80 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Feb. 1. 



a minute suppose that a wasp would commence 

 or continue work in a section occupied by bees. 

 [Why didn't you have a photo of it taken, 

 doctor? I will say to our readers in general 

 that I am always glad to get novelties of this 

 sort. Any kind of freak is interesting, and 

 in some cases they lead to a matter of scientific 

 importance. — Ed.] 



A NICE THING it was for Mrs. Axtell to have 

 a sociable time with those 20 women, p. .")4 ; 

 but when I read about it to a certain woman 

 she said, "I can clean 1200 sections a day 

 right straight along all alone, and not gash a 

 section, and I don't believe I'd care to have 

 the mess of 20 women, and get them their 

 dinners, for the sake of getting 1500 done." 

 I still think thesociable time was a good thing, 

 but it might be best to separate the two things. 



PivAiN SECTION is shorter and better than 

 no-bee-way section. [We studied not a little 

 on what name we should adopt for the new 

 section. The "no-bee-way section " was a 

 good explanatory name, and answered very 

 well while we were introducing it. Finally 

 Mr. Calvert suggested the "plain section." 

 But it seems that Mr. L. A. Aspinwall, of 

 Jackson, Mich., who has used these sections 

 successfully, had also before us adojjted the 

 same name, and it must be it is right. — Ed.] 



I CAN'T SAY how much honey was saved, or 

 how many swarms prevented, by blocking up 

 hives — wish I could. At a rough guess I 

 should say that it took away at least one-fourth 

 of the desire to swarm, and that's a big thing. 

 [I wish there were some way by which we 

 could get at how much mere honey and how 

 many swarms could be saved ; but I do not 

 suppose it is possible to estimate any closer 

 than you have given it. I believe your figures 

 are conservative rather than otherwise. — Ed.] 



I can't AGREE with you, Mr. Editor, when 

 you say, p. 41, that staples " will not punch 

 into the wood like a nail head." Just try if 

 you can punch a fiat nail-head in'o the wood 

 as much as a staple. I like staples for end 

 spacing, and I mean to try them for side spac- 

 ing. But I Hke nails for side-spacing much 

 belter than I expected. They do not catch in 

 the wire cloth, and they don't trouble half as 

 nmch as I supposed about getting frames past 

 each other. [I had forgotten, doctor, that 

 your nails had heads on. Well, to get right 

 down to it I do not suppose that either one 

 will punch into the wood enough to make 

 very much trouble. Of course, your nail- 

 heads do not catch on wire cloth, because you 

 have no use for an extractor, all your honey 

 being comb. — Ed.] 



I'VE JUST TESTED one of the 1898 T tins 

 mentioned on p. ()4. With 10 lbs. weight it 

 sagged '4 inch. Please don't think of putting 

 such a failure on the market. [In my own 

 mind, doctor, you are a little too severe on the 

 T tin in question. I can not, by any combi- 

 nation of figures, make out that the ordinary 

 T tin is subjected to a strain of 10 lbs. in the 

 middle. If you can make out more than n, 

 trot out your figures. Moreover, you forget 

 that the T tin in question is to be used with 

 the new fence; and that the plain sections and 



fence are keyed up solid. Why, the sections 

 would almost stay in position without the T 

 tins. In actual practice I doubt very much 

 whether there would be very much more than 

 about two or three pounds strain on the tin, 

 under any circumstances. — Ed.] 



According to Doolittle (and that's general- 

 ly equivalent to saying according to the facts), 

 long confinement is the real cause of all our 

 wintering troubles, of course understanding 

 that cold makes confinement worse. The dis- 

 asters of the winter of 1882 came from the 

 long-continued cold, three-fourths of all the 

 bees in the United States being lost. Doolittle 

 had 90 colonies on summer stands; they didn't 

 fly for nearly 5 ^'4 months, and only 15 came 

 through, and they wouldn't make tliree good 

 colonies. He had 55 in a cave, and 53 came 

 out strong. — Progressive. [That is a pretty 

 good argument for the cave for such a winter 

 and in his locality ; but in our climate, with 

 the average of winters the outdoor bei-s were 

 ahead in strength and percentage of winter- 

 ing. — Ed.] 



The American Bee Journal, speaking of 

 its department, " Beedom Boiled Down," says: 



The Boiler boil.s, and also .stins 

 The stinging, seething mass ; 

 Then .skims it oft. and still avers 

 'Tis yet but second-class. 



This leaves one in doubt whether the Boiler 

 lacks capacity to select the best from other 

 journals, or whether he thinks no first-class 

 material is to be found outside " The Old Re- 

 liable." Or was the trouble that "mass" 

 and " second-/?<?;/rt"' wouldn't rhyme? [Say, 

 doctor, 3-ou tell that boiler to keep on " bil- 

 ing," whether the stuff in the boiler is first, 

 second, or third class, or whether the material 

 came from the " Old Reliable " or from some 

 of the younger reliables. — Ed.] 



That §5.00 a day that you estimated for 

 my last year's work, Mr. Editor, is not far out 

 of the way ; if any thing, it ought to be a 

 shade higher. But I can't do that every j-ear. 

 [I draw an easier breath, doctor. I was afraid 

 that } ou might tear my figures all to pieces, 

 for 3-011 sometimes make fun of my arithmetic; 

 but I am glad now if we have one really au- 

 thentic case where, under favorable conditions, 

 even as good as five dollars a day can be made 

 by keeping bees. I once asked a mason how 

 much he got a day. 



" Three and a half, sir." 



" Why, you ought to be pretty well off." 



" I just barely make a living, sir." 



"Why?" 



" Because I do not average more than 150 

 days' work in a j-ear. Give me two dollars a 

 day the year round and I will jump quick at 

 the chance." 



Now, doctor, I do not know whether you 

 are like the mason or not ; but at S5.00 a day 

 one could almost afford to lie off the rest of the 

 yeir. But I suppose where the rub comes in 

 in your case is that you can not make that five 

 dollars a day, every year at least. But I be- 

 lieve one thing is certain — taking the years as 

 they come, you can average better than your 

 farmer neighbors around you. See what Mrs. 

 Axtell says upon thispoint in this issue. — Ed.] 



