50 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 15. 



they commence to build new comb, they were 

 loath to enter the sections after a start at stor- 

 ing had been commenced in the empty comb 

 below. 



Another thing pleased me much, which was 

 this : I found, as cold weather approached in 

 the fall, that the bees placed their fall or dark 

 honey in the brood-chamber, as the queen de- 

 creased laying preparatory for winter ; and 

 that, as a rule, the ten colonies had enough 

 honey for winter and to carry them over till 

 nectar was secreted the following spring; name- 

 ly, 25 pounds ; and as this was not so salable 

 as the white honey, while it was just as good 

 for the winter food for the bees, I had made a 

 great gain here also. 



The next year I placed boards in many more 

 of my hives with like success, and the year 

 after found me with all of my hives having 

 only 7tine frames in them. Having full}' es- 

 tablished in my own mind the size of the 

 brood-chamber (as nine Gallup frames) to my 

 satisfaction, where working an apiary where 

 swarms could be attended to, I found that, un- 

 less I used the boards and made hives expect- 

 ing to so use them, I should not have room 

 enough at the top for all of the surplus room 

 necessary to use to the best advantage. This 

 set me to thinking of side boxes in conneciion 

 with top boxes, and I soon brought out the 

 plan of side and top boxes combined, which I 

 often gave to the public, as found in the back 

 volumes of the different bee papers. These 

 hives gave me better results still than any be- 

 fore obtained, and with hives containing only 

 nine Gallup frames I secured an average yield 

 during 1877 of over 200 lbs. of comb honey 

 from each old colony in the spring. But as 

 these side and top box hives required consid- 

 erably more attention than others, and did not 

 prove so good at wintering as chaff hives, I 

 soon brought out what is known as the " later- 

 al plan " of working, in opposition to the 

 " tiering-up " plan. This plan proved equally 

 good with the top and side box plan, and had 

 the advantage of requiring less manipulation 

 and also of allowing the hives to remain chaff 

 packed throughout the whole season, the chaff 

 packing having its advantag s in giving a more 

 uniform temperature in the summer as well as 

 in the winter. And thus I have kept on with 

 the 9 Gallup frames during nearly 30 years ; 

 and upon looking up the matter lately, and 

 comparing all of my yields in honey during 

 the past 30 years as regards hives used, etc., 

 and adding the whole together, and dividing 

 by the 30 years, I find that the average yield 

 during those 30 years has been very nearly 80 

 pounds of comb honey each year, covering 

 the whole period, for each old colony in the 

 spring, worked for comb honey. And I am 

 still using only nine Gallup frames, except at 

 the out-apiary, and in experimenting along 

 the line of non-swarming, having found that, 

 where non -swarming is to become at all per- 

 fect, a hive as large as the ten-frame Lang- 

 stroth must be used. But as I am not far 

 enough advanced toward perfection as yet on 

 these non -swarming lines to give the matter 

 to the public, I will not enter further into this 

 subject at this time. 



THE REFORMED SPELLINGS ; THE EDITORIAL 

 BLUE PENCIL. 



Dear Mr. Root : — Referring to mine of Nov. 

 10, and your reply as it appeared in Glean- 

 ings for Dec. 1, I court space in your next (or 

 subsequent) issue; but I did not expect a ver- 

 batim account previously ; you might have 

 used the blue pencil on my 10th ult. letter to 

 some advantage. You say that I am the 

 seventh person who has objected to the reform- 

 ed spelling. I extend my hearty congratula- 

 tions to the minority who have the courage of 

 their convictions, and who are opposed to 

 tinkering with the English orthography. I 

 wish Gleanings ten times its present circula- 

 tion ; but if its policy is to experiment with 

 an outside issue, and one of such paramount 

 importance, an increased subscription list will 

 in my judgment be harder to secure under the 

 so-called " reformed plan " than if you decide 

 to adhere to the efficient manner in which it 

 is now managed. Unfortunately, the majority 

 of men who keep bees are men nat endowed 

 with an academic education ; and to fasten 

 upon this class of men some fad is an injustice 

 to say the least. Let some of the periodicals 

 dally along the distorted mud road of tinkered 

 spelling ; but there are thousands of persons 

 who prefer the macadam road they were taught 

 in schools to travel. Be consistent. I quote 

 " Webster went as far as we propose going." 

 "He eliminated « {xon\ favour , axidi adopted 

 o\\yQx shorter spellings y " The change pro- 

 posed by us would hardly be noticed." If 

 you say that Webster adopted shorter spellings, 

 and you propose to journey that far, how in 

 the world will it not be noticed? I quote, 

 "Your position would leave no chance for 

 progress." Well ! if there is to be any prog- 

 ress in this direction, pray let it emanate from 

 our public schools and co. leges. " We should 

 have regard for the rising generation." Every 

 true-born American has ; and if you regard 

 his or her feelings, don't commence at the top 

 of the ladder to teach such an intricate ques- 

 tion. Answering your irrelevant remark 

 about foreigners, I will say that my regard for 

 them is extremely limited. Many of them 

 who are dumped upon our shores are illiterate, 

 and would not know a bee-journal from a bale 

 of hay. 



I think I made my letter of a personal na- 

 ture, and you published it without my consent. 

 I would not have " talked for publication," 

 with so much apparent spleen. I make a most 

 abject apology if I offended you, because some 

 time ago I forwarded a communication about 

 foul brood to you "for publication," and you 

 did not publish same. I then accused you as 

 not being " able to look over the borders of 

 your Buckeye eyeglasses," and your dictated 

 answer displayed evidence of a gentleman. 

 A few words more. 



You admonish your subscribers by declaring 

 that there will be no need of a kick for not 



