1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



537 



forated portion in front, as well as the air- 

 tube, exposed, so tbey can be easily cleaned. 

 I fasten such a cup on a Clark bellows, and it 

 makes, in my opinion, a smoker far superior 

 to any now made. The fire-cup to the Clark 

 is too small ; and, being larger at the breech, 

 too much of a fire has to be started at first in 

 order to keep it going. This soon consumes 

 the fuel ; and with a fire-cup made as the 

 Clark is, even if of the same capacity, it will 

 not hold fire nearly as well nor as long as a 

 straight cup will. 



But the kind of fuel I use may have much 

 to do with the way I want a cold-blast smoker 

 made. Other kinds of fuel might not give as 



to me that bees could have lived here outdoors 

 through the past winter and spring, if any 

 have, and the method of protection that car- 

 ried them through were known, it might be of 

 much benefit to many ; for the past winter was 

 a most severe one — nothing like it here before 

 in my time. 



Southern Minnesota. 



[I quite agree with you, and I doubt very 

 much whether any connoisseur can tell the 

 difference between the eating quality of comb 

 honey built off from only a starter of founda- 

 tion, and comb honey built from a full sheet 

 of extra-thin ; and speaking of the extra-thin, 



PSSSs*^ 



THE COMPARATIVE DIFFERENCE IN SIZE BETWEEN A REGULAR EIGHT-FRAME HIVE AND 

 A DRAPER BARN. SEE EDITORIALS. 



good results in such a smoker. As I have be- 

 fore said, I use flax straw. After this has 

 been exposed to the action of the weather 

 over winter it burns readily ; and when I want 

 smoke, all I have to do is to put a twist of this 

 in the smoker, touch a match to it, and it 

 gives a good volume of smoke for from one to 

 two hours without refilling. 



Referring further to the same footnote, I 

 think that, while the Dadants are in about the 

 same latitude I am, there must nevertheless 

 be considerable difference in the weather, for 

 their bees had one or two flights the past win- 

 ter. Here there was not a suitable day for the 

 bees to fly, from about the middle of Novem- 

 ber until the fore part of April. Every colony 

 in my immediate vicinity left outdoors per- 

 ished ; still, I know of none that were packed 

 after the most approved methods. Call out 

 your man Acklin, of St. Paul. I have heard 

 that he practices outdoor wintering to some 

 extent. It would be very interesting to me, at 

 least, if others in this State would also report 

 their success or failure in outdoor wintering, 

 and in either case describe just how the bees 

 were packed. While it hardly seems possible 



we have now facilities for turning it out run- 

 ning 18 feet to the pound, and it has pretty 

 fair side walls too. Owing to the greater 

 strength of the Weed foundation, I am rather 

 of the opinion that such wax can be used to 

 advantage. We are now prepared to furnish 

 it in any quantity that may be called for. tfc> : ^| 

 We have made smokers on the plan you 

 speak of ; but for real pungent smoke — the 

 kind that conquers — the hot-blast, to my 

 notion, is ahead of them all. In fact, I have 

 had such a poor opinion of the Clark that I 

 have seriously questioned the wisdom of sell- 

 ing it. There is still quite a sale for it, but I 

 suppose it is because it is the cheapest smoker 

 that is sold.— Ed.] 



BEE-PARALYSIS. 



A Serious Enemy to the Bee-keepers of the South. 



BY O. O. POPPLETON. 



On p. 401 you tell of a case where bee-paral- 

 ysis has seemingly started from a purchased 

 queen. This is a very important matter — one 



