230 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. lo. 



PAINTED MUSLIN FOR HIYE-COVERS : AN ILL- 

 INOIS MAN SAYS HE HAS USED IT FOR 

 FOUR YEARS, ANI> WANTS NOTH- 

 ING BETTER. 



In Gleanings. Jan. 15, you want to know 

 whether painted muslin on covers of hives will 

 be as good as painted tin. For 4 years I used 

 painted muslin on my hive-covers: and my ex- 

 perience is. that you can find nothing better. It 

 keeps the inside of the hive dry in any kind of 

 weather. Paint and muslin will Stick to the 

 wood during the severest cold or warm weatlier. 

 You never want to re-cover the hive: but every 

 two years give it a coat of paint. But it will be 

 better, where, instead of nailing, the muslin is 

 pasted on the cover. Put the paste on the cov- 

 er, then lay the cloth on: brush over with a 

 hand-broom: cut the sides off wi*h a sharp 

 knife before they are dry: and. when dry. give 

 two coats of paint. The same can be done with 

 outside winter cases. I have muslin on the 

 roof of my honey-house, and partly on my hen- 

 house. 



And now, friend Root, let me make a sugges- 

 tion about muslin on warm or cold bed-frames. 

 You have several objections to muslin-covered 

 frames, and you are quite right so far: but if. 

 before you nail the muslin on the frames, you 

 nail a piece of poulti y-netting (say four-inch 

 mesh) on. muslin over the netting.it will not 

 make the frame much more exjjensive or 

 heavy — just heavy enough so that it can't be 

 blown about: and duj'ing a rain the cloth will 

 not form a water-basin in the middle. I am go- 

 ing to try it this spring: and if you think it over 

 you wilTperhaps do the same. 



Henry Schaverdtfeger. 



Lincoln. Logan Co., 111.. Feb. 3. 



OLD KEROSENE-CANS FOR CALIFORNIA HONEY, 

 again; a HINT TO CALIFORNIANS. 



I see by Gleanings that the honey-producers 

 of California are complaining that buyers of 

 their extracted honey want new cans. Let me 

 tell them how old cans lost them one sale. I 

 sold nearly all my honey by Nov. 1.5. and wrote 

 to a commission house in Philadelphia for 

 white-clover extracted honey. I said I prefer- 

 red eastern clover to what tiiey called Califor- 

 nia white clover. When it came it was in old 

 rusted tin cans, and they had the word petro- 

 leum stamped in the tin on the top. No names 

 nor marks wei'e on the box. The honey was 

 light amber, but had an ugly taste. I couldn't 

 eat it. and would not offer it for sale. I return- 

 ed it. The color was such that the honey 

 should have been good in fiavor. 



About how many pounds of paraffine wax will 

 it take to wax a barrel, one head out'? 



Pottstown, Pa. W. W. Kulp. 



[These old square <iO-lb. kerosene cans have 

 done a great deal of damage to California hon- 

 ey—not that all California iioney is tainted by 

 a'trace of kerosene: but the fact that .so»ie is, 

 operates against the honey put up in new clean 

 cans from the same State. The bee-keepers of 

 California should either use new cans or else 

 thoronghly cleanse old cans with an alkali, as 

 explained in Gleanings, page 71. Use for bar- 

 rels, about 10 lbs. wax or parafifine. Of course, 

 you will not need that much for a single barrel, 

 but you need that much to keep hot while roll- 

 ing the barrel about. Wliile you are about it 

 you can wax several barrels.] 



admits trouble may come occasionally from hy- 

 brids. Now, if Dr.Milleror any one else will do 

 as I do he will not carry those bottom-boards 

 into th(> cellar, nor have any trouble from bees 

 flying out. Let me first say right here, that I 

 carry my bees into the cellar alone, as I have 

 never found a man for a helper who was as 

 good as I am alone. On a cool afternoon, when 

 no sun is shining, I go to my hives, put a half- 

 inch block under each corner, and in less than 

 an hour. they are in a good cluster. I then take 

 my strap and hooks, pick u|) my hive and walk 

 off with it to the cellar: and very often I have 

 to raise the enamel cloth to see whether the 

 bees are alive or not. In 7 years I have not had 

 the least bit of trouble in putting them in or 

 can-ying them out. My bees are hybrids from 

 the blacks. Italians, and Cyprians. 



RUBBER GLOVES BETTER THAN ANY THING 



ELSE. 



If Miss Emma Wilson nutst wear gloves, I 

 would advise rubber by all means. We have 

 used them in our family foi- 8 or 9 years, and 

 like them better than all other kinds. Kid 

 gloves or dogskin come next: I would npt use 

 buckskin, for the liees will sting them, and 

 most of the time will lose their lives. There is 

 but one fault with rubber gloves so far as I 

 know: and that is. the tingers are too long. I 

 like to use ai)rons when I am working with the 

 honey, and 1 feel proud when 1 am covered from 

 my neck to my slippers with a nice clean one! 



Orion. Wis., Feb. K). Fred. L. Snyder. 



A COLONY OF BEES WHICH SECRETE NO PRO- 

 POLIS. 



I have an anomaly in the bee-line. I have a 

 strong colony of hybrids whose mother is a ])ure 

 Italian, if I can judge by the markings. The 

 bees use, in a manner, no proi)olis. They gave 

 me two well-tilled :,'8-lb. cases. T supers, from 

 white clover. These were removed at the end 

 of the flow, and replaced by a super reduced to 

 14, which remained on until late in the fall. 

 Upon neither was any propolis. On the first, 

 the white clover, they were absolutely spotless; 

 on the latter, removed in the fall, only a bare 

 trace, not to b<> observed except by scrutiny. 

 Query: May I expect a conthiuance of this 

 good quality the coming season? If so. may I 

 expect queens raised from this queen to furnish 

 brood having the same peculiarity ? I would 

 attribute this to want of time by reason of the 

 flow: but all other colonies in the yaid found 

 time to glue things i)retty freely. We have an 

 ahundance of the conifene in this region. 



Guys, Md., Feb. :.'. Wm. S. Adams. 



[We hope that you will answer your inquiry 

 yourself, friend A., by trying some queens from 

 this non-propolis mother. Just as soon as you 

 know the results, please communicate the facts 

 at once to Gleanings. We should like to know 

 whether it is possible to breed a non-propoliz- 

 ing race of bees. But. hold a minute I Those 

 colonies that daub propolis worst are generally 

 excellent honey-gatherers, and usually come 

 through the winter in splendid condition. There 

 is this much for propolis. It seals the hives air- 

 tight — a thing quite necessary in the production 

 of comb honey, and for successful wintering.] 



SNY'DER'S method of CARRYING BEES INTO 

 THE CELLAR. 



In Ernest's Notes of Travel for Feb. 1. Dr. 

 Miller says he can not carry hives of bees into 

 the cellar without bottom -boards, and Ernest 



ONE TON OF HONEY FROM TEN HIAES. 



There was a great houey season here last 

 year. I took one ton of honey from ten hives, 

 and then had them in good shape for the win- 

 ter. How is that for an ABC man ? That is 

 more than you have ever done; but I tell you it 

 kept me busy all my spare time. 



James Robinson. 



Buffalo. N. Y.. Feb. 19. 



