224 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15. 



E. R. Fi'lend Woodward's article on page 96 

 should be read the second time by Southerners 

 who think of ordering frames for "the first time, 

 for bees don't generally build perfect combs, for 

 beginners especially. 



As far as spacing is concerned, when it comes 

 to extracted honey the Hoffman frame has no 

 advantage, for the simple reason that there 

 should be one or two frames less in the top box, 

 or extracting-super, than in the brood-chamber; 

 for example, if you use nine frames in the bot- 

 tom you want only seven on top to get tlie best 

 result with the least labor. Now, how about 

 changing frames from top to bottom without 

 first scraping all the wax and i)ropolis off' the 

 <^dges that didn't touch while in the (>xtracting- 

 .supei' (a sharp hatchet scrapes them for me, 

 and then it doesn't have to be done over again)? 

 and I have friends who advocate the same plan 

 at home, if not in print. VV. W. Somerfokd. 



San Miguel de Jaruco, Cuba, Feb. 15. 



[That's pretty hard on the closed -end and 

 Hoffman frame, friend S.; but this is what we 

 want — a ventilation of Jxjth sides of the ques- 

 tion, for all localities. .Such adverse testimony 

 is valuable. It proves that, in some localities, 

 the proj^olis may be so bad as to make closed- 

 ends '• unbearable and abominable." I have 

 never said that these frames would please 

 everybody. On the contrary, I have hinted 

 pretty broadly all along that the loose frame 

 would never be abandoned; that one frame 

 would be used about as much as the othei'. Be- 

 ginners won't be hoodwinked, as you intimate 

 — they will take what their supply-dealer I'ec- 

 ommends them to: and that, at the present 

 as well as in the past, is the loose hanging 

 frame. Our standard frame, the frame that is 

 sent out in hive combinations, is the loose L. 

 frame. For special orders only. w(> send fixed 

 fi'ames; i. e., closed-end or Hoffman, and gen- 

 erally those are in small lots for " samples to 

 test." 



It may be you haven't acquired the knack of 

 handling these fixed frames; still. I should 

 more think your two localities wouldn't admit 

 of their use on account of the extra amount of 

 propolis. Dr. Mason insists that closed (>nds 

 wouldn't do for him. But all this cU^esn't ui'gue 

 that there are not a good many othei' bee-keep- 

 ers who can use them. No, 1 won't take Inick 

 one word that I said in favor of them wIkm'c I 

 saw them used successfully. In many hands 

 they are a grand success. If propolis is so bad 

 with you, 1 don't see how you can use sections 

 oi' even wide frames. ^Vhy. they would be 

 stuck together so badly that you would have to 

 use a hatchet to jn-y them apart. If that is the 

 case, of course you couldn't use closed -end 

 frames. Seep. 208 for the "other side."] E. R. 



A CHEAPEE METHOD OF MELTING 'WAX. 



HOW TO rONSTRUf'T A AVAX-BOILEH OtIT OF 

 WOOD, WITH A TIN BOTTOM. 



After reading E. France's experience in melt- 

 ing beeswax I feel inclined to give your readers 

 an account of a much cheaper boiler that an- 

 swers the purpose very well. I have been using 

 for some years, for a wax-rendering boiler, a 

 wooden box about two feet square and one foot 

 deep, with a tin bottom. The box was made 

 several years ago, as pait of an outfit for mak- 

 ing foundation on plaster-of-Paris casts. It is 

 made of pine lumber; and in order to get the 

 corners water-tight, the end pieces are let into 

 gains or grooves, across near the ends of the 

 side pieces, and well nailed. The tin bottom 

 should be about an inch larger all around than 



the outside of the box. To put the bottom on 

 so that it will not leak, paint the bottom edge 

 of the box heavily with thick white lead and 

 oil, before nailing on the tin. Then turn up the 

 projecting margin of tin and tack it securely to 

 Ihe wood, having previously used a liberal sup- 

 ply of white lead in this joint also. 



The box. or boiler, is used on an old cook- 

 stove in the shop. The combs and cappings 

 are put into a sack of strainer cloth. And I 

 may remark heie. that a lai'ge bulk of combs 

 can be put into a moderate-sized sack when the 

 lower part of the latter is immei'sed in boiling 

 water. After the comb is all in and much of it 

 melted, the sack should be tied up. and a slat- 

 ted honey-board placed over it. This can be 

 kept down under water, and a strong pressure 

 brought to bear on the sack of comb by the use 

 of a small pole or prop cut just long enough so 

 that, when one end is pressed down tii-mly on 

 the honey-board, the othei' end will rest against 

 the ceiling above. At this stage of the pro- 

 ceedings, if the water is boiling I remove the 

 fire from the stove, as a precaution against the 

 wax boiling over, and leave it to cool. The 

 wax can be remelted in more clean water — the 

 more water the better — and allowed to cool 

 slowly, if a very light color is desired. 



Farina, 111., Jan. 6. T. P. Andrews. 



[We used to employ the same method of melt- 

 ing wax in a common second-rate wash-boiler. 

 A boiler could be made in the way you describe, 

 and such a receptacle would be a capital thing 

 in which to scald foul-broody hives. A boiler 

 made entirely of tin. and large enough for the 

 purpose, would be rather too expensive.] 



GERMAN CARP AND CARP-PONDS. 



SOME INTERESTING FACTS. 



Evei'y pond should be so arranged that the 

 whole of the water can be drawn off, not leav- 

 ing a gill in any one place. The water should 

 be drawn yearly, between Dec. 1 and April 1, 

 taking out every fish, frog, tadpole, (!tc. Young 

 carp a year old will eat the fish-eggs; after 

 this, instinct teaches them not to eat them; 

 hence, breeding-lish should be kept by them- 

 selves. The large tadpole that lives through 

 the winter is a dear lover of fish-eggs, and will 

 leave but very few to hatch. From three pair 

 of breeding-fish, at two years old, in 188(j, I got 

 1500 young; and as I had more grass around the 

 pond, and these fish got larger, I had more and 

 more young fish, until in 1889, it was an innu- 

 merable multitude. Because of sickness in 1890, 

 the pond was not drawn off till June, and not a 

 single young fish was seen. This utter failure 

 was wholly chargeable to the large tadpole. I 

 have three ponds — one for breeding, one for 

 those I wish to eat, the other for small fry. 

 Last year one pond stood all the year without 

 water. This year it will be equal to a new one, 

 and another pond will go dry this year. etc. 

 One acre of new pond is worth as much for 

 growth of fish as four acres of three or four 

 year old pond. I can not agi-ee with my friend 

 that his fat carp were made so by preying upon 

 other fish. It was another breed that had 

 eaten the young fish. All the millponds, creeks, 

 and rivers in this country are getting well 

 stocked with carp from broken carp-ponds, and 

 many of them are very fine, weighing from six 

 to ten lbs. or more. It is very pretty to see the 

 young fish eating biscuits and light bread 

 thrown to them after they have been trained 

 awhile. Hundreds may be seen at a time, re- 

 minding me of bees swarming. Selling fish for 

 stocking other ponds has more than paid all 



