the cellar during the winter. They winter 

 all right on their summer stands. We use the 

 Simplicity hives. We like Gleanings, and hope to 

 see its circulation largely increased here. 



Nestucca, Oregon. R. T. Weatherby. 



A PATENT-RIGHT SWINDLER, AND HOW HE OPERAT- 

 ED WITH HIVES. 



I believe, friend Root, that I will tell you how I 

 came to start in bee culture, and then you will get 

 my opinion of the patent-right business. I knew 

 nothing of the honey-bees, except that they would 

 sting, and that I was afraid of them. About the 

 time I was 31, a man, if man he was, by the name of 

 W. H. McDaniel.from the northern part of Indiana, 

 came to Kokomo, the county-seat of Howard Coun- 

 ty, with the Diehl bee-hive and patent-right. There 

 was where I got my first lesson, and it came with 

 such a blow that I haven't learned very fast since 

 how to manage my apiary. But, mark you, 1 know 

 better how to manage a patent-right man. This 

 McDaniel claimed that a man could make more 

 money by handling his farm-right than he possibly 

 could on a big farm. He was well posted on bee- 

 matters, and took in lots of the bee-men, and I was 



one of his victims to the amount of .f 180, for which 

 I got nothing in return. 1 would say to your read- 

 ers as I say to my neighbors, let the patent hive 

 alone. 1 am using the L. hive, and I think it is the 

 best one there is. C. P. Kyzar. 



Kidgeway, Ind., June 12, 1888. 



BEES ROBBING BY MOONLIGHT. 



Did you ever have bees go to robbing by moon- 

 light ? My son who lives with me (I am an old wo- 

 man and a widow) had a strong colony of black bees 

 in an old-fashioned box hive, within ten feet of my 

 bees; and one warm night in September, when the 

 moon was about full, I took out my feeder as usual 

 and placed it at the entrance. In a few minutes I 

 heard the robbing noise, and went out and found 

 them on such a rampage that I was sure my i)oor col- 

 ony of Italians would soon be " done for;" but by sit- 

 ting up all night, or nearly so, and following the ABC 

 and Doolittle's advice, I stopped the robbing, or, 

 rather, fighting, but at the expense of some bad 

 stings. LuciNDA A. Zims. 



Philippi, W. Va., Oct. :?!, 1888. 



We do not remember of ever having had 

 a case of robbing by moonlight, but our bees 

 did once gather some nectar from tlie spider 

 plant by moonlight, some years ago, when 

 we had a patch of it. We should like to 

 know if any one else has had similar expe- 

 rience of robbing. 



FEEDIN(i BEES FROM A COMB INSTEAD OF USING A 

 FEEDER. 



I have looked over the list of feeders mentioned in 

 Question 84, and have tried some of them. The one 

 that suits me best is a good frame with brood 

 comb, filled on one side with honey or syrup. 

 After rolling back the burlap, this is to be placed 

 flatwise on the top of the brood-frames in such a 

 position that the bees can come up and take the 

 honey from the top of it. D. Noble. 



Clintonville, Wis., Nov. 3, 1888. 



The plan will work. We have fretiuent- 

 ly supplied needy colonies thus early in the 

 spring, where we did not wish to disturb 

 the brood-nest ; but since the advent of the 

 Miller feeder, we shall use it instead, as it 

 is well adapted for cold-weather feeding. 

 The greatest objection to feeding with 

 combs as you describe, is, that the bees 

 gnaw into "and disfigure that side of the 

 comb next to the brood-nest. 



WILL IT PAY TO SET OUT SPIDER-PLANTS 

 LARGELY ? 



I have a small piece of orchard. Would it pay to 

 plow 'it up, and plant spider-plant? Where can I 

 get the seed? My bees have not made two pounds 

 of honey this season. Shall I be obliged to feed 

 them all winter? I have adopted the pepper-box 

 style, but it seems to run out. I am afraid it 

 wastes the feed. I have some cakes of maple su- 

 gar. How will it do to put those on to the hives? 



Lynn, Mass., Nov. 13, 1888. L. C. Norwood. 



No, sir ! don't plow up your orchard for the 

 sake of setting out spider-plants. They yield 

 comparatively large amounts of nectar to 

 the blossom, but it will not pay you to set it 

 out largely for the sake of the honey you get 

 from it. You will see by the A B C of Bee 

 Culture that we do not recommend setting 

 out any honey-plants except those that wiu 



