1S91 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



89 



There is one thing I decidedly do not like to 

 do with glove* on: and that is. to clip a queen. 

 I ahvays draw a long breath when the opera- 

 tion is over; and 1 confess tliat. if Dr. Miller is 

 witliin reach. I always carry them to him to 

 clip. 



I have never been able to get a glove that quite 

 suited me. I have never tried rubber, as I 

 imagined I shonld not like them, for the smell 

 of rubber is vei y disagreeable to me. For some 

 time I have used buckskin: but they are very 

 heavy and warm, and decidedly uncomfortable, 

 and. when well stuck up with propolis, are not 

 very handsome, to say the least. I wish some 

 one who has had some experience with rubbtT 

 gloves would tell how he likes them, or any 

 other kind of glove, for that matter. The sub- 

 ject is a very interesting one to me. 



Perhaps if oui' bees were all pure Italians it 

 might make some dirtVrence in my views. We 

 have requeened all our colonies, giving them all 

 Italian queens, so next summer I may have a 

 chance to see how much difference it will make. 



Anothei' thing that bothers me is, to know 

 what to make my aprons of. I have tried ging- 

 ham, calico, and oil cloth. I don't like any of 

 them. I want something that honey will not 

 Soak through readily, as I should like to keep 

 my dress clean. By wearing two aprons at a 

 time, and changing them very often. I have 

 managed pretty well. Hut that is troublesome, 

 and makes lots of washing, and 1 should like 

 something better. I dislike the oil cloth, for it 

 has such a disagreeable smell. I am thinking 

 of trying bed-ticking this summer. It doesn't 

 seem to me that honey ought to soak through 

 very easily. I am afraid the objection will be, 

 that it is so heavy and clumsy. Have any of 

 the ladies ever tried it? If so. please tell us 

 how you liked it. Emma Wii.sox. 



Marengo. III., Jan. 13. 



[My good friend, you are striking on real 

 practical matters in your suggestions, and this 

 is just what we want. By tiae way, why not 

 have paper aprons, and burn them up as fast as 

 they become soiled — something like the Japa- 

 nese paper handkerchiefs? Honey and prop- 

 olis, to say nothing of beeswax, are very trying 

 on one's clothes. Like yourself. I always feel 

 nervous when my hands are daubed with "either 

 honey or propolis. Our remedy is a clieap 

 wash-basin and a towel. If it were not for the 

 looks of the thing, some sort of apron would be 

 a very convenient thing for men as well as for 

 women, during the honey season. Can we not 

 not iiear from more of the women-folks who 

 have lieen helping among the bee-hives?] 



KEEPING EECORD. 



HOW IT CAX BE DONE HY MEANS OF A BRIfK 

 ox THE HIVE-COVEK. 



Friend Root: — Allow me to offer a few sug- 

 gestions, in line with ^\m. Muth-Rasmussen's 

 article in Dec. 1 Gleanings. The general crit- 

 icism to all such plans is, that they are too 

 elaborate, taking too much time to iearn the 

 system, and then the chances of the stones or 

 bricks being moved out of their position by vis- 

 itors or children: and even dogs and cats jump- 

 ing on the liive might do it. l-'or the bee-keep- 

 er who has but few colonies, some such ijlan 

 might be best: but for him who numbeis his 

 hives by the fifties or hundreds it is too cum- 

 bersome. I have been thinking of a plan 

 adapted to such by using bricks, which I think 

 are much to be preferred to either stones or 

 number cards, for the reason they can be turned 

 in three positions, each of which can have its 



meaning. These three positions in which a 

 brick may be laid. viz.. side. end. and flat down: 

 by dividing the hive cover into three positions — 

 front, rear, and centei-. would give nine points: 

 and by dividing each of these positions into 

 three parts, we have in all 18 points. Nor is 

 this all. The brick may be placed on any one 

 of these divisions in two ways — lengthwise of 

 the hive or crosswise of the same, making in all 

 over lifty different arrangements of the brick 

 on a hive, which would certainly satisfy all the 

 requirennnits of the most exacting. 



The information needed or desirable in re- 

 gard to the contents of a hive may be grouped 

 under three general heads: 



1. Of bees. This would include brood, eggs, 

 and larviB in all stages: also quality and quan- 

 tity. 



2. Stores, referring to both honey, pollen, and 

 wax. 



3. Queen, referring to quality, age. condition, 

 etc. 



Those for these three natural divisions of top- 

 ics correspond with the three divisions or gen- 

 eral places on the hive-cover: and. for conven- 

 ience, say we call the front third the bee divi- 

 sion: the central third the stores division, 

 and the i-ear pait the queen division. Then 

 a biick placed anywhere on the rear third 

 of a hive would mean something about the 

 queen: on the central third, always something 

 in regard to the stores: and one on the front 

 third, always something in regard to bees or 

 brood: and the absence of a brick from any of 

 these places would signify that all is right, "and 

 no particular attention is needed. 



Again, we might generalize and simplify our 

 system by having the brick standing on end 

 always mean immediate attention, and its posi- 

 tion on the hive indicate in what particular 

 point the attention is needed. Each bee-keep- 

 er can elaborate the system to suit his or her 

 special needs. 



Here is a figure of a hive-cover and its sug- 

 gested divisions, which will make it clearer. 



BEES 



__i. 



quEE^ ' quEEHCELL^^ &,<" 



1^^ 



HATCH S SYSTEM OF HIVE - REC()H1> BY BRICKS. 



It might seem, at first glance, that one would 

 need three bricks for every hive: but in prac- 

 tice it is not so: we have used a plan something 

 like the above for years, although not so com- 

 prehensive, and find that one brick for each 

 hive is usually ample. For keeping track of 



