SCA 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1. 



good conventions, and its reputation is high. 

 It is right in the midst of some of the best and 

 brightest bee-l<eepers in the country, and we 

 urge all those to attend who can. 



We have all our hives now elevated on Hed- 

 don hive-stands— the same stand that he used 

 under his original eight-frame hive; and we be- 

 lieve he also uses them now under his new divis- 

 ible-brood-chamb(>r hive. We lili:e them the 

 best of any thing we have seen or tried for the 

 purpose. But. more anon in Regard to them 

 and their use. 



In another column will be found a notice of 

 the Northwestern Bee-keepers' Association, to 

 be held in Chicago, Thursday and Friday. Nov. 

 19 and 30. A. I. Root will take in the conven- 

 tion on his wav to meet Prof. Cook at Denver, 

 Dec. 1. Ofconrse, Dr. Miller will attend. This as- 

 sociation has the reputation of having some of the 

 best conventions, and some think them equal to 

 those of the North American. We trust that 

 every one who can be present will make a spe- 

 cial effort to go. 



Dr. Miller, in his Straws, asks us if there is 

 any more weight on two horizontal wires in his 

 way of wiring than if he had two horizontal 

 without any perpendicular wires. As you sug- 

 gest, doctor, your wires would be drawn tight- 

 er ; and the more a wire is pulled taut, the 

 less strength it has. In horizontal wiring sve 

 recommend for the L. frame three wires; and, 

 in addition, the top edge of the foundation 

 should be fastened to the comb-guide above. 

 This really makes four supports instead of two. 

 as you had them, doctor. 



It is now approaching the time to stt«rt an- 

 other crop of bee-journals. Perhaps a sugges- 

 tion to prospective editors may not be out of 

 place. If you think there is a mint of money 

 in bee- journalism, you may be disappointed; 

 and if you think it will advertise your sup- 

 ply business, and lead you on the highway 

 to success, you may be disappointed again. 

 At any rate, do not put out the lirst edition 

 poorly printed with poor ink on poor paper. 

 If you do, its doom is sealed at once. Bee- 

 keepers as a class have come to be quite fas- 

 tidious. - 



We are now putting our outside winter cases 

 on the Dovetailed hives of the Shane yard. 

 We painted all of these cases Venetian red. 

 As they are to be on only during the early 

 spring, late fall, and during the winter, the red 

 color, instead of being a detriment will be an 

 advantage. Of course, it would not do to paint 

 single-walled hives, or hives that are to be in 

 use during the summer, red. Venetian red. as 

 a paint, is a great deal more permanent than 

 white, and therefore there are two reasons why 

 it should be used on winter cases; viz., econo- 

 my, and the additional warmth from the sun's 

 rays. 



We were just glancing over a bundle of let- 

 ters when our eye took in the last number of 

 the Bee-Keepers' Revieiv which the clerk had 

 just laid on our desk. The letters were imme- 

 diately put down and the Review taken up. 

 After we had glanced through it pretty thor- 

 oughly the question came to us, "What makes 

 the lieview so crisp? and why is it we take it 

 up so quick when it comes? Is it because the 

 editor quotes very largely from Gleanings in 

 his "Extracted ' department?" No, not exact- 

 ly, although that is a delicate compliment to 

 this journal; it is because the editor throws his 

 whole being into his paper. He loves it and 

 his readers. 



Our apiarist is very much pleased with the 

 new one-story Dovetailed chaff hive. It is 

 but little heavier than the one-story single- 

 walled hive, and yet has the same chaff-packing 

 space that our old-style one- story chaff' has 

 had, that has given us splendid results for the 

 past four or five years in wintering. We expect 

 to use these new hives next suinnier in an out- 

 apiary, and leave them pei'mancntly, or until 

 such time as the necessities of the location may 

 demand their removal. Although double-wall- 

 ed, they are so small that 30 of them may be 

 loaded on to a wagon very easily, and they take 

 no more space than 40 of the single-walled hives 

 would. The projecting water-table makes them 

 easy to handle. 



We have just been looking at our Punics 

 again. They are little black fellows, and they 

 do not seem to show that nervousness that a lot 

 of young black bees do among Italians. It is 

 said that Punics will not sting, and we believe 

 that some go so far as to state that they can 

 not be made to sting. The bees in our yard are 

 from select tested Punic queens, and our api- 

 arist says they will sting. He picked up one by 

 the wing and held it against his hand, and it 

 actually did sting him. He picked up several 

 others, and they did not. Then he tried Ital- 

 ians in a similar way, with similar results. The 

 fact is, almost any bees will stick out their 

 stings when you pick them up by the wings; 

 but unless you squeeze them they rarely sting 

 you even when you place the sting against vour 

 flesh. 



It has sometimes been doubted whether it is 

 necessary to go to the expense of importing 

 queens, the argument being that we can breed 

 at home a great deal better stock. This may 

 be true; but the average home-bred queens, in 

 our experience, are not quite as good for real 

 business. Here is a letter that speaks for itself, 

 and which came unsolicited: 



Mr. Boot:— The best imported queen arrived in 

 good shape the day after beuig miilled at Medina. 

 1 introduced her successfully, and her progeny 

 have now hatched in large numbers, notwithstand- 

 ing lier being introduced so late in the season. 

 They are also far better workers tlian my flve- 

 banded stock, especially on cool days. 



Hiiichman, Mich., Oct. 36. E. A. Boal. 



As we have reiterated before, stock that is 

 bred for color is pretty apt not to be equal to 

 that which is bred for business, and where color 

 is made entirely secondary. 



We are not really satisfied with white lead 

 for a body paint to hives. It flakes off too easi- 

 ly. Common yellow ocher, were it not for the 

 color, would be vastly ahead. Well, the per- 

 manence of white lead for a priming coat can 

 be very gi'eatly increased by the addition of 

 about .50 per cent of yellow ocher. The second 

 coat can then have one-third of ocher and two- 

 thiids of lead. The resultant color will be a 

 light cream so near white, we think, as not to 

 make any practical difference as to the absorp- 

 tion of the sun's rays; and if all hives are 

 shaded as they should be, either with shade- 

 boards or shrubbery, it can certainly make no 

 difference. VVell, then, we have a paint that 

 will outlast pure white lead. Those of you 

 who have any thing to do with painting know 

 that ocher makes an enduring priming coat. 

 Venetian red is just as good, only the color is 

 against it for single-walled hives, as pointed 

 out elsewhere. 



COUNTING THE COST. 



If any one thinks there must be enormous 

 profits in making bee-hives, he probably does 

 not stop to consider the wear and tear of ma- 



