1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



19 



man's language, when a fine fruit is brought 

 to notice, it " would fill a long-felt want." 



AN EXCELLENT METHOD l-'OR STOPPING ROB- 

 BING. 



I will give you my plan of stopping robbing. 

 Whenever one hive commences robbing I take 

 the weak hive, the one that is being robbed, 

 and set it in some other place. I then take 

 one of my strongest hives and place it where 

 the robbed one was. I do this in the evening. 

 Next morning early the robbers go to work. 

 The robbers always commence business early. 

 But they meet a powerful resistance, and, aft- 

 er fighting awhile, give it up. If one power- 

 ful hive did not whip them out I would give 

 them another. But I never had to give a sec- 

 ond one. This is original with me. It has 

 always worked successfully. 



You always want to know what your read- 

 ers think of your journal. Well, my opinion 

 is you can't make any improvement. 



John Barford. 



Cross Keys, Ga., Dec. 13. 



SWEET CLOVER. 

 I have always thought that one writing on 

 any subject ought to have a practical knowl- 

 edge of the subject. I am more confirmed in 

 this since reading the letter written by L. W. 

 Sawyer (seep. 893, Dec. 1st issue). He cer- 

 tainly doesn't know what he is talking about. 

 One would naturally suppose, by reading his 

 letter, that he was a large land-owner with 

 cattle upon a thousand hills, and that sweet 

 clover had become a great nuisance to him, 

 when the facts of the case are he doesn't own 

 a foot of land, but rents just one acre upon 

 which he raises a few beans and potatoes, and 

 has about 40 colonies of bees. There is no 

 sweet clover in this country, to speak of. I 

 will agree to wheel all there is within ten 

 miles of Mr. Sawyer's lot, on a Daisy wheel- 

 barrow, and I don't think it would make a 

 load. Now, Mr. Sawyer is generally consider- 

 ed an honest man and a good citizen ; and 

 what in the world ever made him slop over in 

 that kind of a way I don't know. Sweet clo- 

 ver may be a bad thing, and it may not. I am 

 just like Dr. Miller in one respect — I don't 

 know. 



REPAIRING BRUISED COMB HONEY. 



I have never seen any thing in Gleanings 

 in regard to soldering broken sections, and I 

 just wondered if any one else had ever got on 

 to it. When I am casing up honey, if I punch 

 a hole in a section it is ruined as first-class 

 honey, no matter how nice the section in other 

 respects. One day I was working near a hot 

 stove, and broke an exceptionally nice section. 

 I picked up a case-knife and held it on the 

 stove until it was quite hot, then smeared it 

 over the hole, when, presto ! the hole was 

 closed good and tight. It left a thin covering 

 of wax over the honey that made it as good as 

 ever. Since then I have saved a good many 

 dollars' worth of honey from going into the 

 third-rate lot. If the hole is very large I drop 

 on a small piece of white comb from an unfin- 

 ished section. Try it. E. A. Emmons. 



Tampico, 111., Dec. 20. 



VENTILATION AFFORDED BY FENCES. 



I don't see any aptness in R. L. Taylor's il- 

 lustration of a wicker chair in a room. It 

 doesn't fit the case. If he wants it put in ep- 

 igram, here is one that is more of a correct 

 simile: Which will be better ventilated, a box 

 or a crate standing in a room with a window 

 or door open ? and if the room be filled with 

 boxes and crates, which are better ventilated ? 

 Moreover, ventilation is sidewise as well as 

 vertical, even naturally, to say nothing of the 

 currents caused by the bees fanning. Can not 

 a room be ventilated by opening a door in the 

 side nearly as well as by opening one in the 

 floor or ceiling? Hence I agree with you, and 

 not with Dr. Miller's Straw on p. 825, Nov. 15. 



Monterey, Cal. A. Norton. 



HONEY-LEAFLETS NOT A SUCCESS FOR SELL- 

 ING HONEY. 



In Gleanings for Nov 15 you ask if the 

 honey-leaflels have been a success in selling 

 honey. Not with me. I don't think one in 

 ten reads them. I have never thought the 

 name was suitable — sounds too dry. How 

 would "All about Honey" do? I am not 

 sure they have ever sold a pound of honey for 

 me. I have distributed several hundred. 



Clinton, 111. Henry Wilson. 



[Let's hear from others. This makes the 

 second unfavorable report. — Ed.] 



HONEY SOAKING IN CYPRESS BARRELS NOT 

 SERIOUS. 



In regard to cypress barrels, such as I use 

 are of best seasoned cypress. When dry 

 (empty) a barrel will weigh 48 to 51 lbs., and 

 half-barrels 27 to 2!) lbs When filled with 

 honey for several weeks, and then emptied 

 and placed so as to drain thoroughly, a barrel 

 will gain by absorption from 5 to 6 lbs., and 

 half-barrels 3 lbs. I have the best of Fair- 

 banks' scales, and have tested barrels and 

 half -barrels again and again. Half-barrels 

 (cypress) are far preferable to any other pack- 

 ages for shipping honey. 



Greenville, Miss. O. W. Blanton. 



THE DANZENBAKER HIVE. 



I have used two of the Daaz. hives during 

 the past season, and, comparing the residts 

 with the Dovetailed hives, the Danz. makes 

 the better showing of results. With my short 

 experience during the season, which has been 

 poor for honey, I am very favorably impressed 

 with this hive, and would inquire if you an- 

 ticipate making any change in the construc- 

 tion for 1899. J. K. Goodrich. 



Waterbury, Conn., Oct. 24. 



GOOD NEWS FROM CALIFORNIA. 



Southern California has at length had a 

 rain. We did not get much here in Los An- 

 geles, but the interior had quite a downpour ; 

 and with the rain came the unusual phenome- 

 non of snow. Several inches fell in Riverside 

 and adjacent country. The bee-keepers and 

 ranchers are accordingly much encouraged. 

 We are hoping for "a continuation of these 

 favors. J. H. Martin. 



Shermanton, Cal., Dec. 10. 



