554 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



.luiA- L 



could find no bagging. Then I called Dr. Mil- 

 ler to look at them, and said, "I wish you 

 would tell me how much bagging you find in 

 those hives.'* He looked at quit(! a number, 

 taking a frame here and a frame there out of 

 the diffei-ent hives, and then said, "No, there is 

 no bagging. Lay one of those frames down so 

 that the light can not shine through it, and I 

 defy E. R. or any one else to say where tJie wire 

 is unless it bo wired side up. Neitjier is there 

 any appearance in the foundation in any way 

 that heat was ever applied to it. Moreover, 

 you can tell E. R. that it is away ahead of any 

 other kind of imbedding, and I wish he would 

 stick to it till he gets it right." 



I said, " I wonder what can be the trouble. It 

 seems so very easy to do it just right." 



"Yes," he replied, "it's very easy to do a 

 thing when you know just how, but its's very 

 easy to make some little mistake that tlirows 

 every thing wrong." Then he put on a very 

 wise look, and said, "You see the secret of it 

 lies in this: The foundation heats very slowly 

 and the wire very rapidly. You hold the foun- 

 dation in intense heat for a little time, and it is 

 not affected, while the wire held there the same 

 time is almost red-hot. Now, the hot wire 

 coming in direct contact with the wax, rapidly 

 melts the wax just at the point of contact; and 

 then the. wire, just as quickly cooling, leaves 

 no change in the form of the foundation, only 

 the wire is imbedded." 



I think he is right, for I hold the foundation 

 close down in the gasoline, and then move it 

 very rapidly. I think that's the secret of suc- 

 cess. I wish you would try it again; but Dr. 

 Miller says the fault may be in your "location." 



Marengo, 111., June 10. Emma Wilson. 



[Mv good friend Emma, may I help our mu- 

 tual friend Mrs. Axtell a little on her side of 

 this argument about " it will not pay '"? First, 

 I wish to repeat what I hav<' said several times 

 — it docs pay to save valuable queens, even if 

 you damage a strong colony by so doing— that 

 is, under some circumstances it does. Second, 

 you say if it does not pay a nuin it does not pay 

 a tvormtn. Well, may be that ought to be so; 

 but, unfortunately, it is not. There are thou- 

 sands of women wanting work; and manufac- 

 turers tell me that almost any number of wo- 

 men can be found in every town or city, who 

 will gladly work for iifty cents a day rather 

 than not have any work at all — that is, where 

 there are more than enough women in the house- 

 hold to do the work; and there are many more 

 women who consider it a privileges to work for 

 fifty cents a day than men. Again, there are 

 both men and women who beconu' fascinated 

 with bee culture, and who wouki work with 

 bees for fifty cents a day rather than to work at 

 some other employment which would give 

 them three or even /ou7" times that amount of 

 money. When I was a merchant in town own- 

 ing a few bees, almost everyday (aftei' having 

 done a certain amount of indoor work) I longed 

 for something to do with bees; and I can re- 

 member nuvny days, after I had done every 

 thing I could think' of with my few colonies. I 

 longed for something nuire to do, even if it did 

 not pay very well. A great many times, when 

 tired out with the duties of the stoi'e and office, 

 some kind of work with btses was really a rec- 

 reation and rest. We have a good many among 

 our readers, who, I think, feel just this way, 

 especially the younger ones in the business, 

 and those owning a few colonies: and I think 

 these people will make it pay to learn to rescue 

 weak colonies— saving those by hot stones, tak- 

 ing them indoors nights when th<i weather is 

 severely cold, in order that they may be kept 

 alive until warm weather comes, and fruit- 



blossoms are out. The man who has hundreds 

 of cokmies in out-apiaries, and who has got 

 past keeping bees for the fun of the thing, may 

 well say that it will not pay him to fuss in that 

 way.] " A. I. R. 



BUILDING Ur SMALL COLONIKS IN .SPKING. 



I enjoyed very much reading how Mrs. Ax- 

 tell builds up small colonies in spring with such 

 loving care. A German woman told me that 

 her grandfather in (Jermany kei)t be(\s, and that 

 they were place'd upon shelves, fastened to the 

 sunny side of the house, and that, every night 

 during cool weather and chilly days, they were 

 brought into the house, where they were kept 

 warm. Would it not be better to have small 

 hives holding only two combs, to build up small 

 colonies in spring, so they could be easily car- 

 ried into a warm room dui'ing cool nights ? 



This locality, so far as I know, has never 

 failed to produce a flow of honey from the river- 

 bottoms, and bees go into winter quarters 

 strong in young bees; and this may account in 

 a great measure for the lack of many small col- 

 onies in early spring. Are the queens belong- 

 ing to such small colonies of value '? If so, why 

 are the colonies so small? When I was a 

 scholar in school I loved to solve difficult prob- 

 lems, and I yet enjoy doing what is difficult; 

 and I should like to be able to accomplish this, 

 to build up small colonies into large ones, with- 

 out taking brood and bees from other colonies 

 to do it. Mks. L. Harrison. 



Peoria, 111., June 10. 



[I have stated before, Mrs. H.. that queens 

 from such small nuclei have proved to be equal 

 to any; but all attempts to take care of a large 

 number of very weak colonies, and bring them 

 through the winter and spring, have, so far as 

 I know, generally failed.] 



pnjaBaeg ^^d gwipDiiE? 



A subscriber to Gleanings mails us the fol- 

 lowing: 



PLEASE DONT Expose. 



Dear Sir, 



It is with iileasure we send you tliis Circu- 

 lar, and we liopc you will read it carefully, and de- 

 cide to go to woi-k iit once. 



We have a large lot of GREENBACKS for sale 

 that can not l)e told from geuuiue, except liy an ex- 

 pert. It will pass aiiywliare like a dandy txcept at 

 Washington, D. C. It is as fine an iniilation as liu- 

 man skill can produce tlie wt)rk. Wf liave tliesc 



goods In 5 s, 10 s, and 20 s, only. No less than $5. 



worth sold except to perstms not able to order tliat 

 mucli at a time, tliem can send wliat tliey are able. 



If you have no use for our goods pleae dont g'ive 

 us away. Make your orders large as possible, you 

 will not i-egret it. Never mention money when you 

 Older. Say send niedieinc, large small or medium 

 size bottles. We will uiidirstand it. Never sejid 

 registei'ed letter as 1 will not sign for it. Send 

 Greenback, postal note, or by Expicss, or Check on 

 New York. W« will ship your goods by mail or ex- 

 press, as you wish. Please dont wiite unless yon 

 order, and say as little as possible then. Prices, $40. 

 foi' $6. ifluO. toi' $10. 300.00 for 25.00. VOO.OO for 50.00. 

 1000.00 lor for TO.UO. and so on. 

 Address, 



W. J. NELSON, 

 Lemay, N. C. 



Of course, it is an old, old swindle; but as 

 there are sonus who do not seem to know about 

 it, we give the contents of the circular verba- 

 tim, spelling and all. I hardly need say to 

 those who are conversant with these matters, 

 that people who send out these circulars never 



