4-.'S 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



.May i: 



hoiiie. Will it indicate rain accurately twelve 

 or more hours ahead? H. 1'. Langdon. 



East Constable, N. Y., April 215. 



[If you understand how to read an aneroid 

 barometer, it will generally give you pretty ac- 

 curate weather prognostications, several hours 

 in advance, but not always. We depend on 

 them a good deal at the iiome of the Honey- 

 bees. ISo much faith have we in them that we 

 once started oat to an out-apiary in the rain, he- 

 cause the barometer said it would clear up. al- 

 though it looked as if it would rain all tlay. It 

 cleared up nice about the time we arrived at 

 tlie yard. If the barometer indicates rain we 

 do not go out to the out-apiaiy. To make a 

 barometer really helpful, however, one must 

 study it and watch it closely; and he must bear 

 In mind, too.that the barometer does not always 

 tell when the change of weatlier will come 

 about. One Sunday moruing .Mrs. Root wanted 

 to know whether it would be safe to go to 

 church without rubbers, waterproofs, umbrel- 

 las, etc. I told her I felt sure that none would 

 be needed, for the barometer was rising rapid- 

 ly. But, contrary to my pnniiction, we Had 

 little dashes of rain on the way to church, and 

 during church tinu!. In the afternoon ■ the 

 clouds went away entirely. On the other hand, 

 sometimes when I feel sure a storm of some 

 kind is coming, it all goes off in a blow, or, 

 may be, just a little rain; but on the whole, the 

 barometer is vvoi'th to me many dollars every 

 season in deciding what to do. and what orders 

 to give the workmen. Befoi'e the rain lets up 

 I often direct them to harness the horses and 

 get all the tools in leadiness, and make; prepa- 

 rations for a day's work out of doors. About 

 the time they get under way we are almost sure 

 to lind the barometer was right, even though 

 old weather-piophets saw nothing to indicate 

 the clearing- up.] 



VITALITY OF FIVEBaNIIKD BKES. 



On page 340 you say that your yellow fiv(>- 

 banded bees were the first to be numbered 

 among your winter loss. Now, this is accord- 

 ing to my observation with a colony of hybrids 

 to which I gave a dollar (jueen the first of last 

 November. The (]ueen laid but few eggs, and 

 all of the banded hybrids disappeared before 

 the Krst of March, wiiile there are plenty of the 

 black hybrids yet. Does this not prove that 

 tlie black bees are hardier and longer-lived"* I 

 suspect that anolluu' reason why you lost so 

 many bees was selling off too many young bees; 

 and, by having so many old on(»s to comintmce 

 the winter with, they soon died and left your 

 bees too weak, and tliey chilled, even in the 

 cellar. Out of 03 colonies I did not lose one, 

 and I wintered them on their summer stands! 

 Prospects are good at present. 



FUANKLIN GaHNKS. 



Kenna. W. Va., Apr. 27. 



[Yes, It was tin; selling-oft of so many young 

 bees that helped to make up the lossf but we 

 have sold olf as much other seasons and had 

 practically no loss. We lost no colonies in the 

 cc^llar except ihree weak ones — one of them 

 very weak.] 



HOW .VNI) HV WHOM KAMBLKH's SKETCHES 

 AKE MADE. 



Will you kindly tell us in Gleanings how 

 those small illustrations in Rambler's articles 

 are gotten up? Does he sketch them with a 

 pencil first, and send the sk(>tches to you to be 

 engraved? I am sure it will interest a larg(> 

 number of readers to know all about it. Our 

 bees wintisred well. I lost 3 out of 83, and those 

 starved. The rest are strong, and are now just 

 booming. Young bees are hatching in some 



hives, and much pollen is coming in. I expect 

 swainis before JNlay 28. HAitUY Lathkoi". 



Browntown. Wis., April 27. 



[Rambler sends us rough sketches or photo- 

 graphs, which we send to our special artist, R. 

 V. Murray, of the lirm of Murray i<: He iss, of 

 Cleveland. Mr. Murray, from these, makes 

 new pen-sketches that are suitable and tit for 

 reproduction on the printed page. These pen- 

 sketches ar(; then zinc etched, and forwarded to 

 us. Mr. R. V. Murray is a bee-keeper: and as 

 he has Rambler's manuscripts to read, he is 

 eminently fitted to appreciate many of the ludi- 

 crous situations. Rambler and Murray togeth- 

 er make a ic/iofc te<t})i. Mui'ray i<: Heiss do all 

 our wood-cutting, and for bee-work they have 

 no equal.] 



how TO MAKE A FEEDKItFLOAT. 



The ladies' department makes Gleanings 

 complete, and all we can ask for. Mrs. Axtell 

 and yourself have decided on the feeder most 

 suitable for everybody: but I made a cross of 

 thin slats. I4 by 1 inch, iIk^ length of the diam- 

 eter of the pan feeder to be used, and drove two 

 tacks into the centei'. thus -1_. Drop it on the 

 syrup. In feeding a whole ' month, forty col- 

 onies, not a singh^ bee drowned; and the bees 

 suck the boards dry. so there is no wasting, and 

 they can be put away in th<» pans. 



Pittsburg, Tex., Apr. 22. Chas. Dorfman. 



SPACING LOOSE FRAMES WITH PENCIL-MAKKS. 



Friend Root:— At the bottom of Dr. Miller's 

 article on page 211 he speaks of impe.rfcct spac- 

 ing of loose frames, "even after spending much 

 time on it." Some five years ago I conceived 

 the idea of spacing by pencil-marks across the 

 edge of the hive, just above the frame-rabbet, 

 said pencil-marks to coincide with the centers 

 of the frames. I still use this method, and can 

 space the frames quickly and accurately there- 

 by. E. H. ^VHITAKER. 



La Salle. 111.. Mar. 23. 



HONEY FROM THE EGYPTIAN ONION. 



Twenty-five years ago, in N. W. Missouri I 

 had Egyptian onions that bloomed and bore 

 seed. The bees worked on th(Mn more than on 

 any thing else I ever saw. M. S. Klu.vi. 



Jacksboro, Tex., Jan. 28. 



[You have given us two valuable facts, friend 

 K.: First, that tlu^ Egyptian onions were known 

 25 years ago; seconci. that they yield honey 

 largely when raised on a large scale. I believe 

 they always have more or less blossoms mixed 

 in among the tops or sets. During this ])resent 

 season we have finer and laiger lEgyptian on- 

 ions than w(> ever raised before; and although 

 people are clamoring for them, there is such a 

 demand for the tops we do not dare to sell 

 them now for hunch onions and thus cut off 

 our chances for a crop of sets.] 



PACKING-CASES A SUCCESS. 



I see you wish to learn more of packing-cases 

 for wintering (page 159, Gleanings). I have 

 used such cases for six winters. They are the 

 Heddon style (see page (i95, 1885). and I don't, 

 care for any thing i)etter. Asher M. Coe. 



Coe Ridge, O., March (i. 



THE unpleasantness OF RUBBER GLOVES; 



HOW TO DISPENSE WITH GLOVES OF 



ALL KINDS ENTIRELY. 



Seeing Mrs. Harrison's article on gloves, I 

 concluded to venture a few words. When I 

 Krst commenced keeping be(^^ I bought a pair 

 of black rublier gloves; but I soon discarded 

 them, from the fact that the bees would sting 

 the gloves and stick fast, and sometimes sue- 



