GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. L 



Shamrock, according to a lively discussion 

 in British Bee Journal, may be a honey-plant 

 or not ; and just what shamrock is, seems 

 mixed. As nearly as I can make out after 

 weighing all the evidence, the true shamrock 

 seems to be Trifosella-acetagoliipiilis-oxalina- 

 prorepepsolium, depending somewhat upon 

 " locality." 



When acetyIvEne wght was mentioned 

 in Gleanings I felt enthusiastic about it. 

 When I read in Costnopolitan how explosive 

 it was, I folded up my enthusiasm and put it 

 away with moth-balls. After reading Glean- 

 ings, page 901, I got out my enthusiasm, 

 smoothed out the creases, and now I'm wait- 

 ing for A. I. Root to tell me what lamp to get. 



Here's an item may please A. I. Root. 

 The young people of Marengo got up a peti- 

 tion which induced the city fathers to pass a 

 law forbidding the selling or giving away 

 cigarettes, not merely to boys — the State law 

 forbids that — but to anybody. [That is quite 

 an idea. It might not be a bad idea to try it 

 on in this town. We will see. I firmly be- 

 lieve that cigarette-smoking on the part of 

 boys is more harmful than the use of whisky 

 and beer, bad as they are. — Ed.] 



The British Bee Journal favors the use of 

 sections with split tops to receive the founda- 

 tion. I wonder if this can be the same split 

 top abandoned some years ago on this side. 

 If I am not mistaken, split tops are also used 

 in France. [We make a good many split-top 

 sections, but they are almost wholly for the 

 English trade. I believe, however, if some of 

 our cousins across the big pond would once 

 learn the knack of putting foundation into 

 sections by the heated-plate method they 

 would throw away the split-top sections just 

 as we have done. — Ed.] 



Three hundred and thirty four pounds 

 of honey was extracted from a single hive in 

 England the past season by Lancelot Ouayle. 

 The British Bee Journal regards this as prob- 

 ably the largest ever taken in the kingdom. 

 [It is hardly fair to crow over our British 

 cousins ; but some years ago a record of 700 

 lbs. was reported from Texas, but it was dis- 

 credited by a good many prominent bee- 

 keepers. We do know, however, that two or 

 three leadins; bee-keepers did secure as much 

 as 450 or 500 lbs. each from a single colony 

 and its increase. — Ed.] 



Talk about two of us getting 17,000 pounds 

 honey with little help. Hutchinson's neigh- 

 bor, koeppen, beats that all hollow. He lan 

 five apiaries and took 12,000 lbs. comb honey, 

 and did all the work his lee-lone self except 

 one man's help about a week. [I am not sure 

 that friend K. beat you " all hollow," after 

 all. If I am correct, your 17,000 lbs. of honey 

 was all produced from two apiaries — certainly 

 not from more than three — call it three. Now, 

 17,000 lbs. from three apiaries is a better 

 record than 12,000 lbs. from five apiaries. 

 Then you do not know how much overtime 

 Mr. K. put in.— Ed.] 



New beginners are often spoken of in bee- 

 keeping. Mightn't we just as well save the 

 wear and tear of that word " new " ? [Yes, it 



is so easy to stick in that word ' ' new ' ' when 

 it is not needed. We have tried hard to keep 

 out the combination from our columns — at 

 least in our own writing. If any one had 

 asked me the question point blank I should 

 have said that the term "new beginner" 

 could not be found in our pages ; but since 

 you have seen fit to brin^ up the matter in a 

 Straw, I have been wondering if you did not 

 have reference to us. Now, doctor, point out 

 the (guilty {?)) culprit.— Ed.] 



The thought that the cross-cleats were the 

 only parts of the fence separators that would 

 need cleaning quite pleased me till I remem- 

 bered that just the same place in the old sep- 

 arator is all that's to be cleaned; and as that's 

 a plane surface it's easier to clean the old sep- 

 arator. [ But, doctor, you can scrape the 

 propolis off the cross-cleats easier, because 

 the knife runs with the grain of the wood, 

 than you can across the face of plain separa- 

 tors where the knife has to go aeross the grain. 

 It is true, you may run the knife with the 

 grain, but then you would have to scrape 

 practically the ivhole surface of the separator. 

 —Ed.] 



Those are good papers you mention for 

 Sunday reading, p. 8V<9, Bro. Root, but Gold- 

 en Rule is a little behind the times. Better 

 get Christian Endeavor World and keep up 

 with the procession. [My two favorite papers 

 are the New York Independent and the Out- 

 look. They are both independent papers, give 

 accurately all the news that is important to 

 know, from a Chri-tian standpoint; but nei- 

 ther the papers that A. I. R. mentioned, nor 

 those that I have named above, are the only 

 good ones, I am glad to say. There are hun- 

 dreds of others that are most excellent. There 

 is scarcely a paper among the orthodox sects 

 that is not good. — Ed.] 



L. STachklhausen says, in Southland 

 Queen, that bees sometimes use old wax to 

 build comb with, but only when they can not 

 secrete wax. I think, friend S., you'll find 

 they'll use old wax right in the height of wax 

 secretion, ij they don't have to carry it far. 

 Formerly, when I put a frame of brood be- 

 tween two wide frames of sections I invariably 

 found black wax in the sealing of the sections 

 unless I moved the sections before sealing. 

 That's a reason for thick top-bars, so the bees 

 will not carry up black wax. [If I am cor- 

 rect, doctor, we once had an argument on this 

 same question ; but for the life of me I can 

 not now remember whether you are now on 

 my side of the fence or I on yours. — Ed.] 



Putting blocks under the corners of a hive 

 is troublesome, as you say, Mr. Editor, and, 

 worse than that, it's extremely aggravating to 

 have a hive occasionally tumble off the blocks; 

 but a big entrance won't begin to give the 

 free air that a blocked hive has. Possibly 

 there might be fixed blocks at the corners, 

 with removable strips at sides and back. 

 [Perhaps you are right ; but methinks that, in 

 the majority of instances, an entrance 7,s inch 

 deep, and the whole width of the hive, would 

 be large enough. But if that entrance be not 

 large enough, there is nothing to prevent using 



