ti26 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mai!. 15. 



the enti'ance as they have in the summer time: 

 and. if any thing, rather more. To all this I 

 agree, only that I would not allow any sort of 

 entrance that would i)ermit mice to get in. I 

 do not believe it will pay to undertake to con- 

 tract and enlarge entrance's as the weather 

 changes. We once tried it on quite a good 

 many chaflf hives; and those that had the en- 

 trance open full width all wintei-, long did a 

 good deal better than where any kind of con- 

 traction was practiced. A very small entrance 

 will, of cours(\ answer, prox idiiig the bees have 

 upward ventilation— leaving the surplus ar- 

 rangeirients on all winter, and such like ar- 

 rangements. Friend (Jreen is very emphatic in 

 saying "the hive should be air-tight on top."' 

 Well, I think likely he is right, providing the 

 entrance be large enough, or that there are oth- 

 er larg(> openings througli the lioltom- board. 

 Several mention having an empty chamber 

 under the brood-combs. I am inclined to think 

 this is a very good arrangement where you 

 have movable bottom-boards. I rather think 

 that ordinary cellars or caves will answer very 

 well without any special arrangement at all be- 

 ing made for ventilation, and a great many 

 bee-hives will also have all the ventilating 

 cracks and holes that can be needed. There 

 should, however, be some opening for bees to 

 pass in and out whem-ver the weather is warm. 

 With a loose, poorly made hive, if this opening 

 is sufficient to let one bee pass, and does not 

 get obstructed, it will do very well.] A. I. R. 



FROM DIFFERENT FlEl.n 



SIIAIJ, WE CONTINUE TO SEND GLEANINGS IN 

 BEE CUI/rUHE ? 



No, don't. I've got enough. The contribu- 

 tions of some of the writers for (iLEANiNGS are 

 good, and with them I lind no fault; others I 

 do find fault with— Rambler, for instance. The 

 Home talks are obnoxious. To take a passage 

 of Scripture, and branch off on to such boasting 

 about a $400 team, a big factory, and so many 

 hands to see after, and so much property, and 

 me and mine, and big I, doesn't suit me. 



Burnville, Ark.. Dec. 22. H. C. M. Braeey. 



[Well, good friend B.. the above would be 

 rather discouraging, to be sure, if it were not 

 for the great flood of aitprovliiff letters that 

 come in evi'ry mail; and. besides, theie is an- 

 otiier encouraging thought — you i)ut (nu- good 

 friend Rdnihler down with the author of the 

 Home Papei'S. I always did like lo be in good 

 company. Joking aside, however, I want to 

 thank you for your criticism, even if it be very 

 plain and rather severe. It has many times 

 occurred to me that those who do not feel es- 

 pecially friendly might look at my Home talks 

 in just the way you have. I did not mean to 

 boast of our big team. I simply wanted to en- 

 courage the idea of having horses adequate to 

 the work to be peifoi'nu'd, and giving them 

 good care. I do believe that many of our farm- 

 ers would accomplish more, and do it c/ieaji^er. 

 by having heavier horses, well cared for; and 

 instead of the big "I "it was and is my pur- 

 pose to exalt only Chi'ist Jesus. The Home 

 Papers, with all their impeifections (and I 

 see them as plainly, J believe, as almost any one 

 does), have been the means of doing good, 

 through Christ Jesus, and to liim alone be all 

 the honor and praise. My old pastor, in his 

 prayer one Sunday morning, said, '" O Lord, we 

 thank thee for our encsmies, becaus(> Ihey tell us 



oiu' faults when our friends will not." Now,, 

 dear brother, I do not want to considfi" you as- 

 an enemy as we bid you good-by. On the con- 

 trary, may God speed you in all that is good 

 and i)ure and holy. May be we shall beconu' 

 better (icqiiuinted some timej and I hope and 

 pray that we may both become better men as 

 the years go on.] 



HOAV TO KEEP DIUED FRUIT FROM THE MOTH 

 AND 51ILLERS. 



Mr. Root:— We have had a great deal of 

 trouble every year in keeping dried fruit from 

 the millers, or moths. We should like to hear 

 through your valuable paper how to keep the 

 fruit until spring from becoming wormy. We 

 have been keeping them in barrels lined with 

 paper, and tightly covered, but have not had 

 any success. We are thinking of trying a new 

 plan of putting the fruit, first in a burlap sack, 

 then slii^ping it loosely into a bag madeofoit 

 cloth. We should like to hear the ex])erience 

 of some of the readers. Byron H. Wieev. 



Fillmore, Cal., Jan. 27. 



[We sent the above to Prof. Cook, who replies 

 as follows:] 



If Mr. Wiley will put his fruit in paper sacks 

 and then tie tightly, he will escape the insects 

 surely, unless the eggs are laid before the fruit 

 is put into the sacks. He says he puts his 

 dried fruit in barrels lined with paper, and yet 

 suffers loss. I think in tiiis case the female 

 moths lay their eggs on the fruit before it is 

 I)ut into the barrels. In •^uch cases, if a small 

 hole were boi'ed in one end of the barrel, and 

 tightly corked, it would be easy to free the- 

 apples or fruit of iiisects by use of bi-sulphide 

 of carbon. Withdi'aw the cork, turn in half a. 

 pint of the liquid, and quickly cork up the hole. 

 The liquid would destroy the insects, and 

 would do no harm to the fruit. This would be a 

 very cheap and convenient cure for the evil. 

 It should be remembered that this liquid va- 

 porizes very quickly, and that the vapor is very 

 inflammable, and very explosive when mixed 

 with air. In this case the baiTels could be 

 easily moved out of doors, or be kept in a room 

 where no fire or lighted cigar, etc., is ever taken. 

 I would use i)aper sacks for storing, and, in case 

 of attack, I would use bi-sulphide of carbon to 

 destroy the mischief-makers. Bi-sulphide of 

 carbon very soon escajjes if permitted: audit 

 is so odorous that its presence, even in very 

 small quantities, is sure of detection. It vola- 

 tilizes so completely, that, even if thrown into 

 a flour-bin, it all evaporates and the flour is un- 

 injured. A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich., Feb. 6. 



rambler's visit to the BAY' STATE APIARY, 



Friend Root:— I have read Ramblei''s visit to 

 the Bay State Apiary with a good deal of in- 

 terest. As you seem to have a wrong impres- 

 sion regarding some things. I will try to correct 

 them. I judge by vour foot-notes to Rambler's 

 article that you have an idea that I am an in- 

 veterate smoker as well as Bro. Pratt. You are 

 wrong in this. I do not use tobacco in any 

 form, except to introduce queens. Although I 

 use several pounds each season of the vile weed, 

 it always has a bad taste to me. 



You \xant to know whether we did notgetthe 

 " plantain leaf" idea from you. Guess not. We 

 have used it nearly 30 years, and used it. fiiend 

 R.. when you used to send orders to the Bay 

 State Apiary t'or queens. That. I lielieve, was a 

 good many years before you published a bee- 

 paper. I give you a cordial invitation, friend 

 R.. to visit the liay State Apiary whenever you 

 can find it convenient to do so. You will see 

 and hear about a good many things that have 



