400 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15. 



you know that Coggshall trains his bees to 

 sting, to keep thieves away from his out-yards, 

 and any thief who would steal from one of the 

 Coggshall out-yards would be flying into the 

 hands of fate. Joking aside, the bee-suits 

 spoken of are nothing more than a pair of 

 cowhide boots, pants tucked in, a pair of 

 gloves with long sleeves that reach well up on 

 the arms, and an ordinary bee-hat and veil — 

 sometimes veil and hat are part of the waist. 

 In all other respects the clothing is the same 

 as that used by any one else. — Ed.] 



A. B. C, Ida. — Killing off the drones be- 

 fore the swarming season may possibly have a 

 slight effect in the prevention of swarms ; but 

 I should place very little reliance upon it. To 

 destroy drones, use entrance-guards, or, bet- 

 ter still. Alley traps. But it is better to pre- 

 vent these undesirable drones in the first 

 place by giving the bees nothing but worker- 

 combs ; and if any of the combs you have 

 have a good many drone-cells in them, better 

 cut the wax out, melt the wax up, and give 

 the bees frames of foundation instead. It is 

 very expensive and wasteful to rear drones in 

 large numbers and then destroy them after- 

 ward by trapping. 



F. F. S., IV. J^a. — We can scarcely advise 

 what hives to select for your locality without 

 knowing some of the special conditions. If 

 you desire to run for extracted honey only, 

 and your honey is medium or dark-colored, or 

 what is called southern honey, we would rec- 

 ommend you to select the ten-frame Dove- 

 tailed hive. If you find your best market is 

 for comb honey, and your locality furnishes 

 white clover and basswood, and some other 

 equally good honey, we would recommend to 

 you the eight-frame Dovetailed. The Dan- 

 zenbaker is considered by many to be the 

 best comb-honey hive in existence. The ca- 

 pacity of the brood-chamber is about the same 

 as the eight-frame Dovetailed standard Lang- 

 stroth frames. 



2UEENS FROM THE SOUTH ; ARE THEY IN- 

 FERIOR TO NORTHERN BRED? 



S. C. M., IVis. — While we might be able to 

 rear a very few queens in April, yet our local- 

 ity is such that we should probably sacrifice 

 one or more colonies in doing so. We can 

 not do much at queen-rearing before the mid- 

 dle of May, as a rule. Some years we might 

 raise queens the first of May, and possibly the 

 last of April ; but taking one year with anoth- 

 er we should not be able to rear queens before 

 the time I have named. It is true you may be 

 further north ; but you may be in a locality 

 more protected, for the isothermal lines of 

 heat vary greatly from the direct lines of lati- 

 tude. New York, for instance, while in about 

 the same latitude as Medina, is very much 



warmer than the locality of Cleveland ; and 

 Chicago, also in nearly the same latitude as 

 Cleveland, is very much colder. Oregon and 

 Washington have, in the main, the warmth of 

 the Carolinas and northern part of Florida. 

 The coldness of Labrador is proverbial, and 

 yet Paris, on the same line, has the average 

 temperature of New York. But are you sure 

 you are right in deciding that southern-bred 

 queens are not as good as northern-bred? 

 Some statements were advanced to that effect, 

 but I have never seen any proof of it. Some 

 of the hardiest queens we have came direct 

 from southern Italy, even in spite of their 

 long journey to this country. 



HOW TO PREPARE FOR A LONG BICYCLE 

 TOUR IN THE WEST. 



■F.J. C, 'Ida. — Replying to yours of Apr. 9, 

 I would state that about as much luggage as 

 you can afford to carry on a bicycle, if you 

 have one of the modern machines, is some- 

 where about 25 or 30 pounds. I would not at- 

 tempt to carry any bedding, but take along an 

 army blanket and rubber blanket which you 

 can lay on the ground to keep dampness off. 

 To keep warm on a cold night, put your head 

 under the covers, and your breath will help to 

 keep up the warmth. You will also need to 

 take along plenty of matches, so that you can 

 build a fire wherever there is any loose mate- 

 rial to burn. If you go through a wild coun- 

 try you will need the fire to keep off cayotes. 

 You need to see that your machines are in 

 first-class order before you start, and then 

 take along with you repair tools, as spokes, an 

 extra inner tube (if it is a double-tube tire), 

 plenty of tire tape, a good lamp, cement, nee- 

 dle and thread, as well as a little brush broom 

 with which you can dust yourself off when it 

 gets too thick. It may be advisable, if you 

 are going through a wild country, to take 

 along a revolver. Dogs are sometimes very 

 troublesome, and I have had to defend myself 

 against them at the point of a gun, as some of 

 the larger dogs are pretty fierce. You should 

 not neglect to carry along with you a bottle or 

 two of milk ; for when your strength begins 

 to fail, there is nothing that will " brace one 

 up " so much as a good drink of milk. You 

 can buy at the drugstore Horlick's milk pow- 

 ders, or, better, Horlick's milk-powder tab- 

 lets, which the Horlick Milk Co. put up espe- 

 cially for bicyclers. There will be days when 

 your strength will be well nigh given out for 

 want of nourishment, and you will need some- 

 thing concentrated that you can use in emer- 

 gency. I would not drink too much water on 

 the route ; but whenever you can, take a good 

 drink of milk at a farmhouse, paying for it, or 

 at least offering to do so, as it creates a better 

 feeling. The majority of farmers' wives will 

 not take pay for milk. 



The Brosius pure-food bill is now up for 

 consideration in Congress; and every bee-keep- 

 er interested in the suppressio7t of glucosed 

 adnlterations is requested to write to his Con- 

 gressmen at otice ; and not only that., but get 

 as many of his fri ends as he can to do likewise. 



