952 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15. 



Taylor's honey-house and shop are a continua- 

 tion of his barn, and we here found all of the 

 paraphernalia of an old and extensive bee- 

 keeper. Mr. T. manufactures a portion of his 

 own supplies, and runs his circular saws with a 

 horse-power of his own invention. This is a 

 very convenient arraugement, and can beta- 

 ken up or put down upon his barn flour when 

 desired. This horse-power was illustrated in 

 Gleanings some years ago. 



Foundation-machines and wax.-rendering ap- 

 paratus showed that there were busy times here 

 on occasions. We pass from the shop to the 

 apiary, and tind nearly if not quite 200 swarms 

 of bees, nearly all in Heddon hives, arranged in 

 the shade of apple-trees. Mr. T. is a believer 

 in and is successful with the new-fangled hive. 

 In fact, he is an advanced bee-keeper. Even 

 that dread disease foul brood has no terrors for 

 him. as he has complete mastery of it, as we 

 understood from Bro. H. 



Our camera secured a very good view of the 

 apiary: but in our operations an accident hap- 

 pened'. In order to get a better view we were 

 in a precarious position on a picket fence. Bro. 

 H. seemed interested in our skill as a trapeze 

 performer: and while he was thus absorbed, 

 our camera had an accidental " snap shot:" and 

 when we developed the negative there was a 

 very good-looking head in the corner. We hope 

 the half-tone engraving will retain it. Bro. H. 

 seemed to enjoy the day's outing; and though 

 we had rousted him from sweet slumber the 

 previous evening, we hope our day's outing 

 gave him a little needi'd change. We journey- 

 ed back to Flint: and as our ticket was to Lan- 

 sing, our farewell shake was given on the train, 

 and we were speeding away to Lansing. 



Rambler. 



[We should like to know, Rambler, if this is 

 the way you surprise bee-keepers. Even the 

 cat seems to be horribly amazed: and while 

 Mrs. H. is delightfully amused. W. Z. H. evi- 

 dently does not propose to stop for ceremonies 

 in his hearty welcome. We have watched with 

 interest the apparent prosperity of the Review. 

 It certainly has gi'own on its merits, and 

 Gleanings is glad to welcome it as a colaborer. 

 We have wondered sometimes whether Mrs. W. 

 Z. H. and the twins didn't have something to 

 do with it, as it is always so neat and tasty. 



We are glad to get a view of R. L. Taylor's 

 apiary, even though you did have to perform 

 an acrobatic feat in order to secure it. So this 

 is an apiary of all the new Heddon hives. Its 

 general neatness and orderly arrangement, 

 considering that it was not fixed up for the 

 occasion, reflects credit upon the owner. The 

 small picture of Mr. Hutchinson is very good. 

 The next ramble is at the Michigan Agricul- 

 tural College. Rambler's impressions there are 

 realistic] 



THE WINTEE PROBLEM IN BEE-KEEPING. 



A IJEVIEAV OF A NEW BOOK. 



By Ernest R. Root. 



Before us lies a 77-page book entitled "The 

 Winter Problem in Bee - keeping. By G. R. 

 Pierce." The book is exceedingly well written, 

 and the writer is evidently a scholar, scientist. 

 and a close observer. We do not i-emembei- to 

 have seen his name in print before, in connec- 

 tion with bee-literature: but he appears to be 

 fully conversant with it. He starts out by say- 

 ing that bee-keeping might in some instances 

 be made profitable if it were not for heavy losses 

 in winter, and thinks that the avei'age losses 

 would not be far from 40 per cent per annum; 



and concludes that if bee - keepers can be 

 taught to winter their bees, the business would 

 be made a success where it otherwise would be 

 a failure. The author has evidently placed the 

 percentage of loss beyond what it really is. 

 Twenty-five per cent would be nearer correct: 

 and among intelligent bee-keepers, 10 per cent, 



THE POLLEN THEORY SET ASIDE. 



Mr. Pierce is against the pollen theory: that 

 is, he does not believe that pollen is the oa?<.sc 

 of dial rhea. He argues that cold and lack of 

 stores is the real cause; that diarrhea among 

 bees is nothing more than intestinal catarrh, 

 and that pollen only aggravates the disease al- 

 ready present, rather than gives rise to it. 



OPPOSED TO ABSORBENTS IN OUR COLONIES 

 DURING WINTER. 



He is decidedly against absorbents to take up 

 the moisture from the colony. By quite a long 

 series of experiments he concludes that they 

 are a positive detriment to the well-being of the 

 colony. Chafl" cushions or other porous materi- 

 al over a sealed cover are all right, and serve a 

 good purpose; but th)? tiouble is. he urges, 

 when the cushions are iie.rt to the bees they al- 

 low the escape of warm air. which, being heavi- 

 ly charged with moisture, and coming in con- 

 tact with the colder atmosphere, precipitates 

 said moisture, making the cushions damp. In 

 this condition the cushions are good conductors 

 of heat, and are a positive injury to the bees 

 below. He is a thorough advocate of protec- 

 tion, and of packing around the bees; but the 

 cover must be so .s-ea fed down that no heat can 

 escape into the packing material above, which, 

 unless kept dry. is worse than nothing. 



For several years back we have advocated 

 the use of absorbents in outdoor winteiiiig; and 

 only a few months ago we decided again that 

 we must have them. But in the last few weeks 

 we have been watching the matter very nar- 

 rowly; and before the above work came to 

 hand we had begun to form conclusions some- 

 what as expressed above. It is needless to say, 

 that, when the book came to hand, we read it 

 with unusual interest. We then handed it to 

 , our apiarist. Mi'. Spaff'ord, who, after carefully 

 reading it through, was captivated, and gave it 

 as his opinion that the author was sound, and, 

 so far as he had observed, the statements were 

 correct in reference to the use of absorbents. 

 We have since reread it, and are now making 

 some experiments, all of which up to date .sce»i 

 to argue against absorbents — but, mind you. 

 not against packing material over a sealed 

 cover. 



PIERCE'S method of PACKING BEES FOR WIN- 

 TER. 



He uses the Laugstroth hive, so his plan can 

 be readily tested by nearly all. even at this late 

 date. He would have a floor-board, or at least 

 a board under the bottom -boai-d. wide enough 

 and long enough to project two inches on all 

 sides. He would then have a box. without top 

 or bottom. 20 inches deep, and lai'ge enough to 

 leave two inches of packing space all around the 

 liive. the same to be set down on the lai'ge bot- 

 tom-board. The inside hive should have a 

 flat board that had been sealed down early in 

 the fall by the bees, so that it would be air- 

 tight. Above this cover-board he would place 

 several folded newspapers, paper being one of 

 the best non-conductors. Over this he would 

 place three or four newspapers (r/i/o?(7tY7. with 

 the edges folded and tucked around the sides of 

 the hive. Around the whole he would then 

 pour packing material, such as leaves crammed 

 in solid. When the box is full, put the cover of 

 the outside winter case on. In this condition 

 he would not be afraid to insure them against 



