28' 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jax. 1. 



telling it—" God smiles overiiic in love /'' There 

 is inspiration in the very thonght. If I ever get 

 away down in Maine, won't we have a visit ? 



A KIND REPOUT FOE GLEANINGS, AND A GOOD 

 KEPOKT FKOM WASHINGTON. 



I can't do without Gleanings. Why, do you 

 know the Dec. 1st issue was worth- to me more 

 than ten years' subscription '? I have had cel- 

 ery on the brain for the last year. We have 

 sold over flOCKJ worth so far this season, and 

 find ourselves with 12,000 plants on hand, and 

 no place to store it, when here comes Glean- 

 ings and tells us to take the pigpen. Good for 

 you! W^e have just got the pigpen, 30x25 feet: 

 but who but A. I. Root would have thought to 

 make use of it ? The boys are at it now. The 

 floor came handy to line the sides with, leaving 

 a 6-inch space all around, which we till with 

 earth from ground underneath: and now with 

 three or four loads of manure on top of the 

 roof, we are fixed with a celery-house that will 

 hold at least (5000. Celery here in our moist cool 

 climate grows wonderfully large and tine. We 

 have thousands that will weigh 4 or ,5 lbs. to 

 the single stalk — Golden Self-bleaching, 2}4 

 feet tall, with leaves that are two inches at the 

 base, and as brittle as an icicle. 



Fidalgo, Wash., Dec. 12. H. A. March. 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS, 



OB.JECTIONS TO THE 60-LB. SQUARE CANS, FROM A 

 IIONEY-DEALER. 



I notice considerable discussion in Gleanings 

 about the 60-lb. tin cans for extracted honey. 

 My observations are, that they are not the best, 

 for they are very tender, and easily made to 

 leak, especially if out of the cases, and nails are 

 so apt to be driven into the tin through the 

 cases. They are too frail, and not solid enough 

 for the weight put in them. When they are 

 leaky it is difficult to tell where the leak is, 

 and you can not stop it without the tinsmith. 

 The pine fish-kegs holding 7.5 and 1.50 lbs. each 

 are the cheapest and most sensible packages for 

 extracted honey: for, if leaky, the hooi)S can be 

 driven and quickly coopered. Another objec- 

 tionable feature of the tins is. that buyers get 

 the impression that all honey in those cans is 

 California honey, and are more or less preju- 

 diced. What say other honey-dealers ? 



Albany, N. Y., Dec. 2.5. H. R. Wright. 



[We should be glad to hear from the other 

 dealers.] 



THICK AND thin TOP-BARS. — ONE WHO HAS 



USED AND DISCARDED CLOSED-END 



FRAMES. 



The new catalogue is at hand. It is a very 

 neat one, and quite an improvement over for- 

 mer editions. I have used top-bars varying from 

 J^ Inch to 1 inch in depth, and from ,^1 inch to 

 1^ inches wide: but I have always had more or 

 less burr-combs after the second season. I have 

 some of Roofs S. frames that have been in use 

 two seasons, and have never had burr-combs 

 built above them, though I have had sections 

 filled over them each season; but, judging from 

 experience, I am sure that burr-combs will 

 come, in time. Exact spacing, by using fixed 

 distances, can be maintained only by having 

 every comb perfectly straight, and the septum 

 exactly in the center of the frame: in fact, each 



comb must be perfect and an exact counterpart 

 of all the others; if not. you will very likely 

 change the spacing every time you change a 

 frame. Fixed distances have advantages for 

 those who move their bees often. They also 

 have disadvantages: and the point for each one 

 to decide is, whether th(^ advantages will out- 

 weigh the disadvantages. I used two thou- 

 sand closed-end frames two seasons, and have 

 decided in favor of hanging-frames. 



Robert E. Ashcraft. 



Brookside, Mich., Dec. 8. 



[That's right; let's have both sides of the 

 question. You do not tell us what sort of bee- 

 space you had when you made your experiments 

 with tap-bars. In Elwood's apiaries I saw no 

 burr-combs, or almost none, and he used a J4- 

 inch bee-space, scant if any thing. The same 

 condition of things I saw in other apiaries 

 where the i^-inch bee-space and fixed distances 

 were in use. There are several things that go 

 to prevent brace-combs; and not the least im- 

 portant is the right bee-sp<icc above the frames. 

 I am glad you have spoken out in regard to 

 closed-end frames. There are and will be oth- 

 ers like you: and, on the other hand, there are 

 just as many who would use nothing else. It's 

 a good deal in knowing how to handle them. 

 We can't (no, we won't) all use the same kind 

 of frames or hivesj E. R. 



WHAT THE editor OF THE TELLER SAYS OF 



OUR REPRODUCTION OF THE FRANCE 



BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION. 



Mr. Root: — I notice with pleasui'e your re- 

 production of the assembly of bee-keepei'S re- 

 cently at Platteville. You could hardly have 

 been prompted to the underta^ving by that spirit 

 which usually goes under the head of " enter- 

 prise," for there surely is no money in it. The 

 Root of j'our motive must be in your " good will 

 toward men '" — a virtue that blossoms profuse- 

 ly in Glj:anings. The faces of the group are 

 nearly all familiar to me. They are of worthy 

 citizens who are mostly friends and patrons of 

 The Teller. Edward Pollock. 



Lancaster. Wis., Dec. 20. 



A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THAT " SN1"FF-BOX,*' 

 ETC. 



Friend Root: — I think your "snuff-box"' il- 

 lusti'ation on page 757, in connection with those 

 delicious gems, was very unfortuiuite, as one 

 does not like to be reminded of the filthy thing 

 every morning at the breakfast-table." Why 

 did you not think of the humble clam, or the 

 more iBsthetic oyster whose bivalved shell opens 

 like your " hinged gems'"? In the South your 

 illustration would not be appropriate, as the 

 snuff-box in common use among the "ladies" 

 at home, in company, and at church, is the or- 

 dinary small tin can in which itis packed forsale. 

 The cover is removed, and the can passed 

 around for each who desires, old and young, to 

 "dip" in their little "tooth-brush" (a small 

 stick chewed at one end), with whicli tiie snuff 

 is " rubbed " upon the teeth. It is certainly an 

 evil habit, injurious to both body and mind, if 

 not degrading to the soul. I often think, in 

 connection with the tobacco habit, to which I 

 was atone time addicted, of that terrible sen- 

 tence, " He that is filthy, let him be filthy still." 



Some one, long since, asked in Gleanings, 

 whether a person could be a " consistent pro- 

 fessor of religion and be a user of tobacco.'" I 

 should say yes; for a "professor of religion" 

 covers a broad ground, and not well defined. 

 But if the question were asked, " Can a person 

 be a Christimi and a habitual user of tobacco?" 

 I should say no. A Christian will strive to 

 overcome all evil habits. C. F. Parker. 



Mentone, Ala., Dec. 21. 



