1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



273 



times when the cells are not much over a 

 quarter of an inch deep, and the lengthening 

 of the cells and rilling them with honey goes 

 on at one and the same time ; and there must 

 be a great deal of travel over these new white 

 combs ; but we never see them travel-stained 

 or pollen -stained, even when there may be 

 some pollen in the bottom of the cell. 



Referring lo your experiments with gaso- 

 line, 3 ou s ly it dissolves and gradually absorbs 

 the wax I would suggest that the gasoline 

 may dissolve the wax without dissolving the 

 coloring- matter or absorbing it, and it is still 

 left to show T on the cappings. I have no theo- 

 ry to uphold in this matter, but only wish to 

 get at the truth. Thaddeus Smith. 



Pelee Island, Ont., Mar. 13. 



ONE THOUSAND MILES ON A BICYCLE IN CALI- 

 FORNIA ; RAMBLER'S WRITINGS. 



The drouth still holds a firm grip on Califor- 

 nia, with only about three inches of rain in 

 the southern counties, and about seven inches 

 in this part of the State. There have been no 

 indications of rain this month, and the pros- 

 pect for bee-keepers is very poor at present. 



We find our bicycles a great help to us in 

 seeing this country. In California the rail- 

 roads, steamships, ferries, and some street-cars 

 to suburban towns, carry them free of charge, 

 and have never injured ours in any way. We 

 brought them to California free as baggage, 

 cased. My cyclometer now shows that my 

 wheel has carried me one thousand miles in 

 this State. 



I have found that, of all my previous infor- 

 mation in regard to California from various 

 sources, the impressions obtained from the 

 writings of J. H. Martin, in Gleanings, were 

 the most correct. I consider his Rambles, as 

 published in Gleanings during the* past six 

 or eight years, not only very pleasant and in- 

 teresting reading, but also excellent in de- 

 scription on account of his peculiar style of 

 giving a correct impression of life and customs 

 with his descriptions of various locations. 



This has been an excellent winter for travel- 

 ing in California, and my wife and I have en- 

 joyed outdoor life almost every day. We will 

 now visit Salt Lake City and Denver a few 

 weeks, then return home. 



Frank McNay. 



San Francisco, Cal., Feb. 20. 



WHAT HIVE FOR COMB HONEY ? 



A correspondent writes: " Would you please 

 tell me winch is the better hive for comb 

 honey, the eight-frame or the ten-frame Lang- 

 stroth? last year I bought ten eight-frame 

 Dovetail hives and put swarms in three of 

 them. So you see I can't tell yet. Please 

 advise in Gleanings, as I am a beginner. 

 How is the Ouinby hive? Tell how many 

 sections you produced last year." 



My present belief is that, for one who can 

 not give his bees very much attention, the 

 ten-frame hive is the safer. One who gives 

 his bees sufficient attention, and uses two 

 stories part of the year, may do better with 

 the eight-frame hive. The advantage is on 



the side of the smaller hive for one who hauls 

 his bees much. 



The Ouinby hive gives excellent results in 

 the hands of the Dadants, and is held in high 

 esteem in France. The size of the frames 

 makes it still safer for wintering than the ten- 

 frame Langstroth. For one who lets his 

 hives stand unmoved it may be better than 

 the smaller hives, but I have no personal 

 knowledge in the case. 



I had somewhere in the neighborhood of 

 1500 sections filled last year, and some of that 

 was honey-dew that will be used for feeding 

 this spring. C. C. MILLER. 



Marengo, 111. 



A CORRECTION. 



I notice some error in the mention of my 

 entrance-clostr in Straws, p 166. Not 60, but 

 not less than 160 hives an hour can be closed 

 with my entrance-closer. This estimate is 

 ba c ed on the experiments by inexperienced 

 hands, one making it in 15 seconds, the other 

 in 20. This would make an average of 205 

 per hour. At any rate, I am certain that bee- 

 entrances can be closed with said closers at 

 the rate of 200 per hour in L. hives of various 

 sizes in same yard. 



The detaching of the entrance-closer from 

 the hives t. kes less time than above mention- 

 ed. L. Kreutzinger. 



Chicago, 111. 



[The error is not Dr. Miller's. He copied 

 the figure from Pickings, p. 124, and Stenog 

 found it in the Review. We now leave the 

 matter with Mr. Hutchinson. — Ed ] 



WILL DEEP SNOW SMOTHER BEES? 



In answer to the above question I would 

 give as an answer a decided no. I see on page 

 22 a short editorial, " Snow around the En- 

 trances of Hives." I myself used to feel very 

 uneasy about my bees when drifted over with 

 snow, until I learned by experience that it 

 would do them no haim, but, on the other 

 hand, it was a great deal of benefit to them. 



I can not explain better what I wish to say 

 than to give you my experience along this line. 

 As I have already stated, I used to feel very 

 uneasy when a great snowstorm came along, 

 for fear my bees would smother. In fact, I 

 used to dig them out to ascertain their condi- 

 tion. I had never seen any thing written on 

 this subject in any of the books or journals 

 that I had ever read, therefore I think I am 

 excusable for my feelings. 



Last winter my bees were in 4 feet 11 inches 

 of snow (actual measurement); and as the 

 hives are on low stands you can easily figure 

 out how deeply they were * covered over. I 

 use the eight-frame Langstroth hive with win- 

 ter case for protection. 



My yard is so situated that, when a storm 

 comes, the hives are quickly covered with ■ 

 snow. When they were covered so deep last 

 winter I found upon examination that there 

 were three distinct crusts, any one of which 

 would hold the weight of a man, caused by 

 slight thawing after severe, storms. In front 

 of every hive I found a large hole thawed, 



