308 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Apr. 15. 



nate they did; for it stirred up a t(>rrible rum- 

 pus among the nervous rlieumatics; and, as far 

 as learned, but little good has been accomplish- 

 ed, and the cure of rheumatism bj- the apjilica- 

 tion of bee-stings is a skeptical point with the 



Rambi,ei:. 

 [But. friend R., why didn't ycm tell us wheth- 

 er the bee-sting cured the woman's rheumatism 

 or not? The picture tells us all about how your 

 neighbor got jjiled up in a heai): but after 

 things were restored to rights, the cat soothed, 

 and the bees had got out of the room, was the 

 rheumatic ankle ajiy bettei*. and did she look 

 happy and thankful, just as she does when the 

 application was being made? It is true, you 

 say. in a sort of general way, in your concluding 

 sentence, that you are skeptical in regard to the 

 whole matter." and may be that is intended to 

 answer the question.] 



CHIPS FROM THE FEB. 1st NUMBER. 



BY WUODCUOPI'ER. 



R. M. Reynolds is right. Queens will lay in 

 supers just as soon with 2-inch sections as with 

 1}^. I have tried both. 



Bait sections (page 83) nuiy prevent A. C. 

 TyrreFs from swarming, but they don't have any 

 effect that way on mine. 



Tell Rambler to go ahead and develop the 

 best bee (see page S3), and the rest of us will be 

 ready to help reap the I'esults. 



Yes. Quinhy did invent tin combs, but the bees 

 would not use them. Tliey were not ready for 

 metallic caskets then. Ai'c they yet ? 



Dr. Miller. \\hy are bees better broodless in 

 February ? Nature sets queens to laying short- 

 ly after Jan. 1st. sometimes sooner. Doesn't 

 she know what's right ? 



WIDTH OF TOP-BARS. 



You are right about the width of your to])- 

 bars, but I would space an eigbtli further apail. 

 I have used thousands of them.- and they go in 

 and out much better. 



EXTRACTED HONKY FROM DARK COMBS. 



Dark combs do affect the color of the iioney. 

 friend Andrews (see page 98), if it remains in 

 them long; and if bee-bi-ead is stored in them it 

 will make the honey rank. 



LEATHER APRONS. 



Tell Emma Wilson to make aprons of leather, 

 as a blacksmith dofs: and it would look all 

 right for E. R. too; and liglit calfskin makes 

 the best glove. It must be smooth, or bees will 

 sting through it. 



SHINGLES FOR HIVE-ROOFS. 



These are much the best of any thing I ever 

 tried, costing less than any other good roof, and 

 making a neat job. They will last 20 years or 

 more, according to quality. Tin lasts well: but 

 it gets so hot if the sun shines on it that it 

 makes a regular furnace of the surplus arrange- 

 ments under it. 



OUT OF THE BUSINESS. 



J. T. Fletcher. i)age 97, is liable, with some 

 others, to tind himself out of the business some 

 fine spring morning, as I have seen a number of 

 others do. When we have a really severe winter, 

 the chaflf hives will winter bees, and the outer 

 cases will prove failures. The last three win- 

 ters have been no i-eal test. 



HONEY FROM KEGS OR BARRELS. 



I never saw any first-class honey come out of 

 a keg or barrel if it had been there any length 

 of time. It is much better in tin cans. I'erhaps 

 the New Yorkers prefer their honey half soured. 

 which it is pretty sure to be in wooden pack- 



ages. I have several times bought honey in 

 kegs and barrels, but I never got any tluit was 

 really fine. 



CLOSED-END AND HOFFMAN FRAMES. 



I used closed-end frames 15 years, and I like 

 them first rate: but I discarded them for hang- 

 ing frames li<>cause they were not good to win- 

 ter in on summer stands. I did not use them 

 inside of a liive. but let them form the ends of 

 the hive. There \Aas no trouble about propolis: 

 and for interchanging they can not be su]-i)assed. 

 if they are made right so as to space l'^ inches 

 apart. 



PAINTED MUSLIN VS. SHINGLES. 



I tried painted muslin on a few hives some 

 years ago, but it was not worth the cost. It 

 lasted about six years. So far as the muslin is 

 concei'ned. it do(>sn"t cost very much: but. oh 

 myl as Uncle Amos S(mietimes exclaims, whata 

 lot of paint and time it took! I had to paint 

 about six times befoi'e I got them water-proof: 

 and a gallon of paint would cover only about 

 tw o hives — just the roof. 



CLOSE SPACING. ETC. 



Say, fiiend Scothan (page 1()0), do you charge 

 your good yield of snri)]us and heavy hives for 

 winter to close spacing? or did the clover and 

 basswood pan out better than ours? and that 

 nice field of buckwheat, didn't it help to make 

 the hive heavy in the fall ? If the close spacing 

 did it. we'll s|)ace up tight after tliis. for we got 

 no sui'i)lus. and some of the bees didn't have 

 any thing to winter on. and we had to double 

 up and feed, etc. 



SF.LLING SECTIONS BY THE PIECE. 



Friend Whitlock, that is a sharp trick of the 

 grocer, buying by the ])Ound and selling by the 

 l)iece. and so mak(» two profits: and are we as 

 ])roilucers going to allow it? First, we have to 

 buy more sections. i)ut in foundation, then it is 

 more work to crate them: and when we are 

 done, what are we but partakt^-s of other men's 

 sins, foi' most of them sell them for pounds? 

 That little shoi'tage in weight is the reason they 

 don't want to weigh them. Isn't it time to call 

 a halt before we all get to selling short-weight 

 goods? 



SPRING DWINDLING. AND THE CAUSE. 



I think E. S. Fowler, of Bartlett, O., is partly 

 right about sjjring dwindling. There is another 

 cause more frequent. It is this: When we 

 have a long cold spell of weathei', say two 

 months or more of downright hard freezing, 

 then, unless the bees are in waim hives, tiieir 

 constitutions are used up in the endeavor to 

 ke(^p up the necessary h(>at in the hive: and if 

 they don't succeed in it they get cold and go in- 

 to dysentery, which I call " cold-weatherdysen- 

 tery."' and very different from that cau.sed by 

 ])oor honey, but nearly as fatal, as they die off 

 as soon as they begin work in spring, simjjly be- 

 ing worn out by being obliged to fire u]) so much 

 in cold weather. 



REMEDY FOR BLACK ANTS: HOW TO GET RII> 

 OF 'EM. 



If they are the large ones, get a cent's worth 

 of tartar emetic and mix abouta quarter of it in 

 a little lioney (about an ounce or two), and place 

 in their haunts. After they have eaten it you 

 will see no more of them for about three or four 

 months, when they will begin to come back. A 

 second dose has cleaicd our house for three 

 years. It will not work on the small ants, for 

 they won't eat it: and if the coal tar (page 101) 

 will clean out the small kinds, then with both 

 you can be "ant clear," both in the hives and 

 the house. This recipe came from the House- 

 keeper. ^Minneapolis. Minn. Don't let the bees 

 eat it. for it may lay them u)) till the harvest is 

 over. 



