18 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Jan. 1. 



Quite a number of hives had these sections 

 still in place all empty, but glued tight. Well, 

 now, you better believe it was a job to get 

 them out without breaking them ; and if Mr. 

 L. could do it when they were filled with 

 honey, and not break them, he had an exem- 

 plary patience ; and if he could handle those 

 sections one by one, and get them out of ten 

 hives per day, he was a rapid workman. 



To work the sections without too much 

 strain on my nervous system, the judge and I 

 devised a crate to hold 18 sections, and put on 

 100 of them ; and at least 900 of the sections 

 in those crates were filled with drawn combs. 

 We found quite a difference in the workable- 

 ness of drawn combs. If the bees had drawn 

 out a comb and left it with no honey in it, 

 there was a hard ribbed edge to every cell, 

 that they were loath to use ; while if the comb 

 had been filled with honey, and extracted, or 

 if it had been recently eaten out by the bees 

 in the process of feeding, they were more 

 liable to get to work upon it. In the former 

 case the ribbed edge needed to be trimmed 

 down or leveled ; but with all of our drawn 

 combs we were barely rewarded with more 

 than 800 lbs. of honey in sections. 



The new combs that were fitted into our 

 extracting-frames were neglected in the same 

 way by the bees. Two new combs in a super, 

 with five old ones, would in many instances 

 be entirely neglected, while the old combs 

 would be filled with honey. I have seen this 

 same preference shown by bees in Southern 

 California. I attribute it to the fact that an 

 old comb is a warmer surface to work upon. 

 It retains more or less heat from the brood- 

 chamber, while the new comb retains none. 

 This preference is also shown more where cool 

 nights prevail, and where the queen is not 

 prolific enough to fill the hive cram full of 

 bees Several conditions seem favorable for 

 such a state of things, and we had them all in 

 full force in this apiary during the past season. 



It seemed that, while the judge and I were 

 striving to impress the heirs of the estate with 

 the importance of bee culture, and trying to 

 get a large yield of honey and a good amount 

 of cash, the bees resorted to many ways to 

 baffle us. 



HONEY IN PLAIN SECTIONS PUT ALL OTHERS 

 IN THE SHADE AT THE MARLETTE 

 FAIR ; DEEP ENTRANCES. 

 I tried the plain sections and fence this sea- 

 son. I got my supplies from Mr. Hunt, Bell 

 Branch. I like them very much. I shall use 

 more next season. The honey looks much 

 nicer in plain sections. My honey put all the 

 others in the shade at the Marlette fair. I 

 I think I should like the fence a little lower 

 than the sections. I noticed this fall the bees 

 glued the space full so you could not look 

 into the super. I think I shall cut mine down 



% inch. Would it not be better to have the/ 

 slats a little further apart so the bees can pass 

 through ? I tried the S fence by holding it at 

 the entrance when the bees were at work, but 

 not a bee went through, eit! er coming in or 

 going out. I think the deep entrance is all 

 right. I made mine this year %. My old 

 hives were Y%\ and as soon as it got pretty hot 

 the bees hung out quite badly. I then put 

 strips y% inch under the hive (sides and back), 

 and the bees went to work, and bothered but 

 little after that. 



I like Gleanings very much in all its dif- 

 ferent parts. I should not like to do without 

 it. Wm. Stiles. 



Burnside, Mich., Dec. 5. 



[You will see in our Dec. 15th issue that the 

 fences for 1899 will be % inch narrower at the 

 top and bottom, and that the slats themselves 

 will be a little further apart than last year. It 

 is true that, in some cases, the bees filled the 

 spaces above the cleats on the last-year fence 

 with glue. While there are only occasional 

 reports of such propolizing we thought best 

 to make a change — make cleats come flush 

 with the tops of the slats. — Ed.] 



MY APICULTURAL CREED ; GOLDENROD A 

 FAILURE ; LARGE HIVES ; T SUPERS ; TEN- 

 CENT COMB HONEY, ETC 



The honey crop was a perfect failure here 

 this season. A sixty-days' drouth, with the 

 exception of three local showers during May 

 and June, did it up. 



I believe goldenrod has always received 

 more praise than it ever deserved. It is very 

 abundant here, but it is seldom visited by 

 bees. During ten years I have seen bees work- 

 ing on it but four times. 



I believe in Dadant's arguments for large 

 hives. My hives are nine-frame Langs'.roth. 



I am a believer in Dr. Miller's T tins and 

 section cases. I don't believe they will ever 

 be excelled. 



I believe your fence will be a success with 

 men who make a living by bee-keeping ; but 

 with a majority it will never be used. 



I am a small bee-keeper. I follow, never 

 lead. It is a side business with me ; but if I 

 were going to make any change in the size of 

 sections I would make five tiers fill a L. sec- 

 tion case, say 3)4 x 5, and just wide enough 

 so each section, when well filled, would hold 

 one dime's worth of honey at the rate of 12}<£ 

 cents a pound. My reasons are these : A dime 

 is a standard coin, easy to make change, easy 

 to sell. Almost any person can raise a dime 

 who wants honey ; and 12^ cents is as near 

 a standard price as any thing can be. When 

 I was a small boy we lived near Wooster. My 

 mother bought honey of a neighbor at 12^4 

 cents a pound, and I went and took it home. 

 She also got some honey from the same neigh- 

 bor at $1.00 a gallon. It was candied, the 

 first I ever saw. These things occurred in 

 1832. Taking prices then and now, and for 

 ten years or more, I think 12^£ cents for hon- 

 ey is as near a standard price as a dime is a 

 coin ; and I believe such a section would meet 

 with general favor ; and, to use a nursery- 



