1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



85 



year came up in the spring of 1896. Some of 

 them bloomed, but there was no yield of honey 

 from them the first year. 



A short time ago I received a letter from my 

 friend C. A. Hatch, now a bee-keeper in Cali- 

 fornia. I had asked him to tell me whether he 

 would rather keep bees in Southern California 

 than in Wisconsin. I will give yon his reply. 

 ' ' Yes, I would rather keep bees here than in 

 Wisconsin — no winter here to kill off half your 

 bees, but plenty of foul brood and every other 

 bee-disease heard of." I am glad to know 

 there is nothing worse against Wisconsin than 

 the wintering problem. Some of us have 

 solved that — at least I would rather some one 

 would tell me how to dispose of overstock to 

 good advantage than to ttll me how to winter 

 bees in this climate, without loss. 



Browntown, Wis., Jan. 7. 



[It would be interesting to know what the 

 prospects are for clovers in other localities. I 

 think it is safe to assume, however, that we 

 shall not have as good a yield from this source 

 as last season. The drouth last fall, in some 

 sections at least, seemed to kill it down ; but 

 with the amount of rain and nnid we have in 

 Northern Ohio it seems as if there could be no 

 drouth anywhere else ; and yet the Califor- 

 nians say that, owing to a lack of rain, they 

 do not expect very much of a honey crop next 

 season; so perhaps it is just as well, fri nd L , 

 that you are in Wisconsin, with its horrible 

 winters, and not in California with its drouth 

 and foul brood; yet I notice friend Hatch says 

 he would rather live there. — Ed.] 



MANUM'S EXPERIENCE IN THE EARLY DAYS. 



His First Bee-smoker; That Smoker-hook. 



BY A. E. MANUM. 



Early that spring I learned that a bee-paper 

 was p'.iblished in New York, called the Bee- 

 keepers' JMagaziiie. I at once subscribed for 

 it, and also ordered King's " Bee-keeper's 

 Text-1:)ook." Armed with this and Ouinby's 

 " Mysteries of Bee-keeping " I succeeded that 

 season in making eight artificial colonies, 

 with much satisfaction over my success. I 

 bought six colonies of a neighbor, and took 

 up lour in the woods where bee-hunters cut 

 bee-trees for the honey. With these and the 

 original two I went into winter quarters with 

 twenty, and came out in the spring with four 

 weak ones. This was my ///'5/' and last expe- 

 rience in wintering in the cellar. 



This severe loss did not in the least check 

 my enthusiasm, though I decided to " go slow " 

 in the matter of making rapid increase. I be- 

 gan to open my e) es to the necessity of hav- 

 ing strong colonies at the beginning of winter; 

 and ever since, when I have followed this rule 

 of having strong colonies in the fall, my bees 

 have wintered well. 



My second winter found me with 16 strong 

 colonies, which were left on their summer 

 stands, well protected by an outer case, where 

 they wintered to my entire satisfaction. 



The season of 1873 opened favorably. My 



bees were strong, and the honey-flow was very 

 good. I doubled my number of colonies, and 

 secured over ."^OO lbs. of honey in 4-lb. boxes, 

 which were then the modern improved boxes. 

 This honey was sent to Boston, where it netted 

 me ^3' J cts. per lb. Up to this season I had 

 never heard of or seen a bee-smoker, but had 

 controlled my bees by blowing sinoke on them 

 from a burning roll of cotton or a piece of rot- 

 ten wood. Some time in May, 1873, while 

 blowing smoke into the entrance of a hive, 

 and while in the act of drawing a long breath 

 for the purpose of blowing a strong " blast," 

 I drew in a bee which stung my palate. Well, 

 you may well imagine I scampered for the 

 house, somewhat excited, and called for liquor. 

 Wife (half scared to death at my appearance) 

 brought me a 4-oz. phial nearly full of brandy, 

 which I drank at once. She declared it would 

 make me drunk. But I told her I'd rather be 

 drunk than dead. However, I socn got over 

 the " scare," as the injury proved slight. 



I then decided that there should be some- 

 thing better than blowing smoke from a stick, 

 for the use of the apiarist. I remembered 

 that, when I was a small boy, my father had a 

 small bellows for the purpose of blowing the 

 fire in the old fireplace, and I wondered why 

 something of that sort could not be used 

 among the bees ; and in thinking the matter 

 over, there developed in my mind a rude kind 

 of smoker; but the question was, how to make 

 the bellows. I went to a blacksmith's shop 

 and examined a bellows, and there got the 

 principle, and at once constructed my first 

 bee-smoker. The bellows was very much as 

 now made ; but the barrel, or fire-box, was 

 blunt at both ends, with a small tube project- 

 ing from near the upper end from which the 

 smoke issued. I also fastened a Jwok to the 

 bellows for the purpose of hanging the smok- 

 er on the hive when not in use. 



I will here say that of late there has ap- 

 peared in Gleanings an improvement on 

 smokers, invented, as would appear, bv Mr. 

 Coggshall ; but let me tell you, Mr. Editor, 

 that I first used a hook in 1873, and have ever 

 since. Young Mr. Boomhower, spoken of in 

 Gleanings, got the idea of a hook from his 

 father, who, in turn, got the idea and expe- 

 rience of using a hook on a smoker while in 

 my employ in 1882 ; and you, Mr. Ernest, 

 spoke of the convenience of such a hook as 

 you saw on my smoker while visiting me near- 

 ly eight years ago. 



In July, 1873, I heard of a o'reat bee-man, 

 as he was called — a man who knew all there 

 was to be known about bees. This was Mr. 

 J. E. Crane, who then lived in Bridport, Vt. 

 I was very anxious to meet a modern bee-keep- 

 er, and consequently I visited hiin about July 

 20, and I assure you that visit was an agree- 

 able one to me. Here I found a man who 

 knew much more about bees than I did, or 

 than I ever expected to know. I found Mr. 

 Crane a very willing talker — not only very 

 willing, but capable of imparting information 

 on the subject of bee-keeping. After that, 

 Mr. Crane and myself worked together, mak- 

 ing many improvements in hives and fixtures. 

 Mr. Crane was consulted as to the usefulness 



